Stock Market Live January 15: AI, Bank Earnings Lift S&P 500 (VOO) After 2 Days of Declines

By Joel South Updated Jan 15, 11:32AM EST · Published Jan 15, 9:46AM EST

Quick Read

The S&P 500 ETF broke a two-day losing streak to rise on strength in AI and bank earnings reports today.
TSMC reported 35% profit growth in Q4 with nearly a 50% net margin as AI chip demand keeps growing.

Live Updates

Time to Declare Victory on GE HealthCare Stock

Jan 15, 2026 at 11:32 AM EST

UBS analyst Graham Doyle downgraded GE HealthCare (Nasdaq: GEHC | GEHC Price Prediction) to sell with a $77 price target this morning.

“GEHC has almost fully recovered from April 2025 lows, and is now just <10% off all-time highs — materially outperforming close peers,” explains Doyle. At this point, “the shares and consensus capture their best possible execution.”

So really, the stock has nowhere to go but down from here. Doyle meanwhile pegs GE HealthCare earnings before interest and taxes at perhaps 0% to 7% below consensus targets, creating the potential for earnings misses that could trigger a selloff.

No need to get greedy on this one. It’s probably safer to just count your winnings, and take chips off the table. In fact, that seems to be what investors are doing today, as GEHC stock falls 2%.

Starbucks' Star Rises

Jan 15, 2026 at 10:26 AM EST

BWG Global upgraded Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) stock to “positive” this morning, citing “better service, strong premium beverage and food sales and increased advertising” as the reasons.

These initiatives all “supported Starbucks’ U.S. sales and transactions during FY1Q26,” says the analyst. Meanwhile in China sales improved “on lower pricing, increased promotions and traffic gains.”

Starbucks stock gained 0.9% on the report, and the Voo is still holding onto most of its gains, up 0.5%.

BlackRock Booms

Jan 15, 2026 at 9:45 AM EST

BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) — not a bank, but rather the world’s largest asset manager, and also an S&P 500 component company — also beat earnings today. The company earned $13.16 per share in Q4, $0.72 better than analyst estimates, on revenue of $7 billion, which also exceeded expectations.

BlackRock stock is up more than 4% in early trading.

This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates.

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) opened closed lower for a second straight day Wednesday, down 0.5%, but on Thursday the dam finally broke. Shares of the ETF opened up 0.6% after an earnings report from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM) confirmed that the AI revolution is alive and well.

TSMC stock reported profits up 35% year over year on AI chip demand, with 20% sales growth. The contract chips manufacturer earned $16 billion on $33.7 billion in sales, a staggeringly strong net profit margin of nearly 50%. Its stock opened up 5%.

TSMC stock opened up nearly 4% higher today.

More bank earnings

It’s earnings week for big banks as well. Following reports from JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo earlier in the week, today we heard from investment banks Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS).

Goldman beat by a powerful $2.39 per share, reporting Q4 profit of $14.01 per share on revenue of $13.5 billion. This was, however, $1 billion less than the $14.5 billion analysts had forecast the bank would produce.

Morgan Stanley did even better, beating on both top and bottom lines. The investment bank beat estimates by $0.27, reporting a Q4 profit of $2.68 on $17.9 billion in quarterly revenue. Analysts had forecast revenue of only $17.7 billion.

Goldman Sachs stock is up just 0.1% in early trading, while Morgan Stanley shares are gaining more than 3%.

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About the Author Joel South →

Joel South covers large-cap stocks, dividend investing, and major market trends, with a focus on earnings analysis, valuation, and turning complex data into actionable insights for investors.

He brings more than 15 years of experience as an investor and financial journalist, including 12 years at The Motley Fool, where he served as an investment analyst, Bureau Chief, and later led the Fool.com investing news desk. He has also co-hosted an investing podcast and appeared across TV and radio discussing market trends.