r/Stocks Daily Discussion (Nov 18, 2025): Earnings Reactions, Cloudflare Outage Impact, and AI Hype Concerns

Reddit users discussed key earnings: Home Depot (HD) missed EPS estimates ($3.74 vs expected $3.84), Medtronic (MDT) beat EPS ($1.36 vs $1.32) and raised guidance, and Brady Corporation (BRC) reported strong earnings. They noted a Cloudflare outage affecting NET (down ~4% pre-market) and debated AI hype (Gemini 3.0 deflating bubble vs GOOGL as safe asset). Users also highlighted NVDA earnings risk (advising puts) and defensive plays (CPB, XLP, SWVXX).

Home Depot missed Q3 2025 EPS ($3.74 vs consensus $3.84-3.95) but beat revenue ($41.4B), lowering guidance [1][2][3]. Medtronic exceeded Q2 2026 expectations (EPS $1.36, revenue $9B) and raised FY26 guidance [4][5]. Brady beat Q1 2026 EPS ($1.21 vs $1.09-1.18) with 5th consecutive record earnings [6][7]. Cloudflare’s Nov18 outage (6:40 AM ET) disrupted X, ChatGPT, crypto sites; NET dropped ~3.5% pre-market and ~3% regular, losing $1.8B market value [8][9][10][12][13].

Reddit discussions align with research on earnings outcomes and Cloudflare outage impact. Reddit adds sentiment layers: AI hype debates, NVDA risk perception, and defensive play suggestions. Implications: Investors should prioritize MDT’s growth (strong segments) and BRC’s consistency, while monitoring NET’s reliability [13] and HD’s consumer spending signals [3].

: NET’s service reliability concerns [13], NVDA earnings miss risk (per Reddit), HD’s weak guidance [3]. : MDT’s cardiovascular/diabetes segments [4], BRC’s record earnings streak [7], defensive plays (CPB, XLP, SWVXX) amid market weakness (per Reddit).