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Indexes down: Dow 0.23%, S&P 500 0.30%, Nasdaq 0.67%

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Netflix ( NFLX ) drops after earnings miss

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Texas Instruments ( TXN ) slips after dour Q4 forecast

(Updates with early afternoon prices)

By Pranav Kashyap and Twesha Dikshit

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Wall Street slipped on Wednesday,

weighed down by Netflix's ( NFLX ) underwhelming outlook, which dampened

sentiment as investors braced for Tesla's results due after the

closing bell and sifted through a wave of corporate reports.

Tesla's results will kick off the 'Magnificent Seven'

earnings lineup - a tech-heavy group that now commands nearly

35% of the S&P 500's market cap, making their performance

critical to the market's next move.

The carmaker lost nearly 2%, while a handful of other

mega-caps also took a hit on the day. Shares of streaming giant

Netflix ( NFLX ) plunged 10.2%.

With valuations stretched and stocks hovering near record

highs, investors are looking for more than just earnings beats -

they want reassurance that Big Tech can still deliver.

"The most critical task for this market over the next couple

of weeks is going to be the Mag 7 earnings," said Alex Coffey,

senior trading and derivatives strategist at Charles Schwab.

The big question is whether "the mega-cap tech earnings

(would) look like Netflix ( NFLX ) or are they going to be more

positive."

At 11:17 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 109.83 points, or 0.23%, to 46,814.91. The S&P 500

lost 20.27 points, or 0.30%, to 6,715.08, while the Nasdaq

Composite lost 153.97 points, or 0.67%, to 22,799.70.

Texas Instruments ( TXN ) lost 7.7% after the chipmaker

forecast fourth-quarter revenue and profit below analysts'

estimates. The decline weighed on the Nasdaq.

Peers Microchip Technology ( MCHP ) and ON Semiconductor

lost more than 3% each. Analog Devices ( ADI ) dropped

2.7%.

Intuitive Surgical ( ISRG ) jumped 15.9% after the company

beat third-quarter estimates.

AT&T ( T ) fell 1.3% even as it added more wireless

subscribers than expected for the third quarter.

Wall Street is deep into earnings season, with major

corporations largely delivering upbeat results. Analysts expect

third-quarter earnings of S&P 500 companies to grow 9.2% over

the year earlier, compared with an 8.8% increase estimated at

the start of the month, according to LSEG data.

Yet, investors are treading cautiously through a landscape

clouded by bleak economic data, renewed tariff tensions and

profit-booking, all while trying to gauge the true health of

corporate America.

GEOPOLITICAL AND DATA TROUBLES

Despite recent signs of tensions thawing between Washington

and Beijing, uncertainty swirled around U.S. President Donald

Trump's potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

A planned summit between Trump and his Russian counterpart

Vladimir Putin was also put on hold.

Trump refused to meet top Democrats until the three-week-old

government shutdown ends, leaving the Federal Reserve short on

data ahead of next week's policy meeting. Friday's data - with

core CPI expected to hold at 3.1% - may be the central bank's

only clear read on inflation.

Among other stock movers, Alphabet rose 1.8% after

Google said it has developed a computer algorithm that points

the way to practical applications for quantum computing.

Mattel ( MAT ) shares slipped 1.8% after the Barbie-maker

missed Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue and

profit.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.14-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 2.03-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted nine new 52-week highs and two new lows,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 32 new highs and 66 new

lows.