Apple, AMD, Palantir Earnings On Deck This Week As Market Seeks Positive Catalysts In Fed Decision Week

The third-quarter earnings season has largely been mixed so far, reflecting the impact of the economic uncertainties on profit growth. That said, data suggests S&P 500 companies may be on track to break a fourth-quarter earnings-declining streak.

A Mixed Bag Laced With Caution: Last week, Investors reacted to disappointing earnings reports from some high-profile companies such as Meta Platforms, Inc. META and Alphabet, Inc. GOOGL GOOG. The former spooked investors with softer-than-expected cloud revenue and the latter with its cautious guidance.

Two of the fellow “Magnificent Seven,” namely Microsoft Corp. MSFT and Amazon, Inc. AMZN calmed investors’ nerves, either with stellar results or positive commentary regarding the near term. Chip earnings were also a mixed bag, with Texas Instruments, Inc. TXN reporting a third-quarter miss, while Intel Corp. INTC cheered investors with a solid beat and positive outlook.

Energy giants Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM and Chevron Corp. CVX reported below-consensus earnings for the quarter, and this served as a drag on the profit growth of S&P 500 companies.

Midway into the season, about 49% of the S&P 500 companies have released their earnings so far, with 78% of the companies reporting earnings beats and 62% ringing in revenue upside, data from FactSet shows.

The year-over-year blended earnings growth rate of S&P 500 companies is expected at 2.7%, potentially marking the first growth since the third quarter of 2022.

Earnings Deluge Awaits: The tech earnings news flow continues in the unfolding week, with the likes of Apple, Inc. AAPL, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD and Qualcomm, Inc. QCOM on tap. A slew of SMID-cap companies are also scheduled to disclose their quarterly earnings scorecard.

The earnings assume importance this week as they can influence the near-term trajectory of the equity market, which has been going through a lean patch since the end of July. Traders may also have to contend with the Fed decision, which is due Wednesday. Odds are in favor of a pause, although the rate outlook presented by Fed staffers could primarily move the market.

Apple’s report is the most-watched, given that the tech giant’s performance is seen as a barometer of the health of the global economy and consumer spending in particular. Due to the heavy weighting the stock has in the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices, it has the potential to take the market in one particular direction.

KeyBanc Capital Market’s Brandon Nispel has muted expectations, as he expects an in-line fourth-quarter performance and the softness to linger in the first quarter, which encompasses the key holiday selling season.

John Vinh from KeyBanc calls for AMD to post in-line to slightly higher results and issue an in-line to slightly lower guidance. He expects the chipmaker to benefit from improving PC and server demand but sees a slight delay in the ramp of the MI300A at El Capitan posing a risk to the guidance.

For Qualcomm, Vinh expects a beat-and-raise quarter, consistent with strong earnings results from Taiwanese fabless semiconductor company Mediatek last week, driven by Android restocking rush orders.

See Also: The VC firm that backed Apple before its IPO in 1980 is focusing on AI — Here's how you can do the same with $1,000.

Key earnings to watch for during the week are:

Monday (before the market opens)

• Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. CHKP
• JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. JKS
• McDonald’s Corporation MCD
• ON Semiconductor Corporation ON
• SoFi Technologies, Inc. SOFI
• Western Digital Corporation WDC

Monday (after the market close)

• Vornado Realty Trust VNO
• Rambus Inc. RMBS
• Wolfspeed, Inc. WOLF
• Tenet Healthcare Corporation THC
• Transocean Ltd. RIG
• Pinterest, Inc. PINS
• Lattice Semiconductor Corporation LSCC

Tuesday (before the market opens)

• Amgen Inc. AMGN
• Anheuser-Busch InBev NV BUD
• BP Plc. BP
• Caterpillar, Inc. CAT
• JetBlue Airways Corporation JBLU
• Pfizer Inc. PFE
• Sirius XM Holdings Inc. SIRI

Tuesday (after the market close)

• AMD
• First Solar, Inc. FSLR
• Chesapeake Energy Corporation CHK
• Meritage Homes Corporation MTH
• Unum Group UNM
• Yum China Holdings, Inc. YUMC

Wednesday (before the market opens)

• Bausch + Lomb Corporation BLCO
• Brinker International, Inc. EAT
• CVS Health Corporation CVS
• DuPont de Nemours, Inc. DD
• GlaxoSmithKline plc GSK
• Humana, Inc. HUM
• The Kraft Heinz Company KHC
• Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. NCLH
• SunPower Corporation SPWR
• Yum! Brands, Inc. YUM

Wednesday (after the market close)

• Avis Budget Group, Inc. CAR
• Exact Sciences Corporation EXAS
• Electronic Arts Inc. EA
• The Clorox Company CLX
• Etsy, Inc. ETSY
• Marathon Oil Corporation MRO
• MicroStrategy Incorporated MSTR
• PayPal Holdings, Inc. PYPL
• Qualcomm
• Qorvo, Inc. QRVO
• Roku, Inc. ROKU

Thursday (before the market opens)

• Bausch Health Companies Inc. BHC
• ConocoPhillips COP
• Crocs, Inc. CROX
• Eli Lilly and Company LLY
• Ferrari N.V. RACE
• Fox Corporation FOXA
• Hyatt Hotels Corporation H
• Marriott International, Inc. MAR
• Moderna, Inc. MRNA
• The Wendy’s Company WEN
• Paramount Global PARA
• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. REGN
• The Cigna Group CI
• Starbucks Corporation SBUX
• Peloton Interactive, Inc. PTON

Thursday (after the market close)

• Apple
• Block, Inc. SQ
• DraftKings Inc. DKNG
• Dropbox, Inc. DBX
• Expedia Group, Inc. EXPE
• Fortinet, Inc. FTNT
• Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. LYV
• Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR
• Skyworks Solutions, Inc. SWKS

Friday (before the market opens)

• Cardinal Health, Inc. CAH
• Dominion Energy, Inc. D

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, an exchange-traded fund that tracks the performance of the S&P 500 Index, ended Friday’s session down 0.45% at $410.68, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Photo by Phongphan on Shutterstock

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