The central question hanging over this week’s earnings parade is whether the hundreds of billions poured into artificial intelligence infrastructure are actually producing meaningful revenue growth.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) report on October 28, with investors particularly focused on cloud performance and any revisions to capital expenditure guidance.
Azure ranks as the world’s second-largest cloud platform, while Google Cloud holds third place, making both pivotal barometers for the health of enterprise AI adoption.
Wall Street expects Microsoft to post fiscal Q1 revenue of $90.75 billion, a 17% year-over-year increase, with adjusted earnings per share climbing 14% to $4.72.
Alphabet’s Q3 revenue consensus sits at $127.83 billion, representing 25% growth, though adjusted profit is forecast to rise a more modest 3% to $2.97 per share.
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) follows on October 29, with analysts projecting Q3 revenue of $202.20 billion, up 12%, and adjusted profit of $1.98 per share, a 2% increase.
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), the first major chipmaker to release results this cycle, reports the same day, and its numbers are expected to shed light on broader semiconductor demand conditions.
Analysts forecast Intel’s Q3 revenue rising 21% to $16.47 billion, with adjusted profit surging 72% to $0.40 per share.
Seagate Technology kicks off the week’s tech earnings on October 27, where strong results from peer Western Digital have already set an elevated bar for hard disk drive demand expectations.
Koyfin data shows analysts anticipating Seagate’s fiscal Q1 revenue to jump 58% to $4.14 billion, with adjusted earnings per share soaring 184% to $7.40.
Beyond the earnings calendar, Apple’s “Pro and tell” media event in Los Angeles on October 28 is drawing significant attention, with reports pointing to the unveiling of the company’s first-ever touchscreen MacBook alongside updated MacBook Pro models.
The event follows Apple’s earlier “Welcome Home” showcase and the commercial launch of the iPhone Duo, marking the third major product moment from the company in recent weeks.
On the IPO front, AI startup Anthropic is reportedly eyeing a mid-November public debut, with a prospectus potentially surfacing before the month ends and a potential valuation of up to $1.5 trillion, according to Reuters.
In contrast, South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix has shelved plans to list its Solidigm unit, a specialist in NAND flash memory and solid-state drives, citing regulatory concerns over shareholder interests and broader market volatility.
The technology sector’s recent performance adds further context, with the Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 slipping 0.8% last week and the iShares Semiconductor ETF falling 3.1%, while the software-focused iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF bucked the trend with a 6% gain.
Also on the calendar is The Information’s WTF Summit in California on October 27-28, convening women leaders across technology, media, and finance to discuss AI, robotics, crypto, and company-building, with speakers including Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, 23andMe Research Institute founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki, and CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.
