Focus: A Look Ahead at the US Stock Market's 2026 Q2 Earnings Season.
Get ready: This week, a wave of tech giants including Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple will be releasing their quarterly results. Following Google's recent disclosure of its AI investments and current operational status, these reports will continue to reveal the trajectory of AI spending and business direction across the tech sector. PayPal is also scheduled to report on Tuesday, providing a potential opportunity for the market to gauge the payments giant's stance on a recent acquisition approach from Stripe, which is backed by private equity. To date, PayPal has remained tight-lipped on the matter.
The main event, however, is the earnings from the tech behemoths, with Meta and Microsoft reporting first on Wednesday. Wall Street's sentiment towards these two companies has been notably more pressured than other leading tech firms this year: as of last Friday, Meta shares have fallen 9.8% year-to-date, while Microsoft has declined 21%. The primary pressure on Meta stems from its massive AI investments, with a clear path to profitability still uncertain. Meanwhile, the market fears that AI-related alternative products could disrupt Microsoft's extensive software business, dragging down its growth prospects. Investors are widely expecting Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to reveal a new strategy: following Elon Musk's SpaceX model by leasing out idle computing power for revenue. Meta recently poached a senior executive from Amazon Web Services, indicating it is moving in this direction.
For Microsoft, the market's focus will be on the growth rate of its Azure cloud business, which has recently stabilized around 40%. The key question is whether it can replicate the acceleration seen in Google Cloud's second-quarter performance. The number of paid subscribers for Microsoft 365's Copilot smart assistant is a critical metric for measuring the commercial progress of Microsoft's software AI integration.
Amazon and Apple are both reporting on Thursday, with the market also zeroing in on Amazon's AI capital expenditure. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, Amazon is planning capital expenditures of up to $200 billion, which exceeds analysts' estimates of $185 billion for its full-year operating cash flow. This suggests Amazon will need to tap into its cash reserves, though the company has recently bolstered its cash position through multiple debt issuances. Consistent with other major cloud providers, investors are keenly watching whether the growth rate of its AWS cloud business can accelerate further; the business saw a 4 percentage point increase in growth to 28% in the first quarter.
Apple presents a unique case. The company's AI investment scale is relatively low. After years of stagnant growth, its flagship iPhone business has seen a recent sales uptick, driven by a large number of consumers upgrading their phones. Supported by this, Apple's shares have risen 23% year-to-date, making it a standout performer in the tech sector. However, a potential threat is emerging: surging memory chip prices are forcing Apple to raise prices on several hardware products, with an expected price hike for the iPhone this autumn. The impact of higher memory prices on Apple's margins and consumer acceptance of the price increases are key areas to monitor.
Below are the market consensus expectations from S&P Global Market Intelligence for each company:
Meta (Reporting Wednesday) Revenue: $60.26 billion, +26.8% YoY Earnings Per Share: $7.22, +1.1% YoY
Microsoft (Reporting Wednesday) Revenue: $87.672 billion, +14.6% YoY Earnings Per Share: $4.22, +15.6% YoY
Amazon (Reporting Thursday) Revenue: $195.97 billion, +16.8% YoY Earnings Per Share: $1.82, +8.3% YoY
Apple (Reporting Thursday) Revenue: $108.89 billion, +15.8% YoY Earnings Per Share: $1.89, +20% YoY
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Massive information, precise interpretation, all on Sina Finance APP. Editor: Guo Mingyu.
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