US stocks slipped again last week as the first of the big AI results met a cool reception. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq 0.7%, while the Dow rose 0.4%. Meta fell 7% on Thursday, the day after a revenue beat was overshadowed by its spending plans, and chip stocks fell 6.7% the same day, leaving the Philadelphia Semiconductor index down about 3% on the week. Treasuries rallied, taking the 10-year yield to about 5.0% from 5.10%. Oil went the other way: Brent settled at $116.72 on Friday, up about 6% on the week, on fears of renewed fighting in the Gulf and reports of attacks on Saudi facilities. This week is crowded. The Fed announces its decision on Wednesday afternoon, with futures pricing about a 90% chance of a hold after September’s increase; the Bank of Canada decides the same day, the ECB on Thursday and the Bank of Japan on Friday, and US third-quarter GDP and September PCE inflation are both due on Thursday.
Into that, the three biggest cloud providers report within about a day of each other. Alphabet and Microsoft publish on Wednesday evening, a few hours after the Fed, and Amazon on Thursday evening. Amazon expects about $220bn of cash capital spending this year, Alphabet $195–205bn and Microsoft about $175bn for the calendar year, and after Meta’s reception the test is whether cloud revenue is keeping pace. Eli Lilly reports on Thursday morning, Visa opens the consumer reads on Tuesday evening ahead of Mastercard on Thursday, and Shell, Exxon and Chevron show what the oil shock is worth to the majors. Boeing reports on Tuesday, a week after the 737-10 was certified, and AstraZeneca and the big Chinese banks on Friday. FactSet counts 179 S&P 500 companies reporting this week; of the 24% that have reported so far, 83% beat earnings estimates, and blended third-quarter earnings growth stands at 29.5%.
🇺🇸 Alphabet
Alphabet reports third-quarter results after the US close on Wednesday, with the call at 4:30pm Eastern. Second-quarter revenue rose 24% to $119.8bn. Search grew 17%, and Google Cloud revenue rose 82% to $24.8bn at an operating margin of about 36%, against 21% a year earlier; the cloud backlog reached about $514bn, though only just over half of it is expected to become revenue within two years. The bill is rising too. Capital spending was $44.9bn in the quarter, free cash flow was negative, and Alphabet raised its 2026 capital-spending guide to $195–205bn from $180–190bn, adding that 2027 would increase significantly; the shares fell about 7% the next day. Consensus is about $127–128bn of revenue, up roughly 25%, and about $3.00 a share, though reported earnings can land far from that because Alphabet marks its SpaceX stake to market: a $98bn gain lifted second-quarter earnings to $9.11 a share. The shares closed Friday at $320.21, about 20% below their May closing high.
Our readCloud growth against the capital bill is the swing factor, judged against published estimates of about $29bn of Cloud revenue, roughly 90% growth, and any first figure for 2027 spending. Watch Search, where management said AI Mode passed 1bn monthly users in the second quarter, against tougher comparisons; the Cloud margin, after the finance chief warned of modest pressure from renting outside capacity; and cash, with no buybacks in the first half and new equity raised in June, including about $19bn of mandatory convertible preferred shares. The read-across is to Microsoft the same evening and to the AI supply chain after last week’s fall in Meta; unlike Meta, Alphabet rents much of its capacity to outside customers, which may change how investors weigh the spending.
- Quality89
- Growth68
- Value50
- Momentum60
- Relative Strength95
- P/E (TTM)
- 16.0
- YTD return
- +2%
- Dividend yield (TTM)
- 0.3%
🇺🇸 Microsoft
Microsoft reports fiscal first-quarter results after the US close on Wednesday, with the call at 5:30pm Eastern, an hour after Alphabet’s. In the June quarter revenue rose 18% to $90.0bn and Azure grew 43%, both as reported and at constant currency; commercial remaining performance obligations reached $678bn, up 84%, or 25% excluding OpenAI, and Microsoft said it had more than 30m paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats. Non-GAAP earnings of $4.74 a share included a $3.2bn gain on its Anthropic stake, and capital spending including finance leases was $41bn. For the September quarter it guided revenue to $89.85–90.95bn, Azure growth of about 45% at constant currency, and capital spending of more than $50bn, including the effect of a change in how some leases are classified; it put calendar-2026 spending at about $175bn. Consensus is about $90.6bn of revenue and $4.71 a share, against $77.7bn and $4.13 a year ago. The shares rose 15.5% the day after the July report and closed Friday at $524.51, about 49% above their June closing low and about 3.5% below the closing high they set on 13 October.
Our readAzure against the capital bill is the swing factor: growth at or above the 45% guide would suggest new capacity is being sold as fast as it arrives, after management said in July that demand still exceeded supply. Watch any framing of fiscal-2027 capital spending, which Microsoft has said will grow; Copilot seats and the commercial price rises reported from July; and OpenAI, which said in early October that annualised revenue was approaching $50bn, below some earlier media estimates, a reminder of how much of the backlog growth rests on one customer. The read-across is to Alphabet the same evening, Amazon on Thursday and AI suppliers from chipmakers to data-centre builders.
- Quality87
- Growth59
- Value41
- Momentum77
- Relative Strength90
- P/E (TTM)
- 29.1
- YTD return
- +11%
- Dividend yield (TTM)
- 0.7%
🇺🇸 Amazon
Amazon reports third-quarter results after the US close on Thursday, with the call at 5:00pm Eastern. In the second quarter net sales rose 20% to $200.6bn, AWS revenue grew 37% to $42.2bn, its fastest rate in 18 quarters, and total operating income rose 43% to $27.5bn. Earnings of $5.75 a share were swollen by gains on its Anthropic stake, and trailing 12-month free cash flow turned negative, at minus $7.6bn; chief executive Andy Jassy said cash capital spending would be about $220bn this year, up from about $200bn, partly because of higher memory costs. The third-quarter guide is $197–202bn of sales, growth of 9–12%, held back because Prime Day moved into June; excluding Prime Day in both years, Amazon says growth would be nearly 4 points higher. Operating income is guided to $22.5–26.5bn. Consensus is about $202bn of revenue, at the top of the range, and $1.96 a share. The shares rose 15% the day after the July report and closed Friday at $248.00, about 13% below their August closing high.
Our readAWS growth is the swing factor, and the bar is unclear: widely repeated estimates of 30–35% would leave AWS revenue only slightly above the second quarter’s, while other previews put expectations in the high 30s. Jassy said on 23 October that AWS capacity was sold out for 2026 and largely for 2027, so the question is how fast new capacity turns into revenue. Watch the AWS backlog, $496bn in the second quarter; retail margins, after one-off benefits including about $600m of tariff refunds helped the second quarter; and any early view of 2027 spending. The read-across is to Microsoft and Alphabet, and the retail business doubles as a read on the US consumer after Visa on Tuesday.
- Quality68
- Growth52
- Value49
- Momentum64
- Relative Strength71
- P/E (TTM)
- 19.8
- YTD return
- +9%
🇺🇸 Eli Lilly
Lilly reports third-quarter results before the US open on Thursday, with the call at 10:00am Eastern. Second-quarter revenue rose 48% to $23.0bn, led by Mounjaro at $9.9bn and Zepbound at $4.9bn, and the growth came from volume: US volumes rose 37% while realised prices fell 3%, and prices outside the US fell 36%, largely because Mounjaro joined China’s national reimbursement list. Foundayo, the oral weight-loss pill approved in April, added $98m in its first quarter. Lilly raised its 2026 revenue guide to $85–87bn from $82–85bn but trimmed the top of its earnings range, to $35.50–36.50 a share. Estimates for the quarter are about $22.1–22.6bn of revenue, against $17.6bn a year ago; earnings estimates range from about $5.40 to $7.50 a share, partly because analysts treat charges for acquired research differently. The shares closed Friday at $1,273.46, just below Thursday’s record close and up about 18% this year.
Our readVolume against price is the swing factor: whether demand keeps outrunning lower prices as the Medicare bridge, which since July has covered Zepbound pens and Foundayo for a $50 copay, adds patients at government-agreed prices. Watch Foundayo, where weekly US prescriptions reportedly reached a record of about 64,000 in early October but still trail Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill by a wide margin; whether the revenue guide moves to or above the top of the range; and retatrutide, for which Lilly plans a US filing in the first quarter of 2027. The read-across is to Novo Nordisk, which reports on 4 November, and to the wider obesity trade.
- Quality82
- Growth79
- Value47
- Momentum82
- Relative Strength100
- P/E (TTM)
- 44.9
- YTD return
- +18%
- Dividend yield (TTM)
- 0.5%
🇬🇧 AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca publishes third-quarter and nine-month results on Friday, expected before the London open. In the second quarter, total revenue rose 5% at constant exchange rates to $15.4bn and core earnings rose 18% to $2.63 a share, helped by a lower tax rate, but China revenue fell 13% at constant rates, hit by volume-based procurement and generic competition, and Farxiga sales fell 19% as US generics arrived. The company kept its 2026 guidance of mid-to-high single-digit revenue growth and low double-digit core earnings growth at constant rates. Consensus is about $16.0bn of revenue and $2.59 of core earnings a share. The London shares closed Friday at 12,824p, about 7% lower this year, after a run of trial setbacks that included Wainua in a heart-disease study in July and camizestrant in first-line breast cancer in September.
Our readPipeline credibility matters more than the quarter: the next big test is AVANZAR, a first-line lung-cancer trial of Datroway with Imfinzi due in the second half, after another lung-cancer study, eVOLVE-Lung02, was stopped in August. Watch China, for any sign that the decline is levelling off; the pace of Farxiga erosion; and how management frames the $2bn stake in Summit Therapeutics completed this month. The read-across is to large drugmakers reporting the same week, from Merck on Thursday to AbbVie on Friday, though AstraZeneca’s China exposure sets it apart.
- Quality73
- Growth53
- Value57
- Momentum58
- Relative Strength64
- P/E (TTM)
- 25.5
- YTD return
- −6%
- Dividend yield (TTM)
- 1.2%
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🇺🇸 Visa
Visa reports fiscal fourth-quarter results after the US close on Tuesday, with the webcast at 5:00pm Eastern. In the June quarter, net revenue rose 14%, or 13% in constant dollars, to $11.6bn and non-GAAP earnings rose 11% to $3.32 a share; payments volume grew 10% and cross-border volume excluding intra-Europe 12%, both in constant dollars, while client incentives rose 18%. For the September quarter management guided to adjusted net revenue growth at the high end of low double digits and EPS growth at the low end of mid-teens, both in constant dollars and excluding acquisitions, and said US payments volume was up 9% and cross-border volume 14% through 21 July. Consensus, on a reported basis, is $12.09bn of revenue and $3.44 a share, against $10.72bn and $2.98 a year ago. The shares closed Friday at $407.92, less than 2% below Thursday’s record close and up about 16% this year.
Our readThe first outlook for fiscal 2027 matters more than the quarter: management said in July that it had clear sight of client renewals, the product pipeline and the expected pricing impact, and the question is whether revenue growth can stay in the low teens. Watch cross-border travel and e-commerce, the highest-margin flows; client incentives, which again grew faster than revenue last quarter; and the annual dividend increase, after 14% last year. A court hearing on 16 November will consider final approval of the amended US merchant settlement, which would lower average credit interchange by 10 basis points for five years; interchange goes to card issuers rather than Visa, so the effect would be indirect. The read-across is to Mastercard on Thursday morning.
- Quality95
- Growth55
- Value33
- Momentum92
- Relative Strength96
- P/E (TTM)
- 33.7
- YTD return
- +18%
- Dividend yield (TTM)
- 0.7%
🇺🇸 Exxon Mobil
Exxon reports third-quarter results at about 6:30am Eastern on Friday, before the US open, with the call at 9:30am. Its 16 October filing on market factors points to a refining-led quarter: higher industry margins add about $4.5bn to Energy Products earnings compared with the second quarter, while Upstream factors net to a drag of about $1.8bn, $1.3bn of it from lower liquids prices. The filing also lists timing effects of about $2.5bn, which Exxon excludes from its adjusted figures, so reported and adjusted earnings could differ widely. In the second quarter adjusted earnings were $14.7bn, or $3.52 a share, cash flow from operations was $23.6bn and Exxon returned $9.4bn to shareholders, including $5.1bn of buybacks. Consensus is about $3.87–4.10 a share, against $1.88 a year ago; Goldman Sachs has pencilled in $4.33. The shares closed Friday at a record $183.21, up about 52% this year.
Our readWhether the refining windfall lasts long enough to lift cash returns is the swing factor: buybacks have run at about $5bn a quarter, and any change to that pace would show how management reads the margin spike. Watch the fourth-quarter setup, with Brent back above $115 and Guyana’s fifth production vessel due to start up; the gap between reported and adjusted earnings; and divestments, which the filing puts at about $0.7bn. The read-across is to Chevron the same morning and to Shell, TotalEnergies and BP, after Valero reported a refining margin of $39.24 a barrel last week, three times its level a year earlier.
- Quality74
- Growth49
- Value41
- Momentum90
- Relative Strength31
- P/E (TTM)
- 23.0
- YTD return
- +49%
- Dividend yield (TTM)
- 2.2%
🇬🇧 Shell
Shell reports at 07:00 in London on Thursday, 03:00 in New York. Its 7 October update gave away much of the quarter: an indicative refining margin of $42 a barrel, against $24 in the second quarter, partly offset by a weaker chemicals margin, lower refinery use and lower marketing earnings, with Integrated Gas production lifted by the ARC Resources purchase completed on 2 September. A company-compiled consensus of 12 analysts puts adjusted earnings at about $10.3bn, against $9.8bn in the second quarter. With those results Shell announced $4.2bn of buybacks for the quarter: $3.0bn of new purchases plus $1.2bn left from a programme it paused for the ARC deal. The London shares closed Friday at a record 4,033p, up about 47% this year.
Our readThe size of the next buyback is the swing factor: Shell’s last new programme was $3.0bn, the ARC deal added debt, and the update flags a cash outflow of about $2.5bn from the timing of German emissions-permit payments. Watch the impairment reversal flagged in Integrated Gas, LNG trading, and any update on LNG Canada, where Shell approved a doubling of capacity in September. The read-across is to Exxon, TotalEnergies the same day and BP on Friday.
- Quality82
- Growth47
- Value62
- Momentum94
- Relative Strength75
- P/E (TTM)
- 11.9
- YTD return
- +46%
- Dividend yield (TTM)
- 2.8%
🇺🇸 Boeing
Boeing reports third-quarter results before the US open on Tuesday, with the call at 10:30am Eastern. In the second quarter revenue rose 8% to $24.6bn, the core loss of $0.76 a share was wider than expected, and free cash flow was $0.6bn. Management guided third-quarter free cash flow to be positive, in the low hundreds of millions, after a payment of about $689m due under its 2025 agreement with the Justice Department, and kept its 2026 range of $1–3bn. Boeing delivered 161 aircraft in the third quarter, including 124 737s and 22 787s, against 171 in the second. The FAA certified the 737-10 on 20 October, but the 737 line, cleared for 47 a month in May, is taking longer than planned to settle at that rate because of wing supply. Consensus is a core loss of about $0.21–0.25 a share on revenue of about $24.0–24.5bn. The shares closed Friday at $188.35, about 22% below their August closing high.
Our readThe 737 rate is the swing factor: holding 47 a month, and the timing of the next step to 52, set the cash-flow path into 2027. Watch the 777X, where Boeing still targets first delivery in 2027 but certification needs an approved fix to the GE9X engine seal, and programme inventory rose by about $2bn in the first half, so a charge cannot be ruled out; 787 output, where reaching 90–100 deliveries this year needs 28–38 in the fourth quarter; and defence margins, after a $280m charge on the VC-25B in the second quarter. The read-across is to suppliers such as GE Aerospace, whose shares fell about 9% last week despite a raised outlook, and to Airbus, which reports on Wednesday.
🇨🇳 ICBC
ICBC’s board meets on Friday to approve nine-month results, expected after the Hong Kong close; FMP’s calendar lists the other three big state banks on the same day. In the first half, profit attributable to shareholders rose 3.3% to RMB173.7bn and net interest income rose 8.8%, while the net interest margin was 1.29%, flat on the first quarter and 1 basis point below a year earlier, as a fall in deposit costs to 1.15% from 1.45% roughly matched the drop in loan yields. The bad-loan ratio edged down to 1.29%, though it rose to 6.27% on loans to property developers. The Hong Kong shares closed Friday at HK$7.24, up about 15% this year.
Our readWhether the margin has bottomed is the swing factor: management saw signs of stabilisation in August but said support from deposit repricing would gradually weaken, and the central bank has left benchmark lending rates unchanged for 17 months. Watch impairment charges, which rose 22% in the first half, and property-loan quality; and capital, with ICBC’s buffer requirement rising from January after its move to a higher bucket for global systemically important banks. The read-across outside China is limited, though the big banks’ margins are one gauge of how much room Beijing has to ease.
- Quality57
- Growth32
- Value80
- Momentum71
- Relative Strength66
- P/E (TTM)
- 7.9
- YTD return
- +6%
- Dividend yield (TTM)
- 5.5%
Weekly Calendar
Some notable names reporting this week. None on our list reports on Monday; outside our table, Airbus reports on Wednesday, TotalEnergies on Thursday and BP on Friday, and Apple follows on Monday 2 November. Timing refers to each company’s home-market session: HSBC publishes at 04:00 in London, Samsung holds its call at 10:00 in Seoul and ICBC reports after the Hong Kong close. UK clocks went back on Sunday and US clocks change on 1 November, so London is four hours ahead of New York this week. Times marked “(exp.)” are inferred from past releases, the scheduled call or the home market’s convention rather than stated by the company. Share prices and consensus estimates in the previews above are as of Friday 23 October.
| Company | Country | Sector | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 27-Oct | |||
| Visa | 🇺🇸 | Payments | AMC |
| Coca-Cola | 🇺🇸 | Beverages | BMO (exp.) |
| HSBC | 🇬🇧 | Banking | BMO |
| Boeing | 🇺🇸 | Aerospace & defence | BMO (exp.) |
| Wednesday 28-Oct | |||
| Alphabet | 🇺🇸 | Search, cloud & AI | AMC (exp.) |
| Microsoft | 🇺🇸 | Software & cloud | AMC |
| ServiceNow | 🇺🇸 | Enterprise software | AMC |
| T-Mobile US | 🇺🇸 | Telecom | AMC (exp.) |
| Thursday 29-Oct | |||
| Amazon | 🇺🇸 | E-commerce & cloud | AMC (exp.) |
| Eli Lilly | 🇺🇸 | Pharmaceuticals | BMO (exp.) |
| Samsung Electronics | 🇰🇷 | Memory chips & devices | BMO (exp.) |
| Mastercard | 🇺🇸 | Payments | BMO (exp.) |
| Intel | 🇺🇸 | Semiconductors | AMC |
| Merck & Co. | 🇺🇸 | Pharmaceuticals | BMO (exp.) |
| Caterpillar | 🇺🇸 | Construction & mining machinery | BMO |
| Shell | 🇬🇧 | Integrated oil & gas | BMO |
| Sandisk | 🇺🇸 | Flash memory & storage | AMC (exp.) |
| Friday 30-Oct | |||
| Exxon Mobil | 🇺🇸 | Integrated oil & gas | BMO |
| AbbVie | 🇺🇸 | Pharmaceuticals | BMO |
| Chevron | 🇺🇸 | Integrated oil & gas | BMO (exp.) |
| ICBC | 🇨🇳 | Banking | AMC (exp.) |
| AstraZeneca | 🇬🇧 | Pharmaceuticals | BMO (exp.) |