The busiest week of the corporate earnings season has arrived. More than 150 S & P 500 companies are slated to report. Among them are Apple , Amazon and Ford Motor . Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is also on deck. So far, this third quarter reporting period has been mixed. While there have been some high-profile earnings beats — such as Tesla — earnings are on track to grow just about 3%, according to FactSet. That’s below the 4.2% expansion analysts had anticipated heading into the season. Take a look below at what to expect from some of the most important quarterly reports coming this week from Corporate America. Monday Ford Motor is set to report earnings after the bell, followed by a conference call at 5 p.m. ET. Last quarter: F shares dropped 13% after a huge earnings miss . This quarter: Analysts polled by LSEG expect year-over-year earnings grew nearly 20%. What to watch: Deutsche Bank’s Edison Yu thinks expectations around Ford earnings may be too elevated. “Recall that the company is targeting $2bn in cost savings this year, half from materials and half from manufacturing. Layered on top, we observe higher inventory levels from Ford in both August and September, which could signal higher in-transit vehicles that are yet wholesaled,” Yu wrote. What history shows: Bespoke Investment Group data shows Ford beats earnings expectations 68% of the time. However, the stock typically struggles on earnings day, losing 0.7% on average. Tuesday Pfizer is set to report earnings before the stock market opens. A call with management is slated for 10 a.m. ET. Last quarter: PFE earnings beat estimates. The company also hiked its full-year outlook . This quarter: Analysts expect themaker of the Pfizer–BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to report revenue growth of more than 10%, LSEG data shows. What to watch: Pfizer’s results come after Starboard Value amassed a $1 billion stake in the company, according to sources. Will the company unveil changes following the activist investor taking this position? Indeed, Pfizer shares have lagged this year, losing around 1%. What history shows: Pfizer earnings have topped analyst expectations in 13 of the past 14 quarters, according to Bespoke. Advanced Micro Devices is set to report earnings after the close, followed by a call at 5 p.m. ET. Last quarter: AMD said data center revenue more than doubled year on year . This quarter: The semiconductor maker’s earnings estimated to have risen 30% year over year, per LSEG . What to watch: Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari expects AMD’s investments in artificial intelligence to continue. “While there is an ongoing debate regarding customer [return on investment] and whether current spending on AI infrastructure is sustainable over the medium- to long-run, we believe any risk to CY2025/26 Street expectations as it pertains to capital spending by the large Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), leading enterprises and/or sovereign states is to the upside,” Hari wrote. What history shows: AMD shares typically struggle on earnings days, losing 1.4% on average, according to Bespoke. That said, the chipmaker’s profits have beaten expectations in five of the past seven quarters. Wednesday Meta Platforms is set to report earnings after the market closes. A call with leadership is also scheduled for 5 p.m. ET. Last quarter: META issued a strong forecast and posted an earnings beat, sending shares higher . This quarter: Analysts polled by LSEG see earnings growth of about 20% against the year-earlier period. What to watch: Meta is in a good spot heading into this week’s report, according to Bernstein’s Mark Shmulik. The analyst raised his price target on the stock last week to $675, implying 18% upside from Friday’s close. “The setup through year-end offers a more balanced risk-reward as decent ad buyer checks, higher [cost per 1,000 impressions], and helpful FX trends are offset by weaker-than-expected ad spending from Temu and Shein … a smaller … U.S. political ad spend tailwind by choice, a shorter holiday shopping season, and limited guidance on key 2025 metrics, while perhaps a stronger performing Google wins back some investors at a discount,” he added. What history shows: Bespoke data shows Meta earnings have topped expectations for seven straight quarters. Microsoft is set to report earnings after the close, with a conference call on deck for 5:30 p.m. ET. Last quarter: MSFT shares fell after the company posted weaker-than-expected cloud revenue . This quarter: Analysts see single-digit earnings growth for the Windows and Xbox maker, according to LSEG. What CNBC is watching: Morgan Stanley’s Keith Weiss thinks the key for Microsoft will be the Azure cliud computing product. “We remain confident in the magnitude of estimate upside driven largely by Azure, as traditional workload growth appears more de-risked following the volatility of last quarter and the AI demand is firmly building ahead of the F2H capacity unlock, as evidenced by our CIO survey work, which continues to see Microsoft expanding its leadership position as #1 share gainer of IT wallets,” he said. What history shows: Microsoft has fallen on two of the past three earnings days despite beating analyst expectations, according to Bespoke. Thursday Apple is set to report earnings after the closing bell. Management holds its conference call at 5 p.m. ET. Last quarter: AAPL reported a 5% sales increase . This quarter: Analysts only see mid-single digit earnings and revenue growth for the iPad maker, LSEG data shows. What to watch: Apple heads into this week’s report in a questionable spot. The stock is lagging other Magnificent Seven companies, as well as the S & P 500 . On top of that, there are questions around iPhone 16 sales. KeyBanc last week downgraded Apple shares to underweight from sector weight, noting: “[T]he iPhone SE is not incremental, and could possibly be cannibalistic to iPhone 16 sales.” What history shows: Apple earnings beat expectations 89% of the time, Bespoke data shows. The stock also averages a 1.3% advance on earnings days. Amazon is set to report earnings after the market close, with a conference call at 5 p.m. ET. Last quarter: AMZN shares fell on disappointing guidance and a revenue miss . This quarter: The dominant e-commerce platform is expected to report earnings growth of more than 20% versus the year-earlier period, according to LSEG. What to watch: Key to investors will be the state of Amazon Web Services, the company’s growth engine, especially as retail growth slows, according to Bank of America analyst Justin Post. “Near-term, Street guidance concerns could help stock if outlook doesn’t surprise and, medium-term, exposure to accelerating AI-driven cloud demand is the top reason to own Amazon. Also retail margin growth could reaccelerate in 2H’25 if mix shift to consumables normalizes,” he wrote last week. What history shows: Amazon shares average a 0.8% gain on earnings days, Bespoke numbers show. But the stock tumbled nearly 9% after Amazon posted second-quarter results.
Busiest week of the season includes Apple and Amazon
