Tech Giants' Earnings, Regulatory Issues Impact Markets

Investors are homing in on a flood of earnings reports from Wall Street’s tech and Internet giants, as the high-growth stocks that have led markets higher for years face pressures from regulation, supply-chain snags, and rising Treasury yields, Lewis Krauskopf reported for Reuters.

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Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Google parent Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., and Facebook Inc. are all set to report earnings next week. Collectively, those five names account for over 22% of the weighting in the S&P 500, giving their stock moves enormous sway over the broader index.

Overall, companies representing 46% of the S&P 500's market value are due to post quarterly results next week, according to Goldman Sachs. Strong earnings reports have helped lift the S&P 500 to fresh record highs, with the benchmark index rising 5.5% so far in October.

In September, the index posted its biggest monthly percentage drop since the pandemic began in March 2020.

While investors expect most of the big technology firms to show robust profits, many will also be listening for indications of whether they will be able to sustain that growth.

Also in focus will be any forecasts regarding supply bottlenecks, such as the chip shortage that has affected a broad swath of global industries, as well as their views on how sustainable the recent surge in consumer prices will be.

There have already been some signs that tech companies may have a high bar to clear. Intel and IBM fell sharply after disappointing reports this week.

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