The Wall Street Journal: Apple, Amazon, Microsoft headline busy earnings week ahead

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Tech giants including Apple
AAPL,
-2.78%
,
Amazon
AMZN,
-2.66%

 and Microsoft
MSFT,
-2.41%

are among the companies headlining a busy earnings week that comes as investors weigh concerns over rising interest rates, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and surging costs.

Overall, about a third of the S&P 500 and nearly half of the Dow Jones Industrial Average are expected to provide their quarterly updates during the week starting Monday, according to FactSet.

Facebook parent Meta Platforms
FB,
-2.11%
,
  Google owner Alphabet
GOOG,
-4.26%

GOOGL,
-4.15%

and Twitter
TWTR,
+3.93%

 have earnings on tap next week. Also expected to provide quarterly updates are industrial conglomerates such as General Electric
GE,
-2.89%

  and 3M Co
MMM,
-1.71%

; food heavyweights Mondelez International
MDLZ,
-1.18%

  and McDonalds
MCD,
-1.99%

  and other big names in manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.

Covid-19-related supply-chain issues remain a problem, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine is presenting new obstacles for businesses. Investors are looking to see how companies are addressing those topics as well as maneuvering amid a macroeconomic backdrop marked by high inflation.

“Inflation is higher than we thought,” Scott Kirby, chief executive of United Airlines Holdings
UAL,
+1.20%
.
“We built high inflation in over a year ago, and we thought we were being conservative, but I think everyone has been surprised by how high inflation has been.”

Tech companies, after benefiting during the pandemic as restrictions and public-health concerns left many Americans homebound, now face an evolving landscape as consumer spending shifts toward in-person goods and services.

As other companies report earnings for the recently completed quarter, many are expected to point to the severe public-health restrictions in Shanghai and elsewhere in China that have disrupted supply chains, said Brian Belski, chief investment strategist at BMO Capital Markets.

So far, about 20% of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings for the recently ended quarter, according to FactSet. Earnings are on track to rise 6.6% year-over-year for the quarter, based on actual results and estimates for companies that have yet to report, FactSet said. That would be the lowest earnings-growth rate reported by FactSet’s index since the fourth quarter of 2020. Revenue for the recent period is poised to rise 11.1% year-over-year, FactSet said.

An expanded version of this story appears on WSJ.com.

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