Earnings will be the main event this week, as Wall Street looks to add to recent record-setting gains. Nearly 40 S & P 500 companies are scheduled to post third-quarter results this week. Among those are Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — along with streaming giant Netflix . Check out our latest Earnings Playbook for more on the names reporting this week. The earnings period got off to a solid start. The 30 S & P 500 names that reported last week beat earnings expectations by an average of 5%, according to Bank of America. At a more granular level, strategist Ohsung Kwon noted that positives are emerging. “[Banks] are seeing early signs of improvement from easing rate pressure in fee-related businesses. Underwriting fees soared in 3Q, especially for debt issuance (+56% YoY at JP Morgan), as corporates looked to take advantage of lowered rates,” Kwon said. Meanwhile, Fastenal ‘s report indicated that “easing rate pressure, combined with moderating headwinds from de-stocking, should translate into a pickup in manufacturing activity as we move into 2025.” To be sure, RBC Capital Markets’ Lori Calvasina thinks Big Tech will be key to a strong reporting period. “EPS growth expectations for Mag 7 names have actually improved for both 2024 and 2025 recently, while those for the rest of the S & P 500 have stalled, resulting in some increased earnings dominance for Mag 7,” the bank’s head of global equity strategy said. “We think earnings sentiment needs to improve for the rest of the market for a smoother leadership transition to occur and will be watching these stats closely in coming weeks.” The flood of third-quarter reports comes as the S & P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average trade at all-time highs, boosted in part by both solid economic data and expectations of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates. The S & P 500 closed above 5,800 for the first time on Friday. It’s up nearly 22% year to date. The Dow has climbed 13.7% in 2024 and is approaching 43,000.
Earnings ramp up this week. Here’s what to watch for this season
