PHEW, what a wild week of earnings.

44% of the S&P 500 reported this week, and there were plenty of surprises (Reddit made a profit? Nobody is buying Eli Lilly’s weight-loss drugs anymore? Chili’s is America’s favorite restaurant?).

But let’s face it: All eyes were on just five companies. Which makes sense, considering that Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon account for well over 20% of the S&P 500’s market capitalization combined. That means whichever way these five go, the market will follow.

At first glance, all seems well with the biggest stocks in tech. Take a look at the scoreboard:

Alphabet

• EPS of $2.12, well above estimates of $1.85
• Revenue of $88.27 billion, above forecasts of $86.30 billion

Microsoft

• EPS of $3.30 was above forecasts of $3.10
• Revenue of $65.6 billion topped estimates of $64.57

Meta Platforms

• EPS of $6.03 crushed estimates of $5.22
• Revenue of $40.6 billion just beat expectations of $40.2 billion

Apple

• Adjusted EPS of $1.64 exceeded forecasts of $1.60
• Revenue of $94.93 billion just barely beat estimates of $94.58 billion

Amazon

• EPS of $1.43 handily beat the $1.14 analysts expected
• Revenue of $158.88 billion topped estimates of $157.2 billion

Pretty good, right?

The future is expensive

Well, sort of. Investors weren’t thrilled with the big bucks that big tech is spending on AI—not just the sheer dollar amount, but the ratio of expenses to revenue, an important measure of cash going out versus cash coming in.

Meta’s capital expenditures (CapEX) rose to $8.3 billion last quarter, or 20% of its revenue. Alphabet hit $13.1 billion, or 15% of revenue, while Microsoft dished out $14.9 billion, or 23% of revenue. Amazon’s expenses hit $22.6 billion, which was only 14% of revenue.

The lone exception to this spending spree? Apple, which reported CapEx of just $2.7 billion last quarter, a mere 3% of revenue. Unlike Amazon building nuclear plants in Virginia and Microsoft restarting Three Mile Island to power their AI infrastructure, Apple is taking a much cheaper, more on-device approach to AI with its new Apple Intelligence offerings.

The other big problem: Markets are forward-looking, which means investors care less about the quarter that was and more about the quarter that will be. And they weren’t too impressed by forecasts for what lies ahead.

Microsoft suffered its biggest selloff in two years after shareholders were disappointed by management’s guidance for slower revenue growth in the current quarter. Meanwhile, Apple shares slipped after its CFO predicted “low-to-mid-single digits” revenue growth this quarter, and the mid-point of Amazon’s revenue forecasts came in just below the analyst average (though the stock is up today).

The bottom line: As this week revealed, good quarters aren’t good enough anymore for big tech. Anything but perfect earnings reports threatens to send shares tumbling, and the future may bring more turbulence for these once-untouchable stocks.—MR

🟢 What’s up

• Boeing offered striking machinists yet another new contract offer, including a 38% pay raise over the next four years. The union will vote on the contract on Monday. Shares climbed 3.54%.
• Avis Budget motored 10.92% higher despite missing forecasts on both earnings and revenue. Shareholders celebrated the rental car company’s strong growth expectations from management and took advantage of a cheap valuation.
• Globalstar rocketed 32.38% after the satellite communications company announced an expanded deal with Apple.
• Charter Communications soared 11.87% after losing fewer subscribers than expected, which is like a back-handed compliment in the investing world.

What’s down

• Trump Media & Technology Group remains on the roller coaster, falling another 13.53% today as early exit polls show Vice President Kamala Harris with a lead in several key states.
• Wayfair may have met earnings expectations last quarter, but the online home goods retailer also lost customers and fulfilled fewer orders. Shares fell 6.26%.
• Super Micro Computer continued to sell off after the resignation of its financial auditor, an almost-sure sign of fraud. Shares sank another 10.51%.

One last tour to top off a jam-packed week of earnings!

Intel: The struggling chip manufacturer is doing everything in its power to right the ship, and considering it just posted its biggest quarterly loss in company history, you’d think things weren’t going well. But a big portion of the loss was due to one-time charges related to laying off over 16,500 employees, and shareholders think the savings from such a move will go a long way toward helping CEO Pat Gelsinger’s turnaround plans come to fruition. Shares rose 7.81%.

🪙 Coinbase: The cryptocurrency exchange dropped hard after announcing earnings late Wednesday, though shares rose 2.03% today. Turns out, investors aren’t so worried about weaker-than-expected earnings and revenue due to lower trading volume last quarter. Instead, after considering it for a moment, they decided that the future of stablecoins is bright, and Coinbase is leading that charge. It also helps that, no matter who wins the election, crypto stands to benefit.

Chevron / Exxon Mobil: That’s right, it’s a two-for-one of Big Oil earnings. Both gas giants beat earnings estimates last quarter, but while Chevron shares rose 2.86% today, Exxon Mobil fell 1.57%. The difference is how each is approaching its business: Chevron is focused on streamlining and cost-cutting, while Exxon is ramping up its production. Investors applauded Chevron’s focus on a strong bottom line, while they worried that Exxon’s commitment to increasing output could be disrupted by volatile oil prices.

While the bulk of reports are now behind us, there’s still plenty of companies that have yet to reveal their latest financials (or, in the case of Super Micro Computer, are desperately trying to cover up their latest financials).

That means this probably won’t be the last tour we take through earnings season, but it is the last one for a moment, as all eyes turn toward the presidential election and the FOMC meeting next week.

So don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.—MR

• 12,000 seems like a big number—unless it’s the number of jobs added in the United States last month. That’s a LOT lower than economists predicted, but the market knew the numbers would be thrown out of whack by hurricanes and strikes.
• The manufacturing industry continues to struggle, as the latest ISM Factory Index revealed.
• Boeing may not be the most tantalizing investment at the moment, but its bonds are undeniably cheap.
• Money is flowing into crypto ETFs ahead of the election, with Wednesday marking the biggest single-day inflows since March.
• Worried the good times are over? Here’s four reasons the bull market may stick around.
• Want more financial news, but in the morning? Thousands of readers trust our good friends at Opening Bell Daily for stock market analysis to start their day on the right foot. Kick off the trading session with Opening Bell Daily by joining free today.

Just in case you haven’t heard, there’s a presidential election next Tuesday. That’s sure to take a lot of the spotlight next week, but don’t forget that the next Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting will be held next Wednesday and Thursday.

That means just two days after a new president is chosen, Jerome Powell will take the stage and announce the central bank’s latest interest rate cut—or not.

Either way, it’s going to be one heck of a week.

Meanwhile, earnings calm down a bit, with just 10% of the S&P 500 reporting results.

Monday: Marriott International, Palantir Technologies, Hims & Hers Health, Brookfield Asset Management, Wynn Resorts, New York Times, Fox, and Goodyear Tire & Rubber.

Tuesday: Devon Energy, Yum! Brands, Cummins, Archer Daniel Midland, iRobot, Trivago, and Ferrari.

Wednesday: Novo Nordisk, Qualcomm, Arm Holdings, Zillow, Toyota Motor, Honda Motor Co., Hubspot, e.l.f. Beauty, CVS Health, Sunoco, and Six Flags Entertainment.

Thursday: Moderna, Airbnb, Rivian Automotive, Lucid Group, Pinterest, Warner Bros. Discovery, Under Armour, Warby Parker, Planet Fitness, Penn Entertainment, Steve Madden, Ralph Lauren, and Krispy Kreme.

Friday: Sony, Paramount Global, Icahn Enterprises, AMC Networks, and marijuana grower Canopy Growth.

Take a deep breath this weekend and get some rest & relaxation while you can—next week’s another big one for markets.