*By Carlo Versano*
Broad stock indexes sputtered Monday, but tech investors looked ahead to one of the busiest earnings weeks of the quarter, anchored by reports from many industry heavyweights that were able to avoid overall weakness in the market.
Microsoft ($MSFT) will kick things off with its latest quarterly results on Wednesday, followed by reports from a slew of top names like Twitter ($TWTR), Amazon ($AMZN), Intel ($INTC), Snap ($SNAP), and Google parent Alphabet ($GOOGL) on Thursday.
Among the trends investors will be scouring for: continued strength in cloud computing, particularly from Amazon and Google ー two of the FAANG components ー as well as Microsoft. Growth in its cloud-based Amazon Web Services has been one of the biggest factors that powered Amazon toward a trillion-dollar market cap, which it reached briefly in the third quarter, and the transition to the software-as-a-service model has been one of the defining currents of the bull market in tech, from Adobe ($ADBE) to SAP ($SAP). Amazon will likely give an indication about its fast-growing advertising business, which is now a multibillion-dollar segment of its empire.
Investors will also be searching to see if there is evidence that a simmering trade war between the U.S. and China is starting to impact revenues. Chipmakers like AMD ($AMD) and Intel (which report Wednesday and Thursday, respectively) are highly exposed to Chinese tariffs.
We will get an update on the state of social media, with Twitter and Snap earnings. Unlike e-commerce, hardware makers or cloud companies, social earnings are mainly about one thing: active users. Snap has posted slower user growth over the past several quarters ー actually losing users in its second quarter ー as it faces continued competition from Instagram, and investors will be looking to see whether CEO Evan Spiegel has taken any steps to slow the company's huge cash burn. For Twitter, which has been aggressive in culling fake accounts and trolls, the question will be whether that has eaten into its daily active user growth.
Next week, Facebook ($FB) and Apple ($AAPL) will round out the latest quarter of FAANG earnings.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
