Wall Street braces for blowout Big Tech earnings
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The world’s biggest tech companies are about to open up their books — and some are expected to serve up record-shattering numbers.
Why it matters: The pandemic made many Americans even more dependent on these companies. That put a massive gust of wind — to the tune of billions of dollars — into the sails of Big Tech.
- For now, forecasters see few signs of this fading.
Where it stands: Microsoft, reporting tomorrow, is estimated to have booked the highest revenue figure in its history, helped by its cloud and gaming businesses, per WSJ.
Also on tap this week:
- Revenue at Alphabet is expected to outpace the company's first quarter record, helped by voracious internet advertising demand.
- The signs of that hot ad market already showed up in Snap and Twitter's financial results — and Facebook is expected to reap the benefits too.
- Amazon could log over $100 billion in sales (yes, in a single quarter) for the third time ever. That never happened before the pandemic.
- Apple's sales are set to leap over what it posted this time last year.
The elephant in the room: Antitrust scrutiny has increased since the last time the companies released earnings, says Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
- Big Tech foe Lina Khan was sworn in as head of the Federal Trade Commission, and longtime Google critic Jonathan Kanter is set to lead the antitrust division of the Department of Justice.
- Meanwhile, Congress is batting around a suite of antitrust bills.
But, but, but: None of these developments have made a dent in these companies' soaring stock prices.
- "This is an elongated battle between the Beltway and Big Tech that is not slowing down," says Ives.
Stat to go: The five names alone are a record 22.9% of the S&P 500.
