Earnings Season kicks off this week, with a long list of companies scheduled to announce quarterly results, highlighted by major banks and financials, with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, American Express, Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley, and BlackRock on the docket. Away from financials, a diverse batch of companies also reporting include Alcoa, ASML Holdings, Netflix, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Fastenal, Johnson & Johnson, United Airlines, GE Aerospace, 3M Company, and Schlumberger.
This earning season begins with the stock market essentially at an all-time high. Although the major averages closed a bit lower last week – with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dipping just .3%, the NASDAQ Composite edging .1% lower, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1% – both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ closed at record highs last Thursday. So, we are essentially entering earnings season with the stock market at an all-time high.
Whether or not the stock market rally can continue, will depend in large part on corporate earnings. According to FactSet – for the second quarter of 2025, the blended year-over-year earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 is 4.8%. So, the market will be looking for results to at least match that. Additionally, along with normal guidance, investors will be looking for commentary on how tariffs and trade policy are impacting companies. The market has generally become more comfortable with tariff headlines, deadlines, and negotiations, but tariffs and trade are still a potential negative and source of worry going forward.
Bottom line, get ready for earnings! We say it (at least) every quarter – earnings season is our favorite of all the seasons (especially when the forecasts show blue skies ahead) – and profits are the mother’s milk of stock prices.
For some interesting market history/trivia, NVIDIA, the poster child of Artificial Intelligence, become the first company to reach a market cap of $4 trillion last week, beating Microsoft to that historic mark. NVIDIA’s market cap now exceeds that of the entire United Kingdom stock market.
As always, please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or if you would like to schedule a meeting.
All the best – Southport Station Financial Management, LLC