Archived article
Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
Why investors are excited about upcoming big tech results

The next set of quarterly earnings from mega cap technology companies including key members of the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ could have a major influence on the direction of markets heading into the final months of 2023.
Investors will be hoping these tech titans have maintained their positive growth momentum and can pick up the slack from other sectors where earnings are under pressure.
First out of the gate on 24 October are Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ) and Alphabet (GOOG:NASDAQ), whose results will be scrutinised to see if the billions of dollars they are funnelling into AI projects are paying off.
Satya Nadella-steered Microsoft’s shares are up 40% year-to-date on excitement surrounding its growth potential in AI and analysts are looking for first quarter earnings per share of $2.65 on $54.5 billion of revenue. Sales rose 8% to $56.2 billion for the fourth quarter and earnings topped forecasts thanks to growth in Microsoft’s cloud business.
Alphabet’s share price is up 56% in 2023 so far and its second quarter earnings in July topped market expectations. Momentum in Google Cloud and Google Search is expected to have continued in the third quarter. Alphabet’s YouTube advertising revenues will also be pored over by analysts. Bloomberg forecasts point to 36% year-on-year EPS growth to $1.44 for Alphabet as a whole.
Excitement could also centre around updates on Bard, Alphabet’s chatbot tool supported by generative AI which is a rival to Microsoft’s ChatGPT.
In July, Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai insisted the company’s continued leadership in AI and ‘excellence’ in engineering and innovation are driving the next evolution of its search engine and improving all its services.
‘With fifteen products that each serve half a billion people, and six that serve over two billion each, we have so many opportunities to deliver on our mission,’ said Pichai.
Shares in social media giant Meta Platforms (META:NASDAQ) are up 160% year-to-date. Investors appear to be optimistic ahead of third quarter earnings on 25 October, with consensus calling for EPS of $3.59 on revenues of $33.4 billion.
On 26 July, Meta – which owns Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp – put up forecast-trumping second quarter earnings per share of $2.98 on $32 billion sales and predicted third quarter revenues of $32 billion to $34.5 billion, with confidence in its digital advertising business restored and sales growth back in high gear.
Third quarter numbers from Amazon (AMZN:NASDAQ) are hotly anticipated too, with the market eager to learn if the e-commerce-to-cloud computing group can beat earnings estimates yet again, with consensus calling for EPS of $0.58, up from $0.20 last year. iPhone designer Apple (AAPL:NASDAQ) is the final mega tech stock to report, with numbers scheduled for 2 November.
Important information:
These articles are provided by Shares magazine which is published by AJ Bell Media, a part of AJ Bell. Shares is not written by AJ Bell.
Shares is provided for your general information and use and is not a personal recommendation to invest. It is not intended to be relied upon by you in making or not making any investment decisions. The investments referred to in these articles will not be suitable for all investors. If in doubt please seek appropriate independent financial advice.
Investors acting on the information in these articles do so at their own risk and AJ Bell Media and its staff do not accept liability for losses suffered by investors as a result of their investment decisions.
Issue contents
Feature
Great Ideas
News
- Why investors are excited about upcoming big tech results
- Hipgnosis Songs Fund at all-time low ahead of big vote on 26 October
- Coca-Cola shares have been weak heading into third-quarter earnings
- Pfizer hit by lower Covid vaccine demand but Novo Nordisk soars on weight-loss boost
- Computacenter shares still on a roll after upbeat financial results two months ago
- What do the latest US banking results tell us about the economy and markets?