By WSJ Staff

This week was busy. Next week, earnings week will again be jam-packed, this time with megacap tech companies.

More than one-third of S&P 500 companies have reported third-quarter results so far. About three-quarters of them have beaten Wall Street profit expectations, slightly below the five-year average of 77%, according to FactSet.

In the coming week, tech leaders Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple are all set to report earnings. Those companies represent the majority of the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks that have driven the market higher in recent months. They also represent a staggering combined market capitalization of about $12 trillion.

As if that's not enough, the week ends Friday with the monthly jobs report, the last one before the U.S. presidential election Tue. Nov. 5.

Here are the specifics of what investors can look out for next week:

Monday:

-- After the bell earnings: Ford Motor.

Tuesday:

-- Earnings before the bell: Pfizer, PayPal and McDonald's. Investors will be looking for an update from the fast food chain on the E. Coli outbreak linked to Quarter Pounders that shaved about 8% off of McDonald's shares this week.

-- After the bell earnings: Google-parent Alphabet, payment giant Visa, Mondelez and Advanced Micro Devices.

Wednesday:

-- Before the bell: Earnings from Eli Lilly and Caterpillar, and a monthly employment report from ADP.

-- After the bell: Meta Platforms and Microsoft earnings. In focus for Microsoft, the latest installment of the "Call of Duty" video-game franchise and spending on AI.

Thursday

-- No rest for the trick-or-treaters. Earnings before the bell from Mastercard and Uber. After the bell another big tech day: Apple, Amazon.com and Intel release their results.

Friday

-- Monthly U.S. jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Also before the bell, earnings reports from oil giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron.

This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 25, 2024 17:06 ET (21:06 GMT)

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