The Q3 2025 U.S. earnings season reaches its climax this week as major tech giants prepare to report their financial results. Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Meta (META), and Microsoft (MSFT) will release earnings after Wednesday's market close, followed by Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) on Thursday.

These reports are expected to significantly influence market trends in the coming days. However, investors will have to wait until next month for earnings from AMD (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA), scheduled for November 4 and November 19, respectively.

Key focus areas include: - Whether Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Microsoft are seeing returns on their massive AI investments, and how much further they plan to spend on data center expansion. - Apple's iPhone 17 sales performance in its early weeks compared to its predecessor, the iPhone 16. Strong iPhone demand recently propelled Apple's market cap past $4 trillion, making it the third company—after Nvidia and Microsoft—to join the exclusive $4 trillion club (though Microsoft has since dipped below that threshold).

This earnings season serves as a critical test for the tech sector, with analysts and investors closely watching developments in AI and cloud computing.

**AI and Cloud Computing in Focus** For Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft, AI's impact on cloud spending will be a central discussion. Wall Street is keen to see whether these companies can sustain AI-driven growth in their cloud businesses.

UBS analyst Karl Keirstead noted that conversations with cloud clients and partners this quarter revealed more optimism compared to previous earnings seasons. Year-to-date, Amazon's stock has lagged behind its peers, rising just 0.03%, while Alphabet and Microsoft have surged 33.2% and 24.2%, respectively. Keirstead projects Q3 cloud revenue growth of 32% for Alphabet, 39% for Microsoft, and 17% for Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The divergence stems from Microsoft benefiting from OpenAI's heavy data center demand, while Alphabet gains from rising adoption of its Gemini AI model. Although AWS powers Anthropic's cloud infrastructure, the AI firm recently struck a deal to use up to 1 million Google chips for AI workloads.

"Investor concerns around AWS growth are less about losing core CPU-based workloads to Microsoft and more about AWS's positioning in AI compute," Keirstead wrote. He added that AWS must demonstrate stronger AI traction to improve investor sentiment.

Excluding Microsoft's OpenAI advantage, its cloud growth would be closer to 22%, narrowing the gap with AWS's 15%. "Given AWS's larger non-AI revenue base, this growth differential appears more reasonable," Keirstead noted.

Despite a recent AWS outage disrupting global internet services, Amazon's stock rose over 2% that day. AWS also holds a potential trump card—Project Rainier, a massive U.S.-based AI supercluster powered by Amazon's custom Trainium2 chips, which Anthropic will use to develop its Claude AI models.

Alphabet's Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is another focal point, with analysts watching whether new cloud contracts and AI adoption can sustain growth. CEO Sundar Pichai previously highlighted GCP's $50 billion annualized revenue run rate and strong AI demand.

Bank of America's Justin Post noted that Alphabet is benefiting as search engines shift from standard to generative AI results. "Advertisers are increasing paid placements to offset potential declines in organic traffic," he wrote. However, OpenAI's new ChatGPT Atlas browser could challenge Google Chrome, which still dominates with a 72% market share.

Microsoft's cloud growth, fueled by OpenAI's compute needs, may drive a strong earnings report. "Enterprise sentiment is improving, with Azure partners citing accelerating growth, particularly in AI/GPU demand," Keirstead observed.

Ahead of earnings, Microsoft and OpenAI finalized an agreement where OpenAI committed $250 billion in Azure spending, though Microsoft lost its "first right of refusal" as OpenAI's cloud provider. Microsoft must also prove that Azure's growth extends beyond AI-related demand.

Unlike its peers, Meta does not sell cloud or AI services but uses AI to power its ad business. Still, the company is spending billions on AI data centers, with early signs of success. However, Meta must ensure ad revenue and user engagement keep pace with its heavy capital expenditures.

Adding pressure, Meta and Alphabet report on the same day, inviting direct comparisons. Meta's stock could rally on an earnings beat or drop on a miss. The company recently launched new AI hardware, including smart glasses with a built-in display, which may boost engagement and ad appeal.

**Apple's iPhone 17 Moment** While Apple trails in AI adoption, its core business remains iPhone sales. Counterpoint Research reported that iPhone 17 U.S. and China sales in its first 10 days outpaced the iPhone 16 by 14%, helping Apple surpass $4 trillion in market cap.

However, Jefferies analyst Edison Lee noted slowing iPhone 17 momentum in several markets, with delivery times shortening. Wall Street will scrutinize demand for the new iPhone Air and whether it outperforms the discontinued iPhone Plus.