We’re coming off a busy week in markets dominated by the resurgence of war in the Middle East and a sharp sell-off in the seemingly invincible semiconductor trade.
This week, investors step into another packed five-day stretch headlined by earnings from Mag Seven stalwarts Alphabet (GOOG) and Tesla (TSLA) on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) closed out Friday down 1% for a loss of 1.5% on the week. The Dow (^DJI) lost 0.8% on Friday to close the week on a loss of 0.9%. The Nasdaq (^IXIC) saw the largest losses, down 1.4% on Friday and 2.9% on the week.
Besides the Mag Seven heavy hitters, we’ll also be watching Thursday’s report from Intel (INTC) — a check-in on the chip trade — and reports from GE Vernova (GEV) and Honeywell (HON) that should give investors a read on the industrial and power-demand side of the business.
Also critical for investors will be Wednesday’s report from longtime tech major IBM (IBM), coming after a major sell-off following a dour letter from CEO Arvind Krishna.
Elsewhere, reports from AT&T (T), T-Mobile (TMUS), and Verizon (VZ) will provide investors with a check on the state of the telecom business, likely to be especially interesting after SpaceX’s (SPCX) entrance into the market.
The packed earnings slate is balanced out by a relatively tame economic data calendar, where a sweep of index readings from S&P Global will help investors assess the state of the economy on a broad basis.
Big Tech needs to deliver ‘measurable returns’
The global chip stock rout has erased more than $3 trillion in market value since June 22, much of which has flowed into the Magnificent Seven.
This week, that rotation will get a major test on both sides, with earnings reports from the buyer-side Magnificent Seven names Alphabet (GOOG) and Tesla (TSLA), and from seller-side leader Intel Corporation (INTC).
“Investors will be watching closely to see whether earnings can justify elevated valuations and whether the recent pullback develops into a broader correction or simply a pause in the AI-led rally,” Capital.com analyst Daniela Hathorn said.
Semiconductor sales increased 79% year on year in the first quarter of 2026, up from to 38% in the fourth quarter of 2025. BNP Paribas expects the second quarter to show sales growth of 132%.
For Big Tech, data center capex from the top five hyperscalers — Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet, Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), and Oracle (ORCL) — is expected to grow 79% year on year in 2026 to $644 billion, and 18% year on year in 2027 to $759 billion, BNP analysts said.
