Wall St Week Ahead-Big tech companies retake market reins with earnings on tap
The rally on Wall Street faces a fresh test next week with a flood of earnings reports from major U.S. companies, including the tech and internet behemoths that have recently retaken leadership of the market.
More than one third of the S&P 500 is set to report quarterly results next week, headlined by Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet , the four largest U.S. companies by market value.
Those stocks have gained between 5-7% so far this month, as of Thursday’s close, while the S&P 500 had climbed just 1.6%. The S&P 500 equal-weight index, a barometer of the average stock, had fallen 0.2%.
“The expectation level for these names is quite a bit higher than it was a month ago given the stock performance, so I think they are going to have to deliver,” said Walter Todd, chief investment officer with Greenwood Capital in South Carolina.
“It’s a question of looking forward: Can they live up to the expectations that the stock prices reflect?”