About 75% of companies that reported earnings this week delivered EPS wins-Earnings Scorecard

More than 80 companies, out of 110 S&P500 companies that reported earnings this week, delivered EPS wins, but they were not enough to save markets from weekly losses. Markets came under pressure from Monday to Wednesday due to a combination of rising yields and disappointing quarterly reports from some high-profile names.

A massive post-earnings rally in Tesla (TSLA) on Thursday helped ease the markets, halting the three-day decline in the S&P 500. However, some gains were offset by a more than 6% slump in IBM (IBM) which reported a quarterly top-line miss. IBM (IBM) was the biggest drag on the blue-chip Dow (DJI), followed by Honeywell (HON), which shed more than 5% in market value after cutting its full-year revenue guidance.

A dip in Boeing (BA) shares also contributed to weekly losses for the markets. The troubled planemaker, on Wednesday, disclosed a whopping $6B in quarterly losses due to a crippling machinists’ strike. Then, later that day, in another blow to the company, the factory workers voted to reject a new contract offer from the firm that would have ended a six-week strike.

This week’s losses point towards the anticipation and nervousness among investors eagerly looking forward to the jobs report due next week for fresh clues on the Federal Reserve’s scope of interest rates. Anxiety among investors is set to grow next week with the tight presidential vote approaching. The coming week will also be interesting with the Magnificent 7 Megacaps reporting next week, with names like Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), and Amazon (AMZN).

83 out of the 110 S&P 500 companies that reported earnings this week, beat EPS estimates, while over 50 companies beat estimates for both EPS and revenue. Among the companies forming the Basic Materials sector, companies like Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) and Nucor (NUE) beat profit estimates, while others had an abysmal performance.

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) edged past expectations for Q3 adjusted earnings, with revenues that were boosted by copper and gold sales volumes that exceeded previous estimates.

All three Communication services companies, Verizon (VZ), T-Mobile (TMUS), and AT&T (T) beat profit estimates with T-Mobile (TMUS) exceeding revenue expectations as well.

T-Mobile provided a boosted forecast for the full year as it expects to add more customers. The company said it now expects postpaid net customer additions to be between 5.6M and 5.8M, revised from prior guidance of 5.4M to 5.7M.

In terms of automobiles, Tesla (TSLA) stood out and led the rally in markets with a gain of 22% on Thursday on volume of over 179 million shares. The Austin-based company impressed investors on the margin line, with its Q3 earnings report. The automotive ex-credits gross margin rate was reported at 17.1% to easily clear the consensus estimate of 15.1%.

Looking at the Consumer sector, most big names like Coca-Cola (KO), Philip Morris (PM), and Kimberly-Clark beat analysts’ expectations, and delivered EPS wins. Big names in the financial sector, like KKR (KKR), Nasdaq (NDAQ), Northern Trust (NTRS), and Invesco (IVZ) also beat profit estimates while companies like Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG), Ameriprise Financial (AMP), and Principal Financial Group (PFG) disappointed.

KKR (KKR)’s adjusted net income grew 50% Y/Y with record fee-related earnings and total operating earnings. Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.38, vs. the $1.20 consensus, increased from $1.09 in Q2 and $0.88 in last year’s Q3.

The Industrial sector took a major hit with Boeing (BA) missing both profit and revenue estimates, along with misses by General Dynamics (GD), Union Pacific (UNP), and Honeywell (HON).

Boeing executives on Wednesday said the aviation giant is likely to burn cash through the next three quarters, and turn cash-flow positive in the second half of 2025. The grim outlook came as Boeing (BA) reported a loss of $6.17 billion for the third quarter

Honeywell International’s stock fell 3.7% Thursday morning after the aerospace and technology giant missed quarterly sales estimates and revised its full-year guidance downward. The company cut its full-year guidance to a range of $38.6 billion to $38.8 billion, down from $39.1 billion to $39.7 billion previously.

Contrary to the industrial sector, the technology sector performed quite well with most companies beating analyst estimates, with the exception of Enphase Energy (ENPH), which missed estimates on both the lines, and IBM (IBM) which missed topline expectations.

For the quarter ended September 30, IBM reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.30, which was more than the consensus estimate of $2.23. However, total quarterly revenue of $14.97B fell short of the $15.08B estimate.

For the upcoming week, more than 150 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report earnings, with Ford Motor (F) on Monday, Alphabet (GOOGL), McDonald’s (MCD), PayPal (PYPL), Pfizer (PFE) on Tuesday, and AbbVie (ABBV), Caterpillar (CAT), eBay (EBAY), Meta Platforms (META), and Eli Lilly (LLY) on Wednesday. Thursday will also include some big names, like Amazon.com (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Mastercard (MA), and Merck (MRK).