Wall Street breathed a sigh of relief after Big Tech produced results that were largely not as bad as feared (except for Facebook), but the harder part of this earnings season may arrive in the coming week.
A parade of smaller tech companies in sectors that received a huge pandemic bounce that may be coming back to earth will report results, without the safety of huge profit and revenue and dominant market positions that the top titans of the tech world have.
As discussed last week, these companies are also in danger of being hurt by Big Tech’s planned cutbacks, either as customers, partners or rivals.
Here are some of the sectors that will be on display this week, and the companies that will help determine their course.
Fintech: A boom in online trading of stocks and cryptocurrency marked the first two years of the pandemic, but prices for both have come crashing back to earth so far this year. Robinhood Markets Inc. HOOD, -0.66%, PayPal Inc. PYPL, +0.78%, Block Inc. SQ, +1.85% and SoFi Technologies Inc. SOFI, +0.16% were some of the most prominent financial-technology names of that time, and now we will get to see how 2022 is going for them as trading activity wanes and prices drop. PayPal and SoFi report on Tuesday; Robinhood on Wednesday; and Block on Thursday, when one of the most popular stocks among the always-online set, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. AMC, -0.14%, is also scheduled to report.
Earnings preview: Is PayPal about to cut its forecast again?
Food delivery: DoorDash Inc. and Uber Eats found many new customers during the pandemic, but with inflation striking, the pace of deliveries seems to be slowing — In its earnings this week, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. mentioned “lower delivery fees associated with a lower volume of delivery transactions,” which matches with analysts’ latest data, as Levi Sumagaysay reported. When Uber Technologies Inc. UBER, +0.60% reports Tuesday morning and DoorDash DASH, -0.46% follows Thursday afternoon, we will get more information about the pace of food delivery as Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +10.36% makes a splashy jump into the arena. For an added bonus, Papa John’s International Inc. PZZA, +6.50% will report Thursday, after rival Domino’s Pizza Inc. DPZ, +0.59% missed on earnings and noted trouble hiring delivery drivers.
Earnings preview: Will Amazon and GrubHub take a bite out of Uber and DoorDash’s food-delivery dominance?
Videogames: It seemed like everyone was building a gaming rig or purchasing a laptop at the beginning of the pandemic, and then the new PlayStation and Xbox consoles hit and demand could not be sated. In 2022, though, a lot of people finally turned off their machines and wandered outside, with Microsoft Corp. MSFT, +1.57% reporting last week that Xbox services was one of only two of its many businesses that saw a year-over-year decline. On Monday, we will get a look at the company Microsoft has agreed to pay nearly $70 billion for, Activision Blizzard Inc. ATVI, +0.55%, before rival Electronic Arts Inc. reports on Tuesday.
For more: Gamers spent billions more on videogames during the pandemic
Online travel: People are flying again, but are they buying those tickets on Expedia Group Inc.’s EXPE, +0.70% or Booking Holdings Inc.’s BKNG, +1.19% platforms? And once they get to their destination, are they still staying at Airbnb Inc. ABNB, +1.97% homes? Airbnb has been rolling up record revenue as travelers looks to avoid hotels and have their own homes on vacation, and summer is the time for it. But with rising Airbnb prices adding to inflation, its possible travelers are going back to hotels, and Expedia and Booking will be looking to serve those up. Investors in Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, +1.84% GOOG, +1.79%, Meta Platforms Inc. META, -1.01% and other ad-based companies will want to pay attention to any information on marketing spending from Expedia and Booking as well, as they are big spenders in that world. Airbnb reports Tuesday, followed by Booking on Wednesday and Expedia on Thursday.
After more than 170 S&P 500 SPX, +1.42% reported in the previous week, we will be almost as busy in the coming week, with more than 150 S&P 500 components on the schedule. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.97% will be less busy, with just two components expected to report — Caterpillar Inc. CAT, +5.54% on Tuesday and Amgen Inc. AMGN, -0.91% on Thursday.
The numbers to watch
AMD’s data-center sales: After Intel Corp. INTC, -8.56% released an earnings report that one longtime analyst called “the worst we have seen in our career,” rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, +3.05% will report Tuesday. After Intel’s data-center sales shockingly declined year-over-year, Wall Street expects AMD to report booming sales as a result. If CEO Lisa Su does not show off big growth in the data-center business that she is breaking out for the first time, then there will be deep concerns about the server-chip market moving forward.
Full earnings preview: Intel’s pain could be AMD’s gain
The gambling forecasts: There will be a ton of casino and gambling-related companies detailing earnings from a quarter in which there were not a whole lot of big sporting events to put money on. As the NFL season prepares to kick off in the third quarter, look for expectations from companies like Caesars Entertainment Inc. CZR, +1.78%, MGM Resorts Intl. MGM, +0.37%, Wynn Resorts Ltd. WYNN, -0.27%, DraftKings Inc. DKNG, and Penn National Gaming Inc. PENN, +0.93%
The calls to put on your calendar
Moderna: A report this week suggested that new COVID-19 vaccine boosters aimed at the omicron variant that has become prevalent will be made available in September, and the U.S. government has already agreed to purchase $1.7 billion worth of shots from Moderna Inc. MRNA, +3.81% Yet clinical trials have not yet started, so when Moderna reports earnings Wednesday morning, the conference call could include news of the path ahead for the new boosters.
Read: Moderna and Pfizer to start clinical trials for COVID-19 boosters ‘in the near future’
Beyond Meat: A partnership between Beyond Meat Inc. BYND, +1.78% and McDonald’s Corp. MCD, -0.03% to test a meatless “McPlant” burger at the chain seemed to end recently, adding to growing doubts about the meat-alternative company’s ability to continue growing. Beyond Meat’s stock has lost more than half its value so far in 2022, so executives will have a lot of explaining to do when they take the microphone on Thursday.
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