What to Expect in Markets This Week: Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft Earnings; Fed Interest Rate Decision
What to Expect in Markets This Week: Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft Earnings; Fed Interest Rate Decision
Sarina TrangleSun, July 26, 2026 at 12:40 PM UTC
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Investors will be eager to hear about AI investment plans from the mega-cap tech companies reporting this week.Credit: Jose Sarmento Matos / Bloomberg / Getty Images
America’s AI buildout will be in the spotlight this week, with some of the world’s biggest tech companies due to hand in their latest results and Federal Reserve officials expected to take up the topic when they meet.
A number of Fed officials have suggested that spending on AI infrastructure could be a more persistent cause of inflation than energy shocks stemming from the war with Iran. The Federal Open Markets Committee, which sets monetary policy, is likely to discuss AI and other factors influencing inflation when it meets Tuesday and Wednesday. The central bank is unlikely to adjust interest rates this week, but rate hikes may be coming later in the year, some Fed watchers say. An update on the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation is set to come Thursday, along with gross domestic product data.
What Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Meta Platforms have to say about their AI spending may be of more interest than the numbers they hand in this week. Last week, Alphabet handily beat expectations, but its stock sank after the parent company of Google and YouTube raised its projected expenditures on AI infrastructure. Tech companies are selling stock and using debt to finance the construction and operation of AI data centers, leaving investors concerned about whether these investments will pay off.
Investors will listen closely for updates on the Magnificent 7 members’ efforts to monetize AI. Meta, which reports on Wednesday, is reportedly looking to launch a cloud computing business that may sell the social media giant’s excess compute capacity or access to AI models. Amazon, which is scheduled to report on Thursday, is charging customers more to rent hardware needed to train and run AI models.
The tech giants’ capital expenditures also have implications for chip, memory and data storage stocks, which have recently lost momentum, but have been some of the best performers in the stock market this year. A number of companies that supply AI hardware are slated to report too, including Seagate Technology, Qualcomm and Arm Holdings.
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Market Recap
The major stock indexes finished Friday’s session mixed as oil prices pulled back following signs that Pakistan was pushing for new U.S.-Iran peace talks. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.5% and 0.1%, respectively. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.6% as chip stocks came under pressure. The indexes still posted losses for the week, marking the second consecutive week that all three fell. Global benchmark Brent crude futures retreated 4% to around $96.73 a barrel, a day after crossing the $100-a-barrel threshold for the first time since May. (Read our coverage of Friday’s market action here.)
This Week’s Top Events
Here’s a look at the top events this week. TradingView publishes a more detailed calendar, but clicking the link will take you off the Investopedia site.
Tuesday, July 28: PayPal (PYPL) is scheduled to host a conference call on its second-quarter results at 8 a.m. ET, with the figures expected before then. Company shares shot up when news broke earlier this month that Stripe, another payment processor, was interested in acquiring PayPal.
Tuesday: The Conference Board, an economic research think tank, plans to update its Consumer Confidence Index at 10 a.m. ET. Sentiment crept up last month, the Conference Board said, but the public mood is still near historic lows.
Tuesday: Visa (V) is set to publish its fiscal third-quarter results after the closing bell and host a live audio webcast at 5 p.m. ET. MasterCard (MA) reports on Thursday. Credit card stocks tumbled when the president proposed a 10% cap on interest rates in January. They’ve since regained ground, and could climb as consumers embrace AI shopping tools.
Tuesday: Seagate Technology Holdings (STX) is slated to publish its fiscal fourth-quarter results after the market closes and hold a conference call at 5 p.m. ET. The data storage company raised its outlook in spring.
Wednesday, July 29: The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to share its rate decision at 2 p.m. ET, with Chair Kevin Warsh holding a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET. The committee is expected to hold the fed funds rate steady, though future increase may be on the table. (Raising the rate, which affects borrowing costs, is the central bank’s key tool for combating inflation.) The Fed will get a fresh look at inflation when the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index is on Thursday, along with gross domestic product data for the second quarter.
Wednesday: Starbucks (SBUX) is slated to release its fiscal third-quarter results after the closing bell and host a conference call at 4:15 pm ET. Company shares have climbed more than 20% so far this year, with the coffee shop chain saying its turnaround campaign is driving traffic. Other restaurant chains slated to report this week include: Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), The Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) and Yum! Brands (YUM), the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.
Wednesday: Meta Platforms (META), the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is set to release second-quarter results after the market closes, and host a conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET. Meta had a tough first half of the year, amid skepticism around its investments in AI and government scrutiny. Still, investors have shown some excitement around Meta making its own AI chips and charging customers to use its latest AI model.
Wednesday: Qualcomm (QCOM) is set to publish its fiscal third-quarter results after the trading session ends, and host a conference call at 4:45 p.m. ET. The chipmaker struck a deal with Meta and is focusing on products for data centers as it faces sluggish demand for smartphone-specific chips.
Wednesday: Arm Holdings (ARM) is slated to publish its fiscal first-quarter results after the market closes, and host a conference call at 5 p.m. ET. The chip designer topped expectations last quarter. Arm is also moving into making hardware for AI data centers amid weakness in the smartphone market, and planning to sell its own chips. Lam Research Corp (LRCX), which makes chipmaking equipment, is also slated to discuss its results Wednesday evening.
Wednesday: Microsoft (MSFT) is scheduled to share its fiscal fourth-quarter results after the closing bell and hold a conference call at 5:30 p.m. ET. Microsoft posted better-than-expected results last quarter, but company shares slid. Investors have been wary of many software stocks amid worries about AI disruption.
Thursday, July 30: Amazon (AMZN) is scheduled to host a webcast on its second-quarter results at 5 p.m. ET., with the quarterly numbers expected shortly before then. The tech giant handed in better-than-expected results last quarter, but its guidance disappointed investors. Amazon recently saw strong Prime Day sales and raised its prices for leasing hardware needed to train and run AI models.
Thursday: Apple (AAPL) is set to hold a conference call on its fiscal third-quarter results at 5 p.m. ET, with the results expected before then. The company beat expectations last quarter and shared an upbeat outlook, saying that iPhone 17s were proving popular with consumers. The shares hit record highs earlier this month amid excitement over forthcoming devices and Apple potentially buying an AI chip company.
More Investopedia Reads
The group behind the S&P 500 launched a digital assets index that excludes bitcoin, Crystal Kim reports. Some experts are warning of a potential slowdown in earnings growth later this year, with rising oil prices threatening to squeeze profit margins, Colin Laidley writes. And Americans are starting more businesses, but hiring fewer workers, thanks in part to AI.
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