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Meta and IBM stocks pop, Microsoft slides, Caterpillar shares climb

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Meta and IBM stocks pop, Microsoft slides, Caterpillar shares climb

The fourth quarter earnings season kicked into high gear this week, with Big Tech results from Microsoft (MSFT), Meta (META), Tesla (TSLA), and Apple (AAPL) headlining the earnings calendar.

An optimistic consensus is forming: As of Jan. 23, 13% of S&P 500 (^GSPC) companies have reported fourth quarter results, according to FactSet data, and Wall Street analysts estimate an 8.2% increase in earnings per share for the fourth quarter. If that rate holds, it would represent the 10th consecutive quarter of annual earnings growth for the index.

S&P 500 earnings growth estimates. (Chart: FactSet)

Heading into the reporting period, analysts were expecting an 8.3% jump in earnings per share, down from the third quarter’s 13.6% earnings growth rate. Wall Street has raised its earnings expectations in recent months, especially for tech companies, which have driven earnings growth in recent quarters.

Although Big Tech continues to set the tone, this earnings season promises to test the improved stock market breadth that has emerged at the start of 2026. Plus, the themes that drove the markets in 2025 — artificial intelligence, the Trump administration’s tariff and economic policies, and a K-shaped consumer economy — will continue to provide plenty for investors to parse.

In addition to the reports from four of the “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks, Wall Street will receive updates from a wide swath of companies across the economy, including UnitedHealth (UNH), Boeing (BA), General Motors (GM), IBM (IBM), Starbucks (SBUX), Levi Strauss (LEVI), Visa (V), American Express (AXP), Mastercard (MA), Caterpillar (CAT), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), AT&T (T), and Verizon (VZ),

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  • Caterpillar reports earnings beat, warns of $2.6 billion annual tariff headwind

    Caterpillar (CAT) reported higher profits as demand for its power generation equipment surged amid the build-out of data centers.

    The construction and mining equipment maker reported an adjusted profit of $5.16 per share for the quarter, up from $5.14 ⁠per share a ‌year earlier. Revenue rose to $19.1 billion from $16.2 billion. Those figures were above Wall Street’s expectations of $4.71 earnings per share and revenue of $17.7 billion.

    But Caterpillar, which faced a tariff hit of between $1.6 billion and $1.75 billion in 2025, expects an even bigger headwind from tariffs in 2026, warning of a $2.6 billion hit from tariffs in 2026.

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Comcast sheds more broadband customers as wireless competition mounts

    Media group Comcast (CMCSA) reported a loss in broadband customers in its fourth quarter earnings on Thursday, the decline missed analysts’ estimates and was driven by a rise in competitors offering consumers more cost-effective and aggressive offers.

    The stock edged higher by 0.3% before the bell on Thursday.

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Thermo Fisher beats quarterly estimates on demand for tools from pharma clients

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    SAP shares slump after cloud backlog, guidance disappoint

    SAP (SAP) stock fell 15% before the bell on Thursday after reporting a cloud backlog and posting disappointing guidance.

    The German firm said that its cloud pre-orders hit $25 billion, but they missed analysts’ estimates by just 1%. The delay has been blamed on a few “mega deals” that are taking longer to get running; this has caused a sell-off in the stock.

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Mark Zuckerberg on Meta’s earnings call: ‘We are now seeing a major AI acceleration’

    “We are now seeing a major AI acceleration,” Mark Zuckerberg stated on Meta’s (META) earnings call.

    That theme was consistent throughout Meta’s earnings call, as the CEO touted new AI models and products that the company is working on.

    Zuckerberg said that since the beginning of 2025, Meta has seen a 30% increase in productivity from its engineers due to the adoption of AI coding tools. The power users of those tools have seen their output increase by 80%, Zuckerberg said.

    “We’re starting to see agents really work,” he added. “This will unlock the ability to build completely new products and transform how we work.”

  • Tesla suggests cities where robotaxis may be tested next

    As Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian noted, Tesla (TSLA) said in its earnings report that it removed the safety driver on a limited basis for its Austin robotaxi service.

    As for which metro areas may be next for robotaxi testing, Tesla suggested it would target Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas in the first half of 2026.

    Robotaxi target cities. (Tesla presentation)
    Robotaxi target cities. (Tesla presentation)

  • ServiceNow stock declines after company announces expanded partnership with Anthropic

    ServiceNow (NOW) followed up its partnership with OpenAI, inked last week, with an expanded agreement with Anthropic on Wednesday.

    The cloud software company said it will deploy Anthropic’s Claude model to more than 29,000 employees with the ServiceNow AI Platform. The stock declined by 5% after the agreement and company earnings were released.

    “This partnership is about reimagining how work gets done,” said Bill McDermott, CEO of ServiceNow. “It puts the power to build, deploy, and scale mission-critical applications into the hands of every person, in every industry, at every level. Together, we are proving that deeply integrated platforms with an open ecosystem are how the future is built.”

    In the fourth quarter, ServiceNow reported adjusted profit of $0.92 per share, above estimates of $0.88. Revenue rose more than 20% year over year to $3.57, also beating estimates of $3.53 billion.

    For 2026, ServiceNow expects subscription revenue to be between $15.53 billion and $15.57 billion. Wall Street forecast full-year subscription revenue of $15.21 billion, ​according to data compiled by LSEG.

    Read more about ServiceNow earnings here.

  • IBM stock surges as software revenue growth accelerates

    International Business Machines (IBM) stock surged 8% in extended trading after growth in the company’s software business drove 12% revenue growth for the fourth quarter.

    Revenue increased to $19.69 billion, beating forecasts of $19.21 billion, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates. Software revenue was up 14% in the quarter, Consulting revenue increased 3%, while Infrastructure revenue rose 21%.

    IBM has focused on its Hybrid Cloud and Red Hat software platforms, which have been primary drivers of the stock’s 30% gain over the past year.

    Earnings per share came in at $4.52, compared to estimates of $4.32.

    Read more from Reuters.

  • Tesla stock climbs on Q4 earnings beat, Optimus robots on track for end-of-year production

    Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports:

    Read more here.

  • Microsoft Q2 earnings beat, cloud revenue tops $50 billion

    Yahoo Finance’s Daniel Howley reports:

    Read more here.

  • Meta tops Q4 expectations, stock climbs

    Yahoo Finance’s Daniel Howley reports:

    Read more here.

  • Brooke DiPalma

    Whirlpool misses fourth quarter expectations as tariffs linger, promotional environment intensifies

    Whirlpool (WHR) posted fourth quarter results that missed expectations as it navigated a volatile macro backdrop with tariffs, a higher promotional environment, and cautious consumers.

    The appliance maker, behind other brands like Maytag and KitchenAid, reported revenue of $4.1 billion, less than estimates of $4.3 billion. Adjusted earnings came lower than expected at $1.91, while the Street forecasted $2.18, per Bloomberg consensus data.

    Whirlpool chairman and CEO Marc Bitzer characterized 2025 as one filled with a “lot of challenges and headwinds” on a call with Yahoo Finance. He said the fourth quarter was an even tougher landscape.

    “It was a pretty heavy [promotional] environment in Q4, which is probably the result of … still a lot of pre-tariff loaded inventory market,” Bitzer said, adding that new products and transition costs also weighed on the quarter.

    Revenue for major appliances in its North America business fell 0.9% year-over-year to $2.57 billion. Whirlpool’s small domestic appliance business grew 10.3% to $423 million, less than the $466 million Wall Street expected.

    So far in 2026, Bitzer said the company is seeing a “normalized environment.”

    Whirlpool expects net sales to come in the range of $15.3 billion to $15.6 billion. Wall Street expected $15.5 billion. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at roughly $6.25 for the year, a bit lower than the $7.23 projection the Street had. Free cash flow is far higher than expected, though, in the range of $400 million to $500 million, compared to expectations for $349 million.

  • Earnings for Chili’s owner Brinker International tops market forecasts

    Brinker International (EAT) stock rose 5% ahead of the opening bell on Wednesday after the Chili’s restaurant owner reported earnings and a financial outlook that topped analysts’ expectations.

    Investing.com reports:

    Read more here.

  • GE Vernova raises guidance, but EBITDA misses estimates

    GE Vernova (GEV) reported a solid quarter and guidance raise, but the stock slid around 2% in premarket trading.

    The company, which spun off from GE in 2024, makes gas turbines and other equipment for electricity generation that has boomed as a result of the artificial intelligence build-out.

    GE Vernova’s adjusted EBITDA of $1.15 billion, below analyst estimates of $1.2 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, may be letting investors down.

    Revenue of $10.9 billion beat estimates of $10.2 billion. And GE Vernova reported total backlog growth of $31.2 billion for the year.

    For 2026, GE Vernova raised its revenue guidance to a range of $44 billion to $45 billion, up from $41 billion to $42 billion. The company also expects increased cash flow of $5 billion to $5.5 billion, up from $4.5 billion to $5 billion.

    The company sees 16%-18% organic revenue growth in its power segment for the year.

    “We delivered strong financial performance in 2025 with continued momentum in Power and Electrification while focusing on what we can control in Wind,” GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik said. “We increased our backlog to $150 billion, with better equipment margins, and are entering 2026 with significant momentum.”

  • Starbucks posts first quarter of US sales growth in 2 years as turnaround continues

    Yahoo Finance’s Brooke DiPalma reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Corning forecasts first-quarter sales above estimates on strong optical fiber demand

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here. 

  • Jenny McCall

    Danaher forecasts 2026 profit in line with estimates on pharma spending recovery

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    AT&T bets on fiber, spectrum deals to forecast annual profit above expectations

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Elevance forecasts 2026 profit below estimates on elevated medical costs

    Elevance Health (ELV) stock fell 5% before the bell on Wednesday following a 2026 forecast for profit falling below Wall Street estimates.

    ​The health insurer said it expects higher medical costs ‌to persist into the year.

    Reuters reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    ASML’s record orders smash estimates as AI spurs demand

    ASML (ASML) stock jumped 6% during premarket hours on Wednesday after reporting fourth quarter orders that beat analysts’ expectations. ASML said the development of its AI infrastructure had helped boost demand for its chip-making machines.

    Bloomberg News reports:

    Read more here.

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