Third Quarter Earnings Reports: Results of Major Companies

The third-quarter earnings season continues unabated. This week, results have started coming in from AI-focused companies such as Palantir (PLTR), AMD (AMD), and Supermicro (SMCI).

So far, the earnings season has made a positive start. As of October 31, 64% of S&P 500 companies have reported their results, and analysts expect a 10.7% increase in earnings per share for the third quarter. If this trend continues, it would mark the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit earnings growth; however, this represents a slowdown compared to the 12% growth reported in the second quarter of this year.

Analysts' expectations had been somewhat lower at the beginning of the quarter; they had anticipated a 7.9% growth in earnings per share for S&P 500 companies in the third quarter.

This week, companies from the AI sector such as Palantir, AMD, Supermicro, Constellation Energy (CEG), Qualcomm (QCOM), and Arm Holdings (ARM) will present their quarterly updates.

Other notable results include Shopify (SHOP), Uber (UBER), Pfizer (PFE), Spotify (SPOT), Marriott International (MAR), Toyota (TM), Novo Nordisk (NVO), McDonald's (MCD), AppLovin (APP), Robinhood (HOOD), DoorDash (DASH), Snap (SNAP), AstraZeneca (AZN), ConocoPhillips (COP), Airbnb (ABNB), Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), Block (XYZ), Duke Energy (DUK), and Wendy's (WEN).

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B, BRK-A) shares rose more than 1% after the company reported its third-quarter earnings over the weekend. The company's profit increased by 17% due to this year's mild hurricane season and additional paper investments. Berkshire Hathaway is preparing for the legendary 95-year-old investor to pass on the CEO title in January.

AbbVie (ABBV) shares fell 4% on Friday afternoon after reporting revenues and earnings that exceeded Wall Street's expectations amid high operating costs. AbbVie also raised its full-year earnings forecast from the previous range of $10.38-$10.58 to $10.61-$10.65.

Normalized earnings per share fell from last year's $3 to $1.86, but remained above the analyst expectation of $1.78. Revenue increased by 9.1% during the quarter, reaching $15.7 billion.

Demand for significant immunology drugs remained resilient. Revenues from Skyrizi increased by 46.8%, and revenues from Rinvoq rose by 35.3%. However, the company's blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira is facing a 55.4% decline compared to the third quarter of 2024, as several generic versions have been introduced following the loss of patent protection.

Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy stated that the company's announcement of cutting 14,000 corporate job positions was not related to artificial intelligence but was due to over-hiring. "It is not financially driven, and it is not currently related to AI. It's about culture," Jassy said.

Apple (AAPL) shares rose 3% following CEO Tim Cook's optimistic remarks during the company's earnings conference. "We are quite excited about the strength between our products and services, and we expect the December quarter to be the best for the company and the best for the iPhone," Cook said, adding that iPhone 17 is experiencing supply constraints due to high demand.

Coinbase (COIN) reported an increase in its profits for the third quarter and succeeded in attracting investor interest due to strong demand for the firm.

In the coming periods, the performance of companies and the state of the markets will continue to attract investors' attention alongside the economic outlook.