Third Quarter Earnings Reports: Results of Large Companies

The third quarter earnings season continues at full speed. This week, results have started to come in from AI-focused companies like Palantir (PLTR), AMD (AMD), and Supermicro (SMCI).

So far, the earnings season has had 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 figure continues, it will 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 a bit lower going into the quarter, as they anticipated a 7.9% increase in earnings per share for S&P 500 companies in the third quarter.

This week, supporting companies from the AI sector, including 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 by more than 1% after the release of third-quarter earnings over the weekend. The company's profit increased by 17% due to this year's mild hurricane season and more paper investments. Berkshire Hathaway is preparing for legendary investor Warren Buffett to step down as CEO in January.

AbbVie (ABBV) shares fell by 4% on Friday afternoon after surpassing Wall Street's expectations for revenue and earnings, along with high operating costs. AbbVie also raised its full-year earnings forecast from a previous range of $10.38-$10.58 to $10.61-$10.65.

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

Demand has maintained its resilience for key immunology drugs. Revenues from Skyrizi increased by 46.8%, and Rinvoq revenues rose by 35.3%. However, the company's blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira is facing a 55.4% drop compared to the third quarter of 2024, as many generic versions have hit the market following the loss of patent protection.

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

Apple (AAPL) shares rose by 3% after CEO Tim Cook made optimistic remarks during the company's earnings conference. "We are very 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 iPhone," Cook said, adding that iPhone 17 is facing supply constraints due to high demand.

Coinbase (COIN) reported an increase in profit for the third quarter, successfully boosting demand for the firm and attracting investor interest.

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