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- 👉 5 of the Mag 7 Report Earnings This Week!
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Let’s dive right in.
Key Earnings Announcements:
It’s a huge one… 5 of the Mag 7 report this week.
Monday (4/27): Verizon, Nucor, Cadence, Rambus, Celestica, Alexandria Real Estate, LendingClub
Tuesday (4/28): UPS, Coca-Cola, Spotify, Visa, Corning, General Motors, Hilton, Ecolab, Mondelez
Wednesday (4/29): Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Alphabet, Amazon, Qualcomm, Ford, Chipotle, Regeneron, Brookfield
Thursday (4/30): Apple, Eli Lilly, Mastercard, Merck, Amgen, Reddit, Western Digital, Caterpillar, McDonald’s
Friday (5/1): ExxonMobil, Chevron, Moderna, Linde, Estée Lauder, Dominion Energy, TPG
What We’re Watching:
Alphabet (GOOG)
Alphabet (+9% YTD) reports this week with shares hovering near highs, as investors look for confirmation that AI-driven momentum can continue to support both growth and margins.
Google search and cloud are in the spotlight. Search has held up better than many expected despite rising competition from generative AI platforms, while YouTube continues to benefit from improving ad spend and strong engagement. Meanwhile, Google Cloud has been a bright spot, with accelerating growth and expanding margins driven by enterprise AI demand and cost discipline.
The key debate now centers on monetization vs. cost. Alphabet is aggressively investing in AI infrastructure, custom chips (TPUs), and model development to compete with peers, but those investments are pressuring margins in the near term. At the same time, the company is rolling out AI features across Search, Workspace, and Cloud, aiming to turn usage into incremental revenue over time.
Heading into this print, I’ll be watching: search ad trends, Cloud growth and margins, AI monetization signals, and any updates on capex intensity tied to AI infrastructure. Commentary on competition and user behavior shifts in search will also be critical.
“We are investing responsibly in AI to support long-term growth across our products and services.”
Alphabet, Inc. (GOOG) Stock Performance, 5-Year Chart, Seeking Alpha
Amazon (AMZN)
Amazon (+14.3% YTD) reports this week with the focus squarely on whether accelerating AWS growth can justify the company’s massive AI-driven spending cycle.
The core story remains AWS and advertising. AWS has reaccelerated, posting ~24% growth last quarter — its fastest pace in over a year — driven by surging demand for AI infrastructure and enterprise workloads. At the same time, Amazon’s high-margin advertising business continues to scale rapidly, benefiting from Prime Video, retail traffic, and improved ad targeting.
Amazon is guiding for an unprecedented ~$200B in capex this year, largely tied to AI infrastructure, data centers, and custom silicon. While management frames this as necessary to meet demand and extend AWS leadership, investors remain cautious about near-term margin pressure and return timelines.
Last quarter, Amazon delivered strong top-line growth and expanding operating income, with AWS continuing to drive the majority of profitability despite representing a smaller share of total revenue.
Heading into this print, I’ll be watching: AWS growth trajectory, capex outlook, AI monetization signals, and margin durability across both cloud and retail. Any commentary around demand visibility and ROI on AI investments will be critical for the stock’s next move.
“We’re investing aggressively to meet what we believe is a once-in-a-generation opportunity in AI.”
Amazon, Inc. (AMZN) Stock Performance, 5-Year Chart, Seeking Alpha
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Investor Events / Global Affairs:
Market remains on Iran watch and Pershing Square prices its IPO.
Iran Watch
Markets will enter the week on high alert as rapidly evolving developments in the Middle East continue to drive volatility across energy, equities, and global risk sentiment.
Over the weekend, Donald Trump signaled a shift in diplomatic strategy, stating the U.S. will not send envoys to Pakistan for in-person talks with Iran, instead suggesting negotiations could take place remotely — a move that underscores the fragile and uncertain state of diplomacy.
At the same time, tensions in key shipping lanes escalated further after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reportedly boarded commercial vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, while officials indicated efforts to establish a “new maritime regime” in the region. Additional pressure points include U.S. naval interceptions in the Arabian Sea and continued Israeli military activity in Lebanon.
The situation remains highly fluid, with limited clarity on whether diplomatic progress will materialize or further escalation will occur. For markets, the implications are immediate — particularly for oil supply, shipping routes, and inflation expectations, all of which have shown heightened sensitivity to weekend headlines.
"These are sensitive diplomatic discussions and the U.S. will not negotiate through the press. As the president has said, the United States holds the cards and will only make a deal that puts the American people first, never allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Pershing Square IPO
Pershing Square USA (PSUS) is expected to price its IPO and begin trading this week, offering public market investors direct exposure to the investment strategy of Bill Ackman.
The structure is notable — investors will gain access not only to Pershing Square’s concentrated equity portfolio, but also a small economic stake in the underlying management company, creating a hybrid between a traditional investment fund and an asset manager.
The deal comes at a time when interest in active management and “star investor” vehicles is resurging, particularly as market volatility and macro uncertainty create a more favorable backdrop for differentiated strategies.
For investors, the key questions will center around valuation, fee structure, and how the vehicle trades relative to its underlying net asset value (NAV) — a dynamic that has historically driven performance in similar publicly traded funds.
“The dual structure gives investors the chance to trade the fund just like they would a stock, benefit from the portfolio appreciation, and also gain from the fees generated by the fund through exposure to Pershing Square Inc. This hybrid return profile is almost a signature move from Bill Ackman, who is known for his innovation and outrageous bets. Ackman launched Pershing Square Tontine Holdings (PSTH) back in 2020 and marketed it as an improvement on special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), but failed to close any deal.”
Major Economic Events:
FOMC interest rate decision and the Fed's preferred inflation gauge – PCE
Monday (4/27): N/A
Tuesday (4/28): Consumer confidence, S&P Case-Shiller home price index
Wednesday (4/29):Building permits, Durable goods orders, FOMC rate decision, Housing starts
Thursday (4/30): Chicago PMI, Core PCE, Employment cost index, GDP, Initial jobless claims, PCE index, Personal income, Personal spending
Friday (5/1): ISM manufacturing, S&P manufacturing PMI
What We’re Watching:
Fed Interest Rate Decision
The Federal Reserve left the federal funds rate unchanged at 3.50%–3.75% for a second consecutive meeting in March, in line with expectations, as policymakers continue to navigate a more uncertain inflation outlook.
Minutes from the meeting revealed a more two-sided policy debate, with some officials noting that rate hikes could still be warranted if inflation proves persistent, while others remain open to eventual cuts if price pressures ease. The vast majority of participants flagged elevated upside risks to inflation and downside risks to employment, both of which have intensified amid recent geopolitical developments.
A key concern is the impact of the Middle East conflict, where higher energy prices could feed through into broader inflation and delay progress toward the Fed’s target. Despite holding rates steady, policymakers still signaled one rate cut in 2026 and another in 2027, though the timing remains highly data-dependent.
Economists expect the following this week:
Fed Funds Rate: 3.50%–3.75% vs. unchanged prior
Policy Outlook: Bias toward eventual cuts, but rising inflation risk
“The possibility of stagflation outbreak coming from high oil prices before the tariff inflation went away, leading to the main engine of growth – the U.S. consumer – just giving up and saying we don't have confidence, we're going to start hoarding our money, and sending us into a stagflationary recession – that'd be the worst outcome.”
Personal Consumption Expenditures
The Core PCE Price Index – the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation – rose 0.4% MoM in February, matching expectations and marking a third consecutive month at a 10-month high, signaling that underlying price pressures remain sticky.
On an annual basis, core PCE increased 3.0% YoY, easing slightly from 3.1% in January but still well above the Fed’s 2% target, reinforcing the narrative that inflation progress has slowed.
The persistence in monthly gains is the key concern for policymakers. Even as year-over-year readings gradually trend lower, elevated monthly prints suggest inflation may be stabilizing above target rather than continuing a smooth decline.
Economists expect the following this week:
Core PCE (MoM): +0.4% vs. +0.4% prior
Core PCE (YoY): 3.0% vs. 3.1% prior
“What I’m most interested in is: What’s the underlying inflation rate? Not: What’s the one-time change in prices because of a change in geopolitics or change in beef? The measures I prefer are looking at things that are called trimmed averages. We take out all of the tail-risks, all of the one-off items, and we ask ourselves whether the generalized change in prices is having second-order effects on the economy.”
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