By Ira – JBizNews Desk

Wall Street heads into the heaviest week of earnings season with the Federal Reserve’s rate decision landing midweek, a combination investors say will determine whether the recent wobble in AI stocks is a buying opportunity or the start of something deeper.

The Nasdaq Composite ended Friday with a slim loss, one day after the tech-heavy index posted its biggest single-day drop since June, as quarterly reports from Meta and chip-equipment maker Lam Research disappointed investors, Reuters reported. The S&P 500 remains up about 11% in 2026.

Three of the AI hyperscalers headline the coming week: Alphabet and Microsoft report on Wednesday, and Amazon on Thursday, part of a slate covering roughly a third of the S&P 500. Intel and Sandisk also report. Third-quarter earnings are on pace to rise more than 32% from a year earlier with over 100 companies having reported, according to LSEG IBES data cited by Reuters.

The focus is spending discipline. Capital expenditures from hyperscalers are expected to total around $800 billion this year, and investors are pressing for evidence the outlays are producing returns. “The market’s just not giving the benefit of the doubt to companies that are spending a ton of money on building this all out,” Nick Giorgi, chief equity strategist at Alpine Macro, told Reuters.

The Fed announces its rate decision Wednesday. Bloomberg and Reuters both report the central bank is expected to hold rates steady after raising rates in September. The 10-year Treasury yield ended Friday at 5.00%, according to Treasury Department daily figures, near its highest levels of the year and a mounting headwind for financing costs.

The November 3 midterm elections add another layer, with investors increasingly pricing the possibility of a divided Congress. Strategists told Reuters the cluster of catalysts could lift volatility through early November.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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