Q3 Peak Season Arrives: Strong Beats, Sky-High AI Scrutiny

This marks the first peak week of Q3 earnings season, with 1,885 companies expected to report and overall S&P 500 EPS growth holding at a robust 29.5%. Meta's AI capex-driven selloff set a new bar for hyperscalers — investors are no longer giving tech giants a blank check for AI infrastructure spend as Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon report this week, with Apple following next Monday. Seven S&P 500 companies confirmed outlier earnings dates this week, with Baker Hughes, Freeport-McMoRan, Avery Dennison, and General Dynamics reporting later than their historical norm.