U.S. tech giants, including Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft, are set to report quarterly results this week.
The companies, which collectively command more than $5T
in market capitalization or 15% of the value of the S&P 500, have
all recently announced job cuts following the pandemic-era hiring boom.
- Investors
will be watching closely to see if the restructurings have boosted
profits to their satisfaction, while the companies emphasize the role of
artificial intelligence in their future growth.
- Analysts
forecast that Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta will all post a 4.5%
increase in profits, on average, from the previous quarter.
- Amazon is expected to post a significant rise in profit compared to the prior quarter, which saw a large drop due to valuation losses related to its investment in EV maker Rivian.
- Compared
to the year earlier, analysts expect profit to dip nearly 16% on
average, with Microsoft the least affected at only a 0.5% decrease.
- From November through March, the four companies announced layoffs that jointly affected more than 70,000 employees.
