This is a big week for stock markets. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announces its rate policy. On that day, Meta Platforms (META) will post quarterly results. Shareholders will want more information about its progress in artificial intelligence, its cuts in the metaverse, and the costs related to its supercomputer ambitions.
Investors might express displeasure that Meta continued to spend heavily in the Metaverse. The VR chat forum reportedly has fewer than 1,000 users. Sales of its VR headset might stall, while supply constraints for its Ray Ban augmented reality headset limit unit sales.
Microsoft (MSFT) will also report earnings. Expectations are low that the Office 365 and Azure supplier will post strong growth. MSFT stock peaked last November 2025 at nearly $542. It closed at $465.95 last Friday.
On Thursday, Apple (AAPL) will post results. The firm still relies on iPhone sales for its revenue growth. To keep costs low, Apple is powering its assistant, Siri, with Google (GOOG) Gemini. This strategic decision is welcome. Instead of losing tens of billions of dollars in building an AI solution, Apple may subscribe to Gemini.
In the hardware space, Western Digital (WDC) and Sandisk (SNDK) will report results. Markets already have high expectations ahead of the report. SNDK stock is up an astounding 1,026% in the past half-year period. AI servers need storage and memory. However, a shortage of hydro would keep many of those server data centers offline.
