Alphabet Sets a Positive Tone Ahead of Mega Tech Earnings Results this Week

by Christine Short of Wall Street Horizon, 4/29/25

Key Take Aways

  • With 12% of S&P 500® companies reporting for the Q1 reporting season, EPS growth currently stands at 10.1%
  • Eight companies reporting this week have advanced their earnings dates: Xylem, Regency Centers Corp, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Booking Holdings, Vulcan Materials, Mettler Toledo International, Targa Resources and AES Corp
  • Q1 peak earnings season begins this week with 3,000 companies expected to report

Peak earnings season kicks off this week, with 7,600 companies, or 70% of our equity universe expected to report over the next three weeks.

All eyes will be on big tech, specifically the Magnificent 7, for signs that growth in the sector has not stalled out despite economic uncertainty that has led to whipsawing stock prices. Last week we heard from a few names in the space, including Tesla, Alphabet and Intel.

Tesla’s share price has fallen this year, with some observers attributing this to the ongoing boycotts of the electric vehicle maker, as backlash against CEO Elon Musk and his role in the US government through the DOGE program has mounted. As such, Musk vowed on the company’s earnings call on Tuesday that he would take a step back from his government work and focus more on his role as CEO. He also admitted that the company has struggled due to higher tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Earnings declined 40% YoY, with revenues down 9%.1

On Thursday after-the-close, Alphabet and Intel reported for Q1 with dramatically different results. Alphabet surpassed Wall Street analyst estimates from FactSet on the top and bottom-line. Strength in the first quarter was due to robust results in their search and advertising units as hefty investments into the development of their AI tools appeared to pay off.2 When asked how a changing macro environment might impact future results, the company suggested it’s too soon to know. Philipp Schindler, SVP and CBO at Google, commented “With regard to Q2, we’re only a few weeks in, so it’s really too early to comment. I mean, we’re obviously not immune to the macro environment, but we wouldn’t want to speculate about potential impacts beyond noting that the changes to the de minimis exemption will obviously cause a slight headwind to our ads business in 2025, primarily from APAC-based retailers.”3 The latter likely referring to huge Chinese retail advertisers, Temu and Shein, who may be impacted by the Trump administration's proposal for a 145% tariff on Chinese goods, and therefore hold off on ad spending.4