Earnings season is the heartbeat of the market, and every day brings fresh signals about where money is flowing.
With each report, we learn not just how companies are performing, but how investors are reacting.
In the Daily Beat, we spotlight the most important S&P 500 earnings moves from the prior session: the winners, the losers, and the reactions that reveal what really matters to the market right now.
Whether itโs a bellwether with broad economic implications or a niche name making waves, we cut through the noise to focus on the setups that matter most.
Here are the top beats from the S&P 500 ๐
*Click the image to enlarge it
At the top of Friday's list was the $188B telecom giant, Verizon $VZ. After beating expectations across the board, shareholders were rewarded with a +8.05 reaction score.
In the report, VZ posted revenues of $36.40B, beating the expected $36.09B, and earnings per share were $1.09, above the expected $1.05.
The positive reactions from Chevron $CVX, Exxon Mobil $XOM, and Apple $AAPL also stood out to us.
Here are the bottom beats from the S&P 500 ๐
*Click the image to enlarge it
At the bottom of Friday's list was the secular semiconductor leader, KLA Corp. $KLAC. After posting better-than-expected headline results, shareholders suffered a -6.16 reaction score.
KLAC reported revenues of $3.30B, above the expected $3.25B, and earnings per share of $8.85, beating the expected $8.79.
The negative earnings reactions from two of the world's largest credit services stocks, Visa $V and American Express $AXP, also stood out to us.
Let's talk about what else happened ๐
VZ had its best earnings reaction of the 21st century๐ฅ
Verizon had a +11.8% post-earnings reaction, and here's what happened:
Q4 2025 net adds exceeded 1M across mobility and broadband, the highest since 2019. Wireless retail postpaid phone gross adds grew 13.0% year-over-year
The company closed the Frontier acquisition, expanding its fiber footprint to over 30 million homes and businesses. This is expected to unlock significant cross-sell and convergence opportunities.
In addition to the strong quarter, the management team's forward guidance targets 750,000 to 1 million postpaid phone net adds, 2โ3x 2025 levels.
This name's earnings events are usually snoozers. However, this quarter's earnings reaction was different.
It was the best we've seen this century!
There's clearly nothing bearish about the dramatic change in earnings sentiment, but we want to see more from the technicals.
If and when VZ puts the finishing touches on its prolonged accumulation pattern, the path of least resistance will decisively shift from sideways to higher for the foreseeable future.
KLAC had its worst earnings reaction of the 21st century๐ป
KLA Corp. had a -15.2% post-earnings reaction, and here's what happened:
Revenue reached an all-time high, up 17% year-over-year, with process control systems and AI-driven demand outpacing industry growth.
Free cash flow increased 30%, allowing the company to return $3B to shareholders via dividends and buybacks.
The management team issued strong forward revenue guidance, but it fell short of expectations for the first half of 2026.
Since bottoming in 2009, this stock has been a secular leader in the semiconductor industry.
And while the price reached a new all-time high last week, the fundamentals are now diverging from the bullish technical trend.
We expect this name to take a breather and consolidate its recent gains.
Over longer timeframes, we still love KLAC. However, we want to be cautious in the short-term, as earnings sentiment has changed significantly.
Happy Monday!
-The Beat Team
P.S. Earnings season creates opportunity, but only if you know how to trade the events.
Instead of guessing direction, Steve Strazza focuses on how the market responds to earnings to identify high-probability breakout setups.
Watch the replay to see how fundamentals, technicals, and sentiment come together to turn earnings volatility into actionable trades.
