In terms of market capitalization, next week is the biggest of the entire earnings season.
July 26, 2026
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? Next week is the biggest week of earnings season by total market capitalization, and four of the Magnificent Seven are on deck.
Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta all report this week, but their setups couldn't look more different.
Apple is pressing toward new highs with improving earnings sentiment, while Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are still fighting failed breakouts, distribution patterns, and negative reaction scores.
So here’s our question for you…
Is Apple becoming the clear leader of the Magnificent Seven?
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Next week, the calendar is loaded with bellwethers across technology, consumer, industrials, financials, healthcare, energy, and more.
But the real story is the Magnificent Seven.
Apple is pressing toward fresh highs with strong technicals, improving fundamentals, and a clear shift in earnings sentiment.
Meanwhile, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta still have strong business stories, but their charts and earnings reactions are flashing caution.
This is exactly why we use fusion analysis at the Beat Report.
We're not just asking whether these companies beat expectations.
We're asking whether the market rewards the news, whether price confirms the story, and whether the strongest stocks are still acting like leaders.
First, we’ll review what happened last week.
Then we’ll turn to the four Magnificent Seven reports that could define the next phase of earnings season.
Following a blockbuster earnings report, Travelers $TRV rallied 9.2% for its best earnings reaction ever. The company generated $2.2 billion in core income, produced a 24.9% core return on equity, improved its combined ratio to 83.6%, and grew net investment income 14% to $883 million.
Despite reporting a double beat, Intuitive Surgical $ISRG fell 14.5% for its worst earnings reaction since Q2 2022. This negative reaction also put the finishing touches on a massive top, decisively shifting the path of least resistance lower for the foreseeable future.
In reaction to a top- and bottom-line beat, Domino's Pizza $DPZ rallied 2.1%, bouncing off a major level of polarity.
And while the price action looks constructive over the short- to intermediate-term, DPZ has carved out a massive distribution pattern. In other words, the buyers still have a lot of work to do if they want to spark a sustainable primary uptrend.
After crushing the market's headline expectations, 3M $MMM rallied 7.3% and is in the process of resolving a massive accumulation pattern. With improving technicals, fundamentals, and earnings sentiment, we expect the buyers to maintain control of MMM for the foreseeable future.
On the flip side, Danaher $DHR posted a double beat and cratered 11% for its worst earnings reaction of the 21st century. Making matters worse, price just put the finishing touches on a prolonged distribution pattern.
Despite reporting mixed headline results, EQT Corp. $EQT rallied 8.5% for its best earnings reaction since Q1 2020. Second-quarter production came in above the high end of guidance, capital expenditures were 9% below the low end of guidance, operating costs landed at the low end of guidance, and the company generated $330 million of free cash flow.
GE Vernova $GEV had the complete opposite reaction to a mixed earnings report. The stock tanked 8.7% for its worst earnings reaction ever. And while earnings sentiment certainly isn't a tailwind, the technicals and fundamentals are still in strong primary uptrends.
Following a blockbuster earnings report, Lockheed Martin $LMT rallied 10.5% for its best earnings reaction ever. The company ended the quarter with a record $230 billion backlog and raised its 2026 financial outlook.
Finally, Tesla $TSLA fell 14.5% for its worst earnings reaction ever after posting mixed headline results. Price has now decisively resolved a prolonged distribution pattern and is at its lowest level in nearly a year.
What's happening next week 👇
Next week is the biggest week of earnings season by total market capitalization.
The calendar is loaded with bellwethers across technology, consumer, industrials, financials, healthcare, energy, and more.
We’ll hear from names like Visa $V, Boeing $BA, UPS $UPS, Procter & Gamble $PG, Qualcomm $QCOM, Starbucks $SBUX, Mastercard $MA, Exxon Mobil $XOM, Chevron $CVX, AbbVie $ABBV, Coca-Cola $KO, and many others.
But the biggest story is obvious...
Four of the Magnificent Seven report this week.
Apple $AAPL, Microsoft $MSFT, Meta Platforms $META, and Amazon $AMZN are all on deck, and together, these stocks will give us one of the most important reads of the entire quarter.
The question isn't whether these are great businesses.
We already know they are.
The question is whether the market still wants to reward them.
And based on the charts and earnings scorecards, there's a clear split forming inside the most important leadership basket in the world.
Let’s start with our favorite setup.
Apple reports Thursday after the close, and investors are looking for $108.85 billion in revenue and $1.89 in earnings per share.
Apple is showing the kind of relative strength we want to own.
While some of the other megacap tech names are struggling with failed breakouts, distribution patterns, and deteriorating earnings sentiment, Apple is doing the opposite.
In absolute terms, the stock closed Friday a nose hair away from a new daily all-time high closing price.
And since breaking out of a massive base earlier this year, Apple has been stair-stepping higher in a clean primary uptrend.
The key level to watch this week is $318.
That was former resistance, and it has now turned into support.
So long as Apple remains above that shelf, the path of least resistance is higher, and our bias is for a positive reaction this week.
The earnings scorecard supports that view.
Last quarter, Apple reported $111.2 billion in revenue, up 17% YoY, while diluted earnings per share rose 22% to $2.01.
The company also posted quarterly records for total revenue, iPhone revenue, and EPS, while Services revenue reached a new all-time high.
As a result, Apple has been rewarded for back-to-back earnings reports after previously suffering five consecutive negative reactions.
What's more, last quarter gave us the best one-day earnings reaction since May 2024, along with the strongest pre- and post-earnings drift in years.
That's exactly what we want to see.
The technicals, fundamentals, and earnings sentiment are all very strong.
And that's why Apple is our favorite of the Magnificent Seven right now.
The other three setups aren't nearly as bullish.
Amazon reports Thursday after the close, and investors are looking for $196.68 billion in revenue and $1.82 in earnings per share.
Amazon is one of the greatest businesses ever created, but the stock isn't acting like a leader right now.
AMZN peaked last November, carved out a multi-month base, and then tried to break out to new all-time highs earlier this year.
And that breakout failed miserably.
Now price is stuck below $259, which has flipped from resistance to support and back into resistance again.
More tactically, we're watching the VWAP anchored to the November peak.
That level currently sits near $234, and AMZN closed below it last week.
So long as price remains below that anchored VWAP, the risk is lower toward the prior lows near $200.
The fundamental story is much better than the chart.
Last quarter, Amazon reported $181.5 billion in revenue, up 17% YoY, while AWS revenue grew 28% to $37.6 billion.
AWS also reached a $150 billion annualized revenue run rate, and management said it was the fastest AWS growth rate in 15 quarters.
Amazon also highlighted major AI momentum, including a chips business above a $20 billion annual revenue run rate, accelerating AWS AI adoption, and large commitments tied to Trainium capacity.
But the market isn't consistently rewarding the story.
Last quarter, Amazon had strong revenue growth, huge EPS growth, the best pre-earnings drift in years, and a positive one-day reaction.
That tells us the market's reaction was weaker than it looked on the surface.
Amazon has now been punished for six of its last eight earnings reports, and with the technicals confirming that negative earnings sentiment, we expect sellers to remain in control until price proves otherwise.
Next up is Microsoft.
Microsoft reports Wednesday after the close, and investors are looking for $87.62 billion in revenue and $4.24 in earnings per share.
Microsoft has one of the largest distribution patterns in the Magnificent Seven.
This is a textbook head-and-shoulders top with a neckline near $355.
So long as Microsoft holds above $355, the best-case scenario is probably more sideways action.
But if that level fails, the stock could suffer a significant drawdown in a short amount of time.
That's the problem with distribution patterns...
They can take a long time to build, but once support breaks, the move can happen fast.
The frustrating part is that the fundamental story is still strong.
Last quarter, Microsoft reported $82.9 billion in revenue, up 18% YoY, and diluted EPS up 23%.
Microsoft Cloud revenue rose 29% to $54.5 billion, Azure and other cloud services revenue grew 40%, and management said its AI business surpassed a $37 billion annual revenue run rate, up 123% YoY.
Those are excellent numbers.
But again, the reaction matters more than the headline.
Microsoft has posted three consecutive negative earnings reactions, back-to-back reaction scores near negative four, and four consecutive quarters of negative post-earnings drift.
Last quarter’s pre-earnings drift looked promising, but it turned into a fakeout once the report hit.
So even though the fundamentals remain strong, the technicals and earnings sentiment are moving in the wrong direction.
That keeps us cautious with MSFT.
Finally, we have Meta.
Meta reports Wednesday after the close, and investors are looking for $60.21 billion in revenue and $7.20 in earnings per share.
Meta’s chart looks similar to Microsoft’s, though the neckline isn't quite as clean.
The stock has been carving out a massive distribution pattern for more than a year.
Price has repeatedly tested the rising support shelf, and each rally has struggled to make sustained upside progress.
This is topping behavior until proven otherwise.
And once again, the fundamental story isn't the issue.
Last quarter, Meta reported revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33% YoY, diluted EPS climbed 62%, ad impressions increased 19%, and average price per ad rose 12%.
Meta also said more than 3.5 billion people use at least one of its apps every day, while the company is making significant progress in AI, Meta Superintelligence Labs, Meta AI, business agents, recommendation systems, and personal superintelligence.
But the stock had its worst reaction score in years last quarter, falling 8.6% despite the strongest top-line growth in years and the strongest bottom-line growth since July 2024.
We believe that's a major warning sign.
Meta had positive pre-earnings drift heading into the report, but that turned into another fakeout.
The one-day reaction was ugly, and post-earnings drift was negative as well.
So the message is clear.
META's fundamentals are still strong, but the technicals and earnings sentiment aren't confirming the story.
This week, the Magnificent Seven will give us one of the most important tests of the quarter.
Apple is entering the week with the strongest setup of the group.
Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta still have strong businesses, but their charts and earnings reactions are flashing caution.
If that changes after this week’s reports, we'll adjust.
But for now, Apple is the Magnificent Seven stock we like best, while the others still have work to do.
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