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Earnings season is right around the corner, which usually causes a lot of fluctuation in the stock market. As a result, many investors are probably wondering what stocks are safe bets and likely to rise after posting earnings.

Nasdaq futures fell over 1% on Thursday as megacap shares remained under pressure with investors taking stock of recent Big Tech earnings and elevated Treasury yields, while keeping an eye out for economic data and the ongoing Middle East conflict.

For Immediate ReleaseChicago, IL – October 26, 2023 – Zacks Director of Research Sheraz Mian says, "Looking at Q3 as a whole, total S&P 500 earnings are currently expected to be down -0.3% from the same period last year on +1.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is scheduled to report its fiscal Q3 2023 results on Thursday, October 26, 2023. We expect Amazon to beat the consensus estimates of earnings and revenues. The company surpassed the street expectations in the last quarter, with net revenues increasing

Fintel reports that on October 25, 2023, RBC Capital reiterated coverage of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) with a Outperform recommendation. Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 17.11% Upside

China has stepped up spending to replace Western-made technology with domestic alternatives as Washington tightens curbs on high-tech exports to its rival, according to government tenders, research documents and four people familiar with the matter.

Note: The following is an excerpt from this week’s Earnings Trends report. You can access the full report that contains detailed historical actual and estimates for the current and following periods, please click here>>>

Note: The following is an excerpt from this week’s Earnings Trends report. You can access the full report that contains detailed historical actual and estimates for the current and following periods, please click here>>>

Tuesday saw Microsoft ( NASDAQ:MSFT) putting any doubts about Cloud growth to rest with a strong fiscal first-quarter (September quarter) report that exceeded all expectations. Specifically, the tech giant delivered revenues of $56.5 billion, amounting to a 12.8% year-over-year increase while coming in ahead of the Street’s call by $1.95 billion. At the other end of the spectrum, EPS of $2.99 comfortably beat the Street’s $2.65 estimate. Productivity and Business Processes revenue reached $18.59 billion, thereby easily trumping both the consensus estimate of $18.19 billion and Microsoft’s guided range of $18 billion to $18.30 billion. Importantly, the Intelligent Cloud segment delivered revenue of $24.26 billion, a 19% year-over-year uptick and outpacing the $23.49 billion the analysts were looking for. Tucked inside that segment, Azure revenue climbed by 29%, above the 26% expected on Wall Street. In constant currency (cc), that amounted to a 28% jump, representing an acceleration on the 27% notched in the prior quarter and ahead of the Street’s forecast of 25-26% growth. Looking ahead, Microsoft expects fiscal second-quarter revenue to hit the range between $60.4 billion to $61.4 billion, in line with analyst expectations. Investors reacted favorably to the report, driving shares up by 3% during Wednesday's trading session. Evercore's Kirk Materne attributes this response to the accelerated growth of Azure, and he anticipates that this growth trend will persist. “While the focus now shifts to the drivers behind these results, including whether or not we are past the Azure ‘bottom’ or whether there were one-time items that resulted in the beat, we believe that the narrative gets even stronger into the rest of FY24 as some optical headwinds reverse and comps soften, and Microsoft’s position in the enterprise market continues to get stronger as customers look to consolidate spending,” the 5-star analyst wrote. “As we look out into CY24, we believe that AI will be a tailwind as Microsoft starts implementing its M365 Copilot monetization strategy, as will continued traction in Azure and the integration of ATVI into Microsoft’s gaming business.” All told, Materne rates MSFT shares an Outperform (i.e., Buy) along with a $400 price target, indicating shares will post growth of 17% over the coming year. (To watch Materne’s track record, click here) Materne is certainly no outlier here. 31 other analysts join him in the bull camp, while the addition of 4 Holds can’t detract from a Strong Buy consensus rating. The $401.33 average target is almost in line with Materne’s objective and set to generate one-year returns of ~18%. (See Microsoft stock forecast ) To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’  Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

Markets sagged throughout the course of today’s trading session after starting mixed, with the Dow basking in Microsoft’s MSFT stellar previous-afternoon’s earnings report. It finished down -105 points, -0.32%, and it was the top-

When I wrote about cloud computing and software giant Oracle ( NYSE:ORCL ) in July, my outlook was bullish. Just before the Q1 earnings release last month, the stock soared to an all-time high. However, the stock has since declined by ~20%, primarily due to a deceleration in Q1 revenues and a more conservative short-term outlook. Despite the stock's weakness, my thesis remains intact. I believe Oracle represents a solid long-term investment supported by robust growth prospects and healthy margins. In fact, I see the recent drop in share prices as an enticing buying opportunity for long-term investors. Lackluster Short-Term Guidance, but Long-Term Cloud Potential is Strong On September 11, Oracle reported better-than-expected Q1 EPS, with adjusted earnings of $1.19 per share surpassing consensus estimates of $1.15. However, despite the earnings beat, Q1 revenue growth of 9% fell short of Street expectations and was considerably lower than the 18% growth seen in the previous quarter. Although the company reaffirmed its prior guidance, the Q2 revenue growth outlook of 5% to 7% was also disappointing compared to Street expectations and the 9% growth recorded in Q1. This led to a decline in the stock price. Segment-wise, a sequential revenue deceleration was seen across all the business segments. However, management attributed the slowdown to the shifting of revenue recognition from the recently acquired Cerner business to the next quarter. On the positive side, Cloud revenues continued to represent a larger share of total revenues (77%) and grew by 29% year-over-year. The Cloud segment also boosted overall operating margins, which grew by 200 basis points year-over-year to 41% during the quarter. In addition, free cash flows grew by 76% year-over-year to $9.5 billion on a trailing-four-quarters basis, which is also impressive. The company remains optimistic about robust cloud demand, further fueled by the need for generative AI-related services. Management believes that Cloud revenues will be a significant driver of revenues and margins for Oracle in the years to come. In fact, compared to other cloud businesses, Oracle’s Cloud business reported the highest growth rate in the recent quarter at 29%. For example, Cloud revenues grew by 26% for Microsoft ( NASDAQ:MSFT ) Azure, 28% for Google ( NASDAQ:GOOGL ) Cloud, and only 12% for Amazon ( NASDAQ:AMZN ) AWS. More importantly, on September 12, during its annual Cloud World conference, Oracle reiterated its commitment to meeting its long-term targets set earlier for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026. The company is confident in achieving $65 billion in revenue (FY2023: $50 billion), an operating margin of 45% (FY2023: 27%), and annual EPS growth of greater than 10% by May 2026. These are impressive growth metrics and provide a compelling reason to invest in the stock for the long run. Artificial Intelligence Technology Will Act as a Growth Catalyst AI has revolutionized the tech world, and leading tech companies are quickly adopting it to stay ahead of the AI curve. The global AI market is expected to grow to almost $2 trillion by 2030 versus the $142.3 billion recorded in 2022, according to  Next Move Strategy Consulting. Oracle is well-positioned to benefit from the expected AI boom in the coming years, as AI's foundation relies heavily on vast databases. This aligns perfectly with Oracle's core business of selling database software and related technology. The company is bullish on the AI space and has significantly increased its AI investments. Oracle is making substantial investments in AI technology, creating efficient networks and databases. Moreover, it has formed meaningful partnerships with other companies heavily invested in AI, such as Nvidia ( NASDAQ:NVDA ), Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet. At its investor’s day held on September 21, the company management announced a range of generative AI products and services like the Oracle Clinical Digital Assistant. The company is also adding AI features to its NetSuite's finance software. The newly added AI features to its existing software will enhance efficiency. Further, its continuing innovations will make its software services more cost-effective for its clients. To further bolster its AI prowess, Oracle has made many acquisitions. For instance, Oracle has recently acquired Next Technik, a field service management solutions provider. The addition of Next Technik capabilities will help Oracle’s NetSuite customers with various services, including enhanced field-to-office communication, easier scheduling and dispatching, better inventory management, and more. The company’s strategic efforts to advance in the AI race are also showing in its booking metrics. The company has booked AI workloads worth $1.5 billion within the first week of the current ongoing quarter, which is very impressive. For the sake of comparison, Oracle’s AI training business bookings doubled sequentially to over $4 billion during Q1. The bookings may take time to convert into revenues, but they will in the future. Is Oracle Stock a Buy, According to Analysts? As per TipRanks, analysts are cautiously optimistic about Oracle stock, giving it a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 13 Buys and 11 Holds.  Oracle stock’s average price forecast of $130.44 implies 28.6% upside potential. Is ORCL Stock Undervalued? In terms of the stock’s valuation, Oracle is currently trading at a forward P/E ratio of 18.6x, reflecting a 12.6% discount to its peer-group median of 21.3x. Looking at its biggest competitors, Amazon is currently trading at a much higher forward P/E ratio of 59.6x, while Microsoft is trading at a forward P/E of 30x. Given the strong fundamentals, improving margins, and healthy free cash flows, I believe that Oracle stock is fairly valued at current levels. The Takeaway I believe that Oracle will continue to benefit from the robust growth of its Cloud business. On top of that, Cloud revenues will receive additional momentum from generative AI tailwinds. The AI-enabled, value-added offerings should continue to boost revenue for years to come. Therefore, I view the recent dip in the stock price as an opportunity to buy and hold the stock with a multi-year growth perspective. Disclosure

U.S. stocks tumbled in a broad sell-off on Wednesday as Alphabet shares slid after the Google parent posted disappointing earnings and as U.S. Treasury yields rose, reviving fears that interest rates could stay higher for longer.

Despite brief forays into the black, the Dow and S&P 500 ultimately finished lower for their fifth loss in the last six trading sessions. As the 10-year Treasury yield tested 5% again, the Nasdaq suffered its worst single-session percentage drop since February, with Alphabe

U.S. stocks tumbled on Wednesday as Alphabet shares slid after the Google parent posted disappointing earnings and as U.S. Treasury yields rose, reviving fears that interest rates could stay higher for longer.

Tech stocks declined late Wednesday afternoon with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) falling 1.3% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor index tumbling 4%.

Stocks slipped on Wednesday after the latest round of earnings prompted concern among investors over the economic outlook, adding to the angst over painfully high interest rates, while benchmark U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar ticked up.