At a glance: No S&P 500 names report today, a quiet close to a week that peaked midweek with Eli Lilly, Mastercard, Merck, Caterpillar and Linde before the open and Amazon, Intel and Sandisk after the close — all scored below. The next print lands Monday, when Apple opens a heavy week running through AMD and Palantir, Qualcomm and McDonald's, and ConocoPhillips and Parker Hannifin.

Scorecard — what printed since we last wrote

Thursday's docket split sharply between the surprise and the reaction. Amazon missed (EPS $1.89 vs. $1.96 consensus, -3.6%) and fell 7.55% after hours, with EPS essentially flat year on year (-3.1%) after two quarters of sharp margin improvement — the capex and spending debate evidently outweighed the shortfall itself. Caterpillar and Illumina both beat (+2.4% and +19.1%) yet sold off in the session and after hours respectively (-9.25%, -11.74%), and Stryker came in in line (-0.85%, within the ±2% band) but still dropped 11.68% after hours — three reminders that this week's tape has been punishing even clean prints. Intel's headline surprise was the most dramatic gap of the batch: a 30% EPS beat (and reported EPS up 126.1% year on year) couldn't stop a 23.28% after-hours slide, with the year-on-year figure flattered by a year-ago quarter still absorbing heavy restructuring and foundry-investment charges rather than describing a clean trajectory. Aon's miss (-32.7% on EPS, and -30.7% year on year) drew almost no reaction at all (+1.88%), suggesting the shortfall was already well understood going in. On the other side of the ledger, Eli Lilly (+13.2% surprise) and Mondelez (+9.9%, after hours) both got rewarded in kind (+6.63%, +7.63%), while Sandisk's beat (+6.7%; reported EPS up 3,958.2% year on year, flattered by a year-ago quarter still mired in the NAND oversupply trough that has since flipped into an acute shortage) was met with a 4.32% after-hours pullback, continuing its post-high retreat. Starbucks beat by 12.7% but managed only a 1.52% after-hours dip, in keeping with a print the market had largely pre-positioned for.

The week ahead

Next week is the heaviest of the earnings season's back half. Apple opens Monday after the close — the first full quarter of iPhone 17 sales, with consensus of $1.98 (up 7.0% year on year) and a 4.0% implied move putting far more weight on margin commentary (memory-cost pressure has been the live worry into the print) than on the unit story. Palantir reports the same evening with consensus of $0.41 (up 95.2% year on year) and a 12.2% implied move, by far the richest of the week, reflecting how binary sentiment around its growth multiple has become. Tuesday is the single busiest day on the calendar (38 names): AMD, consensus $1.94 (up 61.7% year on year, 8.3% implied move), carries the data-center AI-GPU ramp into the print, with its Instinct accelerator roadmap and large compute commitments the central debate against questions about supply and margin mix; Amgen, Booking, Pfizer and Eaton round out a cluster spanning biotech, travel and industrials. Wednesday (42 names) pairs Qualcomm, consensus $2.16 but down 28.0% year on year on an accelerating decline in Apple-related modem revenue as Apple's own chips displace it, against McDonald's, consensus $3.38 (up 5.0% year on year, 4.0% implied move) in a steadier consumer-staples read, alongside Uber, DoorDash and AppLovin. Thursday (37 names) is led by the energy and industrial complex: ConocoPhillips, consensus $3.04 (up 88.8% year on year, 4.5% implied move), and Parker Hannifin, consensus $8.17 (up 13.2% year on year, 8.8% implied move), with Airbnb and a cluster of utilities also on the slate. The week closes Friday with Moderna and Humana, where consensus for both implies a net loss — Humana's swinging from a year-ago profit — so neither carries a conventional year-on-year comparison worth quoting.

Informational only — not investment advice. Figures are consensus/estimates and option-implied values from public sources and may be revised.