Haverhill Financial Research · News · Earnings · October 24, 2026
The slate
Five companies we cover report in the next four days: Visa and Robinhood on Tuesday, Microsoft and Alphabet on Wednesday, the same day the Fed decides, and Amazon on Thursday, hours after the GDP and inflation data land. We published full previews of all five this past week; the links are below.
| Day | Report | One thing we’re watching |
|---|---|---|
| Tue Oct 27 | Visa, fiscal Q4 | Whether other revenue keeps growing 45% while incentives outpace sales |
| Tue Oct 27 | Robinhood, Q3 | Event contracts, which overtook crypto last quarter |
| Wed Oct 28 | Microsoft, FQ1 | Azure growth against a capital bill that doubled to $35.8B |
| Wed Oct 282:00 pm | Fed decision | A hold is priced. December language is the event |
| Wed Oct 28 | Alphabet, Q3 | Cloud at +82%, and how the $70B of new debt gets spent |
| Thu Oct 29 | Amazon, Q3 | Whether AWS keeps accelerating while free cash flow stays negative |
Why this week is different
Until about ten days ago, the argument over AI spending was whether there was too much of it. Last week the argument flipped: Thursday's 2.6% drop in the Nasdaq was driven by worries about how the buildout is financed, and by the first hints that some of it might slow. Meta grew revenue 26% and still sold off hard, partly on a $9.9 billion legal charge, partly because free cash flow went negative while capital spending reached $34.9 billion in a single quarter. Tesla cut its capital spending guidance by a fifth, and the market promptly marked down the suppliers who were counting on it.
The bill, before this week’s reports. All three companies report capital spending differently; Meta includes finance-lease payments.
That reframes what matters in each report. For Microsoft, it is less the Azure growth number, 43% last quarter, than how much of the new capacity arrives through leases that sit on the balance sheet for years. For Alphabet, it is what the roughly $70 billion raised last quarter is actually for, and whether buybacks stay paused. For Amazon, it is whether a second straight quarter of negative free cash flow comes with an explanation investors can underwrite, or just a bigger number.
The honest frame
None of the three has a demand problem on the evidence so far; cloud growth accelerated across the board last quarter. The question the market started asking on Thursday is about duration: how long record capital spending can run ahead of the cash the spending produces, and who carries the financing in the meantime. Three reports in two days will not settle it. They will show whether the companies think the question deserves an answer.
Sources and disclosures
Reporting dates come from each company’s own announcements. All figures are from the companies’ most recent earnings releases, covered in detail in the five linked Haverhill previews. Market moves are as of the October 23 close.
Disclosures. Haverhill Financial Research is a publisher of general financial commentary. This article is not personalized investment advice and does not consider any reader's financial situation; readers should do their own research. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Company figures and guidance can change. The author of this post does not hold positions in any company named. Data as of October 24, 2026.
