Investors are gearing up for a heavy week of corporate earnings, with five of the world’s largest technology companies set to report results. The focus will be on how artificial intelligence investments and cloud growth are shaping profitability amid rising capital expenditures.
BNN Bloomberg spoke with Laura Lau, chief investment officer at Brompton Group, who said the leading tech names continue to drive market momentum, though growth is starting to slow.
Key Takeaways
- Roughly US$15 trillion in market value, or 44 per cent of the S&P 500, will report results this week, led by major tech firms that make up a quarter of the index.
- Growth in Big Tech remains strong but is slowing, putting pressure on companies to deliver solid earnings to sustain the market rally.
- Google and Meta’s advertising growth and Amazon’s AWS results will be key to gauging momentum in the cloud and AI sectors.
- Broadcom is positioned to benefit from AI infrastructure demand, while Citi could see upside from easing regulation and capital market strength.
- Investors expect fewer rate cuts ahead as inflation risks persist, while large-scale stock buybacks and ongoing bank consolidation support equity markets.
Read the full transcript below:
ROGER: Investors will have a slew of big tech earnings to digest this week, with Meta, Amazon, Apple and Alphabet among those reporting. Add to that, the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve will make policy announcements. Let’s find out what to expect. Joining me is Laura Lau, CIO at Brompton Group. Laura, thanks very much for joining us.
LAURA: Thanks for having me, Roger.
ROGER: It’s quite a week, I guess — can we call it the week? Oh my goodness, it’s Monday morning. It’s the week! Let’s just leave it at that. Which companies are you keeping your eye on?
LAURA: I think you have to look at all of them, because these big five make up about 25 per cent of the S&P 500 index. They’ll each give different insight, especially on capital spending. The question is, what are they getting for that spending? Are they getting returns? Are customers demanding more? Is AI actually benefiting revenues or costs? We really need to figure out if we’re seeing a return. In general, we expect capital plans to be flat or up. There’s been inflation, and they’re all racing to embed as much AI as possible into their products and platforms.
ROGER: And what do you want to see from them when it comes to capital planning?
LAURA: We want to see that capital plans are at least flat or up, not coming down. We also want to see progress — particularly in cloud. A number of these companies provide cloud solutions, and we expect a lot of that growth to accelerate. We saw that with Microsoft’s Azure, and we’re watching Amazon closely. It’s the number one cloud provider, but it’s been behind in the data centre race and has been giving up market share. We’re also watching ad spending — how YouTube and Google ad growth are trending, and Meta as well, which has shown strong ad growth. And on the trade side, we’re monitoring what happens with TikTok, since its platform runs on Oracle, which is the fourth-largest cloud provider.
ROGER: Cloud is a big focus. What would concern you in those results?
LAURA: We want to see cloud usage flat or, ideally, higher. Expectations are for usage to rise. If it doesn’t, the market could pull back.
ROGER: They’re all surging today — everyone’s up. But even with strong results, could we still see some profit-taking afterward?
LAURA: We’ll see how good the numbers are. Earnings ultimately drive the market. If earnings or revenue growth aren’t there, not everyone will move higher. There will be winners and losers, depending on results and guidance. For instance, we’ll listen for comments about demand. Microsoft has said it can’t meet customer needs fast enough, while others may note weaker demand. We’ll also watch for new AI product updates — especially from Apple, which has lagged on that front. That said, iPhone sales have been better than expected. So we want to see their roadmap and what’s next for their products.
ROGER: Any concern that we’re getting into “too big to fail” territory? They dominate the market right now.
LAURA: They definitely dominate, but there are other themes in play. Deregulation has been a big push under Trump, particularly benefiting financials and banks, and that’s also supporting infrastructure spending. So there are other forces driving the market. The U.S. remains heavily tech-driven, but other markets are starting to perform better this year as those different themes take hold.
ROGER: The Fed is likely to cut rates this week. What kind of impact do you expect, especially with inflation data out?
LAURA: I think those cuts are already priced in. The market’s also expecting another three cuts next year, but I’m not sure that will happen. The One Big Beautiful Bill is very expansionary, and deregulation will likely add momentum. The U.S. economy could do better than expected, so we may not see as many rate cuts as markets anticipate.
ROGER: Once we get through earnings, what are you expecting as we move into November?
LAURA: We’ll see share buybacks reactivate, which will help support the market. As for a Santa Claus rally, it’s hard to say. We usually get one after a selloff in September or October, but we haven’t had that this year. Maybe Santa came a little early in 2025.
ROGER: We’ll leave it there. Laura, thank you very much for joining us.
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This BNN Bloomberg summary and transcript of the Oct. 27, 2025 interview with Laura Lau are published with the assistance of AI. Original research, interview questions and added context was created by BNN Bloomberg journalists. An editor also reviewed this material before it was published to ensure its accuracy and adherence with BNN Bloomberg editorial policies and standards.
