Third quarter results are testing whether corporate profits can withstand higher oil prices and borrowing costs. The season is also sharpening questions about stock valuations and portfolio positioning.
BNN Bloomberg spoke with Brenda O’Connor Juanas, managing director and private advisor at Rockefeller Global Family Office, about navigating the earnings season and weighing opportunities across asset classes.
Key Takeaways
- O’Connor Juanas cited 29 per cent earnings growth, an 84 per cent earnings beat rate and revenue growth across all 11 S&P sectors.
- She said stocks were trading at 19 times forward earnings, below their five- and 10-year averages, supporting her positive view on equities.
- High-quality investment-grade corporate bonds offering yields above six per cent present an attractive opportunity to lock in income, she said.
- She sees growing electricity demand from AI data centres as a compelling reason to consider private infrastructure strategies.
- Stabilizing Treasury yields would help businesses and investors make decisions, she said, after the U.S. 10-year yield approached 5.4 per cent before retreating.
Read the full transcript below:
ROGER: We are seeing a rather strong third-quarter earnings season. My next guest says fears around energy prices and Treasury yields are being priced into the valuations. Let’s discuss more with Brenda O’Connor Juanas, managing director and private advisor at Rockefeller Global Family Office. And Brenda, thanks very much for joining us. Lots of things to choose from. Let’s start with earnings. Your thoughts on how the season has gone so far?
BRENDA: Right. So this is a really important week for earnings. We have 16 per cent of the S&P reporting, a few big names today. Even though we’re at an early start, though, everything looks really strong, and it doesn’t matter how you slice and dice the numbers or which figures you’re looking at. You know, 29 per cent earnings growth, 84 per cent of companies beating their estimates. You know, double-digit growth on the top line. All 11 sectors of the S&P reporting revenue growth. And remember, this is against a really difficult backdrop. And by that I mean $100 oil, 5 per cent yield. I think a lot of the fear is priced into valuations. We are now 19 times forward P/E, which is below the five- and 10-year averages. I like equities even at these levels. Look, not everything is going to go up. There’s going to be variation between sectors and geographies. I also think this is a really strong case for active management, just because of the dispersion we’re seeing in markets. And I don’t necessarily think that 2027 is going to be another year of double-digit growth. But I think that if the S&P can deliver high or single digits going into 2027, that is a pretty good place for investors to be.
ROGER: Is that the most important number you’re kind of looking at across the board?
BRENDA: In terms of?
ROGER: Yeah, the earnings rate.
BRENDA: I think that, yeah, I think that that is definitely a driver of what we’re looking at. For me, it comes down to two things. It comes down to valuations, and it comes down to really supportive earnings, and also the guidance that’s coming out of these companies. There’s no indication that we’re tracking back on guidance, so that’s pretty encouraging as well.
ROGER: And are you surprised with the 5 per cent yields and the $100 oil that they’re still? I know they’re pricing them in, but how much longer can they price them in?
BRENDA: All right, I mean, I think it does depend on on fixed income, and if we can just spend a second talking about this, because this is the other side of the coin that I’m looking at for a lot of our families. Look, the Fed is meeting next week. It’s going to be very unlikely that they’re going to raise rates. Since 1990, the Fed has never raised rates in an October session leading into a November election, and that’s exactly what the market is telling us right now — a 90 per cent pause in October. But they are looking at a 90 per cent raise in in December. I think, irrespective of what the market and what the Fed does, we’re kind of at this maximum or close to maximum pessimism in bond markets. And for me, as an allocator of capital, I think that’s an opportunity for investors. The ability to lock in yields on high-quality investment-grade corporates at 6-plus per cent, I think, is a really attractive trade for clients.
ROGER: And is that within AI? That — is that where you’re looking for those, or across the board?
BRENDA: I’m looking at across the board. You know, look, AI has been a big question. There’s a ton of conversations around whether this is a bubble. There’s obviously an overlay on top of that around whether data centre — on the bipartisan pushback on data centres. I don’t think, in terms of playing AI, you necessarily need to do that in in fixed income. I think you can still do that in equities, and I’m actually doing that a lot, believe it or not, through infrastructure. You know, if you think about infrastructure and you think about the demand of electricity, that is such a powerful demand curve. You know, there was a statistic that I looked at last week that said within the next five years, U.S. data centres are going to be the seventh-largest consumer of electricity. That’s ahead of economies like Canada or the U.K. or France, and I think that demand curve is just such a compelling proposition for investors. So the way to play that, alternatively, if you’re not going to go straight into the equity markets, is to do that for through infrastructure. I’m doing that through some private infrastructure strategies. These strategies over the last 20 years have annualized about per cent in returns. They deliver returns back to the investor in very tax-advantaged ways. And in addition to that, if you care about inflation, which, as a consumer, as an investor, we all should be caring about inflation, these strategies offer a natural inflation.
ROGER: Now, there has been some pushback against the data centres. Any concerns about that? That that may slow things down or even derail?
BRENDA: I think there’s a lot of conversations around data centres, but again, this comes back to where the electricity demand is, and that is an insatiable, insatiable demand. We can see that in the numbers, and if that doesn’t subside, I think that the demand for data centres is going to continue to persist.
ROGER: All right, I just want to ask one. We talked briefly about the yields on corporate bonds and the Treasury and the and the Fed likely not hiking, maybe in December. When do the bonds start getting — when do Treasury bonds get start getting interesting? I mean, they’re coming into a more normal level, aren’t they, really, right now?
BRENDA: Right. Again, look at that 10-year. We hit almost 5.4 per cent. It’s traced back closer to, you know, 5.1 per cent. You know, and I think that we need bond yields to stabilize in order for businesses to make decisions, for companies to make decisions, for investors to make decisions. I think that we’re almost there. And I think if we stabilize it around these levels, plus or minus, you know, 20 basis points, we’ll be in a good spot.
ROGER: OK, Brenda, we’ll wrap it up there. Thank you, as always, for joining us.
BRENDA: Thank you so much for having me.
ROGER: Brenda O’Connor Juanas is managing director and private advisor at Rockefeller Global Family Office.
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This BNN Bloomberg summary and transcript of the Oct. 21, 2026 interview with Brenda O’Connor Juanas 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.
