This week, information technology stocks were under the spotlight as major companies such as Apple, Super Micro Computer, Advanced Micro Devices, and Qualcomm reported their earnings. Despite being down nearly 6% quarter-to-date compared to the overall market downturn, the information technology sector has seen some mixed results with 19 out of 21 companies that reported beating expectations while two missed.
On the revenue side, 14 out of those companies exceeded estimates while seven fell short. Apple’s shares rose after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter results despite concerns about iPhone sales in China. The company also announced a $110 billion share buyback, making it the largest in the U.S. to date. Super Micro Computer’s stock tumbled after a mixed third-quarter earnings report that fell short of market expectations, despite a significant increase in revenue from a year ago.
So far this quarter, 42 out of 383 companies reporting results are part of the information technology sector with various sub-industries within it such as professional services, software, semiconductors and technology hardware also reporting earnings. A majority of companies in the sector have beaten expectations for both earnings per share and revenue.
Looking ahead to next week notable information technology companies like Palantir Technologies, Arm Holdings and Unity Software are scheduled to report results providing investors with an opportunity to gain exposure to the performance of these individual companies through their respective stocks or through investing in ETFs like Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF which tracks the performance of the information technology sector as a whole.