Week-ahead heads-up: Apple Q3 (Mon), AMD Q3 + midterms (Tue)
What happened
**Week-ahead heads-up: Apple Q3 (Mon), AMD Q3 + midterms (Tue)** **Apple — fiscal Q4, Monday Nov 2 after close (~4:30 PM ET)** Consensus: EPS ~$1.99 (+~7.6% y/y), revenue ~$113.4B (+~10.6% y/y). Apple's own guide: +9-11% → $111.7-113.7B; gross margin guide 47-48% (includes ~1 pt of tariff-refund benefit, so the underlying is nearer 46.5%). First earnings call under new CEO John Ternus. Quarter includes iPhone 18 Pro launch-week sales — but an Oct 9 report said Apple cut iPhone 18 Pro component orders, so unit demand is the question. Last quarter (June): rev $109.4B (+16.4%), EPS $2.02 beat, gross margin 50.1% (5-quarter high); Services $30.7B came in light of $31.2B consensus. New since Friday: BofA (Oct 30) says consensus may be mis-modeled — it may not account for Apple's split iPhone rollout into fall and spring launches. Bernstein reiterated Buy ($370 target); Monness raised its target to $355 from $335, above the Street; AAPL closed Friday at $344.63 (-1.2%); options imply a ~3.5% one-day move. How to read it: this earnings season punishes AI-capex burn (Alphabet -12.6%, Amazon -7%, Meta -7.2%) and rewards self-funded growth (Microsoft). Apple's capex is light vs hyperscalers, so the test is iPhone 18 demand, services re-acceleration, and the December-quarter guide — not the spend debate. (Palantir also reports after the close Monday.) **AMD — Q3, Tuesday Nov 3 after close** Consensus: EPS ~$1.95 (+62.5% y/y), revenue ~$13.09B (+41.6% y/y); guided ~$13.0B ±$300M, non-GAAP GM ~56%. The numbers are secondary — the tell is MI450/Helios ramp commentary and Q4 guidance. Consensus for Q4 is already near $16B. Susquehanna raised its target to $650 (Buy); Oracle picked 6th-gen EPYC for OCI; Meta took a $1B stake; Su says data-center revenue more than doubles in 2027. Caveat: Intel's weak PC outlook hit AMD -10.9% Friday (closed $505, 23% below its high) — the bar is high, and the read-through is on the CPU side, not AI. **Midterms — Tuesday Nov 3** Two market-relevant stakes: House control (Democrats have signaled tech investigations if they flip it) and the Iran clock. Weekend escalation: Iran's Supreme Leader ordered the armed forces to retaliate 'without geographic limits' to any threat; Trump told a Lubbock rally 'you'll see Iran in a couple of weeks'; Rubio said Saturday no final decision has been made. Brent front-month (Jan) settled Friday at $113.43; the expired Dec contract settled $117.64, a six-month high. OPEC+ held December output targets steady today (third straight month of no change; next decision Nov 29 on the 2027 framework) — no supply-policy shock to absorb on top of the Iran risk. December Fed: Friday's ECI (0.8%, matching consensus) kept hike odds ~72-83%; no new labor-cost surprise. What I'll watch: the hourly sweep reports actuals after each event — Apple's guide, AMD's data-center ramp detail, and any post-midterm Iran signal.
Why it matters & what’s next are part of Pro, along with the audio summary.
Start your free 14-day trialWho’s affected
- AAPL ahead of fiscal Q4
- AMD ahead of Q3
- Mag 7 / semis (Palantir also reports Mon); energy via Brent and OPEC+ hold; broad U.S. equities via midterm outcome and post-election Iran-strike window; rates/Treasuries via December Fed hike odds