The first week of August is one of the busiest stretches of the earnings season, with major results across the UK, US and Europe. Investors will be watching for updates on AI spending, consumer demand, energy, healthcare, travel and financial services.
In the US, key reports include SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX), AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR), Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET), Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), Uber (NYSE:UBER), Costco (NYSE:COST) and McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), plus lots more.
In the UK, focus will be on HSBC (LON:HSBA), BP (LON:BP.), Next (LON:NXT), Diageo (LON:DGE), Admiral (LON:ADM), and Persimmon (LON:PSN), among others.
Major Europeans
In Europe, a heavy line-up includes Siemens (ETR:SIE), Novo Nordisk (CPH:NOVO-B), Fresenius (ETR:FRE), Infineon (ETR:SIE), Deutsche Post (ETR:DHL), Heineken (AMS:HEIA), Rheinmetall (ETR:RHM) and Porsche (ETR:P911), covering healthcare, industry, insurance, consumer demand and manufacturing trends.
With markets near record highs in several regions, these results could shape expectations for earnings, rates and equity performance through the rest of 2026.
Podcasts on deck
We also have a busy week on the Sharesify podcast front, covering investment topics across Asia-Pacific and India. Major markets across Asia – Japan, South Korea, India – have been choppy of late, while it’s been a dismal YTD performance in China.
We’ll be getting the views from JPMorgan Emerging Markets Growth & Income (LON:JMGI) and Aberdeen New India Investment Trust (LON:ANII) next week, so keep a watch out for those.
These podcasts offer investment intelligence from some of the smartest investment minds in the business, UK managers running real money for real retail investors, and not to be missed.
Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ:SPCX)
Whether you call it SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) or use it’s official name, the record IPO reports its first quarterly results as a listed company after the US market closes on 4 August, but investors hoping for a definitive verdict on the long-term investment case may be disappointed. Last quarter, the company reported $4.1 billion of revenue and $653 million of earnings, highlighting the strength of Starlink and its core launch business, while management also outlined heavy investment in Starship and AI infrastructure.
This quarter, analysts expect revenue to jump to around $6.9-7.0 billion, although consensus still points to a quarterly loss as SpaceX continues investing aggressively in growth. That revenue ballpark would imply ~47% sequential growth, alongside EPS of circa -$0.28, which would be a sharp reduction from last quarter’s -$1.10.
However, forecast data remains pretty patchy at present.
SpaceX consensus forecasts
| Q1 2026 (reported) | Q2 2026 | FY2026 | |
| Revenue (bn) | $4.69 | ~$6.9.0-7.0 | $39.15 |
| EPS | -$1.10 | -$0.28 | ~-$0.43 |
Source: Investing.com, Stockopedia, Intellectia
For UK retail investors, the key questions extend well beyond one quarter’s numbers. Updates on Starlink subscriber growth, launch cadence, AI data-centre economics and capital spending will matter more than whether earnings beat or miss estimates. However, these are unlikely to fully answer whether today’s valuation is justified.
SpaceX–Tesla merger: Is it actually happening?
In the near term, the share price is more likely to be driven by management’s outlook, AI spending plans and the upcoming insider share unlock than by headline earnings alone, leaving volatility elevated even if the results themselves are solid.
HSBC (LON:HSBA)
As usual, HSBC (LON:HSBA) is the last of the ‘big four’ UK banks to report earnings, but if history is a guide it will be worth the wait. In our view, it is the best of the bunch, and we expect results on 4 August to be well received.
Last year’s Q2 update was marred by large write-offs for the stake in Chinese lender BoCom or Bank of Communications. Similarly, this year’s Q1 results included write-offs on asset sales as well as higher provisions for credit losses.
We expect this year’s Q2 to be much ‘cleaner’, with total revenue of around $18.6 billion against $16.5 billion last year. Part of the gain will come from investment banking, but the majority will come from the Hong Kong and Asian retail and corporate businesses.
Pre-tax profit should be around $9.5 billion against $2.6 billion last year, while RoTE is seen at 18.6% ex-items. Unlike previous quarters, analysts aren’t expecting notable write-offs or provisions for credit losses.
The bank upgraded its FY net interest income forecast in February, so no change is expected there. However, investors will be hoping the bank restarts its share buyback programme after pausing it in October 2025 to acquire Hang Seng Bank.
HSBC consensus forecasts
| Q2 2026 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | |
| Net interest income (m) | $11,527 | $46,495 | $48,294 |
| Fee and other income (m) | $7,044 | $27,753 | $30,323 |
| Total income (m) | $18,570 | $74,248 | $78,616 |
| Operating costs (m) | $8,718 | $35,366 | $35,750 |
| Pre-tax profit (m) | $9,508 | $37,122 | $$41,703 |
| EPS | $0.42 | $1.63 | $1.88 |
Source: HSBC
Diageo (LON:DGE)
Positive volume growth updates drove rallies in the share prices of Unilever (LON:ULVR) and Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RKT) this week. Bulls of their fellow consumer staple Diageo (LON:DGE) will be hoping for a similar price reaction when the alcoholic drinks giant delivers FY26 results on 6 August.
The Johnnie Walker-to-Guinness maker’s new CEO Dave Lewis is set to deliver a strategy update on the day, which offers another potential upside catalyst for the unloved stock. A glass-half-full outlook for FY27 would also go down well with long-suffering investors who’ve seen the value of their holdings drain away over the past five years.
Unilever leaps on sales beat and upgraded outlook
Since taking the helm, former Tesco (LON:TSCO) boss Lewis has cut costs, slashed the H1 dividend and downgraded FY26 guidance. But turning indebted Diageo round won’t be simple or quick. US disposable incomes remain under pressure and drinking habits are changing at pace. Weight-loss drugs are a long-term threat to alcohol consumption, while Diageo’s premium brands face competitive pressure from more affordable alternatives.
Next week, investors will be particularly focused on Diageo’s commentary around North America and China. Essentially, the recovery hinges on a demand uptick in these two key markets for spirits, which have proved weak in recent periods.
Back in May, Diageo had investors popping corks after serving up a positive Q3 organic sales growth surprise. The Captain Morgan-to-Ketel One brand owner’s Q3 growth was driven by better volumes and a better combination of price and product mix.
For FY26, consensus calls for a 2.1% drop in organic sales and operating profits of $5.6 billion. For FY27, the market expects organic growth to turn positive at 1.3%, although operating profits are seen lower at $5.4 billion.
Diageo consensus forecasts
| FY 2026 | FY 2027 | |
| Net sales (bn) | $19.6 | $19.2 |
| Operating profit (bn) | $5.6 | $5.4 |
| EPS | $1.596 | $1.588 |
Source: Diageo
Next week brings one of the busiest stretches of the earnings season…
On deck next week, Investing.com
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