{"id":441406,"date":"2026-11-03T12:40:07","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T05:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/market-news\/apple-earnings-beat-fails-to-impress-wall-street-as-tech-shares-struggle-ahead-of-us-midterms-441406\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T12:40:07","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T05:40:07","slug":"apple-earnings-beat-fails-to-impress-wall-street-as-tech-shares-struggle-ahead-of-us-midterms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/market-news\/apple-earnings-beat-fails-to-impress-wall-street-as-tech-shares-struggle-ahead-of-us-midterms-441406\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple earnings beat fails to impress Wall Street as tech shares struggle ahead of US midterms"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Another week and it’s another big tech name that is finding out that\u00a0even beating earnings estimates isn’t good enough for Wall Street these days. Apple is that next big name to be struck down and the timing couldn’t be worse\u00a0for an already battered tech sector in markets.<\/p>\n

Apple reported\u00a0fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $114.48 billion and earnings per share of $2.10, beating expectations of $113.39 billion and $1.99 respectively. Now, that sounds pretty decent no?<\/p>\n

Well, if only the market reaction shared that view. Apple shares instead are down 2% in after-hours trading\u00a0as investors turned their attention to the less flattering details.<\/p>\n

As always, it is all about the guidance. Of note,\u00a0Apple expects gross margins to decline to around 45-46% for the December quarter, down from 47.9%, as rising memory costs squeeze profitability. Meanwhile, services revenue growth is also projected at just 8-9% and that comes under expectations of around 10.7%.<\/p>\n

Besides that, there is also the fact that\u00a0tariff refunds have flattered the latest quarterly results. So, there is good reason to question how much of the latest earnings strength will carry forward to the next one.<\/p>\n

In any case, we have seen over the past few weeks how\u00a0Wall Street is turning more and more unforgiving when it comes to techn earnings especially. It’s not enough to deliver good numbers anymore and\u00a0disappointing outlooks are being punished hard. And that’s not the sort of backdrop that encourages investors to rush back into expensive tech names.<\/p>\n

The S&P 500 fell by 0.5% yesterday with the Nasdaq falling by another 1.1%. However, I feel what really jumps out of the page with the market showing yesterday is the fact that stocks were off to a good start initially. The S&P 500 surrendered 1.1% gains to close lower as the heavy selling pressure\u00a0remains concentrated in tech rather than spreading evenly across the market. For some context, the Dow closed up by 0.4%.<\/p>\n

If anything, it reaffirms that concerns surrounding AI spending, valuations and future profitability aren’t going away just yet.<\/p>\n

And today, we have the US midterm elections to add to the mix. As such, Wall Street has another reason to be careful.<\/p>\n

The battle for control of Congress will be the main event, with investors watching whether Republicans can retain both chambers or whether Democrats can make gains that could complicate the Trump administration’s fiscal and legislative agenda.<\/p>\n