Every few months, Wall Street enters a frenzy.

Stocks make double-digit moves overnight.

Fortunes are made (and lost) in the blink of an eye.

A single earnings report can send a stock soaring 20% or crashing just as fast.

It’s a high-stakes game where expectations, surprises, and guidance collide – creating massive opportunities for investors who know where to look.

What Is Earnings Season?

Earnings season occurs four times a year – typically beginning a few weeks after the end of each quarter.

This is when publicly traded companies report their financial results, detailing revenue, earnings, profit margins, and future outlooks.

Investors eagerly anticipate these reports because they provide critical insights into a company’s health and industry trends.

Earnings season matters because it’s one of the few times a year when traders get a reality check.

Hype and speculation dominate the stock market in between earnings reports, but when companies release actual numbers, the truth comes out.

Here’s why it’s such a big deal:

1. Volatility Creates Opportunity: Stocks don’t move in straight lines, and earnings season injects massive volatility into the market. A company that beats expectations can see its stock price skyrocket overnight, while a weak report can send shares into a nosedive.

2. Expectations vs. Reality: The market doesn’t just react to earnings – it reacts to expectations. A company might post solid results, but if Wall Street expected even better, the stock could still drop. Conversely, a company reporting mediocre earnings might still rally if investors feared worse. Understanding this dynamic is key to making money during earnings season.

3. Guidance Moves Markets: Earnings reports aren’t just about past performance. Companies provide forward guidance – forecasts for revenue, earnings, and business conditions. This guidance often has a bigger impact on stock prices than the actual earnings results. A company that beats earnings but lowers its future outlook can see its stock plummet, while a company with weak earnings but strong guidance can rally.

4. Sector Trends Are Revealed: Earnings season gives investors a real-time pulse on different industries. If multiple semiconductor companies report strong demand, it signals strength in the tech sector. If major retailers struggle, it might indicate consumer spending is slowing. These insights help traders position themselves for broader market trends.

What To Watch This Earnings Season

This week kicks off the newest earnings season.

To start, banks are on deck to report results alongside airlines and a few tech companies important to my Million Mission.

You can see the full list of companies that report earnings this week here.

Here’s what I’ll be looking for:

1. Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM): TSM reports earnings on Thursday. This company manufactures chips for the world's leading semiconductor designers, including Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Broadcom, and Apple.

Watching TSM’s earnings report will give clues into the state of chip demand which shines light on both the state of the AI revolution and individual companies like NVDA, AMD, etc.

My prediction: TSM continues to see robust demand. That’s a positive sign for Million Mission favorite Nvidia. 

2. The Big Banks: Banks always kick off earnings season, and this week we’ll hear from the majors – JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and more.

Bank reports act as a macro weather report – offering an early read on the economy, especially the health of the U.S. consumer and overall capital market activity.

My prediction: We’ll see continued signs of strength from consumers – spending remains healthy – and a noticeable pickup in IPO and deal-making activity, especially from firms like Goldman and JPMorgan. That’s a positive signal for risk appetite and market confidence heading into the second half of the year.

3. The Tariff Impact: Not to sound like a broken record here… but tariffs are top of mind once again. As earnings roll in, I’ll be watching closely for any commentary on supply chains, rising input costs, and how those pressures trickle down to consumer prices – especially from companies with significant global exposure.

My prediction: The actual impact from tariffs will be minimal in the near term, but markets will still likely overreact to any mention of them. Expect exaggerated stock moves based more on headlines than fundamentals.

Earnings season isn’t for the faint of heart.

It’s a rollercoaster. And yes, fortunes really can be made or lost in a matter of minutes.

But if you stay informed, manage your risk, and read between the lines, you’ll see the opportunities others miss.

In a market full of noise, earnings season brings the one thing that always matters most: facts.