FOMC, Microsoft and Alphabet Earnings Today: What to Watch (Oct 28)

Three things move markets today: the Fed decision at 2 p.m. Eastern, then Microsoft and Alphabet after the close. Here is how to follow all three on one terminal. Start with the Fed.

The Predictions tab shows what prediction markets are pricing. Right now about ninety-six percent say the Fed holds, five percent a quarter-point hike, and one percent a cut. These are traded odds, not a forecast. The term structure on the right shows how the odds change across later meetings, so you can see whether markets expect a different path after today.

Why does this matter outside bonds? Rates feed into how investors discount future earnings, which is why growth stocks like these two can move on a Fed statement even before their own results. The wording of the statement often matters as much as the decision itself. The Macro tab gives the backdrop.

The ten-year minus two-year spread is plus zero point two seven percent, a normal curve. Unemployment is four point two percent. Inflation, payrolls and jobless claims are in the same view. The Fed statement tends to lean on exactly these, so they are worth a glance before the 2 p.m.

Eastern release. After the close, two of the biggest companies in the market report. On the Earnings tab, today's list is on the left. Microsoft and Alphabet are both marked Post, which means after the close.

Type Microsoft and the terminal pulls up its latest call summary. Last quarter, revenue was ninety billion dollars, up eighteen percent. Microsoft's business section says Azure grew forty-one percent over the year. Under guidance, management pointed to Azure growth of about forty-five percent for this quarter.

Microsoft is also changing how it reports, so some old segment labels in this summary will look different tonight. The risks section is where management names what could go wrong. For Microsoft that includes margin pressure from the AI build-out and weaker demand in parts of the PC market. The Q&A shows what analysts pushed on, so you can compare it with tonight's call.

Company Research puts the stock around that. Search any ticker and the terminal builds a research page in a few seconds. For Microsoft, the forward price to earnings is twenty-seven. The terminal's model flags it as undervalued, which is a model output, not a call.

Further down, six analysis cards cover competitors, financial health, growth, profitability, shareholder returns and valuation, each scored out of five. Now Alphabet. Its last call was July twenty-second. Revenue was one hundred nineteen point eight billion dollars, up twenty-four percent.

Google Cloud grew eighty-two percent, to twenty-four point eight billion. The line to watch is spending. In July, Alphabet set full-year capital spending between one hundred ninety-five and two hundred five billion dollars, and free cash flow was negative that quarter. Tonight shows whether those two things move.

Alphabet's risks section lists supply constraints and the pressure on cash flow from heavy investment. The Q&A covers its chips, called TPUs, and how it balances them between its own use and outside customers. Flip back through earlier quarters to see how this has changed. Now the same page for Alphabet.

It takes a few seconds to build. Alphabet and Microsoft are about the same size, both near three point nine trillion dollars. Alphabet trades at sixteen times earnings. Microsoft is at twenty-nine point six.

The analysis cards note Google Cloud's backlog of five hundred fourteen billion dollars and the heavy spending plan, so the strengths and risks sit side by side. The Analyst Ratings tab is a daily feed of upgrades, downgrades and target changes from Wall Street firms. Search a ticker to see its rating history. Pick a name and you see the consensus score, the trend over time, and each firm's latest action.

Ratings are opinions, and they often change after results. So, a checklist for today. The Fed statement at 2 p.m. Eastern.

Azure growth and Microsoft's new reporting. Alphabet's cloud growth, spending and cash flow. None of this predicts the reaction. It is context.

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