Mentions of artificial intelligence on earnings calls crested a new peak in the third quarter.

In a note on Friday, FactSet’s John Butters pointed out that 306 S&P 500 companies cited the term “AI” on earnings calls held from Sept. 15 through Dec. 4, the highest level in 10 years. The previous record for mentions of AI was in Q2 of this year, with 292 mentions of the term.

As AI continues to drive the K-shaped economy and market, companies have been rewarded for mentioning the technology taking the world by storm.

Butters notes that S&P 500 companies that mention “AI” have seen a higher average price increase than their non-AI-mentioning counterparts over the past couple months and over the past year.

As the chart below from FactSet shows, companies that cited AI saw an average price increase of 1%, compared to an increase of 0.3% for companies that didn’t mention AI since Sept. 30. When looking back since Dec. 31, 2024, the difference is 13.9% and 5.7%, respectively.

In the week ahead, Oracle (ORCL) is sure to fuel sentiment on the artificial intelligence build-out when it reports earnings and an update on its cloud business backlog. The stock is up 30% year to date but has come under pressure in the past month, down 13% over that period.

Victoria’s Secret (VSCO) stock climbed over 13% in premarket trading after the lingerie company raised its 2025 net sales, operating income, and earnings guidance, signaling progress in its revitalization efforts.

The company forecast full-year net sales in the range of $6.45 billion to $6.48 billion, compared to previous guidance of $6.33 billion to $6.41 billion. Its adjusted earnings per share for the year are expected to be in the range of $2.40 to $2.65, compared to prior guidance of $1.80 to $2.20.

Victoria’s Secret also said its estimated tariff impact will be about $90 million for the year, less than the $100 million initially expected.

Victoria’s Secret’s third quarter results were also better than expected, with revenue beating estimates and the company’s net loss coming in shallower than estimates.

Net sales increased 9% year over year to $1.472 billion, above estimates for $1.40 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. The retailer recorded a net loss of $0.46 per share, which was smaller than the $0.60 per share loss the Street was expecting.

Listen to Victoria’s Secret’s earnings call here.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) shares fell 4% after the company forecast fiscal ‌first quarter revenue below ‌Wall Street estimates.

The company expects ‍Q1 revenue in the range of $9 ​billion to $9.4 ‌billion, compared with analysts’ average estimate ⁠of $9.9 billion, ​according ​to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Networking revenue was the standout, rising 150% year over year to $2.8 billion. Server revenue declined by 5% year over year to $4.5 billion, while hybrid cloud revenue dropped 12% to $1.4 billion. Financial services revenue was flat compared to last year at $889 million.

For the October quarter, HPE reported adjusted profits of $0.62 per share, compared to estimates of $0.51.

Revenue of $9.7 billion grew 14% year over year but came in a bit light compared to estimates, as the Street was expecting $9.9 billion in revenue.

Ulta (ULTA) stock popped 5% in extended trading after the beauty retailer reported solid third quarter results and delivered the guidance raise Wall Street was looking for.

Ulta beat estimates on the top and bottom lines in the third quarter. Here’s a breakdown of the Q3 results, compared to Wall Street consensus estimates compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence:

“As we look ahead to the all-important holiday season, we know many consumers’ wallets are pressured and they are seeking value,” Kecia Steelman, president and CEO, said in a statement. “We are confident in our plans, and our teams are ready to make Holiday Happen Here at Ulta Beauty, driving excitement and delivering for our guests and their loved ones, now and into the new year.”

Ulta also modestly raised its full-year outlook. The company expects net sales to reach “approximately $12.3 billion” for 2025, up from its previous guidance of $12 billion to $12.1 billion.

Ulta also lifted its earnings per share outlook to a range of $25.20 to $25.50 from $23.85 to $24.30 previously. Analysts had been estimating full-year earnings at a midpoint of $24.54.

The Street was expecting Ulta to issue cautiously upbeat guidance, as the retailer’s new, CFO Christopher DelOrefice, starts on Dec. 5.

Listen to the earnings call live here at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Kroger (KR) stock fell about 3% in premarket trading after the food retailer reported little revenue growth year over year.

The Cincinnati-based grocery chain posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.05, slightly beating Wall Street analysts’ expectations of $1.03 earnings per share, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

However, third quarter revenue of $33.9 billion was roughly unchanged from the same period a year ago, $33.6 billion, and missed analyst estimates of $34.1 billion. Same-store sales, excluding fuel, grew 2.6% year over year.

As a result, Kroger updated some of its financial outlooks. The grocery chain expects same-store sales ex-fuel to grow 2.8%-3.0%, narrower than its previous range of 2.7%-3.4%. Kroger also raised the lower end of its EPS guidance to $4.75-$4.80 from $4.70-$4.80 previously.

In a Nov. 25 note, JPMorgan analysts noted that the consumer and competitive environment has grown notably tougher for food retailers like Kroger.

“Sentiment toward food retailers seems to have soured a bit over the past few months, including for [Kroger],” the analysts wrote. “When inflationary concerns were more persistent in the food space and the consumer environment was stronger, the food retail space was better liked.”

The analysts noted a few factors putting pressure on Kroger shares, in particular, in recent months: Amazon’s (AMZN) push into grocery, Walmart (WMT) taking share in grocery and ramping up price competition, concerns about food inflation reigniting, and Nielsen data showing slower sales growth.

Five Below (FIVE) is the latest value retailer to benefit from consumers’ shift toward more value-oriented purchases, as high-income shoppers drive traffic at dollar stores and other bargain outlets.

“We’ve seen really nice traffic growth and growth in both new customers as well as retention,” Five Below CEO Winnie Park said on the company’s earnings call. “What’s really worked in terms of growth is an expansion of the idea of what value looks like. We still curate a great assortment — roughly 80% of the assortment is $5 and below — but we took a lot of attention to those items above $5 and specifically packing a ton of value at $7, $10, $15.”

Net sales increased 23.1% year over year to $1 billion in the third quarter, surpassing estimates of $983 million, per S&P Global Market Intelligence. Same-store sales rose by 12.4% year over year.

Earnings per share reached $0.66, beating estimates for $0.26 per share, sending the stock 4% higher in after-hours trading.

Five Below also raised its full-year sales outlook to a range of $4.62 billion to $4.65 billion. The company also raised its forecast for diluted income per share to a range of $5.51 to $5.69 from $4.56 to $4.96 previously.

For the fourth quarter, net sales are expected to be in the range of $1.58 billion to $1.61 billion.

Listen to a livestream of the earnings call here.

Snowflake (SNOW) stock tumbled after the AI data cloud provider reported a narrower-than-expected loss but issued guidance that fell short of the Street’s estimates. The company also announced it expanded its partnership with Anthropic (ANTH.PVT).

The Montana-based company reported that revenue grew 29% year over year to $1.15 billion during the quarter, slightly missing Wall Street’s estimates of $1.18 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Snowflake reported a net loss per share of $0.87, a smaller loss than the $0.96 per share analysts were expecting.

For the fourth quarter, Snowflake guided for product revenue between $1.19 billion and $1.2 billion, which was slightly below the midpoint revenue forecast by the Street of $1.23 billion. The full-year revenue guidance of $4.44 billion also fell below expectations of $4.6 billion.

Snowflake also announced a multiyear, $200 million agreement with Anthropic that will make Anthropic’s Claude AI models available on the Snowflake platform and establish a joint venture to deploy AI agents across the world’s largest enterprises.

The deal deepens Snowflake’s relationship with Anthropic, as the company has already processed trillions of Claude tokens on its platform.

“Enterprises have spent years building secure, trusted data environments, and now they want AI that can work within those environments without compromise,” Anthropic CEO and co-founder Dario Amodei said in a statement. “This partnership brings Claude directly into Snowflake, where that data already lives. It’s a meaningful step toward making frontier AI genuinely useful for businesses.”

Snowflake shares fell 8% in extended trading.

Salesforce (CRM) stock rose after hours on the company’s third quarter earnings beat and improved outlook.

The company reported third quarter diluted earnings per share of $3.25, beating estimates of $2.58 per share, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Revenue of $10.27 billion rose 8.6% year over year and was roughly in line with estimates.

Reuters reports:

Read more here.

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) stock surged over 11% after the company noted that its crucial holiday season was off to a strong start, boding well for the fourth quarter.

“Strong momentum has continued into the fourth quarter, including an excellent start to the holiday season,” CEO Jay Schottenstein said in the release. “We delivered a record-breaking Thanksgiving weekend, led by an acceleration in demand across brands and channels and underscored by outstanding growth at Aerie and Offline.”

For the third quarter, ended Nov. 1, American Eagle reported profit per share of $0.53, surpassing estimates of $0.43 per share. Revenue for the quarter was $1.36 billion, a 6% increase year over year and slightly better than estimates.

Overall, same-store sales increased 4%, led by an 11% increase in Aerie comparable sales, while American Eagle comparable sales grew 1%.

For the fourth quarter, American Eagle expects same-store sales to grow 8% to 9% year over year. Comparable sales are expected to increase by low single digits for the full year.

CrowdStrike’s (CRWD) third quarter results came in marginally better than expectations, leading the company to raise its full-year guidance, as artificial intelligence adoption boosts demand for its Falcon platform.

The cybersecurity company reported a diluted loss per share of $0.14, compared to a $0.07 loss in the same quarter a year ago. Analysts estimated CrowdStrike would report a $0.10 loss per share, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

CrowdStrike posted revenue of $1.23 billion, a 22% increase over revenue of $1.01 billion last year and surpassing estimates of $1.21 billion.

For the full year, CrowdStrike expects revenue of $4.79 billion to $4.80 billion, ahead of the Street’s estimates for full-year revenue guidance of $4.78 billion.

“We believe the Street is underestimating the growth potential for CrowdStrike as a second/third derivative beneficiary of the AI Revolution and this speaks to our core bullishness in the name continuing from current levels,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note ahead of earnings. Ives named CrowdStrike in his Best Ideas list, noting that it’s an AI-powered cybersecurity that businesses increasingly can’t live without.

CrowdStrike stock wavered around the flat line ahead of the company’s earnings call. You can listen to the call live here at 5 p.m. ET.

Okta (OKTA) stock fell after the company beat Wall Street estimates for revenue and profits in the third quarter.

Revenue for the third quarter rose 12% to $742 million,⁠ beating estimates of $730.4 million. Adjusted ​profit per share of $0.82 also ​exceeded estimates of $0.76.

Reuters reports:

Read more here.

Marvell (MRVL) stock slid 6% in extended trading after the chipmaker reported an earnings beat and announced plans to acquire chip startup Celestial AI for $3.25 billion in cash and stock.

The chipmaker reported earnings per share of $2.20 on revenue of $2.07 billion. Wall Street was expecting earnings of $1.37 per share on revenue of $2.06 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Revenue from data centers, a closely watched metric that makes up approximately three-fourths of Marvell’s revenue, rose to $1.52 billion, in line with expectations.

Marvell said it expects Celestial AI, which makes optical technology for training and running AI models, to begin contributing $500 million in annual revenue starting in the second half of fiscal 2028, reaching a $1 billion run rate by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2029.

“This acquisition further strengthens Marvell’s position at the forefront of one of the fastest-growing opportunities in AI datacenter infrastructure,” Marvell’s CEO Matt Murphy said.

Credo (CRDO) stock surged as much as 20% on Tuesday after the company swung to a profit in its fiscal second quarter and touted that it’s benefitting from the booming AI build-out.

Credo, which makes cables and other connections for data centers, reported earnings per share of $0.44, topping Wall Street’s estimates for profits of $0.30 per share. Revenue of $268 million also beat expectations for $234 million, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

For the current quarter, Credo expects revenue to be between $335 million and $345 million. Analysts had an average estimate of $341 million as of Tuesday.

“These are the strongest quarterly results in Credo’s history, and they reflect the continued build-out of the world’s largest AI training and inference clusters,” Credo’s CEO William Brennan said on the company’s earnings call. “AI clusters are no longer measured in tens of thousands of GPUs. They’re now measured in hundreds of thousands and soon millions. The scale, density, and complexity of these systems are pushing every aspect of interconnect.”

MongoDB (MDB) stock soared 15% in extended trading on Monday after the cloud software company reported revenue well above its guidance for the third quarter.

Strength in the Atlas platform drove an increase in revenue, which reached $628.3 million in the quarter, a 19% year-over-year increase. The company previously guided for revenue between $587 million and $592 million.

MongoDB also recorded a $0.02 loss per share, shallower than the $0.78 per share loss analysts were expecting, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

“Q3 was an exceptional quarter,” MongoDB CEO CJ Desai said. “Existing customers are expanding with us and net-new customer additions continue to show strength. Companies across industries and geographies are choosing MongoDB because we provide a unified data platform that powers mission-critical workloads today and also positions them to capitalize on the emerging AI platform shift.”

For the full year, the company expects revenue to hit $2.434 billion to $2.439 billion, up from its previous guidance of $2.34 billion to $2.36 billion.

S&P 500 company earnings in the third quarter have largely been solid. And with nearly all of the reports in, the 13.4% earnings growth rate so far is likely to hold.

Although most (83%) of the earnings surprises have been to the upside, investors have been less enthusiastic about earnings beats and more punishing about earnings disappointments, as indicated by the reactions in individual stock names.

According to FactSet’s John Butters, as of Nov. 21, S&P 500 companies that have reported third quarter earnings beats have seen their stock price increase by an average of 0.4% in the four-day period around their earnings release. This is less than the five-year average increase of 0.9%.

For companies that miss earnings estimates, the reaction has been disproportionately negative.

Companies that report earnings below expectations have seen their stock decrease by 5% on average during the same period (two days before the earnings release through two days after). This is well below the five-year average decrease of 2.6%.

Concerns about an artificial intelligence bubble, slowing consumer spending, and Federal Reserve rate cuts were in flux throughout the season. And sky-high expectations created a high bar for some individual names, such as Nvidia (NVDA).