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Big Earnings Day Sandwich Fed's Interest Rate Decision
Read MoreHide Full Article
Key Takeaways
Latest FOMC Interest Rate Decision Comes Today at 2pm ET
Starbucks, AT&T and VF Corp Reported Quarterly Results This Morning
Mag 7 Members Microsoft & Tesla Report After Today's Close
Wednesday, January 28th, 2026
Today’s main event in market trading will likely be the conclusion of the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which finishes with a new monetary policy statement (2pm ET) and a press conference from Fed Chair Jerome Powell (@ 2:30pm). No changes are expected from the current 3.50-3.75% Fed funds rate, but this will be the first presser since the U.S. Dept. of Justice launched a criminal campaign against Powell for $2.5 billion spent on Federal Reserve building renovations.
Powell himself has already publicly addressed these charges, calling this “unprecedented action” part of a broader attack from President Trump for not bringing down interest rates sooner. Last year, both men appeared before cameras where the president directly accused Powell of misusing funds and the chairman accused the president of conflating numbers.
One of the voting Fed governors, Stephen Miran, is actually on loan from the White House where he has served as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors for the past year. Since his installment into the FOMC, he has voted for a 50 basis-point (bps) interest rate cut at each meeting, and is widely expected to do the same today — likely as the only voting member to do so. Earlier this month, Miran said he’s looking for rate cuts of 150 bps this year, which would bring the Fed funds rate to 2.00-2.25%, or roughly 50 bps lower than the current Inflation Rate of 2.7%.
Since September 2024, the Fed funds rate has come down 175 bps from multi-year highs of 5.25-5.50%, but only one or two 25 bps cuts are expected by most Fed analysts for 2026. Of course, unforeseen circumstances like the bottom falling out of the labor market or a drastic lowering of inflation across multiple metrics can re-set this table. But as of now, we’re seeing both labor and inflation hover within generally acceptable levels.
Quick Earnings Rundown This Morning: SBUX, T & More
Starbucks (SBUX - Free Report) missed earnings estimates this morning by 2 cents per share to $0.58 reported for fiscal Q1. Revenues in the quarter, however, beat the Zacks consensus estimate by +2.82% to $9.92 billion — also above the $9.4 billion reported in the year-ago quarter. CEO Brian Niccol’s tenure is beginning to demonstrate traffic growth, and shares are up +7.5% in today’s pre-market. For more on SBUX’s earnings, click here.
AT&T (T - Free Report) shares are up modestly following its Q4 results hitting the tape this morning, with earnings of 52 cents per share outpacing estimates by 4 cents (but still shy the 54 cents reported in the year-ago quarter), for the telecom giant’s third earnings beat in the last five quarters. Revenues posted a +2.24% positive surprise to $33.47 billion. For more on T’s earnings, click here.
The parent company for apparel brands like Vans, The North Face and Timberland, V.F. Corp. (VFC - Free Report) , reported perhaps the biggest earning beat of the morning: $0.58 per share topped the $0.43 expected for a +34.9% outperformance in its fiscal Q3. Revenues of $2.88 billion surpassed estimates by +4.26%, but a cautious outlook for Q4, particularly among Vans sales, has slid the stock -5% in the pre-market, giving back a chunk of its +12% gains year to date. For more on VFC’s earnings, click here.
The Progressive (PGR - Free Report) and Automatic Data Processing (ADP - Free Report) also reported quarterly results this morning, and beat earnings estimates by +5.2% and +1.6%, respectively. Progressive shares are up marginally on this news, while ADP is descending -2.9% directly ahead of the opening bell.
Earnings Reports After the Close: MSFT, TSLA, IBM
Once normal trading ends this Hump Day, Zacks Rank #2 (Buy)-rated Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , which only has one earnings miss over the past five years, is expected to have grown earnings by +20.1% year over year, and revenues of +15.2%. The stock remains off the all-time highs set before Halloween last year, but have come up more than $40 per share since its near-term low just one week ago.
Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) , which is still trying to dig out from its relative underperformance compared to other companies in the “Mag 7,” is expected to bring negative earnings of -38.4% from a year ago on revenues anticipated to be -2.2% from Q4 2025. The Zacks Rank #4 (Sell)-rated American EV leader has also missed earnings in three of its last four quarters.
Tech giant IBM (IBM - Free Report) also puts out Q4 earnings after today’s closing bell, and the Zacks Rank #3 (Hold)-rated multinational monolith is currently riding an 11-quarter streak of earnings beats. The company is expected to grow earnings by +10.5% from a year ago on revenues anticipated to reach +9.4%. Shares are flat year to date, but up +30% from a year ago. Questions or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>>
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Big Earnings Day Sandwich Fed's Interest Rate Decision
Key Takeaways
Wednesday, January 28th, 2026
Today’s main event in market trading will likely be the conclusion of the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which finishes with a new monetary policy statement (2pm ET) and a press conference from Fed Chair Jerome Powell (@ 2:30pm). No changes are expected from the current 3.50-3.75% Fed funds rate, but this will be the first presser since the U.S. Dept. of Justice launched a criminal campaign against Powell for $2.5 billion spent on Federal Reserve building renovations.
Powell himself has already publicly addressed these charges, calling this “unprecedented action” part of a broader attack from President Trump for not bringing down interest rates sooner. Last year, both men appeared before cameras where the president directly accused Powell of misusing funds and the chairman accused the president of conflating numbers.
One of the voting Fed governors, Stephen Miran, is actually on loan from the White House where he has served as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors for the past year. Since his installment into the FOMC, he has voted for a 50 basis-point (bps) interest rate cut at each meeting, and is widely expected to do the same today — likely as the only voting member to do so. Earlier this month, Miran said he’s looking for rate cuts of 150 bps this year, which would bring the Fed funds rate to 2.00-2.25%, or roughly 50 bps lower than the current Inflation Rate of 2.7%.
Since September 2024, the Fed funds rate has come down 175 bps from multi-year highs of 5.25-5.50%, but only one or two 25 bps cuts are expected by most Fed analysts for 2026. Of course, unforeseen circumstances like the bottom falling out of the labor market or a drastic lowering of inflation across multiple metrics can re-set this table. But as of now, we’re seeing both labor and inflation hover within generally acceptable levels.
Quick Earnings Rundown This Morning: SBUX, T & More
Starbucks (SBUX - Free Report) missed earnings estimates this morning by 2 cents per share to $0.58 reported for fiscal Q1. Revenues in the quarter, however, beat the Zacks consensus estimate by +2.82% to $9.92 billion — also above the $9.4 billion reported in the year-ago quarter. CEO Brian Niccol’s tenure is beginning to demonstrate traffic growth, and shares are up +7.5% in today’s pre-market. For more on SBUX’s earnings, click here.
AT&T (T - Free Report) shares are up modestly following its Q4 results hitting the tape this morning, with earnings of 52 cents per share outpacing estimates by 4 cents (but still shy the 54 cents reported in the year-ago quarter), for the telecom giant’s third earnings beat in the last five quarters. Revenues posted a +2.24% positive surprise to $33.47 billion. For more on T’s earnings, click here.
The parent company for apparel brands like Vans, The North Face and Timberland, V.F. Corp. (VFC - Free Report) , reported perhaps the biggest earning beat of the morning: $0.58 per share topped the $0.43 expected for a +34.9% outperformance in its fiscal Q3. Revenues of $2.88 billion surpassed estimates by +4.26%, but a cautious outlook for Q4, particularly among Vans sales, has slid the stock -5% in the pre-market, giving back a chunk of its +12% gains year to date. For more on VFC’s earnings, click here.
The Progressive (PGR - Free Report) and Automatic Data Processing (ADP - Free Report) also reported quarterly results this morning, and beat earnings estimates by +5.2% and +1.6%, respectively. Progressive shares are up marginally on this news, while ADP is descending -2.9% directly ahead of the opening bell.
Earnings Reports After the Close: MSFT, TSLA, IBM
Once normal trading ends this Hump Day, Zacks Rank #2 (Buy)-rated Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , which only has one earnings miss over the past five years, is expected to have grown earnings by +20.1% year over year, and revenues of +15.2%. The stock remains off the all-time highs set before Halloween last year, but have come up more than $40 per share since its near-term low just one week ago.
Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) , which is still trying to dig out from its relative underperformance compared to other companies in the “Mag 7,” is expected to bring negative earnings of -38.4% from a year ago on revenues anticipated to be -2.2% from Q4 2025. The Zacks Rank #4 (Sell)-rated American EV leader has also missed earnings in three of its last four quarters.
Tech giant IBM (IBM - Free Report) also puts out Q4 earnings after today’s closing bell, and the Zacks Rank #3 (Hold)-rated multinational monolith is currently riding an 11-quarter streak of earnings beats. The company is expected to grow earnings by +10.5% from a year ago on revenues anticipated to reach +9.4%. Shares are flat year to date, but up +30% from a year ago.
Questions or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>>