It all comes back to tech, once again. Magnificent Seven earnings kick off in the week ahead, with Alphabet and Tesla the first of the megacaps to report this earnings season at a time when the artificial intelligence trade — along with strong quarterly results and economic data — is once again carrying the market to all-time highs. The S & P 500 reached yet another milestone Friday, with tech driving much of the recent gains. Nvidia alone is up more than 4% this week, after first crossing the $4 trillion milestone last week. Tesla shares are also up more than 4%. Alphabet and Amazon are also higher on the week. "I think people are expecting great things out of any of the, let's call it — except for Apple — of the remaining Mag Seven," said Mark Malek, investment chief at Siebert Financial. "It can overhang everything else, right, that we're going to be looking at next week." .SPX 5D mountain The S & P 500 over the past five days Much of that is because the Magnificent Seven is set to be a significant driver of growth this reporting season, accounting for roughly half of the S & P 500's expected earnings growth of 5.6%. Together, the megacap companies are projected to post earnings growth of over 14% in the second quarter, while the other 493 S & P 500 companies are set to grow just 3.4%, according to FactSet's John Butters. If Alphabet delivers on its earnings report as it's expected to, it could continue to lift the market and raise expectations for other names that are reporting later on. As it is, analysts are already getting more confident in Alphabet, as durable growth and rising forecasts could mean the Google parent will outperform. That could add to the risk-on tilt already evident in markets. The S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite , both of which have significant exposure to tech, ended the week with gains, up 0.6% and 1.5%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was slightly lower on the week, down 0.1%. Potential hurdles await Of course, there are many challenges remaining for the market. Namely, ongoing uncertainty around President Donald Trump's tariffs that could go higher than a minimum of 10%. The Financial Times reported , citing people briefed on the talks, that the president is demanding a minimum tariff of 15% to 20% on any deal with the European Union. Wall Street is also coming up fast on an Aug. 1 deadline for the U.S. to implement a 30% tariff on the EU. The bloc is hurrying to reach a trade deal before then. Additionally, valuations in the U.S. equity market remain stretched, economic growth is expected to soften, the federal deficit is set to widen, and geopolitical risks remain. Yet many investors remain assured those challenges won't derail the market, so long as companies can continue to beat expectations this earnings season. On that front, the second-quarter earnings season is off to a strong start. Many companies appear to have gained a handle on navigating tariffs, or are finding their sales inflated by a stronger dollar. Delta Air Lines , which pulled its guidance last earnings season on tariff uncertainty, reinstated it this time around after the CEO said bookings stabilized. Of the roughly 60 S & P 500 companies that have posted second-quarter results thus far, 86% have surpassed analyst expectations, according to FactSet data. And, beats are getting rewarded. Two days after companies beat estimates, the stocks have been rising 2.1%, above the five-year average of 1%, according to FactSet's Butters. For the time being, at least, that suggests further momentum for stocks, so long as a recession case does not appear. "I think the market would just continue to go higher, right? Because the momentum is there right now," Siebert Financial's Malek said. "The market wants to go higher at this point." Week ahead calendar All times ET. Monday, July 21 10 a.m. Leading Indicators (June) Earnings: Steel Dynamics , Verizon Communications , Domino's Pizza Tuesday, July 22 10 a.m. Richmond Fed Index (July) Earnings: Baker Hughes , Intuitive Surgical , Enphase Energy , Capital One Financial , Texas Instruments , EQT , Lockheed Martin , Sherwin-Williams , Philip Morris International , IQVIA Holdings , Coca-Cola , Halliburton , Quest Diagnostics , PulteGroup , KeyCorp , General Motors , D.R. Horton , Equifax , Danaher , RTX , Northrop Grumman Wednesday, July 23 10 a.m. Existing Home Sales (June) Earnings: O'Reilly Automotive , ServiceNow , Chipotle Mexican Grill , T-Mobile US , United Rentals , Tesla , International Business Machines , Alphabet , Lamb Weston , Freeport-McMoRan , General Dynamics , Lennox International , Hasbro , Boston Scientific , Thermo Fisher Scientific, Hilton Worldwide Holdings , AT & T , Otis Worldwide , NextEra Energy , GE Vernova , Raymond James Financial Thursday, July 24 8:30 a.m. Continuing Jobless Claims (07/12) 8:30 a.m. Initial Claims (07/19) 8:30 a.m. PMI Composite preliminary (July) 8:30 a.m. S & P PMI Manufacturing preliminary (July) 8:30 a.m. S & P PMI Services preliminary (July) 10 a.m. New Home Sales (June) 11 a.m. Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index (July) Earnings: Edwards Lifesciences , Deckers Outdoor, Intel , Newmont , Ameriprise Financial , Union Pacific , Pool , Nasdaq , A.O. Smith , Valero Energy , West Pharmaceutical Services , Honeywell International , Dow , Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies , Textron , Tractor Supply , L3Harris Technologies , Keurig Dr Pepper , CenterPoint Energy , Blackstone , Southwest Airlines Friday, July 25 8:30 a.m. Durable Orders preliminary (June) Earnings: HCA Healthcare, Phillips 66, Charter Communications , Centene
