Earnings live: Sandisk stock soars on profit beat, Verizon stock climbs, Exxon and Chevron beat estimates

The fourth quarter earnings season kicked into high gear this week, with Big Tech results from Microsoft (MSFT), Meta (META), Tesla (TSLA), and Apple (AAPL) headlining the earnings calendar. An optimistic consensus is forming: As of Jan. 23, 13% of S&P 500 (^GSPC) companies have reported fourth quarter results, according to FactSet data, and Wall Street analysts estimate an 8.2% increase in earnings per share for the fourth quarter. If that rate holds, it would represent the 10th consecutive quarter of an ...