Earnings Today: Caterpillar, AMD, Merck, Pfizer, Spotify, and Booking Holdings Report Q2 2026 Results

Introduction

Tuesday, August 4, 2026 is one of the busiest days of the current earnings season. Six major S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 companies report second-quarter 2026 results today, spanning the industrial, technology, pharmaceutical, media streaming, and online travel sectors. The reports — coming both before the opening bell and after the market close — will give investors fresh data on economic conditions, artificial intelligence demand, drug pricing, and consumer spending.

Caterpillar, Merck, Pfizer, and Spotify all report before markets open. Advanced Micro Devices and Booking Holdings report after the close. Together, these six companies represent a combined market capitalization in the hundreds of billions of dollars and serve as bellwethers for their respective sectors.

Companies Reporting Earnings Today

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) — Before Market Open

Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines. The company serves customers in more than 190 countries through one of the largest dealer networks in the world.

The Zacks consensus estimate for Caterpillar's Q2 2026 earnings is $6.25 per share, representing 32% growth year-over-year. Revenue consensus is $19.31 billion, implying 16.6% growth. CAT has outpaced earnings estimates in three of the past four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 9.62%. CAT shares have gained approximately 97% over the past year, making any deviation from expectations particularly consequential.

Key drivers this quarter include infrastructure spending tied to the CHIPS Act and the U.S. infrastructure bill, rising demand in the Power & Energy segment, and pricing power. Tariffs are expected to have added approximately $700 million to cost of sales — a headwind analysts are watching closely. Management will release results at 5:30 a.m. CDT, followed by a conference call.

Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) — Before Market Open

Merck is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, best known for Keytruda, the world's top-selling cancer immunotherapy. The company holds a broad portfolio spanning oncology, vaccines, diabetes, and animal health.

Wall Street expects Q2 2026 revenue of $16.33 billion (up 3.3% year-over-year), with a GAAP EPS loss of approximately $0.26. The loss reflects acquisition-related charges — a one-time item that obscures the underlying business performance. Keytruda alone is expected to generate $8.06 billion in quarterly sales, according to analyst consensus, up roughly 1.3% year-over-year. The company's own full-year guidance calls for $65.80 billion to $67.00 billion in revenue and $5.04 to $5.16 in adjusted EPS. Merck holds its conference call at 9:00 a.m. ET.

Keytruda's patent expiration in 2028 remains the long-term overhang investors monitor. Pipeline progress, particularly from Merck's broader oncology and immunology portfolio, will be closely watched.

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) — Before Market Open

Pfizer is a global pharmaceutical giant whose product portfolio spans oncology, vaccines, immunology, rare diseases, and hospital acute care. The company is in a multi-year transition as pandemic-era COVID-19 revenues continue to decline.

Analysts expect Pfizer to report adjusted EPS of approximately $0.68 on revenue of around $14.45 billion — a roughly 13% decline in earnings year-over-year as pandemic-era sales fade. Pfizer has beaten estimates four consecutive quarters, so a modest beat would not surprise the market. Full-year guidance of $59.5 billion to $62.5 billion in revenue and $2.80 to $3.00 in adjusted EPS has not changed since May. The market's key focus: whether management raises the guidance range, which would signal confidence in non-COVID growth from oncology and the company's emerging obesity pipeline. The conference call is at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Spotify Technology (NYSE: SPOT) — Before Market Open

Spotify is the world's largest audio streaming platform, with subscribers and listeners across 180+ markets. The platform has expanded aggressively into podcasts, audiobooks, and advertising technology.

Analyst consensus estimates approximately 778 million monthly active users (MAUs) for Q2 2026, up from 696 million a year ago. Premium subscribers are expected to reach approximately 299 million, compared with 276 million in Q2 2025. Consensus EPS is approximately $3.29. Spotify beat Q1 2026 estimates by 8.6%, posting EPS of $4.04 against a $3.72 consensus. Investors are focused on gross margin improvement, the monetization of podcasts and audiobooks, and how Spotify's AI-driven personalized free tier is converting listeners to paying subscribers.

Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) — After Market Close

AMD is a semiconductor company that designs processors, graphics cards, and AI accelerators for data centers, personal computers, and gaming consoles. It is a direct competitor to both Intel in CPUs and NVIDIA in AI/data center GPUs.

Management guided Q2 revenue to $11.2 billion (plus or minus $300 million), representing approximately 46% year-over-year growth. Analyst consensus sits at roughly $11.32 billion. For earnings, the Zacks consensus is approximately $1.61 per share. AMD beat estimates in all four trailing quarters, with an average surprise of 6.5%. Shares closed at $476.15 on July 31, about 18% below their 52-week high of $584.73.

Wall Street's real focus is not the revenue beat — it is gross margin and the Q3 guidance. AMD's new Helios rack-scale AI system (combining MI455X GPUs, EPYC Venice CPUs, and Pensando networking) begins shipping in September. A Q3 guide that confirms the ramp is on schedule would be a major catalyst. AMD also recently confirmed a partnership with Anthropic to deploy up to 2 gigawatts of Instinct MI450-series GPUs, alongside partnerships with OpenAI and Meta. The earnings call is at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG) — After Market Close

Booking Holdings is the world's largest online travel company, operating Booking.com, Priceline, Kayak, and Agoda. The company's revenue is closely tied to global leisure travel demand and hotel room nights booked.

The Barchart consensus EPS estimate for Q2 2026 is $2.46, up 10.8% from $2.22 in Q2 2025. MarketWatch shows an average analyst estimate of $2.43 per share. Booking Holdings has exceeded EPS expectations in all four of the past trailing quarters. The company guided Q2 room nights growth of 2% to 4% and gross bookings growth of 4% to 6%. Full-year consensus stands at approximately $10.45 EPS on $29.4 billion revenue. The press release is expected at approximately 4:00 p.m. ET, with a conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Key Storylines to Watch

AI Chip Demand: AMD vs. the Market

AMD's report is the most closely watched of the day for the technology sector. Investor interest centers on whether AMD can execute its second-half AI GPU ramp while defending its record 46% server CPU market share from Q1. AMD CEO Lisa Su noted at the Advancing AI 2026 event in July that agentic workloads are driving a higher CPU-to-GPU ratio in data centers — a favorable dynamic for AMD's EPYC processors. The gross margin line, not just revenue, will tell investors whether the GPU ramp is profitable.

Pharma's Transition Year

Both Merck and Pfizer are navigating transition years. Merck faces the clock ticking on Keytruda's 2028 patent expiration while building its next generation of oncology and immunology drugs. Pfizer is managing the decline of its COVID vaccine and antiviral business while pursuing growth in oncology, rare diseases, and — longer term — obesity. Both companies report before the opening bell, potentially setting a tone for the broader healthcare sector.

Infrastructure and Industrial Demand: Caterpillar's Bellwether Status

Caterpillar is often treated as a proxy for global industrial and infrastructure health. A strong Q2 beat would reinforce the narrative that U.S. construction spending and global mining activity remain robust. Analysts note that ISM Manufacturing readings remained above 50 throughout April, May, and June 2026 — consistent with Caterpillar's demand environment — and the company entered Q2 with a record $63 billion order backlog.

Travel and Consumer Spending: Booking Holdings

Booking Holdings' report will offer a real-time read on summer travel demand. If room nights growth and average daily rates come in at the high end of guidance, it would signal healthy leisure spending. Any commentary about Middle East conflict headwinds or European demand softness will be scrutinized.

Market Impact

AMD's after-hours result has the potential to move the broader semiconductor sector. A strong beat and guidance raise could lift shares of AI-adjacent chipmakers, while a weak Q3 guide could pressure names like NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Marvell Technology. Options markets are pricing in roughly an 11% post-earnings move for AMD.

Caterpillar's results will be watched by investors in the industrial sector ETF (XLI) and may affect peers like Deere & Company, Komatsu, and United Rentals. Infrastructure-sensitive plays could see movement based on CAT's order backlog commentary.

Merck's results, particularly Keytruda sales, will set a tone for the pharmaceutical sector (XPH, PPH) and could influence peer names including Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca. Pfizer's full-year guidance update will be closely read for signals about the broader non-COVID drug market.

Booking Holdings' result feeds into the online travel sector alongside Expedia and Airbnb, which reports Thursday, August 6.

What Investors Should Watch Next

The rest of the week continues to be heavy with earnings. Wednesday, August 5 brings Eli Lilly, Walt Disney, Uber Technologies, Shopify, and CVS Health before the market open, and AppLovin after the close. Thursday includes ConocoPhillips, Fiserv, and Datadog, with Airbnb and Cloudflare reporting after hours.

Investors will also be watching Friday's July Jobs Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, scheduled for 8:30 a.m. ET on August 7. Economists expect approximately 87,500 nonfarm payrolls added in July, up from 57,000 in June. A stronger-than-expected number could reinforce hawkish Federal Reserve positioning heading into the fall.

Conference calls to monitor today: Caterpillar at 8:30 a.m. ET, Merck at 9:00 a.m. ET, Pfizer at 10:00 a.m. ET, AMD at 5:00 p.m. ET, and Booking Holdings at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Conclusion

August 4, 2026 is a pivotal day for Q2 earnings season, delivering results from an unusually diverse set of large-cap companies in a single session. Caterpillar offers a read on global industrial demand and infrastructure spending. Merck and Pfizer provide a window into Big Pharma's transition away from pandemic-era products. Spotify tests whether streaming audio's growth thesis extends into mid-year. AMD delivers the most closely watched AI chip quarterly since the sector's ramp began. And Booking Holdings closes the day with a barometer of summer travel spending. Together, these reports will help investors calibrate their expectations for the second half of 2026.

Sources

• Zacks Investment Research — "Caterpillar is Set to Report Q2 Earnings" — finance.yahoo.com — July 2026
• StockTitan — "Caterpillar Inc. to Announce Second-Quarter 2026 Financial Results on August 4" — stocktitan.net — July 2026
• Yahoo Finance / Zacks — "Should You Buy AMD Stock Ahead of Q2 Earnings?" — finance.yahoo.com — August 2026
• TIKR — "AMD Reports Q2 2026 Earnings August 4" — tikr.com — August 2, 2026
• Barchart — "What to Expect From Booking Holdings' Q2 2026 Earnings" — barchart.com — August 2026
• Morningstar / PR Newswire — Booking Holdings Q2 2026 press release advisory — morningstar.com — August 3, 2026
• Merck.com — "Merck to Hold Second-Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call Aug. 4" — merck.com — 2026
• Yahoo Finance / Zacks — "Exploring Analyst Estimates for Merck (MRK) Q2 Earnings" — finance.yahoo.com — August 2026
• TIKR — "Pfizer Reports Q2 2026 Earnings August 4" — tikr.com — August 2026
• Spotify Newsroom — "Spotify Reports First Quarter 2026 Earnings" — newsroom.spotify.com — April 28, 2026
• Yahoo Finance / Zacks — "Seeking Clues to Spotify (SPOT) Q2 Earnings" — finance.yahoo.com — August 2026
• Digrin — "Stock Earnings Calendar Aug 4, 2026" — digrin.com — August 4, 2026