LT Weekly: Aug 7, 2026
This was one of those weeks where my head is still spinning and I will certainly need the weekend to recover! 95 companies in our LionTree Universe reported, including heavy-weights across a multitude of sub-sectors so we had to pick our spots. It was a particularly big week for the Media Conglomerates, but we also had notable updates in connectivity, music, videogame, digital advertising/social media, and more.
For reference, about 88% of the S&P 500 have now reported and earnings growth overall/guidance continues to be generally strong. Per FactSet, blended y/y earnings growth for S&P 500 constituents is up 50.4%, which is well ahead of pre-season expectations. Excluding large contributions from GOOGL and AMZN, which skews the overall, blended y/y earnings growth is still high at 29.2%. This is well ahead of the five- and ten-year averages. The blended revenue growth rate is 15%. The magnitude of earnings beats has also been coming in above the longer-term averages.
In the background of this earnings deluge, the markets were “en fuego”, with Nasdaq up a stunning +5.2% and the S&P 500 rallying +3.6%. The momentum trade came back with a vengeance with Semis (SOX) up +9.3% and Software (IGV) up +8.6%.
See below for what we focused on in this week’s edition. We certainly covered a lot of ground and there is a lot to digest.
- Earnings Scorecard – Week 4
- Higher Capx Spooks SpaceX Investors Despite Strong Fundamentals
- PSKY Remains Heads Down Ahead Of Finalizing The WBD Deal
- WBD’s Streaming Business Out Executes While Linear Remains Challenged
- Disney’s Parks Business Does Not Follow In Comcast’s Footsteps…
- The World Cup Was A Windfall For FOX…The NFL Season & Political Are Up Next
- SPOT & WMG Continue To Make the Case That AI Is a Tailwind, Not a Threat
- SNAP & PINS Beat But SPECS & International Are the Next Tests
- Take-Two Holds The Line On Guidance As GTA VI Anticipation Builds
- Customer Friendly Sports Outcomes + Higher Customer Acq Spend Cloud DKNG’s Underlying Positive Performance
- TKO Continues To Deliver On Its 2026 Execution Story & More Buybacks Are On The Way
This edition likely will require that extra cup of coffee! Have a nice weekend, and as always, your thoughts and feedback are always welcome and encouraged!
Best,
Leslie
Earnings Scorecard – Week 4
It was an absolute downpour of earnings reports this week, as a colossal 95 companies in our LionTree Universe released their second calendar quarterly results (up from 36 companies last week). Stock reactions just barely weighed on the positive side with 48 companies trading up (51%) and 47 trading down (49%). The worst performer of the group was ThredUp, which fell -50.5% post its print and the best performer was Doximity, which jumped +32.6%.
Media names dominated the earnings circuit, and the prints were received relatively well, with WarnerBrosDiscovery trading up +1.7% in reaction to its numbers (see Theme #3), Disney up +3.6% (see Theme #4), Paramount Skydance up +4.5% (see Theme #2), and Fox up +5.3% (see Theme #5).
Over on the music side, it was a bit tougher with Spotify falling -1.7% after posting its results, while Warner Music Group was up +1.7% (see Theme #7).
Snap and Pinterest closed out the digital advertiser reports, though results diverged with Snap trading up +14.9% on the back of results, while Pinterest fell -8.7% (see Theme #8).