Here are the 3 big things we're watching in the stock market in the week ahead

An important development from the financial markets: As one AI chipmaker leaves the earnings spotlight, another one enters this week. The evolving cybersecurity landscape and the labor market will also be in focus. Here's an in-depth look at three big things we're watching this week.

Earnings: Broadcom and Palo Alto Networks are the two Club names on the earnings docket. Both companies will deliver results on the heels of rivals that raised the bar, with Nvidia preceding Broadcom and CrowdStrike as the appetizer for Palo Alto. Nvidia told a story of still-booming demand for AI computing.

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CrowdStrike made clear the need for cybersecurity defenses is only increasing in the age of AI . Will Broadcom and Palo Alto echo those messages? It seems likely, though the gains that both stocks saw in sympathy with Nvidia and CrowdStrike last week prices in some of the good news.

Broadcom reports fiscal 2026 third-quarter results after the close Wednesday. Wall Street is looking for earnings per share of $3. 24 on revenue of $29.

24 billion, according to LSEG estimates. Broadcom's AI semiconductor revenue, the most crucial non-headline metric, is expected to be $15. 23 billion, according to FactSet, up from $5.

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2 billion in the year-ago period. This business encapsulates both custom AI chips designed for companies like Google , Meta Platforms and OpenAI , as well as networking equipment like its Tomahawk switches. Broadcom guided for a major acceleration in AI semiconductor revenue in the second half of its fiscal 2026, so the company needs to follow through with both its third-quarter numbers and its fourth-quarter outlook.

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said a key debate into the print is whether Broadcom increases its fiscal 2027 outlook for AI semiconductor revenue, which has been "in excess of $100 billion" for the past two earnings calls. "We think a moderate raise toward consensus (~$120B) is likely, primarily on networking momentum," RBC analysts wrote. For their part, UBS analysts said they're not anticipating an update to the 2027 guide, but instead expect CEO Hock Tan to steer the conversation toward fiscal 2028, "which should see a significant step-up in AI revenue to the ~$200B range.

" Potential obstacles to realizing this future AI growth — whether that's tight memory supply and high prices, or political backlash to data centers — may come up on the call. Concerns about the backlash is a big reason why we recently booked a more than 300% profit in our Broadcom position. However, labor unions starting to stand up for construction jobs does help us feel a little better about the AI trade more generally.

Economists are analysing what the news means for the markets.