Equities Weekly Outlook: Nvidia, Walmart, Palo Alto Networks

Nvidia Q3 earnings preview

Nvidia will report earnings on Wednesday, the 19th. These will be the main focus of the week, given Nvidia’s importance in the AI trade narrative and its earnings' ability to move the broader market. Expectations are high, given that this is currently the most valuable listed stock in the world.

After becoming the first company to hit $5 trillion, share prices have fallen over the past week, bringing the market cap back down to $4.5 trillion at the time of writing.

Nvidia has been partly responsible for powering the AI rally, but is now facing pressure amid concerns about stretched valuations in the sector. Worries about an AI bubble have weighed on the sector, and investors are questioning not only the amount of money companies are spending on the tech relative to the returns they're seeing, but also the circular nature of the spending.

While sentiment is weakening ahead of earnings, the underlying picture is strong with revenue expected to be towards the top end of guidance, around $55 billion, and Nvidia tends to surprise to the upside.

As a reminder, Q2 revenue of $46.7 billion was ahead of estimates of $46.2 billion, although the data centre revenue at $41.1 billion was slightly below estimates of $41.29 billion. Still, EPS of $1.05 topped expectations of $1.01. In those figures, Nvidia guided for Q3 revenue $54 billion, give or take 2%. Guidance for Q4 will also be key.

CEO Jensen Huang recently pointed to $500 billion in orders on the books, and any further insight into this could be a catalyst to reignite the AI trade.

How to trade NVDA earnings?

Nvidia ran into resistance at 212, with a double-top reversal pattern, before the price fell to 180, the rising trendline support, and the 50 SMA. The RSI is neutral.

Despite the selloff, the longer-term uptrend is still intact. Buyers will look to rise above 195, the October 10 high, to bring 212, the record high, back into focus.

Should sellers break below the 50 SMA and the rising trendline support, this opens the door to 178, the October low, and 164, the September low.

 

Walmart Q3 earnings preview

Walmart will release earnings on Thursday, November 20, and could provide more insight into how Trump's tariffs have been impacting the sector and how shoppers are reacting to persistent inflation.

Trump announced last week that tariffs on items such as coffee and bananas would be lowered as part of deals with four South American countries to address concerns about rising food costs.

After Q2 earnings, CEO McMillan said the impact of tariffs had been gradual so far. However, as inventory is replenished at price tariff levels, the cost could continue to rise across Q3 and Q4.

Last quarter, Walmart posted EPS of $0.68, which was below the $0.78 expected; however, revenue of $177.4 billion was ahead of forecasts of $176.05 billion, and same-store sales growth was also ahead of estimates of 4.6%.

For Q3, expectations are for net sales growth of 3.75% to 4.75% year over year, from last year's $168 billion. EPS expected to come in at $0.58 to $0.60 per share.

The results come as Walmart CEO Doug McMillon announced he will step down after 11 years. Across that period, the share price has risen an impressive 312%. John Furner replaces him.

How to trade WMT earnings?

The Walmart share price rose to a record high of 110 in mid-October before falling lower. The price broke below the 50 SMA, dropping to a low of 99.00, which coincides with the rising trendline support. The longer lower wick suggests that there was little selling demand at the lower levels.

Should the support continue to hold, buyers will look to rise above the 50 SMA at 103 before bringing 110 into focus and fresh record highs.

Palo Alto Networks Q1 earnings

Palo Alto, the global cybersecurity leader that delivers AI-powered solutions to protect network and cloud operations, is due to report Q1 2026 results on Wednesday, November 19.

Expectations are for EPS of $0.50, a 22% rise from a year earlier. For fiscal 2026, expectations are for the software maker to report EPS of $2.13, marking almost 30% growth.

The firm posted Q4 2025 results of EPS of $0.95 on revenue of $2.54 billion, exceeding expectations and helping the share price jump 3% on strong demand for its AI-powered cybersecurity solutions and products.

Looking ahead, Anna Alto networks projects revenue of between 10.48 billion and 10.53 billion for fiscal year 2026, with adjusted EPS of 3.75 to 3.85, signalling continued growth and profitability.

Analyst sentiment suggests that Palo Alto Networks is well-positioned to capitalise on the growing demand for cybersecurity solutions. Analysts have been raising price targets ahead of earnings, with Wedbush raising its target to $225 from $200 amid momentum in its platformization, especially as AI adoption grows.

The results come as the share price jumped over 20% across the year, outpacing the broader S&P 500, although it has lagged the broader tech index.

How to trade PANW earnings?

After recovering from the August low of 165, the price rallied to a record high of 223 before falling lower. The price broke below the near-term rising trendline and the 50 SMA at 209, dropping to a low of 198, the September 24 low. The RSI is below 50.

Should selling momentum continue and sellers break below 198, this would expose the 200 SMA at 192.

Should the 198 support hold, buyers could look to rise above 209 to extend gains towards 223.