Two companies that together account for around 10% of the S&P 500 stock index will reveal

quarterly results today.

I'm David Brancaccio. Two heavyweight tech companies with results due today are Microsoft and

Alphabet. They kick off several weeks of profits, losses and outlooks from big tech

firms which overall are expected to have done quite well in the three months ending September.

Marketplace's Nova Safo is following.

Just a few months ago, Forecaster has expected the information technology sector

to show earnings growth of less than half a percent during the third quarter.

That's according to fact set.

Since then, the data firm says expectations have improved dramatically, fueled by the

promise of artificial intelligence and resilient economy. But while revenue is

expected to be strong overall, it won't necessarily mean robust profits

across the board. At alphabet, analysts are looking for continued

growth in its cloud services unit and for continued ad sales momentum at Google,

something the company reported in its previous quarter.

Microsoft has benefited from the anticipation of a generative AI boom.

It's also spending aggressively on the technology.

Capital expenditures totaled nearly $11 billion in the quarter ending in June.

The company has warned that it will take several more quarters until its investments bear fruit.

I'm Novasauoffo for Marketplace.

Results from General Electric are also due today.

With the United Auto Workers' Strike deep into a sixth week,

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