'25 Q4 Conference Highlights: Record Earnings & Buybacks Underscore Improving Sentiment

The bulls bucked the seasonal trend. A month ago, investors tiptoed into September, worried about at least a mild dip during what has historically been a weak period for the S&P 500, as data dating back many decades shows. Volatility didn't pan out. Small declines were bought into, and stocks big and small enter Q4 with some momentum.

While the S&P 500 has returned almost 15%, dividends included, thus far in 2025, uncertainty remains. (It always does.) Front and center now is jobs data, which have already begun rolling in this week. After ADP Private Payrolls yesterday, we'll get a fresh read on Challenger Job Cuts today. But the key U.S. jobs report originally scheduled for Friday morning will be delayed due to the government shutdown. The Consumer Price Index, Producer Price Index, and Retail Sales figures are other determinants of whether the Federal Reserve will cut its policy rate another quarter point come October 29. It's unknown if those reports will be published on time.

The Fed matters, but driving stock market gains this year have been resilient earnings generated by corporate America. FactSet notes 12.0% S&P 500 per-share profit growth in Q2, with an estimated 7.9% bottom-line advance rate for the quarter that finished Tuesday.¹ Those are stout numbers during what has been a tumultuous—maybe even unstable—macro backdrop.

The artificial intelligence (AI) boom remains the backbone of the sales and margin stories, leading to record earnings (which are still being issued quarterly, by the way). Some have argued, however, that massive deals inked in September are late-stage cyclical endeavors. The vibes are very positive, but are they too exuberant? In a speech last week, Fed Chair Powell warned that stocks were "fairly highly valued."² So-called vendor financing agreements and seemingly circular investments among a handful of public and private AI-related companies may suggest that the tech party could be in the later innings. AI bulls disagree.

Where do things stand? We'll empower you to make that call. The third-quarter reporting period unofficially begins when JPMorgan Chase (JPM) posts Q3 earnings before the bell on Tuesday, October 14. From there, other Financials-sector firms and Industrials post profit numbers, with big-tech earnings hitting late in the month.

Conference season is in full force before, during, and after the busiest reporting weeks. Together, the numbers and the CEO-speak can be the true tells as we approach year-end.

We expect corporate commentary to focus on the controllables. Tariffs and trade policy obviously matter, but now six months removed from "Liberation Day," it's clear that companies are quite nimble. CEOs and CIOs writ large have demonstrated a certain adaptability to all the headlines. Versatility has morphed into optimism, too. Since Labor Day, dealmaking has been on the rise via M&A and IPOs, while domestic stock buybacks pace for an annual record. Surely not on any industry conference agenda, but a victory lap or two from top executives would not be out of line after such a chaotic year.

Here are the major investor conferences to keep on your Q4 calendar:

Information Technology & Communication Services
October 6: IBM TechXchange
October 7: JP Morgan Software Forum
October 13: Oracle CloudWorld
October 20: Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo
October 27: NVIDIA GTC Washington, D.C.
November 17: JP Morgan Global TMT Conference Asia
November 17: Microsoft Ignite
November 18: RBC Capital Markets Global Technology, Internet, Media and Telecommunications (TIMT) Conference
November 18: Wells Fargo 9th Annual TMT Summit
November 19: ROTH MKM 14th Annual Technology Conference
November 20: Needham 6th Annual Tech Week
December 1: UBS Annual Global Technology and AI Conference
December 9: Raymond James TMT and Consumer Conference
December 10: Barclays 23rd Annual Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference

Health Care
October 9: ROTH 4th Annual Healthcare Opportunities Conference
November 9: UBS Global Healthcare Conference
November 11: Stifel Healthcare Conference
November 12: Guggenheim Global Healthcare Innovation Conference
November 17: Wolfe Research 7th Annual Healthcare Conference
November 17: Jefferies 16th Annual London Global Healthcare Conference
December 2: Citi Global Healthcare Conference

Consumer Discretionary & Consumer Staples
October 8: Global Consumer & Retail Conference
November 12: JP Morgan Global Luxury Conference
November 13: Deutsche Bank Gaming, Lodging, Leisure & Restaurants One-on-One Conference
November 20: Truist Securities Gaming, Lodging, Leisure, and Restaurants Summit
December 1: AWS re:Invent
December 2: Morgan Stanley Global Consumer and Retail Conference
December 3: Barclays 11th Annual Eat, Sleep, Play, Shop Conference
December 9: Citi Global Consumer Conference
December 10: ROTH MKM 14th Annual Deer Valley Consumer Conference

Financials & Real Estate
October 8: Evercore Digital Finance Summit
November 10: Piper Sandler Financial Services Conference
November 11: KBW Fintech Payments Conference
December 3: UBS Global Real Estate CEO/CFO Conference

Industrials
November 11: Baird 55th Annual Global Industrial Conference
November 18: JP Morgan Ultimate Services Investor Conference (USIC)
November 18: Scotiabank Transportation & Industrials Conference
December 2: UBS Global Industrials and Transportation Conference
December 10: Bernstein Insights: 4th Annual Industrials Forum

Energy & Utilities
October 7: Bank of America U.S. Utilities & Cleantech European Investor Conference
November 2: JP Morgan Global Energy Conference
November 3: Jefferies 11th Annual Virtual Storage and Battery Conference
November 10: Cantor Crypto, AI/Energy Infrastructure Conference
November 10: Bank of America Energy Conference
November 12: Goldman Sachs Carbonomics Conference
November 25: Morgan Stanley Utilities Day
December 9: Wells Fargo 24th Annual Energy and Power Symposium

Materials
October 9: Financial Times Mining Summit
October 21: Canaccord Genuity`s Annual Silver Conference
November 11: RBC Capital Markets Senior Precious Metals Conference
November 11: Morgan Stanley Global Chemicals, Agriculture and Packaging Conference
November 14: Deutsche Goldmesse German Gold Show
November 20: Deutsche Bank 10th Annual Lithium Supply Chain Conference
December 1: Citi Global Basic Materials Conference
December 3: Bank of America European Materials & Infrastructure Conference

Regional
November 11: UBS European Conference
November 11: Citi China Investor Conference
November 12: Berenberg Pan-European Discovery Conference USA
November 12: Morgan Stanley European Technology Media and Communications Conference
November 13: JP Morgan U.S. Opportunities Forum
November 19: Bank of America EMEA Consumer and Retail Conference
November 24: Jefferies GEMS Conference

Investor-Specific & Multi-Sector
October 2: Citi's SMID call series
October 9: Jefferies Virtual C-Suite Conference Call (virtual)
October 13: Deutsche Bank 33rd Annual Leveraged Finance Conference
October 16: Morgan Stanley Leveraged Finance Conference
November 19: JP Morgan Leaders Conference
November 19: Sidoti November Micro Cap Conference
November 26: Deutsche Bank Virtual C-Suite Conference Call (virtual)
December 3: Goldman Sachs Industrials & Materials Conference
December 10: Sidoti Winter Small Cap Conference
December 10: Melius Research Conference

1 Earnings Insight, FactSet, John Butters, September 26, 2025, https://advantage.factset.com
2 Federal Reserve's Jerome Powell warns that stocks are ‘fairly highly valued'—here's what he means, CNBC, Ryan Ermey, September 25, 2025, https://www.cnbc.com

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