Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Markets & Fed: The S & P 500 held onto its slight gains Wednesday afternoon after the Federal Reserve, as expected, left rates unchanged at its July policy meeting. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the vote was not unanimous. There were two dissenting voters who preferred to lower rates by a quarter percentage point at the meeting: Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman. In the weeks leading up to the meeting, both officials had lent their support for a July reduction. President Donald Trump also has been pushing the Fed to cut rates. The central bank’s current benchmark lending rate is 4.25% to 4.5%. After the Fed’s statement Wednesday, odds for a quarter-point cut at the September meeting inched up to roughly 62% from 56%, according to the CME FedWatch tool . Now, all eyes are shifting to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET. We’ll update this article with some highlights from Powell’s question-and-answer session with media members. Get ready: Here are the key numbers we’re looking for when Club names Meta Platforms and Microsoft report after Wednesday’s close. Meta Platforms: In the second quarter, the company is expected to report revenue of $44.80 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $5.92, according to financial data provider LSEG. For the third quarter, the company is expected to guide revenues around $46.15 billion, according to LSEG. The other big question is how high will Meta increase its full-year total expense outlook? Last quarter, the company said it expects expenses to be in the range of $113 billion to $118 billion. The consensus is at $114.5 billion, according to FactSet. That number is probably too low given the AI talent hiring spree the company went on to build its “superintelligence” team. Last week, Google parent Alphabet raised its full-year capital expenditure outlook by $10 billion, and we would be surprised if all the hyperscalers didn’t take up their AI investment numbers given strong demand signals. Microsoft: In its fiscal fourth quarter, the company is expected to report revenue of $73.81 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $3.37, according to data LSEG. The important line item will be Azure sales growth, which was guided to 34% to 35% in constant currency. We should also get management’s first quarter fiscal year 2026 and full year outlook — but remember, that comes later during the earnings call, so it’s ill-advised to trust the market’s initial reaction to the press release. Up next: In addition to Meta and Microsoft, Lam Research , Carvana , Qualcomm , Ford Motor , Arm Holdings , and MGM Resorts report after the closing bell on Wednesday. Before the opening bell on Thursday, we’ll see earnings from Club name Bristol Myers Squibb , CVS Health , Roblox , AbbVie , Howmet Aerospace , Builders FirstSource , and Mastercard . Thursday’s an important day of data with the June PCE Price Index. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
