Apple, Amazon and Facebook set to report earnings this week, what to expect

Tech traders who just lived through their worst week since February, with company after company plunging on earnings shortfalls, are taking steps to insulate themselves from a repeat.

Technology stocks in the S&P 500 slipped 2 percent last week, the most in almost three months, as Microsoft Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. missed profit estimates.

Computer and software companies have been among the weakest segments of the market since earnings season began two weeks ago, falling almost 1 percent even as industries such as banks and oil drillers climbed more than 6 percent. Nasdaq 100 members have beaten analyst profit forecasts by 1.4 percent, just one-third the rate of the full S&P 500.

Among megacaps, Apple Inc. is scheduled to report results later today, with Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc. following later in the week. The three account for 22 percent of the Nasdaq 100 by weighting.

Apple, whose shares are down 3.6 percent since the start of reporting season, warned investors in January that revenue would drop for the first time in more than a decade amid slowing iPhone sales. Shares of the world’s most valuable company have fallen 19 percent in the past 12 months amid mounting investor concern that customers are upgrading their phones less regularly.