Earnings are kicking off. I put together a Jan S&P 500 earnings calendar and tagged each name with its average absolute move on earnings (close-to-close) over the last 8 quarters.

S&P 500 Earnings Calendar: Jan 2026

I highlighted top three highest volatility events in orange ^

Highest expected volatility events

• MMM (Jan 20 | ~9.0%) 
  • Exposure to AI-linked demand for materials and data-center infrastructure e.g. cooling liquid
• INTC (Jan 22 | ~9.1%) 
  • Government support, execution under the U.S. AI chip strategy, and Intel’s ability to reclaim relevance
• CHTR (Jan 30 | ~11.8%)
  • Referendum on U.S. broadband demand

Here’s what investors will be watching by sector 👇

Banks

Big question into prints: does any “card fee / swipe fee cap” talk actually show up in guidance, or is it noise for now? If it becomes real, it’s a direct hit to card economics (pricing, rewards, underwriting) – so listen for management language around pass-through, rewards cuts, and tighter credit.

Big Tech & Platforms

Two debates I’m watching:

1. AI spend vs payoff

• Are they still ramping DC capex, or starting to taper?
• Where is AI clearly monetising (cloud usage, ads, subs, devices)?

1. What’s the next constraint? Compute is obvious – but do they start flagging power, networking, memory, cooling, or component supply as the limiter?

Which 2–3 names do you think will set the tone this quarter (and what’s the debate you care about most)?