A bite of Apple to mark latest Big Tech earnings, Facebook opens its account books

The next round of earnings from Big Tech will kick off after Wall Street’s close on Wednesday as both Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) deliver their quarterly results. Given Apple already announced a new suite of products on Tuesday, including new ranges of its iMac desktop computers and iPad tablets, investors may be looking for any details on the rollout of these new products or how the company expects to perform once they hit the market. READ: Apple unveils new iMac and iPad Pro ranges in latest product launch The company is expected to have weathered the pandemic pretty well as people worked from home. Revenues could rise by some 32% year on year in the second quarter with earnings up around 53% with some estimates as high as 68%. Meanwhile, iPhone sales will continue to be a key area of interest, as well as the company’s performance in the critical Chinese market. More cautious investors may be keeping an eye on any comments about a global shortage of computer chips which could dent the firm’s production capacity. Facebook has also been unveiling new products recently, notably a suite of audio features including ‘Live Audio Rooms’, audio-only group chats that many see as an effort to compete with audio-only chat app Clubhouse after it surged in popularity last year. READ: Facebook unveils Clubhouse competitor in new suite of audio tools Aside from any further product details, investors are likely to focus on the company’s key metrics of user growth and ad revenue, as well as how it hopes to deal with increasing pressure from national governments over fake news and its influence on society. The company is expected to report first quarter revenues up 33% and earnings around 37% higher. There are also (unsubstantiated) rumours it may reveal it holds Bitcoin on its balance sheet.