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Traders on the floor of the NYSE, Oct. 12, 2022. Source: NYSE The first crop of earnings reports was a disappointment, but most of the early bank reports on Friday were decent, and Bank of America also reported earnings above expectations Monday morning. Thirty- five companies have reported third -quarter earnings so far. Of that group, 68.5% have beaten estimates, lower than the prior four -quarter average of 78.1% but higher than the historic average of 66.2%, according to Refinitiv. Like the second quarter, many have been anticipating an earnings apocalypse — a dramatic collapse in earnings. The evidence so far suggests a contraction but not a collapse. The third-quarter estimated earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 is now 3.6%, down from 11.1% on July 1. Excluding energy, however, the growth rate drops to minus-3.1%. Those huge oil profits have concealed that nine of 11 S&P sectors have already seen downward earnings revisions. Technology has seen a substantial downwa...

Pedestrians walk past a Gap Inc. store in Shanghai, China. Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading. Affirm — The buy-now-pay-later darling&#x27 ;s shares slid nearly 14% after hours when it reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss of 65 cents per share, according to Refinitiv. It also issued weak revenue guidance for its fiscal first quarter and full year. Ulta Beauty — The beauty retailer's stock climbed more than 3% in extended trading after it reported earnings for the most recent quarter that beat estimates by 70 cents per share, according to Refinitiv. Ulta also raised its full-year earnings and revenue guidance . Gap — The clothing retailer rallied 10% in late trading after posting a quarterly profit, excluding one-time items, of 8 cents per share. Its revenue came in at $3.86 billion, 8% below the prior year but greater than estimates of $3.82 billion, according to Refinitiv. Workday — The cloud vendor...