Fasten your seat belt. Next week kicks off the tech earnings season. And we’re in for some extraordinary numbers as companies report second-quarter results that compare with the pandemic-depressed period from a year ago. That will make for somewhat artificially inflated growth rates this time around that are sure to grab headlines. To get a real sense of the underlying growth rate, it will be necessary to take a longer-term point of view.

Twitter’s results next week, for instance, will appear much better than they really are (see below for more details). But earnings from tech giants like Alphabet and Facebook, due later this month, will probably get the most attention. Analysts are expecting Facebook to report 49% higher revenue, while the Google parent is expected to post a 46% jump, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Those numbers are stunning, particularly for Google, which until 18 months ago was reporting topline growth of 15%-20%.