Tech earnings on Wednesday painted a mixed picture for Silicon Valley’s biggest names. Alphabet Inc. (Google) emerged as the clear winner, while Meta Platforms and Microsoft both fell sharply in after-hours trading.
Alphabet beat Wall Street’s expectations, reporting revenue of $102.35 billion versus $99.89 billion estimated and adjusted earnings per share of $3.10 compared with $2.33 expected. The strong results were driven by continued growth in Google Cloud and a rebound in advertising, which together helped offset higher spending.
The company also announced plans to boost capital expenditures to between $91 billion and $93 billion for 2025, up from $85 billion. CEO Sundar Pichai said the cloud division—which houses Google’s artificial intelligence services—showed “solid growth” and now holds a $155 billion customer backlog, signaling strong future demand. Alphabet’s shares rose 6.6% in after-hours trading, leading the broader tech sector higher.
Meta faced a turbulent session. The stock fell as much as 9% after the company reported earnings per share of $7.25 adjusted versus $6.69 expected, and revenue of $51.24 billion compared with $49.41 billion estimated.
While results topped forecasts, Meta also disclosed a $15.93 billion one-time, non-cash income tax charge stemming from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The company raised the low end of its annual expense outlook by $2 billion, now expecting $116 billion to $118 billion, up from a previous range of $114 billion to $118 billion. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the higher costs are “essential to maintaining long-term AI leadership,” but investors reacted sharply, sending the stock down 7.8% after hours.
Microsoft also reported a beat, with earnings per share of $3.72 versus $3.67 expected and revenue of $77.67 billion compared with $75.33 billion estimated. Its Azure cloud business grew 40%, underscoring strong AI demand, but executives warned that spending growth would accelerate this year, weighing on profit margins. Shares fell 4.5% in after-hours trading after closing at a record high on Tuesday.
The diverging reactions show how investors are rewarding near-term execution—such as Google’s—while punishing uncertainty and ballooning costs at Meta and Microsoft.
All eyes now turn to Apple and Amazon, both reporting today. Together, the five tech giants account for roughly 23–24% of the S&P 500’s market capitalization, giving them enormous sway over Wall Street sentiment.