Tech Giants Report Strong Earnings; US Stocks Rise as Oil Prices Jump

8 percent despite making more profit last quarter than expected. Meta increased its forecast for spending on data centers and other investments this year to a range of $125 billion to $145 billion. 45 billion expected.

Meta raised its estimate for capital expenditure this year to $125 billion to $145 billion, a more than 7 percent increase from $115 billion minimum. AI would amplify people’s ability to do what they want, Mark Zuckerberg said during Meta’s earnings call on Wednesday. Meta was on track to deliver personal super-intelligence to billions of people, Mark Zuckerberg said in an earlier press release.

Meta announced it would cut 10 percent off its staff, about 8,000 employees, last week, according to The Guardian. China blocked Meta's $2 billion acquisition of the AI firm Manus in recent days, according to The Guardian. Meta failed to meet Wall Street expectations, according to The Guardian.

Meta’s stock price fell over 5 percent in after-hours trading, according to The Guardian. 1 percent despite exceeding analysts’ expectations for earnings in the latest quarter. 5 billion in revenue.

Amazon said it would spend some $200 billion in one year on AI infrastructure earlier in 2026. Amazon cut nearly 10 percent of its corporate workforce in the last five months of 2026, about 30,000 workers, according to The Guardian. Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft revealed double-digit gains in their cloud computing units, according to The Guardian.

Alphabet’s cloud business grows faster than rivals Amazon and Microsoft, according to the Financial Times. The four companies have together planned to spend $650 billion in 2026 on AI infrastructure, according to The Guardian. Big Tech’s AI spending plans rise to $725 billion, according to the Financial Times.

Alphabet and Meta revised their projections upward, according to The Guardian. The combined Magnificent Seven stocks make up over 30 percent of the S&P 500’s market capitalization, according to The Guardian. fyi.

Alphabet’s stock has risen over 100 percent in the past year, according to The Guardian. Caterpillar's stock rallied by more than 10 percent after delivering profits for the latest quarter that topped analysts’ expectations.

42 percent late on Wednesday. U.S.

Economy’s growth accelerated by less in the first three months of 2026 than economists expected. A measure of inflation worsened in March 2026 by about as much as expected. U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week.

U.S. Federal Reserve kept its rates unchanged on Wednesday. The Bank of Japan kept its rates unchanged on Tuesday. 6 percent after the Bank of England kept its main interest rate on hold.

4 percent after the European Central Bank held its interest rates steady. 3 percent.

1 percent after a report said China’s factory activity slowed slightly in April 2026 but remained in expansion territory for the second month. m. 5 percent, at the open.

2 percent on Thursday. 01¢. Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft reported their quarterly financial results on Wednesday, according to The Guardian.