Tech Giants Report Strong Earnings as US Stocks Climb Amid Oil Price Jump from Iran Conflict

M. AEST. S.

Navy blockade halted Iranian oil sales. S. 44. S. stock market rose following strong profit reports from companies including Alphabet.

8 percent, sitting just above its all-time high set earlier this week. 7 percent. Companies delivered profits for the start of 2026 that exceeded analysts' expectations despite high oil prices and economic uncertainty.

4 percent after reporting profit for the latest quarter that almost doubled analysts’ expectations. Investments in artificial intelligence are lighting up every part of the business, Sundar Pichai said. 2 billion expected.

Alphabet reported 63 percent year-on-year growth for its Google Cloud service. Alphabet announced earlier in 2026 it was planning capital expenditure of about $180 billion to $190 billion, as much as double last year’s expenditure. 2 percent after raising its forecast for investments and other capital spending.

39 billion. 06 consensus. Microsoft's Azure cloud revenue growth on a constant currency basis for the three months ended in March 2026 came in at 39 percent, versus the FactSet consensus of 38 percent.

Microsoft expects Azure growth for the three months ended in June 2026 to be between 39 percent and 40 percent, compared to the FactSet consensus of roughly 37 percent. Microsoft expects to spend about $190 billion in capex in calendar 2026, implying almost $120 billion in the April-to-December timeframe, Microsoft's chief financial officer Amy Hood said.

Microsoft's capital expenditures represent roughly 61 percent year-over-year growth compared with roughly $118 billion for all of calendar 2025. Paid Copilot seats now exceed 20 million, up from 15 million disclosed in January 2026. Microsoft announced a round of buyouts offering voluntary retirement to about 125,000 workers at the same time as Meta’s layoffs, according to The Guardian.

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. 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. 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.