Meta and Microsoft shares fall in premarket after earnings
Updated
Updated · Barron's · Apr 30
Meta and Microsoft shares fall in premarket after earnings
10 articles · Updated · Barron's · Apr 30
Meta slid 8% and Microsoft 1.8% on Thursday, while Alphabet rose nearly 6% and Amazon gained 2.5% after late Wednesday results.
Investors punished Meta's roughly $145bn 2026 capex plan over unclear returns and higher costs, while Microsoft faced concern over muted Copilot uptake despite strong Azure and cloud backlog figures.
The moves highlighted a widening split in AI trades as big tech's combined 2026 spending plans topped $725bn, with markets favouring clearer revenue gains from cloud and infrastructure demand.
With 95% of firms seeing no AI return, who is actually profiting from this trillion-dollar buildout?
Is the AI boom creating a hidden debt bubble poised to trigger the next financial crisis?