Tech giants beat Wall Avenue expectations after weeks of volatility in US shares.
Tech giants Microsoft and Meta posted better-than-expected ends in the primary quarter of the yr, providing some reprieve to traders after months of turbulence unleashed by United States President Donald Trump’s commerce conflict.
Meta, the mother or father firm of Fb and Instagram, reported a web quarter revenue of $16.64bn, or $6.43 per share, for the January–March interval – up 35 p.c year-on-year.
Income rose 16 p.c, ending at $42.31bn and better than Wall Avenue expectations of about $41.4bn.
Microsoft posted a web quarter revenue of $25.8bn, or $3.46 per share, and up 18 p.c year-on-year.
The corporate’s income got here to $70.1bn, up 13 p.c year-on-year and forward of analysts’ expectations.
Each firms cited synthetic intelligence (AI) as a serious driver of development, serving to to ease traders’ issues a few potential slowdown in demand for the burgeoning expertise.
Meta just lately integrated AI instruments into its promoting enterprise, its high income, whereas Microsoft reported robust development in its cloud computing enterprise.
Google’s mother or father firm, Alphabet, which has additionally invested closely in AI, final week reported better-than-expected quarterly income of $90.23bn.
The outcomes are a lift for the US tech sector, whose share costs have been on a rollercoaster journey since Trump returned to the White Home on January 20.
The market worth of the highest seven US tech firms – Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, Amazon, Tesla, Apple and Alphabet – plunged by 24 p.c, or $4.2 trillion, within the first 100 days after Trump’s inauguration.
Trump’s tariffs, together with a 145 p.c obligation on China, have disrupted companies and unnerved traders, who’re anxiously awaiting his subsequent strikes following his announcement of a 90-day pause on so-called “reciprocal” duties focusing on virtually all nations.
The US economic system shrank 0.3 p.c within the first quarter of 2025, the US Division of Commerce stated on Wednesday, including to fears that the US is prone to tip right into a recession this yr.
In an earnings name with traders, CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that Meta is “well-positioned to navigate the macroeconomic uncertainty” of current months.
The corporate additionally launched a standalone AI app this week, MetaAI, and plans to spend between $64bn and $72bn on capital expenditure in 2025 to finish building on knowledge centres.
