Wall Street Roundup: tech reports

This episode of Wall Street Breakfast dives into the latest tech earnings season, focusing on the divergent market reactions to Meta and Alphabet despite both companies beating expectations and raising capital expenditures. While Alphabet surged 10% on strong AI momentum and perceived superior ROI, Meta dropped 9% amid investor skepticism over its metaverse spending and delayed AI progress. The discussion highlights how Alphabet’s clear path to profitability via cloud AI contrasts with Meta’s more indirect ad-driven model. Apple’s stable earnings and internal leadership transition are noted as positive signals, though its stock remains flat year-to-date due to uncertainty around AI innovation. Meanwhile, Intel’s dramatic rally—surpassing its dot-com peak—signals renewed confidence in its turnaround, while Microsoft’s 13th consecutive post-earnings decline reflects shareholder fatigue, despite strong Azure growth and a restructured OpenAI deal. Robinhood’s 13% drop underscores waning crypto trading interest and a shift in younger investors toward speculative, betting-like behavior. The broader market continues to climb on AI optimism, even amid geopolitical tensions, high oil prices, and a contentious Fed meeting with record dissent. Powell’s final meeting is viewed as a mixed legacy—respected for independence but criticized for delayed inflation response. Looking ahead, next week’s jobs data and earnings from Palantir and AMD will test whether current market enthusiasm is justified.