Tech giant Microsoft and social media group Meta both topped Wall Street expectations in results reported after US markets closed.
Microsoft’s beat was the fourth quarter in a row amid a financial boom for artificial intelligence businesses.
The company revealed revenue of $70.07 billion and earnings of $3.46 per share – ahead of analyst predictions that revenue would grow to $68.42 billion, or 10.6 per cent year-over-year, and that earnings-per-share would come in at $3.22.
Shares in the tech giant jumped more than 5 per cent in after-hours trading.
Meta saw its shares advance nearly 3 per cent as it signalled that its artificial intelligence-powered tools helped pull in advertising dollars despite tariff-related economic growth fears.
The social media company – home to Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – reported revenue of $42.31 billion for the first quarter, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $41.4 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Analysts viewed Microsoft’s earnings report as a temperature check on the group’s artificial intelligence (AI) business, which has announced it will invest around $80 billion in this fiscal year alone, though it has also terminated some data centre leases in recent months.
The company has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI in recent years, giving it a large stake in the ChatGPT developer.
Microsoft’s heavy bets on AI, which extend to deals with companies beyond OpenAI, has led to Microsoft and its investors being reliant on the technology’s success and widespread adoption.
Microsoft has, meanwhile, framed its investments in AI as putting it at the forefront of a world-changing technology it claims is crucial to the future of American industry.
Earlier in the day, Microsoft president Brad Smith said the company would sue to overturn any command to cease operations in the European Union. The remark comes as Donald Trump’s trade policies ratchet up tension between the US and EU.
“In the unlikely event we are ever ordered by any government anywhere in the world to suspend or cease cloud operations in Europe, we are committing that Microsoft will promptly and vigorously contest such a measure using all legal avenues available, including by pursuing litigation in court,” he said at a European tech conference.
Meta’s massive user base on its social media platforms makes it a reliable go-to for advertisers at a time when U.S. tariff-induced uncertainty has prompted companies to tighten marketing budgets and delay campaigns.
The results come as Meta faces a high-stakes trial in Washington, in which the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is seeking to unwind the company’s acquisitions of prized assets Instagram and WhatsApp.
The company is also fighting the perception that it may have fallen behind in the AI race, after its initial set of Llama 4 large language models, released earlier this month, fell short of performance expectations. – Guardian service / Reuters
