Big Tech Posts Strong Earnings as AI Spending Pressures Cash Flow

Despite strong earnings numbers, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta failed to win over investors.
Big Tech Posts Strong Earnings as AI Spending Pressures Cash Flow
The logos of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft displayed on a mobile phone and a laptop screen. Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images
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Last week was considered the most important week of this earnings season, as five of the “Magnificent Seven”—Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple—reported their quarterly results. Although overall performance was solid, market reactions diverged as an AI-spending spree squeezed the free cash flow of some of these companies.

“Magnificent Seven” is a market-coined term for a group of seven large U.S. tech-focused companies that have had an outsized impact on stock market performance in recent years. Aside from the five companies mentioned above, the group also includes Nvidia and Tesla.

Strong Earnings

Alphabet reported $109.9 billion in consolidated revenues for the first quarter on April 29, a 22 percent increase, driven by strength across Google Services and Google Cloud.
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Panos Mourdoukoutas
Panos Mourdoukoutas
Author
Panos Mourdoukoutas is a professor of economics at Long Island University in New York City. He also teaches security analysis at Columbia University. He’s been published in professional journals and magazines, including Forbes, Investopedia, Barron's, IBT, and Journal of Financial Research. He’s also the author of many books, including “Business Strategy in a Semiglobal Economy” and “China's Challenge.”