Meta and Microsoft shares jumped after both tech giants posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results on Wednesday, with AI investment emerging as a central theme.
Meta soars on ad strength and AI ambitions
Meta shares jumped over 10% after second-quarter earnings beat expectations. Revenue rose 22% to US$47.52bn, ahead of forecasts, driven by US$46.56bn in ad sales. Net income climbed 36% to US$18.34bn.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg credited AI improvements for ad system gains and outlined a broader vision of “personal superintelligence.” The company recently invested US$14.3bn into Scale AI and tapped its CEO Alexandr Wang to co-lead Meta’s new Superintelligence Labs.
Spending is ramping up. Meta now expects 2025 expenses of US$114bn–118bn and capital expenditure of US$66bn–72bn. Reality Labs posted a US$4.53bn loss on US$370m in sales. Daily active users across its apps rose to 3.48bn.
Microsoft joins US$4tn club after Azure-led beat
Microsoft rose 8% in after-hours trading, pushing its market cap past US$4.1tn. Revenue grew 18%, its fastest in over three years, driven by Azure cloud sales, which surpassed US$75bn for the year, up 34%.
Microsoft now joins Nvidia in the US$4tn club, with both companies riding the AI wave. Nvidia remains 2025’s best performer among megacaps, up 33%. Apple, by contrast, is down 17% this year and sits third at US$3.2tn.
As AI reshapes the tech landscape, Microsoft and Meta are racing ahead, while Apple faces investor concerns over its relative positioning.
