Earnings Whiplash

Microsoft posts record $92.3 billion in quarterly revenue, up 19%, with Azure bringing in $33.2 billion, up 48%, in its first separate Azure dollar disclosure. Capital spending was $45.2 billion, below the company's forecast of more than $50 billion, and the company also offered buyouts to 60,000 employees, per one account of the quarter, and the stock rose about 4% after hours on Azure's 48% growth.

Why it matters Azure's first stand-alone dollar figure gives investors a direct read on whether heavy AI infrastructure spending is turning into cloud revenue.

Alphabet stock sinks after earnings as net profit fell 25% from a year earlier to $26.2 billion, well short of expectations, even though revenue rose to $127.6 billion. Shares dropped more than 9% in after-hours trading, with free cash flow weaker than analysts had expected and spending guidance for the year unchanged, pointing to its biggest post-earnings drop.

Samsung books record quarterly profit of 107.44 trillion won ($80.5 billion) in operating profit, driven by soaring demand for the memory chips that feed AI infrastructure. The chip division's 15-fold profit surge still just missed estimates, which took some shine off the AI hardware enthusiasm.