Meta Platforms ( META ) surged past Wall Street expectations in its first-quarter earnings report. The company delivered a powerful message about the enduring strength of its advertising machine and the growing return on its artificial intelligence (AI) investments. The tech giant posted earnings per share of $6.43, crushing the consensus estimate of $5.23 and marking a 37% year-over-year increase. Revenue rose to $42.3 billion, up 16% from the prior year, outpacing projections by $1 billion. Advertising, the backbone of Meta’s business, remained the dominant force, contributing $41.39 billion to quarterly revenue. A 10% rise in average ad prices — more than double expectations — combined with a 5% increase in ad impressions, drove the strong results. AI played a central role. Meta’s Llama models enhanced ad targeting and efficiency, giving the company an edge over rivals like Alphabet, which reported just 8.5% ad growth in the same period. Meta now boasts 3.43 billion daily active use...

Microsoft ( MSFT ) delivered a decisive beat in its fiscal third-quarter earnings, propelling the tech giant’s shares up more than 8% in Thursday trading. Revenue climbed 13% year over year to a record $70.07 billion, outpacing analysts' expectations and cementing Microsoft’s leadership in cloud infrastructure and enterprise software. Earnings per share came in at $3.46, handily beating Wall Street’s forecast of $3.22. Net income rose 18% to $25.8 billion, driven by robust cloud adoption and resurgent demand for AI-powered services. At the heart of Microsoft’s performance was its Intelligent Cloud segment, which surged 21% to $26.8 billion. Azure, the company’s cloud computing platform, was the standout, growing 33%—or 35% in constant currency—on the back of accelerating enterprise demand and AI deployments. The figure easily topped guidance and marked a sharp rebound from the prior quarter’s slower pace. “Cloud and AI are the essential inputs for every business,” said CEO Satya Na...

Qualcomm ( QCOM ) reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings and revenue, driven by surging demand for AI-enabled chipsets across its core segments—handsets, automotive, and IoT.  Despite the solid results, shares tumbled more than 8% on Thursday as investors focused on the company’s cautious guidance for the current quarter, which pointed to a potential slowdown exacerbated by U.S.-China trade tensions.   Q2 Earnings Beat Buoyed by Broad-Based Growth For the fiscal second quarter ended March 30, Qualcomm posted adjusted earnings per share of $2.85, topping Wall Street’s forecast of $2.82. Revenue came in at $10.98 billion, up 17% year-over-year and ahead of consensus estimates of $10.63 billion. The growth was broad-based: handset revenue climbed 12% to $6.93 billion, automotive surged 59% to $959 million, and IoT rose 27% to $1.58 billion. The strong performance reflected sustained demand for Qualcomm’s premium-tier Snapdragon chipsets, which integrate generativ...