Wall Street’s AI heavyweights added a combined half a trillion dollars in stock market value late on Wednesday (Jul 30) after quarterly reports from Microsoft and Meta Platforms showed massive investments in the emerging technology were paying off.
In extended trade, Microsoft jumped 8 per cent and Meta surged 9 per cent, with the two Magnificent Seven companies increasing their market values by US$288 billion and US$152 billion, respectively.
Dominant AI chipmaker Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, climbed 1 per cent, while Amazon, which reports its results on Thursday, added over 2 per cent.
Shares of the US stock market’s most valuable companies have surged in recent years as they race to dominate artificial intelligence, and their massive investments have left investors eager to see results.
Fueling the late-day enthusiasm for AI-related stocks, Meta forecast quarterly revenue well ahead of Wall Street expectations and raised the lower end of its annual capital expenditures forecast by US$2 billion, driven by its high-stakes push for “superintelligence” in the heated AI race.
Microsoft also delivered a blowout quarterly report, with its Azure cloud-computing business powering revenue above Wall Street’s expectations and showcasing the growing returns on its AI bets.
