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Tech stocks kept roaring through Thursday afternoon, lifting the Nasdaq 2.2%, with the S&P 500 rising 1.24% and the Dow packing on 265 points.
Also buoying investor sentiment: Mastercard (MA) reported a solid first quarter Thursday, with net revenue climbing 14% year-over-year to $7.3 billion, or 17% on a currency-neutral basis, and adjusted earnings per share rising 13% to $3.73.
Growth was driven by strong cross-border volume, which climbed 15%, and gross dollar volume and switched transactions, both up 9%. CEO Michael Miebach highlighted strategic partnerships with Microsoft and OpenAI, calling the company’s business model “diversified and resilient” despite macro uncertainty.
After the bell at 4 p.m. ET, investors will see results from Amazon and Apple, along with Airbnb.
Markets climbed Thursday morining
U.S. markets rose Thursday morning, lifted by blockbuster earnings from Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META) that seemed strong enough to overshadow Wednesday’s unexpected GDP contraction. With Big Tech’s collective market cap nearing $10 trillion, investor sentiment looked ready to ride the rally — if Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) can stick the landing after Thursday’s close.
Unsurprisingly, the Nasdaq was leading the charge, up 1.8%. The S&P was up under 0.8%, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.3%.
Big Tech delivers — but Apple stock falls before the bell
Delivering their latest quarterlies after Wednesday’s bell, Microsoft and Meta both crushed expectations. Microsoft’s Azure cloud revenue surged 33% year-over-year, driving an 18% jump in earnings per share. Meta posted a staggering 89% profit increase on 27% revenue growth.
Microsoft stock was up 9% before the bell Thursday. Shares of Meta added more than 6%.
The underlying strength of both reports has markets betting that Amazon, as another “hyperscaler” helping bigwig enterprise customers get in on the AI revolution, will keep the momentum going. Apple, with its different mix of exposure to consumer spending, tariffs, and trade winds, was down about 1.5%.
Microsoft’s Azure swings like Aaron Judge, Wedbush says
Microsoft’s quarter drew gushing praise from analysts both on and off the earnings call, with Wedbush calling it “an Aaron Judge-like performance” (referring to the New York Yankees slugger). Azure beat both the Street and internal targets, with AI workloads accounting for nearly half the cloud platform’s growth.
The company reaffirmed its $80 billion FY25 capital expenditures forecast and said infrastructure investments will continue to rise in FY26 — putting to rest speculation about data center cutbacks. Wedbush raised its price target from $475 to $515.