Big tech earnings season closes above expectations, with Meta lifting its 2026 capital spending ceiling to 145 billion dollars

The big tech earnings season, which closed in the week to 1 August 2026 (10 Mordad 1405), delivered results above analyst estimates. Microsoft posted revenue and profit ahead of forecasts on the back of growth in its Azure cloud business, and its market value rose by about 450 billion dollars in a single day. Amazon reported revenue of 200.6 billion dollars, with its cloud services arm growing revenue 37 percent; Amazon shares rose more than 15 percent in trading after the results.

Meta's quarterly revenue reached 60.8 billion dollars, up 28 percent from a year earlier, with net income of 15.8 billion dollars. The company raised its 2026 capital spending guidance to between 130 and 145 billion dollars, most of it going to data centres, graphics processors and artificial intelligence infrastructure. Apple's revenue for the quarter was 109.4 billion dollars, slightly above forecasts, but a cautious sales outlook and a weaker services performance left its stock under pressure. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix also posted record results in memory chips.

The direction of these companies' capital spending is one of the variables shaping global demand for chips, industrial metals and data centre power.