Big Tech Divorce: GOOG New High, Meta Slide! How Do Banks View Post-Earnings?
$Alphabet(GOOG)$ and $Amazon.com(AMZN)$ rallied after-hours. $Microsoft(MSFT)$ dropped -2%, $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$ loses 9%. Four companies combined committed up to $725B in 2026 CapEx — more aggressive than the market expected.
📊 Scorecard: Actual vs. Estimates
1. $Alphabet(GOOG)$ blowout earnings! All beats and increases dividends.
On April 27, the board of directors approved a 5% increase in the quarterly cash dividend to $0.22 per share, which will be distributed on June 15, 2026, to all shareholders of record across all share classes.
Despite a significant expansion in capex, the company still generated $45.8 billion in operating cash flow in the first quarter, with free cash flow of approximately $10.1 billion.
2. $Amazon.com(AMZN)$ divergence after hours, but AWS comforts the market
- Revenue: $181.5B (+17% YoY), beat Street +2.4% (above guidance high end); - Q2 Revenue guidance: $194-199B vs. Street $188.9B → midpoint +3% above
3. $Microsoft(MSFT)$ drops -2% due to uncertainty on Q4 Azure guidance window
- Revenue: $82.9B (+18% YoY), beat +2%; - Azure: +40% YoY (cc +39%) vs. guidance 37.5%
4. $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$ loses 9%, earnings in-line, capEx raised by +$10B
- Revenue: $56.38B vs. est $56.3B → +0.4%, in-line; - Family DAPs: 3.56B (+4% YoY), -2% below estimates
How do banks view post-earnings?
- Citi on $GOOG$ (Buy, PT $405): Cloud reacceleration is the headline. TPU + Gemini demand driving upside. PT based on 29x 2027E GAAP EPS of $13.92 — premium justified by Cloud trajectory.
- GS on $AMZN$ (Buy, PT $275): Across-the-board beat. Q2 guidance high end above consensus. Awaiting AWS revenue backlog disclosure in the 10-Q to fully size the AI demand pipeline.
- GS on $MSFT$ (Buy, PT $600): Azure +40% is solid, but the -2% AH reaction reflects Q4 guidance uncertainty. Watch for Fairwater facility capacity ramp commentary and Azure growth trajectory over the next 4 quarters.
- Citi on $META$ (Buy, PT $850): Ad growth + CapEx raise in the same report underscores AI monetization confidence. Next catalysts: Muse Spark, agentic commerce, Business AI Agent.
How do you view GOOG's super earnings again?
Is Meta a buy after earnings dip? Or time to exit?
Are you bullish on Amazon aws acceleration?
Are you team with $Alphabet(GOOG)$/ $Amazon.com(AMZN)$ or $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$/ $Microsoft(MSFT)$?
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For $Alphabet(GOOGL)$ , I see this as a durable, high-quality beat. Cloud growth at 63% shows real AI monetization, and strong cash flow despite higher CapEx removes margin concerns. I’m comfortable assigning a premium multiple here.
On $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$ , I’m not exiting — the drop looks like sentiment-driven, not fundamental. I’d lean toward buying weakness. Meanwhile, I stay bullish on $Amazon.com(AMZN)$ , as AWS acceleration and margins confirm one of the strongest AI monetization stories right now.
@TigerClub @TigerStars @Tiger_comments
The most staggering number wasn't the total revenue. It was the explosive growth of Google Cloud. It reached a revenue milestone & surpassed USD 20 billion for the first time, growing a massive 63% year over year.
The cloud backlog nearly doubled to USD 462 billion, providing an almost unbelievable level of guaranteed future income.
Cloud operating income tripled to USD 6.6 billion, showing that Google finally knows how to scale this business profitably.
Despite AI disruption fears, Search revenue grew 19% to USD 60.4 billion with queries hitting all time highs.
Wall Street responded with a collective roar of approval. With a market cap of USD 4.6 trillion, it is only a matter of time before it joins the USD 5 Trillion Club.
@Tiger_comments @TigerStars @Tiger_SG
Meta, conversely, is currently "lagging" in sentiment. Despite a solid revenue beat, shares slid nearly 10% after the company hiked its 2026 capex guidance to a staggering $125B–$145B. While Alphabet is showing immediate cloud payoffs, investors are wary of Meta’s ballooning spend without a clear, non-ad AI revenue stream.
🥇 Google
Super quarter. Cloud growth accelerated, Gemini monetisation is gaining traction, and Search remains a cash machine. Rare mix of growth + profitability + AI upside. US$400 is realistic if momentum holds.
🥈 Amazon
AWS acceleration looks real. Anthropic tie-up + Trainium + enterprise AI demand give Amazon strong infrastructure leverage.
🥉 Meta
I would buy dips, not exit. Core ads remain elite, but US$145B capex shocked markets. Risk is ROI timing, not business weakness.
4️⃣ Microsoft
Still strong, but Azure expectations are very high.
Team GOOG + AMZN for cleaner near-term risk/reward.
Team "GOOG/AMZN" is the superior choice for a disciplined portfolio. This pairing offers a balanced "Efficiency-to-Growth" profile, demonstrating massive cloud scaling while simultaneously achieving record profitability. Unlike Team "META/MSFT," which is currently defined by an uncapped capital spending race, Alphabet and Amazon have shown they can lead the AI revolution while maintaining strict capital management and margin expansion.
The outlook for AWS is exceptionally bullish. The re-acceleration to 28% growth indicates that the enterprise transition to generative AI is in its early, high-growth stages. By successfully deploying its own "Trainium" and "Inferentia" silicon, Amazon is effectively insulating itself from industry-wide GPU shortages and protecting its long-term operating margins better than its cloud peers.
The post-earnings dip is a buying opportunity, not an exit signal. The market's reaction to increased "Capex" guidance ignores the robust 33% growth in Meta's advertising engine. While the spending is aggressive, the company's history of successfully pivoting through massive investment cycles suggests that these AI infrastructure costs will eventually secure a dominant position in the next generation of digital interaction.
Alphabet has decisively transitioned from a defensive AI stance to an offensive powerhouse. The record expansion of Google Cloud margins and the initiation of a dividend signify a "Mature Growth" era where AI acts as a multiplier rather than a threat. This quarter proves that their integrated hardware and software stack provides a unique competitive advantage that is now reflecting in the bottom line.
They made the rights moves with the available resources, while microsoft felt like they kept trying to force changes with the success they had from investing in openai and having the first mover's advantage.
Microsoft failed to understand that they should have branched out organically, instead of trying to force feed new functionalities down the throats of existing users who were happy to varying degrees with the status quo. By making hasty moves, and not listening to feedback, they lost ground to others who were later to the game. Hopefully someone is there to steer things the right way, before it is too late.