Tech stocks today: Amazon beats, Apple sinks
Amazon stock rose sharply on Friday, after posting better than anticipated Q2 results Thursday and notching strong growth in its AWS business.
CEO Andy Jassy said AWS grew 36.7% year-over-year in the quarter, and noted that the company’s AI and chip businesses both have annual run rates north of $25 billion.
And while the company also increased capital expenditures to $220 billion from $200 billion and its free cash flow fell to -$7.6 billion, investors were nonplussed. It’s a stark difference from the reactions the street had to Google’s and Meta’s results, which sent shares of those companies diving.
Apple is facing a different kind of problem from AI. While its general lack of exposure to the market has helped insulated it from the wild stick swings the rest of the industry has seen, the company is now dealing with knock-on effects from the boom.
Outgoing CEO Tim Cook told investors on Apple’s earnings call that he anticipates continued supply shocks from the AI buildout with memory pricing continuing to increase and ongoing capacity constraints on its processors.
That sent Apple stock tumbling more than 8% in early trading.
Elsewhere, Microsoft (MSFT) surged 15.5% on Thursday, the largest single-day market-value increase in stock market history, after posting better-than-expected Q4 earnings.
