Tech Earnings Today: Microsoft Beats Expectations, While Meta’s Profits Disappoint

Tech Earnings Today: Microsoft Beats Expectations, While Meta’s Profits Disappoint Amazon, Apple set to follow tomorrow with their own quarterly numbers; Nvidia’s due next month David Marino-Nachison Wed, July 29, 2026 at 9:01 PM GMT+2 8 min read MSFT META AMZN ^GSPC AAPL The latest quarterly results from Microsoft are part of a rush of reports from big U. S. tech firms.

Credit: Getty Images The latest numbers from two tech titans are here. Investors today got to see fresh quarterly earnings reports from Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta Platforms (META). Shares of both are down this year, as tech shares have been under pressure lately : The Magnificent 7 as a group, as measured by the Roundhill Magnificent 7 ETF (MAGS), is off about 5% in 2026, while the S&P 500 has risen some 7% through today's close.

Meta turned in record quarterly sales, but its profits missed analysts' estimates as costs rose. Microsoft, meanwhile, beat Street expectations on the top and bottom lines. ( Investopedia's previews of the results from Meta and Microsoft were here and here, respectively.

) Wednesday's results are part of a busy stretch for the companies that are among the top funders of the AI buildout—and the biggest publicly traded businesses on Earth. Apple (AAPL) and Amazon. com (AMZN), are due to announce their results after the close Thursday.

(We've also written previews of the results from Amazon and Apple . ) Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) reported last week, turning in numbers that exceeded Wall Street's expectations. Tesla's (TSLA) earnings are also in, with profits that were lower than expected and revenue that came in stronger than predicted.

Tesla's sort-of-sister company SpaceX (SPCX) will deliver its first quarterly results as a public company next week. Nvidia (NVDA) will wrap up the Magnificent 7's second-quarter earnings in late August. If you were looking for Investopedia's coverage of today's markets, our live blog is here .

And we followed today's Fed meeting, during which the U. S. central bank kept rates steady, live here .

JULY 29, 2026 AT 08:53 PM GMT Microsoft's Free Cash Flow Falls But Stays In the Green Microsoft generated $19. 6 billion in free cash flow last quarter, a 23% decrease from the same quarter last year. Still, it's one of the only hyperscalers whose cash flows haven't turned negative amid the data center boom.

Meta's free cash flow came in at $784 million, down from $8. 55 billion a year ago. Last week, Alphabet reported negative quarterly free cash for the first time in its history.

Amazon's trailing 12-month free cash flow declined 95% to just $1. 2 billion in the first quarter. Oracle burned through nearly $24 billion in its 2026 fiscal year.

—Colin Laidley & Kara Greenberg JULY 29, 2026 AT 08:42 PM GMT Microsoft Q4 Capex Rises 70%, Tops $40B Microsoft spent $41 billion on property and equipment last quarter, a 70% increase from last year and in-line with the "over $40 billion" estimate executives gave three months ago. Story Continues Investors may have to wait a little longer for arguably the most highly anticipated figure of this earnings report: this quarter's capital expenditures guidance. Executives are expected to share how much they expect to spend on infrastructure and equipment in the current quarter during a call with analysts scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.

m. ET. —Colin Laidley JULY 29, 2026 AT 08:31 PM GMT Meta Warns Regulatory Scrutiny Could Weigh on Future Results Meta faces a number of active lawsuits, the social media giant said Wednesday, warning that adverse legal outcomes could hurt its future results.

"We continue to see scrutiny on youth-related issues in several markets and have a number of youth-related trials scheduled for this year in the U. S. , which may ultimately result in a material loss," the company said in a press release.

—Kara Greenberg JULY 29, 2026 AT 08:28 PM GMT Microsoft Stock Rises Ahead of Capex Guidance Microsoft stock was up more than 2% in extended trading after it beat expectations on the top and bottom line. Its shares will face a test later this evening when executives may offer more details on expected financial performance and spending on a conference call. Alphabet last week tumbled the day after it raised its full-year capex forecast, overshadowing otherwise strong results.

Shares of Meta were down more than 6% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after it, too, upped its capex forecast. —Colin Laidley JULY 29, 2026 AT 08:22 PM GMT Meta Hikes the Lower End of Its Spending Forecast Meta said it could spend more this year than previously anticipated as it grapples with higher legal expenses. The social media giant said it now expects capital expenditures of $130 billion to $145 billion this year, compared to $125 billion to $145 billion previously.

Meta said the updated figure was affected by charges related to its legal proceedings, though most of the funds are set to be allocated toward its AI buildout. "AI is accelerating our core business today, powering our next generation of products, and opening the door to entirely new enterprise opportunities," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a release. "The results are already showing, and I'm optimistic about the potential ahead.

" The social media giant said it expects current-quarter revenue in the range of $61 billion to $64 billion, a bit below the analyst consensus at the midpoint. —Kara Greenberg JULY 29, 2026 AT 08:16 PM GMT Microsoft Tops Earnings Estimates as Azure Revenue Accelerates Microsoft on Wednesday reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $4. 81 per share, a 32% increase from the prior year.

Revenue increased 18% year-over-year to $90 billion. Analysts expected the company to post a profit of $4. 24 per share on $87.

7 billion in revenue. Microsoft said its earnings got a boost to the tune of 27 cents per share from a $3. 2 billion gain on its investment in frontier AI lab Anthropic and lower-than-expected expenses related to a voluntary retirement program.

Excluding that benefit, the company still topped estimates on the top and bottom lines. Cloud revenue, a rough proxy for AI demand, grew 27% from a year ago, driven by a 43% increase in revenue from Microsoft Azure, the company's platform for developing and running AI and other applications. Azure revenue grew 40% in the prior quarter.

Microsoft's cloud backlog increased 8% sequentially to a record $678 billion. Its shares rose about 2% in after-hours trading. —Colin Laidley JULY 29, 2026 AT 08:09 PM GMT Meta Stock Tumbles as Rising Costs Squeeze Profits Meta posted record quarterly sales, but its profits missed analysts' estimates as costs surged.

Meta reported earnings per share of $6. 18, well below the $7. 19 analysts had called for, as the tech giant invests heavily in its AI buildout.

Meta also pointed to $2. 40 billion of charges related to legal proceedings and $1. 18 billion in expenses tied to recent layoffs.

Its revenue jumped 28% year-over-year to a record $60. 80 billion, above projections compiled by Visible Alpha. Shares plunged nearly 9% in after-hours trading.

—Kara Greenberg JULY 29, 2026 AT 08:06 PM GMT Microsoft, Meta Among Worst-Performing Mag 7 Stocks in 2026 Only Tesla has underperformed Microsoft and Meta this year among "Mag 7" stocks. Microsoft is off 19% through Wednesday's close, while Meta is down 11%. Tesla has done even worse, losing about a third of its value this year.

The Mag 7, as represented by the Roundhill ETF that tracks the group, is down about 5%, with Apple the top performer. All three major U. S.

indexes are also in the green. JULY 29, 2026 AT 07:20 PM GMT Four Things to Watch in This Week's Tech Earnings Trajan Wealth CIO David Busch on Wednesday suggested that investors watch four things in the reports due this week from four big tech companies. In emailed comments, he pointed investors toward these factors: Microsoft: "Azure growth and Copilot monetization vs.

pace of data-center spending" Meta: "Return on AI/infrastructure buildout, ad trends, and any update on reportedly selling excess compute capacity" "Apple: "Whether iPhone momentum and AI features offset a market that's favored cloud growth over hardware" Amazon: "AWS as the profit engine, plus Prime Day's timing shift into the Q2 print" JULY 29, 2026 AT 07:16 PM GMT There's Only One $5T Company Right Now Apple's market cap is holding above $5 trillion ahead of its earnings tomorrow. The company briefly reached that level for the first time shortly after Tuesday's open, joining Nvidia in the two-company club of businesses to command that valuation. For now, Nvidia is back below the threshold.

It remains above $4 trillion, where it's joined by Alphabet. JULY 29, 2026 AT 07:11 PM GMT Nasdaq Clings to Gains After Fed Decision The threat of higher interest rates tends to weigh on tech shares. But the Fed today said it would keep them steady for now, likely reassuring investors who in recent weeks had come to fear the possibility of a hike.

That for now is helping the Nasdaq Composite clinging to slim gains in late-afternoon trading, while the Dow industrials and S&P 500 were in the red. The tech-focused Nasdaq 100 was faintly in the green. Read our Fed live blog here and our full Wednesday markets blog here .

JULY 29, 2026 AT 07:01 PM GMT Here's How Much Microsoft Stock Is Expected to Move After Earnings Shares of Microsoft could reach their highest point in over a month after its earnings land, Aaron McDade reports: Based on recent options pricing, traders expect Microsoft shares could swing up to 6% in either direction by the end of the week. A move of that size from Tuesday's close could see the stock rally as high as $418, its highest point in over a month. The low end of that range could see the shares slip as low as $368.

Read that full story here . JULY 29, 2026 AT 07:01 PM GMT Here's How Much Traders Expect Meta Stock to Move After Earnings Traders anticipate a substantial move in Meta shares after the company reports, according to Aaron McDade: "Based on recent options pricing, traders expect Meta shares could swing up to 7% in either direction by the end of the week. A move of that size from Tuesday's close could see shares climb back above $636, where they were earlier this month.

The low end of that range could drag them below $551. " Read that story in full here .