On Wednesday, companies like Alphabet, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft released their financial reports one after another within just two minutes, triggering a storm of financial information.
Google said that its AI software and infrastructure demand have driven the department to achieve “significantly accelerated growth”. Its cloud computing department has achieved solid growth, with sales reaching $20 billion in the last quarter, exceeding the previous expectation of $18.4 billion.
“Our AI models are developing strongly,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a call with analysts. “We are bringing useful AI to billions of people every day through our products and platforms.”
Backlog orders (referring to the contracted but not yet recognized revenue workload) nearly doubled compared to the previous quarter, exceeding $460 billion. Pichai said that this quarter was also the strongest quarter to date for Google’s consumer AI services, including the Gemini app.
Alphabet’s share price rose 6.6% in after-hours trading, outperforming other AI giants. Nasdaq 100 futures, which are dominated by technology stocks, climbed 0.9%.
Meta has encountered more difficulties in promoting its plan to investors. The company announced that its capital expenditure for the whole year would be as high as 145 billion US dollars, partly due to the increase in component prices. After the announcement, its share price dropped by more than 6%.
Meta is not the only company ramping up its investment; Google and some other companies have also raised their targets. However, Meta’s huge investment has not yielded many tangible results. Unlike Google, Meta does not sell cloud computing services, and the development of its consumer-oriented AI applications has also been relatively slow.
Amazon’s cloud business unit saw its revenue grow by 28% year-on-year, marking the fastest growth rate since the second quarter of 2022. This business is regarded as a barometer of the company’s progress in artificial intelligence.
Amazon also benefited from its investments in two leading artificial intelligence startups, OpenAI and Anthropic PBC. Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that Anthropic is considering a new round of financing with a valuation of over $90 billion. This news boosted Amazon’s share price.
Microsoft said that its cloud computing revenue will accelerate as spending increases. The company expects its Azure cloud business unit’s sales to grow by about 40% this quarter and anticipates “moderate growth” in the second half of the year.
Technical analysis:
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Gold: After two consecutive days of decline, a bottoming-out pattern has emerged. Pay close attention to whether the intraday pullback can stabilize at the key support level around 4550. Alternatively, wait for a firm hold above 4600/4620 before considering a long position. For detailed positions, please consult the plugin.
(Gold 15-minute chart)
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Nasdaq: Last night, the price continued to show the characteristics of sweeping liquidity, but it did not enter the yellow zone we had set. Today, we will observe the demand area near 27,100 to see if it can complete the pullback confirmation. If so, we can consider a low buy. For detailed positions, please consult the plugin.
(NASDAQ 15-minute chart)
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Crude oil: As the US-Iran negotiations still show no progress, the price has risen back above 110. With the holiday approaching, we suggest continuing to wait and observe to prevent any changes in the news over the weekend. If the price surges close to 120, be ready to capture the pullback signal at any time. For detailed positions, please consult the plugin.
(Crude Oil 15-Minute Chart)
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Today’s key financial data and events to focus on:
The European Central Bank will announce its interest rate decision at 20:15.
20:30 US Initial Jobless Claims for the Week Ended April 25 (in 10,000s)
20:30 US Core PCE Price Index YoY for March
At 20:45, the President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, will hold a press conference on monetary policy.
