Business Finance News

Stock market today: Nasdaq leads S&P 500, Dow higher as Microsoft, Meta earnings reassure Wall Street

Big Tech stocks were the top trending tickers in premarket trading on Thursday as several of the “Magnificent Seven” names took center stage with first quarter earnings reports this week.

Microsoft (MSFT) stock surged 9% after the company posted an earnings beat and strong cloud performance Wednesday. AI contributed more than expected to Azure revenue growth, though Microsoft noted capacity constraints remain a headwind for AI growth.

Meta (META) stock popped 6% after Q1 results also beat on the top and bottom lines. Despite concerns of an advertising slowdown due to the heightened uncertainty around tariffs and the economy, Meta raised its capital expenditures estimates and held its revenue forecasts steady.

Amazon (AMZN) stock rose 3% ahead of its first quarter earnings report. Investors are closely watching for AI spending’s moment of truth as well as for any potential headwinds from President Trump’s tariff policies. Earlier this week, Amazon drew ire from the White House over a report that the company planned to display tariff price hikes next to products, which Amazon denied.

Nvidia (NVDA) gained 4% as Meta and Microsoft suggested that the AI buildouts haven’t slowed down, as my colleague Brian Sozzi wrote below. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made a trip to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to advocate for changes to chip export policies.

Apple (AAPL) stock fell 1% ahead of its earnings report, where investors will get a look at how tariffs are affecting the iPhone maker and its supply chains. “We don’t think Apple is ‘out-of-the-woods’ yet,” KeyBanc analyst Brandon Nispel wrote in a note, as Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley reported.