The key indicator is here! The four technology giants released their financial reports within 80 seconds after the market closed, setting the direction for the future of the US stock market.

The four major tech giants in the United States - Alphabet (GOOGL.US), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.US), Meta Platforms (META.US), and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) will report their earnings after the US stock market closes on Wednesday. If the timing of the release is the same as the previous quarter, the earnings of these four tech giants will be announced within a short 80 seconds, providing crucial guidance for the market in the coming weeks. Michael ORourke, Chief Market Strategist at Jonestrading, stated: "I have never seen so many major earnings reports being released at the same time. This is definitely going to be chaotic." The earnings data of these giants will have a profound impact on the market. These four companies, along with NVIDIA Corporation, Apple Inc., and Tesla, Inc., are known as the "Big Seven Tech Giants", driving the S&P 500 index to new highs in recent weeks and are expected to have their best monthly performance since November 2020. At the same time, these four companies are also the biggest investors in artificial intelligence computing infrastructure, making chip manufacturers and storage device makers the hottest trading sectors on Wall Street. Traders will be most interested in the details of capital expenditures and revenue growth in the artificial intelligence field of each company, which are even more important than data from core businesses such as e-commerce, digital advertising, and software. In the tech sector, hefty expenses have become a double-edged sword. On one hand, the entire supplier ecosystem relies on continuous high investments from large tech companies. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged in April, closing higher for 18 consecutive trading days with a cumulative gain of 32%, set to achieve its strongest monthly performance since February 2000. Meanwhile, the top 11 performing stocks in the Nasdaq 100 index this year all come from the semiconductor and storage sector. All of this is related to the significant increase in capital expenditures in artificial intelligence. On the other hand, shareholders are concerned about these massive investments and the prospects for returns. Reports that OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, failed to meet internal targets for new users and revenue have raised concerns about its ability to fulfill its promises of massive infrastructure investments. This news caused the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index to tumble 3.6%, marking the largest single-day decline in a month. Anthony Saglimbene, Chief Market Strategist at Ameriprise, said: "If companies increase capital spending while showing tangible, visible revenue growth, and subsequently raise profit and revenue guidance, then increasing capital expenditures is not a problem for stocks. However, if performance guidance is downward, market volatility will increase and pose pressure on the S&P 500 index." Here are the earnings expectations for the four tech giants: Microsoft Corporation: This software giant just experienced its worst quarter since 2008, with its stock falling 11% year-to-date, making it the worst-performing company among the top seven companies by market cap in the S&P 500 index. Despite Microsoft Corporation's heavy investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure, there has been pressure on the company and the entire software industry for some time due to concerns about the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence. Azure cloud computing business will be a focus. The disappointing revenue growth in the second quarter of this business led to a 10% post-earnings drop in Microsoft Corporation's stock price, resulting in a market value loss of $357 billion, the second largest single-day market value shrinkage in stock market history. Analysts currently forecast that Azure's revenue in the third quarter is expected to increase by 38%. Microsoft Corporation has not yet announced its capital expenditure plan for the 2027 fiscal year, but Wall Street estimates that the capital expenditure for that fiscal year will be around $176 billion, including lease expenses. To offset this expenditure, Microsoft Corporation is offering voluntary layoff packages to about 7% of its US employees, according to reports. Alphabet: Alphabet Inc. Class C parent company Alphabet's stock has risen 12% in 2026, as investors become increasingly bullish on its positioning in the field of artificial intelligence. Alphabet's Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) chips are rapidly gaining market recognition as an important alternative to NVIDIA Corporation's GPUs. In recent weeks, the company has reached computational power supply agreements with startups including Anthropic. Analysts expect Alphabet's net profit in the first quarter to be close to $32 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 8%; revenue is expected to be around $92 billion, a 20% increase year-on-year. Alphabet Inc. Class C cloud revenue is expected to increase by 50% year-on-year to $18.4 billion, faster than the 48% in the previous quarter. Meta: Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has been one of the most aggressive investors in the field of artificial intelligence. The company claims these investments help improve the precision targeting and user engagement of its social applications. However, this has also affected the company's free cash flow, and it is estimated that free cash flow in the first quarter will be only $3.9 billion, the lowest level in nearly four years. To control expenses, Meta plans to lay off about 10% of its workforce, starting next month. Analysts expect Meta's net profit for the first quarter to reach $17.2 billion, with revenue of around $56 billion, increasing by 3.4% and 31% respectively from the same period last year. This will be the company's fastest revenue growth since the third quarter of 2021. Amazon.com, Inc.: The stock price of this e-commerce giant surged 25% in April, set to achieve its best monthly performance in nearly four years, despite the company's slow start in 2026. Just last week, Amazon.com, Inc. announced agreements with Anthropic, Meta, and Oracle Corporation to expand the use of its cloud computing services. Analysts expect Amazon.com, Inc.'s net profit in the first quarter to be $18 billion, with revenue of $177 billion, increasing by 5% and 14% respectively year-on-year. Sales of Amazon.com, Inc.'s cloud business AWS are expected to grow by 26%, higher than the 24% in the fourth quarter of last year.