A deep dive into Big Tech's Q1 2026 AI earnings — Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Google — and the B infrastructure race shaping the industry.
Super Micro Computer shares jumped 18% after its fiscal Q3 2026 earnings showed revenue more than doubling year-on-year and guidance surpassing analyst estimates. The company also highlighted progress on U.S. manufacturing expansion, a key focus for hyperscaler customers seeking domestically produced hardware.
AMD shares surged 15% in after-hours trading on May 5, 2026, after Q1 results beat on both revenue and guidance. Data center growth — powered by MI-series GPUs and Epyc server CPUs — was the primary driver, reinforcing investor confidence that AI semiconductor demand remains robust.
South Korea's KOSPI benchmark crossed 7,000 for the first time in its history on May 6, 2026, surging 4.54% to 7,252.09 in early trade. The milestone is driven by semiconductor-sector strength — buoyed by AMD's 15% overnight gain — and optimism over U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks that eased oil-supply risk.
Q1 2026 earnings reports from Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon reveal combined capital expenditures exceeding $725 billion for the year — nearly double last year's $410 billion — as the AI data center arms race accelerates.
Meta reported Q1 2026 revenue of $56.3 billion (+33% YoY), with net income rising 61%. But investors pushed the stock down 6–10% after Meta raised its full-year AI capex forecast to $125–145 billion, citing higher component costs and new data center buildouts.
Alphabet reported Q1 2026 revenue of $109.9 billion, up 22% year over year. Google Cloud surged 63% to $20.03 billion — its first $20B quarter — while net income jumped 81% to $62.6 billion. The stock rose 6% after the report.
Microsoft’s AI push is no longer a capex story waiting for payoff. In results released on April 29, the company said its AI business surpassed a $37 billion annual revenue run rate, while Azure and other cloud services revenue grew 40% and commercial remaining performance obligation jumped 99% to $627 billion.
Google used its latest quarter to argue that AI is no longer just a capex story. Cloud revenue rose 63% past $20 billion, while core AI response costs in AI Overviews and AI Mode fell by more than 30% after the Gemini 3 upgrade.