Google: Alphabet Climbs 10% in a Day, Caps Best Monthly Gain Since 2004

Posted on May 1, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Google is pursuing Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure in the rapidly expanding public cloud market, where demand for artificial intelligence models and services is soaring.

Revenue for Google Cloud, which includes corporate productivity apps and infrastructure, increased by 63% to $20.03 billion, exceeding StreetAccount’s estimate of $18.05 billion. That is by far the fastest growth rate since Google began disclosing cloud results in 2020.

Google is competing fiercely with OpenAI and Anthropic in the market for AI models in addition to providing a complete infrastructure suite for AI workloads as an alternative to Nvidia’s graphics processing units, or GPUs. The company is also witnessing rapid growth from its in-house tensor processing units, or TPUs.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai stated during the company’s Wednesday webcast with analysts that “our enterprise AI solutions have become our primary growth driver for cloud for the first time.”. According to Pichai, revenue from products developed using Google’s generative AI models increased by 800%.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, saw a 10% surge on Thursday, making April the stock’s best month since the internet search company went public in 2004. Amazon posted a gain of 0.8%. Microsoft experienced a 4% decline. The market leader in cloud infrastructure, AWS, saw a 28% increase in revenue to $37.6 billion.

Nearly $1 billion less was the consensus among analysts surveyed by StreetAccount. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stated during his company’s earnings call that AWS customer spending on the Bedrock service for creating AI agents and applications increased by 170% from the fourth quarter, consuming more tokens in the first quarter than in its history.

The findings were released the day after AWS announced that OpenAI models would be available on Bedrock and that a new Bedrock service would allow customers to create complex agents that are integrated with their current infrastructure. Jassy stated, “OpenAI has reported that they’re already seeing unprecedented demand for this new product, and we’re seeing heavy customer interest as well.”.

Apple Delivers Upbeat Revenue Outlook as iPhone and Mac Sales Surge

Posted on May 1, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Apple released a better-than-expected revenue forecast for the current period after outperforming on sales and earnings in the fiscal second quarter. During prolonged trading, the stock increased by roughly 3%. The only notable figure in Thursday’s report that fell short of expectations was iPhone sales, which missed projections for the second time in three quarters.

According to Apple, revenue increased by 17% from $95.4 billion in the previous year. It was the company’s first encounter with Wall Street since Tim Cook announced last week that he would leave his position as CEO after 15 years. During the earnings call, Apple stated that revenue for the June quarter will rise by 14% to 17% over the same period last year.

Analysts anticipated growth of 9.5 percent to $103 billion. The company announced a cash dividend of 27 cents per share, an increase of 4%, and approved an additional $100 billion in stock repurchases. Compared to a year ago, iPhone sales increased by 22% during the quarter.

Apple, like other manufacturers of consumer electronics and devices, confronted with supply chain issues, primarily because of the scarcity of memory chips caused by rapidly increasing demand for artificial intelligence. On Wednesday, Meta and Microsoft announced that their higher capital expenditure projections for the year

Cook informed investors that the memory crunch is not going away, despite providing optimistic revenue projections.

According to him, the impact was “minimal” in the December quarter and somewhat greater in the March period. Cook stated that “we expect significantly higher memory costs” in the current quarter. Beyond that, he stated, “we believe memory costs will drive an increasing impact on our business,” which will prompt the business to “look at a range of options.”.

Apple unveiled several new products in March, such as the iPhone 17e, an upgraded iPad Air laptop with an M4 chip available in 11- and 13-inch sizes. Additionally, it introduced the MacBook Neo, a low-cost laptop targeted at students and consumers on a tight budget that costs $599.

Wall Street’s top concern is what to anticipate from incoming CEO John Ternus, even though device sales are always crucial to Apple’s performance. Ternus will take over for Cook, who will become executive chairman in September, according to an announcement made by Apple

One of the first things Ternus needs to determine is Apple’s AI strategy. Apple declared early in the quarter that it would collaborate with Google to power its Siri product with its Gemini AI model. Cook stated that “the collaboration with Google is going well” and that the company is “happy with where things are, and we’re happy with the work that we’re doing independently as well” during the Q&A portion of the earnings call. The quarter’s services revenue increased by roughly 16% from $26.65 billion in the same period last year.

Apple leverages its enormous customer base to sell subscriptions to entertainment services. With more than 2.5 billion active devices on the market,, iCloud, Apple Pay, and AppleCare. Apple’s profit margins have increased due to the expansion of its services. Apple’s gross margin, which has been stuck in the high 30s for a long time, has been gradually increasing over the past few years, rising from 48.2 percent to 49.3 percent in the most recent quarter

BOJ Intervention Window Closing: Yen Strength at Risk

Posted on May 1, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

The potential for the yen’s intervention-driven surge to swiftly fade raises the possibility that Japan will need to intervene again in the market to support the exchange rate. The currency began to decline on Friday morning in Tokyo after rising 3% against the dollar on Thursday as Japan purchased yen and sold dollars.

Authorities have entered the market, according to a person familiar with the situation, although the country’s top currency official has declined to confirm intervention. Another person with knowledge of the situation claims that US economic officials were informed in advance of the action.

The pattern observed around this time in 2024, when Japan entered the market multiple times to address weakness, would be followed by an erosion of early gains in the yen. Before Japan’s May 4–6 Golden Week holiday, Atsushi Mimura, the vice finance minister for international affairs, gave traders a subtle warning about this on Friday.

“We are just at the start of a long holiday period, but I will not comment on future developments,” Mimura stated. “I think we share our assessments of the situation and our actions, and we have very close contact with the United States. “Generally speaking, we are always ready to act regarding crude oil futures transactions,” Mimura said, extending his caution to energy traders.

, Japanese authorities spent a total of about $100 billion purchasing the currency multiple times after the yen fell to about 160 points in 2024.

On days when the yen hit 157.99, 161.76, and 159.45, further actions were taken. The intervention on Thursday did not come after a sudden spike in weakness, despite officials’ repeated claims that they are focusing on excessive volatility rather than particular levels.

However, the yen appears destined for more declines as the Federal Reserve appears less dovish and the Bank of Japan appears hesitant to commit to a June rate hike. The most recent action taken by the Japanese government indicated unease about the country’s protracted weakness, which could lead to higher import prices and inflation.

Big Tech Earnings Highlight Winners in AI: Alphabet, Amazon Lead, Meta Trails

Posted on May 1, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Meta Platforms is falling behind while Alphabet’s Google is clearly benefiting from its AI investment. Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon released a plethora of financial data on Wednesday, including the two companies’ results and Microsoft.

The four businesses are at the center of an infrastructure build-out anticipated to cost trillions of dollars because they are the biggest spenders on AI data farms

Alphabet’s stock increased by 7% in late trading, outperforming other AI behemoths.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index saw a 0.9 percent increase in futures. It was more difficult for Meta to convince investors. After the company increased full-year capital expenditures to as much as $145 billion, partly due to rising component prices, its shares fell more than 6%. Google and other companies have also raised their spending targets, so Meta is not the only one.

However, Meta doesn’t have as much to show for this enormous investment. Its consumer AI app has taken longer to gain traction than Google’s, and it does not offer cloud computing services.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, stated that he was confident in the choice to increase spending, but his responses to analysts were ambiguous. He stated on a conference call that Meta does not have “a very precise plan” for how each AI product will be developed. Zuckerberg stated, “I think we have a sense of the shape of where things need to be,” although he acknowledged that his responses might not be “fulfilling.

According to Forrester Research Inc., “the companies continue to make those bets, forcing investors and customers alike to assess how their interests are impacted because the potential payoff of AI leadership seems so high.” In a note, analyst Lee Sustar stated.

Revenue from Amazon’s cloud division increased by 28% over the previous year, the fastest growth rate since the second quarter of 2022. That company acts as a gauge for the advancement of AI. Additionally, the company has benefited from investments in two of the top AI startups, OpenAI and Anthropic PBC.

Amazon’s stock increased on Wednesday After News revealed that Anthropic was contemplating a new funding round at a valuation of more than $900 billion.

Microsoft predicted that revenue from cloud computing would rise along with spending. The company projects “modest acceleration” in the second half of the year and a 40% increase in sales in its Azure cloud division in the current quarter. The low proportion of Microsoft Office users who are paying for the company’s Copilot AI tools continues to raise concerns. According to the company, the number of paid Copilot seats increased by 5 million from the previous quarter to 20 million

Shock Exit: UAE Leaves OPEC as War Shakes Oil Prices and Gulf Stability

Posted on May 1, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

The United Arab Emirates’ decision to leave OPEC next month is a major blow to the organization and raises concerns about its future.

The UAE’s decision to leave OPEC on May 1st, after 60 years of membership, is the result of years of conflict with Saudi Arabia, the organization’s leader, over oil output policy and competition for political influence in the region. It’s also the most recent example of how the war is changing the world’s energy markets

. Although the UAE has previously discussed leaving OPEC, Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei stated in an interview that the disruption caused by the conflict made it the right time to do so. “We made this decision after carefully and thoroughly reviewing all of our strategies,” he stated. We believe that the decision was made at the right time because the market is undersupplied, and it won’t have a significant impact.

He stated that the UAE will be a “responsible” producer and that the shortages brought on by the conflict will necessitate flexibility to meet market demands without being limited by the group’s collective decision-making process. The country has long objected to OPEC’s restrictions and is one of the few producers with significant excess production capacity.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has suffered a serious setback with the departure of a key member, US President Donald Trump, who has frequently chastised the group for its attempts to support oil prices.

The UAE was OPEC’s third-largest producer before the conflict, making up about 12% of the group’s total supply. Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy and a former member of the OPEC secretariat, stated that “the longer-term implication is a structurally-weaker OPEC.”. “The UAE would have both the incentive and the outside group.

Meta Plunge Most in Six Months After Raising 2026 Spending Outlook

Posted on May 1, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Meta shares fell the most in six months after the company increased its spending outlook for the year, rekindling concerns that Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg’s historic levels of investment to catch up in the artificial intelligence race won’t pay off.

The social media behemoth predicted full-year capital expenditures of $125 billion to $145 billion, surpassing analysts’ projections and representing roughly a 7.4% increase over the company’s January projections.

Chief Financial Officer Susan Li stated on a call with investors on Wednesday that Meta is dealing with “higher component pricing” and additional data center costs, while maintaining its conviction that its AI strategy is working.

Zuckerberg stated that his company would invest hundreds of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure by the end of the decade, before a shortage of memory chips drove up costs. Meta has announced deals worth billions of dollars.

Wall Street had predicted $55.51 billion in first-quarter sales, but Meta reported $56.3 billion. Sales for the current quarter were estimated between $58 billion and $61 billion, which is about in line with expectations. The number of daily active users on all of Meta’s social media platforms decreased slightly to 3.56 billion in the first quarter.

The business mentioned Russia’s limitations on WhatsApp access and internet outages in Iran. Since the company started using that metric, that was the first decline.

S&P 500,Nasdaq Futures Surge as US Stocks Hit Fresh Highs

Posted on May 1, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

US equity-index futures increased, suggesting that the rally that drove Wall Street gauges to all-time highs amid robust megacap tech earnings may still be ongoing.

The yen slightly declined, reversing some of the gains brought by Japan’s intervention. Contracts for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500 Index increased by 0.2 percent after the underlying gauges closed at all-time highs on Thursday.

Apple shares increased in extended trading amid a robust revenue forecast, even though it warned of rising memory-chip costs. The yen, which had risen as high as 155.57 on Thursday, was marginally weaker at about 157.18 per dollar. Before Japan’s government intervened, the currency was close to the 161 level

. The nation’s Nikkei stock index increased by 0.7 percent while several Asian markets were closed for a holiday.

April presented traders with a challenge, as oil prices skyrocketed because of the unresolved Middle East crisis. US stocks recorded their best month since 2020, thanks to a rebound in technology shares and the trade in artificial intelligence. In the upcoming weeks, investors will test that story to see if momentum driven by AI can counteract price pressures and geopolitical risks.

Chris Zaccarelli of Northlight Asset Management stated, “We can see higher stock prices even in the face of higher energy prices and inflation as long as the economy continues to grow and companies can grow earnings.” The massive increase in AI business investment caused US GDP to grow during the first quarter; it also revealed that inflationary pressures increased dramatically in March as a result of the war-related spike in gas prices.

Meta Shares Below $600 in play on Escalating Fears Over Massive AI Capex

Posted on April 30, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg rekindled concerns that the historic levels of investment he’s making to catch up in the artificial intelligence race won’t pay off.

This possibility caused shares to plummet. The social media behemoth predicted full-year capital expenditures of $125 billion to $145 billion, surpassing analysts’ projections and representing roughly a 7.4% increase over the company’s January projections.

Zuckerberg stated that his company would invest hundreds of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure by the end of the decade. Meta has revealed deals worth billions of dollars.

Wall Street did not share Zuckerberg’s “confidence” in the decision to increase AI spending. The CEO’s failure to explain how Meta intends to generate a return on its investments infuriated investors, causing shares to drop as much as 7% during prolonged trading.

Meta wasn’t the only significant tech company to increase expenditures. Amazon. Com revealed quarterly capital expenditures on increasing data center capacity that exceeded analysts’ expectations. Google increased its capital expenditures for the entire year to $190 billion.

Google sparked a rally despite beating on quarterly revenue and profit, indicating confidence in the company’s AI bets. Meta beat Wall Street’s estimate of $55.51 billion with first-quarter sales of $56.3 billion. Sales for the current quarter were estimated between $58 billion and $61 billion, which is about in line with expectations. The number of daily active users on Meta’s social media platforms decreased slightly to 3.56 billion in the first quarter.

The business mentioned Russia’s limitations on WhatsApp access and internet outages in Iran. Since the company started using that metric, that was the first decline. Meta would have seen positive, according to CFO Li.

Google, Amazon Outpace Facebook in AI Race During Earnings Surge

Posted on April 30, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Meta Platforms is falling behind while Alphabet’s Google is clearly benefiting from its AI investment. Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon. Com released a plethora of financial data on Wednesday, including the two companies’ results and Microsoft. The four businesses are at the center of an infrastructure build-out anticipated to cost trillions of dollars because they are the biggest spenders on AI data farms

Alphabet’s stock increased by 7% in late trading, outperforming other AI behemoths. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index saw a 0.9 percent increase in futures. It was more difficult for Meta to convince investors. After the company increased full-year capital expenditures to as much as $145 billion, partly due to rising component prices, its shares fell more than 6%. Google and other companies have also raised their spending targets, so Meta is not the only one.

However, Meta doesn’t have as much to show for this enormous investment. Its consumer AI app has taken longer to gain traction than Google’s, and it does not offer cloud computing services.

Amazon’s stock increased on Wednesday After News revealed that Anthropic was contemplating a new funding round at a valuation of more than $900 billion.

Gold Falls to Lowest Level in Nearly Four Weeks, Nears $4,590/Oz

Posted on April 29, 2026April 29, 2026 by Olumide Adesina

Bullion was close to $4,590 per ounce after declining 2.4 percent over the preceding two sessions to the lowest level in nearly four weeks. Iran has requested that the US lift its naval blockade of Hormuz while the two countries negotiate a settlement to the two-month conflict that has disrupted the world’s energy supplies, according to President Donald Trump.

Mediators in Pakistan anticipate that Iran will present an updated proposal in the coming days. In the upcoming days, traders are monitoring interest rate decisions in the US, the EU, the UK, and Canada. The Bank of Japan maintained its benchmark rate at 0.75 percent on Tuesday, with a split vote indicating a higher likelihood of a hike in June.

Investors wil lwatch whether Jerome Powell will stay on the board after his term as chair expires. The Federal Reserve is generally expected to hold rates at its meeting that concludes on Wednesday.

The energy supply shock is exacerbating inflation risks because of the possibility that central banks will maintain or even raise interest rates, which is detrimental to non-yielding bullion. The opportunity cost of holding gold has also gone up due to rising bond yields.

Since the conflict started at the end of February, the metal has lost roughly 13%, while crude oil has skyrocketed. Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S, stated in a note that some technical selling occurred following “a break below recent support around $4,650.” The biggest short-term upside catalyst for the metals is a reopening of the Strait and a subsequent decline in oil, but the market’s immediate focus is still on mediation efforts.