This week, the combined market capitalization of the six tech giants during earnings season fluctuated by nearly $2 trillion, with AI investment returns emerging as a key driver of market divergence.

August 2nd. This week, the combined market capitalization change of 6 US tech giants that have already released their financial reports is close to $20 trillion. Investors are selecting winners based on cloud business growth and AI capital expenditure returns. Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft saw a combined market capitalization increase of nearly $1.5 trillion, with Microsoft gaining over $600 billion, and both Amazon and Alphabet gaining over $400 billion.

Meanwhile, Apple's market cap evaporated over $350 billion, Meta decreased by around $85 billion, and Tesla decreased by about $7 billion. Although Apple exceeded expectations in revenue, profit, and iPhone sales, it is projected that this quarter's revenue will grow by 9% to 11%, lower than analysts' expectations of 12%. Apple mentioned that storage chip shortages and semiconductor capacity competition will continue to constrain supply, leading to a more than 7% drop in its stock price on Friday.

In the second quarter, Amazon's AWS revenue grew by 37% year-on-year, marking the fastest growth rate since 2021 and driving its stock price up by over 15% on Friday. The company also raised its 2026 capital expenditure outlook from $200 billion to $220 billion. Microsoft rose by 15% on Thursday, while Meta fell by 8%, showing a clear market divergence in the assessment of AI investment returns for the two companies.

Jefferies stated that AI spending by tech giants in the next 12 months is approaching $800 billion. The current market debate is no longer about whether there is a real need for AI but rather whether long-term profits can support such massive investments.