Meta, Microsoft Shares Down Despite Beating Expectations in Latest Results

Meta (NASDAQ:META) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) both released their latest quarterly results on Wednesday (October 30), recording share price drops despite year-on-year revenue improvements.

Meta reported revenue of US$40.59 billion, surpassing analysts’ forecasts of US$40.3 billion. The social media giant’s net income for the quarter reached US$15.69 billion, with diluted earnings per share standing at US$6.03.

Microsoft, meanwhile, generated US$65.6 billion in quarterly revenue, beating projections of US$64.51 billion and marking a 16 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Both companies said AI remains central to growth, especially as they expand their tech infrastructure.

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg attributed the company's performance to ongoing AI advancements across its suite of platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

“We also have strong momentum with Meta AI, Llama adoption, and AI-powered glasses," he added.

However, Meta’s AI expansion comes with rising costs, and the company said it is projecting "significant capital expenditures growth" in 2025. These expenses will involve heightened depreciation and operational costs related to Meta’s expanded data centers and computational systems supporting its AI capabilities.

Microsoft’s performance this quarter was similarly buoyed by its AI-driven services, particularly within its cloud division. The company reported that revenue from its Azure platform and other cloud services saw a 33 percent year-on-year increase, with about one-third of that growth attributed to demand for AI solutions.

As more companies adopt cloud-based AI applications, Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure has enabled clients to access powerful computational resources without direct investment in their own systems.

This has proved appealing to smaller businesses and large enterprises alike, according to CEO Satya Nadella, who also highlighted the role of AI in strengthening Microsoft’s competitive position in the tech landscape. “I feel pretty good that going into the second half of even this fiscal year that some of that supply-demand will match up,” he further noted.

Microsoft’s quarterly performance follows a similar boost reported by Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google, which experienced a 15 percent year-on-year increase in cloud revenues in its latest quarter.

The earnings from Meta, Microsoft and Google underscore the rising significance of cloud and AI technology in big tech’s financial growth, where AI is increasingly viewed as a foundational component of operations. Analysts have suggested that AI, previously seen as speculative, has now transitioned into a key driver of returns for tech investors.

A recent outlook by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) notes that AI-centric companies, particularly those focused on cloud integration, are expected to remain profitable as enterprises rely on external providers for access to scalable AI tools.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.