Tech Weekly: Mega-cap Earnings Dominate Narrow Trading Week

This week's tech sector performance

Equity markets traded in a narrow band this week as investors pivoted between unchanged central bank guidance in the US and Canada and a packed calendar of mega‑cap tech earnings.

Technology and semiconductor companies outperformed throughout the week, with factors linked to artificial intelligence (AI) underpinning gains even as rate‑sensitive and cyclical stocks lagged, underscoring that tech earnings quality and AI‑related CAPEX were the dominant themes for market direction rather than macro alone.

Leading into midweek, the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) pushed to nearly record levels, while the Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) strung together multiple gains as optimism around AI‑related earnings and resilient corporate profits offset softer‑than‑hoped consumer‑confidence readings.

By Thursday (January 29), however, the mood had turned choppy.

The Nasdaq briefly shed more than 2 percent before paring losses to a roughly 0.7 percent decline, and the S&P 500 closed slightly lower after an intraday drop of over 1 percent as investors digested a mixed bag of earnings from Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).

Friday (January 30) saw global markets mixed again after US President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair, pushing the Volatility Index (INDEXCBOE:VIX) back above 18 and weighing on Wall Street futures; meanwhile, the S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) followed commodities lower.

Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) record‑breaking quarter helped quell downside in mega‑cap tech stocks and provided a floor for the broader market heading into the weekend.

3 tech stocks moving markets this week

1. Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU)

Micron Technology marked a record closing level above US$435 on Wednesday (January 28) after HSBC Global Research upgraded it to a “strong buy” and raised its price target from US$350 to US$500.

HSBC analysts predict the company’s earnings could jump by over 440 percent this year due to surging demand for AI‑driven memory. Shares are up 9.04 percent for the week.

2. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms jumped on quarterly sales that exceeded expectations and a positive forecast for annual operating income. The company is also projecting higher annual capital expenditures than the previous year. Although Meta gave back some of Thursday's gains on Friday, it still closed the week 12.08 percent higher.

3. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple posted record revenue that beat Wall Street estimates, driven by the strongest‑ever iPhone performance and record services revenue, with gross margin improving despite higher R&D spending and increased AI‑related investment.

Its share price posted a gain of 4.13 percent this week.

Other earnings this week

• ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) reported strong Q4 results, highlighting record bookings driven by robust demand for EUV systems tied to AI‑related chip spending. The company also raised its 2026 revenue outlook, signaling continued growth even as it announced a strategic reset that included job cuts.

• Microsoft dropped after it reported higher-than-expected Q4 spending on AI hardware alongside disappointing revenue in its Azure cloud division. The company logged its worst day since March 2020 on Thursday.

• Tesla rose after reporting weaker Q4 results, but beating profit expectations. Net income and operating margins fell as operating expenses jumped; however, the company’s announcement that it will invest US$2 billion in preferred shares of CEO Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI buoyed investor sentiment.

• IBM’s share price rose after the company reported strong quarterly results, beating both revenue and earnings expectations. This success was driven by better-than-forecast performance, including double-digit growth in its software and infrastructure segments.

• Lam Research, a manufacturer of semiconductor equipment, reported that its quarterly sales beat estimates, sending its share price up on Wednesday.

• Samsung Electronics' (KRX:005930) latest earnings show semiconductor sales reached an all-time high, signaling that continued demand for AI is fueling a surge in high-bandwidth memory.

Top tech news of the week

• NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) said it invested US$2 billion in CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV) and said it would help accelerate the buildout of the company’s AI factories, which use NVIDIA chips, by 2030 to advance AI adoption. NVIDIA slipped while CoreWeave shares jumped on the news.

• Microsoft unveiled its second-generation in-house AI chip called the Maia 200, an inference accelerator designed to improve the performance and cost‑efficiency of running large AI models in production on Azure.

• JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) reaffirmed its overweight rating on Apple and raised its price target twice this week: first on Monday (January 26), from US$305 to US$315 ahead of its Thursday earnings release, then again following the results, to US$325.

• Meta Platforms plans to test premium subscriptions on its apps in the next few months, the company announced in an exclusive note to TechCrunch on Monday. The subscriptions would offer access to exclusive features, including “expanded AI capabilities.”

• SoftBank (OTCMKTS:SFTBY) has reportedly ended talks to acquire US data center operator Switch, according to sources with insider information who spoke to Bloomberg. Reports later surfaced that the company was in talks to invest another US$30 billion in OpenAI. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is also reportedly considering a US$50 billion investment in the startup.

• Waabi, a Canadian AI startup founded by computer scientist Raquel Urtasun that builds a single, end‑to‑end physical AI system for self‑driving vehicles, announced up to US$1 billion in new funding, including a US$750 million Series C and roughly US$250 million in milestone‑based capital from Uber (NYSE:UBER) tied to technical and deployment goals. Under the partnership, Uber will exclusively deploy Waabi‑powered robotaxis on its ride‑hailing platform, with both companies targeting at least 25,000 self‑driving vehicles over time

Tech ETF performance

Tech exchange-traded funds (ETFs) track baskets of major tech stocks, meaning their performance helps investors gauge the overall performance of the niches they cover.

This week, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) advanced by 0.88 percent, while the Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXQ) advanced by 0.91 percent.

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) also decreased by 1.19 percent.

Tech news to watch next week

Next week is relatively light on US data releases, with mid‑tier indicators like ISM manufacturing and services surveys, factory‑orders‑adjacent print potentially nudging sentiment. Markets will also be listening for central bank rhetoric, especially any follow‑up commentary from Fed officials after Kevin Warsh's nomination.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) will report its Q4 earnings on February 4 after the close. Investors are watching AI‑related ad‑tech and cloud growth, plus CAPEX guidance. Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), a bellwether for how much chipmakers are still willing to spend on tools for AI‑driven memory and logic chips, will also report. Investors will look for confirmation signals that the AI CAPEX cycle is healthy and not peaking

Amazon will report its Q4 earnings on February 5. Investors will be searching for proof that AI-driven advertising and logistics efficiency are significantly boosting earnings.