Tech 5: Earnings Season Continues as Meta, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon Report

1. Major tech companies report earnings

After unveiling a new Llama 4-powered AI assistant app earlier in the week, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) released its earnings for the first quarter on Wednesday (April 30). The company's share price rose more than 4 percent as its results beat analysts' expectations — revenue came in at US$42.3 billion, while net income was US$16.6 billion, amounting to year-on-year increases of 16 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

Meta also raised its 2025 CAPEX forecast to US$72 billion, citing the need to accelerate computing infrastructure buildout despite an anticipated slight dip in Q2 growth. Still, the company’s projected Q2 earnings of between US$42.5 billion and US$45.5 billion exceeded estimates, and its share price opened over 7 percent higher on Thursday (May 1).

Meta closed the week at US$597.02, a 7.45 percent increase from Monday (April 28).

During the company's earnings call, CFO Susan Li cited generally positive business conditions in April, barring spending from some Asia-based ecommerce exporters on their advertising platforms.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares climbed nearly 6 percent after hours on Wednesday following a Q3 report that beat revenue expectations, driven by increased business spending on AI tools.

The company reported quarterly revenue of US$70.1 billion and net income of US$25.8 billion. Its cloud computing business saw a 21 percent sales increase to US$26.8 billion, exceeding its own expectations of US$26.2 billion. For Q4, Microsoft projects that its cloud revenue will grow by 34 percent. The forecast for Microsoft’s intelligent cloud segment is between US$28.75 billion and US$29.05 billion, beating analysts' expectations of US$28.5 billion.

CFO Amy Hood indicated stable demand across several sectors into June in Microsoft's earnings call, highlighting a recent acceleration in AI demand. Hood also said the company anticipates a slight benefit from a weaker US dollar.

Microsoft opened 9 percent higher on Thursday morning. Later, the company issued a statement saying it would raise the price of its Xbox consoles and controllers effective on Thursday due to “market conditions,” stopping short of explicitly citing tariffs as a direct catalyst. Price increases for first-party Xbox games are slated for the holiday season.

On Thursday, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares declined by 4 percent after markets closed as the company reported its Q2 earnings. The report reveals revenue and earnings that beat expectations, along with higher-than-expected iPhone sales; however, a 2.3 percent dip in sales to China exceeded estimates.

A 4 percent increase in the company's cash dividend wasn’t enough to quell investor concerns after CEO Tim Cook said Apple anticipates approximately US$900 million in tariff costs this quarter. In a supply chain shift, Apple is aiming to source over 19 billion chips from the US this year, with a growing proportion of iPhones sold in the US being manufactured in India, and most iPads and other hardware coming from Vietnam.

Mark Gurman, who writes Bloomberg’s Power On newsletter, notes that Apple has enough capacity in India to meet about a third of annual US demand for iPhones, but not enough to meet its goal of moving production entirely until more factories are built in the country. India “almost certainly” can’t meet anticipated demand for the 20th anniversary models, a foldable phone and a “more glass-centric Pro model” Apple has planned for 2027.

Additionally, Apple encountered legal challenges this week as a US District Court judge found it failed to comply with a 2021 order regarding anticompetitive App Store practices, referring the case for a potential criminal contempt investigation. Apple is also facing the potential loss of payments from Google for being the default Safari search engine. The company's share price is finishing the week down 2.17 percent.

Finally, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter, with earnings per share reaching US$1.59 on revenues of US$155.6 billion. However, the company also issued soft guidance for the current period, citing potential complications from “tariffs and trade policies.”

CEO Andy Jassy said the company isn't “uniquely susceptible” to tariffs, but noted that millions of merchants selling on its marketplace will help the company withstand the tariff regime. “They’re not all going to take the same strategy if there ends up being higher tariffs,” Jassy said, referring to outside sellers less exposed to tariffs. Amazon announced earlier in the week that it will invest US$4 billion to expand its services to rural areas.

For the next quarter, Amazon anticipates sales of US$159 billion to US$164 billion, and operating income ranging from US$13 billion to US$17.5 billion. Following the earnings report and guidance, Amazon's share price fell by over 4 percent in after-hours trading, but finished the week marginally higher.

2. Mastercard and Visa embrace AI for payments

On Tuesday (April 29), Mastercard announced the launch of its Agent Payments Program, known as Mastercard Agent Pay. The program is aimed at enabling AI agents to securely perform transactions on behalf of users.

The newly introduced Mastercard Agentic Tokens will use the tokenization capabilities already in place for services such as mobile contactless payments and Mastercard Payment Passkeys. Mastercard plans to collaborate with Microsoft on developing new applications for agentic commerce, with additional partnerships with other AI platforms planned.

Mastercard will also partner with technology provider IBM (NYSE:IBM), using its watsonx Orchestrate to explore how AI agents can streamline back-office operations such as procurement, invoicing and payment approvals.

On Wednesday at its Global Product Drop event, Visa also announced plans to enable AI-powered commerce through partnerships with AI chatbot developers. The Visa Intelligent Commerce initiative will connect Visa’s payments network to AI systems that will manage purchases on behalf of users.

Partners for the initiative include Anthropic, Microsoft, OpenAI and Perplexity, as well as France’s Mistral. These companies will collaborate to develop AI agents capable of performing tasks such as product search, booking and purchasing autonomously, although user approval will be required for transactions.

Visa will also work with IBM, Stripe and Samsung (KRX:005930) to eventually expand the project. IBM will provide the infrastructure and enterprise solutions to support these agents, while Stripe will ensure secure financial transactions. Samsung will eventually integrate these capabilities into consumer devices, creating a comprehensive ecosystem for AI-powered commerce.

3. Pichai testifies in Google antitrust case

During testimony in federal court in Washington on Wednesday, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai asserted that the antitrust remedies proposed by the government are too extreme and will undermine Google’s ability to compete in the market.

Pichai argued that if Google were required to share both its search data and the information on how it ranks results, measures the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is pushing for, then competitors would have an unacceptable level of insight into Google's proprietary technology. He elaborated that this requirement would essentially force Google to relinquish control over its foundational intellectual property and technological advancements accumulated through more than 25 years of dedicated research and development.

“The proposal on data sharing is so far-reaching, so extraordinary, it feels like de facto divestiture of search,” Pichai said, adding that the DOJ’s proposal is much broader than Europe's Digital Markets Act (DMA).

He also pointed out that the DMA has already had a tangible impact on Google's operational timelines in Europe. “There's definitely a slowdown on when we are able to launch features in Europe,” he told the court.

Pichai's testimony underscored the company's deep concerns about the potential consequences of the proposed antitrust measures, emphasizing the threat to its core business model and its ability to continue investing in and advancing its search technology.

4. AI chip race under export scrutiny

A May 15 deadline for AI chip export regulations has sparked a flurry of activity, with NVIDIA and Oracle reportedly accelerating shipments of their advanced computing hardware to overseas data centers.

A separate report published on Friday (May 2) reveals modifications NVIDIA is making to its AI chips to comply with US export regulations for sales to China. This preemptive action suggests that US-based tech companies anticipate that regulations could impact future revenue streams or international expansion.

This comes amid a backdrop of debate over the stringency of these controls. NVIDIA criticized AI firm Anthropic, which has advocated for even tighter restrictions, after the startup suggested in a blog post on Wednesday that Chinese smuggling tactics involved chips hidden in “prosthetic baby bumps” and “packed alongside live lobsters.”

The broader policy landscape surrounding AI chip exports remains dynamic.

Reports indicate that the US is considering easing restrictions on NVIDIA sales to the United Arab Emirates. The potential for future updates to these rules adds further uncertainty for the sector.

Meanwhile, China’s Xiaomi (HKEX:1810) unveiled an in-house AI model that the company says outperformed OpenAI’s o1-mini and Alibaba Group Holding’s QwQ-32B-Preview in maths reasoning and coding, a factor that could influence the competitive landscape for global tech companies.

Xiaomi said its model, MiMo, was developed using reinforcement learning by its specialised AI task force, known as Core. The Wall Street Journal reported that China’s Huawei is also developing an AI chip, the Ascend 910D, aiming to be a substitute for NVIDIA's chips for local Chinese companies. Sources indicate that Huawei has contacted Chinese firms to test this new chip.

5. Palo Alto Networks to acquire Protect AI

Cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) announced on Monday that it plans to acquire Protect AI, a Seattle startup founded in 2022 by former Amazon and Oracle engineers.

Protect AI provides tools that help companies monitor the various layers and components of machine learning systems. The company had previously raised US$60 million in a Series B round led by Evolution Equity Partners in August 2024, which brought its valuation to US$400 million. 01 Advisors, Samsung, and Salesforce Ventures were among a group of additional investors who also participated in the August round

The price of acquisition was not disclosed in the press release, but reports from earlier this month indicate that the deal was valued between US$650 and US$700 million.

“As AI-powered applications become core to businesses, they bring risks traditional security tools can't adequately handle,” said Anand Oswal, senior vice president and general manager of Palo Alto Networks, in a press release.

“By extending our AI security capabilities to include Protect AI's innovative solutions for Securing for AI, businesses will be able to build AI applications with comprehensive security.

“With the addition of Protect AI's existing portfolio of solutions and team of experts, Palo Alto Networks will be well-positioned to offer a wide range of solutions for customers' current needs, and also be able to continue innovating on delivering new solutions that are needed for this dynamic threat landscape.”