Story perspectives

Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta Beat Q1 Forecasts, Boost Cloud, Raise Capex

5/2/2026

Summary

Alphabet Posts Growth

Alphabet posted Q1 2026 revenue of $109.9 billion, up 22%, with a capex target of $180-$190 billion.
Google Cloud earned $20 billion in Q1, up 63% and beating the $18.05 billion forecast.
Meta Platforms posted Q1 earnings that beat forecasts, a 2026 capex range of $125-$145 billion, user dip, ad prices up 12% YoY, and shares down over 6%.
Microsoft reported Azure revenue of $54.5 billion, up 29%, and a capex outlook of $190 billion.

Summary

Meta Builds Hyperion

AI data centers now draw power comparable to a small city, analysts say.
A single Nvidia GPU can cost up to $40,000, inflating hardware budgets for hyperscale clusters.
Meta’s $27 billion Hyperion data-center project in northeast Louisiana could house millions of GPUs.
SoftBank plans to spin out AI-robotics firm Roze, targeting up to $100 billion valuation and using robotics to build data centers.

Summary

Amazon Expands

Amazon cut 16,000 jobs quarter after a prior layoff of 14,000, citing bureaucracy.
A 3.5% surcharge on third-party sellers began April 17 to offset Iran-war shipping costs.
Amazon expanded to Tokyo and eight Brazilian cities, adding millions of users across nine countries.
Meta signed a deal to run agentic AI on AWS Graviton chips, deepening the partnership.
Fortune reported Amazon dethroned Walmart in February as the U.S. largest company by revenue.

History

Historical Context

In March 2000 the dot-com bubble burst, sending Amazon, Cisco and Yahoo shares down more than 70 % after a frenzy that saw 14 internet firms buy Super Bowl XXXIV spots for an average $2.2 million each. The collapse erased $5 trillion in investor value and left telecoms with over $500 billion of debt, a pattern echoed today as Alphabet, Meta and Nvidia pour billions into AI-driven data-center capacity.

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Alphabet Posts Growth

Alphabet posted Q1 2026 revenue of $109.9 billion, up 22%, with a capex target of $180-$190 billion.
Google Cloud earned $20 billion in Q1, up 63% and beating the $18.05 billion forecast.
Meta Platforms posted Q1 earnings that beat forecasts, a 2026 capex range of $125-$145 billion, user dip, ad prices up 12% YoY, and shares down over 6%.
Microsoft reported Azure revenue of $54.5 billion, up 29%, and a capex outlook of $190 billion.

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