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Amazon Beats, Stock Falls in After Hours

May 1, 2025 at 4:08 PM EDT | Gerelyn Terzo

Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) has reported its Q1 results, exceeding expectations on both the top and bottom lines. Amazon reported EPS of $1.59 per share on revenue of $155.67 billion. The stock is falling 4.4% in after-hours trading.

All Eyes on Apple

May 1, 2025 at 1:12 PM EDT | Gerelyn Terzo

As earnings season rolls on, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) will be next to take the spotlight. The markets are waiting to see if Big Tech can keep the rally going to finish the week and keep the attention away from tariffs. Apple makes most of its products including the iPhone in China, which is where the Trump Administration is targeting triple-digit percentage tariffs on imports.

Wall Street firm TD Cowen has warned that the tariffs could cost Apple 6% on its annual bottom line. AAPL stock is trading fractionally higher at last check with a market cap of $3.19 trillion. In addition to Apple, Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) will also be reporting its earnings after the closing bell today, and the stock is up 3% in anticipation of results.

AI Capex Intact

May 1, 2025 at 11:57 AM EDT | Gerelyn Terzo

Citi analyst Christopher Danely remains bullish on AI spending, publishing a report indicating that the impact of the tariffs on tech capex have been overdone. He said, “Contrary to investors’ worries of slowing capex, it appears that spending for AI continues to be unabated. AI infrastructure buildouts remain as key priorities for hyper-scalers with the companies’ willingness to absorb the costs of tariffs. We view this as positive for AI-exposed stocks.” Citi’s Danely touts Broadcom (Nasdaq: AVGO), AMD (Nasdaq: AMD) and Micron (Nasdaq: MU).

Tech stocks are behind today’s impressive market action, as all three of the major stock market indices race higher, fueled by a 2.4% gain in the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite. The S&P 500 is also being lifted by the tech sector and is on pace for its eighth straight winning session, placing to rest fears about Sell in May for now. The VGT ETF is gaining 3% on the day, given its exposure to Big Tech stocks Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: META), both of which are soaring today on the heels of strong quarterly earnings results.

With Q1’s GDP letdown still close in the rearview mirror, the markets are choosing to see the glass half full today as earnings season continues to roll on. Strong fundamentals powered by incessant AI demand and spending coupled with tariff resilience are shifting the mood on Wall Street.

Nevertheless, the week is not over and the markets still have Friday’s unemployment report for the month of April left to process. Economists are upbeat about it, saying that the labor market is likely to have remained steady despite failing to display the type of growth that the month of March saw. Today brought higher-than-expected jobless claims, but the markets are brushing it off.

Here’s a look at the performance as of morning trading:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: Up 372.22 (+0.92%)
Nasdaq Composite: Up 404.97 (+2.3%)
S&P 500: Up 73.40 (+1.3%)

Market Movers

Meta Platforms stock is rallying 6% today thanks to yesterday’s stronger-than-expected Q1 earnings results and an AI business that is performing quite well, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The strong results including from Meta’s ads business helped to put to rest worries that tariffs were taking the air out of the AI trade.

Microsoft stock is up 9% higher on its blowout Q3 earnings report, as constant AI demand lifts its cloud business Azure. Microsoft is full speed ahead with AI and data center growth, and its market cap has reclaimed the $3.2 trillion level, making it the most valuable company in the world currently, ahead of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL).

The CEO of discount retailer Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS) has been ousted by the board of directors on some conflict of interest, but a new interim CEO has been named and the stock is rising 3% in response.

McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) saw a steep 3.6% drop in first-quarter same-store sales, its weakest showing since the pandemic. The fast-food retailer was challenged by severe weather and a tepid consumer.