Meta and Microsoft just rewrote the record books on Wall Street. According to trading data compiled since 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday, both companies added a combined $550 billion in market value in under 24 hours.
That’s more than the entire worth of Costco by about $140 billion, and even $50 billion more than Netflix. This happened right after both companies published strong earnings that came in well above expectations.
In Europe, both tech giants surged in Thursday morning trading after dropping their numbers late Wednesday. Meta’s stock jumped 12.2% in Frankfurt, while Microsoft’s rose 9%.
That alone lifted the broader market, sending S&P 500 futures up 1% and Nasdaq futures up 1.3% before the U.S. markets even opened. Investors moved fast, and the numbers justified it.
Meta and Microsoft report big beats and move differently on crypto
Meta reported earnings of $7.14 per share for the second quarter, way above Wall Street’s estimate of $5.89. The company also brought in $47.52 billion in revenue, beating the expected $44.83 billion. For the third quarter, Meta projected sales between $47.5 billion and $50.5 billion, easily surpassing the average forecast of $46.2 billion.
Mark Zuckerberg’s company also gave an updated full-year expense forecast. Meta now says it expects to spend between $114 billion and $118 billion across the year, narrowing its earlier guidance. That range represents a cost increase of 20% to 24% annually.
Microsoft’s earnings also broke through expectations. The company reported $3.65 per share in profit, with total revenue for the quarter hitting $76.44 billion, compared to the forecast of $73.89 billion. Its Intelligent Cloud business earned $29.88 billion, which was also above analyst projections. Since Microsoft ends its fiscal year in June, this quarter wrapped up its FY2025, not the calendar year’s Q2.
Despite the growing interest in crypto from the broader tech world, neither Meta nor Microsoft mentioned anything about crypto or stablecoins during their calls. That doesn’t mean they’ve stayed out of it completely.
Reports earlier this week said Meta is revisiting stablecoin payments, looking at using USDT or USDC to pay creators on WhatsApp and Facebook. If it goes ahead, Meta would be able to roll that out legally under the new GENIUS Act, as long as it meets compliance rules. This comes after Meta dropped its earlier Diem project in 2022.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is working with blockchain startup Space and Time. The deal is meant to provide real-time, verified blockchain data feeds, showing that Microsoft is still focused on crypto infrastructure, but not creating a coin. Neither company commented publicly about these plans in the earnings reports.
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