By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. technology-related stocks including many involved in artificial intelligence rose sharply on Thursday following stronger-than-expected results from Microsoft and Meta Platforms, while investors awaited results from Apple and Amazon.com after the closing bell.
Shares of Microsoft jumped 8.7% and Meta Platforms gained 4.5%, while AI heavyweight Nvidia was up 4%. Also in the AI space, Advanced Micro Devices rose 1.1%, Broadcom was up 4% and Super Micro Computer gained 4.7%.
Shares of Amazon climbed 2.9%, while Apple was roughly flat as a federal judge ruled the iPhone maker had violated a U.S. court order to reform its App Store.
Demand for artificial intelligence is fueling growth in cloud and digital ads, but U.S. President Donald Trump’s global trade war is still expected to be a risk for many companies, especially more consumer-related names.
The top U.S. technology and growth stocks, known as the “Magnificent Seven”, had stumbled early in 2025 as investor concerns about the economic fallout from Trump’s tariffs grew. Even though the group has rebounded since Trump paused many of his heftiest tariffs on April 9, investors are closely watching their results.
“They’ve been the strength of this market for the last few years, and the qualities that give them that strength really haven’t changed much,” said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey.
“AI is still clearly something that is growing and probably not subject to whether consumers pull back some or not in the coming months.”
Microsoft said late Wednesday that AI’s contribution to Azure growth increased to 16 percentage points in its fiscal third quarter, from 13 percentage points in the previous three months.
Meta Platforms’ report also late Wednesday signaled that its AI-powered tools helped draw advertising dollars despite tariff-related economic uncertainty.
However, shares of mobile chip designer Qualcomm were down 8.1% on Thursday. The company late Wednesday forecast third-quarter revenue just shy of Wall Street estimates.
Also, earlier this week, Super Micro Computer’s shares fell after it cut its revenue forecast.
(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Susan Fenton and Diane Craft)
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