AI boom lifts mega-cap tech stocks unevenly as earnings season exposes diverging investor sentiment on capital spending

Alphabet stock jumped 10% last week after strong growth in Google Cloud and its AI businesses, and is now up 23% in 2026 among mega-cap names. Meta shares fell more than 8% despite solid results, as investors focused on rising AI spending and heavier use of debt, leaving the stock down nearly 8% this year. Microsoft shares are down 14% in 2026 after warning of massive capital spending ahead.

The Magnificent Seven, excluding Nvidia, are tracking toward 57% profit growth for the first quarter, well ahead of the broader market. Apple moved higher after guiding to stronger revenue, and Amazon hit a record high on its fastest cloud growth in more than 3 years.

The SOX index is up 50% this year as chip stocks ride the wave, although Nvidia has started to show some cracks as companies like Alphabet, Amazon and Qualcomm push their own in-house chips.