A future is expected crucial week for the sector ofartificial intelligence, with four of the Magnificent Seven who will publish their quarterly results. After the nervous reaction of the markets in the aftermath of the data, albeit positive in many ways, from Micron or Samsung or AThe question now is how investors will interpret this week's data. The theme is always the same. These companies have already spent billions to build the infrastructure needed to develop artificial intelligence. And they are expected to spend even more, fueling fears that they may not be able to deliver sufficient profits. What are their aces up their sleeves?
Following the Fed's rate pronouncement on Wednesday, Microsoft and Meta they will publish the data Thursday, followed by Apple and Amazon on FridayTogether, they represent a significant portion of the S&P 500 index. The start to the earnings season has been promising, but last week's 5,7% decline in Magnificent Seven It shows that investors are no longer satisfied with better-than-expected results, but want something more.
Alphabet's lesson: good data, followed by a stock price collapse from which it never recovered.
Big Tech earnings season has begun last week with A, which reported a second quarter that exceeded market expectations thanks to the continued expansion of its cloud business and growing demand for artificial intelligence services. Revenue reached $119,8 billion, exceeding analysts' consensus of approximately $117,1 billion. But capital expenditure They reached around $45 billion, while the market continues to expect total investments in the order of $180-190 billion during 2026. And the next day the stock collapsed to $316,61, from peaks around $400 in mid-May, and from there it moved little, also due to an €890 million fine from the EU for violating the Digital Markets Act.
Does the Magnificent Seven club as we've seen it so far still exist?
At this point, the question arises as to how the next AI mega-caps will behave. Once upon a time, they moved in unison, but what now? As pointed out by Gabriel Debach, eToro analyst last week First, 2026 has decreed the end of the Magnificent Seven as a single market operation. After years in which membership in the group was sufficient to attract capital, investors have once again begun to distinguish between those monetizing AI, those financing its development, and those still needing to demonstrate that their investments will generate adequate returns. The performance shows how difficult it has become to consider the Magnificent Seven as a single entity.
Microsoft: Keep an eye on its spending numbers. Its multiple is at its lowest since 2023.
ecosystem is the one that has the most to prove. The stock closed the week at $381,58: since the beginning of the year it has lost about 18%, while in the last 12 months it has recorded a decline of 24,6%, the worst performer among the Mag 7. Not because of its business which is growing at a sustained pace. But also for Microsoft it is the forecast of capital investments, which in his case reach the 190 billion dollars for 2026 for AI data centers, GPU clusters, and networking infrastructure, which is raising investor concerns about the company's free cash flow. Wall Street forecasts revenue of $87,7 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of $4,24. In the previous quarter, it posted revenue of $81,3 billion, up 17% year-over-year, and earnings per share (excluding special items) of $4,14.
All eyes are on Azure whose growth is expected to be around 40%, a figure that most companies would welcome, but for example Google Cloud is growing at more than double the rate, albeit starting from a lower base, and therefore a strong growth it alone might not be enough. However, commercial subscriptions to Microsoft 365 They represent an excellent source of recurring revenue and also Copilot is gaining traction, with a growing number of companies adopting it, analysts report. Microsoft recently announced an expansion of its partnership with Databricks, a data intelligence service for enterprise AI developers, which thus strengthens the role of the platform Azure. Also note that Microsoft has a long-standing cloud services contract with the US government and some analysts say the recent agreement between Oracle and the Pentagon of around 7 billion, could also have a positive impact on Microsoft.
Microsoft traded at a multiple relatively low throughout the year. It currently stands between 21 and 22 times expected earnings, the lowest value since 2023There are 97 analysts following the stock and their average target prices are between $589 and $592: this would mean a potential upside of around 55%.
Meta: his ace will be in advertising revenue
Meta Meta Platforms faces the same spending issue, with a projected budget of up to $145 billion this year and a potentially much higher budget for next year. Meta Platforms operates Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads, and its first-quarter revenue was $56,3 billion, beating analyst estimates of $55,4 billion. Its two-year revenue gross margin is expected to be around 22,5%.
The focus is on his advertising growth, analysts say, which is now recording the fastest pace since 2021, driven by both higher advertising volumes and higher prices. Analysts are particularly interested in the supply Advantage+ The company, which is posting an annualized run rate of around $60 billion, has been well-tolerated by investors so far, especially as the advertising business has been operating at full capacity. The stock is trading at $595 after Friday's drop of around 1,9%, following the same path as Microsoft. Since the beginning of the year, it has lost around 8%.
Meta has seen several major capital moves in recent months. The company began construction of a data center $1 billion in Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg plans to raise up to 25 billion dollari through abond issuance. The company has also expanded its partnership with Broadcom to deploy its Mtia (Meta's custom AI training chip) several gigawatts, and AMD recently announced a 6 gigawatt GPU distribution agreement with Meta. Finally, Meta also launched eyeglasses. Ray-Ban Meta AI at the end of March, and Essilor Luxottica confirmed that eyewear contributed to the first quarter growth. Meta also acquired the startup Manus for over 2 billion dollars. The Financial Times reported that Meta is developing an advanced “agentic” AI assistant, capable of taking autonomous actions on behalf of users.
Amazon is focusing entirely on Web Services
Amazon The company will be publishing its quarterly results with its stock down approximately 13% since its last financial statement. The key figure will be Amazon Web ServicesAmazon, the world's most popular cloud computing platform, created by Amazon in 2006, offers on-demand compute, data storage, and database services with a pay-as-you-go pricing model. Growth is expected to accelerate from 28% in the last quarter to over 30%, and if it can demonstrate that approximately $200 billion in spending is converting into revenue, it could improve sentiment across the entire industry. Another massive increase in capital expenditures without a corresponding acceleration in AWS would have the opposite effect.
Apple wins over all, thanks to its control of the entire AI supply chain
Apple, meanwhile, has quietly established itself as the group winner, up more than 20% since its last result, as investors are drawn to the only mega-cap that isn't investing heavily in AI. This is also theTim Cook's last conference call as CEO, with John Ternus taking the reins in September. Investors will be looking for clues about demand ahead of the next iPhone cycle, though Apple is unlikely to reveal specific launch details before the September event.
Apple represents the most interesting paradox, says Debach. For months, it was described as the great laggard in the race to AI, yet it is the best performing stock in the group since the beginning of the year, up more than 20% and recently updated its all-time high. The most significant detail is that it's only July, and Apple has already matched the 14 all-time highs recorded in the entire year 2025. Its winning card lies in the fact that it now owns the hardware, the operating system, the chips, the ecosystem of services, and above all, the daily relationship with an installed base that exceeds 2,5 billion active devices worldwide. In an industry where AI models could become progressively more interchangeable, controlling consumer access may be as important as the superiority of the underlying technology.
