Big Tech's earnings strength the bright light in murky stock market

Wall Street had a lot riding on whether last week's Big Tech earnings would meet increasingly high expectations. By and large, the companies delivered.

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NEW YORK -

The stock market finished the week on a down note with the sell-off on Aug 1, which was, in part, sparked by mixed results from Amazon.com after the market closed on July 31, as well as a weak jobs report and fears about the economic impact of US President Donald Trump's global tariffs.

But for the most part, investors looking for strength from technology companies to justify their market leadership found plenty of it in their reports.

"The sector is proving itself to have something like Teflon status, as fundamentals look strong, revenue growth has come in quite significantly higher than expected, and margins remain relatively healthy," said Mr Kevin Gordon, senior investment strategist at Charles Schwab & Co.

"While things aren't perfect, and valuations are nearing a level that has acted as a ceiling in the past, we still have a high degree of optimism, especially as we go up the market-cap spectrum."

Alphabet started the season off by reporting strong sales, lifted by artificial intelligence (AI).

Last week, Apple posted its strongest revenue growth in more than three years, while Meta Platforms spiked to a record as it beat expectations and outlined aggressive spending on AI.