By Joe Ciolli
Publication Date: 2026-01-29 10:35:00
Heading into Wednesday’s hoy trinity of earnings — which saw Meta, Microsoft, and Tesla report within five minutes of each other — everyone knew that updates on AI progress would be the only game in town.
How those results ended up playing out shed crucial light on where we are in the AI trade right now.
The overarching focus for the Big Tech trio was not who has immediately seen results from AI investment. Instead, it was whether those companies were doing enough to support the appearance of maybe, eventually doing something. Investors love the prospect of future upside, and want a reason to preserve their optimism.
Each of the three companies showcased this trend in their own unique way. Let’s go one by one:
Meta
Last quarter, Meta was punished for its capex-spending plans. This quarter, the company once again blew the doors off spending forecasts … but this time the market seemed OK with…
