--- title: "\"Super Thursday\" Arrives: Powell's Final Dance as Fed Delivers Rate Decision; Four Tech Giants Report Earnings on Same Day" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/284128231.md" description: "On Thursday, Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft will rarely report earnings simultaneously, with their combined market capitalization exceeding $11.6 trillion. The market now seeks not just promises of \"spending boldly,\" but real answers regarding accelerating cloud revenue, order fulfillment, and controlled profit margins. Microsoft, whose stock has plummeted significantly this year, is considered the most pressured among the four. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision, and Chair Powell will host his final press conference of his tenure" datetime: "2026-04-27T00:07:08.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/284128231.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284128231.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/284128231.md) --- # "Super Thursday" Arrives: Powell's Final Dance as Fed Delivers Rate Decision; Four Tech Giants Report Earnings on Same Day In a single day, Wall Street must digest four tech giants' earnings reports and multiple interest rate decisions—this day has been dubbed by the market as "the most important earnings day in recent years." On April 29 Eastern Time (early to morning of April 30 Beijing Time), Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft will release their quarterly results after market close on the same trading day. Simultaneously, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will conclude its two-day meeting and announce its interest rate decision. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will also host his final press conference of his tenure. The Bank of England and the European Central Bank will also announce their latest interest rate decisions on the same day. Matt Stucky, Chief Portfolio Manager at Northwestern Mutual, characterized this day as "one of the most important earnings days in recent years." The four companies have a combined market capitalization of approximately $11.6 trillion, accounting for over 19% of the S&P 500 index. Any fluctuation in their performance could be enough to move the broader market. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices have rebounded approximately 11% and 18%, respectively, from recent lows, with funds flowing back into technology and data center-related sectors. The core narrative driving this rebound is the continued expansion of AI investment. This earnings season will serve as a critical test of whether that narrative can continue. Thursday Schedule Overview, Chart Source: Wallstreetcn ## A $650 Billion AI Bill: The Market Seeks Returns The four companies have a combined capital expenditure budget of $650 billion this year: Google's guidance ranges from $175 billion to $185 billion, Meta Platforms from $115 billion to $135 billion, Amazon around $200 billion, and Microsoft's capital expenditure for the previous quarter alone reached $37.5 billion. Money continues to pour in, but market patience is narrowing. Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik wrote in a research report last week that the four hyperscale cloud providers need to accomplish three things simultaneously: deliver AI-driven revenue beats, maintain capital expenditure budgets without cuts, and demonstrate cost control through layoffs or pricing power. "Overall, the landscape entering earnings season is quite clear and consistent." Citizens analyst Andrew Boone told MarketWatch, "The entire AI ecosystem is currently facing supply constraints"—infrastructure and energy are insufficient to meet computing power demands. Therefore, all four companies need to prove they can bring data center capacity online quickly enough and absorb backlog orders. "Part of the issue lies in who can execute well enough to truly ground these capital expenditures." Signals on the demand side remain strong. Boone noted that since 2026, computing power demand has surged rapidly: Anthropic signed new agreements to expand access to AI infrastructure; Amazon announced it would provide tens of millions of custom Graviton chips to Meta Platforms; and Google revealed at last week's Google Cloud Next conference that the number of tokens processed daily by its models had increased from 10 billion in the previous quarter to 16 billion. ## Varying Pressures: Microsoft Faces the Most Subtle Situation **Google's** pressure lies primarily on the cost side. The company previously indicated that depreciation growth would accelerate in the first quarter and rise significantly for the full year. The market is less concerned about whether Google will continue investing and more focused on whether cloud business and AI-related revenue can digest this spending faster. **Meta Platforms'** challenge is the most direct. It possesses the strongest advertising cash flow and the most aggressive infrastructure investment. The company has clearly stated that capital expenditure in 2026 will rise to $115 billion to $135 billion, yet full-year operating profits will still exceed 2025 levels. Once the earnings are released, the market's judgment will be swift: Can the profitability of the advertising business continue to cover the expansion speed of AI investments? **Amazon's** problem is not just the high level of investment, but that many of these expenditures will take time to materialize. CEO Andy Jassy explicitly stated in the shareholder letter that most cloud business capital expenditures in 2026 will be realized gradually between 2027 and 2028. AWS added 3.9 gigawatts of power capacity in 2025, with total capacity expected to double by the end of 2027, but the company still acknowledges capacity constraints and unmet demand. The market will pay special attention to how management discusses customer commitments, capacity ramp-up, and realization timelines. **Microsoft's** situation is the most subtle. Matt Stucky believes Microsoft carries the highest risk among the four. Disappointing Azure cloud growth in the previous quarter and lower-than-expected enterprise adoption of Copilot led to a 12% decline in its stock price year-to-date, making it the worst performer among the four. Guggenheim analyst John DiFucci expects Wall Street's consensus estimate for Azure growth this quarter to be around 38%, but he wrote in his research report last week: "This expectation implies a significant jump in new business growth, which seems unlikely." Stucky stated that Microsoft's Copilot adoption trends will dictate market sentiment for the entire software sector this quarter. Funds Flowing Back into Technology, Data Centers, and Related Infrastructure ## Powell's "Final Dance": Rate Expectations Already Priced In On the same day, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will conclude its two-day meeting and announce its interest rate decision. The market has already fully priced in holding rates steady within the 3.50% to 3.75% range. After cutting interest rates in the second half of 2025, the Federal Reserve subsequently paused, and rising oil prices made the inflation outlook more complex, further delaying the window for additional rate cuts. This will also be the final press conference hosted by Powell in his capacity as Fed Chair. His term as Chairman expires on May 15, and Trump's nominee, Wash, is expected to receive Senate confirmation before the Fed's next meeting in mid-June. The biggest suspense remains: Will Powell announce that he will continue serving as a member of the Federal Reserve Board after stepping down as Chairman? ## Geopolitical Risks: Strait of Hormuz Impacts AI Supply Chain Geopolitical developments add extra variables to this day. A blockade of the Strait of Hormuz directly impacts global energy flows and supply chains, affecting the data center supply chain as well. Moody's analyst Terrence Dennehy specifically pointed out in a research report last week that the Middle East conflict poses a "supply risk" to the helium market. "Helium is critical in multiple stages of semiconductor manufacturing—including cooling, carrier gas usage, and leak detection—and there are no effective substitutes," Dennehy wrote. Northwestern Mutual's Stucky also noted that it is not impossible for the four companies to further raise their capital expenditure forecasts, which could trigger a new wave of concerns in the market about excessive AI investment. ## After Earnings: How the Market Will Price In This earnings season acts more as a filter than a total switch. As Wallstreetcn mentioned, the main theme of AI shows no signs of ending, and funds continue to flow in. However, the market's pricing logic is diverging: Companies that deliver faster, have firmer orders, and possess more stable profits will continue to receive premiums; companies that invest heavily but lack a clear path to returns will experience more pronounced stock price volatility. The semiconductor, server, networking equipment, and data center equipment supply chain remains the most directly tied to large-scale corporate investment. Recently, software and chips have shown divergence, indicating that within this main theme, the market is beginning to cluster closer to orders and infrastructure. If the four earnings reports continue to confirm demand and capital expenditure intensity, this divergence will become even more pronounced. On earnings day, the specific issues the market is most concerned about include: Whether the full-year capital expenditure guidance will be raised again, whether cloud business growth rates can continue to climb, whether AI-related revenue disclosures will become clearer, and whether there are any more obvious pressures on profit margins and cash flow. ### Related Stocks - [META.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/META.US.md) - [MSFT.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFT.US.md) - [GOOG.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GOOG.US.md) - [AMZN.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AMZN.US.md) - [AMZW.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AMZW.US.md) - [GOOW.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GOOW.US.md) - [MSFU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFU.US.md) - [METW.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/METW.US.md) - [GOOGL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GOOGL.US.md) - [NWE.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NWE.US.md) - [FFNW.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/FFNW.US.md) - [RMBI.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/RMBI.US.md) - [NA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NA.US.md) - [513500.CN](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/513500.CN.md) - [159612.CN](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/159612.CN.md) - [.SPX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/.SPX.US.md) - [SPY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SPY.US.md) - [IVV.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/IVV.US.md) - [VOO.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/VOO.US.md) - [ONEQ.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/ONEQ.US.md) - [NDAQ.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NDAQ.US.md) - [.IXIC.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/.IXIC.US.md) - [QQQ.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/QQQ.US.md) - [00833.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/00833.HK.md) - [01109.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/01109.HK.md) - [00309.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/00309.HK.md) - [AB.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AB.US.md) - [CFG.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CFG.US.md) - [NWSA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NWSA.US.md) - [NWS.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NWS.US.md) - [AXHU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AXHU.US.md) - [GOF.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GOF.US.md) - [GUG.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GUG.US.md) - [GBAB.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GBAB.US.md) - [MCO.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MCO.US.md) - [CFG-I.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CFG-I.US.md) - [CFG-E.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CFG-E.US.md) - [CFG-H.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CFG-H.US.md) - [NWS.AU](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NWS.AU.md) - [NWSLV.AU](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NWSLV.AU.md) ## Related News & Research - [Meta’s loss is Thinking Machines gain](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284053848.md) - [Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Bridgewater Advisors Inc.](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283953573.md) - [Meta Platforms Will Close 6,000 Open Positions in Addition to Major Layoffs as META Stock Investors Worry That AI Spend Is Just Too Much](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284083681.md) - [Meta will now allow parents to see the topics their child discussed with Meta AI](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283816465.md) - [Meta is tracking employee keystrokes on Google, LinkedIn, Wikipedia as part of AI training initiative](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283739838.md)