Analysis: This week, the market value of six major tech giants fluctuated by nearly $2 trillion during earnings season, with AI investment returns becoming the key to market differentiation

According to CNBC, the combined market value change of 6 U.S. tech giants that have released earnings reports this week is close to $2 trillion, as investors are selecting winners based on cloud business growth and AI capital expenditure returns.

The combined market value of Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft increased by nearly $1.5 trillion, with Microsoft increasing by over $600 billion, and both Amazon and Alphabet increasing by over $400 billion.

Meanwhile, Apple's market value evaporated by over $350 billion, Meta decreased by about $85 billion, and Tesla decreased by about $7 billion. Although Apple exceeded expectations in revenue, profit, and iPhone sales, it expects revenue growth of 9% to 11% this quarter, below analysts' expectations of 12%, and stated that shortages of memory chips and competition for wafer production capacity will continue to limit supply, causing its stock price to drop by over 7% on Friday.

Amazon's AWS revenue in the second quarter grew by 37% year-on-year, marking the fastest growth rate since 2021, which drove its stock price up by over 15% on Friday. The company also raised its capital expenditure forecast for 2026 from $200 billion to $220 billion. Microsoft rose 15% on Thursday, while Meta fell 8%, indicating a clear divergence in the market's judgment on the AI investment returns of the two companies.

Jefferies stated that the AI spending of tech giants is approaching $800 billion over the next 12 months. The current market debate is no longer whether there is real demand for AI, but whether long-term profits can support such large-scale investments.