Strong Earnings Helped Tech Stocks Shake Off Tariff Worries to Log an Upbeat Week
It was a good week for tech stocks.
The S&P 500's tech sector index climbed 1% Friday to log a nearly 4% weekly gain after some of America's biggest tech companies reported better-than-expected earnings. Several of those companies also stood by their AI ambitions, sustaining optimism about the emerging technology even as
worries about the economy
in the face of shifting tariff policies and
tightening trade restrictions
loomed.
Meta (
META
) showed what analysts called “
tangible business results
” from its AI efforts, and the stock climbed, adding almost 9% since the company reported earnings late Wednesday. Microsoft (
MSFT
), which also reported Wednesday, gained 10% after posting strong results, its
growth fueled by demand for cloud computing and AI
.
Amazon (
AMZN
) and Apple (
AAPL
) followed with earnings that topped Street estimates after the closing bell Thursday. Worries about tariffs weighed on enthusiasm for the stocks, with Amazon shares
little changed
Friday and Apple dropping close to 4% after CEO Tim Cook warned the iPhone maker would take a
$900 million hit
from tariffs in the current quarter.
Still, it was a strong week for most members of the
Magnificent Seven
, with the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (
MAGS
) adding over 3%. Stocks got a boost Friday after Chinese officials
signaled interest
in ending the trade war with the U.S., with the S&P 500 rising 1.5% to
erase all of its post-"Liberation Day" losses
. (Read
Investopedia's
full coverage of
today's trading here
.)
The big tech earnings parade isn't over yet: The last of the Magnificent Seven to report this season is Nvidia (
NVDA
), which is scheduled to release its quarterly financial results May 28.