Microsoft is having one of its best days in nearly two decades following last night’s cloud earnings report. The chip sector bounced back as aggressively as it fell.

Today’s edition covers the tech earnings story, the names that rode the recovery, and everything ahead of Amazon and Apple's reports tonight.

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Markets

Microsoft reported Q4 earnings that beat expectations on Azure cloud growth and resilient free cash flow, sending shares up about 17% and adding roughly $485 billion in market cap — the largest single-day market cap gain by any U.S. company on record, and its best single-day performance since 2008.

The PHLX Semiconductor Index recovered 8.13% in one of its strongest single-session bounces of the year, with Micron, Applied Materials, and Intel leading; JPMorgan reported retail traders were selling chips earlier this week, which meant many of them were on the wrong side today.

Meta fell 8.6% after Zuckerberg said on the earnings call “it would be foolish to basically just sell all of the compute” when asked about spending — the market heard commitment, not optimization.

Gold hit its highest level in months as dollar weakness and bond market volatility from yesterday’s Fed session drove safe-haven flows, with gold up more than 3% on the day. Amazon and Apple both report soon, with Apple potentially reaching the $5 trillion market cap threshold if the quarter delivers.

  • DJIA [+1.19%]

  • S&P 500 [+1.66%]

  • Nasdaq [+2.78%]

  • Russell 2000 [+1.39%]

Industrials & Infrastructure

CRH Deepens Its North American Infrastructure Push

CRH is strengthening its North American business through an $8.5 billion acquisition of Arcosa, adding aggregates, engineered structures, and construction materials used across transportation, energy, and data-center projects, while reporting record quarterly revenue of $10.8 billion.

The deal brings CRH into 13 of the 50 largest U.S. metro areas, adds a major pipeline of utility and infrastructure work, and is expected to generate about $175 million in annual cost savings by the third year.

APi Group’s Project Backlog Crosses $5 Billion

APi Group reported a record backlog above $5 billion as demand strengthened across data centers, advanced manufacturing, healthcare infrastructure, fire protection, and specialty contracting, giving the company greater visibility into future project revenue.

APi also completed four acquisitions during the quarter, expanded its credit capacity, and raised its 2026 revenue outlook to as much as $9.03 billion as service and project demand continued to build.

Financial Services & Payments

Fiserv Faces Push for a Full Portfolio Review

Fiserv is facing a wider strategic challenge after activist investor Jana Partners urged the company to review its entire portfolio, consider broader asset sales, and refresh its board following months of private discussions.

The pressure moves beyond Fiserv’s smaller divestments and puts its full business structure under examination, while reported buyer interest in its debit-network assets points to a possible reshaping of the payments company.

Goldman Sachs Launches an AI Investing Platform

Goldman Sachs Asset Management launched a new platform called AlphaAI, creating a dedicated structure for identifying artificial-intelligence opportunities across the firm’s public investments, private markets, and portfolio companies.

The platform gives Goldman a formal way to connect AI research with investment decisions, expanding the technology beyond internal productivity tools and making it a larger part of how the asset-management business finds growth.

AI & Automation

Oracle Expands Its Google AI Partnership

Oracle expanded its partnership with Google Cloud by bringing Gemini AI deeper into its enterprise software ecosystem, giving businesses wider access to Google’s models through Oracle products.

The move strengthens Oracle’s multicloud push and gives customers another way to connect databases, business applications, and generative AI tools without moving their entire technology stack onto one cloud platform.

Google Gives Robots a Smarter Control System

Google released Gemini Robotics ER 2, an updated AI model designed to understand physical environments, plan multi-step jobs, and direct lower-level systems that control robotic movement.

The model can coordinate different robot types, monitor video to judge task progress, read industrial instruments, and stop a humanoid robot when a person enters its work area, pushing Google deeper into real-world automation.

Before Elon’s Reveal (Sponsored)

Most investors are focused on Tesla, SpaceX, and the biggest AI stocks. But one lesser-known company may be better positioned for what Elon Musk could reveal on August 6.

Its revenue in this market reportedly surged 757% over the past year, and analyst price targets suggest significant upside may still remain.

The company also earned the same top rating previously given to several stocks before their major runs.

See the AI company that could move after Elon’s August 6 announcement.

Autos & EVs

Ford Prepares for Chinese EV Competition

Ford is preparing for Chinese automakers to enter the U.S. within the next five to 10 years, even as trade restrictions currently keep most China-made vehicles outside the country.

The company is developing a new family of lower-cost electric vehicles designed to compete on pricing and manufacturing efficiency with companies such as BYD, making the Chinese challenge part of Ford’s long-term U.S. product strategy.

Xiaomi Expands With a Family-Sized SUV

Xiaomi launched its new SkyNomad SUV series, expanding its EV business into large family vehicles with flexible interiors, extended driving range, and a planned European rollout next year.

The flagship seven-seat N90 Max combines a battery with a gasoline-powered range extender, giving Xiaomi another vehicle category as it tries to lift deliveries and turn its fast-growing auto division into a larger revenue source.

Policy & Regulation

ABC Pushes Back on FCC License Threat

Disney-owned ABC challenged an FCC threat to revoke its broadcast licenses, arguing that an early review of eight network-owned stations is being used to pressure the company over its news and entertainment coverage.

The dispute puts Disney’s television business into a wider fight over regulatory power, editorial independence, and whether federal licensing authority can influence how major media companies cover public affairs.

OpenAI Moves Toward Federal Safety Tests

OpenAI is preparing to discuss voluntary federal safety tests for its most advanced models with White House and Commerce Department officials after one of its AI agents escaped containment during a security exercise.

The talks could shape how future systems are reviewed before release, while forcing OpenAI to show that rapid product development can continue alongside tighter government scrutiny of cybersecurity and autonomous AI risks.

Top Winners and Losers

PN Smart Energy [PN] $23.67 (+120.80%)

PN Smart Energy is a utilities company that has appeared at the top of the winners list twice this month, each time catching a wave of AI infrastructure power demand momentum.

Today’s session gave the thesis another catalyst: Microsoft’s cloud beat reaffirmed that AI compute spending is accelerating, and the power infrastructure names that serve data centers are getting bid up alongside it. At a $153 million market cap and running at 5x volume, this is institutional repositioning.

T3 Defense [DFNS] $84.98 (+69.22%)

T3 Defense is now at $84 — from under $5 in July to a level no one would have predicted three weeks ago. The 1-for-125 reverse split collapsed the float, Project35 keeps adding defense news, and every Iran escalation adds another layer to the thesis.

At an $80 million market cap, the stock has now delivered extraordinary moves for multiple sessions in a row. Strong Buy rated.

Columbus McKinnon [CMCO] $20.68 (+41.45%)

Columbus McKinnon reported Q2 revenue of $531.5 million, up 125% year-over-year and beating the $501.9 million estimate by nearly 6%.

Adjusted EPS of $0.61 crushed the $0.27 consensus, and adjusted EBITDA came in 24% above estimates. The company called it a strong first full quarter as a combined company, and the market agreed. Buy rated at $599.71 million.

Coastal Financial [CCB] $39.91 (-43.52%)

Coastal Financial Corporation reported Q2 results that fell sharply short of expectations, sending shares down more than 40% in the session’s most dramatic bank selloff.

The Washington-based community bank has been growing aggressively through its Banking-as-a-Service partnerships, and investors repriced what that growth is actually worth at current credit quality. Strong Buy rated at $606.06 million.

GBank Financial Holdings [GBFH] $21.02 (-29.98%)

GBank Financial Holdings fell 30% on Q2 results at a $301.71 million market cap on 9.37x average volume.

The Nevada-based bank’s results disappointed on net interest margin and credit quality metrics in a session where bank stocks were already under scrutiny. Strong Buy rated; the thesis on GBank’s growth model is being stress-tested today.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals [ALNY] $205.48 (-28.31%)

Alnylam reported mixed Q2 results and cut its full-year sales guidance below estimates. The RNA interference pioneer’s AMVUTTRA has been one of the rare biotech successes of recent years, but guidance cuts from a company trading at premium multiples hit hard.

Buy rated at $27.03 billion; the underlying RNA interference platform is intact, but the near-term commercial trajectory just got revised.

Inside Trump’s Investment (Sponsored)

President Trump reportedly invested as much as $25 million in one unusual investment.

There was no major announcement. Yet the investment may be paying him up to $250,000 a month, and until recently, most Americans could not access the assets behind it.

Now, Alexander Green believes this little-known fund could become one of the most talked-about investments in the country.

And today, it trades for less than $20.

See how to access Trump’s unusual investment for under $20.

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