New York Thursday

Barry Adams
30 Jul, 2026
New York City

U.S. stocks advanced on Thursday as investors reacted to the latest batch of earnings. 

The S&P 500 Index increased 0.5%, and the tech-dominated Nasdaq Composite rose 1.1% following the release of quarterly results from key technology companies. 

Meta, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Arm Holdings, Starbucks, Coursera, and Chipotle Mexican Grill were in focus after the release of their quarterly results. 

Amazon, Apple, and Coinbase are set to release their results after the close of the regular session. 

The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes edged up a fraction to 4.79% after the Federal Open Market Committee left its lending rate range unrevised, though three members dissented in favor of a rate hike. 

The FOMC left the fed funds rate range unrevised between 3.5% and 3.75% in a 9-3 vote, despite inflation staying well above the Fed's 2% target rate. 

The Federal Reserve is lagging, and investors anticipate rates eventually rising by at least 50 basis points amid broadening inflation from the energy to other sectors of the economy. 

Across the Atlantic, the Bank of England left its bank rate unchanged at 3.75% in a 6-3 decision, but policy makers noted rising inflationary pressures in the economy. 

Although the consumer price inflation has eased to 2.6%, the central bank's policymakers are anticipating higher energy costs to feed through to businesses and households later in the year.  

 

U.S. Movers 

Microsoft jumped 9.7% to $428.28 after the software company reported its quarterly results. 

Revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter ending in June increased 18% to $90.1 billion, net income surged 31% to $35.8 billion, and diluted earnings per share advanced to 

Total cloud revenue surged 27% to $59.3 billion, driven by a 43% increase in Azure and other cloud services revenue, pushing Azure's individual annual revenue past $100 billion for the first time. 

Spending on data centers and AI infrastructure came in at about $41 billion, and the company indicated it plans to continue to invest in extending its infrastructure. 

Microsoft guided fiscal first quarter revenue to range between $89.85 billion and $90.95 billion, indicating about 16% growth at the midpoint. 

Chipotle Mexican Grill increased 7.5% to $36.80 after the company released its second quarter results. 

Revenue increased 9.3% to $3.4 billion, net income decreased to $403.5 million from $436.1 million, and diluted earnings per share were flat at 32 cents. 

Comparable restaurant sales increased 2.2%, and the company opened 100 new locations across its system. 

Meta Platforms dropped 10% to $526.52 after the company reported second-quarter results. 

Total revenue increased 28% to $60.8 billion, net income decreased 14% to $15.8 billion from $18.3 billion, and diluted earnings per share declined 13% to $6.18 from $7.14 a year ago. 

Meta's free cash flow plunged 91% to $784 million from $8.6 billion a year ago, largely because of the escalating cost of artificial infrastructure.

Capital expenditures soared to $31.1 billion for the quarter, consuming roughly 98% of Meta’s operating cash flow to build out server clusters and new data centers like its $14 billion El Paso, Texas, venture.

Daily Active People users averaged 3.60 billion across its family of apps—Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads—an increase of 3%.

Meta projected third quarter revenue between $61 billion and $64 billion, setting a midpoint ($62.5 billion) slightly below consensus expectations of $63.15 billion.