Markets & Finance

Microsoft's fiscal Q4 2026 results show Azure growing 43% year-over-year, ahead of the company's own 39–40% guidance, while full-year Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time. Total company revenue reached $90 billion for the quarter, with commercial contract backlog up 84% to $678 billion, signaling sustained enterprise demand. Capital expenditure for Q1 FY2027 is guided above $50 billion, with Microsoft committing to more than $130 billion in long-term data-center leases to support AI infrastructure expansion.

Meta reported $60.8 billion in Q2 2026 revenue, beating consensus by roughly $577 million, but diluted EPS came in at $6.18 against an expected $7.13, a $0.95 miss driven by a 55% surge in costs that included $2.4 billion in legal charges and $1.18 billion in severance. Free cash flow fell 91% year-over-year to $784 million, and the company raised the floor of its full-year capital expenditure guidance to $130–145 billion. The figures matter because they show Meta absorbing substantial near-term financial pressure to fund AI infrastructure while operating margin compressed from 43% to 31% in a single year.

South Korea's KOSPI recorded its worst three-session decline on record between July 28 and July 30, 2026, losing roughly 864.53 trillion won in combined market capitalization over the first two days alone. The sell-off was concentrated in AI chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, compounded by forced unwinds of retail leveraged positions, even as SK Hynix reported record quarterly revenue. Government emergency measures and National Pension Service buying of approximately 3.16 trillion won on July 29 failed to stabilize the index, while major global asset managers including Pictet, Robeco, and Eastspring publicly declined to buy the dip.

Reformation Inc. priced its NYSE debut at $15 per share, the bottom of its marketed range, valuing the company below $1 billion and raising approximately $142 million in primary proceeds. The company will use roughly $125 million of those proceeds to cut its $250 million term loan balance in half. The at-floor pricing, on a day of broad equity declines, reflects selective investor appetite for consumer brands: Reformation's 20 consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue growth and 90% direct-to-consumer revenue mix were not sufficient to command a midpoint or above-range valuation.

Ahead of its expected mid-2027 merger close with McCormick, Unilever agreed with its European Works Council to freeze employment terms and pay for approximately 4,800 Foods employees in Europe and the UK for two years post-close, roughly twice the duration typical in comparable M&A deals. The commitment, documented in an internal memo, applies only to European workers; the IUF has called for equivalent protections globally, noting that non-European workers received no such guarantee during Unilever's earlier ice-cream separation. Multiple regulatory approvals remain pending, including UK CMA review and anticipated EU merger-control notification, with a mid-2027 closing still expected.

Amazon releases its Q2 2026 earnings after market close today, with analysts expecting total revenue of $196.7 billion and AWS revenue near $40.5 billion, following Q1 2026 AWS growth of 28% year-over-year. The report arrives as Amazon's stated 2026 capital expenditure plan of approximately $200 billion represents a nearly fourfold increase from $52.7 billion in FY 2023, with investor attention focused on whether AWS operating margins hold near the Q1 level of 37.8%. Peer results from Microsoft and Meta released yesterday showed divergent market reactions to heavy AI infrastructure spending, setting the context for how Amazon's own capex commentary will be received.

Strategy Inc. releases its Q2 2026 earnings today after market close, covering a quarter in which the company disclosed that its bitcoin cost basis exceeded fair value as of June 30, signaling a non-cash unrealized loss under ASC 350-60 accounting rules. The report will also detail the updated balance on its convertible notes following a $1.5 billion repurchase of 2029 bonds completed in May, plus full ATM equity issuance totals beyond the $4.32 billion already reported through early May. These figures matter because bitcoin price swings flow directly through Strategy's income statement each quarter, as demonstrated by the $14.46 billion unrealized loss recorded in Q1 2026.

Humana's Q2 2026 results show adjusted earnings of $7.61 per share beating consensus and revenue of $40.87 billion topping expectations, yet the company reduced its full-year GAAP EPS floor from $8.36 to $6.52, driven primarily by non-cash mark-to-market adjustments on minority-interest investments and restructuring charges. The $2.48 gap between the new GAAP floor and the reaffirmed $9.00 adjusted floor reflects Humana's second consecutive quarterly GAAP cut without a corresponding change to adjusted guidance, raising investor questions about the growing divergence between the two metrics. Medical-cost trends came in on target and Medicare Advantage membership growth guidance of approximately 25% for 2026 was reaffirmed, providing context for why Bank of America upgraded the stock to Buy even as shares fell roughly 9% premarket.