Amazon and Apple's earnings reports showed a repeat of yesterday's one-up, one-down trend, with the core still being the clear validation logic of AI commercialization; the AI narrative has already entered a mature stage!
Reviewing the earnings reports of Amazon and Apple released early this morning, the stock price movements after the reports were similar to those of Microsoft and Meta yesterday: one stock price dropped sharply pre-market, while the other surged significantly.
The core reason for this situation remains the difference in AI commercialization strategies between the two companies, which brings different levels of confidence to the market.
As mentioned in yesterday's earlier article, the focus points of Apple's and Amazon's earnings reports (see Figure 1) basically guided the market's pricing after the reports were released:
First, looking at Amazon:
1. AWS business accelerated again; this is Amazon's main business under AI commercialization. Previously, the market worried that Microsoft's Azure would take market share, but the result was not only no loss but business growth beyond expectations. This data proves Amazon's business position in future AI commerce, giving the market confidence. It also signals that AI cloud demand is exploding, providing ample room for market imagination.
2. Management, Andy Jassy, stated that AWS AI business annual revenue run rate exceeds $25 billion, further telling the market that Amazon's AI business is not just a presentation but a new revenue source for AWS, alleviating previous concerns about $200 billion capital expenditure.
3. Operating profit exceeded expectations; AI investments did not compress profits, with revenue growth and profit increase, enhancing corporate profitability and supporting capital expenditure more strongly.
4. North American business profits improved, and retail cash flow can continue to support AI investments.
5. Amazon continues to raise capital expenditure by 10%, from the original $200 billion to $220 billion.
Now looking at Apple:
1. Overall earnings exceeded expectations, but unfortunately, the market this quarter focused not on the overall report but on the future AI commercialization implementation.
2. Services business was below expectations. Services are the core industry supporting Apple's business because they have the highest gross margin and stronger revenue capability. The underperformance in Services hurt market confidence.
3. The Chinese market has not resumed growth, impacting market confidence.
4. Management, Tim Cook, guided that future quarters will be affected by supply constraints of advanced chips and memory, expecting next quarter's revenue growth to be below market expectations. This means the AI boom has tightened the supply chain, squeezing Apple's profit margins.
A horizontal comparison of the two earnings reports clearly shows the differences.
The core reason supporting Amazon's stock price rise is the validation of future AI commercialization logic, which brings good returns, while Apple faces slowing future growth, core service slowdown, and continued AI investment, leading to declining market confidence and selling pressure.
Combined with yesterday's Microsoft and Meta earnings, it can basically be confirmed that the market in Q2 wants to see validation of AI commercialization logic, not just more promises or expanded capital expenditure.
Increased AI capital expenditure by tech companies is considered a baseline, not a bonus by the market. Whoever can validate AI business logic faster will consume more liquidity in this round and have stock price support. If a company cannot validate the business logic loop in the short term, its stock price will be under pressure, and valuation will be rebalanced by the market.
From this perspective, Microsoft's cautious capital expenditure is admirable foresight. Since the market worries about overspending, cautious expansion is wise; blind large-scale expansion without excellent performance support would instead drag down the stock price.
With the key Q2 earnings week underway, what to watch in upcoming reports?
This week, the market is watching whether AI leaders are profitable, with mixed results: Microsoft and Amazon gave the market something to price in, but Apple and Meta exposed risks and concerns.
Currently, AI's main business is concentrated among the four major cloud providers, which concentrates risk. Apple's and Meta's earnings easily impact market confidence.
Next week, the market will look at whether the AI industry chain and profit logic can continue to expand to other companies. This is the key narrative for subsequent Q2 earnings.
#财报观察员:亚马逊指引不及预期,股价却反涨9%
Apple's earnings reveal hidden risks that need to be closely watched later!
1. Apple's earnings show weakening future profit expectations, and AI industry supply chain pressures are squeezing corporate profits. This is not just Apple's problem; in the next 2-3 years, AI applications, cloud providers, consumer electronics, and server OEMs will face significant pressure, leading to changes in pricing logic due to competition.
2. Breakthroughs in Chinese AI will further challenge high-margin, low-technical-threshold AI industries. In Q3-Q4 future earnings, how much business will be impacted and gross margin reductions are key issues to consider.
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