#big-tech

US stocks rallied on Wednesday, November 4, after Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections. The S&P 500 gained more than 1%. CNBC reports that strategists credited President Trump's statement overnight, to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, that he accepted the results and would work with Democrats, which eased fears of a drawn-out fight over the outcome.

The biggest tech companies led: during the session Amazon rose 8%, Alphabet more than 6%, Apple nearly 7%, Microsoft 4% and Meta 3%. JPMorgan Asset Management's David Kelly said divided government means 'moderation in growth, moderation in inflation, less uncertainty.' Stocks tied to the AI data center buildout and to Elon Musk fell: CoreWeave dropped 10%, after voters sided against data centers in 40 of 41 local ballot measures, according to CNBC.

The rally did not last: the next day the market gave back those gains and more.

Apple reported fiscal fourth-quarter results on Monday, November 2: earnings of $2.10 a share against $1.99 expected by analysts polled by LSEG, and revenue of $114.48 billion against $113.39 billion expected. iPhone sales of $57.58 billion beat the $56.54 billion consensus, while iPad and other product sales fell short.

Apple forecast a gross margin of 45% to 46% for the current quarter, below the average analyst estimate of 46.3%, and the shares slid about 4% in premarket trading on Tuesday. CNBC notes the stock was up about 24% for the year and reports that analysts, including at Goldman Sachs, still see the results as a temporary blip.

On October 26, Microsoft's chief people officer, Amy Coleman, announced a voluntary exit offer for about 60,000 employees, roughly 27% of the global workforce, in the US, UK, Canada and India, the AP reports. Microsoft had about 223,000 full-time employees at the end of June and cut 4,800 jobs in July.

Two days later Microsoft reported fiscal first-quarter revenue up 19% and diluted earnings of $4.92 a share, up 32%. Microsoft Cloud revenue was $63.9 billion, up 30%, and commercial remaining performance obligation rose 73% to $677 billion, according to the company. CNBC reports Azure grew 48% and finance chief Amy Hood guided to 49% to 50% growth next quarter.

Capital expenditures and finance leases were $45.2 billion, below the $50.67 billion analysts expected; Hood said some third-party capacity deliveries were delayed. Free cash flow fell 27% to $18.63 billion but stayed positive. The stock rose 2% to 4% after hours but ended the next day roughly flat.