{"id":65628,"date":"2026-07-29T16:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-giants-and-fed-policy-diverge-microsoft-and-starbucks-surge-as-meta-guidance-weighs\/65628\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T16:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:38:15","slug":"tech-giants-and-fed-policy-diverge-microsoft-and-starbucks-surge-as-meta-guidance-weighs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-giants-and-fed-policy-diverge-microsoft-and-starbucks-surge-as-meta-guidance-weighs\/65628\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech Giants and Fed Policy Diverge: Microsoft and Starbucks Surge as Meta Guidance Weighs"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock\/MSFT\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"18\" title=\"Stock: MSFT\">Microsoft<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/MSFT\">MSFT<\/a>)<\/strong> delivered a massive beat with <strong>Azure revenue surpassing $100 billion<\/strong> and cloud growth crushing estimates, while <strong>Starbucks (<a href=\"\/stock\/SBUX\">SBUX<\/a>)<\/strong> shares surged on &quot;crushing&quot; earnings and raised 2026 guidance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Meta Platforms (<a href=\"\/stock\/META\">META<\/a>)<\/strong> issued a cautious outlook with Q3 revenue guidance midpoints falling below analyst expectations and a widening <strong>$4.62 billion loss<\/strong> in its Reality Labs division.<\/li>\n<li><strong>FOMC Chairman Kevin Warsh<\/strong> presided over the July 2026 press conference, navigating a complex economic landscape marked by shifting trade flows and a falling <strong>U.S. effective tariff rate of 7.4%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Geopolitical tensions remain high as <strong>President Zelensky<\/strong> requested <strong>300 Patriot interceptors<\/strong> for winter defense, while reports surfaced regarding the health and internal influence of Iran\u2019s leadership.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Tech Earnings: Cloud Dominance vs. Reality Labs Losses<\/h2>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock\/MSFT\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"18\" title=\"Stock: MSFT\">Microsoft<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/MSFT\">MSFT<\/a>)<\/strong> reported blockbuster Q4 results, headlined by <strong>Revenue of $90.01 billion<\/strong> and <strong>Adjusted EPS of $4.74<\/strong>, both significantly topping Wall Street estimates. The company&#39;s <strong>Azure growth (ex-FX) of 43%<\/strong> crushed the 39.6% estimate, as the company booked a <strong>$3.2 billion gain<\/strong> from its Anthropic investment and saw <strong>365 Copilot<\/strong> surpass 30 million paid seats.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, <strong>Meta Platforms (<a href=\"\/stock\/META\">META<\/a>)<\/strong> saw its stock face pressure after providing Q3 revenue guidance of <strong>$61 billion to $64 billion<\/strong>, which fell short of the $63.17 billion consensus. While Meta&#39;s Q2 revenue of <strong>$60.80 billion<\/strong> was a beat, the company raised its full-year expense and capex floors and reported that <strong>Reality Labs losses widened to $4.62 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>Semiconductors Show Mixed Momentum<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Arm Holdings (<a href=\"\/stock\/ARM\">ARM<\/a>)<\/strong> impressed investors with Q1 revenue of <strong>$1.29 billion<\/strong> and an adjusted EPS of <strong>45 cents<\/strong>, beating the 40-cent estimate. The company\u2019s <strong>annualized contract value reached $1.73 billion<\/strong>, and management issued optimistic Q2 guidance with a revenue midpoint of <strong>$1.38 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Qualcomm (<a href=\"\/stock\/QCOM\">QCOM<\/a>)<\/strong> reported Q3 adjusted revenue of <strong>$9.95 billion<\/strong>, beating estimates, and noted that <strong>China OEM handset revenue<\/strong> finally reached a bottom. However, the company\u2019s Q4 EPS guidance of <strong>$2.05 to $2.25<\/strong> was softer than the $2.35 analysts had expected. Meanwhile, <strong>Lam Research (<a href=\"\/stock\/LRCX\">LRCX<\/a>)<\/strong> posted a strong Q4 beat and raised its Q1 EPS outlook to a range of <strong>$2.00 to $2.30<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>Starbucks Rebounds and Fed Policy Under Warsh<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Starbucks (<a href=\"\/stock\/SBUX\">SBUX<\/a>)<\/strong> delivered one of the most surprising beats of the quarter, with <strong>Adjusted EPS of $0.85<\/strong> crushing the $0.65 estimate. U.S. comparable sales grew <strong>7.9%<\/strong>, and the company took the bold step of <strong>raising its FY2026 guidance<\/strong>, signaling strong consumer resilience in the premium coffee segment.<\/p>\n<p>On the macroeconomic front, <strong>FOMC Chairman Kevin Warsh<\/strong> addressed the media following the July 29 meeting. The policy backdrop is being influenced by a <strong>Fitch Ratings<\/strong> report showing the <strong>U.S. effective tariff rate has dropped to 7.4%<\/strong> due to changing trade flows, potentially easing some inflationary pressures as the Fed weighs its next move.<\/p>\n<h2>Geopolitical Developments in Ukraine and Iran<\/h2>\n<p>Geopolitical risks continue to shadow global markets. <strong>President Zelensky<\/strong> stated that Ukraine requires at least <strong>300 Patriot interceptors<\/strong> to survive the upcoming winter, though <strong>Donald Trump<\/strong> reportedly cited supply constraints due to ongoing conflicts involving Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Simultaneously, intelligence reports shared by <strong>Barak Ravid<\/strong> suggest internal friction within the Iranian leadership. While <strong>Supreme Leader Khamenei<\/strong> is reportedly alive, his son <strong>Mojtaba Khamenei<\/strong> is said to be taking an increasingly &quot;negative&quot; line on policy issues, leading to uncertainty regarding the source of recent military and diplomatic instructions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Microsoft (MSFT) delivered a massive beat with Azure revenue surpassing $100 billion and cloud growth crushing estimates, while [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[4302,33,846,977,1807,2206,3703,3710,3735,3741,3880],"class_list":["post-65628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-tech","tag-msft","tag-sbux","tag-qcom","tag-earnings","tag-lrcx","tag-ai","tag-federal-reserve","tag-arm","tag-meta","tag-fomc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}