{"id":73774,"date":"2026-10-28T16:38:25","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T20:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-earnings-and-fed-hold-drive-market-gains-alphabet-and-microsoft-diverge\/73774\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T16:38:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T20:38:25","slug":"tech-earnings-and-fed-hold-drive-market-gains-alphabet-and-microsoft-diverge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-earnings-and-fed-hold-drive-market-gains-alphabet-and-microsoft-diverge\/73774\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech Earnings and Fed Hold Drive Market Gains; Alphabet and Microsoft Diverge"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Federal Reserve holds rates at 3.75%\u20134.00%<\/strong> in a 10\u20132 vote, with Chair Kevin Warsh signaling that December&#39;s decision remains data-dependent amid ongoing inflation concerns.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock\/MSFT\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"18\" title=\"Stock: MSFT\">Microsoft<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/MSFT\">MSFT<\/a>) shares rose<\/strong> after-hours on a massive <strong>30% surge in cloud revenue<\/strong> ($63.9 billion), with Azure growth accelerating to <strong>48%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alphabet (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>) fell<\/strong> in late trading despite a <strong>103% jump in Cloud revenue<\/strong>, as Search and YouTube advertising figures came in below analyst expectations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ford Motor (<a href=\"\/stock\/F\">F<\/a>) raised its full-year EBIT floor<\/strong> to <strong>$10.5 billion<\/strong>, reporting a Q3 earnings beat driven by strong performance in its <strong>Ford Pro<\/strong> commercial segment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>FedEx (<a href=\"\/stock\/FDX\">FDX<\/a>) hiked its annual profit guidance<\/strong> to a range of <strong>$18.00\u2013$18.60 per share<\/strong>, citing successful network optimization and structural cost reductions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/indices\/sp500\/today\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"snp500 today\">S&amp;P 500<\/a> closed <strong>0.3% higher<\/strong> on Wednesday as investors digested a flurry of mega-cap earnings and a widely expected interest rate pause from the Federal Reserve. While the broader market ended in the green, the after-hours session saw a sharp divergence between tech giants. <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock\/MSFT\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"18\" title=\"Stock: MSFT\">Microsoft<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/MSFT\">MSFT<\/a>) gained ground on the back of robust AI-driven cloud demand, while Alphabet (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>) faced selling pressure after its core advertising business missed targets.<\/p>\n<p>Federal Reserve Chair <strong>Kevin Warsh<\/strong> maintained a neutral stance following the FOMC&#39;s decision to keep the benchmark rate at <strong>3.75%\u20134.00%<\/strong>. The 10\u20132 vote included two hawkish dissents from Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, who both favored a 25-basis-point hike. Warsh emphasized that future policy will depend on the economic outlook, leaving the door open for a December move if inflation remains stubborn.<\/p>\n<p>Alphabet (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>) CEO <strong>Sundar Pichai<\/strong> highlighted that the company has reached a <strong>half-trillion dollar annual revenue run rate<\/strong>, bolstered by the new AI model <strong>Argon<\/strong>, which has significantly accelerated internal code development. However, the stock slipped as <strong>Google Services revenue<\/strong> of <strong>$96.30 billion<\/strong> and <strong>YouTube ad revenue<\/strong> of <strong>$11.21 billion<\/strong> both fell short of Wall Street estimates. In contrast, <strong>Google Cloud<\/strong> revenue skyrocketed <strong>103%<\/strong> to <strong>$30.71 billion<\/strong>, reflecting intense demand for AI infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock\/MSFT\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"18\" title=\"Stock: MSFT\">Microsoft<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/MSFT\">MSFT<\/a>) delivered a cleaner beat, reporting <strong>Q1 cloud revenue of $63.9 billion<\/strong>, surpassing the <strong>$61.62 billion<\/strong> estimate. The company\u2019s <strong>Azure<\/strong> platform saw growth accelerate to <strong>48%<\/strong>, a figure that CEO Satya Nadella attributed to the rapid adoption of AI intelligence tools across industries. Despite the growth, Microsoft\u2019s capital expenditure of <strong>$39.37 billion<\/strong> came in below the <strong>$45.93 billion<\/strong> analysts had projected, suggesting a more measured pace of infrastructure spending.<\/p>\n<p>In the automotive sector, Ford Motor (<a href=\"\/stock\/F\">F<\/a>) reported <strong>adjusted EPS of $0.49<\/strong>, beating the <strong>$0.41<\/strong> estimate. The company\u2019s commercial unit, <strong>Ford Pro<\/strong>, remained a powerhouse with <strong>$1.7 billion in EBIT<\/strong>, while the <strong>Model e<\/strong> electric vehicle segment narrowed its losses to <strong>$1.06 billion<\/strong>. Ford now expects full-year adjusted EBIT between <strong>$10.5 billion and $11 billion<\/strong>, as it moves toward a target of <strong>8% adjusted EBIT margins by 2029<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Logistics giant FedEx (<a href=\"\/stock\/FDX\">FDX<\/a>) also impressed, raising its full-year adjusted EPS guidance after reporting <strong>Q3 adjusted EPS of $3.74<\/strong>, well above the <strong>$3.42<\/strong> consensus. The company is benefiting from higher package yields and its ongoing business optimization initiatives. Meanwhile, T-Mobile US (<a href=\"\/stock\/TMUS\">TMUS<\/a>) and eBay (<a href=\"\/stock\/EBAY\">EBAY<\/a>) both posted beats on the top and bottom lines, with T-Mobile adding <strong>274,000 postpaid net accounts<\/strong> and eBay seeing <strong>Gross Merchandise Volume<\/strong> rise to <strong>$23.2 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Federal Reserve holds rates at 3.75%\u20134.00% in a 10\u20132 vote, with Chair Kevin Warsh signaling that December&#39;s decision 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