Big Tech earnings are coming, and Trump will be top of mind for investors
Big Tech’s earnings season kicks off next week with announcements from some of the industry’s most important players, including Apple ( AAPL ), Meta ( Meta ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ). With the new year well underway and AI still a hot ticket in Silicon Valley, you can expect plenty of discussion about how companies can monetize the technology and how much they’ll spend on capital expenditures related to building data centers and manufacturing new AI models.
And looming over all of that is how newly inaugurated President Trump will affect the biggest trends in technology in years. Stronger tariffs, export controls or more relaxed antitrust rules will keep Big Tech watching Washington closely. And investors want to know what this means for companies’ bottom lines.
Trump already made his mark on the AI scene on Tuesday, announcing Stargate, a $500 billion AI data center company led by Softbank, OpenAI, and Oracle (ORCL), which will see the trio build data centers to power AI projects in the US.
It all makes for an exciting earnings season, and it starts with Meta and Microsoft on Wednesday.
Investors and analysts want to know how companies will work with the administration to avoid getting on the wrong end of Trump’s proposed tariffs on Chinese imports.
Apple (AAPL), whose CEO Tim Cook has a good relationship with the president, avoided tariffs during the first Trump administration and intends to do so again this time. Amazon ( AMZN ), Apple, Google ( GOOG , GOOGL ), Meta, and Microsoft could also see less regulation on antitrust issues and a return to mergers and acquisitions.
There is also the fate of the CHIPS Act. Legislation passed by the Biden administration to bring semiconductor manufacturing to the US. But Trump criticized the law, which would give billions to chipmakers, as “very bad” during an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast before the election.
Without cash, Intel ( INTC ), TSMC, Samsung, and other semiconductor companies may not be able to complete their ambitious plans to build new chip manufacturing plants. Tune in to hear how Intel and its competitors are approaching the new administration and how it plans to address the CHIPS Act.
I can guarantee you that every tech company besides Trump is citing the revenue and costs of AI. According to Jefferies analyst Brent Till, Microsoft continues to see improved AI consumption and spending, as the company works to meet customer AI infrastructure needs and should report what investors have been waiting for.
