Tech giants Meta and Microsoft added a staggering $500 billion to their combined market value overnight, after delivering quarterly earnings that far exceeded Wall Street expectations. The sharp rise in share prices highlights investor confidence in artificial intelligence as the driving force behind the next phase of technology growth.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, saw its stock jump over 11% in pre-market trading, boosting its market capitalisation by more than $190 billion. Microsoft shares rose 8.5%, adding roughly $320 billion to its valuation, which has now crossed the $4 trillion threshold. Microsoft becomes only the second company in history to reach that milestone, following Nvidia earlier this year.
“These are the kind of gains most companies can only dream of,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell. “Meta and Microsoft have smashed earnings forecasts and left investors cheering.”
The latest surge has been largely attributed to strong performances in artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company is now focused on building what he described as “personal superintelligence for everyone.” The tech firm has invested heavily in AI infrastructure and talent in recent months, including the hiring of high-profile experts such as Scale AI co-founder Alexander Wang.
“We’re making all these investments because we have conviction that superintelligence is going to improve every aspect of what we do,” Zuckerberg told analysts.
Microsoft, meanwhile, has seen growing demand for its AI assistant, Copilot, which now has over 100 million users. The company has pledged further investment in AI-powered enterprise tools, a move analysts say reinforces its dominant position in business software.
“Microsoft’s implied valuation of $4.13 trillion now makes it the second-most valuable company in the US market,” Coatsworth noted. “Combined with Meta, they’re now worth $5.81 trillion—nearly double the total value of the entire FTSE 100 index.”
The rally marks a turning point in the evolving makeup of the tech elite. While the so-called “Magnificent Seven” once included Apple, Tesla, and Alphabet, analysts say the group is shifting.
“Apple and Tesla have both suffered double-digit share price declines this year,” said Coatsworth. “It’s time to retire the ‘Mag7’ banner. We’re now seeing the rise of a new ‘Famous Five,’ with Meta and Microsoft taking centre stage alongside Nvidia.”
The gains reflect growing investor confidence in AI’s transformative potential, even as questions about ethics, regulation, and monetisation remain unresolved. For now, however, the market is placing its bets squarely on those leading the AI race.
