Tech turnaround: Meta is leading a revival of big tech stocks in 2023

4/27/23 8:00PM

Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon all announced solid quarterly earnings this week as big tech continues to bounce back from 2022, a year in which the four shed nearly $3 trillion of market cap between them.

‍**Every cloud...**‍

‍Meta has had a tough time since its name-change 18 months ago. However, the social media giant reminded everyone that its apps are still wildly popular, reporting over 3 billion daily active users for the first time across its family of Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram. Also well-received was the return to revenue growth after 3 consecutive quarters of decline. That paves the way for Zuckerberg to continue investing in his biggest bets: AI and the much-malignedmetaverse.

‍Microsoft continues to march on. Revenue grew 7% year-over-year, and its Azure cloud-computing business held up better than expected, growing 27%. Elsewhere, the company’s partnership with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, promises continuing innovations for the entire Microsoft suite. Those developments have contributed to a ~$600bn increase in MSFT's market cap since the beginning of 2023 — equivalent to gaining the value of about 10 Ubers.

‍Google’s owner Alphabet posted more measured results as the firm continues to play catch-up since the rollout of AI-powered search from Microsoft. The company’s ad revenue fell, although not as sharply as expected, and lower costs helped the bottom line beat expectations.

‍Amazon nearly delivered a win. The company’s shares initially soared as much as 10% on the back of a better-than-expected quarter… but cautious comments about its all-important key cloud division — where growth slowed to 16% from 37% last year — sparked fears for the future.

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JetBlue is raising its bag fees as fuel costs squeeze airlines

JetBlue will reportedly hike its bag fees, as the cost of jet fuel continues to climb amid the war in Iran. It’s the latest example of carriers finding ways to push rising costs onto travelers.

Last week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said that if fuel prices remain elevated, fares would need to rise another 20% for his airline to break even this year.

As CNBC reported, when one airline raises fees, others tend to follow.

Earlier this month, JetBlue hiked its first-quarter outlook for operating revenue per seat mile to between 5% and 7%, saying that strong Q1 demand helped “partially offset additional expenses realized from operational disruptions and rising fuel costs.” Now, the carrier appears to be making moves to further boost revenue to offset those costs.

Earlier on Monday, JetBlue rival Alaska Air lowered its Q1 profit forecast. The refining margins for the carrier’s cheapest fuel option — sourced from Singapore and representing about 20% of Alaska’s overall supply — have spiked 400% since February.

JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.