As signals of economic resiliency inspire customers to increase technology expenditure, U.S. tech titans may indicate the end of the almost one-year-long downturn in their cloud businesses. A rise in digital advertising will also help profitability. This week and the following are when companies valued at over $6 trillion, including Microsoft, Alphabet, which owns Google, Amazon.com, and Meta Platforms, will report their earnings. This will be a test for both their lofty valuations and the general market rally they have sparked in response to optimism about artificial intelligence.

 

"We're really only looking for metrics that point to ramping user traction for AI-based offerings, with the idea being that they will generate more meaningful revenue in the medium-term," Canaccord Genuity analyst Kingsley Crane said.

 

The four businesses aggressively incorporated AI into their products this year in the hopes that it would fuel the sector's subsequent growth cycle, but it will take time for such efforts to bear fruit. The April-June quarter is anticipated to bring forth yet another time of mediocre growth for Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet, the three largest participants in the cloud sector.

 

As per analysts surveyed by Refinitiv, both Amazon and Alphabet will likely announce their lowest-ever growth for the cloud computing industry, at 9.8% and 24.4%, respectively. Azure's parent company, Microsoft Intelligent Cloud, is forecast to grow at the weakest rate since 2017—13.7%. However, a number of observers think the pattern is likely to shift. 

 

"While the macro continues to be soft, it is not getting materially worse and companies are figuring out how to operate in this," RBC Capital Markets analyst Rishi Jaluria said.