Preview of US Stock Market | Three major stock index futures rose together, with the stock prices of the four major technology giants showing differentiation after their performance. Apple announced its financial report after hours.

Pre-Market Market Trends 1. Before the U.S. stock market on April 30 (Thursday), the futures of the three major U.S. stock indexes all rose. As of the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.69%, the S&P 500 Index futures were up 0.55%, and the Nasdaq futures were up 0.74%. 2. As of the time of writing, the German DAX index rose by 1.04%, the UK FTSE 100 index rose by 1.64%, the French CAC 40 index rose by 0.14%, and the European Stoxx 50 index rose by 0.56%. 3. As of the time of writing, WTI crude oil fell by 1.85% to $104.90 per barrel. Brent crude oil fell by 0.92% to $109.42 per barrel. Market News Consistent increase in AI investment: The capital expenditures of the four major U.S. tech giants have reached a new level. Against the background of continued growth in artificial intelligence (AI) demand and rising costs of chips and data centers, the four major tech giants among the "Big Seven" in the tech sector that released their quarterly reports on Wednesday did not signal a reduction in investment, but instead further raised their capital expenditure expectations. Data shows that Microsoft Corporation, Amazon.com, Inc., Meta, and Alphabet Inc. Class C have increased their capital expenditures for this year to $725 billion mainly for AI data center equipment, higher than the market's previous expectation of $670 billion. Specifically, Alphabet Inc. Class C stated that it expects its full-year capital expenditures for 2026 to be between $180 billion and $190 billion, with both upper and lower limits raised by $5 billion from before. The company also expects a "significant increase" in capital expenditures in 2027. Microsoft Corporation similarly stated that it expects its capital expenditures for 2026 to reach $190 billion, with about $25 billion coming from rising component prices. This figure far exceeds the market's average expectation of $117.5 billion. Amazon.com, Inc. stated that its capital expenditure plan is "broadly in line" with the expectation given in January. Meta has raised its full-year capital expenditure expectation for 2026 to $125 billion to $145 billion, with both upper and lower limits raised by $10 billion from before. Meta stated that the increase in capital expenditure expectations is mainly due to an expected rise in component prices this year, as well as increased data center costs to support future capacity. Multiple economic data released in the U.S.: In the week ending April 25, initial jobless claims in the United States reached 189,000, the lowest since September 24, 2022. The core PCE price index in March rose 3.2% year-over-year, with an expected 3.20% and a previous value of 3.00%; the core PCE price index rose 0.3% month-over-month in March, with an expected 0.30% and a previous value of 0.40%; personal spending in the U.S. rose 0.9% month-over-month in March, with an expected 0.9% and a revised value from 0.50% to 0.6%. The initial estimate of the annualized quarterly real GDP growth rate for the first quarter in the U.S. was 2%, with an expected 2.3% and a previous value of 0.50%. Interest rate decisions reveal signals of power: Analysts say FOMC's record-level dissent signals to Warn Powell "unable to fully control the situation." Dario Perkins of TS Lombard said that the Fed's decision to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday should be seen as a warning to Washington rather than a signal that current Chairman Powell has lost control of the central bank. The FOMC, responsible for setting interest rates, kept the policy rate unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75% for the third consecutive meeting, citing uncertainties in the U.S. and global economic outlook. This meeting saw an unusually large number of dissenting votes, with four members voting against the decision a number unprecedented in the history of the committee. Perkins refuted what he called "foolish views" that Powell has lost control. Instead, he argued for a "sensible reading" that the committee is sending a signal to the incoming chair, Warn that he won't be able to fully control the situation after taking the helm. Perkins compared the Fed's move to the Bank of England's "strategic voting," where decision-makers sometimes vote against to guide market expectations before leadership changes or policy shifts. War, inflation erode consumption, U.S. Q1 GDP growth under pressure, government and AI investments become "lifelines." The impact of inflation caused by the Middle East war has affected consumers, and the growth of the U.S. economy in 2026 may increasingly rely on government and corporate spending. A report released on Thursday is expected to show that this trend began to take shape in the first quarter of this year, even before the effects of the war became apparent. Economists surveyed expect the GDP to grow at an annual rate of 2.3% in the first quarter, while consumer spending growth may be only 1.4%. After the federal government set a record for the longest shutdown at the end of 2025, government spending rebounded significantly, which may boost overall GDP data. Forecasters believe that if the conflict continues, increased defense spending will provide support for economic growth. At the same time, corporate investment data may reflect a continued hot trend in spending related to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. Middle East conflict reignites shadow near war, oil prices touch the highest point since June 2022. According to the latest reports, the U.S. military is set to report the latest strike plan against Iran to Trump on April 30th Eastern Time. The new plan prepared by the U.S. Central Command is a "fast and powerful" strike against Iran, with potential targets likely to include Iran's infrastructure. The U.S. Central Command has requested the deployment of "Dark Eagle" hypersonic missiles to the Middle East region. If approved, it would be the first time the U.S. deploys hypersonic missiles in combat, possibly used to target ballistic missile launch sites in Iran. Analysts point out that despite the U.S. and Iran being in a temporary ceasefire since April 9th, this move by the U.S. indicates that it is preparing for potential military strikes in the future. Currently, both the U.S. and Iran are rearming during the ceasefire, and future conflicts could be more intense. On Thursday, Brent crude oil futures for June briefly rose above $126 per barrel, reaching a four-year high. "New Bond King" Gundlach bearish on gold: Below $4,000 per ounce is a good opportunity, beware of inflation returning to the "4-digit" range. Gundlach stated that he would not be surprised if gold falls below $4,000 per ounce before resuming its upward trend. He said, "I have always advised investors to hold index-like products and directly allocate a small amount to gold," "But I don't recommend doing that now. I think there will be a cheaper entry point." Gundlach pointed out that after gold rose vertically from $3,500, it peaked around $5,500. Meanwhile, Gundlach believes that the bond market is signaling that high inflation will persist longer than previously expected, "The bond market has already started digesting expectations of higher inflation lasting longer, and we believe this is entirely reasonable." He predicted that due to high oil prices, the overall consumer price index (CPI) may be around 3% by the end of 2026, and could possibly reach the "4-digit" range in the coming months. Stock News Alphabet (GOOGL.US) Q1 results shock: Revenue grows 22%, Alphabet Inc. Class C cloud business grows explosively by 63% to $20 billion, $70 billion buyback plus 5% dividend raise to reward shareholders. The report shows that in the first quarter, Alphabet achieved a double leap in revenue and profits, with total revenue reaching $109.9 billion, a 22% year-over-year increase, significantly exceeding the market's previous estimate of $107.2 billion. Net profit soared by 81% year-over-year to $62.6 billion. The performance of Alphabet Inc. Class C's cloud business officially marks its entry into a mature profit period, with quarterly revenue reaching the $20 billion mark for the first time, a year-over-year growth rate of 63.4%, far exceeding the $12.26 billion in the same period of the previous year. Market analysis points out that the explosive growth of Alphabet Inc. Class C's cloud business is mainly benefiting from strong demand from enterprise customers for AI infrastructure and custom TPU chips. More importantly, the company disclosed that its cloud business's backlog orders almost doubled from around $240 billion in the previous quarter to $462 billion, showing its strong commercial attractiveness and customer stickiness with AI solutions in long-cycle markets. In addition, to reward investors, the company's board announced a 5% increase in quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share, and also authorized a $70 billion stock buyback plan. As of the time of writing, Alphabet was up over 7% in pre-market trading on Thursday. Azure cloud computing revenue surges by over 40% + $190 billion added to AI infrastructure! Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) missed its performance target, but it is enough to push the AI super bull market. In the third quarter of the 2026 fiscal year ending March 31, Microsoft's total revenue reached approximately $82.886 billion, an 18% year-over-year increase, significantly higher than market expectations. Operating profit was approximately $38.398 billion, a 20% year-over-year increase; net profit was $31.778 billion, a 23% year-over-year increase; diluted EPS was $4.27, a 23% year-over-year increase. These figures show that Microsoft Corporation has not slowed down fundamentally and is still one of the few global tech giants capable of maintaining high double-digit revenue growth and high profit margins on top of the near-billion-dollar revenue base. Excluding the impact of exchange rate fluctuations, the focus of the market was on the business sector of Azure cloud computing, which achieved a 39% revenue growth in the third quarter of the 2026 fiscal year. However, this growth rate only slightly exceeded the analysts' average forecast of 38%, still not enough to reassure investors of the continued small and uncertain revenue prospects of AI-driven. Additionally, 20 million customers have already paid for the company's flagship AI application, Copilot, up from 15 million in the previous quarter. As of the time of writing, Microsoft Corporation was down nearly 2% in pre-market trading on Thursday. Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.US) exceeded expectations in Q1 revenue and profit! AI bold bets pay off: AWS grows by 28% to reach a three-year high, eyeing a $200 billion AI budget for the year. In the first quarter, Amazon.com, Inc.'s spending on increasing data center capacity exceeded expectations, driving its cloud business to achieve the fastest sales growth in over three years. The report shows that Amazon.com, Inc.'s first-quarter revenue reached $181.52 billion, a year-over-year increase of 16.6%, exceeding expectations by $4.35 billion; earnings per share were $2.78, exceeding expectations by $1.13. AWS sales in the first three months of 2026 reached $37.6 billion, a 28% year-over-year increase. Advertising revenue grew by 24% to reach $17.2 billion, surpassing the average expected $16.9 billion. The company's spending for the year is estimated at around $200 billion a 56% increase from 2025. In the first quarter, property and equipment spending surged to $44.2 billion, exceeding analysts' estimates. Due to these expenditures, Amazon.com's rolling 12-month free cash flow fell from $25.9 billion a year ago to $1.2 billion by the end of the quarter. As of the time of writing, Amazon.com was up over 2% in pre-market trading on Thursday. AI infrastructure frenzy triggers PCB! U.S. PCB giant TTM (TTMI.US) reaches a new profit high. TTM Technologies is a leading player in the defense and AI PCB fields, contributing approximately 30% of PCB manufacturing capacity in North America. The financial report shows that TTM's Q1 revenue increased by 30% to $8.46 billion, reaching a historical high; Non-GAAP net profit was $80.10 million, with a diluted EPS of $0.75, a 50% increase from $0.50 from the same period last year, and also a record quarter. The total order-to-ship ratio (book-to-bill) reached 1.41, indicating that order strength is significantly higher than the delivery confirmation pace. Book-to-Bill is a key industry metric used to measure the relationship between orders and shipments, widely used in the semiconductor, electronic manufacturing, and CXO (Contract Research and Development Organization) industries, to gauge the market demand vitality. Important Economic Data and Events Preview 9:45 pm Beijing time: U.S. April Chicago PMI Earnings Forecast Friday morning: Apple Inc. (AAPL.US), Western Digital Corporation (WDC.US), Roku (ROKU.US) Friday pre-market: Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM.US), Chevron Corporation (CVX.US)