AI investments appear to be a defining factor in market value and quarter results among tech giants.

Both Microsoft and Alphabet (Google’s parent company) saw sharp rises in their market share values thanks to investment in AI, whereas Meta has seen a slump.

Of the big tech companies, these three have reported their quarter results, with economists still waiting to see how Amazon will perform in turn.

Microsoft and Google have both taken bit leaps in the AI market, with Microsoft implementing their AI Co-Pilot across their Office Suite, and investing in AI for their cloud subsidiarity Azure.

The company also most notably is in a lucrative partnership with OpenAI, the creators behind ChatGPT.

As a result, Microsoft’s shares were up 3.84% on the New York Stock Exchange after beating Wall Street estimates on their third quarter profits and revenue.

The company’s revenue rose 17% in the quarter ending this past March, exceeding previous estimates at rounding out to $61.9 billion.

Their AI-driven capital expenditures were nearly $1 billion more than previously expected as well, showing the continued investment in AI.

However, the success of Microsoft also points to their domination of the cloud market.

“The valuation shared today should be a warning call to regulators looking at the current state of the cloud market,” Mark Boost CEO of Civo said.

“It’s clear that the hyperscalers are benefitting from anti-competitive practices like combining enticing free credit schemes with excessive egress fees which are ultimately locking users in and preventing them from leaving. A monopoly is forming, which is damaging the ecosystem and ultimately breaking cloud.

“In 2024, we need a new approach. There are plenty of challenger providers who are prioritising users and making cloud flexible, equitable, and easy to use, but these results show Big Tech is still dominating market share. It’s no longer sufficient to sit on the fence. We need to see action that prevents these damaging practices. Otherwise, Big Tech’s coffers will continue to grow at the cost of customers and the whole cloud ecosystem.”

Similarly, Alphabet’s shares skyrocketed 11.5%, set to top $2 trillion in market value.

Their revenue was up 15% year on year in the first quarter of 2024, reaching $80.5bn, and the company announced its first dividend of $0.20 per share.

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Meta, on the other hand, struggled, seeing its shares slump by 15% on Thursday, falling $190bn, though its revenue did increase 27% from the previous year.

Investors seemed conflicted on Meta’s increase in spending expenditure for AI, as Mark Zukerberg, CEO of Meta, said that returns on AI investment would take longer to see.