New York, Feb 1, 2026, 13:12 (EST) — Market closed
U.S. tech stocks face a busy start to February: Alphabet announces earnings on Feb 4, with Amazon set to follow on Feb 5. The U.S. jobs report lands on Feb 6. Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm are also scheduled to report this week, providing fresh insight into demand for data-center chips and devices. (Investopedia)
This phase of earnings season is critical, with tech giants facing pressure to explain both hefty spending and lofty valuations. Capital expenditures, or “capex,” continue rising as firms invest heavily in AI infrastructure. Investors, however, are quick to punish any slowdown in growth.
Roughly a quarter of the S&P 500 is due to report soon, with tech investors zeroing in less on earnings and more on guidance around cloud and AI spending. Jim Baird of Plante Moran Financial Advisors noted, “For those companies where expectations have become very, very lofty, the onus is going to be on them to deliver.” Meanwhile, Sid Vaidya at TD Wealth pointed out that recent results “confirmed that capex spending on building out AI infrastructure will not see any letup.” (Reuters)
Tech stocks stumbled late last week. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.94% on Friday, finishing at 23,461.82. Microsoft slipped 0.7% after a 10% plunge linked to weak cloud revenue. Apple rose 0.4%, boosted by a forecast for up to 16% revenue growth in the March quarter, although it flagged rising memory-chip costs squeezing margins. Meta Platforms fell 3%, while Tesla gained 3.3%. Storage firm SanDisk jumped 6.9% on a stronger outlook, but chip-equipment maker KLA Corp plunged 15.2%. “Markets are calibrating to Trump’s pick of Kevin Warsh … and the outlook for monetary policy,” noted Michael Hans of Citizens Wealth. (Reuters)
Rates remain in focus. Investors digested Donald Trump’s pick of Kevin Warsh to head the Federal Reserve once Jerome Powell’s term wraps up in May. At the same time, the producer price index showed inflation sticking around. The PPI — which tracks wholesale inflation — jumped 0.5% last month, well above forecasts for a 0.2% rise. Reuters noted companies are passing along higher costs linked to import tariffs. “Maybe some of the angst is just the fact that you’ve got uncertainty,” said Terry Sandven from U.S. Bank Asset Management. (Reuters)
Some economists doubt that a Warsh Fed would shift to a dovish stance anytime soon. “I have a tough time seeing Kevin Warsh being able to persuade his colleagues to a dovish position,” said Neil Dutta of Renaissance Macro. (Seeking Alpha)
The bigger threat for tech stocks this week comes from the mix of rising yields and weaker earnings forecasts. If Alphabet or Amazon ramp up spending without delivering results — or if the jobs report shifts rate expectations — the premium fueling tech’s rally could evaporate fast.
Investors are focused on cloud growth, ad demand, and margin trends, along with how companies describe their AI investments. The “hyperscalers” — the largest cloud operators running massive data centers — keep spending, but traders are trying to figure out when that spending will turn into steady profits instead of just rising costs.
Coming up fast: Alphabet reports on Feb 4, followed by Amazon on Feb 5, with the nonfarm payrolls report — the government’s monthly jobs tally — set for Feb 6.
