NEW YORK, Feb 1, 2026, 12:53 EST — Market closed.
- Apple rose about 0.4% on Friday; Tesla gained 3.3% while Microsoft and Meta Platforms fell.
- Alphabet and Amazon earnings, plus the Feb. 6 U.S. jobs report, are the next big tests for megacap tech.
- Headline risk is rising again with a partial U.S. government shutdown and uncertainty around the next central-bank chair.
Big Tech stock prices go into Monday with investors still digesting Microsoft’s late-week slump and a mixed finish for the megacaps. The next cue will come quickly: Alphabet and Amazon report this week, and macro headlines are back in the mix.
This matters because the biggest tech stocks still do much of the work in U.S. indexes. When a heavyweight misses a high bar, the selling tends to spread fast, even to companies that did nothing that day.
The week ahead also brings fresh data that could shift expectations for the Federal Reserve and interest rates. Rate bets matter for tech because these stocks lean on future profits, and higher rates can knock down what investors are willing to pay.
Wall Street’s main indexes ended lower on Friday, with the Dow down 0.36%, the S&P 500 off 0.43% and the Nasdaq Composite sliding 0.94%, after President Donald Trump nominated former Fed governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell and producer prices — a gauge of costs at the factory gate — rose more than expected in December. “Markets are calibrating to Trump’s pick of Kevin Warsh,” Michael Hans of Citizens Wealth said, while Angelo Kourkafas at Edward Jones pointed to mixed tech earnings and “lingering inflation pressure.” Apple rose about 0.4% after forecasting March-quarter revenue growth of up to 16% while warning higher memory-chip prices were pressuring profit; Microsoft slid about 0.7% a day after a 10% plunge on cloud revenue, Meta fell about 3%, and Tesla gained 3.3% after reports SpaceX was exploring deals with Tesla and other Elon Musk-run companies. (Reuters)
Apple ended at $259.48 on Friday. Microsoft closed at $430.29, Meta at $716.50 and Tesla at $430.41.
Amazon finished at $239.30, Alphabet at $338.00 and Nvidia at $191.13.
The stakes now are less about “beat or miss” and more about guidance and spending. Traders have been focused on capital spending, or capex, because big checks for data centers need to show up later in revenue, not just bigger depreciation lines.
Alphabet and Amazon results are due this week, alongside the January U.S. jobs report on Feb. 6 that economists expect to show payrolls rose 64,000, a Reuters poll found. Jim Baird of Plante Moran Financial Advisors warned expectations for some AI-linked companies had become “very, very lofty,” leaving little room for disappointment. Sid Vaidya at TD Wealth said capex tied to AI infrastructure “will not see any letup.” (Reuters)
Investor demand has not vanished. U.S. equity funds pulled in $10.73 billion in the week to Jan. 28, and tech sector funds attracted $1.72 billion, LSEG Lipper data showed. (Reuters)
Policy risk is rising at an awkward moment. The U.S. entered a partial government shutdown on Saturday, and House Speaker Mike Johnson said he was confident lawmakers could end it by Tuesday. (Reuters)
Trump kept pressing his case for Warsh over the weekend, saying the nominee could draw Democratic votes and “should have no trouble” winning Senate confirmation. Powell’s term as chair ends in May, Reuters reported. (Reuters)
But Big Tech’s valuation still leaves little margin for error if bond yields rise or the jobs data run hot. A strong Feb. 6 payrolls print, or another inflation surprise, could push traders to price fewer rate cuts and squeeze tech multiples again.
On the calendar, markets will watch ISM manufacturing data on Monday, Alphabet’s earnings on Wednesday and Amazon’s report on Thursday, with the U.S. employment report due Friday. For Big Tech traders, that Feb. 6 jobs number is the next hard date on the screen. (Investopedia)
