In Q4 2025, earnings for major companies within the S&P 500 have shown solid growth, but post-earnings reactions vary significantly. Meta Platforms (META) saw its shares rise after reporting adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $8.88, an 11% increase year-over-year, with sales up 24% to $40 billion. In contrast, Microsoft (MSFT) faced a sharp decline, despite reporting a double-beat with adjusted EPS of $4.14 and sales of $81.3 billion—both increases of 24% and 17%, respectively. The notable downturn for Microsoft was largely attributed to high capital expenditures of $37.5 billion and a slowdown in Azure growth.
Meta’s average Family Daily Active People (DAP) reached approximately 3.6 billion, representing a 7% increase year-over-year. Additionally, ad impressions grew 18%, while the average price per ad rose 6%. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud segment, which includes Azure, generated $32.9 billion in sales, reflecting a 28% increase but a deceleration in growth compared to previous periods.
