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AI Stock News Briefing — Friday, July 31, 2026 at 6:15 AM

AI Stocks7/31/2026🕐 6:15 AM⏱ 7:00Market watchPre-market

Top stories, ranked by relevance.

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#1MSFT — Azure Crosses $100B Annual Run Rate; Stock Surges 16%

Microsoft's Q4 FY2026 was a generational beat: revenue $90.0B (+18% YoY), EPS $4.81 (+32%), and Azure alone crossing $100B in annualized revenue for the first time. The stock added roughly $450B in market cap in a single session — one of the largest single-day value additions in U.S. market history. A $3.2B gain on Microsoft's Anthropic stake and ~$5B in OpenAI investment gains also juiced EPS.

#2AMZN — AWS AI Blowout Sends Stock +13% Premarket

Amazon beat on both top and bottom lines, with AWS AI workloads cited as the primary growth engine. Analysts note Amazon joins Microsoft in demonstrating that hyperscaler capex is converting directly to revenue at scale. Combined 2026 capex across the four hyperscalers (AMZN, MSFT, META, GOOGL) is now tracking $720–745B.

#3MU — Micron Surges 22% on AI Memory Demand Surge

Micron is the standout percentage mover this morning, rallying hard on AI memory demand, fair-value upgrades, and a key catalyst: Apple's CEO confirmed rising memory costs on the AAPL earnings call, signaling strong pricing power for Micron. This follows Micron's own blowout fiscal Q3 — revenue $41.46B (+345.7% YoY), adj. EPS $25.11 vs. $20.28 expected, GAAP gross margin 84.6%.

#4AMD / SOXX — Chip Sector Snaps Back 13%; ETF +8%

A M D surged 13% to $483.55, Taiwan Semi rose 7% to $399.36, and the SOXX semiconductor ETF posted its best single-session return in months at +8% to $501.83. Intel also jumped 13%. The recovery follows a brutal mid-July selloff triggered by Samsung disappointments and multi-session drops in Intel and Micron. Analysts are calling it a "mid-cycle reset" bounce rather than a new breakout.

#5META — Revenue Beat, EPS Miss; Capex Raised to $145B

Meta's Q2 came in at $60.8B revenue (+28% YoY), beating consensus, but EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.22 expectation badly — hit by a $2.4B legal charge and severance costs from May headcount cuts. The bigger headline: 2026 capex guidance raised to $130–145B. Free cash flow took a significant hit. Stock traded mixed, initially selling off on cash burn before recovering.

#7AAPL — Apple Misses on Services and China; Stock Falls 7.2%

Apple's quarter disappointed on Services revenue and China sales, with competitive pressure in the China market flagged as a persistent headwind. The stock dropped 7.2%. The silver lining for the broader AI trade: Cook's comments on rising memory costs were a clear read-through benefit for Micron, which may partly explain MU's massive move today.

#8PLTR — Palantir Upgraded to Buy at DA Davidson; $175 Price Target

DA Davidson upgraded Palantir to Buy with a $175 price target, citing accelerating U.S. commercial revenue — up 133% YoY to $595M in Q1 FY2026. Full-year 2026 guidance was raised to $7.65–7.66B. An Nvidia sovereign-AI partnership announced July 6 added further momentum. Shares are still down roughly 20% YTD but sentiment is shifting fast.

#9ORCL — Oracle Posts Record Q4; Wins $7B DoD Contract

Oracle's Q4 FY2026 hit $19.18B in revenue (+21% YoY), with cloud infrastructure revenue up 93% and Oracle Cloud overall up 47%. Separately, the company was awarded a 10-year, approximately $7B Department of Defense enterprise software contract, cementing its position as a key government AI infrastructure play.

#10Anthropic — IPO Roadshow Underway at $965B Valuation

Anthropic filed its S-1 confidentially on June 1 and bankers began scheduling investor meetings in mid-July for a potential October debut. The expected ticker is ANTH. Last valuation was $965B in a May funding round — which would put it ahead of OpenAI's $852B figure. This is the most anticipated tech IPO in years, and possibly ever by dollar size. Not yet publicly traded; flag for watch.

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