Wall Street backs AI winners, and Meta's not one of them this quarter

Core Insights - Amazon and Alphabet are emerging as leaders in AI monetization, with Amazon's AWS growth and Alphabet's cloud revenue significantly increasing [1][3] - Microsoft shows strong cloud growth but struggles with stock performance despite solid earnings [2] - Meta's revenue beat expectations but faced a significant stock drop due to investor concerns over ROI from AI investments [3][6] Company Performance - Amazon reported its strongest AWS growth since 2022, with expectations of record revenue exceeding $200 billion next quarter [1] - Alphabet's cloud revenue surged by 34%, nearly 80% higher than the previous year, aided by partnerships with OpenAI and Meta [1] - Microsoft leads in raw cloud growth at 40%, but high expectations have led to stock underperformance despite a solid quarter [2] Investor Sentiment - Meta's stock experienced its worst drop in three years, raising questions about CEO Mark Zuckerberg's ability to deliver ROI without a cloud business [3] - Investors are increasingly focused on how companies can monetize their AI investments, with Amazon and Alphabet providing clearer strategies [3][6] - Alphabet's recent discussions on monetization strategies for its AI initiatives have positively influenced investor sentiment [6][7]