Apple delivered its best June quarter ever on July 30, reporting fiscal Q3 2026 revenue of $109.4 billion — up 16% year over year — and earnings per share of $2.02, well above the $1.89 analysts had forecast. Net profit hit $29.8 billion, and total revenue cleared the $108.8 billion consensus estimate. Yet despite the headline beat, Apple stock fell more than 6% in after-hours trading as investors zeroed in on two key misses: Greater China revenue and Services growth.The numbers tell a split story. iPhone revenue hit a record $54.3 billion for the June quarter, up 21.7% from a year earlier, an...

The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge cooled meaningfully in June, but the data has done little to change the central bank's hawkish posture. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on July 30 that the headline Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index rose 3.7% year over year in June — a sharp drop from 4.1% in May and the lowest reading in months. Core PCE, which strips out volatile food and energy prices and is the Fed's truest signal for underlying inflation, eased to 3.3% annually from 3.5% the prior month, hitting consensus estimates exactly. Consumer spending rose 0...

The semiconductor sector staged one of its most dramatic single-session reversals of 2026 on July 30, erasing a significant chunk of the $1 trillion-plus in market value wiped from chip stocks in the prior session. Intel (INTC) and AMD both soared 13% on the day — Intel to $92.67, AMD to $483.55 — while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) rallied 7% to $399.36. Lam Research (LRCX), which had reported record fiscal Q4 2026 revenue of $6.72 billion the previous evening, surged 17.6% in one of the largest single-day moves in its history. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), which provides b...

Amazon delivered one of its most impressive quarterly performances ever on July 30, 2026, reporting Q2 revenue of $200.6 billion — a 20% year-over-year jump and the company's first quarter above the $200 billion mark. The headline number beat Wall Street's expectations, but the real story was inside Amazon Web Services. AWS revenue surged 37% year over year to $42.2 billion, marking its fastest growth rate in 18 quarters and putting the cloud division on a $169 billion annualized revenue run rate. Amazon shares jumped nearly 10% in after-hours trading to around $252.95, recovering ground lost ...

Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) shares have surged more than 100% in 2026, with the stock recently touching 52-week highs above $81 per share. But Wall Street analysts are nowhere close to endorsing the move. The consensus rating on MRNA sits at "Reduce," with an average 12-month price target of around $38 to $49 — roughly 40% to 50% below where the stock is trading today. That disconnect between price performance and analyst conviction makes Moderna one of the most controversial biotech stories on the market right now, and retail investors chasing the rally should understand exactly what they are buyi...

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady in a 3.5%–3.75% target range on Wednesday, July 29, but the vote was far from unanimous: three members dissented in favor of a rate hike — the most fractured Fed decision in years. Hours later on Thursday morning, the Bureau of Economic Analysis delivered another blow: Q2 2026 GDP grew at just 1.5% annualized, missing the 2.1% consensus forecast and slowing sharply from 2.1% in Q1. The combination sent the Dow tumbling more than 800 points Wednesday before a partial recovery Thursday, and pushed the 30-year Treasury yield to 5.24% — i...

Apple delivered a strong beat in its fiscal third-quarter 2026 results on Thursday, posting $111.2 billion in revenue — well ahead of the $108.9 billion analysts had forecast — while earnings per share came in at $2.01, topping the $1.89 consensus estimate. The report marks Tim Cook's final earnings call as CEO before he hands the reins to hardware chief John Ternus on September 1. Cook's 15-year tenure closes with the company trading near all-time highs and leading the Magnificent 7 in year-to-date gains in 2026. The headline number was driven by continued strength across multiple product li...

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at its July 28–29 meeting, but bond markets delivered a verdict of their own: the 30-year Treasury yield surged 11 basis points on Wednesday to 5.22% — its largest single-day jump in more than a year and its highest level since July 2007. The move came despite the Fed's hold decision, driven by three hawkish dissents from Fed governors who wanted an immediate 25-basis-point rate increase and persistent investor unease about the long-term inflation trajectory. For retail investors, a 5.22% risk-free yield on a 30-year U.S. government bond is not a ...

Meta Platforms' second-quarter 2026 earnings report delivered a split verdict that sent shares tumbling roughly 10% in after-hours trading on Tuesday. Revenue of $60.8 billion beat the $60.2 billion Wall Street consensus and landed near the top of management's own $58–$61 billion guidance range — a clear sign Meta's advertising engine is still firing. But earnings per share of $6.18 missed the $7.17 consensus by nearly 14%, and the damage beneath the headline was severe enough to shake even long-term bulls on the stock. The culprit was a 55% surge in total costs and expenses to $42.0 billion ...

Microsoft delivered one of the most convincing earnings reports of the 2026 mega-cap season on Tuesday evening, posting fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $90.0 billion — up 18% year-over-year and well above the Street's $87.6 billion consensus. Shares surged more than 9% in after-hours trading, recovering a chunk of the ground lost during the year's summer tech rotation and sending a clear message to skeptics: AI infrastructure spending is producing real, measurable results. The headline driver was Azure. Microsoft's cloud platform grew 43% in constant currency during Q4, accelerating from the...