The stock market experienced a dramatic divergence on Friday, July 31, 2026, with Amazon. com Inc. (AMZN) surging approximately 15% while Apple Inc. (AAPL) saw its market capitalization plummet by nearly $475 billion. The opposing movements were driven by contrasting earnings reports and future outlooks from the two tech giants.
Amazon's stock price rocketed to $271.58 per share after the e-commerce and cloud computing leader announced a "home run" quarter for its Amazon Web Services (AWS) division. AWS reported its fastest growth since 2021, fueled by an accelerated demand for artificial intelligence and computing chips. CEO Andy Jassy announced plans for a significant investment of $220 billion this year to meet expanding capacity needs. This robust performance, with revenue growth of 37% and operating income up 43%, significantly surpassed Wall Street's expectations and boosted investor confidence in Amazon's AI infrastructure strategy.
Conversely, Apple faced a steep decline, with its shares dropping as much as 9.7%. Despite reporting record third-quarter revenue of $109.4 billion, a 16% year-over-year increase, the company's forecast for the upcoming quarter fell short of analyst expectations. Apple cited supply chain constraints, particularly for memory and advanced chips, as a primary reason for the weaker outlook. This guidance miss overshadowed strong iPhone sales and Services revenue growth, leading to a significant erosion of its market value. The stark contrast between the two tech bellwethers highlighted the market's immediate reaction to earnings, with Amazon's AI-driven growth story resonating more strongly than Apple's supply-chain concerns.
