In late January, markets whipsawed as investors punished Big Tech spending without near-term returns, cheered AI profits at Meta and rising Meta stock price, and abruptly reversed gold and silver rallies after earnings shocks and Washington’s nomination for the next Federal Reserve chair.
Microsoft and Meta became early markers of what investors now appear to favor: visible returns over speculative spending. The shift began on the 29th, according to Leverage Shares analysis, and quickly spilled into commodities, with gold falling about 10% and silver plunging nearly 29% from their recent highs.
Microsoft and Meta became early markers of what investors now appear to favor: visible returns over speculative spending, reflected in commodity markets and closely watched through signals like Meta stock price movements.
The change began on the 29th, according to Leverage Shares, and quickly spilled into commodities, with gold falling about 10% and silver plunging nearly 29% from their recent highs.
AI’s “Show Me the Money” Test
Microsoft’s earnings call exposed growing investor impatience, sharpening the Meta earnings comparison of investors increasingly drawn between Big Tech peers. Azure, and other cloud services, grew 39%, below expectations, while its More Personal Computing segment also missed forecasts.
CFO Amy Hood defended the results, saying growth would have topped 40% if Microsoft had diverted more Graphics Processing Unit (GPUs) to customers instead of internal AI projects like Copilot. “If I had taken the GPUs that just came online… and allocated them all to Azure, the KPI would have been over 40,” she said.
But markets balked at the trade-off.
Microsoft’s capital expenditure surged 66%, and investors questioned whether massive chip spending made sense when power infrastructure and data-center permits may take quarters to materialize.
ServiceNow faced a similar backlash, sliding 11.6% the same day despite strong profits, as investors sold stocks with unclear AI monetization timelines reinforcing another Meta earnings comparison and pushing attention toward the Meta capex ratio that contrasts disciplined returns with open-ended spending.
The Facebook-parent told a different story, one that directly fed into its Meta stock price resilience. CFO, Susan Li, detailed how AI investments tied to Meta AI infrastructure directly lifted performance, noting that improved models drove a 3.5% increase in Facebook ad clicks and over 1% higher Instagram conversions.
“The GEM and sequence learning improvements together drove a 3.5% lift in ad clicks,” she said. Meta’s AI business assistant, she added, reached a multibillion-dollar annual run rate just seven months after launch, helping justify rising Meta AI capex.
Still, pressure remains. Meta shares dipped 1.4% after-hours Monday in a clear Meta stock slip, amid legal scrutiny and heavy spending forecasts, with 2026 capital expenditures projected up to $135 billion another reminder of accelerating Meta AI capex.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg reiterated the focus on “advancing personal superintelligence,” even as lawsuits and costs cloud the outlook. Investors, however, remain partly reassured by ongoing Meta share buyback plans, a strategy Meta has leaned on to support shareholder confidence and stabilize Meta stock price during volatile periods.
A Hawk, a Pivot, and a Metals’ Reset
AI-driven demand for silver in electronics and gold in data centers initially boosted precious metals.
On January 29, gold edged up 0.27%, peaking near $5,600 before the sentiment shifted, with the record high triggering a historic 21% collapse over the following days as investors liquidated positions.
The catalyst arrived with Kevin Warsh’s nomination as Fed chair. Though a known inflation hawk, his recent rate-cut critiques shifted expectations, puncturing gold’s “dollar debasement” rally and triggering a sharp correction fueled by Chinese retail speculation.
As tech stocks fell, hedge funds liquidated metals to cover losses, causing short-term correlations to spike. Institutions view this as a “healthy reset,” though long-term support remains tied to geopolitics, de-dollarization, and central bank demand.
In equities, attention has shifted toward balance-sheet discipline, recurring revenues, and shareholder returns factors reinforced by continued Meta share buyback activity and its perceived impact on Meta stock price.
Markets are no longer rewarding ambition alone. From AI to metals, investors want proof, and they want it now, whether through earnings, capital discipline, or mechanisms like Meta share buyback programs that anchor confidence in Meta stock price.
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