LONDON (Reuters) — Microsoft and Google have shown investors that a massive investment in artificial intelligence can pay off with increased revenues, easing concerns raised a day earlier by Meta, which said its costly foray into AI did not immediately bear fruit.
Shares of Google parent Alphabet rose more than 11% in extended trading Friday, while shares of Microsoft rose nearly 5%.
That contrasts with a more than 10% drop in Meta shares on Thursday, after the social media company signaled that its expensive bet on AI could take years to pay off.
Microsoft beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue and profit on Thursday, driven by gains from the adoption of artificial intelligence in its cloud services.
Alphabet announced its first-ever dividend and a $70 billion stock buyback on Thursday, after beating expectations for the quarter in sales, profits and advertising.
(Reporting by Samuel Indyk; editing by Amanda Cooper)
