Microsoft shares hit all-time high

Today Microsoft shares hit their highest mark in the company’s 39 years of trading as a public company.

On March 13, 1986, Microsoft went public at $21 per share, raising $61 million. Nine stock splits later, the company is pretty far from the days of selling shrink-wrapped boxes of floppy disks containing Windows, having transformed into an AI cloud computing giant, as disagreements imperil the company’s $14 billion partnership with OpenAI.

Shares briefly hit an all-time high of $483.84 today.

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Matt Phillips27m

ServiceNow slips despite beating Q4 earnings expectations

Cloud software giant ServiceNow delivered better-than-expected Q4 sales and earnings after the close of trading on Wednesday, though the shares slipped in after hours trading.

The company reported:

Revenue of $3.57 billion, higher than the $3.53 billion analyst consensus estimate published by FactSet.
Adjusted earnings of $0.92 vs. the $0.88 analysts expected.
Subscription revenue of $3.47 billion vs. the $3.42 billion predicted.
Raised guidance for Q1 subscription revenues to between $3.65 billion and 3.655 billion, vs. the $3.58 billion FactSet consensus.
Non-GAAP gross margins were a little light of 80.5% vs. 81.1% FactSet consensus.

Despite the better-than-expected results, the stock was down after hours. ServiceNow also announced an expanded AI partnership with Anthropic, in which it will enmesh Anthropic’s Claude models more deeply into its products, alongside its financial results.

Such efforts to more closely associate itself with the AI boom have fizzled so far. Service now shares have plunged 45% over the last year. And investors clearly remain skeptical after the Q4 numbers.

IBM beats Q4 earnings expectations, stock rises

Here’s what big blue reported.

Matt Phillips43m

Max Knoblauch49m

Southwest climbs on stronger-than-expected 2026 earnings guidance

Southwest Airlines posted its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings after the bell on Wednesday. Its shares climbed more than 4% in after-hours trading.

The airline, one of the big four US carriers, guided for revenue per seat mile to climb “at least 9.5%” in the first quarter, and costs per seat mile to rise 3.5%. It forecast a 1% to 2% boost in capacity for Q1.

For the full year ahead, Southwest said it expects adjusted earnings of $4 per share, ahead of Wall Street estimates of $3.22.

The carrier, which flew its last open-seating flight on Tuesday, posted Q4 adjusted earnings of $0.58 per share, slightly above the $0.57 per share expected by Wall Street analysts polled by FactSet. Southwest’s passenger revenue rose 7.6% to $6.79 billion in the fourth quarter, beating estimates of $6.77 billion.

Rani Molla

Tesla beats on EPS and revenue, even as it posts first annual revenue drop

Tesla reported FSD subscription numbers and a list of cities where it says Robotaxi is expanding in the first half of 2016.

Elon Musk addresses World Economic Forum

Tasha Matsumoto, Luke Kawa

Stocks waver as all eyes are on Big Tech earnings

The S&P 500 finished flat as investors awaited tonight’s postmarket earnings from Meta, Microsoft, and Tesla.

BISHOP'S STORTFORD, ENGLAND - JANUARY 25: Snowfall in the Essex countryside on January 25, 2021 in Bishop's Stortford, Essex, United Kingdom.

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