US stock markets climbed Friday, driven by a post-earnings surge in Amazon and tech sector momentum, even as Apple shares dropped nearly 10 percent following disappointing China and services revenue.
Amazon Leads Tech Rally With Record Quarterly Revenue
US stock markets traded higher as strong corporate results from major technology firms lifted investor confidence across Wall Street. The S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.2 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 99 points, or 0.2 percent, in Friday trading. The broader market rebound followed a volatile week marked by mixed technology earnings and global trade developments.
Amazon stock surged nearly 12 percent after the company reported record third-quarter revenue of $180.2 billion, up 13 percent compared to the same period last year. Its cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services, grew about 20 percent, marking its fastest growth in recent years. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives noted that investors regained comfort in management’s ability to retain a leading AI position
following the report.
Apple Shares Sink Amid China Pressures and Services Shortfall
Apple shares fell 9.56 percent in Friday afternoon trading, dropping $31.88 to $301.55, despite the company reporting a record fiscal third-quarter 2026 performance. The steep sell-off occurred because investors focused instead on weaker-than-expected results from the company’s Services division and its operations in China. The decline arrived just days after Apple had briefly reached a $5 trillion market capitalization and reclaimed the title of world’s most valuable publicly traded company from Nvidia.
“Its stock was sitting just below record highs going into earnings, having cleared the $5 trillion valuation hurdle again and reclaiming the title of world’s most valuable public company. The results appear not quite good enough to justify such lofty valuations.”
Rick Rodda, Analyst, via TheStreet
The China weakness reflects intense competitive pressure from domestic smartphone manufacturers such as Huawei, which have continued gaining market share. Meanwhile, the Services division—covering the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud subscriptions, and Apple TV+—fell short of expectations, raising questions near-term for one of the company’s high-margin growth drivers.
Divergent Fortunes in the Memory and AI Infrastructure Squeeze
The stark split between Amazon and Apple’s market reactions reflects a broader macroeconomic theme across the technology sector. Both companies navigate a tight global supply of memory chips and advanced semiconductors driven by surging artificial intelligence demand. While Amazon converted that dynamic into robust cloud revenue growth, Apple faced more direct cost and margin pressure on hardware as component prices climbed.
Other major technology players participated in Friday’s upward momentum. Netflix rose 3 percent after announcing a 10-for-1 stock split, while Tesla and Palantir gained 3 percent and 4 percent, respectively. Getty Images stock jumped 19 percent after revealing a multi-year licensing deal with Perplexity AI to integrate creative and editorial photos into search results.
Federal Reserve Caution and Global Trade Developments
Market sentiment received additional support from Washington and Beijing. President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping agreed on a one-year trade truce following talks in South Korea. The agreement included a 10 percent tariff cut on Chinese goods tied to fentanyl, bringing total tariffs on imports to 47 percent, alongside Beijing pausing rare earth export controls for one year. However, issues involving US restrictions on Nvidia AI chip exports and TikTok divestiture requirements remain unresolved.
At the same time, monetary policy officials struck a cautious tone regarding economic conditions. Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan stated she would have opposed a recent rate cut, arguing that inflation remains too high
and the labor market is cooling slowly.
Despite intraday fluctuations, all three major indexes were positioned to close the week and month higher. The S&P 500 advanced 0.8 percent for the week, the Nasdaq gained 2.5 percent, and the Dow climbed 0.7 percent. For October, the Dow’s 2 percent rise marked its sixth straight positive month, representing its longest winning streak since 2018 as investors weigh robust corporate earnings against persistent inflation and geopolitical risks.
