The Microsoft-Alphabet Misses That Didn’t Matter

Two stalwarts of the tech sector—Microsoft and Google’s parent company Alphabet—found different ways to put lipstick on a pig with their financial results on Tuesday. Both companies whiffed on their financial results for the quarter ended June 30. But both of them ended up seeing their shares rise by roughly the same percentage in after-hours trading.  

And now onto Akash and Nick for more on the particulars… 

Microsoft’s Future Focus

At first, Microsoft’s day was looking a little bleak. The cloud and software giant missed its financial forecasts, which it had lowered in early June with only 28 days before the quarter closed. Investors freaked a little after the company released its numbers on Tuesday afternoon, sending its shares skidding. But by the end of the company’s earnings call its stock was up 5%. What happened?