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Barclays Maintains Bullish Stance On Nuclear

Barclays is out with a report on nuclear and how the industry is progressing from conviction to construction. The report highlights year-to-date regulatory developments, demand and execution signals and market pricing across the industry. 

Last year, Barclays argued three core points regarding nuclear energy:

• A nuclear renaissance is underway driven by energy security, decarbonization, and AI power demand
• The nuclear fuel cycle is likely to be an upstream bottleneck that requires reshoring
• As the theme matures, practical hurdles will take center stage, such as speed to power, labor, permitting, and unit economics

Given the run up in their broad global nuclear ecosystem index (BCGLNUCL +19%) this year, there is undoubtedly a continued interest in the nuclear theme. This also correlates with “a broad rotation from capital-light to capital-heavy (HALO) sectors”.

The market seems to be distinguishing between the themes within the nuclear renaissance, with companies in the nuclear fuel chain (BCNUCLUR +30%) providing higher returns YTD than the broader nuclear ecosystem…

The bar is being set higher by investors lately, though, with money being “less willing to fund nuclear on narrative alone, instead increasingly rewarding delivery of existing megawatts, visible permitting progress or at least a credible bridge from concept to contracted project”. 

As we detailed long before most others started realizing it, Barclays also notes how the Iran war has accentuated national energy security concerns. It has not gone unnoticed how countries like France have had little to care about with the dramatic energy market price swings, while countries like Germany and other Asian nations have suffered. 

The Iran war has also led to a plus for nuclear energy adoption in Europe based on the broader concept of the strategic autonomy agenda at the EU.

As it should be well understood by our readers at this point, the underwriting of nuclear development by hyperscalers has given significant confidence to the adoption of nuclear energy in the US. Massive energy deals from Meta, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have all highlighted the significant role to be played by a power source that's actually clean and reliable. 

While Barclays notes there are plenty of bottlenecks that remain throughout the nuclear industry, “progress has become more visible in areas that matter most for build out”. Issues are being worked on in concrete ways throughout the fuel cycle, licensing, and component supply areas. 

The report emphasizes that the clearest evidence of progress is in the fuel cycle. Progress is turning into production at US uranium mines and major projects are progressing through development in Canada. 

Other award programs from the U.S Department of Energy are also boosting the front end of the fuel chain, specifically the $2.7 billion for enrichment capacity. 

Significant progress has also been made on the regulation front with improvements to new licensing pathways and high speed programs for iteration and demonstration of new reactor technology. 

With site-specific planning ongoing, along with early component ordering, “the industry is beginning to bridge the gap between design ambition and concrete delivery”. 

Calling back to their previous point of the labor bottleneck, this challenge is starting to work its way to be the leading issue. Unlike a lot of the supply chain issues, which are mostly solved with more money, “workforce constraints remain deeply structural and are likely to take longer to ease”. 

And then there is the issue of where the US gets 300,000 engineers to build all this missing power supply by 2030 https://t.co/a18crhqZ4v pic.twitter.com/tinW8SHDwM

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 14, 2025

At Barclay's recent NextGen Energy Conference in New York, the participants reportedly highlighted labor as a critical and growing execution constraint on both the data center construction and power generation construction areas. Data centers and reactor plants will find themselves competing for the same limited pool of electricians, engineers, and experienced construction labor. 

This leads to Barclays making the closing statement that “labour is now emerging as perhaps the most important residual hurdle to the pace of the nuclear renaissance, with progress in this area likely to play a key role in determining whether improving policy support and hyperscaler demand can translate into build-out at scale”.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 18:00

The Rockets staved off elimination in Game 4 to force tonight's Game 5.

Disgusting new alleged details have emerged in laying out exactly how prosecutors were able to charge D4vd with the murder of Celeste Rivas. According to legal documents, obtained by The California Post, investigators say the singer, real name David Burke, ordered an Uber to deliver Rivas from her family home in Lake Elsinore to his...

Elmer Rodríguez struggled to throw strikes in his MLB debut, Jasson Domínguez left the game early after being hit by a pitch on the left elbow and most problematic, the Yankees could not touch Nathan Eovaldi.

Brady Tkachuk is tired of trade talks. 

Dana Perino knows something about having a quarter life crisis.

The Day The Memecoin Dies

Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance

I opened Twitter this morning and saw a photo of a group of guys, lanyards swinging, hoodies zipped, shuffling off to a “memecoin conference.”

Which is to say we have reached the point in the batshit insanity cycle where people are boarding planes and booking hotels to celebrate coins that started as jokes about dogs. Pause and really sit with that.

Memecoins are not businesses. They are not technologies in any meaningful sense. They produce nothing, fix nothing, and generate exactly zero in revenue unless you count the transfer of money from the last guy in to the guy just ahead of him. They are vapor. Digitized empty space. Financial air pockets passed hand to hand with a straight face, as if this is all perfectly rational behavior.

And right now, it feels normal.

Of course it does. Markets are pressing highs. The Shiller P/E ratio is floating around nosebleed territory at 40x still. Everyone is still making money, or thinks they are. Risk is a punchline despite AI deals falling apart and private credit imploding. In that kind of environment, a memecoin conference doesn’t look insane. It looks like networking.

Now fast forward. Not a polite dip. Not a minor wobble. A real drawdown in the stock market. 30%, maybe more. The kind that makes people stop checking their portfolios because they already know what they’ll see. The kind that turns group chats quiet.

Now try pitching Dogecoin in that environment. Try explaining Shiba Inu to someone who just watched a third of their net worth evaporate. Go ahead, tell them it’s “community driven” and see how far that gets you. What passes for clever marketing in a bull market starts to sound like a bad joke when people are bleeding money. That’s when this whole thing stops being cute. And trust me, it’ll happen.

Because memecoins don’t have a floor. There is no underlying business, no cash flow, no assets, no mechanism to anchor price to reality. When sentiment breaks, there is nothing to catch them. They don’t fall, they disappear. Liquidity dries up, bids vanish, and what was once “worth” billions becomes a ghost town of abandoned tickers and bagholders like it all existed on Alderaan the day before the Death Star vaporized it.

And yes, before the emails come in, maybe Bitcoin has a role. Maybe Ethereum does too. Fine. Debate that all you want. But crypto as a whole still sits at the far edge of the risk spectrum. It is where excess lives. It is where speculation goes when plain old stocks aren’t exciting enough.

And at the absolute tip of that spear, the sharpest, most unstable point, are memecoins. Of the $2.6T crypto ecosystem, bitcoin is $1.5T and ethereum is $274B. That would still leave about $750 billion in excess bullshit and nonsense that doesn’t necessarily need to exist for any reason.

🔥 50% OFF FOR LIFE: Using this coupon entitles you to 50% off an annual subscription to Fringe Finance for life: Get 50% off forever

They are not investments. They are momentum traps wrapped in irony. They only work as long as someone more reckless shows up after you. That’s not a strategy. That’s a countdown.

I can’t believe I have to say this, but if you need a simple rule, here it is. If the entire pitch boils down to “someone else will pay more later,” you are not investing. You are volunteering to be the exit liquidity. And in markets like this, there is always someone left holding the bag. Try not to forget that…as we rush to more all time highs.

Now read:

• Did A $1.5 Trillion Pin Just Pop The Entire AI Bubble?
• How One Fund Manager Is Taking Advantage Of Wartime Volatility
• A Proven Skeptic Raises Another Red Flag
• SpaceX, Incentives And Perception Versus Profit

--

QTR’s Disclaimer: Please read my full legal disclaimer on my About page here. This post represents my opinions only. In addition, please understand I am an idiot and often get things wrong and lose money. I may own or transact in any names mentioned in this piece at any time without warning. Contributor posts and aggregated posts have been hand selected by me, have not been fact checked and are the opinions of their authors. They are either submitted to QTR by their author, reprinted under a Creative Commons license with my best effort to uphold what the license asks, or with the permission of the author.

This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks or securities, just my opinions. I often lose money on positions I trade/invest in. I may add any name mentioned in this article and sell any name mentioned in this piece at any time, without further warning. None of this is a solicitation to buy or sell securities. I may or may not own names I write about and are watching. Sometimes I’m bullish without owning things, sometimes I’m bearish and do own things. Just assume my positions could be exactly the opposite of what you think they are just in case. If I’m long I could quickly be short and vice versa. I won’t update my positions. All positions can change immediately as soon as I publish this, with or without notice and at any point I can be long, short or neutral on any position. You are on your own. Do not make decisions based on my blog. I exist on the fringe. If you see numbers and calculations of any sort, assume they are wrong and double check them. I failed Algebra in 8th grade and topped off my high school math accolades by getting a D- in remedial Calculus my senior year, before becoming an English major in college so I could bullshit my way through things easier.

The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided in this page. These are not the opinions of any of my employers, partners, or associates. I did my best to be honest about my disclosures but can’t guarantee I am right; I write these posts after a couple beers sometimes. I edit after my posts are published because I’m impatient and lazy, so if you see a typo, check back in a half hour. Also, I just straight up get shit wrong a lot. I mention it twice because it’s that important.

 

 

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 17:40

The reality star made sure to point out the new couple's 24-year age gap.

The reality star made sure to point out the new couple's 24-year age gap.

Other celebrities in attendance included Kevin and Kate Love, David Lee and Caroline Wozniacki, Jonathan "Foodgod" Cheben, Larsa Pippen and more.

Other celebrities in attendance included Kevin and Kate Love, David Lee and Caroline Wozniacki, Jonathan "Foodgod" Cheben, Larsa Pippen and more.

This Apple fell far from the (expensive) tree.

There's a new couple in town!

Putin Presents Victory Day Truce In Ukraine During 90-Minute Trump Call

With things in the Persian Gulf and the Iran War 'stuck'... it's apparently time to pivot back to that other 'stuck' war, in Ukraine. President Trump on Wednesday spoke over the phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, with the call reportedly lasting an impressive 1.5+ hours, and the talk centered on finding ways forward both with the Iran and Ukraine conflicts.

The most important item to emerge was that Putin reportedly proposed declaring a ceasefire in Ukraine on May 9, which is Russia's 'Victory Day' in World War II, and Trump endorsed the idea.

Pool via Reuters

Russian Presidential Aide for Foreign Affairs Yury Ushakov told reporters that the call was initiated by the Moscow side - and according to him, "Vladimir Putin informed his American counterpart of his readiness to declare a truce for the period of Victory Day celebrations."

Here is some of the readout and Ushakov's remarks to the press in Moscow:

"At Trump's request, Vladimir Putin described the current situation along the line of contact, where our troops are holding the strategic initiative and pushing back the enemy’s positions," Ushakov told reporters.

"Both Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump expressed essentially similar assessments of the behavior of the Kyiv regime led by [Volodymyr] Zelensky, which, incited and with the support of the Europeans, is pursuing a policy of prolonging the conflict."

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has devastated swathes of Ukrainian territory, killed thousands of civilians and forced millions to flee their homes.

Putin said he was ready "to declare a ceasefire for the duration of Victory Day celebrations. Trump actively supported this initiative, noting that the holiday marks our shared victory," Ushakov said.

The timing is interesting, given that the White House is clearly consumed with the Iran war, the Hormuz Strait crisis, and the expanding economic fallout globally and at home. Putin it seems is seeking the opportunity to soften Washington's stance toward Moscow's perspective of the Ukraine war.

But they did also heavily discuss Trump's Operation Epic Fury. Ideas for resolving the conflict were discussed - though few details on this have emerged. Putin as expected called for peace, and said that extending the ceasefire was the right move by Trump. According to some of the published statements:

"Vladimir Putin considers Donald Trump's decision to extend the ceasefire with Iran to be the right one, as this should give negotiations a chance and, overall, help to stabilize the situation."

But Putin also "highlighted the inevitable and extremely damaging consequences not only for Iran and its neighbors, but also for the entire international community, should the U.S. and Israel resort to military action once again," Ushakov said.

He added Russia was "firmly committed to providing every possible assistance to diplomatic efforts" on the Middle East war, and said the call was held at Moscow's initiative.

Despite that Iran remains a key regional ally of Russia's, it remains that Moscow has benefited from both the easing of sanctions on its oil exports at sea, and rising global oil prices - both the result of the Iran war.

//--> //--> //--> Russia x Ukraine ceasefire by end of 2026?
Yes 26% · No 75%
View full market & trade on Polymarket

Previously, Kremlin leaders have offered a deal where Iran could keep its enriched uranium but hold it on Russian territory, to ensure the continuation of its nuclear energy. This, Moscow has reasoned, could serve as a basis for a grand deal with the US.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 17:20

Meta Plunges After Boosting Capex Outlook Again On "Higher Component Pricing"

The last of the giga-caps to report today, the increasingly more misnamed Meta Platforms, had some good news to report for the just completed Q1. It also had bad news, and judging by the plunge in the stock price, the market is focusing on the latter. 

First, the good news: the company reported revenue and EPS both of which beat estimates, and guided Q2 revenues which came in roughly in line with estimates. Here is the breakdown. 

• EPS $10.44 vs. $6.43 y/y, and beating estimates of $6.66; one note: the EPS print included a $8.03BN income tax benefit recognized in the first quarter of 2026. Excluding this benefit, EPS would have been $3.13 lower or $7.31 (at a 37 effective tax rate)

Revenue was also solid across the board

• Revenue $56.31 billion, +33% y/y, beating estimate $55.51 billion
  • Advertising rev. $55.02 billion, +33% y/y, beating estimate $54.16 billion
  • Family of Apps revenue $55.91 billion, +33% y/y, beating estimate $55 billion
  • Reality Labs revenue $402 million, -2.4% y/y, missing estimate $508 million
  • Other revenue $885 million, +74% y/y, beating estimate $741.4 million

Going down the line:

• Operating income $22.87 billion, +30% y/y
• Operating margin 41% vs. 41% y/y

Broken down by segment: 

• Family of Apps operating income $26.90 billion, +24% y/y, beating estimate $24.26 billion
• Reality Labs operating loss $4.03 billion vs. loss $4.21 billion y/y, vs estimate loss $4.77 billion

Ad impressions were more mixed with ad impressions beating, Avg price per ad in line, and Avg family service users per day missing

• Ad impressions +19% vs. +5% y/y, beating estimate +16.2%
• Average price per ad +12% vs. +10% y/y, in line estimate +12%
• Average Family service users per day 3.56 billion, +3.8% y/y, missing estimate 3.61 billion

The last one is a problem because as shown below, this is the first drop in the company's DAP in years.

Looking ahead, the guidance was also solid with a modest increase in Q2 revenue:

• Meta sees revenue $58 billion to $61 billion, in line with the estimate $59.56 billion
• Meta still sees total expenses $162 billion to $169 billion, also in line with  estimate $164.6 billion

That was the good news. The bad news, as a quarter ago when the company was slammed for its massive increase in forecast capex spending, had everything to do with - what else - capex.

Just like last quarter, Meta raised its capex outlook for the year, again, extending its streak of plowing historic levels of investment into the race to build ever-advancing artificial intelligence systems. 

The social-media giant projected full-year capital expenditures between $125 billion and $145 billion, far exceeding analysts’ estimates and marking a roughly 7.4% increase from the $115-$135 billion range the company had previously projected. The company is dealing with “higher component pricing” and additional data center costs", CFO Susan Li said in a statement. At this rate, which has seen the company raise its capex by $10BN every 3 months, the company's Free Cash Flow will be deeply negative soon. 

And as capex soars without a corresponding increase in revenue/EBITDA, the company's Free Cash Flow is now set to turn negative in 2026.

To offset its AI spending, Meta has recently imposed a number of cost-cutting measures. Last week, it alerted staff in an internal memo that it would be cutting roughly 8,000 jobs and wouldn’t be filling 6,000 open roles. The company had already carried out other, more limited cuts earlier this year that hit its hardware division Reality Labs, among other teams.

Evercore ISI estimated the May layoffs will save the company about $3 billion annually, and that companies will rely more on AI agents to help do tasks that once required human employees. “We believe the industry is just beginning to realize the growth opportunities coming out of agentic deployments – and the stepped-up level of investments required to support them,” Evercore analyst Mark Mahaney said in a note to investors.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had already signaled that his company will spend hundreds of billions of dollars on AI infrastructure before the end of the decade. And that was before a memory chip shortage triggered a surge in prices. The firm has announced billion-dollar deals with Nvidia Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Broadcom Inc. for chips and other hardware and is building several massive data centers to power its efforts. 

The silver lining is that there are some early signs that Meta’s investments in AI are beginning to pay off. Earlier in April, Meta debuted its latest artificial intelligence model, Muse Spark — the first released since Zuckerberg embarked on a multibillion-dollar overhaul of the company’s AI organization last year. Additional large language models are expected to roll out later this year.

The company is also facing its various legacy risks: Meta faces a threat from mounting child safety litigation. In a landmark ruling in March, a jury found Meta liable for a 20-year-old woman’s mental health struggles, which she said were caused by her addiction to social media. While Meta must pay millions to the plaintiff, the ruling could expose the company to billions of dollars in risk from additional lawsuits. Two other bellwether cases are scheduled to go to trial in California state court later this year. Meta acknowledged on Wednesday that it continues to “see scrutiny on youth-related issues and have additional trials scheduled for this year in the U.S., which may ultimately result in a material loss.”

While Meta’s stock rallied following Muse Spark’s unveiling, wiping out prior losses, it tumbled after the market was less than happy with the yet another capex increase which has yet to show tangible returns on the top line. META plunged as much as 6%, sending its stock back to red for the year.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 17:14

Iranian Currency Hits All-Time Low As Tehran Threatens 'Unprecedented' Response To US 'Maritime Piracy'

Via The Cradle

Iran’s currency plummeted to a record low on Wednesday, dropping to 1.8 million against the dollar following the brutal US-Israeli war, coinciding with uncertainty over the fragile truce and rising energy prices worldwide. 

The currency began a sharp descent two days ago after several weeks of artificial stability. During the initial weeks of the US-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic – which broke out on February 28 – the rial remained relatively steady, largely due to a total halt in imports and minimal market trading.

Image source: WANA

Hundreds of textile workers have been laid off, according to Iran’s Shargh newspaper. According to ISNA, in the last two days, the rial has plummeted by 15 percent. 

The drop comes as Washington continues to enforce an aggressive blockade on Iranian ports, seizing multiple vessels recently and prompting Tehran to respond similarly. Iran has repeatedly warned that it will confront this blockade and use military action if necessary. 

A high-ranking Iranian security source told Press TV on Wednesday that Tehran will soon use “practical and unprecedented military action” if Washington’s “piracy” does not come to an end. 

“Iran's armed forces – operating under the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters as the war command – believe that patience has limits and that a punishing response is necessary if Washington maintains its illegal naval blockade around the Strait of Hormuz,” the source added.

🚨JUST IN: 🇮🇷IRAN’S RIAL JUST HIT ITS LOWEST LEVEL EVER

Iran's currency has collapsed so hard that 1 rial is now effectively worth ZERO U.S. dollars.

$1 now costs 1.8 MILLION Iranian rials. pic.twitter.com/98Az7th8Dt

— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) April 29, 2026

“The restraint shown by armed forces so far has been intended to give diplomacy a chance and allow the US to … accept Iran's conditions for ending the war permanently … This pause was meant to provide [US] President Donald Trump an opportunity to pull the US out of the current quagmire it finds itself in. However, if US obstinacy and delusions continue and Iran's conditions are rejected, the enemy should soon expect a different kind of response to the ongoing naval blockade,” the source stressed. 

After vowing to maintain the blockade throughout the ceasefire, Washington imposed new sanctions this week targeting 35 individuals and entities linked to Iran's banking sector, in an effort to ratchet up pressure.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on Friday that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned multiple digital wallets linked to the Iranian state, amounting to over $340 million in cryptocurrency.

That’s brutal… currency collapse always hits everyday people the hardest. Saying it’s worth “zero” is dramatic, but the real story is lost buying power.

— DR. ATHARV Kakade (@BizDoctorX) April 29, 2026

Around two weeks before the US-Israeli war began, Bessent admitted that Washington engineered a dollar shortage in Iran in order to pull down the currency and trigger unrest ahead of the January riots across the country. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 17:00

Is This A Sign That The Schumer Era Is Coming To An End?

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spent months cultivating what appeared to be a solid roster of Democratic recruits for 2026. He cleared the field in Ohio, North Carolina, and Alaska — all states where flipping the seats would be a major victory for the Democrats and potentially hand them a majority in the upper chamber in a year with an otherwise brutal map for their party.

But in the races that may ultimately define Democratic fortunes this November, Schumer's preferred candidates are losing — badly — and the people doing the damage are members of his own party.

That inconvenient reality is crystallizing across three of the most competitive Senate battlegrounds in the country, prompting an uncomfortable question for the longtime Democrat leader: Is Schumer's grip on the Democratic caucus slipping?

The most dramatic evidence comes from Maine, where Schumer made no secret of his support for Gov. Janet Mills — a two-term incumbent whose statewide track record, he argued, made her the most electable Democrat in a race against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins. 

Despite all the advantages, Mills’ campaign lacks momentum. Progressive challenger Graham Platner, a 41-year-old Marine veteran and harbormaster, has built a staggering lead in the polls despite multiple scandals plaguing his candidacy, including revelations of old internet postings by Platner that were racist, demeaned victims of sexual assault, and minimized rape. Platner has also survived revelations that he has a Nazi tattoo on his chest, which he has since covered up. These are revelations that would have ended most campaigns before they started, and all signs indicate that the Collins campaign sees Platner as the candidate they want to face in November.

Michigan isn't any better for Schumer. Though he hasn't publicly endorsed Rep. Haley Stevens, his allies believe she's the strongest candidate to take on former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers in the fall. The theory rests partly on her manufacturing-focused message and partly on the expectation that she'll run well with black voters. The problem: she's stuck in a statistical three-way tie with state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former health official Abdul El-Sayed, and the progressive wing of the party has made its objections to her candidacy unmistakably clear.

In Iowa, Schumer's allies are backing state Rep. Josh Turek against state Sen. Zach Wahls, who has Sen. Elizabeth Warren's endorsement, a larger national fundraising footprint, and a message that leans explicitly on his criticism of Schumer's leadership. 

What ties these contests together is the emergence of the Senate's progressive flank as an active counterforce. Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and others aren't merely offering endorsements — they're campaigning in these states against candidates their own caucus leader recruited. That kind of internal insurgency would rattle any leader, and it carries additional weight in a cycle where Schumer's hold on the minority leader's gavel faces quiet but serious scrutiny.

The math of primaries, though, is only part of Schumer’s problems.

He was once a formidable fundraiser, but now, Democratic donors are increasingly routing money directly to candidates, bypassing the party committees that leadership controls.

“Schumer is not anybody's favorite. It's been a great run, but it's run its course,” one major donor told Puck News. 

Frustrated donors haven't fully closed their wallets — one Democratic fundraising operative acknowledged the checks still get written, accompanied by complaints. "People are really pissed at Schumer," the operative said. 

Democratic voters in the swing states Schumer needs to win are rejecting his hand-picked recruits, turning these primaries into a clear referendum on who actually leads Senate Democrats—and the answer is increasingly looking like it isn’t Chuck Schumer.

Notypist Wed, 04/29/2026 - 16:40

Amazon Drops After AWS Growth Misses Whisper Estimates As Capex Soars

In our preview of Amazon's earnings, we summarized sentiment as "Bullish, But Concerns Remain" with JPM noting that client "conversations were heavily AWS-skewed with investor focus on degree of acceleration and cloud $ re-capture driven by core workloads, AI, & new partnerships. Still, some concerns remain on broader AI positioning/strategy, Trainium traction, & gap to Azure/Google Cloud growth. Strong Stores execution expected, with N. America margin expansion. But higher fuel costs raise questions on consumer demand & operating margins." They also warned that if everyone expects big AWS growth and has the same thesis, what breaks it out? And then let's not forget what broke AMZN a quarter ago when the stock slumped after the company guided a whopping 50% increase in full year capex to $200BN (vs est of $146.1BN). Would it do a similar capex boost this time?

With that in mind, here is what the company reported for Q1 moments ago:

• EPS $2.82, beating exp. 2.63, a solid beat after missing last quarter:

Revenue was stronger across the board (except a modest miss in the small physical store sales category):

• Net sales $181.52 billion, beating estimates of $177.23 billion 
  • Online stores net sales $64.25 billion, beating estimate $62.65 billion
  • Physical Stores net sales $5.79 billion, missing estimate $5.81 billion
  • Third-Party Seller Services net sales $41.58 billion, beating estimate $40.78 billion, ex F/X +12%, estimate +10.9%
  • Subscription Services net sales $13.43 billion, beating estimate $13.07 billion, ex F/X +12%, estimate +11%
  • Advertising services net sales $17.24 billion, beating estimate $16.9 billion

The somewhat mixed news is that the most important revenue item, AWS, beat the sellside estimate...

• AWS net sales $37.59 billion, beating estimate $36.68 billion

... even though the YoY increase came in shy of the 30% buyside whisper bogey:

• Amazon Web Services net sales excluding F/X +28%, the fastest growth rate since the second quarter of 2022.

Geographically the results were also strong, with North America beating by more than $2 billion:

• North America net sales $104.14 billion, beating estimate $102.08 billion
• International net sales $39.79 billion, beating estimate $38.59 billion

Going down the line: 

• Operating income $23.85 billion, beating estimate $20.75 billion
• Operating margin 13.1%, beating estimate 11.7%
• North America operating margin +7.9%, beating estimate +6.85%
• International operating margin 3.6%, beating estimate 2.58%

While AWS sales growth was solid (if below the whisper), just as impressive was the the margin for the segment also increased from 35.03% to 37.68%, just beating the median Wall Street estimate. Elsewhere, North American profit unexpectedly jumped to $14.161 billion, resulting in a profit margin of 7.94%, down from 9.03% a quarter ago, while international margins rose to 3.58% from 2.05%, the highest since Q2 2025.

As a result of the rise in AWS profits, and generally solid sales margins, Amazon's consolidated operating margin posted a notable jump and in Q1 increased 9.7% to 11.7%, just shy of an all time high. 

Commenting on the quarter, CEO Andy Jassy said that “we’re making customers’ lives easier and better every day across all our businesses, and their response is driving significant growth.... AWS is growing 28% (our fastest growth in 15 quarters) on a very large base, our chips business topped a $20 billion revenue run rate growing triple digits year-over-year , Advertising grew to over $70 billion in TTM revenue, and unit growth in our Stores reached 15% (the highest since the tail end of covid lockdowns)."

Looking ahead, the company's guidance  was also very solid: 

• Net sales for Q2 are expected to be between $194 billion and $199 billion; the midpoint of $196.5 billion was a big beat compared to the median estimate of $189.15 billion.
• Operating income for Q2 is expected between $20.0 billion to $24.0 billion, also above the estimate of $22.86

The projected 17.2% revenue growth was the highest since June 2021.

And while we wait to get some sense of what happened to AMZNs capex guidance, and whether it was revised higher again, here is a less than flattering view of the company's free cash flow: the company's LTM free cash flow plunged to $1.2 billion for the trailing twelve months, vs $25.9 billion for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2025

AMZN's free cash flow decreased, driven primarily by a year-over-year increase of $59.3 billion in purchases of property and equipment, net of proceeds from sales and incentives. This increase primarily reflects investments in artificial intelligence

And indeed, capex for the quarter soared to $44.2 billion in the first quarter, exceeded analysts’ expectations, a sign that Amazon is seeing higher expenses for the build-out than anticipated. 

This means that going forward, AMZN will need to burn through its cash or issue new debt to fund further capex growth. Indicatively, AMZN's debt soared to $119 billion in Q1, nearly doubling from $65.6 billion at the end of 2025.

Amazon Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy has said that the company aims to spend about $200 billion this year — a 56% increase from 2025 — mostly on data centers, including those customized for AI services.

After all that, AMZN shares were slightly lower, largely erasing an earlier kneejerk slide lower as we wait for the company's earnings call 

 

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 16:39

Alphabet Surges After-Hours On Record Search Queries, Backlog Builds

Google shares are rallying after hours as parent Alphabet's first-quarter earnings report showed strong revenue growth in cloud computing and internet search ads, helping investors look past slowing profits amid huge AI spend.

• Earnings per share were $5.11, well ahead of Wall Street's consensus estimate of $2.63, and up from $2.81 last year.

• Revenue for the quarter reached $110 billion, more than expectations of $107 billion, and up 22% on the year.

The most closely watched line in Google's reporting is its cloud unit which will spend up to $185 billion on AI data centers this year to support its customers that rent AI servers over the internet. Quarterly cloud sales hit $20 billion, up 63% with a 33% operating profit margin.

Despite mounting depreciation expenses, Google Cloud's margin is rising quickly.

In Q1, Google's cloud computing backlog boomed to $460 billion from $240 billion in the December quarter.

The backlog is converted into realized revenue as new data centers come online and crunch artificial intelligence-related workloads - training AI models and processing AI apps.

Perhaps most notably, CapEx came in slightly below expectations ($35.674BN vs $35.97BN exp), but expectations continue to rise...

• *ALPHABET SEES FY CAPEX $180B TO $190B, SAW $175B TO $185B

• *ALPHABET CFO: 2027 CAPEX TO SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE FROM 2026

And, for now, this is what the market wants to hear with GOOGL up around 4% after-hours...

Google Search queries hit an “all time high” in the first quarter of 2026, according to a statement from CEO Sundar Pichai.

Also, Google's Q3 internet search-advertising revenue came in at $60.40 billion, topping estimates of $59 billion.

However, Google dis not disclose how many monthly users its Gemini chatbot app had at the end of Q1. The Gemini app had 750 million monthly users at the end of Q4.

“This was our strongest quarter ever for our consumer AI plans, driven by the Gemini App. Overall the number of paid subscriptions has now reached 350 million, with YouTube and Google One being the key drivers,” Pichai said.

“Gemini Enterprise has great momentum with 40% quarter on quarter growth in paid monthly active users. And, finally, I’m pleased to see Waymo surpass 500,000 fully autonomous rides a week,” Pichai added.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 16:36

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