A week ago the Mag 7 looked like seven different arguments about the same bill. This week the cloud names cashed the check.
Microsoft (MSFT) ripped about 25% on the week after Azure growth hit 43% and the stock staged one of the biggest one-day market-value jumps on record. Amazon (AMZN) followed with AWS growth at 37%, its fastest clip in 18 quarters, and a stock move near 20% on the week. Nvidia (NVDA) rode the same wave higher. Then Apple (AAPL) printed a strong June quarter and still got clipped about 8% on the week.
Same AI boom. Different report cards. Here is the full scoreboard.
The Scoreboard
Prices and moves as of the August 5 regular close.
Stock | YTD | Past Month | Key Catalyst This Week |
|---|---|---|---|
MSFT | +3.3% | +25.6% | Azure 43%; record one-day value jump |
AMZN | +20.5% | +11.0% | AWS +37%; fastest growth in 18 quarters |
NVDA | +16.6% | +11.8% | Hyperscaler proof bid; +15.8% week |
+15.0% | -1.3% | Bounce after capex hangover week | |
AAPL | +14.8% | +0.2% | Strong June quarter; -8% week digest |
-9.3% | -4.2% | Flat week; still graded on cash conversion | |
-26.5% | -20.1% | Bounce week; still deep YTD hole |
Microsoft and Amazon: Demand With a Receipt
Microsoft finally got the market to stop arguing with the tape. Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue landed near $90 billion. Azure growth accelerated to 43%. Full-year Azure revenue cleared $100 billion for the first time. Management talked about Azure running even hotter into the new quarter, near 45% constant currency. Then the stock did something rare: it added hundreds of billions in market value in a single session and closed the week up about 25% near $488.
Amazon told a cousin story. Total sales crossed $200 billion in the quarter. AWS grew 37% to about $42 billion, the fastest growth rate in a year and a half. Andy Jassy said AI and chips each crossed a $25 billion annual run-rate. Yes, Amazon also lifted the capital-spending frame toward $220 billion. The market still bought the stock. Shares jumped hard after the print and finished the week around $273, up about 20.5% and now the Mag 7 YTD leader on our board.
That is the split that mattered. When cloud growth looks like a cash machine, investors will underwrite a big build. When the story is spend first and monetize later, they make you wait.
"Azure at 43% and AWS at 37% did not end the AI spend debate. They moved the burden of proof. If you are burning cash without a rental business attached, you are not Microsoft this week."
Apple: Strong Print, Rough Week
Apple did not fail the quarter. Revenue hit $109.4 billion, up 16%. Diluted EPS came in at $2.02, up 29%. iPhone revenue jumped about 22% to roughly $54 billion. Mac and Services set June-quarter records. Tim Cook called it the strongest June quarter ever.
The stock still fell about 8% on the week to $311. That is how crowded relative-strength trades die. Apple had been the clean Mag 7 chart while the AI builders got punished. Once Microsoft and Amazon got their cloud bid back, money rotated. Apple is still up about 15% year to date. It just stopped looking like the only adult in the room.
The Rest of the Board
Nvidia (NVDA) bounced about 16% on the week to $220. That is the second-order trade. When the buyers of GPUs stop getting crushed, the seller gets air again. Nvidia is back to about +17% year to date with earnings still on deck later in August. The risk is obvious: if the next hyperscaler print reopens the "too much spend" fight, this rebound can reverse just as fast.
Alphabet (GOOGL) climbed about 7.6% on the week to $362 and sits near +15% year to date. Last week's capex sticker shock did not disappear. The market just stopped treating every dollar of AI build as a crime scene after Microsoft and Amazon showed better demand receipts.
Meta Platforms (META) barely moved on the week near $590 and remains about 9% red year to date. Revenue growth is still fine. The stock is still paying for weaker profit conversion and a higher spending floor. Without a giant cloud rental line, Meta keeps getting graded like a balance-sheet story first.
Tesla (TSLA) bounced about 8% on the week to $322 and is still down roughly 27% year to date. A bounce is not a fix. The market is still waiting for robotaxi and Optimus talk to show up as cash, not just as conference-call optionality. Fresh safety-probe headlines do not help the patience trade either.
Bottom Line
What separated winners from laggards this week was simple. Show demand that can pay for the build, and the market will let you spend. Microsoft and Amazon did that. Nvidia caught the bounce. Apple still has a good business and a green year-to-date chart, but it lost the "safe Mag 7" premium the second the cloud names got their mojo back.
Meta and Tesla are still arguing with their own balance sheets. One needs cleaner cash conversion under a heavy AI bill. The other needs the future story to stop borrowing so hard from the present auto business.
Next week watch whether the cloud bid sticks or fades into Nvidia's report window. If Azure and AWS keep looking real, the Mag 7 stays a stock picker's group. If the spend scare comes back, Apple's relative calm may look attractive again for all the wrong reasons: fear, not excellence.
P.S. When Microsoft can jump 25% in a week and Apple can still fall 8% after a record June quarter, nobody is trading "Big Tech" as one ticker anymore.
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