Robinhood, Meta, and Microsoft beat earnings estimates, send stocks surging

Tech giants Robinhood, Meta, and Microsoft reported second-quarter 2025 earnings on Wednesday, and all four beat analyst expectations. Their stocks reacted immediately, with each company seeing gains in after-hours trading.

According to the financial disclosures released July 30, the reports revealed major growth across key metrics like revenue, user activity, cloud sales, and trading volumes, pushing valuations higher as investors digested the latest numbers.

Robinhood closed regular trading at $103.32, up 2.69%, before rising to $103.98 after hours. Meta shares jumped over 10% following the results. Microsoft rose 8%, lifting its market cap past $4.1 trillion. All the results were delivered after the market closed on Wednesday.

Robinhood reports surge in platform assets and trading volume

Robinhood reported a massive rise in assets, deposits, and revenue for Q2. The platform said its total customer base increased by 750,000 compared to Q1, and by 2.3 million since the same quarter last year, bringing the total to 26.5 million.

Platform assets hit $279 billion, nearly double the $140 billion posted in Q2 2024. That’s a 99% year-over-year increase and 26% growth from the previous quarter.

Net deposits for the quarter totaled $13.8 billion, contributing to a twelve-month deposit figure of $58 billion, representing 25% annualized growth. Robinhood reported $539 million in transaction-based revenue, up 65% from a year earlier.

Trading activity was strong: equity volumes came in at $179.1 billion, which was 112% higher than Q2 last year, while options contracts traded rose 32% to 168.1 million.

The platform’s ongoing expansion strategy includes new product offerings and entry into international markets through both acquisitions and internal development.

Meta beats on ads and raises guidance

Meta released its earnings after the bell, and the results came in ahead of forecasts on every major metric. The company reported $7.14 in earnings per share versus the $5.92 analysts expected. Revenue hit $47.52 billion, ahead of the projected $44.80 billion. Advertising pulled in $46.56 billion, beating the $43.97 billion consensus.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on the earnings call that Meta’s AI tools had created “greater efficiency and gains across our ad system.” He added that daily active users across the company’s apps reached 3.48 billion, above the 3.45 billion forecast, and up from 3.43 billion last quarter. That includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.

Meta raised its Q3 revenue outlook to between $47.5 billion and $50.5 billion, higher than the $46.14 billion Wall Street was expecting. Total expenses for Q2 were $27.08 billion, a 12% increase year-over-year. For the full year, Meta now expects to spend between $114 billion and $118 billion, adjusting the bottom end from the earlier $113 billion estimate.

Spending on hiring was cited as the second-largest driver of cost growth. Zuckerberg told analysts that “these factors will result in a 2026 year-over-year expense growth rate that is above the 2025 expense growth.”

Reality Labs, Meta’s unit focused on virtual and augmented reality, reported a $4.53 billion operating loss, with $370 million in revenue. Both the loss and revenue came in below projections.

Earlier that same day, Zuckerberg published a letter outlining the company’s push toward “personal superintelligence.” He said Meta defines it as AI that “surpasses human intelligence in every way we think.” He added, “Over the last few months, we’ve begun to see glimpses of our AI systems improving themselves, and the improvement is slow for now, but undeniable.”

The company also raised its capital expenditure outlook to between $66 billion and $72 billion, increasing the low end from $64 billion. Meta said it expects to spend heavily on infrastructure and headcount as it pursues its AI strategy.

Microsoft joins $4 trillion club after cloud revenue jump

Microsoft reported its fastest revenue growth in over three years. The company said sales for Q2 were up 18%, driven largely by performance in its Azure cloud segment.

For the first time, Microsoft disclosed Azure’s revenue in dollar terms, saying Azure and related services generated over $75 billion in fiscal 2025, an increase of 34% compared to 2024.

The earnings beat sent Microsoft shares up 8%, lifting its market cap to around $4.1 trillion in after-hours trading. That puts the company just behind Nvidia, which hit the $4 trillion mark earlier this month. Microsoft stock had already reached a record close of $513.71 on July 25. Following the Q2 report, it was trading above $553.

The stock is now up 22% year-to-date, outperforming the broader S&P 500 index, which has climbed just 8% in the same period. Microsoft didn’t update forward guidance during the earnings call, but analysts said the added cloud revenue transparency could impact future earnings expectations.

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