Alphabet's fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat Wall Street expectations. Its cloud unit dazzled, notching a nearly 48% increase in revenue from a year earlier.
The tech giant expects capital expenditure for 2026 to come in between $175 billion and $185 billion — at the higher end, capex will more than double from last year. The huge increase appears to have spooked investors: Alphabet shares fell as much as 3%, before paring losses to 0.39%, in extended trading.
But at least one name is benefiting from the news. Shares of Broadcom rose more than 6% in extended trading — the firm manufactures custom chips for Alphabet.
That helped Broadcom recoup some losses from the regular trading session, when it lost 3.8%, along with other tech stocks like Advanced Micro Devices — which tanked 17.3% on its disappointing first-quarter forecast — and Oracle .
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.51% and the S&P 500 retreated 0.51%, clocking its fifth negative session in six. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.53%, lifted by Amgen and Honeywell .
While investor confidence of AI plays has been hit, CNBC Investing Club creator Jim Cramer is still optimistic on South Korean chipmakers. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are "visionary" companies, Cramer said on CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia," adding that he would have wanted to work for them if he lived in the country.
The sentiment around silver, however, is still shaky. Prices of the metal slid as much as 16% on Thursday, snapping a two-day rebound.
In Europe, French bank BNP Paribas reported fourth-quarter earnings that surpassed estimates and hiked its target for net income between 2025 and 2028, but Shell missed targets for its fourth-quarter profit.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England will announce their monetary policy decision on Thursday — but neither bank is expected to make any moves to the rate.
— CNBC's Jennifer Elias contributed to this report.