Big Tech's first half was a story of hardware versus software

The second quarter has come to a close, and it was a series of major ups and downs for the biggest names in tech. Chip stocks, outside of Nvidia (NVDA), had a blowout six months on euphoria around memory and storage sales and the need for traditional processors to power the AI build-out.

Micron (MU) was the poster child for explosive growth in the first two quarters of the year, with shares rising an astonishing 308%. Intel (INTC), which is continuing its turnaround effort, rose a similarly impressive 280%, while AMD (AMD) rocketed 173% higher in the period.

Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT), meanwhile, were on the flip side, with Meta stock declining 15% and Microsoft fell 23% during the first half.

What's the takeaway from all of this? Wall Street is still riding high on the AI build-out, but continues to question how software companies are monetizing their vast AI investments and how much longer they'll keep pouring billions into the effort.

Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG, GOOGL), Meta, and Microsoft are expected to spend roughly $725 billion this year on capital expenditures, with the majority of that going to AI infrastructure.

The biggest beneficiaries of that? The hardware

Fuente original: Yahoo Finance (https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/article/big-techs-first-half-was-a-story-of-hardware-versus-software-120311290.html)