US Stock Market Key News Summary July 23, 2026

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U.S. Weekly Initial Jobless Claims

Intel Earnings

<Earnings> Alphabet Q2 Beats Expectations, AI Capital Expenditure Soars to $205 Billion, Spooking Market, After-Hours Drop Near 4%

Alphabet released its Q2 2026 financial results, benefiting from strong growth in Google Cloud and AI-related businesses, with revenue once again exceeding market expectations. Cloud revenue surged 82% year-on-year, the fastest growth in recent years. However, the company significantly raised its full-year capital expenditure (capex) forecast, signaling an intensifying AI arms race and raising investor concerns over cash flow and return on investment, dragging Alphabet's after-hours share price down nearly 4%. Read more

<Earnings> Tesla Q2 Misses Expectations, Free Cash Flow Turns Negative, After-Hours Drop of 4%

Tesla (TSLA-US) released its Q2 2026 fiscal results after market close on Wednesday (22nd), and despite revenue exceeding analyst estimates, profits fell far short of expectations, causing the after-hours stock price to continue declining. At the time of reporting, shares were down over 4%. In its statement, Tesla said Q2 revenue grew 26% from $22.5 billion a year earlier to $28.24 billion. However, net profit declined 5% year-on-year, from $1.17 billion, or $0.33 per share, to $1.11 billion, or $0.32 per share. Read more

<Earnings Preview> Has AI Turned Intel Around? Q2 Revenue Growth Seen as Fastest in Six Years, Apple Orders in Focus

Intel (INTC-US) will release its Q2 earnings after the U.S. market close on Thursday (23rd), testing whether the fundamentals of this American chip giant can support the strong rally driven this year by transformation expectations and artificial intelligence (AI) demand. Intel's stock price has risen 185% year-to-date, nearly tripling from its original level, but has since pulled back over 25% from its closing high on June 22nd, following broader selling pressure in the semiconductor sector. Read more

Spending Big on AI but Cutting AI Talent? Amazon Downsizes AGI Division, Number Affected Not Disclosed

Amazon (AMZN-US) cut positions in its General Artificial Intelligence (AGI) division on Wednesday (22nd), marking the latest targeted workforce adjustment after the company's large-scale layoffs in January. Amazon did not disclose the number of employees affected. AGI is an unrealized AI concept referring to systems capable of surpassing human intelligence and autonomously learning, growing, and operating. Currently, several top AI companies are investing in related R&D, hoping to use such systems to solve more complex problems in the future. Read more

Kimi K3 Too Powerful, Triggers Investigation! White House Accuses Moonshot AI of Illegally Using NVIDIA GB300 Chips

Foreign media reported on Wednesday (22nd) that U.S. White House officials accused Chinese AI startup Moonshot AI of improperly using U.S. AI models and export-controlled NVIDIA (NVDA-US) GB300 chips to develop the Kimi K3 model, which shocked the tech industry last week with its advanced capabilities. Michael Kratsios, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, stated on a social platform that Moonshot AI obtained servers equipped with GB300 chips and had used the equipment in Thailand, likely for training AI models. Read more