On Thursday, the U.S. stock market spotlighted two mega-cap giants-Microsoft and Eli Lilly-as the most significant movers by market capitalization, each for sharply contrasting reasons.
Microsoft soared over 8%, with shares trading near $430 in afternoon action. The surge followed a blowout fiscal third-quarter earnings report that exceeded Wall Street’s expectations on both revenue and earnings per share.
Microsoft’s cloud division, Azure, posted robust growth, and strong guidance for the next quarter further fueled investor optimism. This rally added tens of billions of dollars to Microsoft’s already massive market capitalization, solidifying its leadership in the technology sector.
Conversely, Eli Lilly experienced a steep decline, with shares dropping nearly 10% to around $813. The pharmaceutical leader reported a 45% year-over-year revenue increase in its first-quarter results, driven by blockbuster drugs like Mounjaro and Zepbound.
However, the company missed earnings per share forecasts and lowered its full-year profit outlook, citing net losses on investments and higher research and development charges. The market reacted swiftly, erasing a significant portion of Eli Lilly’s recent gains and making it one of the day’s largest market cap losers.
Other notable movers included Oracle, which climbed over 3% on continued cloud momentum, and Facebook parent Meta, which advanced more than 5%. Nvidia and Broadcom also posted strong gains, reflecting ongoing enthusiasm for AI and tech infrastructure stocks.
Thursday’s trading session underscores how earnings results and forward guidance can drive sharp shifts in market capitalization, even among the largest and most closely watched companies on Wall Street.