Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) are playing a game of tug of war with the Nasdaq today. Microsoft stock is up 14.8% to trade at $448.45, after the company reported adjusted second-quarter earnings on $4.74 per share on $90.01 billion in revenue, both of which topped estimates. Azure revenue also topped $100 billion for 2026.
A flurry of price-target hikes have ensued, the highest coming from Bernstein to $647. MSFT is heading for its best single-session pop since October 2008, but remains down 9% in 2026.
Call traders are cheering. In just the first half hour of trading, over 322,000 calls have changed hands, volume that's eight times the average intraday amount and nearly triple the number of puts exchanged. The August 450 call is the most popular, while new positions are being bought to open at the weekly 7/31 435-strike call.
Meta stock, meanwhile, is down 9.7% to trade at $529, after the company's adjusted second-quarter earnings of $6.18 per share on $60.8 billion in revenue, the former of which fell short of expectations. Amid surging AI costs, cashflow dropped 91% and Meta's full-year revenue outlook missed the mark. The stock's 11-day losing streak is set to be its largest on record, should it hold.
No fewer than 10 brokerages cut their price targets in response, the worst coming from BMO to $580 from $720. META is now down 20% year to date and is testing a late-March floor at $520.
Options traders are responding in kind. The 70,000 puts changing hands this morning is four times the average intraday amount, with the weekly 7/31 500-strike put leading the charge. Interestingly enough, the September 460 put is seeing sell-to-open activity.
