Earnings reports from Microsoft and Amazon on July 31, 2026 reignited confidence in the artificial intelligence buildout, sending shares of major memory-chip makers to their best single-day gains in years. SK Hynix soared roughly 25 to 28 percent and Samsung jumped more than 20 percent after the two tech giants signaled that their multi-billion-dollar AI spending spree is far from over. For more on the capital flowing into AI infrastructure, follow our AI business coverage.

The rally, reported by CNBC, Firstpost, and Bloomberg, marked a sharp reversal from a grim July for AI-linked stocks. It underscored a core question hanging over the market: will the biggest technology companies keep pouring money into AI infrastructure, or would they pull back?

Amazon Pushes Spending Past $220 Billion

Amazon's results delivered the most emphatic answer. The company said it is lifting its capital and AI-related spending toward an annualized pace of roughly $220 billion, as its cloud division — described internally as "booming" — continues to absorb enormous demand for AI compute. Microsoft's results were similarly reassuring, with management emphasizing sustained investment in data centers and AI capacity.

The Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg both framed the results as evidence that Big Tech's AI spending spree "remains solid." After weeks of doubt — driven partly by a brutal sell-off in AI equities earlier in July — the earnings reassured investors that demand for chips, memory, and data center hardware has not cooled.

A Dramatic Rebound for Chipmakers

The market reaction was immediate and severe in the other direction. South Korea's SK Hynix, the world's largest supplier of high-bandwidth memory used in AI accelerators, recorded one of its best sessions on record, climbing as much as 28 percent. Rival Samsung gained more than 20 percent, with Proactive and NDTV Profit describing the surge as chipmakers clocking their "best days."

The gains spread across Asia. Shares of chip and semiconductor-equipment makers from Japan to Taiwan rose in sympathy, as investors recalculated the demand outlook for the components that power AI training and inference.

Context: A Brutal July for AI Stocks

The relief rally was all the more dramatic because of what preceded it. July had been punishing for AI-exposed equities. A high-profile implosion underscored the volatility: the hedge fund Situational Awareness, built around aggressive AI-stock bets, saw its portfolio sink roughly 67 percent in July alone, according to a letter to investors reported by Reuters.

Reuters separately reported that Citadel bought most of Situational Awareness's stock holdings after the rout, a sign that larger players saw the sell-off as overdone. The Microsoft and Amazon earnings effectively validated that view — confirming that the end customers for AI hardware are still spending at record levels.

A Show of Confidence From Within

The rally was reinforced by a rare show of insider confidence. AD HOC News reported that SK Hynix's chairman made his first-ever personal purchase of company shares, a move investors read as a signal that leadership believes the stock was undervalued after the July rout. Insider buying at that level is uncommon, and it helped sustain the rebound through the session.

Why the Spending Matters

The capital commitments from Amazon and Microsoft matter because they are the downstream signal for the entire AI hardware supply chain. When hyperscalers raise their spending forecasts, it flows through to Nvidia's accelerators, SK Hynix's and Samsung's memory chips, the foundries that fabricate them, and the energy and construction firms that build the data centers.

For investors who had begun to question whether AI demand was a bubble, the earnings offered reassurance. For the chipmakers whose shares were battered in July, it was a lifeline. And for the broader AI industry, it was a reminder that the infrastructure buildout — expensive and controversial as it is — shows no sign of slowing.

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