Closing Bell: Meta Gains & Royal Caribbean Soars, Microsoft Drops After Earnings Release
Jan 29, 2026
A fast roundup of major market movers, including a tech giant’s big revenue beat and bullish outlook tied to heavy AI investment. Cruise lines surge on booming demand and ambitious fleet plans. A leading software firm tumbles after record spending and cooling cloud growth. Analysts weigh in on buying the dip.
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insights INSIGHT
Meta's Strong Outlook Eases AI Worry
Meta beat EPS and sales and gave a stronger-than-expected revenue outlook that eased AI spending concerns.
Investors rewarded the outlook with a double-digit surge, signaling confidence in ad recovery and AI investment pacing.
insights INSIGHT
Stock Jump Reflects Funded AI Ambition
Meta's stock rose about 10% at the close, making it one of the top gainers after its report.
The jump reflects optimism that improving ad performance funds heavy AI infrastructure spending.
insights INSIGHT
Southwest’s Turnaround Shows In Results
Southwest beat top-line estimates and signaled benefits from premium options and assigned seating.
The results supported a turnaround narrative, sending the stock sharply higher.
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Today's biggest winners and losers in the stock market.
On this episode of Stock Movers:
Listen for comprehensive cross-platform coverage of the US market close as heard on Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg Radio, and YouTube with Romaine Bostick, Katie Greifeld, Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec.
- Meta (META) shares closed 10% higher the day after it announced results, their biggest intraday jump since July 31, after the Facebook parent gave a revenue outlook that was much stronger than expected, which helped offset the impact of higher AI-related spending. The social networking giant topped projections for holiday quarter revenue and gave a strong forecast for the current period during its earnings report Wednesday. Improvements in its online advertising business are making it possible for Meta to spend hundreds of billions of dollars over the next few years on AI infrastructure. Meta’s shares jumped more than 11% in extended trading.
- Royal Caribbean Group (RCL) soared 17%. While adjusted earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter were in line with expectations, the cruise operator's 2026 earnings guidance blew past forecasts.
- Microsoft (MSFT) plunged the most in almost six years after reporting record spending and slowing cloud sales growth, fueling investor concerns that it could take longer than expected for the company’s AI investments to pay off. The shares sank by as much as 11% to $429.24, for the biggest intraday slide since March 2020.
Stock Movers