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Alphabet drags on Nasdaq futures as the stock faces a record post-earnings loss

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Hello, this is Leonie Kidd with today's edition of Morning Squawk.

There is more pain in certain parts of the AI trade.

AI chat and agents are eating into Google's Search in a way investors cannot ignore, while a lighter capex number from Microsoft has sent neoclouds back into the red.

It's driving Nasdaq futures sharply lower ahead of Amazon's earnings later today.

Happening now: 'S' is for sell-off

It will be a nerve-wracking day for Alphabet, with shares down over 10% in premarket trading.

  • Watch for this: If the stock falls more than 9.77% in today's session, it will be the worst post-earnings reaction EVER.

CNBC's Robert Hum crunched the numbers to reveal the report marks the first double miss for both EPS and revenue since Q4 2022.

Search is one of the key concerns. Investors have been worried that AI chat and agents would start stealing a bigger share of Google's Search volumes.

"This may be the quarter we feared," Gil Luria from D.A. Davidson told CNBC's MacKenzie Sigalos, after Search missed revenue forecasts for the second straight quarter.

  • Why it matters: Search's high-margin model provides Alphabet with significant funding power, at a time when the tech company is spending heavily on its AI infrastructure build-out.
  • Every cloud...: Google Cloud revenue more than doubled, with Google's CFO describing the TPU system as a "meaningful contributor."

The Google logo is displayed on a building at Google headquarters on Feb. 4, 2026 in Mountain View, California.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

It's a much brighter picture from Microsoft. Shares are higher in premarket trading, after Azure grew 48% to become the tech giant's biggest single business.

Satya Nadella's group is also predicting up to $97 billion in second-quarter revenue, soaring past consensus forecasts.

The group's capex guidance fell to $170 billion for the full year.

  • Why that's a good thing: Investors welcomed the capex breather, with CFO Amy Hood citing that some third-party data center capacity was delayed, so spending could be lower.

Big movers: No silver linings

However, that lower-than-expected capex figure from Microsoft is taking a negative toll on the neoclouds.

Shares in Coreweave, Nebius and IREN are all under pressure in premarket trading,

  • Why it matters: Microsoft is a top customer for both Coreweave and Nebius, having become more reliant on neocloud firms for capacity.

Also keep an eye on cybersecurity stocks, which are trading sharply lower premarket.

Crowdstrike and Palto Alto Networks are down over 6%, while Zscaler and Rubrik are off a similar amount.

  • What's behind the move: the trigger is Fortinet. Shares fell 25% after third-quarter margins narrowly missed expectations.

Earnings today: A Bezos boost?

Amazon is up next, reporting after the bell today.

Analysts expect another quarter of negative free cash flow. That is against capex of $5.8 billion

  • Analysis: Jefferies is watching cloud growth, saying "AWS is not yet done accelerating," and calling the stock attractive as retail remains surprisingly strong despite more cautious consumer sentiment.
  • Historical guidance: Amazon's top- and bottom-line results beat expectations 72% of the time and 66% of the time, respectively, according to Bespoke.

Packages on Amazon Prime Day in New York, US, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025.

Klaus Galiano | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Bigger picture, CNBC has calculated that the "Magnificent Seven" doesn't trade as a monolith anymore, challenging investors to be more discerning when picking through the market's biggest stocks rather than viewing them as a single trade.

  • Analysis: For more on how those correlations are breaking down, you can read on here.
  • Insight: Real Macro's Jeff Currie told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" earlier this week that markets are beginning to catch on to the "revenge of the old economy" trade, you can watch that video here.

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The Election Economy: Money, money, money...

2026 has just become the most expensive election cycle on record. With just 5 days to go until voting day, more than $11.3 billion dollars has been spent so far, according to AdImpact data.

  • CNBC's Megan Casella is looking at how each party is spending that cash pile, and which sleeper issues have been getting a surprising amount of ad spend.

Meanwhile, CNBC's Garrett Downs has exclusive access to the Bank of North Dakota. It's the nation's only state-owned bank, an idea that's gaining interest, especially among Democrats.

  • Find out how the bank is brokering deals that could support the data center buildout as part of this rare behind-the-scenes access.

And Finally...

Billionaire Ambani cries tears of joy as Jio Platforms becomes the second most valued Indian firm

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani has become the owner of the two most valued companies in India, after a stellar listing of Jio Platforms, the country's largest telecom operator and digital services firm.

The share of Jio Platforms continued to climb higher on Thursday, opening 3.3% higher a day after its market debut.

The Meta- and Google-backed company listed on Wednesday at a premium of over 25% to its IPO price, leading to a market capitalization of 13.05 trillion rupees ($137.1 billion).

MUMBAI, INDIA - OCTOBER 28: Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani (2L), Reliance Foundation Founder-Chairperson Nita Ambani (L), Jio Platforms Ltd. Non-Executive Director Isha Ambani (3L), Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. Chairman Akash Ambani (C), Non-Executive Director Anant Ambani (3R), Radhika Merchant (2R), and Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani (R) ring the ceremonial listing bell during the stock market debut of Jio Platforms at the NSE exchange hall in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) on October 28, 2026 in Mumbai, India.

Hindustan Times | Hindustan Times | Getty Images

— CNBC's Robert Hum, MacKenzie Sigalos, Kate Rooney, Isabel O'Brien, Jordan Novet, Priyanka Salve, Garrett Downs and Megan Casella contributed to this report.

John Melloy edited this edition.

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