{
  "id": 105210,
  "title": "Big Tech's Anthropic and OpenAI stakes are distorting the corporate earnings picture",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/03/big-techs-anthropic-and-openai-stakes-are-distorting-the-corporate",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-03T22:48:18.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "CNBC",
    "slug": "cnbc",
    "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/03/big-techs-anthropic-and-openai-stakes-distort-corporate-earnings.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Recent corporate earnings figures for major tech companies have been heavily influenced by investment gains in private AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI, according to LSEG. Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet have all reported sizable increases in value due to their stakes in these private entities. This has resulted in earnings growth for the S&P 500 being around 48% from a year ago, but when removing the investment gains from the calculations, growth is closer to 29%, according to Tajinder Dhillon of LSEG. This inflation of earnings numbers has been a key factor in more companies reporting earnings above expectations this quarter, with 7% growth compared to an average of 4.4%. However, this overstatement of earnings growth is likely to even out over time. Earnings growth for the Magnificent Seven tech stocks, which now account for about 35% of S&P 500 revenue, has also been impacted, with Alphabet showing a 300% jump in earnings thanks to its investment in SpaceX. Microsoft saw a 10 percentage point increase in earnings growth due to its Anthropic investment and $3.2 billion net income gain. These investment gains are often lumped into \"other income\" and are excluded from non-GAAP estimates. While some analysts see the underlying earnings growth as strong, others note that the earnings bump from these private investments may be short-lived.",
  "summary": "If you were to strip out Big Tech's investment gains from private AI companies, the earnings story is a lot less bullish.",
  "key_points": [
    "Big Tech's earnings growth distorted by AI company investments",
    "Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet see 48% earnings growth, 29% without investments",
    "Magnificent Seven stocks' earnings impacted by private investment gains"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Big Tech's sizable stakes in private AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI are inflating corporate earnings growth, masking a more modest underlying performance that will likely even out over time.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "TechCrunch",
        "title": "Who’s legally to blame for Anthropic and OpenAI’s autonomous AI hacks? It’s complicated",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/03/whos-legally-to-blame-for-anthropic-and-openais-autonomous-ai-hacks",
        "published": "2026-08-03T19:45:35.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "CNBC Technology",
        "title": "Big Tech's Anthropic and OpenAI stakes are distorting the corporate earnings picture",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/03/big-techs-anthropic-and-openai-stakes-are-distorting-the-corporate-105666",
        "published": "2026-08-03T22:48:18.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Japan Times",
        "title": "Meta, Anthropic, Google, OpenAI to meet Trump officials about AI safety testing",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/04/meta-anthropic-google-openai-to-meet-trump-officials-about-ai-safety",
        "published": "2026-08-04T00:58:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Economic Times Tech",
        "title": "Meta, Anthropic, Google, OpenAI to meet Trump officials about AI safety testing",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/04/meta-anthropic-google-openai-to-meet-trump-officials-about-ai-safety-114135",
        "published": "2026-08-04T03:01:41.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}