2026.19: Earning & Spending

(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Welcome back to This Week in Stratechery!

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On that note, here were a few of our favorites this week.

1. What We Learned from Big Tech’s First Quarter. Apple, Amazon, Meta, Google and Microsoft all reported earnings last week, and as four of the five megacaps continue to pour massive sums into AI (first quarter CapEx was more than three times that of the Manhattan Project), there are no signs of that pace slowing. Ben broke it all down across several days, including divergent market reactions to great Google numbers and Meta numbers that were arguably even better, as well as the stories for Microsoft and Apple after Q1. Sandwiched between those Daily Updates, Tuesday’s Article zoomed out to connect Amazon’s infrastructure spending history with its AI strategy going forward. All of it was a great way to parse numbers that continue to boggle the mind, and strategy that actually looks a lot more rational than the numbers sound._—_ _Andrew Sharp_

1. A Conversation with Joanna Stern.How does one write a book about a tech story that seems to change every other week? Joanna Stern accepted that challenge, and explained how it went in this week’s Stratechery Interview. The resulting conversation is a delightful glimpse into the process for one of the most creative tech writers alive and the making of a book that Ben loved. Stern’s shares her thoughts on using an LLM to make a career change, as well as how AI is changing medicine (and mammograms), and limits of LLMs that are still very real. To the latter point, if you’d like to learn more about how ChatGPT misdiagnosed a preying mantis pregnancy, start with this week’s interview, and thenyou can buy the book here._—_ _AS_
2. What’s Next for the Celtics? Like many others across the media, I picked the Boston Celtics to make the NBA Finals in June. Alas, they barely made it out of April and were eliminated in the first round to Joel Embiid and the 76ers. The GOAT podcast recapped that disaster first on Monday with a salute to the Sixers (now bittersweet after two losses to the Knicks), and on Thursday’s episode, a longer look at the mess in Boston and a variety of thorny choices from here. Get caught up on all of that and the rest of Playoffs, and if you need an additional hoops fix, this week’s Sharp Text is a salute to the maddening charms of the Minnesota Timberwolves._—_ _AS_

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Stratechery Articles and Updates

• Google Earnings, Meta Earnings_— Wall Street loved Google’s earnings, and hated Meta’s, even though the latter’s core business was more impressive. The difference is that Google is monetizing its investments now (and it might be all Anthropic)._
• Amazon’s Durability_— Amazon looked behind in AI in the training era, but is well place in the inference era, thanks to its continued investment in the long-term._
• Microsoft Earnings, Apple Earnings_— Microsoft unveils its new agentic business model, and Apple confronts shortages in memory and chips even as the Mac benefits from AI._
• An Interview with Joanna Stern About Living With AI_— An interview with Joanna Stern about her new book about living with AI, and starting her own media company._

Sharp Text by Andrew Sharp

• The Wolves Are Why We Do This — _A salute to the playoff Timberwolves. Plus: Notes on Vogue history, NBA upheaval, and the “geo” in geopolitics._

Dithering with Ben Thompson and Daring Fireball’s John Gruber

• Google and Meta Earnings
• Anthropic and xAI

Asianometry with Jon Yu

• Sweden Made DC Great Again

Greatest of All Talk with Andrew Sharp and Ben Golliver

• The Sixers Get Their Moment in the Sun, A Nightmare for Celtics Fans, Thoughts on the Way Into the Second Round
• A Championship Response from the Spurs, What’s Next for the Celtics?, Pre-Lottery Thoughts and Emotions

This week’s Sharp Tech video is on Messaging AI in 2026.