Microsoft, Meta surge after blowout results

Shares in artificial intelligence heavyweights Microsoft MSFT and Meta Platforms META both surged in European trading on Thursday, after blowout quarterly results after-market on Wednesday.

Meta shares surged 12.2% in Frankfurt after it forecast quarterly revenue well ahead of Wall Street expectations.

Microsoft shares jumped 9%, as surging Azure cloud computing revenue above analysts' expectations, showcasing the growing return on its AI bets.

The jump in shares lifted futures on Wall Street, with S&P futures ES1! up 1% and futures on the technology-heavy Nasdaq NQ1! up 1.3%.