Welcome to Markets Desk, here's what's moving the tape this afternoon.
Alphabet is the clear standout on what has been a monster day for Big Tech earnings. The Google parent delivered a strong beat, with cloud growth giving management the cover it needed to justify elevated capital spending projections. Investors rewarded that combination, and the stock led the mega-cap pack higher.
Turning to semiconductors, Sandisk has quietly become the S&P five hundred's best-performing stock over the past year, surging more than three thousand percent and crossing the one thousand dollar per share threshold. That milestone is now feeding speculation that management could announce a ten-for-one stock split, a move that would broaden retail access and signal continued confidence from the board.
And on the geopolitical front, President Trump says he is weighing a withdrawal of American troops stationed in Germany, a significant escalation of tensions with Berlin after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly stated the United States was being humiliated by Iran as that conflict stretches past the two-month mark. The statement adds a fresh layer of uncertainty to the transatlantic relationship at a delicate moment for NATO cohesion.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
