Big tech crushes Q2 earnings expectations

Today after the bell, Apple, Alphabet, Facebook and Amazon reported their earnings results. Each bested expectations, and all but one are up sharply in after-hours trading.

Coming on the heels of a day’s worth of congressional hearings in which the four companies highlighted competition and downplayed their market position, the results are loud. The group’s collected earnings beats are especially impressive given that they came during a quarter in which the economy contracted, meaning that their combined, relative share of the U.S. economy went up sharply during the period.

Let’s...