How Anthropic and SpaceX Are Quietly Boosting Big Tech Profits

The article explains that Big Tech firms are increasingly benefiting from gains in private AI investments, not just core operations like cloud, search and advertising. Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft reportedly booked more than $150 billion in combined investment gains this earnings season, much of it tied to rising valuations of Anthropic and SpaceX. These gains flowed through accounting marks on equity stakes rather than asset sales, amplifying reported income and EPS. Alphabet’s roughly $98 billion in other income and Amazon’s $53.4 billion pre-tax other income were especially notable, while Microsoft recorded a $3.2 billion gain partly offset by a decline in OpenAI stake value. The market implication is that AI exposure is now influencing earnings quality and volatility for mega-cap tech, making private-market valuations a new driver for S&P 500 profit growth and potentially a tailwind or headwind if those valuations change.