The power of the big tech platforms has been on the minds of politicians on both sides of the Atlantic this year — to the consternation of investors, whose worries about new regulations have contributed to a period of huge volatility in stock prices.
But if political risk is a new factor complicating the outlook for the world’s most valuable companies, it certainly has not hit their businesses. Earnings from some of biggest tech groups this week have provided a stunning demonstration of their platform power — and a reminder of how hard it may be for politicians to restrain their headlong growth, even if they wished to do so.
Amazon’s blowout earnings late on Thursday capped a week in which Facebook and Google have also disclosed far stronger growth than investors had been expecting. Confirmation that they have been untouched by a growing political backlash has had a drastic effect on Wall Street’s frame of mind.