Editorial companion

What stands out

Stephanie Walter on Schwab Network boiled this earnings season down to a simple demand: investors want receipts for artificial intelligence (A.I.) spending. She ties the market’s warm reaction to Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet to visible monetization paths, contrasts that with Meta’s lack of a clear revenue story, and notes Apple is opting to improve products rather than race into headline-grabbing A.I. spend. The clip matters because it frames earnings as a litmus test for which A.I.