☕️ Real Revenue. Real Customers. Real Awkward for the Bubble Babblers
Apr 30, 2026Howdy! 👋
The bubble babblers had one job — find the crack in the AI story. So, they looked, argued and waited while selling hype, horse-hockey and hooey to anybody who would listen.
I have repeatedly told you that they’re barking up the wrong tree.
Seems I might a’ been on to something. 😆
Four of the most powerful companies on earth handed ‘em their answer on a silver platter.
Real customers.
Real revenue.
Real cycle.
And – yep - real awkward for the bubble babblers.
I really feel for ‘em.
Many of these folks are super smart people, but it’s gotta sting to be so convinced and yet so wrong so consistently. But hey, it’s a free country.
If you want to remember one thing as an investor right now, it’s this.
The world is reorganizing itself around AI the same way it reorganized around the internet — except this time the revenues showed up before the hype peaked, not a decade after.
The numbers tell the story better than I can:
- $MSFT — Azure up 40%, beating the high end of guidance. The AI business is now running at $37 billion annually, up 123% year over year. Copilot passed 20 million paid seats. 20 MILLION.
- $GOOGL — Cloud up 63% to $20 billion with a backlog of $460 billion. Sundar Pichai said enterprise AI has become the primary cloud growth driver for the first time. Read that again slowly.
- $AMZN — AWS up 28% to $37.6 billion — the fastest growth in 15 quarters. And they reaffirmed $200 billion in capex for the year. Not a typo.
- $META — Revenue up 33%, the fastest since 2021. Full-year capex guidance raised to $125–$145 billion. Never mind what I think of him personally as a CEO, El Zucko deserves props on this one.
Now let me tell you what's really dead after yesterday’s blowout… the whole AI deceleration and speculative spending narrative.
The "show me the revenue" crowd — wanted an answer and they got one.
This was the prove-it quarter.
“They” proved it.
My guess is that the naysayers keep at it anyway.
Let ‘em.
The negative nellies have talked more investors out of more wealth than any earnings report or bear market ever has. Hopefully you didn’t fall for it, especially considering how many times we’ve talked about what’s happening.
What we saw on every call yesterday isn't a sugar high but – imho - durable and very real cloud demand with accelerating AI monetization being underwritten by signed customer commitments. Not hope, not hype, sure as heck not a PowerPoint deck.
Again, real customers and real revenue.
The bubble crowd had their moment to be right and they biffed it.
The companies pouring capital into AI infrastructure today aren't gambling but buying and building the most valuable foundational elements of the next decade.
To paraphrase both Unka Jensen and Auntie Lisa, we’re still early days.
MyPOV is straightforward.
When four of the largest companies on earth all beat in the same quarter — and all of ‘em raised forward spending… I can’t imagine better confirmation that the AI buildout is accelerating. The returns are showing up in the numbers right now, not "someday."
If you've been waiting for permission to believe this is real, this may be the ultimate “are you paying attention moment” for investors.
Buy the best, ignore the rest!®
5. Then there’s the Fed 🤦
The super savvy Brandy Scott asked for my take in the UAE early this morning and we had a wide-ranging interview that I think you may enjoy… talking the Fed, JPow’s latest and, of course, big tech, too. (Watch)
Keith's Investing Tip: Naysayers are dangerous not because they're smart — but because they sound smart right up until the moment you realize listening to ‘em has caused you to miss everything. Investing in optimism beats cowering in fear.
Speaking of which… the May issue of One Bar Ahead® drops tomorrow so keep an eye on your email if you’re an OBAer. And if not… well…
Bottom Line
Invest in where the world is going or you and your money get trapped in where it’s been.
Innovation pays which is why the world’s smartest investors constantly focus on it.
You got this – I promise!
And as always, let’s MAKE it a great day.
Keith 😀
