And with Microsoft shares up by 9% and Meta gaining 11% before the open, the S&P 500 would have a hard time being anything but up today. In fact, that index is gaining nearly 1% in premarket futures trading. The Nasdaq, of which both Microsoft and Meta are also members, is up more than 1%.

Microsoft posted its fiscal fourth-quarter results after Wednesday's closing bell. Investors will be focused on cloud growth, spending plans and monetization of AI tools like Copilot.

In the last five years, Microsoft’s stock has displayed a slight inclination towards negative one-day returns following earnings announcements.