Wall Street's AI heavyweights added a combined half a trillion dollars in stock market value late on Wednesday after quarterly reports from Microsoft and Meta Platforms showed massive investments in the emerging technology were paying off.

Meta Platforms shares surged in after-hours trading after it blew out second-quarter earnings expectations Wednesday afternoon. Along with Alphabet’s second-quarter earnings report last week, Meta’s release reveals a lot of strength in digital advertising,

In the midst of an artificial intelligence spending spree, Meta posted stronger-than-expected results for the second quarter, buoyed by growing ad revenue even as its expenses increased.