Latest news with #USmarkets
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Which Mag 7 stocks will be the top performers this earnings season?
The latest earnings season will be another test for the "Magnificent 7" tech behemoths, some of which have recovered more recently following a turbulent start to 2025. The emergence of DeepSeek's cheaper artificial intelligence (AI) model in January raised questions over the level of spending on the technology by the major US companies and rattled investors. These questions were front of mind when going into the first earnings season of the year, in addition to increasingly high expectations from investors as to what to expect from the performance of these companies. US president Donald Trump's announcement of unveiling of sweeping tariffs on what he dubbed "Liberation Day" on 2 April also rocked the Mag 7, as well as markets more broadly. Read more: UK's rising debt cost puts Reeves and tax rises in spotlight However, Trump announcing a 90-day pause on many higher tariffs, followed by a further extension for trading partners to negotiate deals until 1 August, offered some relief to investors. Any signs of progress on tariff negotiations has buoyed investor confidence and has seen them pile back into tech stocks. Despite Mag 7 stocks recovering some ground over the past few months, tariff uncertainty continues to loom over markets and this group of tech giants as the second half of the year gets underway. With that in mind, here's more detail on what to expect from the Mag 7 this earnings season. Tesla (TSLA) – Releases second quarter earnings on Wednesday 23 July Shares in electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla (TSLA) are down nearly 19% year-to-date, despite rising as CEO Elon Musk stepped back from Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and said he planned to put more time back into the EV company. Musk's public feud with Trump, following his departure from Washington, has weighed on Tesla (TSLA) shares. Meanwhile, sales of Tesla (TSLA) vehicles have continued to fall, amid backlash against Musk's political activities, with the company also facing increasing competition from rival EV makers. In figures released early in July, Tesla (TSLA) delivered 384,122 vehicles globally in the second quarter, a drop of 13.5% for the same period last year. Tesla's (TSLA) first quarter earnings missed analyst expectations, with the company posting revenue of $19.34bn (£14.3bn), compared to a Bloomberg consensus estimate of $21.37bn. Adjusted earnings of $0.27 per share, also fell short of the $0.43 expected on Wall Street. Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG said that "expectations are muted" going into Tesla's latest results as "underlying concerns about demand, profitability, and brand damage remain front and centre". "Last quarter was bruising: revenue declined, earnings missed heavily, and management pulled its full-year guidance," he said. "This time, investors want more than just autonomous hype – they want clarity on the health of the core car business." He added: "Margins will be critical. Price cuts have propped up volumes but eroded profitability. Meanwhile, the political fallout surrounding CEO Elon Musk is increasingly material." Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) – Releases second quarter results on Wednesday 23 July One area of focus going into Google-parent Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) second quarter results on Wednesday will be fears around increasing competition in search from AI chatbots. Reuters recently reported that OpenAI was set to release an AI-powered web browser that would challenge Alphabet's Google Chrome. At the same time, CNBC reported last week that OpenAI has said it will use Google's cloud infrastructure for its ChatGPT AI assistant. Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that going into Alphabet's second quarter results there's "still a raging debate about the future of Google search" amid fresh competition from language models like ChatGPT. "Markets are expecting a slight slowdown in services growth, which includes Google advertising and other subscription revenue, to around 8.5%," he said. Stocks: Create your watchlist and portfolio "Cloud growth is the other key driver for Alphabet, with Google Cloud looking much more competitive for AI workloads than it was in previous cloud wars," Britzman said. "Top-line cloud growth of 26% is expected, and investors will have one eye on margins as AI investment into both cloud infrastructure and its Gemini language models continues at pace." He added: "Alphabet has a quality lineup of businesses, but its long-standing crown as the entry point to the internet is under pressure, and that's put the valuation under strain." Alphabet's first quarter results, released in April, beat expectations, with revenue of $90.2bn compared to Bloomberg consensus estimates of $89.1bn. Earnings per share (EPS) of $2.81 also bested forecasts of $2.01. Google Services revenue rose 10% to $77.3bn, which Alphabet said reflected strong performance across Google Search and other Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices, and YouTube ads. Meanwhile, Google cloud revenues were up 28% in the first quarter to $12.3bn. Alphabet shares rose after the release of its first quarter results, though the stock is trading just above the flatline year-to-date. Microsoft (MSFT) – Releases fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday 30 July Reports of a collaboration with Alphabet, signals OpenAI's latest efforts to diversify away from its major backer Microsoft (MSFT), which used to be its exclusive cloud computing capacity provider. In fact, other reports have suggested that talks over the future of Open AI and Microsoft's partnership have turned fractious. Despite tensions over the future of the team-up, which has been a boon for Microsoft in benefitting from being able to sell OpenAI's technologies to its customers, shares are still up 21% year-to-date. Hargreaves Lansdown's Britzman said: "Microsoft is the king of quietly going about its business and nailing execution along the way." Read more: London IPO fundraising slumps in blow to UK He said that cloud performance through Microsoft Azure was stronger than expected last quarter "and there could be some upside to guidance of 34-35% growth in next week's fourth quarter results if it's been able to bring more supply online." "Margins will be in focus as eye-watering AI investment continues, but as supply/demand dynamics become more favourable there should be a natural tailwind," he said. Britzman added that there will also be "keen interest in how efforts to boost efficiency are progressing". "Recent reports suggest Microsoft has already saved over $500m in annual costs by integrating AI into its customer service functions," he said. "Some analysts think there's much more to come and will be keeping an eye out for any further commentary on AI driven cost savings." Microsoft's third quarter earnings, released at the end of April, beat expectations with the company reporting revenue of $70bn versus estimates of $68.4bn, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates. Earnings per share of $3.46 also beat estimates of $3.21. Meta (META) – Releases second quarter results on Wednesday 30 July In its quest to lead the AI race, Facebook-parent Meta (META) has reportedly been snapping up talent from rivals, luring in top performers with eye-watering compensation packages. In addition, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced last week that the company plans to build several massive data centers across the US, including one it expects to come online next year. Shares in Meta are up more than 20% so far this year, with the stock rising following the release of its first quarter earnings at the end of April. Meta posted earnings per share (EPS) of $6.43 on revenue of $42.3bn for the first quarter, besting expectations of EPS of $5.25 on revenue of $41.3bn, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates. For the second quarter, Meta said it expected revenue to come in at between $42.5bn and $45.5bn, ahead of Wall Street's expectations of $44bn. At the same time, AJ Bell's Coatsworth said: "Tariff uncertainties also threaten to dampen advertising activity, which is a risk to Meta's social media networks and to Alphabet's YouTube platform. "If companies are worried about a slowdown in the economy, they might be less willing to spend big on promotions. Both Meta and Alphabet make a lot of money from carrying advertisements so they would be in the firing line if corporates pull back on marketing activities." Apple (AAPL) – Releases third quarter results on Thursday 31 July Shares in Apple (AAPL) are down nearly 15% year-to-date, as tariff headwinds have weighed on the iPhone-maker. Apple CEO Tim Cook warned in a second quarter earnings call at the beginning of May that tariffs were expected to add $900m to costs in the third quarter. Hargreaves Lansdown's Britzman said that this "sounds big, but is relatively small in the grand scheme of things". Apple's second quarter results topped estimates, with revenue of $95.4bn compared to forecasts of $94.5bn, and EPS of $1.65 compared to expectations of $1.62. Britzman said that investors will "hoping for more meat on the AI bone" in this latest set of results. "Apple's relatively disappointing developer conference had a distinct lack of news on the AI strategy and investors are rightly looking for some updates," he said. "Apple's approach to AI has fallen well short of what investors and consumers have come to expect from one of the world's leading brands," he added. "Apple Intelligence has so far failed to deliver the game changing experience that was promised, so investors should watch out any updates on new AI features and where Apple stands with Siri, another product with huge potential but poor execution." Amazon (AMZN) – Releases second quarter results on Thursday 31 July For Amazon (AMZN), a major focus of its results will be on the growth of its Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud business. Britzman said that while AWS recorded 17% growth in the first quarter, this lagged competition. "The aggressive 2025 investment guide is key and mirrors sentiments from other mega-cap players," he said. "Like Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon noted it was leaving some cloud growth on the table as it couldn't ramp up AI computer capacity fast enough – so the supply/demand dynamic will be closely watched." He said that investors will also be keeping an eye on its retail business, given looming tariff uncertainty but added that performance has so far "held up well, with no clear signs of a demand slowdown". "Dominant players are best placed to not only ride out slower growth but also use their scale to gain market share," he added. "Margins are worth keeping an eye on too, there should be a benefit in the coming quarters from the scaling up of facilities and increased use of robotics." Overall in the first quarter, Amazon beat estimates, reporting earnings per share (EPS) of $1.59 on revenue of $155.7bn. Wall Street was anticipating EPS of $1.36 and revenue of $155.1bn, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates. However, the guidance it gave at the time for the second quarter disappointed against expectations. The Seattle-based group said it expected operating income of between $13bn and $17.5bn for the quarter, down from $14.7bn a year earlier and below Wall Street's forecast of $17.7bn. Shares fell after the release of the results and are trading just 3.5% in the green year-to-date. Nvidia (NVDA) – Releases second quarter results on Wednesday 27 August As an enabler of the AI boom, chipmaker Nvidia's (NVDA) earnings have become a major event in the earnings calendar, with some build up to the release of its results as it tends to report later in the season. Investor expectations have become increasingly high around Nvidia's earnings, with markets sensitive to any signs of slowdown for the chip giant. The stock has seen a marked rebound following turbulence in the first few months of the year amid the DeepSeek AI market shock and Trump's tariff agenda. The Trump administration imposed curbs on the sale of Nvidia's H20 AI chips to China in April. Shares popped last week after the company said that it would resume sales of its H20 chips in China. Nvidia said that the US government had assured the company that licences will be granted, with the chipmaker adding that it hoped to start deliveries soon. Stocks: Create your watchlist and portfolio The recovery in Nvidia shares since mid-April lows has meant the stock is now up 25% year-to-date and recently saw the company become the first publicly traded company to pass the $4tn market capitalisation milestone. In the first quarter, Nvidia beat expectations, posting revenue of $44.1bn compared to an expected $43.29bn. The chipmaker guided to revenue of $45bn, plus or minus 2% for the second quarter. Going into the second quarter earnings, Britzman warned that investors shouldn't expect "any meaningful impact" from the recent turnaround on H20 chip curbs, given the timeframe. "However, taking a conservative view, new Chinese sales could drive a $10bn uplift in revenue by year-end, potentially more if things move fast," he said. "NVIDIA may also be able to reverse some of the $4.5bn inventory write-down from the first quarter, providing a direct boost to earnings." He added: "Outside of China, overall demand remains critical. Markets have already heard from major customers that data centre expansion is a priority, which should benefit Nvidia." Read more: Bank of England governor warns Labour against watering down financial rules How to build passive income Jobs data increases odds on Bank of England interest rate cut
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Dodge and Cox Increased its Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) Amid Current Challenges
Dodge & Cox Fund, an investment management company, released its 'Dodge and Cox Stock Fund' second quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Stock Fund — Class I – returned 3.82% and Class X returned 3.85% in the second quarter vs the S&P 500 Index's 10.9% return and the Russell 1000 Value Index's 3.79% return. In the second quarter, geopolitical uncertainty and rapidly changing economic proposals led to increased volatility in the US markets. In addition, please check the fund's top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025. In its second quarter 2025 investor letter, Dodge and Cox Stock Fund highlighted stocks such as UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH). UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) is a diversified healthcare company that operates through UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx segments. The one-month return of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was -6.17%, and its shares lost 49.49% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On July 21, 2025, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) stock closed at $282.14 per share, with a market capitalization of $255.94 billion. Dodge and Cox Stock Fund stated the following regarding UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter: "In the second quarter, we continued to add to holdings in the Health Care sector and trim select holdings in Financials, consistent with actions begun in early 2024. We increased the Fund's position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), the largest U.S. health insurer, after the company's valuation reached an 11-year low due to disappointing earnings, continued regulatory concerns, and management changes.3 Its Medicare Advantage (MA) business has been especially weak, mirroring trends at the other largest MA participants (Humana and CVS, companies the Fund also owns). Despite the current challenges, we believe UnitedHealth has a strong position across its major markets and MA profitability is likely to recover. We are also optimistic that UnitedHealth's returning CEO Stephen Hemsley (who came out of retirement in May) can help improve operational efficiency and margins." A senior healthcare professional giving advice to a patient in a clinic. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) is in 18th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 139 hedge fund portfolios held UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) at the end of the first quarter, which was 150 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. In another article, we covered UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) and shared the list of most undervalued healthcare stocks to buy according to analysts. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors. READ NEXT: The Best and Worst Dow Stocks for the Next 12 Months and 10 Unstoppable Stocks That Could Double Your Money. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Fed Right to Be in Wait-And-See Mode: Sharma
Algorithm Research Founder and CEO Ketaki Sharma discusses the resiliency of US markets, the latest inflation data and her outlook for Fed policy with Bloomberg's Joumanna Bercetche on 'Horizons Middle East and Africa.' (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Foreign investors buy nearly 100 billion euros of euro zone bonds in May, Citi says
By Yoruk Bahceli LONDON (Reuters) -Euro zone bonds saw nearly 100 billion euros ($116.4 billion) of buying from outside the bloc in May, Citi said citing European Central Bank data, the latest sign that euro assets are benefitting from a shift away from U.S. markets. The 97 billion euros of net inflows into euro zone bonds with maturities longer than one year was the largest on a monthly basis since at least 2014, Citi said, pointing to portfolio flow data from the ECB. "This could potentially be due to substitution out of dollar assets," the bank's analysts said in a note to clients on Monday. Allocation away from U.S. to European assets has been a big theme across financial markets in 2025, so investors are looking for data indicating to what extent such a move is taking shape. U.S. President Donald Trump's confrontations with longstanding allies over trade and security, along with attacks on the Federal Reserve, have raised concerns around the safe-haven status of U.S. Treasuries this year. Euro zone bonds have traded more steadily, boosting their appeal to investors as an asset perceived to be safe. U.S. 30-year yields are up 40 basis points since April 2, when Trump announced his "Liberation Day" tariffs, while German equivalents are up fewer than 20 basis points. Citi however noted the May inflows followed 12 billion euros of foreign investor outflows from the bloc's debt in April, which they said could be explained by broad de-risking in the wake of Liberation Day. "All in, therefore, we would watch out for the June data, released on 18th August, to draw any conclusions," the analysts said. ($1 = 0.8592 euros) Effettua l'accesso per consultare il tuo portafoglio
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Here's How Much a $250 Monthly Investment in the S&P 500 Could Grow Over the Long Term
Key Points Investing $250 per month into a fund that tracks the S&P 500 can be an effective way to build up a portfolio worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long run. The market may be due for a period of slowing growth, but it can still be an excellent idea to invest regularly each month. 10 stocks we like better than SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust › A good way to build up your portfolio over the years is to invest on a regular basis. If you don't have thousands of dollars to invest in the stock market today, that shouldn't discourage you from investing. Thanks to the power of compounding, even investing a few hundred dollars each month can put you on a path to creating a portfolio worth several hundred thousand dollars in the future, potentially even more than $1 million. Below, I'll go over how much your portfolio might one day be worth if you invest $250 per month. That equates to $3,000 per year, which may not seem like a whole lot. But if you were to keep up that habit for years, you may be surprised just how significant your portfolio may end up becoming over time. And there's no need for any complex strategies, either. Simply tracking the S&P 500 index can be a safe and reliable way to grow your portfolio over the long haul. Why tracking the S&P 500 is an ideal option for most investors The S&P 500 index is a collection of the best 500 companies with stock trading on the U.S. markets. It includes stocks from all major sectors, and it's what analysts and investors often look to when gauging the strength of the overall market. And that's why, by tracking the index, you can effectively give yourself a way to benefit from the stock market's long-term growth. There will be occasional bear markets and years when the index trades negatively, but historically, the S&P 500 has risen by an average of 10% per year. And while fund managers always try to outperform it, the reality is that most will end up failing to do so. And if you can't beat it, you may as well try to simply mirror it, which you can do through many exchange-traded funds (ETFs). One ETF that charges low fees and gives you exposure to the broad index is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: SPY). It has an expense ratio of just 0.0945% (i.e., for every $10,000 invested, the fund charges $9.45 in annual fees), and it's a great example of a fund that you can safely invest in on an ongoing basis. How much could your portfolio be worth over the long term? If you invest $250 monthly into the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, you can be confident that your investment will grow significantly over the long term. The big question mark, however, is how quickly it will grow. While the S&P has averaged 10% gains for decades, that doesn't mean it's a sure thing to produce a 10% return every year. In fact, the last time it actually produced a return close to 10% was in 2016, when it rose by 9.5%. In four of the past six years, the index achieved gains in excess of 20%. While that's great news if you were invested in the market during that stretch, it also suggests that the index may be due for a period of cooling down, and that future returns may be lower. The table below shows you how a $250-per-month investment in the SPDR ETF might grow over the long term, at varying average rates between 8% and 10%, thanks to compounding. This can give you an idea of how it might do under average conditions, and also if it does end up underperforming. Year 8% Growth Rate 9% Growth Rate 10% Growth Rate 10 $46,041 $48,741 $51,638 15 $87,086 $95,311 $104,481 20 $148,237 $168,224 $191,424 25 $239,342 $282,383 $334,473 30 $375,074 $461,119 $569,831 35 $577,294 $740,962 $957,069 Calculations and table by author. There's no crystal ball to tell you what kind of return you'll end up generating in the long run. But as you can see, by regularly investing $250 per month, you could still end up with a portfolio worth more than $500,000 after 35 years, even if you end up averaging an annual return of around 8%. Hopefully, the average return ends up being a bit higher than that, but by being conservative in your assumptions, you can avoid basing forecasts and projections on ideal circumstances and best-case scenarios. But regardless of what the actual average rate ends up being, it's clear that by keeping up a habit of investing $250 per month, you can put yourself in a much stronger financial position in the long run. Should you buy stock in SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust right now? Before you buy stock in SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $674,281!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,050,415!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,058% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 179% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025 David Jagielski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Here's How Much a $250 Monthly Investment in the S&P 500 Could Grow Over the Long Term was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
