To The Moon

“Tariff Limbo, Profit Palooza: 112 S&P 500 Reports Set to Define H2 2025”

It is not easy to summarise the big market movements since the launch of President Trump v2 on 20 January, but with a half-year of data available we can now start to pick out some patterns. According to Forbes, Trump has flip-flopped on tariffs 28 times since Liberation Day. Wall Street has given him the derisive nickname of “Taco Trump” – standing for “Trump always chickens out” – and it may be that the sheer amount of to-ing and fro-ing has given companies and markets time to price in the effects of tariffs and dulled the shock somewhat. The latest promised date of tariff imposition is Friday 1 August, the same day the likes of $Chevron(CVX)$ and $Exxon Mobil(XOM)$ will be releasing their latest financials – $Apple(AAPL)$ , $Amazon.com(AMZN)$ , $Microsoft(MSFT)$ , and dozens of others are due to report earlier that same week.

Read more>>Top Movers After Earnings: TSLA, IBM, GOOG & More

US reporting season

It’s one of the key periods for investors, analysts, and media, and just past the six-month mark of the second Trump administration, the stakes are higher than ever. The big US banks heralded the start of the reporting season last Tuesday, with publicly listed companies starting to release their financial results for Q2, in the form of detailed earnings reports and, in many cases, earnings calls with analysts and investors. One of the aspects being most closely watched is the forward guidance being provided by management – these help shape market expectations on the future profitability of the company and encompass current and projected opportunities and threats which might help or harm the profit model.

While it is early in the reporting season, the overall tone of the Q2 earnings season is positive. However, many companies are threading a needle between resilient consumer demand and rising geopolitical and trade pressures. Tariffs are no longer a background risk and are being explicitly factored into forecasts, suggesting that trade policy will play a more prominent role in corporate strategy and investor sentiment heading into the second half of 2025.

Big banks have led the way, with strong results from $JPMorgan Chase(JPM)$ , $Goldman Sachs(GS)$ , $Citigroup(C)$ , and $Bank of America(BAC)$ . JPMorgan, for example, posted a $15 billion profit, while Goldman’s earnings jumped 20% year-over-year thanks to strength in its advisory and equities trading arms. Even Citigroup, which has faced recent restructuring challenges, beat expectations and raised its revenue outlook. Notably, trading revenue has surged industry-wide amid ongoing market volatility.

Healthcare and industrial names also showed resilience. Elevance Health raised its full-year EPS guidance after strong Q2 results, while 3M topped estimates and upgraded its full-year profit forecast — even while acknowledging tariff-related pressures.

Tech and communication services remain a focal point. $Netflix(NFLX)$ beat expectations: revenue up 15.9% YoY and raised 2025 guidance, touting strong subscriber growth and expanding live sports programming.

Tariffs

Tariffs are back on the radar in this earnings season — especially following recent US trade announcements targeting China, Brazil, and European goods. Trump is advocating a 15-20% baseline tariff on all EU products. The postponement of the sweeping tariffs originally planned for 9 July to 1 August has been accompanied by warnings this could be final (or the 29th flip-flop, per the Forbes calculator? We’ll know next week). The US and China aim to extend their 12 August deadline in upcoming Stockholm talks, after earlier truce measures rolled back steep tariffs.

This week, 112 of the $S&P 500(.SPX)$ companies report, with the highlight being this morning with $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ and $Alphabet(GOOG)$ reporting after the market close. Tesla’s share price gained 0.2% after reporting EPS of 40 cents in line with expectations with a 12% drop in sales and revenue slightly higher than forecast.  They also stated that they are making good progress to launch new models by the end of the year.  Google rose 2% in afterhours trading with EPS of $2.21 v $2.16 expected on revenue of $96.43B versus $93.7B expected.  Also reporting today was ServiceNow that gained 6.5% afterhours.   GE Vernova jumped 14 .6% after reporting well before the open and the power equipment maker’s stock price is now up 91% YTD.

Next week is the busiest reporting week with $UnitedHealth(UNH)$ , $Starbucks(SBUX)$ , $Merck(MRK)$ , $Boeing(BA)$ and $Visa(V)$ on Tuesday; $Forward(FORD)$ $Ford(F)$ , $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$ , $Microsoft(MSFT)$ and $Qualcomm(QCOM)$ on Wednesday; $Amazon.com(AMZN)$ , $Apple(AAPL)$ , $MasterCard(MA)$ and $Illumina(ILMN)$ on Thursday, among many others.

ENDS

About Greg Boland

Greg Boland is the Chief Strategy Officer for Tiger Brokers. His more than 35 years of specialist experience in capital markets include exchange management, investment advisory management, surveillance and risk and compliance, operations, and governance, and he is an authority in trading systems and methodologies (including online), exchange-traded equities and derivatives, equity options, index futures and options, and financial futures.

About Tiger Brokers in Australia

Tiger Brokers (Nasdaq: TIGR), founded in 2014, is a leading online brokerage firm with a focus on redefining global investing with technology for the next generation. Our unwavering mission of helping everyday Aussies, from beginners to experts, take full control of their investing journey and bringing our local knowledge and industry-leading share-trading platform to every investor.  Currently, Tiger Brokers serves over 10 million users and more than 2 million account holders worldwide on our flagship platform Tiger Trade, with 69 licenses and qualifications in different markets. In 2019, the company was listed on Nasdaq as UP Fintech Holding Limited under the ticker TIGR. For more information about Tiger Brokers, please visit https://www.tigerbrokers.com.au