Earnings Surprises, TikTok's U.S. Ban Looms and the ECB Freezes Rates

Money Masters' Market Pulse Week Week 30

July 25, 2025

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Dear Money Master,

Earnings season was in full swing this week. 📊 From soaring profits at IBM and Deutsche Bank to downward spirals at American Airlines and Southwest, this week highlighted the stark contrast between tech resilience and travel turbulence.

IBM impressed Wall Street with an 8% revenue jump and solid earnings growth, while Google boosted its AI infrastructure spending to a staggering $85 billion, a clear sign of confidence in cloud demand. Meanwhile, Keurig Dr. Pepper rode a caffeine-and-energy-drink-fueled rally to beat expectations, and Nestlé leaned into price hikes to protect margins despite global cost pressures.

On the other side of the ledger, airlines took a nosedive. American Airlines slashed its full-year earnings outlook by over 70%, citing soft demand and tariff uncertainty, while Southwest missed both top and bottom-line estimates and revised its 2025 forecast sharply lower.

In global news, the ECB hit pause on further rate cuts, citing trade war fears. And at the EU-China Summit, European leaders demanded fairer trade as tensions over China’s subsidized production and growing trade imbalances deepened. 🌍💼

📰 Your Daily Financial Digest - July 25th, 2025

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🌍 Economics and Finance:

  1. ECB Holds Rates Steady Amid Trade Uncertainty 🏦
    The ECB left its deposit rate unchanged at 2%, citing persistent economic risks and a murky trade outlook as EU leaders negotiate with Washington. Read More

  2. Astronomer’s HR Chief Resigns After Viral Concert Incident 🎥🚪
    Kristin Cabot steps down days after CEO Andy Byron, following a viral ‘kiss cam’ moment at a Coldplay concert that led to company controversy. Read More

  3. EU Demands Trade Rebalance in Talks With China ⚖️🌐
    At the 25th EU-China Summit, President von der Leyen urged Beijing to address the growing trade deficit and overcapacity issues, warning that subsidized Chinese exports distort fair competition in European markets. Read More

💻 Technology:

  1. TikTok Faces U.S. Ban Unless China Relinquishes Control 🔒
    The U.S. demands ByteDance cede control of TikTok or face a full ban, escalating tech tensions with China. The app sits on 100 million American phones. Read More

  2. Google Boosts Capital Spend to $85B on AI Cloud Demand ☁️📈
    Google raised its infrastructure spending forecast by $10B to address record cloud demand, driven by AI services. This exceeds all previous expectations. Read More

  3. Starlink Outage Hits Users Day After T-Mobile Satellite Launch 🌐⚠️
    60,000 users reported outages on Starlink just a day after T-Mobile debuted its own satellite service. The incident sparked speculation about reliability. Read More

💹Earnings:

  1. IBM Crushes Q2 Earnings on Broad-Based Growth 📊
    Revenue rose 8% to $16.98B, and EPS hit $2.80, both beating expectations. Net income jumped 20% YoY despite geopolitical caution among some clients. Read More

  2. Deutsche Bank Delivers Surprise Profit Beat 🏦
    The bank posted €1.485B in Q2 profit, far exceeding estimates, as it maintained guidance despite currency headwinds and investment banking weakness. Read More

  3. American Airlines Slashes 2025 Guidance ✈️📉
    The carrier now expects full-year EPS between -$0.20 and $0.80, a steep drop from January’s $1.70–$2.70 forecast, as demand softens and tariff risks linger.
    Read More

  4. Southwest Misses Forecasts and Cuts 2025 Outlook 🛬
    Southwest posted 43 cents EPS vs. 51 cents expected and trimmed its pre-tax earnings guidance to $600–$800M, down from $1.7B. Read More

  5. Nestlé Beats Sales Expectations With Strategic Price Hikes ☕📦
    Nestlé’s 2.9% organic sales growth beat forecasts, powered by 2.7% price hikes to offset cost pressures on coffee and cocoa products. Read More

  6. Chipotle’s Flat Outlook Weighs on Stock Performance 🌯📉
    Comparable sales fell 4% as revenue reached $3.1B. EPS met expectations, but concerns about 2025 momentum hurt investor confidence. Read More

  7. Keurig Dr. Pepper Pops on Energy Drink Momentum ⚡🥤
    EPS of $0.49 and revenue of $4.16B beat expectations, driven by 10.5% growth in U.S. beverages and strength in its Ghost energy drink acquisition. Read More

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To your financial empowerment, The Money Masters Team

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