Stock futures are little changed as traders await big tech earnings, eye trade developments: Live updates
Jeenah Moon | Reuters
U.S. stock futures were little changed Sunday night as investors tracked the latest developments on trade, and awaited the start of big tech earnings this week.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell by 18 points, or 0.04%. S&P 500 futures gained 0.02%, while Nasdaq 100 futures traded flat.
Trade was once again in focus as the White House reiterated its position on tariffs. On Sunday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called Aug. 1 the "hard deadline" for countries to start paying tariffs, though he also added that "nothing stops countries from talking to us after August 1."
Wall Street is coming off a winning week for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, both of which continued to notch all-time highs. The S&P 500 ended the week higher by 0.6%, while the Nasdaq climbed 1.5%. The Dow ended the week slightly lower.
The moves come on the heels of a solid start to earnings season. Of the 59 S&P 500 companies that have reported thus far, more than 86% have topped expectations, according to FactSet data.
The major averages could receive a boost in the week ahead if Alphabet and Tesla — the first of the so-called Magnificent Seven companies set to report — manage to beat estimates. The megacaps are expected to be a major driver of earnings growth during the second-quarter earnings season. FactSet's John Butters expects the Magnificent Seven will post earnings growth of 14% in the second quarter, while the other 493 S&P 500 companies are seen posting growth of just 3.4%.
"We're at an all time high for the [S&P 500] right at the beginning of earnings season," said Mark Malek, investment chief at Siebert Financial, adding, "If we can get through this earnings season with not too many major failures, I think that is really, really important at this point, if we want to continue this upward momentum that we have in the market."
On the economic front, the June reading for leading indicators, which are predictive metrics for the overall market and economy, is scheduled for release on Monday at 10 a.m. ET.
Verizon Communications and Domino's Pizza are among the companies set to report earnings Monday.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday that Aug. 1 is the deadline for countries to begin paying tariffs to the United States, but said that "nothing stops countries from talking to us after August 1."
"That's a hard deadline, so on August 1, the new tariff rates will come in," Lutnick said on CBS News, when asked about the deadline for his tariffs on the European Union.
President Donald Trump's tariff deadline has shifted since he announced his steep levies on trading partners on April 2, but White House officials now maintain that Aug. 1 is a firm deadline.
"Nothing stops countries from talking to us after August 1, but they're going to start paying the tariffs on August 1," Lutnick said.
— Erin Doherty, Sarah Min
Stock futures opened little changed Sunday night.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell by 18 points, or 0.04%. S&P 500 futures gained 0.02%, while Nasdaq 100 futures traded flat.
— Sarah Min
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Where Will Cameco Stock Be in 3 Years?
Key Points Cameco's stock recently hit an all-time high. Uranium's soaring commodity price is driving that rally. But it still looks reasonably valued relative to its growth potential. 10 stocks we like better than Cameco › Cameco (NYSE: CCJ), one of the world's top uranium miners, usually isn't a high-growth stock. But over the past three years, its price surged about 250% and now hovers near its all-time high. The S&P 500 only rose 60% during the same period. Let's see why Cameco's stock crushed the market, and if it can keep climbing over the next three years. A look back at Cameco's lost decade Cameco, which is based in Canada, owns uranium mines and mills across Canada, the U.S., and Kazakhstan. It mined roughly 17% of the world's uranium in 2024, making it the second largest uranium miner after Kazatomprom (OTC: NATK.Y), Kazakhstan's national mining company. From 2011 to 2021, Cameco's annual revenue dropped from $2.41 billion to $1.18 billion (in U.S. dollars) without a single year of revenue growth. That decline started after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, which triggered a global collapse in uranium prices as many countries cautiously reined in their nuclear energy plans. Uranium's spot price plunged from more than $70 per pound before the Fukushima disaster to less than $20 in 2017, and Cameco was forced to suspend work at its biggest mines and throttle back its production to conserve its cash. Before the uranium market could recover, the COVID pandemic disrupted the market again and forced the company to temporarily shut down more of its mines. The weak Canadian dollar exacerbated that decline because the miner sold its uranium in U.S. dollars. What happened over the past three years? But from 2021 to 2024, Cameco's revenue had a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29% in Canadian dollar terms. Its gross margins also expanded to the double digits over the past two years. Metric 2022 2023 2024 Revenue growth 27% 39% 21% Gross margin 0.1% 21.7% 25% Data source: Cameco (all figures in Canadian dollar terms). That robust recovery was driven by uranium's spot prices, which soared from $29.63 in January 2021 to $78.50 this June. That rally prompted Cameco to restart its mining operations at McArthur River in Australia and Key Lake in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in 2022 after being suspended in 2018. It also partnered with Brookfield Asset Management to acquire the nuclear power plant designer and builder Westinghouse Electric in late 2023. Its new 49% stake in Westinghouse should offset the volatility of its core mining business and make it the top uranium supplier for those plants. Several catalysts drove uranium's price higher over the past few years. The global supply shrank as Cameco and Kazatomprom curbed their production, but the demand rose as more countries initiated new nuclear energy plans and resumed their idled projects. Other global challenges are keeping uranium prices elevated. Russia, which was a major exporter of enriched uranium products and services to the U.S. and Europe, was hit by sanctions and export bans after its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Kazatomprom's supply chain issues and a coup in Niger (another key producer of uranium) in 2023 further reduced the global supply while driving more nuclear energy companies to buy their uranium from Cameco. What will happen to Cameco over the next three years? The bulls expect uranium's price to soar even higher as the market's demand continues to outstrip its available supply. The rapid growth of the cloud and AI data center markets -- which are driving more companies to consider using next-gen nuclear energy solutions like small modular reactors (SMRs) and microreactors -- could amplify those gains. Looking ahead, Cameco's 49% stake in Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) -- its uranium enrichment joint venture with Silex -- could transform it into a one-stop shop for nuclear power as it integrates those uranium enrichment capabilities into its core mining and conversion businesses. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expects the world's nuclear capacity to expand by up to 2.5 times from 2024 to 2050, so Cameco could still have plenty of room to grow over the next few decades. From 2024 to 2027, analysts expect Cameco's revenue to have a CAGR of 8% (in Canadian dollar terms) as its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) have a CAGR of 16%. Its growth should cool off as it laps the big spike in uranium spot prices, the restarting of its mines, and its investment in Westinghouse Electric, but it still looks reasonably valued at 25 times this year's adjusted EBITDA. So even though Cameco's stock is trading near its all-time high, it could rise even higher over the next three years. Should you invest $1,000 in Cameco right now? Before you buy stock in Cameco, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Cameco 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 $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% 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 21, 2025 Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Brookfield Asset Management and Cameco. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Where Will Cameco Stock Be in 3 Years? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Better EV Stock: Alphabet vs. Tesla (Hint: Robotaxis Are the Key)
Key Points The future of the auto industry lies in electric vehicles and ridesharing in autonomous vehicles. After many years in service, Waymo still can't point to a timeline of profitability. Tesla also faces challenges with its robotaxi offering, but it's well positioned, provided it can demonstrate safety and efficacy. These 10 stocks could mint the next wave of millionaires › Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) isn't, strictly speaking, an electric vehicle (EV) company. However, its autonomous driving technology company, Waymo, is committed to only using EVs in its fleet. Funnily enough, it could be argued that Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) isn't really a pure EV company either. After all, most of its sky–high valuation is attributable to the potential of its robotaxis. However, the comparison of these two as EV companies is valid because the future of the auto industry is EVs, and ridesharing in autonomous vehicles will be a larger part of the industry in the future. But which company is better placed, and which is the better stock? Alphabet vs. Tesla It's entirely possible that Alphabet could decide to spin off Waymo, not least because it reportedly could be valued at more than $45 billion. Meanwhile, one of Tesla's biggest supporters, Cathie Wood's Ark Invest, ascribes 88% of Tesla's enterprise value (market cap plus net debt) to robotaxis in its investment case for the stock, producing an expected value of $2,600 for the stock in 2029. As I have previously discussed, the Ark targets should be taken with a pinch of salt, as its track record on Tesla hasn't been good. However, Ark's core argument is sound and points to Tesla being potentially a far more valuable stock than Waymo ever will be. Pathways to profitability The core argument is that Tesla's business model is scalable to profitability while Waymo's is far less so. The issue of Waymo's profitability arose in a recent CNBC interview with Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana, where she was asked whether Waymo is profitable. She replied, "We're proving out that it can be a profitable business." When asked when Waymo would be profitable, she replied, "not clear." It's also not clear if Alphabet/Waymo doesn't have an internal forecast for when it will hit profitability, or if Mawakana preferred not to divulge what the company considers an uncertain forecast. However, it's inconceivable that Alphabet is not internally crunching the numbers on this, and if it does decide to spin off Waymo, it's a question that needs to be answered. The point here is that a business that can't be profitable isn't worth anything, let alone $45 billion, so at some point, its management is going to have to set some timelines. Tesla and timelines Whereas investors need to hear more about timelines from Waymo, whose public self-driving ride-hailing service was launched in 2018, there's probably a need for fewer declared timelines from Tesla, or, rather, a need for more accurate ones. For example, in 2019, CEO Elon Musk famously told investors to expect a million self-driving vehicles on the road by mid-2020. In April 2022, he also stated that Tesla aspired to reach volume production of a dedicated robotaxi (Cybercab) in 2024 -- a timeline that has now been pushed back to 2026. These timeline estimates matter because plugging overly optimistic assumptions from them into valuation models can produce dramatically erroneous conclusions. Why Tesla is better positioned With all that said, Tesla has clear advantages over Waymo, provided it can demonstrate safety and reliability and achieve regulatory approvals. Its advantages include: Lower vehicle costs, with Musk aiming for a $30,000 price tag for a dedicated robotaxi, the Cybercab. Meanwhile, Wall Street analysts estimate Waymo's current vehicles cost more than $120,000. In addition, Tesla manufactures its own cars (Waymo does not), and existing Teslas can be converted into robotaxis using Tesla's as-yet-unreleased-to-the-public unsupervised full self-driving (FSD) software, giving Tesla a significant advantage in scaling the robotaxi business. Tesla's use of camera-centric technology is inherently less expensive than Waymo's combination of cameras, light detection and ranging (Lidar) lasers, and high-definition maps. Every Tesla car (robotaxi or not) on the road is effectively a data gatherer, with the data used to improve the AI that powers its AI models. As such, even though Waymo was first, Tesla has significantly more data than Waymo. Which is the better EV stock? Waymo may become profitable in the future, particularly if Lidar costs continue to drop. However, it's challenging to think that it will be a strong competitor to Tesla, provided Musk's company can master safe, unsupervised FSD using a camera-centric approach. That's a big "if" at this stage, but it becomes a smaller "if" as time goes by and Tesla expands its nascent robotaxi offering across new geographies. Tesla's next robotaxi launch is expected to be in Phoenix, as it plans to continue slowly building its robotaxi business. I think Tesla is the better EV stock when comparing Tesla and Alphabet. Should you buy stock in Tesla right now? The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now. 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 $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% 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 21, 2025 Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Better EV Stock: Alphabet vs. Tesla (Hint: Robotaxis Are the Key) was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Why tariffs may not be a big deal after all
Key Points: Tariffs initially caused market anxiety and a 19% S&P 500 decline from February to April.A feared spike in inflation from tariffs hasn't materialized yet. Companies have largely managed tariffs by negotiating lower prices, absorbing costs, or modest price increases, keeping overall inflation mostly in have rebounded as the tariff impact proved less severe than expected. Better-than-forecast outcomes and ongoing trade deals have lifted the S&P 500 to an all-time estimated tariff duties are not being collected because of enforcement complexity. This, along with over 50% of imports not being subject to tariffs, has lessened the drag on the economy. It wasn't that long ago that President Donald's Trump's tariff strategy kicked up a hornet's next of debate. Those favoring tariffs, which are taxes on imports, argue that they are the best way to kick-start U.S. manufacturing. Opponents believe tariffs are inflationary, sparking higher prices that can derail the U.S. economy, risking recession. The truth may wind up landing somewhere in the middle. Tariffs can slow an economy, particularly if they increase quickly and significantly, like what President Trump originally proposed this spring. However, billionaire fund manager Ken Fisher, founder of Fisher Investments, points out that in the U.S., tariffs' impact may be more muted than expected. Image source:Legendary fund manager Paul Tudor Jones equated the originally proposed tariffs as the biggest new tax since the 1960s. In February, President Trump enacted 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He also implemented a 25% tariff on autos, a 10% tariff on all imports, and after much wrangling, a 30% tariff on China. Related: Billionaire fund manager explains why so many missed the stock market rally The end result of those tariffs is that the average effective tariff rate currently is 20.2%, the highest since 1911, according to the Yale Budget Lab. JPMorgan Chase calculates the effective tariff rate was 2.3% in 2024, and is about 17% currently. Either way, a big bump in import taxes led many to worry that U.S. companies would be forced to pass along higher-than-normal price increases, causing inflation to spike and household and business spending to fall. That concern contributed heavily to the S&P 500's 19% tumble from all-time highs in February to the low in April. While risk remains that companies will see revenue growth and earnings slow because of the impact of tariffs, so far, inflation remains manageable. The Consumer Price Index for June showed headline inflation of 2.7%, up from 2.4% in May, but below the 3% inflation rate registered in January. It appears as of now that companies are successfully navigating the tariff hit, mostly through a combination of negotiating lower prices with exporters, absorbing some of the costs, and more modest price increases. More Tariffs: Luxury carmakers have a more aggressive tariff battle planTop 6 cars, SUVs, & trucks that may avoid tariffs, Consumer Reports saysAmazon's quiet pricing twist on tariffs stuns shoppersLevi's shares plan to beat tariffs, keep holiday prices down Of course, some industries - such as autos, appliances, apparel, and furniture - are hit harder by tariffs. Still, overall, inflation has yet to reach levels suggesting a major retrenchment in spending that could further weaken the economy. The better-than-hoped outcome, coupled with optimism that ongoing trade deals, such as the one recently reached with Japan, which lowered tariffs to 15% from 25%, would result in lower tariffs than initially feared, has helped the stock market recover all of its losses since February. The S&P 500 closed on July 26 at an all-time high. Ken Fisher founded Fisher Investments, a money manager with $332 billion in assets under management, in 1979. Over his 45-plus year career, Fisher has seen a lot of good and bad economies and markets. Related: Another automaker is forced to shift strategy due to tariffs He's not a fan of tariffs, saying previously that they historically hurt the country imposing them more than the country they've been imposed upon. Still, he also points out that the widespread threat associated with a tariff-driven economic recession may not be as big as some make it out to be. "Tariff terror abounds, but 'tariffied' investors miss what markets don't," wrote Fisher on X. "While universal tariffs are foolish and a real economic negative, their real world bite is often muted." Fisher had previously forecast that enforcing tariffs would be incredibly difficult, and that we'd see significant difficulty in collecting them. He also opined that high tariffs would likely cause the black-market import business to soar. He appears to be right. "Through June, roughly 39% of estimated tariffs duties were actually collected - far less than many feared - owing to tariff enforcement's complexity," said Fisher. "Markets move on the gap between reality and expectations, and it's always bullish when reality settles in better than overly dour expectations." Fisher also pointed out that over 50% of imports aren't subject to tariffs. This isn't to say that the U.S. economy would be better off without tariffs in terms of growth, but only that the drag on the economy may not be as bad as originally feared. According to Yale Budget Lab, current tariffs are reducing U.S. GDP this year by about 0.8%. In short, the stock market priced in a worst-case outcome from tariffs, providing plenty of room for positive surprises. Anything less than terrible can be viewed as a win that may lift analysts expectations for revenue and profit growth - the lifeblood of stock market returns. Related: Legendary fund manager has blunt message on 'Big Beautiful Bill' The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
