The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Alphabet, Tesla, Coca-Cola, IBM and Philip Morris
Chicago, IL – July 22, 2025 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Alphabet GOOGL, Tesla TSLA, Coca-Cola KO, IBM IBM and Philip Morris International PM.
Here are highlights from Monday's Analyst Blog:
Q2 Earnings Season Ramps Up: Global Week Ahead
What's going on in the Global Week Ahead?
· Q2 earnings season ramps up, as global PMI's show trade uncertainty effects
· The U.S. President's pressure on the Fed Chief stays on the watch list
· The European Central Bank (ECB) holds its pre-summer break policy meeting
· Japan votes, and
· Turkey's central bank meets, against a backdrop of domestic political uncertainty
Next are Reuters' five world market themes, re-ordered for equity traders—
(1) Q2-25 S&P500 Earnings Season Ramps Up
U.S. corporate earnings season kicks into high gear with market heavyweights Alphabet andTesla leading the charge.
Q2 results have started flowing in, with major banks expressing optimism about the investment banking outlook for the rest of the year after dealmaking rebounded.
More than one-fifth of S&P500 companies are expected to report in the coming week.
Google parent Alphabet and Tesla are the first of the "Magnificent Seven" mega-caps to report this period, while results are also due from Coca-Cola, IBM and Philip Morris International.
S&P500 earnings are expected to have climbed +6.5% in the quarter from the year-ago period, according to LSEG IBES data as of Wednesday.
(2) July Purchasing Manager Indices (PMIs) arrive
July surveys of business activity across the globe may capture some immediate shifts in behavior in both services and manufacturing in response to Trump's new Aug. 1st tariff deadline.
Global factory activity has struggled to remain in expansionary territory in the last year.
Out of 34 of the world's largest economies, 22 have slowing activity — leaving the services sector to do much of the heavy lifting.
But that's also starting to show the strain from the uncertainty for anyone from retailers, to hairdressers and accountants, from President Trump's chaotic tariff policy.
In June, services activity in the United States, the euro zone, China and Germany was slower than in December and well below last June.
Among richer nations, only Japan and Britain saw a year-on-year improvement in service-sector activity last month, and even that was modest at best.
(3) On Thursday, the European Central Bank (ECB) Meets
The ECB is set to pause on Thursday after eight consecutive rate cuts that halved its policy rate to 2.0%.
The threat of a 30% U.S. tariff looms over the euro zone.
But there's little that's certain about the scale of trade restrictions that will end up prevailing, so the ECB has no reason to move the dial yet.
Policymakers will be reluctant to create the sense that they are reacting to a threat.
But they will have to reassess their worst-case scenario from June, which foresaw a lower tariff level.
Also, the focus isn't on Thursday's decision — but what comes next.
Given the scale of uncertainty, traders are unsure. They fully price one more rate cut by year-end, but the timing is up in the air, with a September move seen as a coin toss.
(4) Japan's Upper House Election Happens
Much is riding on Sunday's Japan upper house election, which could, at least in the near- to mid-term, shape the fiscal and policy trajectory for one of the world's most indebted nations.
Polls suggest Japan's ruling coalition will likely lose its majority, with fiscal hawk Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba potentially stepping down.
Longer-dated Japanese government bond yields have scaled new highs as concerns about the deteriorating fiscal outlook grow, following promises of tax cuts and fiscal largesse by opposition parties.
Their preference for keeping interest rates low also complicates the Bank of Japan's plans to normalize monetary policy.
And while expectations are that trade talks between Tokyo and Washington could make further progress once the election is over, the clock is ticking to an Aug. 1st deadline, when Japan will face 25% tariffs.
(5) On Thursday, Turkey's Central Bank Likely Returns to Rate Cuts
Turkey's central bank is expected to return to rate cuts on Thursday, back on track after market turmoil following an unprecedented crackdown on the CHP opposition party clouded the monetary policy outlook.
The March detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu — seen as President Tayyip Erdogan's most formidable rival — roiled markets, knocked the lira to a record low, saw stocks trading suspended and prompted the central bank to hike overnight rates to 46% — short circuiting an easing cycle that had only begun in December.
A Reuters poll showed expectations for a 250-basis-point cut, with some predicting as much as 350 bps.
But there's some uncertainty over the speed and scale of easing with markets nervous against the backdrop the opposition crackdown recently accelerating.
Central banks in Hungary and Russia also hold rate meetings in the coming week.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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