Podcast: U.S. Stocks Drop as Tariff Deadline Nears
Shares in Microsoft rose 4% on a strong earnings report, briefly pushing its market value above $4 trillion. Meta Platforms jumped 12% following a robust earnings report driven by its advertising business.
After the bell, Amazon reported sharp increases in sales and profit, partly fueled by growth in cloud computing, but shares were down in after-hours trading. Apple's iPhone sales blew past Wall Street's expectations in the June quarter as U.S. consumers rushed to buy devices before potential tariff-related price increases. Shares were up 3%.
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Time Business News
an hour ago
- Time Business News
xAI, Elon, and the Billion-Dollar Race for Developer Mindshare
In what's becoming one of the most aggressive moves in the AI arms race, Elon Musk's xAI has secured billions in funding as it looks to challenge OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic. But beyond the flashy funding rounds and model comparisons lies a quieter—but arguably more important—battle: the competition for developer loyalty. As xAI rapidly scales up its infrastructure and capabilities, it's clear that the end goal isn't just creating a better model—it's becoming the go-to platform for builders. In the past, tech ecosystems won by locking in users. Today, it's about winning developers. Whoever becomes the preferred backend for AI-infused apps, agents, and workflows will dictate the shape of the next decade's innovation. xAI's new Grok model, now tightly integrated into X (formerly Twitter), is clearly just the beginning. With open-source flirtations and promises of transparency, xAI seems to be positioning itself not just as an alternative to OpenAI—but as the hacker's AI platform. And it makes sense: the companies building deep relationships with developers now are laying the groundwork for long-term dominance. 'AI isn't just a race for models – it's a race for developers,' said Kyle McCarthy, a startup growth strategist. 'The companies winning right now are the ones building tools devs want to use.' For early-stage founders, this shift carries major implications: Developer mindshare = platform power. Whether you're using AI for code generation, analytics, or customer support, the underlying model provider is becoming a strategic decision. Whether you're using AI for code generation, analytics, or customer support, the underlying model provider is becoming a strategic decision. Distribution now flows through ecosystems. OpenAI's tight relationship with Microsoft, and xAI's integration with X, show how channels are as important as the tech itself. OpenAI's tight relationship with Microsoft, and xAI's integration with X, show how channels are as important as the tech itself. Loyalty isn't locked yet. Many developers are still evaluating options, meaning there's a real window for xAI—or any alternative—to win them over. Elon Musk's ventures are rarely quiet, and xAI is no exception. The team has already poached talent from Google and OpenAI, launched increasingly powerful models, and is reportedly working toward tighter integrations across Tesla, X, and SpaceX. The playbook is familiar: move fast, promise big, and make it hard to ignore. Whether xAI can deliver on its lofty vision remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: in the world of AI infrastructure, developer trust is the new oil. And the drilling has just begun. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
3 Reasons XPO Stock Could Take Off in the Second Half of the Year
Key Points XPO beat estimates on the top and bottom lines in its second-quarter report. After an earlier investment cycle, management expects capex as a percentage of revenue to start to decline. XPO was the only one of the three major LTL carriers to improve its operating ratio in the quarter. 10 stocks we like better than XPO › The stock of XPO (NYSE: XPO) was one of the biggest winners of the last decade, and the less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier has continued in recent years, as the stock has quadrupled since early 2023. Those gains followed the spinoff of both GXO Logistics and RXO, its former truck brokerage division. Like its peers including Old Dominion Freight Lines and Saia, XPO continues to face headwinds from a "freight recession" that has lasted for about two to three years as manufacturing activity and industrial production have mostly contracted during that time. Nonetheless, the carrier has found new ways to grow its bottom line and improve margins, and those trends were on display in its second-quarter earnings report. XPO clears the Wall Street bar In a difficult macro environment, XPO reported flat revenue at $2.08 billion, which topped estimates at $2.05 billion. Revenue in the core North American LTL business (carriers that specialize in transporting smaller shipments that don't require a full truckload) was down 2.5% to $1.24 billion, while its European Transportation segment rose 4.1% to $841 million. Tonnage was down 6.7% per day, but the company made up for the decline in volume with an increase in yield (or price) of 6.1%, excluding fuel. Price increases were driven in part by service improvements like reducing damage claims and improved on-time performance that have allowed the company to raise prices. And it has found growth in the local market, serving small to medium-size businesses in need of local transportation. XPO was the only one of the three top LTL carriers to improve its adjusted operating ratio, which is the inverse of operating margin, in North America, which fell 30 basis points to 82.9% (a lower ratio is an indication of higher efficiency). Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) were essentially flat, falling from $343 million to $340 million, while adjusted earnings per share (EPS) fell from $1.12 to $1.05 as it lapped a tax benefit from the year before. That result still beat the consensus at $0.99. Investors seemed to shrug off the news as the stock was down slightly following the results and the earnings call, but XPO could please investors in the back half of the year. Let's take a look at a few reasons why. 1. Share buybacks are set to resume Historically, share repurchases have been a key tool for XPO to generate shareholder value, and it has deployed them effectively. The company began repurchasing its stock again in the second quarter, buying back a modest $10 million, and chief strategy officer Ali Faghri said in an interview with The Motley Fool that he expected those repurchases to pick up in the second half of the year, the time of year when it brings in the vast majority of its free cash flow due to the seasonality of its capital expenditures (capex). After years of ramping up capex to invest in new tractors, trailers, and terminals, the company expects capex as a percentage of revenue to start to decline, freeing up cash to invest in share repurchases and paying down debt. Both of those moves should help lift EPS as debt reduction will lower its interest expense, which ate up more than a quarter of operating income in the second quarter, and lowering shares outstanding will boost per-share earnings even if net income remains flat. 2. Nearshoring could drive growth in the industrial economy Growth in the LTL sector and for XPO in particular is closely tied to manufacturing activity in the country, and according to the ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), manufacturing activity has been declining for most of the last three years. It's unclear if trade negotiations have had an impact so far on XPO's business, but Faghri was optimistic that the new round of tariffs could help encourage nearshoring, or the return of manufacturing to the U.S., which would be a boon to XPO since two-thirds of its business comes from industrial customers. More U.S manufacturing would drive demand for LTL transportation, and could fuel a boom in the industry after years of stagnation. 3. Its local business is accelerating Despite the overall headwinds in tonnage, XPO is finding growth in the local channel, where a combination of investing in a local sales force and improvement in service quality through lower damage claims and improved on-time percentages have helped it attract more local business. That segment grew by high single digits in the second quarter, according to Faghri. That's also a key strategic initiative for the company since those tend to be higher-margin customers. Over the longer term, XPO aims to grow its share of revenue from the local channel from 20% to 30%. That figure is now in the low-to-mid 20% range, indicating more runway ahead as it grabs market share in that segment. Overall, XPO remains on track to achieve the 2027 goals it announced in 2021, which include compound annual revenue growth of 6% to 8%, compound annual adjusted EBITDA growth of 11% to 13%, and a 600-basis-point decline in adjusted operating ratio, meaning it would improve to 81%. With three potential growth drivers for the second half of the year, XPO appears to be in position to deliver strong results for investors, even as the broader freight market is still weak. Should you invest $1,000 in XPO right now? Before you buy stock in XPO, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and XPO 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 $624,823!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,820!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,019% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 178% 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 29, 2025 Jeremy Bowman has positions in GXO Logistics, RXO, and XPO. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Old Dominion Freight Line. The Motley Fool recommends GXO Logistics, RXO, and XPO and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $195 calls on Old Dominion Freight Line and short January 2026 $200 calls on Old Dominion Freight Line. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 3 Reasons XPO Stock Could Take Off in the Second Half of the Year was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Why Prime Video Is One of Amazon's Most Underrated Assets
Key Points Prime Video is no longer a cost center. Prime Video has more than 200 million viewers. Commerce, content, and ads are converging for Amazon. 10 stocks we like better than Amazon › Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is best known for its sprawling e-commerce empire, dominant cloud infrastructure business, and its ever-growing Prime membership base. But quietly sitting inside this flywheel is a business with surprising strategic upside: Prime Video. For years, Prime Video was viewed as just another perk -- a nice-to-have feature bundled into the Prime membership. But that's changing. Between a new ad-supported model, a powerful position in connected TV (CTV), and seamless integration into Amazon's broader retail ecosystem, Prime Video is emerging as one of Amazon's most underrated growth engines. Here's why smart investors should start paying closer attention. Prime Video's strategic shift from perks to platform When Amazon first launched Prime Video, it wasn't trying to compete directly with entertainment companies like Netflix or Disney. Instead, it used video content to increase Prime subscriptions, drive loyalty, and reduce churn. The focus was to delight its e-commerce customers, and that strategy worked. Happy customers became more engaged, spending more time and money on the e-commerce platform. But what started as a defensive move has become a strategic pillar. Today, in addition to getting free content as Prime members, customers can also subscribe to third-party channels offered by partners under the Amazon Channel. Besides, Amazon made another pivotal move in January 2024: it began running ads on Prime Video, instantly unlocking a massive audience of over 200 million globally to advertisers. The streaming arm is also increasingly investing in originals, live sports, and localized content across global markets. In other words, Prime Video is quietly building up its ecosystem of services, positioning it well to evolve from a cost-center to a hugely profitable entity of its own. Amazon Ads and Prime Video Amazon Ads is one of the next growth frontiers for Amazon, in which Prime Video is going to play a major role. By rolling out ads across Prime Video by default in key markets, Amazon steps up its monetization efforts of its gigantic Prime subscriber base. Prime members can pay a small monthly fee to go ad-free, but most don't, turning Prime Video into one of the largest ad-supported streaming platforms globally. To put the opportunity size into perspective, Netflix has 300 million subscribers, of which 94 million use the ad-supported service. On the other hand, Disney+ has 126 million global paid subscribers. With more than 200 million viewers, Prime Video is already among the biggest streaming services provided globally. But Prime Video doesn't run an ordinary advertising business. Its ad engine taps into its vast retail data, letting brands target viewers based on actual purchase behavior. A viewer watching an online video might see a relevant sponsored product ad and buy it on Amazon without ever leaving the app. It's a frictionless loop that few competitors can replicate. Owning the connected TV stack Prime Video isn't just a content platform -- it's Amazon's gateway to the living room. And through its connected TV (CTV) footprint, Amazon is building an end-to-end advertising and commerce engine few can match. Amazon Fire TV, now with over 200 million devices sold globally, gives the company direct control over the connected TV hardware and software stack. This integrated approach allows it to collect first-party data, control the user experience, and serve ads more effectively than most CTV players. While traditional media networks are still figuring out how to merge streaming, commerce, and advertising, Amazon already has all three pieces in place. The implications are enormous. Advertisers not only reach an engaged, high-intent audience on Prime Video, but they can also close the loop through Amazon's retail engine. That kind of direct attribution -- seeing a sponsored ad on Fire TV, clicking through, and buying the product on Amazon -- is a marketer's dream. With increasing demand for measurable, performance-based advertising, this positions Amazon as a formidable player in the future of CTV. In other words, Prime Video plays a strategic role in Amazon's expanding ecosystem, in which commerce, content, and advertising converge to form a defensible business model that strengthens both the parts and the whole. Now is the time to take a closer look at Prime Video Investors often think of Amazon in silos: retail, cloud, advertising, logistics, etc. But the company's greatest strength lies in how these pieces connect. Prime Video may have started as a "nice-to-have" feature bundled into Prime, but it's quickly becoming one of Amazon's most powerful strategic assets. By bringing together entertainment, commerce, and advertising into a seamless flywheel, Amazon is building a future where Prime Video not only entertains--but drives growth across the entire business. It's time investors gave this overlooked asset a much closer look. Should you invest $1,000 in Amazon right now? Before you buy stock in Amazon, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Amazon 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 $624,823!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,820!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,019% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 178% 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 29, 2025 Lawrence Nga has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Netflix, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Prime Video Is One of Amazon's Most Underrated Assets was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
