Before the bell: No Ascension Day for the markets

While US courts continue to meddle in trade policy, more companies are reporting strong earnings.

Those who celebrated yesterday because a court struck down Trump’s trade tariffs will be disappointed today. The US Appeals Court has reversed the earlier ruling, bringing the focus back to July 9, when the reduced 10% tariff expires for most countries. By then, the risk of increased tariffs for several nations is likely to rise again. Treasury Secretary Bessent said trade talks between the United States and China are completely stalled, though there’s more time to reach an agreement. The next deadline is August 12, when it will be evaluated whether the lower tariffs between the two countries can remain in place. Markets barely moved on Thursday: the S&P 500 rose 0.4%, thanks to strong earnings from Nvidia (+3.3%), while the Euro Stoxx 50 fell 0.1%.

In corporate news, IT producer Dell is expected to open in the green. Results beat expectations, and the company received 12.1 billion dollar in orders for installing AI servers. The picture is more mixed at Costco: although the results were better than expected, the cautious outlook might spook investors. Meanwhile, Care Property Invest will cut a 1 euro dividend per share today.

More than just laptops

There’s a common misconception about the American IT producer Dell — many believe it is purely a laptop manufacturer. While Dell certainly makes laptops, half of its revenue now comes from servers, storage solutions, and network infrastructure. That last segment is where the strongest growth is taking place. In the past quarter, Dell received 12.1 billion dollar in orders for AI servers. Revenue came in 300 million dollar higher than expected at 23.4 billion dollar, and full-year earnings per share were raised to 9.60 dollar, compared to analyst expectations of 9.21 dollar. Dell is increasingly benefiting from demand for its server capacity — including by xAI, one of Elon Musk’s ventures. And with Musk’s Grok AI model gaining traction, Dell could continue to ride that wave. Conclusion: Dell is no longer just a laptop company.

Finding opportunity in crisis

Will Costco’s share open above or below 1,000 dollar today? It’s hard to say. On one hand, the company posted stronger-than-expected results with revenue of 63.21 billion dollar, beating expectations by 20 million dollar. Earnings per share were 4.28 dollar, also better than the expected 4.24 dollar. But investing is about the future, not the past. One-third of Costco’s goods are imported, which means it could be hit hard by the tariffs recently introduced by Trump — a real source of uncertainty. Still, there may be a silver lining. Costco could actually benefit from the tariffs. It’s often compared to Belgium’s Colruyt: a place where price-conscious shoppers go to buy in bulk at the lowest prices. As general prices rise, more shoppers might flock to Costco — possibly offsetting the negative impact of tariffs.

Did you know…

Care Property Invest benefits from a reduced 15% dividend tax? That doesn’t necessarily mean it was a better investment. The stock dropped 10.7% over the past 12 months, while peers like Aedifica (+12.2%) and Cofinimmo (+27.5%) posted solid gains.