Before the bell: investors buy Apple, sell Amazon

Microsoft and Meta surge after stellar earnings. Figma makes an unforgettable market debut. And we take a closer look at the results from Amazon and Apple.

While the average European stock lost 1.4% yesterday, Belgium’s Bel20 rose 0.5%. Heavyweight AB InBev (-11.6%) pulled the index lower due to weaker-than-expected volumes in China and Brazil, but Argenx (+13.6%) and UCB (+2.7%) lifted the Brussels benchmark. Even though giants like Microsoft (+4%) and Meta (+11.3%) rallied, the Nasdaq ended flat and the S&P 500 lost 0.4%. Software firm Figma made a spectacular debut on the New York Stock Exchange, closing at 117.6 dollar—more than 250% above the offering price. Water technology company Xylem Inc, active in over 150 countries, also beat expectations. Its share price climbed 10.7%.

This morning, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is down 0.7%, while Japan’s Topix remains flat. On the macro front, the spotlight is on European inflation data. We wrap up a busy week with corporate news from Umicore in Belgium, Fugro in the Netherlands, Axa and Engie in France, and ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Colgate-Palmolive in the United States.

Tariffs help Apple grow

Apple reported 94 billion dollar in revenue for the third quarter of its fiscal year, a 10% increase compared to the same period last year and well above analysts’ expectations of 89 billion dollar. Earnings per share rose 12% to 1.57 dollar. It’s likely that consumers pulled forward their Apple purchases in anticipation of tariffs imposed by Donald Trump. For the first time in two years, sales in China managed to grow again. The MacBook Air even became the best-selling laptop in China. According to CEO Tim Cook, many of these buyers are first-time Apple customers—an encouraging sign. Apple’s stock rose 2.4% in after-hours trading.

Can’t see the forest for the trees

E-commerce giant Amazon showed little sign of being affected by Trump’s import tariffs. US consumers are still enthusiastically shopping online. Second-quarter revenue rose 13% to 168 billion dollar, beating expectations of 162 billion dollar. Net profit came in at 18.2 billion dollar, a 35% increase year-over-year. The main theme in Amazon’s earnings release? You guessed it: artificial intelligence. The company believes AI will transform every customer experience. Millions of users are now engaging with the Alexa+ assistant, and more than one million robots in Amazon’s distribution centers are powered by AI models like DeepFleet. However, investors were not impressed: Amazon shares fell 6.6% in after-hours trading.

Did you know…

that Mediamarkt is likely to fall into Chinese hands? JD.com is putting 2.2 billion euro on the table for the more than one thousand electronics stores managed by Ceconomy, the parent company of Mediamarkt.

This article was translated from Dutch and was originally published on Spaarvarkens.be.