Friday, July 25, 2025
Friday’s pre-market futures are in the green at this hour, though a little choppy. One new economic report and a handful of Q2 earnings releases ahead of the opening bell are perhaps having some impact, but over the past week of trading — which has been positive across the board — we’re seeing a bit of moderation at or near all-time highs.
The Dow is +55 points at this hour, while the S&P 500 is +8 points and the Nasdaq +6. The small-cap Russell 2000 is +8 points currently. Over the past five days of trading, we’re up anywhere from a half a point (Nasdaq) to +1% (S&P 500). Off April 9 lows — the day President Trump pressed pause on his massive tariff policy — we’re +16% on the Dow, +23% on the S&P 500, +29% on the Nasdaq and +22% on the Russell 2000.
Durable Goods Swing Negative, As Expected
Durable Goods Orders for June reached -9.3% in this morning’s latest preliminary report, better than the -11.1% analysts had projected. This follows a slightly upwardly revised +16.5% for May, which was basically the result of
Boeing BA having filled 300+ aircraft orders. Ex-transportation, this number swings to a positive: +0.2%, following an upwardly revised +0.6% previously.
Non-Defense, ex-aircraft — a proxy for “normal” business infrastructure spending — also swung to a negative: -0.7%, from May’s +2.0%. Shipments doubled expectations to +0.4%, down from +0.5% the previous month. Aside from Boeing, we may see these Durable Goods Orders as a reflection on how business spending attempts to play the ever-shifting tariff policy.
Q2 Earnings Show Big Beats, Misses: PSX, AN, CNC
Oil refiner
Phillips 66 PSX posted a significant earnings beat in its Q2 report out this morning: $2.38 per share amounted to a +43.37% positive surprise from the $1.66 estimated. Revenues of $33.52 billion also trounced expectations, +9.75%. As a result, Phillips 66 shares are up +2.7% in the early market, now up double digits year to date. For more on PSX’s earnings, click here.
AutoNation AN also notably surpassed estimates in its Q2 numbers ahead of the open: earnings of $5.46 per share was +16.17% ahead of the Zacks consensus $4.70 per share. Revenues of $6.97 billion for the auto retailer beat projections by +2.6%. Shares are also up +2.7% in early trading this Friday, adding to its +18% year to date. For more on AN’s earnings, click here.
On the other side of Q2 earnings results, insurance service provider
Centene CNC swung to a big miss on its Q2 earnings this morning: -$0.16 per share from +$0.68 anticipated, for a -123.5% miss on the company’s bottom line. A “shifting landscape” for Medicaid and Medicare was cited in Centene’s letter to shareholders. Revenues, however, outpaced estimates by +11% to $48.74 billion in the quarter. Shares are trading up +5% at this hour, but are still down -50% year to date. For more on CNC’s earnings, click here.
What to Expect from the Market Next Week
Earnings season ramps up to a new level next week, where “Mag 7” companies like
Microsoft MSFT,
Apple AAPL and
Amazon AMZN post quarterly results. We’ll also get a new Fed meeting — the last til this autumn — but even though some voting members now advocate cutting interest rates, it is widely expected the Fed will keep rates at +4.25-4.50%, where they’ve been all year.
Next week is also
Jobs Week, even as the first day of August comes a week from today (sometimes these reports shift back a week). JOLTS, ADP private-sector payrolls and Friday’s all-important BLS Employment Situation report will all hit the tape. Revisions to prior months will be key: ADP for June posted negative -33K jobs created, while the BLS showed +147K.
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The Boeing Company (BA): Free Stock Analysis Report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report Apple Inc. (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report AutoNation, Inc. (AN): Free Stock Analysis Report Phillips 66 (PSX): Free Stock Analysis Report Centene Corporation (CNC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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