Conflicting Claims on U.S./China Trade Sends Pre-Markets in the Red

Friday, April 25, 2025

Pre-market futures are in the red slightly this morning — not enough to deplete this week’s worth of gains (although it’s still early) — and bond yields are drifting downward. There are no economic reports out ahead of the final opening bell of the week, but we do have another bushel of Q1 earnings reports this morning (see below).

The Dow is -147 points at this hour, with the S&P 500 -10, the Nasdaq -60 and the small-cap Russell 2000 -15 points. The 10-year bond yield has dipped below 4.3% and the 2-year is beneath 3.8%. For the Nasdaq and S&P, at least, pre-market trading started out in the green, but news events have sent all major indexes into negative territory.

Whom to Believe - Trump or China?

President Trump early today told Time Magazine that China’s President Xi Jinpeng called him directly. This was refuted almost immediately by the Chinese embassy, insisting there are no tariff talks ongoing between the two world’s biggest trading partners. This brings to mind U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s quote earlier this week, where he suggested tariff talks were ongoing with China. This was almost immediately denied by China, as well.

We wouldn’t bother with this sort of soft news item if not for the fact that this week’s rally is based more on the belief that trade talks will bring an end to the harsh tariffs levied three weeks ago than any concrete signed statements or contracts. The 90-day hold is like a ticking clock; the closer we get to July 10th without a new trade deal, the more precarious these tariff charges become.

Q1 Earnings Roundup: CL, ABBV & More

Q1 results for Colgate-Palmolive CL are out ahead of today’s open, beating earnings estimates by 5 cents to 91 cents per share on $4.91 billion in revenues, beating the Zacks consensus by +1.15%. Shares are up +1.4% on this news from the household product giant, adding to its +2% gains year to date. For more on CL’s earnings, click here.

Check out the updated Zacks Earnings Calendar here.

Big Pharma staple AbbVie ABBV also outperformed estimates in its Q1 report this morning, with earnings of $2.46 per share surpassing estimates by +2.93% on revenues of $13.34 billion, strongly ahead of the $12.91 billion analysts had been expecting. The maker of anti-inflammatory drugs like Skyrizi, Rinvoq and Humira are seeing shares up +3.9%, adding to its +8.4% gains year to date.

AutoNation AN performed even better in its Q1 report out ahead of the bell, with earnings of $4.68 per share easily moving past the $4.35 consensus estimate, on $6.69 billion in revenues which beat expectations by +1.75%. However, a bleaker outlook on tariff-based vehicle costs are sending shares down -3.76% in today’s pre-market, sending the shares back into negative territory year to date. For more on AN’s earnings, click here.

Perhaps the most impressive Q1 report this morning came from financial advisory firm Lazard LAZ, which topped the Zacks consensus on earnings by +93% to $0.56 per share. Revenues also solidly outpaced expectations by +4.35% to $643.19 million. That said, shares are flat at this hour; the stock remains down more than -20% year to date. For more on LAZ’s earnings, click here.

What to Expect from the Stock Market Today and Next Week

We won’t be seeing any earnings reports as this trading week concludes, but after today’s open we’ll get the final report on April Consumer Sentiment. The initial print came in above the crucial 50-line (the demarcation point between growth and loss) to 50.8. Analysts expect this will hold.

Next week brings us an even heavier deluge of Q1 earnings reports, including from “Mag 7” members Microsoft MSFT, Meta META, Apple AAPL and Amazon AMZN. It’s also Jobs Week, with private-sector payrolls for April due out Wednesday and non-farm payrolls from the U.S. government Friday morning. And if all that weren’t enough, Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) for March will hit the tape a week from today, as well.

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Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
AutoNation, Inc. (AN): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Lazard, Inc. (LAZ): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
AbbVie Inc. (ABBV): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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