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Lucy Brewster

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Of all the companies set to show investors their report cards this season, perhaps none are more highly anticipated than those in the thick of the AI trade.

Today, two of the world’s biggest chipmakers dropped their earnings—and painted very different pictures of how the industry is faring.

First up, TSMC jumped 3.38% after reporting a staggering 61% increase in profit year over year, thanks to demands for its—surprise, surprise—AI chips. 

 were powered by its high-performance computing division, which contributed 60% of its Q2 revenue, up from 52% in the same quarter last year.

Q2 revenue beat analyst estimates, while TSMC expects Q3 revenue will arrive between $31.8 billion and $33 billion, or about a 38% increase year over year.

Meanwhile, fellow semi stock ASML also beat top and bottom line expectations last quarter—but things 

 when it came to forward-looking guidance. The Dutch firm said it expects Q3 net sales to come in between about $8.6 billion and $9.1 billion, slightly below expectations of roughly $9.1 billion.

CEO Christophe Fouquet was blunt on the call with analysts, suggesting that 

 could hinder ASML’s growth in the months ahead. “​​Against this backdrop, while we are still paying for growth in 2026, we cannot confirm it at this stage,” Fouquet said. President Trump has threatened a 30% tariff on the EU, which would kneecap its US sales. Shares of ASML stumbled 1.26%.

ASML is far from the only company bringing up the T word. In fact, TSMC CEO C.C. Wei warned on the earnings call that while the company has not lost any business due to the trade war so far, he knows there “are uncertainties and risk from the potential impact of tariff policies.”

While ASML and TSMC are both semiconductor firms, they don’t do the same thing. ASML is not technically a chipmaker itself, but is one of the only producers of the vital lithography machines necessary for big players like TSMC and Nvidia to actually make their all-important AI chips, which means those semiconductor firms are its customers.

Yet just because TSMC is booming, that doesn’t necessarily translate into more business for ASML, given that TSMC has been lukewarm on ASML’s latest $400 million EUV lithography machines, according to Barron’s.

While today was a mixed day for semi stocks, overall demand for AI hardware is set to keep growing. Analysts covering ASML still have a 

 Just how high these companies rise from here, however, could vary.—

ASML and TSMC earnings recap

Two chip heavyweights provided some insight into the future of the AI trade.

The chips are down...or are they?

Congratulations to that one single-issue voter whose hatred for corn syrup transcends every other political issue: This is the moment you’ve been waiting for.

“I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so,” President Trump 

For background, the majority of the world’s cane sugar is 

, where Trump just slapped a 50% tariff. The combination of higher demand for sugar from the world’s foremost soda maker and lower supply from the commodity’s key producer was a formidable force today: Raw sugar futures surged on the announcement, while Coca-Cola ended the day up 1.91%.

High-fructose corn syrup producer Archer-Daniels-Midland was less enthused about the news. The company fell 0.85% today, and ingredients maker Ingredion fell 0.61% as well.

 It’s not clear Coca-Cola is totally on board with the president’s announcement: “We appreciate President Trump’s enthusiasm for our iconic Coca-Cola brand,” the company said in a statement. “More details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon.”

Trump’s effort to rid Coke of high-fructose corn syrup is part of a larger effort spearheaded by Secretary of Health and Human Services RFK Jr. to make American food healthier. But in the process, it’s forcing companies like Archer-Daniels Midland to adapt or die.

The company’s business model is reliant on commodity pricing, which has been volatile in the face of climate change and tariff upheaval this year. In its first-quarter earnings call, management noted that operating profit from ADM’s biggest business segment, Ag Services & Oil Seeds, 

 thanks to tariffs. Meanwhile operating profits from its Starches and Sweeteners subsegment—which includes artificial corn syrup—fell 21% year over year last quarter.

With American consumers picking up fewer bags of chips as weight-loss drugs curb their appetites and the country in general getting more health-conscious, analysts are worried that companies like Archer-Daniels Midland will have less room for growth in the years ahead. Shares have tumbled 18.53% in the last 12 months.

“We're following the consumer,” PepsiCo CEO Ramon Luis Laguarta said on an 

. “And if the consumer is telling us that they prefer products that have sugar and they prefer products that have natural ingredients, we will give the consumer products that have sugar and have natural ingredients.”

Looks like it’s time for artificial sweeteners to get real about their predicament.—

Soda fountain of Coke and Archer-Daniels Midland

Artificial sweetener stocks in the crosshairs

Coke's move to sugar is a huge blow for companies like Archer-Daniels Midland.

Sugar crash for artificial sweeteners

Judy Dutton

Much like death and taxes, Labubus are impossible to avoid—lurking on bags, briefcases, and dog leashes, leering at you with their snaggle-toothed grins when you least expect them. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, these popular plushies have pushed shares of the Chinese toymaker Pop Mart 169.87% higher in 2025 alone.

Labubus also propelled Pop Mart’s revenue 

 in the first half of 2025, the company reported late yesterday, and profits soared 350%. Numbers like that should make shareholders pleased, but they don’t seem dazzled at all: The stock sank 4.89% today.

This sudden drop suggests that investors are worried that the Labubu fad may finally be fading.

Labubus were introduced as part of the “Monsters” book franchise back in 2015. The toys really only took off in 2019 thanks to a collaboration with Beijing-based variety shop Pop Mart, which started trading publicly in Hong Kong a year later with a 

—on par with big-league toymakers Mattel and Hasbro.

Today, the toy comes in over 300 styles priced from $15 for a three-inch figurine to $170,000 for a four-foot statue. A large part of the obsession is fueled by the “blind box” packaging, where you never know what you’re going to get: Rare, “secret” versions spur buying frenzies with 1-in-72 odds that, in a randomized Monte Carlo simulation, cost an average of 

 and 90 retail locations in the US (including vending machines), $1.1 billion of the $1.8 billion in revenue the company reported in fiscal 2024 comes from mainland China. There, the craze is still crazy: Revenue from China soared 112% year over year in 2024.

But while the doll’s popularity in its core market hasn’t waned just yet, Pop Mart’s shareholders are focused on the future.

“At AI-tech-level price equity ratios, some Pop Mart investors are popping out of the stock and taking profits while they can before the fad turns south as so many fads do,” Running Point Capital CIO Michael Ashley Schulman told Brew Markets. “Yes, management guided to a 350% profit pop for the first half of ’25, but after a 170% year-to-date rocket ride, the stock was already priced like a rare Labubu chase figure—about 6 times sales versus Mattel’s 1.5, and a nosebleed $47 billion market cap.”

Labubu sales accounted for about 23.5% of Pop Mart’s overall revenue in 2024, and while the first half of 2025 was clearly a strong one for the company, any hint of weakness in sales of its most popular product could spell disaster for the stock.

“Investors opened the blind box and found…valuation risk. Collectible frenzies can turn into landfill faster than you can say Beanie Babies,” Sculman continued.

Pop Mart stock sank, Labubu fad passing

Shareholders are worried that Labubus can't stand the test of time.

Is Pop Mart's Labubu craze crashing?

You may not have heard the name MP Materials before July, but it’s quickly becoming too hot to ignore.

The company operates the only rare earth mine in the US, which is why its share price has quadrupled since the start of the year, nearly doubled this month alone, and shot up another 19.99% today after it announced a 

The tech giant will purchase rare earth magnets produced at MP Materials' facility in Fort Worth, Texas, created from magnets recycled at its plant in Mountain Pass, California. While the first magnets won’t be shipped until 2027, Apple is paying MP $200 million upfront—a small price to pay for easy access to the materials vital for producing iPhones. 

While MP Materials isn’t exactly a household name, you might remember seeing something about it just a few days ago. No need to Google: It’s the same company that soared 

 last week after the Pentagon bought a $400 million stake in the miner.

Rare earths are the raw materials used to make powerful magnets that are vital to building military weapons and other tech. They have also become a flashpoint of the ongoing trade war between the US and China. 

China has a monopoly on the industry, mining roughly 

 and refining 90%. After the nation imposed export restrictions on the material in response to President Trump’s steep tariffs, the US government decided to give the rare earth industry a domestic boost.

The US’s domestic rare earths industry has struggled to take off partially due to the high environmental cost of rare earth mining, which makes it challenging for miners to follow environmental laws while keeping costs down. China’s rare earths industry, while lucrative, has caused heavy metals and 

MP Material’s market cap is now approaching $10 billion thanks to its latest surge. So, does it have further to run? Most analysts say yes.

The analyst consensus on the stock is “overweight”, according to 

 Morgan Stanley research analyst Carlos de Alba highlighted several economic tailwinds for critical mineral producers last week, including tighter supply for magnets produced in China and higher demand from Western governments trying to build their strategic stockpiles. And today’s deal with Apple keeps its “commercial momentum” going, according to D.A. Davidson equity analyst Matt Summerville.—

MP Materials stock soars on Apple deal

The rare earth miner scored yet another huge deal this week, boosting shares even higher.

MP Materials mines lucrative Apple deal

In the race for sneaker dominance, Nike has been limping along for years—but at long last the footwear failure could be hitting its stride.

Swoosh shares jumped 15.16% after Nike’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings came in bad, but 

Revenue slid 12% year over year to $11.1 billion—a bit higher than the anticipated $10.7 billion, albeit the steepest drop in five years.

Earnings per share of $0.14 also surpassed projections of $0.13, although that’s still a far cry from a year ago, when it hovered at $1.01.

Meanwhile, costs from tariffs are expected to approach $1 billion as the company scrambles to pivot its supply chain away from China: Nike currently imports 

 from the country, but wants to get that down to high-single digits by the end of fiscal 2026.

The good news is that CEO Elliott Hill—who came out of retirement last October to help revive the long-suffering brand—said that this quarter bore the brunt of the company’s turnaround plans and marked the bottom. “It can only go up from here,” Hill 

 on the earnings call. Shareholders can only pray that those aren’t famous last words.

Despite its many problems, Nike is still the world’s biggest sneaker company. But it’s been giving up market share to brands like Decker’s Hoka and On Holding, which were all too glad to fulfill the footwear needs of Macy’s and DSW after Nike’s former CEO John Donahoe cut ties with those retailers in an ill-fated attempt to sell shoes directly to consumers.

Now, Nike is attempting to mend fences with wholesalers and forge relationships with new outlets like Amazon. To start fresh, the company slashed prices on its lineup to clear out stale old inventory and make room for new styles. Hill 

 on lifestyle categories (think Air Force 1, Dunks, and a delayed collaboration with Kim Kardashian’s Skims) in favor of funnelling energy toward core sports performance products.

 running shoes, which come with extra cushioning designed to recreate the sensation of running on an anti-gravity treadmill, has been dubbed a winner in terms of comfort. Nike also garnered points with female customers by sponsoring elite Kenyan runner Faith Kipyegon during her quest to become the first woman to break the four-minute mile, and while she 

, it was darn close at 4:06.42, and still a world record.

: Given the company’s been in sorry shape for a while now, investors were desperate for any glimmer of a comeback, and this earnings report delivered, triggering a whirlwind of upgrades from brokers raising their price targets. Jefferies analyst Randal Konik probably put it best: “As competitive pressures ease, execution improves, and with easier comps ahead, we see a V-shaped recovery in F27 and continue to Just Buy It!”

Although signs suggest Nike is getting back on track, Hill noted that a “full recovery will take time.” But that’s OK—it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Nike earnings stunk, but still impressed

The footwear war continues, and Nike may be making a comeback.

Nike: Should you just buy it?

Bumble may be bouncing back: Shares of the dating app soared 25.14% after the company announced plans to 

The elimination of 240 roles is expected to save Bumble $40 million annually, which will be funneled into product and technology development, according to the securities filing. The Austin-based company also adjusted its revenue forecast for the current quarter to a range of between $244 million and $249 million, up from the $235 million to $243 million it previously predicted.

But no matter what kind of rose-tinted glasses you slap on these cutbacks, it’s clear that the company is floundering like a really awkward first date. Although the stock popped today, it’s still down by around 18.19% for the year and over 91.36% since its public debut in 2021. In that time, the digital matchmaker’s market value has plunged from $7.7 billion to about $954.17 million as of Wednesday’s close.

CEO and founder Whitney Wolfe Herd stepped down near the start of 2024, but boomeranged back earlier this year with hopes of helping her flailing company find a sense of direction again.

 the New York Times. “Watching it fall from its peak has been very hard. And so I raised my hand.”

She faces a tough slog ahead. In the first quarter, revenue 

 to $247.1 million, while total paying users remained flat at around 4 million. As for where the app could go next, Wolfe Herd hopes to follow up on the success of the company’s friend-matchmaking BFF feature by rolling out quizzes to help users find love by teaching them to adore 

Suffice to say, analysts remain skeptical about the fortunes of a company predicated on finding romantic matches telling its users that they don’t need anyone else.

Bumble is hardly the only romantic platform that has been stumbling in search of purpose and profits.

 and 60 million active users, though subscribers have fallen since its peak in 2022 at 10.9 million. Still, it remains the cash cow of parent company Match Group, generating $1.94 billion in revenue in 2024. Match Group, which also owns Hinge, OKCupid, PlentyofFish and others, reported first-quarter total revenue of 

Spencer Rascoff, who assumed the role of CEO of Match in February and will double his duties by taking on that same role at Tinder in July, said the app must shed its smarmy reputation. “This generation of Gen Z, 18 to 28—it’s not a hookup generation,” he 

. “We need to adapt our products to accept that reality.”

To woo younger singletons, Tinder has rolled out a 

, turning high-pressure hookups into fun gatherings with friends.

Although Bumble, Tinder, and other dating apps seem to be going through a rocky period, one thing we know in our heart of hearts is that the search for love will never go out of business.

Bumble stock popped today, but the stock is still down

The dating app has sunk all year long, and is now cutting jobs to save money. 

Should you swipe right on Bumble?

Hims & Hers Health just can’t stay away from the drama.

Today, shares of the telehealth company plunged 34.65% after Novo Nordisk 

 their partnership just two months after the competitors struck an unlikely alliance. The Danish pharma giant accused Hims & Hers of selling knockoff versions of Wegovy—its lucrative GLP-1 drug.

Today’s news is just the latest twist in an ongoing saga for Hims & Hers over these popular weight-loss medications. Back in May of last year, shares soared after the company 

 it was selling a cheaper, knockoff version of lucrative GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy. Then, the stock plummeted in February after the real, blue-chip drugs were taken off 

, requiring telehealth firms to stop selling compounded semaglutide except in cases where a patient couldn’t take the brand version.

But then in April, Novo seemingly swooped in and saved the company, 

 with Hims & Hers to sell Wegovy directly to consumers without insurance for a fraction of its $1,000 price tag.

The roller coaster ride took its latest twist today after Novo Nordisk executives called their deal with Hims & Hers off, noting that they believed Hims & Hers would de-emphasize the sale of its compound version of GLP-1 drugs and steer them 

Hims & Hers shot back, arguing Novo Nordisk was pushing the company to only prescribe Wegovy to patients. “We refuse to be strong-armed by any pharmaceutical company’s anticompetitive demands that infringe on the independent decision making of providers and limit patient choice,” Hims & Hers CEO Andrew Dudum 

 between Hims and Novo didn’t actually require the telehealth company to stop making compounded semaglutide. In fact, Hims made it clear when the deal was announced it was still planning on selling compounded semaglutide in some form, in addition to the Wegovy shots.

Citi analyst Daniel Grosslight wrote in a note today that without the Novo Nordisk partnership, Hims & Hers was going to face an uphill legal battle justifying its selling of the GLP-1 drugs.

Today’s news comes at an already tough time for Novo Nordisk: Its shares are down 20% year to date as it loses ground to Eli Lilly and its weight-loss drug Zepbound. Since the original deal in April, Novo fired CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, and is still searching for a replacement. Shares fell 5.49% this afternoon, while Eli Lilly jumped 1.04%.—