Tesla has reported another drop in quarterly profits as CEO Elon Musk warned the company could face a few "rough" quarters following the elimination of federal tax credits for electric vehicles under President Donald Trump's big fiscal package.

Musk, on an earnings conference call with analysts and investors, reiterated that Tesla's technology advantages position it for significant long-term profitability, but suggested the company's recent slump would continue or worsen in a difficult interim period until new autonomous transport ventures can be monetised.

At issue is the period after the $7,500 federal tax credit for EV purchases expires on September 30, among the green tax credits zeroed out by Trump's sweeping package approved earlier this month.

"We probably could have a few rough quarters. I'm not saying we will, but we could," Musk said of a period that immediately follows the expiration of the US tax credit for EVs.

"But once you get to autonomy at scale" by the second half of 2026, "I'd be surprised if Tesla economics are not very compelling," said Musk.

His comments acknowledge more short-term pain following Wednesday's results, its third straight quarter of lower profitability as the company faces intensifying electric vehicle competition and deals with backlash due to Musk's political activities.

Tesla reported second-quarter profits of $1.2bn, down 16% from the year-ago level. The company in a press release emphasised ongoing efforts to lead in artificial intelligence and robotics.

Revenues fell 12% to $22.5bn.

Lower profits had been expected after Tesla earlier this month disclosed a decline in auto deliveries. Results were also impacted by a fall in average vehicle selling prices and higher operating expenses driven by AI and other research and development projects.

Tesla did not offer an outlook on full-year vehicle production, citing shifting global trade and fiscal policies, as well as factors such as "the broader macroeconomic environment, the rate of acceleration of our autonomy efforts and production ramp at our factories."

The results come on the heels of Tesla's launch last month of a robotaxi service in the Texas capital Austin, Musk's first fully autonomous offering after pushing back the timeframe many times.

Musk has heavily touted Tesla's autonomous driving program, as well as the company's "Optimus" humanoid robot, which employs artificial intelligence technology.

But analysts have criticised Tesla's sluggishness in unveiling new autos, while questioning Musk's commitment to an earlier goal of launching a state-of-the-art electric vehicle priced at around $25,000 to bolster the odds of mass deployment.

On the call, Musk reiterated his desire for a lower-priced vehicle. Tesla's press release said the company began building "a more affordable model" in June, with volume set to rise in the second half of 2025.

Tesla executives said they had pushed back the ramp-up on the new vehicle in order to maximise production of the company's current generation of autos before the federal tax credit expires.

The worsening near-term outlook for EV sales is one reason analysts at JPMorgan Chase call Tesla's stock price "completely divorced from increasingly deteriorating fundamentals." But analysts at Morgan Stanley rate the company a "top pick" in light of its leadership in robotics and artificial intelligence, although a recent note warned Musk's political activity "may add further near-term pressure" to shares.

Disagreements over Trump's fiscal package have been a factor in Musk's recurring feud with the president, whose name was not mentioned during the 60-minute conference call.

The billionaire donated huge sums to Trump's successful 2024 presidential campaign and then joined the administration to lead the "Department of Government Efficiency," which cut thousands of government jobs, sparking boycotts and vandalism that tarnished the Tesla brand.

Musk left the White House in May.


Blackstone
Blackstone beat second-quarter profit expectations on Thursday on strong gains in its credit and private equity businesses and a pickup in performance-related fees tied to perpetual capital funds.

Shares of the world's largest alternative asset manager rose nearly 3% before the open and were on track to turn positive for the year if gains hold.

Even though tariffs uncertainties remain a source of concern for the economy, resilient investors have propelled equity markets to record highs, enabling large asset managers such as Blackstone to capitalise.

Asset sales in the credit and insurance segment were $10bn, while the company also sold $7.3bn of private equity assets. It had $181.2bn of capital available for deployment.

Fee-related performance revenue more than doubled to $472.1mn, powered by a 16% growth in perpetual capital assets under management.

Perpetual capital refers to long-term assets under management that does not have a fixed end date and cannot typically be redeemed by investors on demand.

Distributable earnings, which represent cash that can be used to pay dividends, grew 25% to $1.6bn, or $1.21 per share, for the three months ended June 30.

It exceeded analysts' expectation of $1.10, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Blackstone has said it remains capable of executing deals even in uncertain environments, underscoring its resilience should trade tensions escalate further.

As of last close, Blackstone's shares were down slightly this year, compared with an 8% gain in the benchmark S&P 500 index.

Inflows of $52.1bn helped push Blackstone's total AUM to $1.2tn, up 13% from a year ago.

The credit and insurance segment attracted more than half of the total inflows. The unit is a key driver of Blackstone's growing influence in private credit, as more companies turn to investment firms for flexible financing.

The private equity arm also recorded segment distributable earnings of $751.4mn, up 55% from a year ago.
STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics reported a second-quarter loss on Thursday, its first in more than a decade, falling short of market expectations as it took a $190mn hit for restructuring and impairment costs.

Shares in the French-Italian chipmaker, which makes power chips for Tesla's drivetrains and eSim modules for Apple's iPhones, fell by as much as 13% — on track for their worst day since January.

The company, one of Europe's largest chipmakers, posted an operating loss of $133mn for the quarter, missing the average $56.2mn profit that was forecast by analysts in an LSEG poll.

STMicro said that without the $190mn in impairment, restructuring charges and other costs, the company would have registered a quarterly profit of $57mn — in line with market expectations.

STMicro's heavy reliance on in-house manufacturing, representing about 80% of sales, has burdened it with underused factories and high staff costs when the market slows, unlike rivals Infineon and NXP that use more contract manufacturing, analysts say.

Chipmakers exposed to the struggling automotive, industrial, and consumer chip markets such as STMicro, Texas Instruments, or NXP have faced a sales slump, hit by low demand, high inventories, and geopolitical disruptions.

"Investors probably wanted to see more recovery," analyst Utsav Sinha of AlphaValue said in an e-mailed comment about Thursday's earnings report.

STMicro's CEO Jean-Marc Chery was more upbeat about the outlook for the rest of the year.

"If we have a booking dynamic in Q3 on a similar path of what we have seen in Q2 and in Q1, we should expect in Q4 to grow sequentially," he said during a call with investors.

Analysts said that while the stronger sales trend suggested STMicro could achieve revenue growth this year, potential US trade tariffs could cloud the outlook.

In June, the company said it saw the early signs of an upcycle, or a period of increased market demand, which would allow it to hit its second-quarter revenue goal of $2.71bn.

Revenue rose to $2.76bn in the second quarter from $2.52bn in the previous quarter, ahead of that target. STMicro said it is now expecting revenue in the third quarter to reach $3.17bn, ahead of analysts' expectations of $3.10bn.
Repsol
Spanish energy giant Repsol on Thursday reported a sharp drop in profits in the first half of 2025 caused by falling oil prices, geopolitical turbulence and Spain's huge April blackout.

The €603mn ($709mn) of profit was 62.9% lower than in the same period last year, Repsol said in a statement.

Adjusted income, an indicator that measures business performance and used as a reference by investors, stood at €1.35bn, a decline of 36.4%.

Repsol cited "a global environment marked by geopolitical volatility and trade tensions", with conflicts in the Middle East and US President Donald Trump's unpredictable tariffs shaking markets in the first six months of 2025.

The company also pointed to an increase in supply from the powerful OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations that depressed prices to an average of $71.90 per barrel in the period.

The April 28 blackout that paralysed Spain and Portugal negatively affected the industrial business area, with Repsol "assessing potential legal actions, pending the official determination of responsibilities related to the power outage".

The International Energy Agency has lowered its forecast for the growth in oil demand this year to its lowest rate since 2009, excluding the Covid-19 pandemic's impact on the world economy in 2020.

France's TotalEnergies and British energy giant BP are among the other companies also hit by tumbling oil prices so far this year.
Reckitt
Consumer goods company Reckitt raised its annual revenue forecast on Thursday after second-quarter net sales growth topped expectations, sending shares soaring, as strength in China and India offset weakness in North America and Europe.

Shares jumped as much as 11% to their highest level since early 2024 and were among the biggest gainers on the pan-European STOXX 600 index.

Reckitt is pivoting to focus on its 11 so-called "power brands" under CEO Kris Licht, as the sector is faced with weak demand and fierce competition.

The company reported like-for-like quarterly net revenue growth of 1.9%, above the 1.7% forecast in a company-compiled consensus.

It also announced a new £1bn share buyback over the next 12 months.

Growth in North America and Europe lagged expectations, hit by a challenging consumer environment and the expected shelf reset of its flu medicine Mucinex due to reformulation.

Licht said there was some stabilisation in those regions in the second quarter, but consumption remained "suppressed".

"Even though consumption is a bit lower in our categories, we're still seeing some growth, and people are still spending. It's just much more measured," he said, referring to North America and Europe.

But strong sales in China, India and good growth in Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Malaysia made up for weakness in developed markets.

Chinese consumers were responding well to new innovation behind the Dettol brand, Licht said.

Reckitt raised the like-for-like 2025 net revenue growth forecast for its core business to above 4%, from a 3% to 4% range previously.

"A beat and raise is a rare occurrence in this market," said analysts at JPMorgan in a note.

Reckitt now expects overall group like-for-like net revenue growth of 3% to 4% for the year, up from the previous 2% to 4%.

The share price was last up 9%, heading for its biggest one-day percentage gain since November 2008.

Reckitt posted operating profit of £1.71bn ($2.32bn) for the six months ended June 30, beating analysts' average expectations of £1.66bn.

Some investors worry Reckitt is more exposed than rivals to US tariffs due to lower US manufacturing capacity compared to Haleon and Unilever.
SK hynix
South Korean chip giant SK hynix reported record quarterly profits on Thursday thanks to soaring demand for artificial intelligence.

The world's second-largest memory chip maker dominates the market for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductors and is a key supplier for US titan Nvidia.

The firm said operating profit climbed almost 70 % to 9.2tn won ($6.7bn) in the second quarter, with revenues coming in at 22.2tn won — both all-time peaks.

It comes after Taiwan chip giant TSMC last week announced a surge in net profit for the second quarter, topping forecasts, thanks to robust demand for AI technology, despite the threat of US tariffs on the critical sector.

SK hynix also said net profit was up close to 70% on-year, at nearly 7tn won.

"Aggressive investment by global big tech companies into AI led to a steady increase in demand for AI memory," it said in a statement.

Shipments of DRAM and NAND flash — other types of computer memory — topped forecasts, boosting the bottom line.

"SK hynix foresees that increasing competition among big tech companies to enhance inference of AI models would lead to higher demand for high-performance and high-capacity memory products," the company added.

South Korea is a major exporter to the US and its powerhouse semiconductor and auto industries would suffer greatly under President Donald Trump's threatened 25% tariffs.

Experts attribute SK hynix's resilience to its growth in the DRAM market.
Nestle
Nestle has said its net profit fell in the first half of the year as the Swiss food giant behind Nespresso coffee capsules and KitKat chocolate bars struggles to turn around its fortunes amid sluggish consumer spending in China.

The company whose brands also include Purina dog food, Maggi bouillon cubes, Gerber baby food and Nesquik chocolate-flavoured drinks, reported a 10.3% drop in first half profits to 5.1bn Swiss francs ($6.4bn).

Sales, however, only dipped by 1.8% to 44.2bn francs, which was due in large part to passing on higher cocoa and coffee prices to consumers, although faced even greater headwinds from the strong Swiss currency.

"We are also taking decisive measures to strengthen our business in Greater China," said chief executive Laurent Freixe.

The company said China, which has suffered sluggish domestic consumption amid a deflationary price environment, had a 0.7 percentage point impact on organic growth in the second quarter.

Overall, the company reported 2.9% quarterly organic growth, which strips out currency effects and other elements to measure performance.

Nestle warned China would continue to weigh on growth as it invested to turn around its performance.

Nestle made a surprise switch of its chief executive least year amid soft spending by consumers for food and household goods.

Nestle's share price slumped by nearly a quarter last year, raising concerns in Switzerland, where pension funds invest heavily in the company.

The company launched a number of measures to boost its product offering and cut costs.

That was reflected in better organic growth in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, and Nestle said that it was expected to continue for the rest of the year.

Nestle said it was maintaining its 2025 guidance "despite factoring in increased headwinds".

It aims for an underlying trading operating profit margin of at least 16% this year, compared to 17.2% in 2024. It came in at 16.5% in the first half of the year.
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank on Thursday reported its highest second-quarter profit since 2007 and said it was on track to meet annual targets, sending shares in Germany's biggest lender soaring.

From April to June, net profit attributable to the group's shareholders came in at €1.48bn ($1.74bn), driven by its investment banking and asset management units.

Analysts surveyed by financial data firm FactSet had expected a figure of €1.34bn.

In the same quarter last year, Deutsche Bank had booked its first quarterly loss since 2020 due to litigation costs linked to the troubled takeover of a smaller lender.

Thursday's result "puts us on track to meet our 2025 targets", said CEO Christian Sewing. The group is aiming to substantially cut costs this year, and said its results so far showed it was achieving this.

Revenues rose to €7.8bn in the second quarter, with increases of 3% at its investment banking unit and 9% at its asset management division.

The retail banking division saw revenues increase by 2%. The unit is undergoing a restructuring and Sewing announced in March that 2,000 jobs would be cut at the division.

Corporate banking revenues were down by 1%, affected by exchange rate fluctuations. The euro has risen strongly this year against the dollar, impacting Deutsche Bank as it converts money earned in the US unit back into euros.

Deutsche Bank has undergone major restructuring in recent years, seeking to rely more on retail and corporate banking after an aggressive shift in the early 2000s into investment banking drew it into multiple scandals.
TotalEnergies
TotalEnergies said on Thursday its net profit plunged in the second quarter despite increased output as global oil and gas prices dropped.

Despite the 29% year-on-year drop in net profit in the second quarter to $2.7bn, the French firm called its performance "robust".

It kept its revenue drop to 7.6%, to $49.6bn, below the 10% fall in the price of Brent crude oil, the international benchmark.

That was thanks in part to a 2.5% boost in output, to an average 2.5mn barrels of oil equivalent in the second quarter.

"TotalEnergies delivered robust financial results in the second quarter," chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said in a statement.

"TotalEnergies continued to successfully execute its balanced multi-energy strategy, supported by sustained growth in hydrocarbon and electricity production," he added.

The company confirmed a second interim dividend of €0.85 per shares, an increase of almost 7.6% from last year, and up to $2bn in share buybacks in this quarter.
Emirates NBD
Emirates NBD's shares slipped on Thursday after Dubai's biggest bank by assets reported a 9% fall in first-half net profit, as lower recoveries and a higher tax rate impacted the lender's results.

The bank posted a net profit of 12.5bn dirhams ($3.40bn) in the six months to June 30, down from 13.8bn over the same period in 2024.

Shares in the bank were down 1.9% at 0615 GMT. The stock remains up 21% since the start of the year.

ENBD, majority-owned by Dubai's government, said recoveries in the first half of 2025 were down by 2bn dirhams, which compared with "very strong recoveries" last year, the bank said in a statement.

UAE banks have been benefitting from steady economic growth, rising demand for credit and government-driven investment in non-oil sectors in recent years.

In Dubai, the Gulf's tourism and financial hub, a business-friendly environment has attracted a slew of companies and high-net-worth clients, contributing to a spike in real estate prices.

However, ENBD said on Thursday that while in the first half, "property transactions in Dubai were higher compared with 2024", price growth "is moderating." Ratings agency Fitch expects a correction in real estate prices in the second half and in 2026, as new builds come to the market, it said in May.

ENBD's total assets reached 1.09tn dirhams as of end-June, up 17% from a year earlier, with both net interest income and non-funded income rising by double digits.

The bank's total gross loans rose 12% to 570bn dirhams in the first six months, with nearly half of the increase coming from international operations.

They were outpaced by deposits, which grew 18% to 737bn dirhams.
Alphabet
Google-parent Alphabet on Wednesday reported quarterly profits that topped expectations, saying artificial intelligence has boosted every part of its business.

Alphabet's second-quarter profit of $28.2bn — on $96.4bn in revenue — came with word that the tech giant will spend $10bn more than it previously planned this year on capital expenditures, as it invests to meet growing demand for cloud services.

"We had a standout quarter, with robust growth across the company," said Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai. "AI is positively impacting every part of the business, driving strong momentum."

Revenue from search grew double digits in the quarter, with features such as AI Overviews and the recently launched AI mode "performing well," according to Pichai.

Ad revenue at YouTube continues to grow along with the video platform's subscription services, Alphabet reported.

Alphabet's cloud computing business is on pace to bring in $50bn over the course of the year, according to the company.

"With this strong and growing demand for our cloud products and services, we are increasing our investment in capital expenditures in 2025 to approximately $85bn and are excited by the opportunity ahead," Pichai said.

Investors have been watching closely to see whether the tech giant may be pouring too much money into artificial intelligence and whether AI-generated summaries of search results will translate into fewer opportunities to serve up money-making ads.

The Internet giant is dabbling with ads in its new AI Mode for online search, a strategic move to fend off competition from ChatGPT while adapting its advertising business for an AI age.

The integration of advertising has been a key question accompanying the rise of generative AI chatbots, which have largely avoided interrupting the user experience with marketing messages.

However, advertising remains Google's financial bedrock.

"Google is doing well despite tariff headwinds and rising AI competition in search," said eMarketer principal analyst Yory Wurmser. "It's also successfully monetising AI Overviews and AI Mode, a good sign for the future."

Google and rivals are spending billions of dollars on data centres and more for AI, while the rise of lower-cost model DeepSeek from China raises questions about how much needs to be spent.

Meanwhile the online ad business that generates the cash Google invests in its future could be neutered due to a defeat in a US antitrust case.

During the summer of 2024, Google was found guilty of illegal practices to establish and maintain its monopoly in online search by a federal judge in Washington.

The Justice Department is now demanding remedies that could transform the digital landscape: Google's divestiture from its Chrome browser and a ban on entering exclusivity agreements with smartphone manufacturers to install the search engine by default.