Earnings show one tech segment starting to feel the tariff pinch fastest

Published

3 months ago

May 2, 2025

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Apple CEO Tim Cook, center, watches during the inauguration ceremonies for President Donald Trump, right, and Vice President JD Vance, left, in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025.

Shawn Thew | Afp | Getty Images

A tale of two different technology companies is playing out this earnings season as President Donald Trump‘s global trade upheaval makes planning nearly impossible.

Businesses reliant on advertising appear to be holding on for the near-term as those dependent on consumer spending have started to feel the cracks of a murky macro subjected to an ever-shifting tariff policy.

Block offered a lackluster second-quarter profit outlook in its earnings release Thursday, and said it took into account a “more cautious stance” into the end of the year. Airbnb issued disappointing guidance and said its business experienced some “softness” in travel from Canada to the U.S. toward the end of the quarter.

“In the U.S., we’ve seen relatively softer results, which we believe has been largely driven by broader economic uncertainties,” the vacation rentals company said in a letter to shareholders.

The fortress technology giants are also proving susceptible to Trump’s whims.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the company anticipates $900 million in added costs from tariffs this quarter, but said it’s “very difficult” to predict beyond that timeframe due to uncertainty.

He also said Apple is sourcing products shipped to the U.S. from India and Vietnam — where tariffs are lower.

“We do expect the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. will have India as their country of origin,” he said. “Vietnam will be the country of origin for almost all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and AirPods products sold in the U.S.”

Amazon‘s e-commerce business, which relies on many sellers that ship from China, is also beginning to feel the pressure. The company issued light guidance for the current quarter, and said “tariffs and trade policies” and “recessionary fears” were factors in its outlook.

Trump recently hiked the import duty on goods from China to 145%. Amazon is also grappling with the expiration of the de minimis loophole that previously allowed imports under $800 to enter the U.S. duty free.

Finance chief Brian Olsavsky said the company offered a wide guidance range due to tariff unpredictability.

But Amazon’s advertising business was a silver lining in the report, jumping 19% from last year. Other ad-heavy businesses also reported strong results in this macroeconomic setup, but warned of possibly tougher waters ahead.

Alphabet reported a year-over-year jump in ad revenue, but warned that the de minimis changes would “cause a slight headwind” to its ad business this year, particularly in Asia. Meta‘s ad revenues topped estimates, but finance chief Susan Li said some Asia e-commerce retailers have curbed ad spending. “

“A portion of that spend has been redirected to other markets, but overall spend for those advertisers is below the levels prior to April,” she said.

Worsening consumer sentiment isn’t just a tech problem. Airlines, restaurants and consumer retailers are also feeling the pinch.

Delta Airlines cut its growth plans for 2025 and trimmed its first-quarter guidance on weakening demand, while Chipotle Mexican Grill blamed a “slowdown consumer spending” as a reason for a decline in same-store sales.

U.S. consumers also appear less optimistic about the economy. Last month, the expectations index from the Conference Board’s consumer confidence survey fell to its lowest level since October 2011.

Board officials said the reading is consistent with a recession.

Trump says he asked for 20% cut from Nvidia, calls H20 an ‘obsolete’ chip

Published

3 hours ago

August 11, 2025

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Trump says he asked for 20% cut from Nvidia, calls H20 an 'obsolete' chip

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) listens as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks in the Cross Hall of the White House during an event on “Investing in America” on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Andrew Harnik | Getty Images

President Donald Trump on Monday said that he initially asked Nvidia for a 20% cut of the chipmaker’s sales to China, but the number came down to 15% after CEO Jensen Huang negotiated with him.

The comments came after news broke over the weekend that Nvidia agreed to pay the federal government a 15% cut in return for receiving export control licenses that will allow it to once again sell the H20 chip to China and Chinese companies. Nvidia’s Huang visited Trump in the White House on Friday.

“I said, ‘listen, I want 20% if I’m going to approve this for you, for the country,'” Trump said in a press conference in Washington.

Trump said that Nvidia’s H20 is an “old chip that China already has” and is “obsolete.” He compared the H20 chip to Nvidia’s current fastest artificial intelligence chip, which is called Blackwell, and said that he wouldn’t allow those to be sold to China without significant downgrades, such as a 30% to 50% reduction in performance.

“The Blackwell is super-duper advanced. I wouldn’t make a deal with that,” Trump said, adding that it was possible to make a deal for a “somewhat enhanced in a negative way” version of Blackwell.

“That’s the latest and the greatest in the world. Nobody has it. They won’t have it for five years,” Trump said.

One reason for the U.S. export controls is fear that providing advanced chips to China could allow the foreign power to leapfrog the U.S. in AI capabilities. Many have said that could pose a threat to the national security of the U.S.

Trump said that China already has chips with some similar capabilities to the H20.

Huang has said that it is better for U.S. national security if Chinese AI developers use U.S. technology, and that denying them access to Nvidia chips would actually encourage the Chinese chip industry to develop and catch up.

“He’s selling a essentially old chip,” Trump said. “Huawei has a similar chip.”

The H20 is a Chinese-specific chip that has had its performance slowed down. It is related to Nvidia’s H100 and H200 chips that are used in the U.S. The H20 was introduced after the Biden administration implemented export controls on AI chips in 2023.

In April, the Trump administration said it would require a license to export the H20 chip, and in May, Huang said that “effectively closed” the market off to Nvidia. Huang said that Nvidia was expecting to sell about $8 billion in H20 chips in the July quarter before sales were stopped.

“While we haven’t shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide,” an Nvidia spokesperson told CNBC on Monday.

Trump on Monday also said that Huang plans to visit him again to negotiate export licenses for the Blackwell chips.

“I think he’s coming to see me again about that,” Trump said.

A White House official confirmed to CNBC that AMD, the second-place AI chip maker, will also pay 15% to receive an export license for its China-focused AI chip, the Instinct MI308.

WATCH: Nvidia, AMD to pay U.S. 15% of AI chip sales in China to secure export licenses

Technology

Crypto exchange Bullish raises IPO size, seeks nearly $5 billion valuation

Published

3 hours ago

August 11, 2025

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Crypto exchange Bullish raises IPO size, seeks nearly billion valuation

Pavlo Gonchar | SOPA Images | AP

Peter Thiel-backed cryptocurrency exchange Bullish raised the size of its initial public offering.

Bullish is aiming to raise $990 million, offering 30 million shares priced between $32 and $33 apiece, and targeting a valuation of $4.8 billion, according to a Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company, led by former New York Stock Exchange president Tom Farley, had previously marketed 20.3 million shares at a proposed range between $28 and $31 a share and sought a $4.2 billion valuation, per a filing last week.

Bullish granted its underwriters, led by JPMorgan, Jefferies and Citigroup, a 30-day option to sell an additional 4.5 million shares. Bullish stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol “BLSH.”

BlackRock and Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management have indicated interest in purchasing up to $200 million of the shares, according to the updated filing.

Bullish, which also owns the crypto media site CoinDesk, is the latest crypto firm to join the public market, reflecting reinvigorated capital markets driven by investor confidence and increasing regulatory support and clarity from Washington. The stablecoin issuer Circle made its highly successful debut in June. In May, Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital uplisted to the Nasdaq and stock and crypto trading app eToro opened trading to the public.

Crypto custody startup BitGo has confidentially filed for a U.S. listing as has Gemini, the crypto exchange run by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.

Don’t miss these cryptocurrency insights from CNBC Pro:

Technology

Amazon tops 100 satellites after weather-delayed Kuiper launch

Published

5 hours ago

August 11, 2025

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Amazon tops 100 satellites after weather-delayed Kuiper launch

After four previous scrubs or delays in a row since August 7th SpaceX launches Amazon KF-02 Kuipeer Satellites after the 5th attempt August 11th 2025 at 8:35 AM SLC-40 Cape Canaveral, Brevard County, Florida USA.

Scott Schilke| SipaUSA |AP

Amazon shipped another batch of internet-beaming satellites into orbit on Monday atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, after four previous launch attempts were interrupted by weather issues.

Monday’s launch is the fourth Kuiper mission, and Amazon now has 102 satellites in orbit.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 8:35 a.m. ET. Roughly an hour after launch, SpaceX confirmed all 24 of Amazon’s Kuiper satellites were successfully deployed.

The mission was originally scheduled for last Thursday, but SpaceX was forced to scrub the launch, along with three more attempts over the past few days due to rainfall.

For the second time, Amazon turned to Elon Musk‘s SpaceX, its chief competitor in the low-earth orbit satellite market, for help building out its constellation.