News Recap • Week 13 2025

Check the news below and make sure to visit my latest Market Recap as well.

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Macro

• The core PCE from the US came in slightly hotter than expected at 0.4% for the month and 2.8% annualized vs 0.3% and 2.7% expected. The headlines numbers were in line with expectations though at 0.3% and 2.5% respectively. Consumer spending was another slightly concerning sign, accelerating slightly less than expected at 0.4% for the month. Both US stocks and bond yields got hammered on Friday after the news.
• The Conference Board’s latest consumer sentiment report pointed to a highly concerned US consumer. The measure for future expectations fell to 65.2, the lowest reading in 12 years. Anything below 80 is seen as a signal of an upcoming recession. The monthly confidence index of current conditions fell for a fourth straight month to 92.9, slightly lower than the 93.5 forecast.
• Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 25% tariff on all cars that are not built in the US. Automakers Ford, GM, and Stellantis which produce a lot of their cars outside of the US all fell on the news.
• Trump also said that the tariffs coming in April will be “more lenient than reciprocal” because reciprocal tariffs would be “very tough for people”, indicating that he won’t match other countries’ US tariffs one-to-one. The markets didn’t seem to interpret it too positively though. This also came after he said that countries that purchase oil from Venezuela will pay a 25% tariff on any trade with the US.
• India is the latest major economy to pull back on US tariffs to avoid the reciprocal ones promised by Donald Trump.
• Inflation in the UK cooled slightly in February. The headline number came in at 2.8%, down from 3% in January and below the 2.9% forecast. Core inflation fell from 3.7% to 3.5%.
• CNBC’s latest CFO Council Survey showed a generally pessimistic outlook with a majority expecting a recession in the US in the second half of 2025. 95% of the respondents said the Trump administration’s policy is impacting their ability to make business decisions and is too chaotic, disruptive, and extreme for businesses to navigate effecticely.
• Chinese eCommerce giants like Alibaba and JD.com reported faster revenue growth in Q4 of 2024 than the year before, pointing to a stronger Chinese consumer.

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Other

• OpenAI is expecting revenue to triple to $12.7 billion this year.
• Amazon is diving deeper into generative AI with its new shopping and health assistants.
• German softwake company SAP briefly overtook LVMH and Novo Nordisk to become Europe’s most valuable company. While Novo Nordisk has lost more than 50% of its value since the peak last June, SAP is up around 35%. LVMH has reclaimed the spot as of Friday’s market close.
• Chinese EV maker BYD reported annual revenue of $107 billion in 2024, up 29% from the previous year. It also outpaces Tesla’s $97.7 billion annual revenue.
• xAI has acquired X in a deal where the two companies are valued at $80 billion and $30 billion respectively. Elon Musk is the owner of both companies.
• AI startup CoreWeave went public on Friday and closed the day at a $23 billion valuation.
• Trump says he may give China a reduction in tariffs as part of a TikTok deal.
• Discord is reportedly working on an IPO that could take the company public as soon as this year.
• Robinhood is bringing wealth management and private banking services to the masses with ‘Robinhood Strategies’.
• South Korean car company Hyundai announced a $21 billion investment in US onshoring.
• 23andMe filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy after years of struggling to find a sustainable business model and battling massive lawsuits after its data leak in 2023. CEO Anne Wojcicki also stepped down from her role, although she remains on the board.

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Earnings

• Lululemon beat expectations for both sales and earnings but gave disappointing 2025 guidance. Shares dropped 14.2% on Friday after the report.