Bloomberg Businessweek

Microsoft reported better-than-expected growth in its cloud business and said spending on AI infrastructure hit a record. The closely watched Azure cloud-computing unit posted a 39% rise in sales during Microsoft’s fiscal fourth quarter, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. Analysts projected 34% revenue growth. The shares rose about 7% in extended trading after closing at $513.24 in New York. The company’s stock was up about 22% this year through the Wednesday close.

Meta also reported results that sent shares higher after the close. Meta topped projections for second-quarter sales and gave a stronger-than-expected forecast for the current period, a sign that the social media company’s advertising business is still growing quickly enough to support aggressive spending on artificial intelligence. Shares jumped as much as 10% in late trading. Third-quarter sales will be $47.5 billion to $50.5 billion, Meta said in a statement Wednesday, with the midpoint of that range exceeding the average analyst estimate of $46.2 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The social media giant, which owns Instagram and Facebook, reported second-quarter revenue of $47.5 billion. Meta stock was up 18.7% so far this year before Wednesday’s report.

For instant reaction and analysis to earnings for both big tech companies, hosts Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec speak with:

• Dan Ives, Global Head of Technology Research at Wedbush Securities
• Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Technology Analyst Anurag Rana
• Greg Halter, Director of Research at Carnegie Investment Counsel

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Bloomberg's Tom Keene, Jonathan Ferro and Lisa Abramowicz discuss remarks from Fed Chair Jay Powell following the Federal Reserve's latest policy decision on a special edition of Bloomberg Surveillance|

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said interest rates are in the right place to manage continued uncertainty around tariffs and inflation, tempering expectations for a rate cut in September.
“There are many, many uncertainties left to resolve,” Powell told reporters Wednesday following the central bank’s decision to once again keep rates unchanged. “It doesn’t feel like we are very close to the end of that process.”

The Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-2 to hold its benchmark federal funds rate in a range of 4.25%-4.5%, as they have at each of their meetings this year. Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman voted against the decision in favor of a quarter-point cut.

Traders pared back their expectations for rate cuts as Powell spoke. Interest-rate futures indicated roughly even odds on a reduction at the next meeting in September, down from about 60% earlier in the day. Treasuries extended losses, the dollar surged to the highest since May and the S&P 500 fell.

In their post-meeting statement, officials downgraded their view of the US economy, saying “recent indicators suggest that growth of economic activity moderated in the first half of the year.” The Fed had previously characterized growth as expanding “at a solid pace.”

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AstraZeneca Plc reported better-than-expected sales and rising profit for the second quarter, spurred by its stable of cancer medicines and growth in the US.

Revenue climbed 12% to $14.5 billion, the UK drugmaker said Tuesday, beating estimates. Earnings per share excluding some items rose 10% to $2.17, as expected. Under Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot’s watch, Astra has turned into an oncology powerhouse and is increasingly focused on the US. Pascal discusses his company's strong quarterly performance and the state of the pharmaceutical industry with Tim Stenovec and Carol Massar on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the US and China will continue talks over maintaining a tariff truce before it expires in two weeks and that President Donald Trump will make the final call on any extension.

Bessent, who led the US delegation with Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, said in Stockholm that he’ll brief Trump on Wednesday on the remaining issues.

“There’s still a couple of technical details to work out,” Bessent told reporters Tuesday, after two days of meetings with officials from Beijing led by Vice Premier He Lifeng.
On the heels of Washington’s preliminary tariff deals with Japan and the European Union, Bessent said his Chinese counterparts were “more of a mood for a wide-ranging discussion.”

The third round of US-China trade talks in less than three months wrapped up ahead of an Aug. 12 deadline to resolve differences during a 90-day suspension of sky-high tariffs that threatened to cut off bilateral trade between the world’s largest economies.
Adding an extra 90 days is one option, Bessent said.

Chinese trade negotiator Li Chenggang told reporters that both sides agree on maintaining the truce, without elaborating on how long. He added that the conversations in the Swedish capital were candid, in-depth and geared for continued close communication.

Today's show features:

• Bloomberg News Europe Correspondent Oliver Crook on the latest from US-China trade talks in Stockholm, Sweden
• Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO and Chief Strategist at QI research, on the latest FOMC meeting
• Bloomberg News Boston Bureau Chief Brooke Sutherland on Boeing and UPS earnings, as well as the $72 billion megadeal between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern
• Kabir Nath, Chief Executive Officer of Compass Pathways, on the pursuit of FDA approval of the first psychedelic treatment for certain people living with depression

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The NBA's Dallas Mavericks are entering a new era with top overall draft pick Cooper Flagg joining a veteran roster that appears poised to bounce back from a disappointing end to last season. The team will also look to move past the largely negative reaction from its fanbase related to the trade of superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Rick Welts, the Basketball Hall of Fame executive who now serves as the Mavericks' CEO, discusses the outlook for team, the franchise's plans for a new arena and the league's changing media landscape with Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec and Julie Fine on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.

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Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.

European capitals defended the trade deal struck with President Donald Trump, which will see the European Union accept a 15% tariff on most of its exports to the US while reducing levies on some American products to zero.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who met with Trump in his golf club in Turnberry, Scotland, on Sunday, hailed the agreement for the stability and predictability it will offer businesses and consumers. The EU knew that the deal would favor the US, but von der Leyen urged reporters to “not forget where we came from,” referencing tariff rates Trump threatened that were as high as 50%. 

The lower rate came as a relief to member states that are dependent on exports, especially Germany, which exported $34.9 billion of new cars and auto parts to the US in 2024.
“The agreement has succeeded in averting a trade conflict that would have hit the export-oriented German economy hard,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a statement late Sunday. “This has enabled us to safeguard our core interests, even if I would have liked to have seen further easing in transatlantic trade.”

Without a deal, Bloomberg Economics estimated that the total US average effective tariff rate would rise to nearly 18% on Aug. 1 from 13.5% under current policies. The new deal brings that number down to 16%. Prior to Trump’s latest trade fight, the EU estimated the average tariff rate to be about 1% on both sides.

Today's show features:

• Nancy Lazar, Chief Economist for Piper Sandler, on the global economic outlook and trade balance in the wake of the US trade deal with the European Union
• Andrew Bishop, Senior Partner and Global Head of Policy Research at Signum Global Advisors on the pending resumption of US-China trade talks
• Bloomberg News Israel Bureau Chief Ethan Bronner on President Donald Trump’s latest comments on the situation in Gaza
• Andrejka Bernatova, Founder and CEO of Dynamix, on her firm’s business combination agreement with The Ether Reserve

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The gunman who killed at least four people and himself at a Midtown Manhattan office tower was targeting the National Football League, but ended up on Rudin Management’s floor by mistake, two senior law enforcement officers said.   

Instead of going to the NFL’s fifth-story office at 345 Park Ave., he picked the wrong elevator bank that took him to Rudin’s office on the 33rd floor, the officers said. That’s where the body of the shooter, believed to be Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old who last resided in Las Vegas, was found.   

A manifesto and notes found on him indicated a fixation with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, caused by head trauma, the officers said. His social media feed showed his football career ended after a head injury, and he wrote that the NFL didn’t do enough for CTE.   

The gunman, who has a documented history of mental-health troubles, drove across the country before entering New York City earlier Monday, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.   

For details, Nathan Hager speaks with Bloomberg News Reporter Myles Miller.

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President Donald Trump’s unprecedented walk-through of the Federal Reserve’s now-controversial building renovation project with Jerome Powell ended with a sign of relief for the central bank chief who’s been under pressure for months to slash interest rates.
There’s “no tension” with Powell, Trump said after the Thursday tour — which featured the two men publicly trading barbs over the cost of a project that the president’s allies have used to blast the Fed chair’s leadership.

The president indicated that problems with the project probably weren’t reason enough to fire the central bank head. “To do that is a big move, and I just don’t think it’s necessary,” he told reporters.
Rob Kaplan, Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs and former President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, discusses the implications of White House pressure on the US central brank to ease monetary policy, as well as the nation's macroeconomic outlook. Rob speaks with Tim Stenovec and Carol Massar on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.

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Featuring some of our favorite conversations of the week from our daily radio show "Bloomberg Businessweek Daily."

Hosted by Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec

Hear the show live at 2PM ET on WBBR 1130 AM New York, Bloomberg 92.9 FM Boston, WDCH 99.1 FM in Washington D.C. Metro, Sirius/XM channel 121, on the Bloomberg Business App, Radio.com, the iHeartRadio app and at Bloomberg.com/audio.

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Like us at Bloomberg Radio on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @carolmassar @timsteno and @BW

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Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she will travel to Scotland this weekend to meet with US President Donald Trump, as the two sides aim to conclude a trade deal ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline when 30% tariffs on the bloc’s exports are otherwise due to kick in.
After months of talks and shuttle diplomacy between Brussels and Washington DC, the two sides have been zeroing in on an agreement this past week that would see the EU face 15% tariffs on most of its trade. Limited exemptions are expected for aviation, some medical devices and generic medicines, several spirits, and a specific set of manufacturing equipment that the US needs, Bloomberg previously reported.

Steel and aluminum imports would likely benefit from a quota under the arrangements under discussion but above that threshold they would face a higher tariff of 50%.
“We’ll see if we make a deal,” Trump said as he arrived in Scotland on Friday. “Ursula will be here, highly respected woman. So we look forward to that.”
Trump reiterated that he believed there was “a 50-50 chance” of a deal with the EU, saying there were sticking points on “maybe 20 different things” that he did not want to detail publicly.

Today's show features:

• Bloomberg TV and Radio International Economics & Policy Correspondent Mike McKee on Friday’s economic data and reaction to President Donald Trump’s visit to the Federal Reserve
• Kathryn Judge, Harvey J. Goldschmid Professor of Law at Columbia Law School on the Trump vs. Powell saga
• Christina Padgett, Associate Managing Director, Head of Leveraged Finance Research and Analytics with Moody’s, on the private credit market
• Francis deSouza, Chief Operating Officer at Google Cloud on the business unit’s next wave of growth and AI product strategy

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