📊 World's Largest Economies

Happy Sunday.

Fast food is feeling the pressure.

This week, several major chains revealed signs of a major consumer slowdown.

• McDonald’s reported a 3.6% drop in U.S. same-store sales, its largest decline since the pandemic and the second straight quarterly dip.

• Starbucks posted its fifth consecutive quarter of falling comps, with operating income plunging 45% as it ramps up spending to revive growth.

• Domino’s also showed weakness, with U.S. same-store sales falling 0.5%, missing expectations of a modest gain.

But the standout was Wingstop.

• Shares surged 18% this week, bolstered by a raised global unit growth forecast of 16.5% at the midpoint, as well as anticipation that same-store sales will recover in H2.

Some key data bites from this week that you should know:

• Microsoft said as much of 30% of its code is now written by AI.

• Microsoft’s cloud business Azure saw revenue increase 33%.

• Jeff Bezos plans to sell roughly $5B of Amazon stock.

• US stocks are underperforming rest of world by most in 32 years.

• BYD saw Q1 net profit double to $1.26B.

• IBM plans to invest $150B in US manufacturing.

• DoorDash has offered to buy Deliveroo for $3.6B.

• Temu added import charges of 145% due to tariffs.

• Shein increased US prices as much as 377%.

• UPS plans to shut down 73 facilities and cut 20,000 jobs.

• Reddit saw Daily Active Unique users increase 31% YoY.

• NYC lost $9B of income to Miami and Palm Beach in five years.

• Visa announced a new $30B share buyback.

• Snapchat now has over 900M monthly active users.

• Elon Musk claims DOGE has now saved the US $160B.

• Waste Management saw Q1 revenue climb 17%.

• Amazon plans to invest $4B toward rural delivery expansion.

• PayPal now has 436M active accounts.

In today’s newsletter:

• 🌎 World’s Largest Economies

• 🇺🇸 First 100 Days Market Returns

• 💵 Meta Is A Profit Machine

• 📲 Apple Services Hits $100B

• 🏹 Robinhood Is Now Profitable

Let’s jump right in.

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The U.S. economy just posted its first quarterly decline in 3 years.

• GDP for Q1 slipped 0.3% annualized, missing expectations of a 0.4% gain.

• The drop was driven largely by a 41% surge in imports, as companies rushed to get ahead of President Trump’s new tariffs.

Since imports subtract from GDP, the spike weighed heavily on the final figure.

• Some analysts believe the jump in imports could prove temporary, but uncertainty remains depending on how tariff talks pan out.

Despite the slip in growth, the U.S. still holds the global GDP lead at $30.5T, well ahead of China’s $19.2T, per April 2025 IMF forecasts.

This week, Donald Trump completed his first 100 days of his second term.

The S&P 500 fell 8.1% over that stretch, the worst start to a presidential term since Nixon in 1973, excluding successors who took over mid-term.

• Markets have faced heightened uncertainty, but stocks have since rebounded and are now roughly flat since Liberation Day on April 2nd.

• This serves as a clear reminder of how quickly sentiment can shift.

Of course, 100-day performance is a short-term snapshot and not a predictor of long-term results.

• They’re influenced by everything from inherited policy backdrops and global events to economic cycles, and rarely tell the full story of what’s to come.

If you're curious, here are a few places to explore a ton of visuals covering Trump's first 100 days:

• Washington Post

• Morningstar

• MarketWatch

• NBC News

Meta’s growth isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.

The company delivered another strong quarter, sending shares up over 7% this week.

Here’s a quick look at the numbers:

• EPS: $6.43 vs. $5.28 Est.

• Revenue: $42.31B (+16% YoY) vs. $41.40B Est.

• Q2 Revenue Guidance: $44B (midpoint) vs. $44.03B Est.

• Daily Active Users: 3.43B vs. 3.39B Est.

Meta now expects to spend slightly less in 2025, lowering its total expense forecast to $115.5B at the midpoint.

• CapEx, however, is projected to rise to $68B as the company ramps up investment in data centers to support its AI ambitions.

One standout stat?

• The company reported 3.43B daily active users, up 6% YoY.

• This is a remarkable figure considering roughly 42% of the world uses one of Meta’s family of apps.

Additionally, the company also revealed Meta AI now has 1B monthly users and plans to launch a standalone app to compete with ChatGPT.

Apple is always is under the spotlight.

This week, investors were focused on how the company is navigating rising tariff concerns, and how that might impact future results.

The company beat expectations across most major lines in their Q2 earnings:

• EPS: $1.65 vs. $1.63 Est.

• Revenue: $95.4B vs. $94.66B Est.

• iPhone Revenue: $46.84B vs. $45.84B Est.

• Services: $26.65B vs. $26.70B est.

But even with the beat, the focus quickly shifted to what’s ahead.

Apple warned tariffs could add $900M in costs this quarter if current policies remain in place.

• Additionally, CEO Tim Cook said it’s difficult to provide clear guidance beyond June given the ongoing trade uncertainty.

• However, he told CNBC that half of the iPhones sold in the U.S. are now sourced from India, signaling supply chain diversification.

In the interim, shareholders continue to get rewarded, with Apple announcing a $100B buyback and a 4% dividend increase.

And Apple’s Services business continues to grow at a double digit run rate, now crossing over $100B in revenue over the past year.

It feels like the GameStop saga was just yesterday.

But four years later, Robinhood looks like a very different company.

• The firm is now profitable, generating $1.6B in net income over the past 12 months.

Q1 2025 results reinforced its evolution into a full-fledged growth story.

• Revenue jumped 50% to $927M, net deposits hit a record $18B, and net income soared 114%.

The company continues to roll out new products, and customers are responding.

• Robinhood Gold subscribers climbed 90% YoY, reaching 3.2M.

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This week, Spotify guided to 689M monthly active users for Q2, slightly below estimates.

But here’s what might surprise you: its free cash flow has grown 10x in under 3 years.

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📚 Recommended Reading

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Trusted by over 750K followers across social media, my friend Evan is a trusted news source and makes staying informed effortless.

The best part? It’s completely free. Sign up now👇

Notable Companies Reporting Earnings Week of May 4th, 2025:

I use EarningsHub to track earnings, estimates, and receive AI summaries of investor calls.

If you’d like an all-in-one earnings tool and see all other companies reporting, I definitely recommend you sign up for free!

Buys

• Dave McCormick (R)

  • Company: Bitwise Bitcoin ETF ($BITB)

    • Amount Purchased: $75K - $250K

Sells

• Dave McCormick (R)

  • Company: Oracle ($ORCL)

    • Amount Sold: $250K - $500K

    • Description: Rate/Coupon: 1.65%, Matures: 03/25/2026

• Rob Bresnahan (R)

  • Company: AMD ($AMD)

    • Amount Sold: $15K - $50K

  • Company: Texas Instruments ($TXN)

    • Amount Sold: $15K - $50K

Buys

• Trimas Corporation ($TRS)

  • Insider: Shawn Sedaghat (Director)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 123,388

    • $ Amount: $2,940,213

    • SEC Forms: [1]

• Sonoco Products ($SON)

  • Insider: Howard Coker (President & CEO)

    • # of Shares Purchased: 20,000

    • $ Amount: $823,472

    • SEC Forms: [1]

Sells

• Netflix ($NFLX)

  • Insider: Jay Hoag (Director)

    • # of Shares Sold: 63,500

    • $ Amount: $70,343,708

    • SEC Forms: [1], [2]

• Tesla ($TSLA)

  • Insider: Robyn Denholm (Director)

    • # of Shares Sold: 112,390

    • $ Amount: $32,096,717

    • SEC Forms: [1]

• BlackRock ($BLK)

  • Insider: Larry Fink (Chairman and CEO)

    • # of Shares Sold: 16,485

    • $ Amount: $15,119,634

    • SEC Forms: [1]

🤝 Review of the Week