News & Insight • Weekly Newsletters

24 October 2025 | William Buckhurst

That Was The Week That Was

MACRO NEWS

President Donald Trump said he was ending trade negotiations with Canada because of an advertisement featuring President Ronald Reagan “speaking negatively” about U.S. tariffs. The Ontario advert, which he deemed “FAKE,” quotes Reagan’s presidential radio address from April 1987, saying “trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer.”

US CPI rose to 3% in September from 2.9% in August. This reading came in below the market expectation of 3.1% and led to expectations of a rate cut at the next Fed meeting.

UK inflation data released was lower than expected. September CPI was 0.0% month on month vs 0.1% expected with annual CPI of 3.8% unchanged on the prior month. The ONS stated that upward pressure from auto fuel prices was offset by live music prices sliding away – blame Oasis this Summer. The market is pricing in 0.18% of cuts by the Bank of England for the rest of this year and 58bps by July. Retail sales were also better than expected but not on cigarettes & alcohol but iPhones and Gold.

Data from Rightmove indicated that asking prices for UK homes rose 0.3% in October to £371,422 in one of the smallest monthly increases in a month where demand usually rebounds.

Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party agreed a coalition deal with the Japan Innovation Party, setting up Sanae Takaichi to become the country’s next Prime Minister. She’s been hailed as pro-stimulus, like her predecessor Shinzo Abe.

COMPANY NEWS

Apple reached all-time highs as there were reports that the iPhone 17 was outselling the iPhone 16 range by 14% over their respective first 10 days on sale in the US and China. The Pro Max was also seeing strong demand.

B&M announced another profit warning with the new guidance now 10% lower from just a few weeks ago.

Shares in Tesla finished 3.78% lower after reporting that revenue rose 12% but earnings missed expectations. As expected, US customers took advantage of a closing tax credit. The company also delayed several new releases.

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s reaction to their results was more muted that Danaher but looked better as they beat expectations with guidance also ahead.

Hermes, the most expensively rated luxury listed brand, drifted lower after reporting results that were still very good in this tough market (sales growth of 9.6% vs 9.3% expected) but overall were below its lofty expectations.

US railroad company, Union Pacific, tracked lower even though both its earnings and sales were in line with consensus estimates. Management was happy with the earnings growth and paused share buybacks due to the planned merger with Norfolk Southern.

Deckers, the footwear company which owns the brands such as Hoka and Ugg beat earnings expectations due to strong margins, but guidance was poor. Adidas shares performed slightly better but were still off by 2.9% as sales and earnings missed slightly but improved their guidance due to brand momentum and tariff mitigation.

Lock experts, Assa Abloy, which owns the Yale brand, rose 5.6% as profit was better than expected. Management commented that margins were supported by savings, tariff mitigation activities and higher growth in margin accretive parts of the business.

17%. Netflix shares dropped 6.5% even after increasing their revenue 17%, but there was a profit miss due to a $600m provision for a Brazilian tax liability. Management guided to another 17% rise in revenue.

U-TURN IN AUTOS

We have mentioned the demise of Western car brands due to competition from China. However, this week some brands performed much better.

General Motors revved up 14.9% after reporting third quarter results with both earnings and sales better than expected. Free cash flow was double its target and guidance was also uplifted. They were also reviewing their EV output.

Volvo Cars finished 38.1% higher after reporting third quarter results that were above expectations, particularly in the US and the overall margin, but the movement in the shares was exaggerated due to hedge funds shorting the stock (26% of the company). Management commented that the market was still challenging and performance was under pressure due to a shrinking premium market.

BECAUSE IT’S WORTH IT

Kering announced that it had agreed to sell its beauty division to L’Oreal in a deal worth €4bn with the transaction including the sale of perfume manufacturer Creed, which Kering acquired two years ago for €3.5bn. They will work together to create, develop and distribute fragrance and beauty products for Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga.

Kering also reported third quarter results that were better than expected with revenue declining 5% rather than the 8.7% fall expected with overall revenue above consensus.

L’Oreal results were not as good, sending the shares down 5.1% as sales growth and sales in the Consumer Products, Luxe and Dermatological divisions all below expectations. Management suggested luxury should be better in 2026.

THE WEEK AHEAD

• European Inflation Figures
• US Personal Consumption Expenditure

A very busy earnings season is now in full swing:

• Tuesday – Paypal, Visa, United Health, UPS
• Wednesday – Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Verizon, Starbucks, Mercado Libre, KLA Corporation
• Thursday – Amazon, Apple, Mastercard, Merck
• Friday – Chevon, Exxon

THE WEEK IN HISTORY

1929: On "Black Thursday," the Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 12.8%, marking the start of the stock market crash of 1929.

1981: US national debt hits $1 trillion (now it stands at approximately $38 trillion).