Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Pre-Markets Shine on Japanese Auto Trade Deal

Read MoreHide Full Article

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Pre-market futures are up today, led by foreign auto companies — particularly those in Japan. A new trade agreement was announced that lowers tariffs on Japanese imported autos to +15% from the +27.5% recently slapped on by President Trump. Sweetening the deal is a reported $550 BILLION in investments and loans.

Thus, we see this morning Toyota Motors (TM - Free Report) up +14% in early trading, with Honda Motor Co. (HMC - Free Report) +11%. Toyota had been saddled with a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) and Honda with a #4 (Sell), with double-digit earnings losses expected in quarterly reports early next month. EU automakers are hopeful for a similar deal, as we see companies like Stellantis (STLA - Free Report) up +6% ahead of today’s open.

Thus, major indexes are up fairly robustly. The Dow is +240 points at this hour, +0.54%, while the S&P 500 — riding successive all-time closing highs — is +24 points, +0.38%. The Nasdaq is creeping higher, +24 points or +0.10%, while the small-cap Russell 2000 is leading the pack again: +19 points, +0.87%. Bond yields continue to quiet: +4.37% on the 10-year and +3.85% on the 2-year.

Q2 Earnings This Morning at a Glance: T, NEE


The big Q2 reports happen today after the market closes, but AT&T (T - Free Report) posted modest beats on both top and bottom lines this morning in the telecom major’s Q2 report. Earnings of 54 cents per share outperformed the Zacks consensus by 3 cents, with revenues of $30.85 billion up +1% from estimates, largely on improved subscriber sales in the quarter. Yet shares are down -2.5% in early trading, after gaining +20% year to date. For more on T’s earnings, click here. https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/2606931/att-t-surpasses-q2-earnings-and-revenue-estimates

NextEra Energy (NEE - Free Report) also outpaced expectations by 3 cents on its bottom line, with earnings of $1.05 per share, even as revenues of $6.7 billion missed the Zacks consensus by -7.28%. However, steady guidance and a solid dividend yield are helping the stop stay afloat +0.4% in pre-market action. NEE is +8% year to date. For more on NEE’s earnings, click here.

What to Expect from the Stock Market Today


After the opening bell, Existing Home Sales for June is due for release. Analysts expect a range-bound number where we’ve been the past few months, around 4 million seasonally adjusted, annualized units. Last time around, the Northeast, Midwest and South all saw sales growth from existing homes; only the West was negative. The median existing home sale price a month ago was $422,800.

Also, major Q2 earnings reports are out after the close, headlined by Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) and Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) — two of the so-called “Magnificent 7” stocks. Yet digging into these charts, we can see this is very much a tale of two disparate realities. While Alphabet expects higher than +13% earnings growth and better than +11% revenue gains, Tesla is expected to be down -25% on its bottom line and -12% on the top. GOOGL is riding a streak of 9-straight quarters beating earnings, while Tesla has missed in 6 of its last 8.

We also expect to hear from IBM (IBM - Free Report) , Southwest Airlines (LUV - Free Report) , ServiceNow (NOW - Free Report) and Las Vegas Sands (LVS - Free Report) . We’re now in the heart of Q2 earnings season, as we’re hearing from multiple companies in multiple sectors on the same day (as opposed to big banks at the start of the cycle and retailers at the end).

Questions or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>>

Published in