Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Soar as US, China Agree to 90-Day Pause on Massive Tariffs;

May 12, 2025

Big Tech Has Powered Q1 Earnings to Strong Growth59 minutes ago First-quarter earnings have continued to come in strong, though Big Tech is very much in the driver’s seat.
Some 90% of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported their latest results through Friday, according to FactSet, with the numbers pointing toward overall year-over-year growth of above 13%. If that holds, it would mark a second-straight quarter of double-digit growth, FactSet said. Companies are beating estimates at a rate just above the five-year average, but to a slightly smaller degree.
Nvidia’s (NVDA) numbers aren’t in yet—they’re due later this month—but first-quarter earnings from mega-cap tech stocks are so far up 28% year-over-year, compared with 9% for the rest of the S&P 500, Goldman Sachs analysts wrote Friday.
That Nvidia report will still be closely watched as investors look for more clues regarding the outlook for AI growth and Big Tech broadly. This week, however, investors may largely be looking instead at trade and inflation—U.S.-China trade tensions show signs of easing after a pullback in reciprocal tariffs was announced, and April’s CPI report is due tomorrow.
“This pause gives U.S. companies more time to adapt and to plan for contingencies should the trade talks go sideways again,” wrote Harris Financial Group Managing Partner Jamie Cox earlier today.
Walmart (WMT), Applied Materials (AMAT) and Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) are among the companies of note set to report this week. A more detailed roundup of the week’s key events is here.
–David Marino-Nachison

Apple Reportedly Mulling iPhone Price Hike2 hr 1 min ago Apple (AAPL) is reportedly considering raising prices on its next generation of iPhones expected to be released this fall—but without pinning higher costs on tariffs.
The company wants to avoid the perception that higher prices for its iPhone 16 successor are attributed to a trade war with China, where many Apple devices are produced, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The report comes as the U.S. and China agreed to dramatically roll back tariffs on each other’s imports for 90 days. The U.S. levy on Chinese imports will be reduced to 30% from 145% by Wednesday, while Beijing’s tariffs on U.S. goods will drop to 10% from 125%, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Most Apple products are exempt from President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs on Chinese goods. However, iPhones and other devices are still affected by the 20% import tax the White House put in place earlier in the year to combat fentanyl trafficking. Shares of Apple popped more than 5% in recent trading Monday amid the broader market gains.
Earlier this month, CEO Tim Cook warned that tariffs would cost Apple about $900 million in the current quarter that runs through June. To mitigate the effects, Cook said a majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. this quarter will come from India instead of China, with iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and other products coming mostly from Vietnam.
However, the higher-end (and more profitable) Pro and Pro Max iPhone models will continue to primarily ship from China, WSJ reported. Apple’s factories in India are not yet capable of mass producing those models at the same scale as their Chinese counterparts can, the report said.
–Andrew Kessel

Next Technology Jumps After Announcing Bitcoin Holdings3 hr 12 min ago Shares of Next Technology Holding (NXTT) took off for a second straight session Monday after the software services provider and bitcoin buyer reported its holdings of the cryptocurrency jumped.
Next Technology reported in a regulatory filing last week that it held 5,833 bitcoin, 5,000 of which it bought since the end of last year. It said the value of its bitcoin portfolio as of March 31 was $481.7 million, while it paid $183.1 million to purchase them.
The company noted that it sees its bitcoin investment “as long-term holdings” and expects to continue acquiring them. It added that it hasn’t “set any specific target” for the number of bitcoin it seeks to hold, and will “continue to monitor market conditions in determining whether to engage in additional financings” to make more purchases.
Next Technology explained that bitcoin “offers the opportunity for appreciation in value if its adoption increases and has the potential to serve as a hedge against inflation in the long-term.”

TradingView

The news sent Next Technology shares soaring 661% on Friday, and the stock was up another 50% in early trading. They’ve also gotten a boost by the recent run-up of the price of bitcoin, which is trading above $104,000. Today’s move lifted the stock from negative to positive territory for 2025.

Another firm seeing its shares fly higher because of bitcoin-related news is healthcare provider Kindly MD (KDLY), whose stock is soaring nearly 500% Monday morning after it announced a merger with bitcoin-native holding company Nakamoto Holdings in order to start a bitcoin treasury strategy. Nakamoto was founded by David Bailey, a key cryptocurrency advisor to President Donald Trump.

–Bill McColl