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Trump Denies Reports That He’s Planning Strikes on Venezuela Oct 31, 2025

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Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.
President Donald Trump denied that he is considering strikes on Venezuela, contradicting a media report that he’d given approval for such a move as well as his own past statements that he was preparing land attacks after a series of boat strikes.
Trump replied “no” when asked by reporters Friday aboard Air Force One if it was true he is weighing whether to attack military sites in Venezuela. He said “no” again when asked if he had decided on the matter.
The comments appeared to contradict a report in the Miami Herald earlier Friday that the Trump administration has opted to attack military installations inside Venezuela, and the strikes could come at any moment. The Wall Street Journal had also reported on Thursday that the administration had identified potential targets but hadn’t made a decision on whether to carry them out.Asked earlier about the reports, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said “unnamed sources don’t know what they’re talking about” and any announcement would come from Trump.
Asked earlier about the reports, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said “unnamed sources don’t know what they’re talking about” and any announcement would come from Trump.
The reports, and Trump’s comments, further clouded the picture around the US president’s intentions for Venezuela and his push to fight narco-traffickers in the Caribbean. Last week, Trump said “the land is going to be next” after a series of attacks since mid-September on alleged drug-running boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific. The US government has provided little documentation to support its accusations the vessels were carrying drugs, other than descriptions and video clips showing footage of the bombardments.
Today's show features:

Ellen Wald, President of Transversal Consulting and Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, on what the US-Venezuela conflict means for energy markets and earnings from Exxon and Chevron
Laura Martin, Senior Entertainment & Internet Analyst, Needham & Co., recaps mega-cap tech earnings from Apple, Meta, Alphabet and Amazon
Tom Forte, Managing Director and Senior Consumer Internet Analyst at the Maxim Group, on Amazon’s strong earnings and why he’s raising his price target for the stock
Dan Sheridan, CEO of Brooks Running, on the company's ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth and global demand for performance running footwear

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New York Road Runners CEO on the TCS New York City Marathon Oct 31, 2025

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New York Road Runners is a nonprofit that aims to build healthier lives and stronger communities through the power of running. The organization has served communities across New York City for nearly 70 years through inclusive and accessible running experiences. It serves runners of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds year-round with 60 adult and youth races, and programs and events, including the TCS New York City Marathon.

Rob Simmelkjaer, the NYRR CEO, discusses the rich history of the upcoming race and the enormous economic impact it has on the Big Apple. Rob speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.

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Apple Tops Sales Estimates Despite China Dip, Amazon Reports Cloud Unit Growth Oct 30, 2025

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Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.
Apple Inc.’s fourth-quarter revenue edged past analysts’ estimates despite a surprise sales decline in China, where it’s been struggling to stage a comeback.

Total sales rose 7.9% to $102.5 billion in the period, which ended Sept. 27, the company said in a statement Thursday. That slightly beat the $102.2 billion average estimate. The company benefited from stronger-than-expected services growth, helping offset the China slowdown. The Mac and wearables division also performed better than anticipated.
Revenue from greater China fell 3.6% to $14.5 billion, well short of the $16.4 billion that analysts projected. The results renewed concerns that Apple is losing ground in a former growth market.
The company faces mounting competition from local smartphone providers in China and has struggled to offer artificial intelligence features in the country.
Meanwhile Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud unit posted the strongest growth rate in almost three years, reassuring investors who were concerned that the largest seller of rented computing power was losing ground to rivals.
Amazon Web Services posted revenue of $33 billion, an increase of 20% from the prior year and the biggest year-over-year rise since the end of 2022. Analysts, on average, estimated 18% growth.
Investor expectations for the cloud business were relatively low heading into Thursday’s report after the company in recent quarters cited constraints in getting new data centers online. Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy and other executives had said they were optimistic about the business, though they stopped short of forecasting a reacceleration of growth.
Today's show features:

Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Analyst for E-Commerce and Athleisure Poonam Goyal, Bloomberg Tech Co-Host Ed Ludlow and Eric Clark, Chief Investment Officer at Accuvest Global Advisors, examine quarterly earnings from Amazon
Jay Goldberg, Senior Analyst, Semiconductors & Electronics with Seaport Research Partners, Bloomberg News Managing Editor for Global Consumer Tech Mark Gurman, and Bloomberg Tech Co-Host Ed Ludlow react to Apple earnings

Bloomberg News Health Reporter Jessica Nix on the fight between Novo Nordisk and Pfizer over the acquisition of Metsera
Caroline Freund, Dean of the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, on the latest meeting between US President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping

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Instant Reaction: Apple Shares Gain as Sales Top Estimates Oct 30, 2025

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Apple's fourth-quarter revenue edged past analysts’ estimates despite a surprise sales decline in China, where it’s been struggling to stage a comeback. Total sales rose 7.9% to $102.5 billion in the period, which ended Sept. 27, the company said in a statement Thursday. That slightly beat the $102.2 billion average estimate. The company benefited from stronger-than-expected services growth, helping offset the China slowdown. The Mac and wearables division also performed better than anticipated. Apple shares gained more than 3% in late trading after the results were released. They had been up 8.4% this year through the close.
For more, Bloomberg Businessweek Daily spoke with Jay Goldberg, Senior Analyst, Semiconductors & Electronics with Seaport Research Partners and Mark Gurman, Bloomberg News Managing Editor for Global Consumer Tech.

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Instant Reaction: Amazon Jumps After Sales, Profit Tops Estimates Oct 30, 2025

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Amazon's cloud unit posted the strongest growth rate in almost three years, reassuring investors concerned that the largest seller of rented computing power was losing ground to rivals. Amazon Web Services posted revenue of $33 billion, an increase of 20% from the prior year and the biggest year-over-year rise since the end of 2022. Analysts, on average, estimated 18% growth. The shares jumped about 10% in extended trading after closing at $222.86 on Thursday. The stock has lagged behind that of its industry peers this year, with investors worrying that the company has yet to benefit enough from its AI products. Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have both generated faster growth in their cloud computing businesses than AWS.

For reaction, Bloomberg Businessweek Daily spoke with Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Analyst for E-Commerce and Athleisure Poonam Goyal, Ed Ludlow, host of Bloomberg Tech Ed Ludlow, and Eric Clark, Chief Investment Officer at Accuvest Global Advisors.

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True Religion's Denim Disruption Strategy Oct 30, 2025

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Founded in 2002, True Religion emerged onto the Los Angeles denim scene by disrupting the construction of the classic five-pocket jean. With its five-needle thread at two-stitch-per-inch process, the True Religion Super T stitch was instantly recognized for style that was unlike any other denim brand in the world. Today, True Religion is worn by athletes, musicians, artists, and loyal customers alike with the company putting its focus on producing high quality premium denim, sportwear and other apparel for men, women and kids.
Michael Buckley, the CEO of True Religion, discusses the apparel brand's growth strategy and pursuit of becoming a billion-dollar business in the coming years. Michael speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.

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Meta, Microsoft and Alphabet All Report Earnings Oct 29, 2025

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Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.
Meta Platforms Inc. said it expects total expenses to significantly increase in 2026, and the company will continue to spend at historic levels on data centers and other equipment to fuel its effort in artificial intelligence. The shares dropped in extended trading.
The company also reported third-quarter net income of $2.71 billion, which included a one-time, non-cash income tax charge of $15.9 billion due to the implementation of the tax bill signed into law in July, Meta said in the statement. Without the accounting charge, Meta said net income would have increased 19% to $18.6 billion.
Meta reported third-quarter sales of $51.2 billion, which beat analysts’ average estimate of $49.6 billion. The company has used profits from the advertising business to fuel its AI ambitions. While Meta has argued that its AI investments are paying off now by helping the company better target ads and content, a slowdown in ad sales could damp investor enthusiasm for Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg’s long-term vision for AI.
Meanwhile Microsoft Corp. reported a steeper climb in spending than Wall Street expected, fueling anxieties about the high costs of providing AI infrastructure.
First-quarter capital expenditures including leases, an indication of data center spending, came in at $34.9 billion, up from $24 billion in the preceding quarter, the company said Wednesday.
Alphabet Inc. reported quarterly sales that beat analysts’ estimates, buoyed by the performance of its cloud unit, which is surging as artificial intelligence startups seek Google’s support and computing power.
Third-quarter sales, excluding partner payouts, rose to $87.5 billion, Alphabet said in a statement Wednesday. That topped the $85.1 billion expected on average by analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Net income was $2.87 per share, compared with Wall Street’s estimate of $2.26.The company is investing record amounts to try to push progress in AI, and infuse answers and assistance from its large language model, Gemini, into its popular products including search. The company said capital expenditures for the year will be $91 billion to $93 billion, up from the $85 billion earlier estimate.
Today's show features:

Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Technology Analyst Anurag Rana on Microsoft earnings and Alphabet’s AI ambitions
Ivan Feinseth, Research Director and Chief Investment Officer with Tigress Financial Partners, with reaction to Wednesday's big tech earnings
Brooke May, Managing Partner at Evans May Wealth, breaks down Microsoft and Alphabet earnings
Bloomberg News Senior Technology Reporter Kurt Wagner, on Meta’s latest earnings

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Instant Reaction: Microsoft, Meta Shares Slip After Earnings Oct 29, 2025

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Microsoft Corp. reported a steeper climb in spending than Wall Street expected, fueling anxieties about the high costs of providing AI infrastructure. First-quarter capital expenditures including leases, an indication of data center spending, came in at $34.9 billion, up from $24 billion in the preceding quarter, the company said Wednesday. Microsoft continues “to increase our investments in AI across both capital and talent to meet the massive opportunity ahead,” Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said in a statement. Total revenue increased 18% to $77.7 billion in the fiscal first quarter, while profit was $3.72 a share. Analysts on average estimated sales of $75.6 billion and per-share earnings of $3.68. The Azure cloud-computing unit posted a 39% revenue gain in the quarter when adjusting for currency fluctuations, beating the Wall Street estimate of 37%. Investor expectations for Microsoft were high heading into earnings, with all but one analyst tracked by Bloomberg rating the stock a buy.

Meta Platforms said it expects total expenses to significantly increase in 2026, and will continue to invest at historic levels in artificial intelligence. The company also reported third-quarter net income of $2.71 billion, which included a one-time, non-cash income tax charge of $15.9 billion due to the implementation of the tax bill signed into law in July, Meta said in the statement. Without the accounting charge, Meta said net income would have increased 19% to $18.6 billion.
Looking beyond the third-quarter, the company said it expects a “significant reduction” in US federal cash tax payments for 2025 and years to come due to the new law. Meta reported third-quarter sales of $51.2 billion, which beat analysts’ average estimate of $49.6 billion.
For analysis of the tech earnings, Bloomberg Businessweek Daily spoke with Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Technology Analyst Anurag Rana and Ivan Feinseth, Research Director and Chief Investment Officer with Tigress Financial Partners.

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Wayfair Surges on 3Q Beat, 4Q Guidance, AI Success Oct 29, 2025

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Wayfair shares rose to their highest level since April 2022, after the e-commerce home furnishing retailer reported third quarter results that easily topped expectations. On the earnings call, management gave guidance for the current quarter that also topped consensus estimates, and spent much of the call discussing its efforts to leverage artificial intelligence technology.
Kate Gulliver, Wayfair's CFO and CAO, discusses her company's long-term prospects for increasing its share of the $500 billion home-goods market with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.

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OpenAI Gives Microsoft 27% Stake, Completes For-Profit Shift Oct 28, 2025

Show notes

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.
OpenAI is giving its long-time backer Microsoft Corp. a 27% ownership stake as part of a restructuring plan that took nearly a year to negotiate, removing a major uncertainty for both companies and clearing the path for the ChatGPT maker to become a for-profit business.
Under the revised pact, Microsoft will get a stake in OpenAI worth about $135 billion, the companies said in a statement Tuesday. In addition, Microsoft will have access to the artificial intelligence startup’s technology until 2032, including models that achieved the benchmark of artificial general intelligence (AGI), a more powerful form of AI that most say does not exist yet.
Microsoft will also continue to be entitled to receive 20% of OpenAI’s revenue, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is not public. But as part of the new pact, OpenAI can pay more later. In a blog post, the companies said a revenue share agreement remains in effect until an expert panel verifies AGI.
With the agreement, OpenAI said its corporate restructure is now complete. The company had spent much of this year working to form a more traditional for-profit company, which is considered more attractive to investors. Microsoft, which backed OpenAI with some $13.75 billion, was the biggest holdout among the ChatGPT maker’s investors, Bloomberg News has reported.
Today's show features:

Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Technology Analyst Anurag and on Microsoft taking a 27% stake in OpenAI
Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO and Chief Strategist at QI Research, on this week’s FOMC meeting and interest rate decision
Bloomberg News Climate Reporter Eric Roston on impact of Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean and beyond, as well as his recent Big Take on the growing “disaster economy”
James Walker, Chief Executive Officer of NANO Nuclear Energy, on the launch of the firm’s KRONOS MMR drilling program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (with Bloomberg News Energy Reporter Will Wade)

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