Consumer Tech News (July 21–July 25): Big Tech Earnings, Pony AI Robotaxi, Tesla Discounts And More

Wall Street ended the week on a high, with tech-driven indices hitting fresh records as strong corporate earnings, robust economic data, and breakthrough trade deals lifted investor sentiment.

The U.S. finalized new trade agreements with Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan—Tokyo’s pact being the most notable, cutting tariffs on Japanese autos and goods from 25% to 15%.

In return, Japan committed $550 billion in investments and expanded access to U.S.-made products.

A U.S.-EU trade deal is reportedly nearing completion and could mirror the Japan agreement, with tariff relief expected before the August 1 deadline.

Also : Bitcoin Could Go To $300,000 Before ‘Great Depression’ Crisis, Traders Argue – Benzinga

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order to bolster America’s artificial intelligence leadership by facilitating the export of full-stack AI systems to trusted allies.

The White House said the move aims to advance both economic competitiveness and national security.

Earnings:

Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL  reported second-quarter revenue of $96.43 billion, beating analyst estimates of $93.72 billion.

The Google parent reported second-quarter earnings of $2.31 per share, beating estimates of $2.16 per share.

Tesla, Inc. TSLA reported second-quarter revenue of $22.5 billion, down 12% year-over-year. The revenue missed a Street consensus estimate of $22.8 billion.

International Business Machines Corporation IBM reported quarterly earnings of $2.80 per share, which beat the Street consensus estimate of $2.64. Quarterly revenue came in at $16.977 billion, which beat the consensus estimate of $16.576 billion.

General Motors Company GM:  registered second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $2.53, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $2.40. Quarterly sales of $47.12 billion outpaced the Street view of $45.57 billion.

Intel Corporation INTC reported second-quarter revenue of $12.86 billion, beating analyst estimates of $11.91 billion. The chipmaker reported a second-quarter adjusted loss of 10 cents per share, missing analyst estimates for earnings of one cent per share.

SAP SE SAP reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $1.70, which beat the consensus estimate of $1.47. Quarterly revenue of $10.23 billion beat the $9.11 billion Street estimate.

Lockheed Martin Corporation LMT reported second quarter net sales of $18.16 billion, marginally missing the Street estimate of $18.63 billion, while adjusted earnings per share of $7.29 topped the consensus forecast of $6.63.

T-Mobile US, Inc. TMUS reported second-quarter earnings of $2.84 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $2.68. Quarterly revenue came in at $21.13 billion, which beat the Street estimate of $20.98 billion and is up from revenue of $19.77 billion from the same period last year.

Technology:

Microsoft Corporation MSFT is investigating whether a leak from its early alert system for cybersecurity companies allowed Chinese hackers to exploit flaws in its SharePoint service before they were patched.

Apple Inc. AAPL is facing mounting pressure from investors as concerns intensify over its lagging generative AI (GenAI) strategy, a key driver of growth across the tech sector.

NVIDIA Corporation NVDA advanced AI processors worth over $1 billion were reportedly smuggled to China after the U.S. government’s efforts to restrict chip exports.

Alibaba Group Holding BABA launched an upgraded version of its third-generation Qwen3 family of large language models (LLMs), enhancing its AI capabilities in math and coding to outperform top models from OpenAI and DeepSeek in key benchmarks.

Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon.com, Inc AMZN, has offloaded $1.5 billion worth of company stock just days ahead of the e-commerce giant’s upcoming Q2 earnings report.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has concluded its 14-month investigation into Alphabet’s self-driving company, Waymo. The investigation was initiated due to a series of minor collisions and unexpected vehicle behavior.

Broadcom Inc. AVGO is facing legal scrutiny over its $61 billion acquisition of VMware, as European Union judges assess a challenge to the deal’s approval filed by a cloud computing group.

Artificial Intelligence

A new plan to make the U.S. the powerhouse in the artificial intelligence sector and win the global AI race could make several tech giants stand out, according to tech analyst Dan Ives.

Here are Ives’ picks and why he thinks the push into AI is so important now.

Amid growing concerns about the financial burden of developing new AI models, Bret Taylor, chairman of OpenAI, has issued a cautionary note to AI entrepreneurs.

Taylor, who has a background with tech giants like Google and Facebook, highlighted the substantial costs involved in training new AI models.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang has proposed the establishment of a global organization to promote international cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence (AI).

Premier Li made this proposal during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Reuters reported on Friday.

Automobiles:

Pony AI Inc. PONY launched 24/7 Robotaxi operations on Friday in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, significantly expanding its service hours in two of China’s most dynamic economic hubs.

This shift marks a key milestone in the company’s Chinese expansion, increasing availability from 15 hours daily to full round-the-clock access. Pony.ai also extended its Robotaxi testing in Beijing to 24 hours a day.

Tesla is offering a range of incentives and discounts on all the vehicles in its lineup as sales continue to plummet.

The offers were shared by influencer Sawyer Merritt on X on Thursday, detailing the incentives the company offers on all its models.

Tesla said that it has received multiple shareholder proposals concerning the company’s potential investment in Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI.

In a statement shared on X, Tesla acknowledged growing shareholder interest in the proposed investment in Grok’s parent company.

Lucid Group, Inc. LCID Interim CEO, Marc Winterhoff, hailed Chinese electric vehicles and Robotaxis, saying he was “impressed by how much they came of age,” amid Uber Technologies, Inc. UBER.

AutoNation, Inc. AN is benefiting from a broader trend of robust consumer spending in the automotive sector, propelling its stock upward. The company reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $5.46 on Friday, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $4.60.

Quarterly sales of $6.974 billion outpaced the Street view of $6.769 billion.

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