Category: 3. Business

By Steve Goldstein

Shares of health device maker Philips rallied as much as 14% on Tuesday as the company lifted its earnings guidance despite a hefty hit from tariffs.

Philips (NL:PHIA) (PHG) said it was increasing its adjusted earnings margin range by a half-point, to a range of 11.3% to 11.8%, despite a cost of some EUR150 million to EUR200 million from tariffs. It previously had seen EUR250 million to EUR300 million drag from tariffs, but now says “substantial mitigation” has helped limit the losses.

Philips still says comparable sales will grow between 1% to 3%, after 1% growth in the second quarter. Comparable order intake improved by 6%.

Stellantis (IT:STLAM) (STLA), which last week gave a profit warning on its second-quarter numbers, restored financial guidance as it flagged a tariff impact of EUR1.5 billion for the year.

The maker of Jeep and Ram trucks and Peugeot cars said it expects 2025 revenue to rise, a low single-digit margin after 0.7% in the first half, and improved free cash flow.

Barclays (UK:BARC) (BCS) meanwhile reported stronger-than-forecast profits in the second quarter, helped by lower impairments and better income than forecast.

Barclays said it expects a modest slowdown to global growth from rising U.S. tariffs and retaliatory measures, though it said domestic demand in advanced economies is resilient.

Barclays expects the U.S. unemployment rate to peak at 4.6%, from 4.4% now, and the U.K. jobless rate to peak at its current level of 4.7%.

-Steve Goldstein

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  07-29-25 0736ET
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The Vodafone chief executive has been asked how she sleeps at night by one of the 62 former store owners involved in a £120m legal action that claims the mobile operator “unjustly enriched” itself at their expense.

Donna Watton, one of the group of 62 franchisees that have taken their claim to the high court, challenged Margherita Della Valle at Vodafone’s annual general meeting on Tuesday.

“I have a question for the chief executive,” said Watton, speaking at the sparsely attended meeting at Vodafone’s headquarters in Newbury. “I am a Vodafone ex-franchisee, and I am one of the group of 62 suing this company for £120m for what it did to us, and I want to know: Margherita, how do you sleep at night knowing Vodafone’s actions left people suicidal, cost them their homes, and left them drowning in debt?”

The legal case was launched in December, claiming Vodafone slashed commissions paid to franchisees operating the mobile phone company’s retail outlets.

Many have claimed the company’s actions made them fear they would lose their livelihoods, homes or life savings after running up personal debts of more than £100,000.

Jean-François van Boxmeer, the chair of Vodafone leading the meeting proceedings, stepped in to field the question on behalf of Della Valle.

He said that it was right he field the question as “the master of ceremonies here and also protecting the sleep of Margherita”.

“I understand your question and I am not saying I do not feel the pain that you might [be going] through,” he said. “You are referring to a case which is a commercial case between Vodafone UK and a group of franchisees in the UK. That case has been through a mediation that has been unfortunately unsuccessful. It is now a matter in the hands of court. You will allow us not to comment on procedures that are in court. I will not in this general assembly make further comments on what is now in the hands of courts.”

He said that Vodafone remains open to further mediation, a process that ended without resolution in May.

Vodafone, which says the legal claim is worth £85.5m, has consistently said that it refutes the claims made by the franchisees in their legal action.

One shareholder, who said they had travelled a great distance to attend the Newbury meeting, challenged why Della Valle was too “shy” to address attendees.

“I don’t come for the sandwiches, I come to engage with the board and management,” he said. “I’ve gone to a lot of AGMs this year. [At] the other AGMs the chief executives were not so shy that we weren’t addressed. I’ve come a long way, I’ve probably used a lot of petrol to come here. Surely as one of the seven shareholders that have turned out I deserve some sort of address from the chief executive. Is there nothing good to report, is there nothing bad to report?”

Van Boxmeer responded that Della Valle would only offer replies to “very concrete questions relating to how the business is going”.

Lenovo has climbed 52 spots to #196 on Fortune’s annual Global 500 List and is ranked #13 among the companies featured in the Technology sector. This achievement marks Lenovo’s 16th year on the Global 500, highlighting it as one of the world’s 500 largest companies by revenue, with its highest ranking in the Technology sector to date. The rise in ranking reflects Lenovo’s strong FY2024/25 annual revenue, the second highest in its history, which saw revenue up 21% year-on-year to US$69.1 billion and net income up 36% to US$1.4 billion on a non-Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards basis.

Lenovo’s outstanding performance was not only driven by its focus on executing a clear diversified growth strategy, but also its end-to-end integrated global operations, ODM+ manufacturing model, and global resources/local delivery model. Over the past 20 years of operating a global business, Lenovo has established a manufacturing footprint that boasts 30+ manufacturing sites (either in-house or outsourced) in 11 different markets around the world. The combination of these gives Lenovo maximum flexibility and resilience to navigate through uncertainties and be more adaptive to the macro market conditions.

Additionally, Lenovo continues to prioritize investment in innovation, with R&D expenses up 13% year-on-year for the past fiscal year. This commitment drove key milestones in its hybrid AI strategy, reinforcing its focus and readiness in the AI decade.

Lenovo will report its FY2025/26 first quarter results on 14 August, 2025.

Today, we announced our second quarter 2025 earnings, fueled by standout subscriber and MAU growth. In the first half of 2025, subscriber net additions grew more than 30% compared to the first half of 2024, and this marks the company’s second highest Q2 for MAU net additions. Take a look at the highlights below: 

• • Subscribers climbed 12% Y/Y to 276 million.
  • Monthly Active Users grew 11% Y/Y to 696 million.
  • Total Revenue increased 10% Y/Y to €4.2 billion.
  • Gross Margin improved by 227 bps YoY to 31.5%.
  • Operating Income reached €406M.

“People come to Spotify and they stay on Spotify. By constantly evolving, we create more and more value for the almost 700 million people using our platform,” said Daniel Ek, Spotify Founder & CEO. “This value not only benefits users but it’s attracting more people to streaming and as a result, it’s also boosted the industries of music, podcasts, and audiobooks.”

Interested in hearing more? Click here to review the full earnings release and listen to the webcast Q&A on our Investor Relations site here.