Fed Holds Interest Rates Before Microsoft and Meta Report Earnings

Jul 30, 2025

Mandeep Singh, Bloomberg Intelligence's Global Head of Technology Research, dives into Meta's impressive financial performance and its strategic focus on AI. He discusses how Meta is shifting its revenue approach to encompass more than traditional ads while also highlighting the tech giant's competitive landscape. Additionally, Microsoft's strong earnings from its cloud services reveal the growing impact of AI on the tech ecosystem. Together, they unravel the intertwined fates of these industry leaders against a backdrop of economic uncertainty.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Fed Holds Rates Amid Inflation Concerns

The Fed kept rates on hold due to inflation risks, signaling caution before any rate cuts.
Investors should note inflation-linked bonds as a growing trend amid uncertain inflation data.

ADVICE

Bond Strategy Post-Fed Meeting

Investors should consider moving out of cash and into medium-duration bonds to lock in higher yields.
Allocating to inflation-protected bonds can hedge against hotter than expected inflation prints.

INSIGHT

Meta's AI-Driven Growth Strategy

Meta's strong ad sales and AI-driven ad targeting show AI's monetization potential beyond mere advertising efficiency.
The company's aggressive AI spending is aimed at building a future growth engine beyond current ads.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said interest rates are in the right place to manage continued uncertainty around tariffs and inflation, tempering expectations for a rate cut in September.
“There are many, many uncertainties left to resolve,” Powell told reporters Wednesday following the central bank’s decision to once again keep rates unchanged. “It doesn’t feel like we are very close to the end of that process.”

The Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-2 to hold its benchmark federal funds rate in a range of 4.25%-4.5%, as they have at each of their meetings this year. Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman voted against the decision in favor of a quarter-point cut.
Meanwhile Meta Platforms Inc. topped projections for second-quarter sales and gave a stronger-than-expected forecast for the current period, a sign that the social media company’s advertising business is still growing quickly enough to support aggressive spending on artificial intelligence. The social media giant, which owns Instagram and Facebook, reported second-quarter revenue of $47.5 billion.

As for Microsoft Corp., it was another better-than-expected quarter for growth in its cloud business and the company said spending on AI infrastructure hit a record. The closely watched Azure cloud-computing unit posted a 39% rise in sales during Microsoft’s fiscal fourth quarter, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. Analysts projected 34% revenue growth.

Today's show features:

Karen Veraa-Perry, Head of US iShares Fixed Income Strategy at BlackRock on the Federal Reserve’s rate decision
Dan Ives, Global Head of Technology Research at Wedbush Securities, and Bloomberg Intelligence Global Head of Technology Research Mandeep Singh on Meta earnings
Greg Halter, Director of Research at Carnegie Investment Counsel, and Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Technology Analyst Anurag Rana on Microsoft earnings

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.