Amazon and Apple Beat Expectations but Tariff Headwinds Loom

At the end of last week, tech giants Amazon and Apple both released quarterly earnings. Whilst both companies beat expectations, the uncertainty and potential headwinds posed by US tariffs resulted in share price weakness. Let’s take a look at this and other news in more detail. 

Warren Buffett Steps Down

On Saturday, at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting, the legendary Warren Buffett announced that he intended to call time on his six-decade leadership of the company. 

In his place, the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ will recommend that Greg Abel – vice-chairman of Berkshire’s non-insurance operations – take over his role as CEO at the end of this year. 

Over the course of 60 years, Buffett has transformed Berkshire Hathaway from a struggling textile manufacturer into one of the world’s largest companies, a sprawling conglomerate which operates dozens of subsidiaries and holds stakes in around 50 public companies. 

During Buffett’s tenure, Berkshire has rewarded long-term shareholders enormously. Between 1964 and 2024, Berkshire shares gained 5,502,284%, a compounded annual gain of 19.9%. By comparison, over the same period, the S&P 500 has achieved a total return of 39,054% and a compounded annual gain of 10.4%. 

In response to the news, Berkshire Hathaway Class A and B shares both dropped by approximately 5% in Monday’s session. However, both share classes remain up by around 13% year to date. 

Buffett, who owns more than 200,000 Class A and B shares, stated at Saturday's meeting that he has “no intention, zero, of selling one share of Berkshire Hathaway”.

OPEC+ Increases Production

Oil prices closed at a four-year low on Monday after OPEC+ announced an increase in output for the second consecutive month. Brent crude closed the session down 1.7% whilst WTI closed with a loss of 1.9%.

Monday’s losses came as the market reacted to news that OPEC+ members had agreed to boost production by 411,000 barrels a day in June, considerably more than had been expected.

This latest announcement came after the group agreed to boost production by the same amount in May.

However, oil prices rebounded sharply on Tuesday morning despite concerns of oversupply and ongoing uncertainty caused by US tariffs.

Interest Rate Decisions

Looking at the week ahead, the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England (BoE) will announce their latest interest rate decisions on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. 

Despite regular criticism from President Donald Trump, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at 4.5% when they meet on Wednesday, continuing its wait-and-see approach with regards to Washington’s trade policy. 

On the other hand, as US tariffs threaten to stifle global economic growth, the BoE is expected to cut its base rate by a quarter percentage point from its current level of 4.5%. However, some economists suggest a bigger cut is needed to help spur growth. 

Earnings Watch

Earnings season continues this week, with the majority of S&P 500 companies already having announced their quarterly results. The remainder of the week will see - amongst others - Uber, Disney and Arm announce quarterly earnings.  

Last week, tech giants Apple and Amazon both released quarterly results. Let’s take a look at both announcements in more detail. 

Apple

On Thursday, Apple announced earnings which beat expectations for the quarter ended 29 March 2025.  

Revenue rose 5.1% to $95.4 billion whilst earnings per share (EPS) grew 7.8% to $1.65. Analysts had expected these figures to come in at $94.7 billion and $1.63 respectively. 

However, CEO Tim Cook said that Apple expects tariffs to increase costs by $900 million in the current quarter, provided no new tariffs are introduced.  

He added that, due to the uncertainty surrounding US tariff policy, it was “very difficult to predict beyond June” the impact tariffs will have on costs. 

Subsequently, Apple shares dropped 3.7% in Friday's session and fell again by 3.2% on Monday.  

Amazon

Also on Thursday, Amazon announced first quarter earnings which, like Apple, surpassed expectations.

Quarterly revenue rose 8.6% to $155.7 billion whilst EPS jumped 62.2% to $1.59. Analysts had expected revenue to come in at $155.0 billion and EPS of $1.36. 

However, citing “tariffs and trade policies” amongst a list of factors which could negatively affect earnings, the e-commerce giant issued weaker-than-expected guidance for the current quarter.

Amazon said it expected operating income between $13 billion and $17.5 billion in the second quarter. Analysts had forecast a figure of $17.7 billion. 

Amazon shares closed relatively flat on Friday, falling slightly by 0.1%; however, on Monday, shares dropped by a further 1.9%. 

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