Closing Bell - Closing Bell: Alphabet & Tesla on Deck 7/23/25

Episode Date: July 23, 2025

What lies ahead as Alphabet and Tesla get ready to report in Overtime? We discuss with Wedbush’s Dan Ives and Odyssey Capital’s Jason Snipe. Plus, the Wharton School’s Jeremy Siegel says things will be better for the Fed if Chair Powell steps down. He explains why. And we tell you what to watch when Chipotle and IBM report after the bell. 

All right guys thanks so much. Welcome to Closing Bell. Scott Wapner live from Post 9 here at the New York Stock Exchange. This breakout begins with what else? The countdown to Alphabet and

Tesla earnings in overtime. Big questions about both stocks which have underperformed many of their mag seven peers. We'll take you to the scorecard here with 60 to go in regulation. It's a strong day across the board.

We're basically at the highs of the day. Majors are on pace today for some big gains again because of some positive trade headlines. Good for the Russell too, which is catching a nice bid in its own right. Better than 1 percent. And we're going to ask the Wharton School's Jeremy Siegel today just how far this record setting rally can go. He'll join us in just a little bit. In terms of the sectors, industrials, health care and energy among the strongest today

Rough day though for texas instruments after its earnings and now several other chip names like microchip and analog devices are lower In sympathy with that but txn texan not a good day They're down more than 13 percent by surf hitting a new 52 week low after its own numbers And there's ge vernova ripping today after its strong guidance that is a 14 percent gainer in the green. It takes us to our talk of the tape all that lies ahead as Alphabet and Tesla get ready to report in overtime in less than one hour. Let's bring in star analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush and Jason Snipe of Odyssey Capital Advisors.

Jason is CNBC contributor of course. It's great to have you both with us Dan Ives to you first. Are you optimistic? I mean, look, we're very bullish in terms of what you're going to see tonight. I think Tesla's really around AI, robotaxi. Really, it's the start of the AI future for Musk and Tesla. And I think this, and I've talked about it, it's going to be worth a trillion dollars a loan to the valuation of Tesla. So you didn't even address Alphabet. Does that mean you're less excited about that? Even as you say, there's an attractive setup for it.

I think the market kind of questions, is it really an attractive setup? I think Alphabet, in my opinion, from a large cap perspective, it's one of the most, probably the best risk reward names out there. Because our view, I get the DOJ issues and the worry that AI

is gonna cannibalize search. We upped our digital advertising growth numbers, our YouTube numbers, we think it's strong. I think this is when the street's underestimating growth and there's probably $40, $50 overhang right now between AI and DOJ. That's why we still think there's a table pounder here. I know, but why are you raising,

why do you feel so compelled to raise your search estimates for not only the quarter, but the full year? Why, don't you need to see more proof before you start doing stuff like that? It's a great question, I mean, but our reputation is built on the work that we do during the quarter. And everything we see from the digital advertising perspective has been bullish, not just for

Alphabet but for Meta as well. And that's why I think what we're seeing now, this golden age for tech is all starting to take shape. The next stages of AI, and I think what you're going to see throughout earnings season, the next two, three weeks, is that it's a big step, I believe, forward for big tech. Why does the golden age for tech have to be a golden age for all? Some are gonna shine brighter than many of the others.

There's a question as to whether this one is gonna shine as brightly as a Meta or an Nvidia or an Amazon. Yeah, I mean, right now you have a separation, right? And of course you have Nvidia, you have Microsoft, you have Meta, on this side you have Apple, Tesla, and I'd say right now Alphabets kind of in between. It's a proven quarter for Alphabets,

I think it's a proven quarter for Amazon. But our view is that when you think about the second, third, fourth derivatives of AI, and the two trillion that's gonna be spent in the next three years, streets still underestimating it, which is why I believe tech stocks are up another 10, 12% rest of the year.

And I believe we're going to be talking in the next 12, 18 months about NASDAQ 25,000. So Jason Snipes, you just heard him. It's a table pounder going into the print. You agree? So this is what I would say, Scott. A couple things. One, Google has run up a lot into the print. It's up 31% since the tariff delay April 8th.

It's flat on the year, but it's moved a lot since the delay, clearly. I think my focus really is on search. I'm a little bit less bullish because I think the chat bots and all the rising competition in kind of the answer key spectrum is obviously giving me some concern on what search will look like. Clearly the Eddie Q event, we've moved since that. That was two months ago when there was discussion about, hey, this is the first time in 20 years that an Apple product, that there's been some decrease in search in Apple products in 20 years.

So I think Google has passed a lot of these hurdles and some of these headlines. But for me, it's definitely about search. It's definitely about Google Cloud. We're expecting 26% upside there. We're expecting about 11% revenue growth and 16% earnings growth. So I think it's a show-me quarter. I agree with Dan from that perspective, but I'm a little bit less bullish going into this print for Google here.

So Dan, the stock's up 25 percent since the so-called Eddie Q sell-off. Did the market overdo it? Is it just a rebound that was caught up in the momentum of the whole trade of Mag-7 and AI? Are we going to get some real answers tonight from the company? Yeah, I think, well, I think the biggest thing here is the view that AI really means the end of the search business for Google. And I think the reality is that Google is going to be a huge participant when it comes to AI. And we talk about not just on GCP, but when it comes on the consumer side

and even on autonomous. I think what you're gonna see tonight is a managing team more on the offensive than defensive. Now clearly DOJ and other regulatory issues, but I get what Snipes saying, he brings up great points, but in my view, when you think about DOJ and you think about the regulatory and you think about just the worries about AI, the upside downside here is significant in terms of what I view

is bullish. But you paint it as almost binary, that you're talking about the worries of this whole thing, meaning the end of search for Google. I don't think people think it's the end, but maybe it's just different. Maybe it's a new beginning of a different paradigm that you're not willing to pay up, not that Alphabet's considered expensive in many accounts, but you're still not willing to pay up for a business that's not going to be as robust as you once figured it would be because of the large language models that are eating into the search.

Yeah, and I think that's a great point. I think initially maybe that's the perspective. It's our view that the second, third leg of the stool, when you see it play out, from a cannibalization perspective, I think the worries are way overdone, and that's why you're gonna see Meta, you're gonna see Alphabets, they're figuring out ways that they're gonna monetize

the billions of potential users out there. And that's why if you believe that, what we do, Meta could be a four-digit stock. I still believe we are in the early days of the AI revolution. Jason Snipe, I mean, you sound to me like you're not ready to declare the concerns about search and Alphabet as being overdone. Am I hearing you correctly? No, that's absolutely fair. The other thing that I would say I think that's a concern for me is the poaching of some of

this developer talent from Meta and Microsoft. Everybody's playing offense, but what I will say, which has been interesting to me, is obviously this Windsurf licensing deal, where they're focusing on, obviously, agentic AI, the reasoning aspect of this place, and to fortify DeepMind. So Google's been at this for a while. They've been at it since 98. So the search business has obviously been the business. It's an advertising business.

It's been great. But, yes, there's chinks in the armor as it relates to some of these other players. They're starting to come up under the surface. So for me, I'm somewhat lukewarm going forward, but I still like their place in terms of the data that they own. Because I think for Google, it's all about execution going forward. Dan, what about the CapEx? There mean, if there's no reason to think that it's gonna go anywhere but up.

I mean, especially if there are questions about what their place is gonna be in the future. They're gonna have to spend to try and compete, no? It's an AI arm dress. You wanna see them continue to spend. Well, you wanna get the return on it, don't you? I mean, at some point, don't you sit back and you say, well, I mean, if you're throwing money into the wind

and you're not exactly sure when you're gonna get the return for it, and then you're not sure how much the return on that investment is gonna be, you can't just spend and spend and spend until from here to oblivion. Yeah, but I do think more and more, you're seeing the data point supporting it from the use cases.

And it's our view for every dollar spent on a video chip, there's any $10 multiplier across the rest of tech. And the last thing you could have Google on the outside looking in at this AI party, and we talk about it's 10 p.m. and it goes to 4 a.m. and they will be a major participant. I just think we are still, I think the market is still massively underestimating what this growth's gonna look like throughout tech. I think this earnings season is gonna be a get out the popcorn moment for tech.

Let's go back to Tesla for a moment because there are significant questions about that. You call Musk right now a quote wartime CEO. He's taking some fire. Yeah. Can they get past that? I mean, I believe, look, this is, it's a key earnings call and as we,

like everyone's a key earnings call, but this is a dramatically different three months when you compare it back to April. I mean, now you have robotaxes, you know, which our team saw front and center in terms of launching. The key on the call is when the other city is going to come on in terms of robotaxis. I think you're going to have 25, 30 cities over the next year. When I talk about wartime CEO is that this is a recommitted Musk and he recognizes this

is an AI arms race. When he made the announcement about the new political party, you questioned as to whether this was a recommitted Musk. What makes you change from then to now? Yeah, and obviously he didn't like that we suggested that. My view is that I think he started to read the room. If you look since that moment, you've really seen him shy away from, I think, a lot of politics.

I think Musk recognizes now, this is the window. This next three to six months, especially going into November board meeting where I believe they will take a significant stake in XAI, he recognizes that this is the time for him to lead. And I think that's what you're gonna see on this conference call tonight, even though delivery is now obviously near term,

continues to be a work in progress. What if there's nothing that he can do to win back the business and the customers that he's alienating? Do you ever worry about that? Look, I mean, of course, we've worried about and we've talked about some of the brand issues, but I believe it's our view this is a $2 trillion markup. A trillion of that is going to be autonomous. And when you think about robotics and optimists and what I view as the future, I view that as relatively breadcrumbs

relative to where I view the market cap of Tesla over the coming years. Cause I think in physical AI, the two best players, Godfather of AI, Jensen and Nvidia and Tesla. The two best AI plays of anything. The two best physical AI players. Nvidia and Tesla. I think it's, in my view,

it's not even a question over the next few years. And if there was a third, it would be pound and tear the messy of AI. All right. Thank you. It's good to hear from you. That's Dan Ives. Jason Snipes, thanks to you as well. Of course, CNBC contributor.

We'll see what shakes out in overtime with these numbers. And since we're talking about AI, we might as well tell you it's taking center stage in D.C. today. President Trump will address the gathering of tech CEOs and other leaders later on this afternoon Amon Javras is in DC with more on that. What do we think is he's gonna say Amon? Well, we don't know exactly we do expect the president to sign some executive orders later today Don't have details on what specifically will be in there. He'll do it at this event here at the Mellon auditorium in downtown DC will be in there. He'll do it at this event here at the Mellon Auditorium in downtown DC.

This is where the All In podcast, the Silicon Valley podcast, is hosting an All Day AI Summit. We heard from the Vice President, JD Vance, earlier today. We're also going to hear from some keynote guests. Lisa Su of AMD spoke just a couple minutes ago. We're also going to hear from Jensen Wong of NVIDIA in a short time. So we'll watch that one for any headlines that might cross for you, Scott. But the Vice President, JD Vance, made a couple points that I think will get some notice. One is on agriculture and the agricultural industry. He said he sees automation and AI as a solution

to what he sees as an immigration problem in the agricultural industry. He said that the agricultural industry, as he sees sees it is behind the curve on automation. He wants them to speed it up. He thinks that'll boost productivity and also lower the market for migrant labor coming into the United States. Another point that he made was very critical of Silicon Valley firms using the term BS but not using the phrase BS to describe the position of Silicon Valley firms using the term BS, but not using the phrase BS, to describe the position of Silicon Valley companies

who are laying off American workers, not hiring American STEM graduates out of American colleges, and at the same time applying to the administration for more H-1B visas for foreign workers to come into this country. He said that argument is BS, although as I say, he didn't use the phrase BS. And then we're expecting to hear a little bit more from the president this afternoon on this new AI agenda.

Take a look at some of the items that we've been briefed on so far today that are included in this 28-page document the administration released today. They want to partner with industry to deliver AI export packages overseas, that is so that American AI is the future of the industry. They also want to do a lot here around data center permits and removing federal regulations. This is largely about environmental regulations that they feel are slowing down the growth of the physical plants of the AI industry. And then also they're talking about DEI. They don't want to see DEI built in to AI.

They say they don't want any sort of political ideologies in the software. Scott, back over to you. All right, Eamon, we'll see what happens later this afternoon. Thank you very much for that. That's Eamon Javer's down in Washington. AI optimism, a big reason why stocks have extended their record highs recently. Let's bring in New York Life's Lauren Goodwin for more on these markets. Nice to see you. It's so good to be here. You're cautious on the recovery recovery even though the trend and the

momentum feels like it's going one way. Yeah that's absolutely I agree with that. Why are you cautious? So the next three four weeks I think are full steam ahead for the equity market in particular and that's because not only has Q2 economic reality been much better than analysts were expecting at the beginning of quarter just many of the the the worst case scenario risks have not materialized and are not likely to materialize over the next few weeks. So earnings are likely to be quite strong. Again.

Again. But the backdrop as well as we think ahead related to deregulation, related to the sort of supply chain re-globalization that's happening, supporting the AI supply chain in particular, that's supportive of market broadening as well, and we've seen some of that breadth, even in weaker market days, you haven't seen a big rotation into defensives. And so I think that the market will continue

to climb this wall of worry in the near term. What I'm worried about is that those great financial conditions, the tariff risks that I do believe will start to manifest in the economic data over the next couple of quarters, and a key risk for the market with respect to immigration and the labor market, those are still interest rate-related dynamics that the market's going to have to grapple with. Are we incrementally knocking the wall of worry down? We were climbing the wall of worry when we were worried about inflation,

don't really have a problem with that, when we were worried about the tariffs being larger than they appear they're gonna be, we don't really have a problem with that. We were climbing the wall of worry when we worried that earnings were gonna be less robust than they've been. Feel like the wall's going in the other way.

Not up. I mean, we have more concerns to really worry about. It feels like it's not the case. I think the wall of worry has been effectively addressed and resolved for now. What we're worried about is more a matter of timing, and isn't that always the case for the market? So I'll take your ideas one by one. Inflation, we are starting to see inflation

creep into the economic data in June's data. I expect that to accelerate in Q3 and into Q4 because new ordering, holiday ordering is only just started to happen. The backlog of inventories that companies had before tariff risks began to materialize, that's starting to be cleared. So that risk is still ahead of us.

Importantly, immigration and sort of the tightening of the labor market, especially from the supply side, is a risk I think the market actually isn't in the wall of worry, but is an element that's going to impact that sort of interest rate sensitivity of the market moving into the second half of the year. It's not an overly bearish view on the U.S. economy.

And in near term, it's actually quite a bullish view on the market. But as those risks start to materialize in the economic data, I think we'll see a rates response. Well, you'll see a rate cut response. That's part of it. No, no. So, so I think the feds going to cut rates this year. I think the fed might cut rates one

time this year. And the reason I think look, when it comes to the inflation and labor market data that we've had so far this year, I think the fed fed might have cut already twice this year. But the policy risks on sort of the path ahead are top of mind. And those are what I expect to materialize over the second half. But the inflation fears, certainly the most severe ones, haven't really materialized. And Powell himself has suggested that they would have already cut, if not for the tariffs.

So if you continue to go in that track of deals on trade, tariffs not that big of a problem, not like people expected, why wouldn't they cut? So here's the three reasons why I think it's difficult for them to cut assertively into the second half of the year, even though I completely agree that the data so far suggests that they would otherwise be. The first is that tariff rates are higher than they used to be, but probably more importantly, think moderate tariffs are actually more inflationary than really severe tariffs. Because if you have really severe tariffs, then you have demand destruction, it's really difficult for companies to operate their supply chains. That's not what we see here.

We see a muddle through scenario where companies are going to be so far passing on higher costs, or in some cases taking hits to margin. That just hasn't materialized yet, but I do expect it to. The second reason I think it's really difficult for the Fed to cut is that tightening labor supply means the unemployment rate is going to actually be moving lower into the second half of this year, and I think that's an underappreciated risk. And the third is just financial conditions are so easy. Equity markets have been doing good.

Credit spreads are tight. If you want to borrow, you can. There's really nothing pointing from a financial markets perspective that the Fed assertively needs to be cutting rates right now. And so I think that they will stay on hold for as long as possible. They still admit that even the Fed chair

recently also admitted that they're still restrictive. Despite all of that, they're still restrictive. And now you have more people clamoring for cuts on the actual committee sooner than later. Now I'm not saying we're gonna get them next week, but it sure sounds like they're ready to go the minute that they either worry about the labor market getting bad or that they can be confident that inflation is not going to get worse.

Yeah, I think the challenge between, I agree, we're not going to see anything next week, but the challenge between then and September is that we're going to get enough data, I think, to show that the Fed's two mandates are moving in the opposite direction of what a cut would provide. And we'll be here to talk about it when it happens. But in the meantime, for investors, again, this is not an overly bearish view,

and it's one where the equity market, I think, can continue to do well. But when you have valuations where they are. 22-ish, right? The question is, where's your incremental value? I agree with Dan that I think we're going to continue to see the large cap U.S. stocks, including tech stocks, continue to do well. But I think investors need to be considering

their inflation hedges, their income generation opportunities in equity and fixed income, and really as boring as it is, leaning into diversification because there's still so many unknowns. Alright, Lauren, we'll leave it there. Thanks. That's Lauren Goodwin joining us. Let's send it now to Christina Parts-Navalos for the look at the biggest names moving into

the close. Hi there. Hi, Scott. Well, GE-Vernova on pace for its best day since April after a big beat on sales as well as earnings in the second quarter driven primarily by strong results in its power and electrification segments. Recall that GE-Vernova spun off from General Electric over about a year ago but the stock has literally just been on fire over the last year.

The last I checked up over 80, 91% now, 91% year to date. Meantime Pfizer going in the other direction, plummeting after the FinTech company guided to the low end of its prior revenue growth forecast. That update overshadowing the beat that it actually had in Q2, and that's why it's on pace for its worst day since April, but still down about almost 15%, Scott.

All right, Christina, thanks. Back to you soon. We're just getting started here. Coming up next, class is once again in session because Wharton School professor Jeremy Siegel he'll join us to tell us what he thinks about this record-setting rally we're live at the New York Stock Exchange we'll speak to him next. The only question now, how long can this rally last? Let's ask the Wharton School Professor of Finance, Jeremy Siegel, joining us once again.

It's good to see you again. That is the question on everybody's mind. What's your answer? Things are looking good. I mean, I think the trade agreement with Japan that now looks like it is going to be extended to the EU is about as good as the market had expected. And maybe that's going to ease things on Canada. I mean, why should Japan get a 15% tariff on its cars in Canada?

I think it's still a 25. I mean, there's now hope of a lowering of that. And we're beginning to see some clarity in here with these deals being made. And that's certainly bullish. And certainly, I mean, that keeps the momentum the momentum going I think in the stock market. What about the valuation? I just had a conversation with Lauren Goodwin and others have suggested this too. We're a little rich to say the least.

Growth is going to still slow as a result of the tariffs even if they're less than what we originally thought. How do you square those? Well you know we said we talk about twenty two times forward but what we originally thought. How do you square those? Well, you know, we said we talk about 22 times forward, but what we have is the MAG-7, you know, is in the 30s, and the other 493 stocks are around 19, which I think is a very reasonable estimate. So, you know, the question is, is AI gonna continue to power the MAG-7? And you know, question is, is AI gonna continue

to power the Mag-7? And Tesla is, what, 130 times forward? I mean, that's kind of like an option on all it's AI. I mean, you were talking Dan Ayers and all. That probably should be taken out of the others and they're in their 30s. So, I mean, it's really not a market that I think on the whole is challenged.

The only thing that's challenged is AI going to keep up at all, it looks like it is, but that's the only part of the market where I think you have valuations that are aligned with what I think is, you know, historical and justified norms. Do you think more money is gonna flow to the other areas that you mentioned

that you think offer better value to investors? Yeah, what we need to see is not just the AI producers earn so much money, but the AI users, which are, you know, the non-tech stocks that can use AI to reduce their costs and increase their margins. I mean, that is what I'm waiting for. And I think that's what ignites small stocks, that's what ignites value stocks.

Adoption has not been that rapid, and maybe tariffs are going to be the poke that is gonna be used to say, hey yeah, you guys gotta get going on what can reduce costs. And I think that that's one reason the market is beginning to look favorably on some of these sectors. And you think earnings are gonna be strong enough to justify where the market is right now? Yeah, I do.

I do think there's gonna be a slowdown. Yeah, I do. I do think there's going to be a slowdown. Listen, I still think 15% tariff, even if it's across the board, is going to bring about a bump of one to two points in inflation. But I think the Fed should absolutely look beyond it. I've been saying this for a long time. Our short-term rate should be in the threes, not in the fours. If we can get it down there, there's a lot of ways to get it down there.

I think there's blue skies ahead. You made a statement this past Friday. I wasn't here and I don't want it to get lost on a summer Friday. You know exactly what I'm talking about too. I know I said I thought it was actually better for the Fed if Jay Powell stepped down and I'm all for the independents. Listen I've taught about monetary policy for half a century but you know I think it's a tails Powell and the fed loses and heads there's no gain if if we do head into a big slowdown or recession you know the fed's gonna and Powell I really gotta get it and if it if the economy continues to boom you know that that

Trump's gonna give it get all the, not not Jay Powell. So you know my feeling is I want Trump to own this economy for good or bad. If it doesn't if it doesn't do well he can't blame anyone. There is no scapegoat and I don't want him to use Jay Powell as a scapegoat, as I know he will if the economy does turn south in the second quarter. And by the way, I think the candidates, particularly Kevin Warsh, are excellent candidates for Fed chair, so I don't think there's gonna be

a break with continuity here. No, but I mean, what kind of precedent would that set? So that a president doesn't like what the Fed chair is doing, so then the next one should resign as well? I mean, that's a slippery slope. Well, I mean, look at the president picks all the Fed chairs, all the vice chairs, all the governors, all the time. You know, see, Scott, you Scott, if I were, you know, Chair Powell, and I believe in, I would not continue

on under the withering criticism that he's offered and know that I'm going to get the blame if things go wrong, even if I think it's his tariffs. And the fact that, listen, he's almost a lame duck already. I mean, he's 10 months away. It's not like it's three or four years. If Trump names someone new, you know, he's really going to be a lame duck in any case. My feeling is, you know, that Trump have his man and see what he could do. Yeah, but then the next one, I mean, it's not like you mentioned Kevin Warsh, and obviously

he's at the top of the list, or certainly near of the speculative names that have already been mentioned. So then Warsh doesn't cut when the president wants to cut? What's he going to do? He should resign too? And we just keep going down the list until the next Fed chair does exactly what the president wants to cut what what's he's going to do he should resign to and we just keep going down the list until the next fed chair does exactly what the president wants? No I think no I don't think that that you know is that you know that you would always bend to the president on on what he wants if you if you have um you know if you know that what you're doing has the full support.

There's a lot of people that do think that he should be lowering rates and, you know, including myself. And I just feel that the Fed will be in worse position if he doesn't lower rates, the economy goes south and we have to remember that the Federal Reserve is a creature of the U.S. Congress and there are a lot of Republicans, there's a lot of people in Congress who don't like everything the Fed is doing, they could put on more strictures. I think if he gets his man here, he's going to live with who it happens to be. There are a lot of Democrats who don't like what he's doing either. Maybe that means he's doing his job well.

Maybe what he's doing his job well. Let's put it this way, there's never been, you know, such withering criticism from the president on this, on his policy. And you know, let's face it, the head of the Federal Reserve, it's often called the second most powerful person in the U.S. government after the president. And the question is. But it's only because there's never been another president who's been willing to level this degree of withering criticism.

Right, that's absolutely true. But again, what is the upside for Powell? Or the Fed? I see only downside for the Fed. If the economy does go south, I see more restrictions, more criticism, more power to the president to call it. If the economy goes well, well, it's my power, it's my tariff policy, it's my tax policy, my deregulation policy, it's my big beautiful bill, you name it. I mean, Trump will take all the credit here. Again there's 10 months to go. Let's face it, Powell has made some bad mistakes. He made a bad mistake with the inflation. I'm not saying he's necessarily making a

mistake here, but in my particular opinion I think that if things go south, I think it's worse for Fed independence if he doesn't resign. All right. We'll leave it there. That's my opinion. We'll leave it there. And I know there's now others that have joined. I mean, Mohammed Al-Aryan said the same thing.

And he is also a believer in Fed independence. I'm a believer in Fed independence. I'm a believer in Fed independence, but there's a particularly unique time where the Fed has been under a lot of criticism. They haven't changed their models in thinking for 50 years. I mean, listen to Kevin Warsh. It was an excellent interview last Wednesday. I thought from him on Squawk Box, I didn't agree 100% with everything he said, but a lot of things I think do need a change. Let's see what a change is. We need some, you

know, fresh air, I think, and a lot of thinking at the Federal Reserve. Okay. Professor Jeremy Siegel, Assistant Marketing Chief for the network. Obviously, you mentioned the other shows that you like in the interviews that have been on them. We'll talk to you soon. Muhammad Al-Aryan is gonna be on this network, by the way, on this program on Friday. So we'll look forward to talking to him about his views and we'll talk to him about yours as well.

And I'm glad I made up for a conversation that I missed. Professor, thanks. Up next, the big business of sports investing. We'll hear from two experts in the space about their new fund. Closing bells coming right back. Welcome back. The recent sale of the L.A. Lakers for a record $10 billion valuation only underscores the

still strong demand for sports assets. My next guests just launched their own fund to invest in what they see as undervalued areas of sports. Rashaan Williams is Harbinger Sports Partners founder and CIO. Steve Cannon is Harbinger Sports co-founder and CEO. Steve also the former vice chairman and CEO of AMB Sports and Entertainment. It's great to have you guys. Rashaan, it's funny, when you guys say

you're looking for undervalued areas, I laughed and I'm like, where are they? Not in sports. In sports, and the reason, everyone's looking at the past, the media rights driving all the value creation, but no one's looking at the future. 300 to 600 billion dollars of value creation

over the next decade, all with local revenue that teams will be able to create by owning the stadium creation over the next decade all with local revenue that teams will be able to create by owning the stadium and all the real estate around the stadium. So what kind of Steve investments are we talking about? Where are the most undervalued areas in sports as an investable asset? So a team that needs to replace its stadium. So if your stadium ballpark or arena is 20 years or older it's not suited for today's premium environment. Premium drives everything in sports revenue.

And the viewer and the sports fan is different. So you've got to build a new stadium. When you do, you unlock new economics. So the first value is, do we find a team that needs to replace their venue? And then that opens up all kinds of upside potential, not just the venue itself, but the sports-adjacent real estate, which is a trillion dollar development category that is only just starting to be tapped all right So we're not talking necessarily about franchises themselves. Oh, yeah, we're talking about franchise. Oh, yeah The franchises themselves have been growing at a higher kegger than the S&P 500 for the last decade

Oh, I know that's why so much money to continue and. But it puts valuations up to levels that have gotten a little nosebleed level no? Well the multiples on revenue have remained the same the revenue is increasing these leagues have the opportunity to opt out of their media deals if they do really well. NFL has one coming up in a few years so they'll opt out and then put that thing back on the market and potentially get even more revenue. So the revenue is coming in online sports betting international international expansion, these teams and leagues are becoming media companies themselves. It's a great time to be an investor in sports.

So you're not put off at all when you see $10 billion, Steve, for example, for the Lakers, that doesn't scare you away. It energizes you to think that there are many other franchises in whatever sport that can maybe not grow to 10 billion dollars but can have that sort of ascendance. That haven't fully realized their platform or the power of their platform. If you look at the Atlanta Braves, for example, they built a new venue.

But they built it publicly traded in this example, so we even have access to all the data. They not only have all the incremental revenue from a brand new ballpark, they've created an entire mixed-use venue that operates 365 days a year and is non-shareable revenue that they get to keep that makes the Braves a more valuable entity. And there was already a billion dollar, two or three billion dollar team, they were doing 264 million in revenue. Now new venue, unlock these economicities you $500 to $600 million in revenue and

it's worth a lot more. $750 million is the size of the private equity fund and Mark Cuban is partly leading this too? Yes, Mark Cuban is our partner and the president of our firm. How did that come about? Sit next to Mark Cuban on Shark Tank, battling for deals. Is that right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a reoccurring guest on Shark Tank and Cuban sat right next to me. We battled for deals. We talked about sports in between every deal.

And he was the first guy we called after we... So you did your own pitch. I was in the tank telling Cuban, hey, this is an area that I think is poised for explosive growth. He sold the majority stake of his team. But he believes in the value creation story in the overall league. So once he joined us, it was a great compliment to our football guy. Then we have Jonathan Mariner, former CFO of Major League Baseball. And then we got Cuban from basketball. But you don't think him selling his position and

someone like Mark Lazarie getting out when he did, in any way was a sign that, okay, maybe these guys see that if we're not near, if we're not at the top, maybe we're getting closer. No, I just think it's a different business model. The guys that owned teams 20 years ago relied on the media rights. And look, the media rights may have taken people pretty far, but the new guys who are buying,

who do Cubans sell to? Las Vegas casino owners. What do you think they're gonna do? Build hotels and restaurants and bars. We'll talk to you again soon next time. We'll talk VC and That's for Sean Williams and Steve. Can I thanks for being here? Thank you for having us. All right sticking with sports Don't miss Alex Sherman's interview with two times Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning on the CNBC Sport video guys speaking of somebody who was thinking about getting into the NFL and said you know what it's getting a little bit crazy even for me and I have a lot of money plus you can catch Eli on Squawk tomorrow 8 a.m. Eastern time. Up next we track the biggest movers into the close. Christine is back with that. What do you see?

I see a counter maker that rocketed over 70 percent while a beloved donut chain joined the meme stock frenzy. We'll break down what's driving the surge in these meme trades right after this short break. We're getting some news out of that AI event down in Washington. Eamon Javras joins us once again with that. Eamon? Scott, that's right. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson just wrapped up his remarks here with the All-In podcast, folks. A couple of points here that I want to bring to you, and apologies for reading from my

notes here because I want to get this right. He was talking about U.S. Treasuriesuries and he said that the expectation is that the Chinese government will slowly divest over time, but he said that he thinks demand for treasuries will be spiked by the so-called Genius Act up on Capitol Hill and the rise of stable coins that are backed by U.S. dollars. So he says that will create an increase in demand for T-bills globally. He also made a joke about the Chinese economic model. He said it's like the broom in the water bucket from Fantasia. They just keep going. He said it's an employment agency.

He also was bullish on tariffs. He said tariffs are creating on shoring. He says we are seeing big on shoring and I think we can have a massive construction boom and then after that the factories that are being paid for now will get populated with American workers he said on the Fed we could see one or two rate cuts this year he says once we see over the next one or two months that tariffs are not inflationary he said he has breakfast with Fed chair Jay Powell just about every single week he says he keeps telling Powell that a one-time price hike from tariffs is not inflationary. He says he used to think that TDS was Trump Derangement Syndrome, now he thinks it's

Tariff Derangement Syndrome. Says that he believes that the Fed is locked in an old way of thinking and he said ultimately the Fed is just going to have to admit that it was wrong. No talk here from Besant though on the idea of firing Jay Powell or any of the harsh, harsh criticisms that we've seen from President Trump to the Fed chair. Besant just saying here he's in regular communication with J-Powell, has breakfast with him almost every week, and he continues to make the point that tariffs are not going to be inflationary. He seems a little bit frustrated that J-Powell seems, at least for now, not receptive to

that message, Scott. Back with you. It is really interesting to hear the Treasury Secretary in those remarks suggest that he expects that China will slowly diversify away from U.S. Treasuries or divest some of their holdings in U. in US treasuries. I mean, that has been a critical question slash issue through this entire tariff episode and at times when we saw the bond market act in ways that made the stock market uncomfortable. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, and it's been a big question whether the Chinese government would use that tool politically to put pressure on the US government. Obviously, the US government

depends on the ability to borrow because we borrow an enormous amount as the United States. And the question has always been, will the Chinese over time put pressure on US borrowing costs by lowering their purchases of treasuries. And it looks like, you know, the conclusion is that they will do that over some time. How much time? He didn't say. It was sort of a glancing remark, I would characterize it. But he also was touting the idea of this new input of demand coming from crypto and this new world. He said, you know, the man on the street in Kuala Lumpur or Nigeria is going to be attracted to this new market that didn't exist before and that will create a robust market around

U.S. dollar stablecoins. He thinks that will be good for the United States in the long run. That's really interesting. Eamon, thanks for bringing that to us very much. That's Eamon Jabbers once again at that AI Summit down in D.C. Still ahead, we count down to test the Summit down in DC. Still ahead we count down to test the results out in overtime. We'll tell you exactly what to watch for next. We're now in the closing bell market zone and we're locked in on the rush of earnings out in

OT today. Kate Rogers on what to expect from Chipotle. Christina Partzaneva-Lesson IBM, Phil LeBeau of course on Tesla. Kate Kate Rogers we begin with you and CMG. Hi Scott. Analysts are looking for 33 cents adjusted on revenues of 3.11 billion for the second quarter for Chipotle. Its same store sales projected to fall 2.9 percent while restaurant margins are forecast at 27.1 percent. Those same store sales will be a key focus for this quarter. Now remember in Q1, Chipotle saw its first same store sales contraction since the second quarter of 2020, which the company said was due in part to weather headwinds and a slowdown in consumer spending. But executives did say then that they had a strong plan to return to those positive transaction comps

by the second half of the year. The restaurant sector is facing major headwinds right now, of course, as consumers are hunting for value amid concerns over a slowing economy. Chipotle has been able to withstand those challenges in the past with its pricing power, but the stock has struggled to make gains this year alongside similar concepts, Cava and Sweetgreen. Chipotle CEO Scott Boatright will join us exclusively in overtime coming up right after those Chipotle results cross the wires. Back over to you. All right. We'll look forward to that, Kate. Thank you very much. Christina, what about

IBM? IBM. It's one of the more polarizing names in tech right now. I say that because the stock has doubled since the start of 2023, breaking through that $250 billion market cap ceiling that it hadn't really hit since 2012. But with shares really less than 5% off their recent highs, the bar is somewhat high going into earnings. Investors are gonna be focused on whether IBM though can maintain its software momentum,

especially with Red Hat and AI fueling growth, and of course how the launch of its mainframe cycle is going. Consulting, which I think it contributes roughly 30%, remains a weak spot with cautious spending trends continuing. doge will come up in the call and I'll still expect IBM to reiterate its 2025 guidance for a 5% revenue growth and more than 13 and a half billion dollars in free cash flow But the quality of those results particularly margins about and how much is driven by organic versus inorganic growth will be key for a stock That's already had a big run.

Year-to-date up 28%, as you can see on your screen. Yep, we clearly do. Christina, thank you. Phil LeBeau, Tesla, what should we be looking out for more than anything else? Well, do they beat on the top and the bottom line? One of three numbers we're going to be looking for, or is it a miss for a second straight quarter? They missed by a wide margin in the

first quarter. What happened in the second quarter? Deliveries were not that great. They were bad in the first quarter, didn't really improve much in the second quarter. What's the revenue from zero emission vehicle credits? Probably hasn't fallen that much, but with the changes from the Trump administration, that will be changing in the quarters to come. And then do they give us delivery guidance for 2025? The street right now is expecting another year of declines in terms of total global deliveries down to about 1.66 million vehicles this year. Let's see if Tesla gives us a range in terms of what they're expecting. Also, what do they tell us about robotaxi growth? Or Scott, is this going to be a case of

what Dan Ives often talks about? Optimism, Elon's good man, he is going to lead us there but do you get any details? If there are not many details it will be interesting to see what shares of Tesla do ahead of the analyst call. Well, always good assuming he's on the call. It is always good to hear him on any topic that he has asked about. Phil, thank you very much. That's Phil LaBolle.

We'll see what happens with those results. And of course, don't forget about Alphabet today, too. So we're about to ring the bell here at the New York Stock Exchange. And we're going to go out on the highs of the day. The Dow is pushing 500 points. Some positive trades, obviously, helping things out today. The Russell is outperforming. And we've got a record close for the S&T and the NASDAQ.

Into OT with Morgan and John.