CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Mixed, Meme Stock Warning, GM Takes Billion Dollar Tariff Hit 7/22/25

Episode Date: July 22, 2025

From Wall Street to Main Street, the latest on the markets and what it means for your money. Updated regularly on weekdays, featuring CNBC expert analysis and sound from top business newsmakers. Anchored by CNBC's Jessica Ettinger.

I'm Jessica Edinger CNBC mixed markets this afternoon on Wall Street. The Dow up 37 points. Merck leading it higher. It's up almost two and a half percent this afternoon. The S&P 500 index down 10 points. The Nasdaq is down 120 points. That's a half percent. Nvidia is a drag today down a full 2%. August and September could be volatile. Seasonally, these are the worst months ahead of us. So I wouldn't be surprised to see a little bit of a push-pull in the marketplace. But I think I lean my hat on the economy.

And the economy is humming at 2.5%. High Towers, Stephanie Link on CNBC. And a word of warning about meme stocks today from Ritholtz-Weldt's Josh Brown. One of the things that you want to not do, and I wish somebody had told me this when I first started investing, is not extrapolate sideshows into the center ring of the circus. So there's a freak show happening outside the tent. Kohl's is up 37% today.

The stock opened up 82% today. On Friday it was a $9 stock. Today it's 14 and opened at 19. Just outrageous, right? I mean great for people that own it. Congratulations. No disrespect. 87 million shares traded hands by 10 a.m. Not normal. General Motors' profit shrank by 35% in the last quarter. It took a tariff hit of more than a billion dollars. When it comes to General Motors, North America is the profit driver. And because you have a 25% tariff

on vehicles built in Canada and in Mexico, a certain amount can be offset because of USMCA, but not all of it. And that's where you see the impact on margin. They have to eat it. 6.1 percent margin in North America versus 10.9 percent last year. They're clearly eating it.

And that's the story right there. CNBC's Phil LeBeau. Coca-Cola earnings beat estimates. Strong demand in Europe offset weakness elsewhere, including North America, where soda sales dropped. The company says it'll offer a version of Coca-Cola made with cane sugar. President Trump said last week he had spoken with the company about using real cane sugar in drinks.

This is what like a Mexican Coke you're gonna roll out for the United States? So later yes later this fall we're going to launch we're gonna launch a Coke a Coke option sweetened with US cane sugar put in the marketplace. The president who's well known enjoys the Coca-Cola brand. We love that. He's an enthusiastic consumer. And so yeah, we are going to launch it later this year. He's knowledgeable at the industry and we think it will be a great option for consumers as we give people more choice and more ways to enjoy the Coca-Cola brand. It's funny because you and I have been talking quarter after quarter and the star of the quarter has been Coke Zero Sugar. So it's interesting now that you're leaning into sugar. That's CNBC's Sarah Eisen with

Coca-Cola CEO James Quincy. On Wednesday's watch list, earnings are coming from Google Parent Alphabet along with Tesla plus AT&T, IBM, T-Mobile, Alaska Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Hilton, Mattel, Chipotle, and O'Reilly Auto Parts. We get existing home sales numbers for June and the Major League Soccer All-Star match is Wednesday night in Austin, Texas. Jessica Ettinger, CNBC.