The Rundown - iPhone 17 Sales Revive Apple's Growth, Gucci Owner Sells Beauty Unit for $4.7B

Episode Date: October 20, 2025

Stock market update for October 20, 2025.Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@therundowndaily⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠This video is for informational purposes only and reflects the views of the host and guest, not Public Holdings or its subsidiaries. Mentions of assets are not recommendations. Investing involves risk, including loss. Past performance does not guarantee future results. For full disclosures, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Public.com/disclosures⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Public.com presents the rundown. Your daily market update in under 10 minutes. My name is Zadadmani, and today is Monday, October 20th. In today's episode, we'll preview this upcoming week, including some economic data and some big-time earnings. We'll also tell you why Apple stock is hitting all-time highs for the first time this year. Then stick around to the end of the show to learn about some big changes happening with Apple TV. We got a great show for you today.

Let's go. Markets are coming off an absolutely roller coaster of a week that ultimately ended in a win. Last week, the S&P 500 gained 1.7% while the NASDAQ was up 2.1% despite concerns around bad loans in the banking sector, the U.S. trying to trade tensions, and also the government shutdown, which is now entering into its third week. Investors were able to look past all the noise and concerns, and instead, Instead, focus on the good stuff, which has been corporate earnings. Earning season kicked into gear last week with strong results so far, especially amongst big banks. And that optimism kept the markets afloat.

Now, we'll have to see if that momentum carries over into this week because we have a jam-pack week coming up. For one, we're finally getting some economic data again. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the September CPI report this Friday. Now, this report was originally supposed to come out on October 15th, but it was delayed because of the government shutdown. But I'm just happy that we're finally getting it because this report will tell us where inflation is at. And it could impact if the Fed continues to cut interest rates at the Fed meeting later this month.

Now, beyond the inflation report, we are also getting some big time earnings this week, including hearing from Netflix on Tuesday, Tesla on Wednesday, and Intel on Thursday. So we're going to be covering all those earnings. And who knows, there might be some surprise, true social post from President Trump about a tariff thing or another multi-trillion dollar opening eye cloud deal. So we're going to be staying on top of all the market. market moving events. So make sure you guys are subscribed to the podcast and tuning in every day to stay in the loop. Let's run through some headlines, starting with Apple. The new iPhone 17 looks to be a big hit for Apple.

According to the Financial Times, Apple is seeing their strongest iPhone sales growth since the pandemic. Analysts now expect iPhone revenues to grow 4% this year and 5% next year hitting nearly 219. billion dollars in annual sales. This would be a big turnaround considering that iPhone sales were flat in 2024 and actually fell 2% in 2023. Now, I think Apple's strategy of focusing on making good hardware and cameras instead of silly, non-existent AI features is a good move and it's starting to pay off. Plus, it probably helps that the iPhone 17 Pro got a full redesign, which pushes more people to upgrade when the phone looks different from the previous model. You know, as an Apple fanboy, I ended up getting the iPhone 17 Pro. I did the thing where I gave my 16 pro to my wife and then I bought the 17

pro. And yeah, I think it was worth the upgrade. You know, I like the redesign of the new phone. I like the fact that it's aluminum and not titanium. It doesn't get as hot. And the new front facing camera, that alone might be worth the upgrade, especially for me. Now, Apple is reporting earnings next week on October 30th. And that earnings report will include the first few weeks of iPhone 17 sales. So we should get more perspective on their growth and iPhone 17 performance pretty soon. Don't look now, but Apple stock is getting really. really close to hitting record highs for the first time this year. Let's shift gears and talk about the beauty business. Gucci's parent company Caring is selling its entire beauty division to L'orell for

$4.7 billion. This includes the perfume maker House of Creed, which Caring bought just two years ago. As part of this deal, L'Oreal is getting a 50-year licensing agreement to co-develop and distribute fragrances for caring star brands like Gucci and Valenciaga. There's a few more names on that list, but I'm going to butcher the pronunciation, so I'm just not going to try. For L'Oreal, this is their largest acquisition ever, topping the $2.5 billion purchase of ASOP back in 2023. And for Caring, this is a total U-turn in strategy by the new CEO, Luca DeMayo. Caring launched its beauty division back in 2023 to bring their cosmetics and perfumes in-house to compete with rivals like Hermes. But it just didn't work out. Again, I'm not really

plugged into the luxury space. So if you guys are, let me know in the comments on why. why this didn't work out? Are Gucci fragrances just not good or something? I don't know. Let me know. Now, this does make a lot of business sense, though. By offloading the beauty unit, it gives Caring a much-needed cash boost. The company has over $10 billion in debt, so that cash should help pay off some of that debt load. And Caring can now refocus the company on its core fashion brands like Gucci, St. Laurent, and Belenciaga. Investors seem to like this move. Caring shares are up more than 5% this morning on this news, while L'Oreal ticked up around 1%. Let's talk about some stocks making moves today.

Shares of Cleveland Cliffs are climbing this morning after the steel maker reported a solid boost in sales, all thanks to tariffs. The company said the demand for U.S.-made automotive steel has surge since President Trump slapped a 50% tariff on imported steel earlier this year. So that's been a big boost to Cleveland Cliffs' business, and they're not stopping there. The company is now looking into expanding into the rare earth. metal space. They are scouting new mining sites in Michigan and Minnesota to help the U.S. reduce its dependency on foreign supply chains for rare earth metals, specifically China. As a result, shares of Cleveland Cliffs are up nearly 8% this morning on this news. Now, on the flip side, shares of Rivian are in the red this morning after an analyst at the investment bank,

Mizuho downgraded the EV maker from neutral to underperform with a price target of $10. The Analyst warned that Rivian will see a hit to its sales now that the $7,500 EV tax credit has expired. Mazuho also trimmed its 2026 delivery forecast to 60,000 vehicles, which is below the Wall Street consensus of 72,000. As a result, Rivian stock is down around 2% this morning, currently trading around $13 a share. Let's wrap the show with the fun fact. Formula One is coming to Apple TV. Apple just locked in a five-year deal with Formula One. to stream every F1 race exclusively on Apple TV in the U.S. starting in 2026. Apple will pay about $140 million a year for these rights,

which is a big jump from the $85 million that ESPN is currently paying to broadcast F1 races in the U.S. I mean, look, this deal makes a ton of sense to me. Apple's F1 movie over the summer with Brad Pitt crushed it becoming the highest grossing sports movie ever. I mean, it was a fantastic movie. And Apple actually invented new cameras to capture. some of the scenes from that movie, and now Apple is teasing that they're going to use some new

camera angles and immersive data for the actual races. So as a big F1 fan, I am hyped, and I guess now I'll have to say subscribe to Apple TV Plus for the entire year, which is Apple's goal in acquiring these rights in the first place. I think Apple TV was having a churn problem. People would subscribe to watch Severance for a month or two, and then cancel. Now with these F1 rights, people like me are going to have to stick around for the majority of the year to watch the races. Now, there was one more update from Apple, they are rebranding their streaming service from Apple TV Plus to just Apple TV. They're dropping the plus from their name. Now, on one hand, I'm happy that we're moving away from the plus naming of all these streaming services. But Apple TV is also the name of Apple's

streaming box. So that might get a little confusing. I wonder if this means that Apple was planning to launch a new streaming box soon with a new name. I might have to hit up front of the show Mark German to get some information on that. Well, all right, guys, that's the rundown for today. hope you guys enjoyed today's episode. If you did, and you have like five extra seconds, consider giving us a five-star rating on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you listen to your podcast. And if you are listening on Spotify,

don't forget the vote in today's Spotify poll. Leave us a comment on Spotify. All that engagement really does help us out, and it helps other people find the show. If you guys missed our episodes this weekend, I highly recommend going back and giving them a listen, posted a deep dive about AMD's threat to Nvidia. and then on Sunday we posted an interview with the CFO of Figma.

I was a little nervous for the interview. I'm not going to lie, I was the first time interviewing a major executive, but I think it turned out pretty great, so I highly recommend checking that out. Thank you guys so much for listening, watching, and commenting. Shout out to Mike and Connor for all the work behind the scenes. And we'll see you guys back here tomorrow.

Rosen lasagna, medium power, 15 minutes. Sounds like Ojo time. Let's play. Feel the Fun with Play-O-Joe, the online casino with all the latest slot and live casino games. What you win is yours to keep with no wagering requirements, instant payouts, and no minimum withdraws. Hey, I just won. Woo-hoo! Feel the fun!

Play-O-Joe! Honey, forget about the lasagna. Let's celebrate! 19 plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Concern about your gambling or that of someone close to you. Call 16-5-3-2600 or visit ConX Ontario.ca. The Madamy Holmes bike for Brain Health supporting Baycrest returns on May 31 for its fifth anniversary, with a new start and finish at the Ombuds.

Khan Museum. Join thousands of cyclists as we take over the DVP and Gardner Expressway in support of dementia research and brain health. Riders of all abilities are welcome and both regular bikes and e-bikes can participate. Bring your friends, family or corporate team, and make an impact. Register today at fightforbrainhealth.ca.ca.