Business

This Week In Business 7/11/2025

Big tech earnings outshine Trump-Xi summit

Sophie Demaré

7 Nov 2025 — 1 min read

US President Donald Trump was keen to hype up the results of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 30th – he rated it a “12 out of 10.” However, commentators argued that temporary agreements made between the leaders represent “a pause rather than a conclusion” in escalated trade tensions. Investors had high hopes for the meeting – the S&P 500 gained 1.2% in the days leading up to it – but Trump’s spotlight was swiftly stolen by earnings announcements five of Big Tech’s “Magnificent Seven.”

Chatter about the ominous form of a suspected “AI bubble” meant investors paid special attention to earnings reported by Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, and Apple on October 29th and 30th. Whilst all companies reported huge increases in AI-related investment, investors made it clear that they want to see proof that balance sheets can withstand this pressure. Meta’s shares fell 11% on Thursday, as it was revealed that its free cash flow numbers were struggling to keep up with its AI spending spree – the company is the only one out of the five that expects to see free cash flow fall in 2026. Meanwhile, Amazon’s stock jumped 10% following the impressive growth figures it posted for its cloud business, AWS.

From Issue 1881

7 November 2025

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Fresh ideas brewed at Enterprise Lab’s inaugural Entrepreneurship Café

The Imperial Enterprise Lab hosted its first-ever Entrepreneurship Café on 20th October, bringing together students, staff, and alumni with a shared passion for innovation. The event provided an informal networking space where aspiring entrepreneurs could exchange ideas, find collaborators, and learn about the support available to help turn concepts into

Gold: The age-old hedge we still can’t outgrow

Gold may seem like an outdated investment, but chaotic market conditions leave safety-seeking investors with few alternatives.

Clicks over conscience: Rage bait may come back to bite brands

Rage bait is not new to the marketer’s toolkit, but flirting with culture wars risks chasing short-term engagement over long-term success.

Klarna cashes in now – but can consumers keep paying later?

After a successful IPO in September, the challenge is far from over for the Swedish buy now, pay later firm.

Issue 1881

Boyfriends: the new social faux pas

In defence of the article “Is Having a Boyfriend Embarassing Now?”

Opinion

Do AI enthusiasts dream of techno-feudalist sheep?

I recently had an interesting discussion with an Imperial alumnus who works at one of the big artificial intelligence (AI) companies. They work in optimisation, which will be important for later, because the question I wanted to ask them was how they feel, knowing that should AGI (Artificial General Intelligence)

Culture

The story of Cook Serve Forever's launch

Steam reviews don't always tell the full story, especially when a game goes through a tough early access. In this exclusive interview, CSF's developers talk about their experience.