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    Banks are thriving so far in Trump’s economy. Here’s what that means for markets and the consumer

    Wall Street is humming thanks to a boom in stock and bond trading and a pickup in corporations acquiring competitors and taking out massive loans.
    At the same time, Main Street is holding up as the American consumer continues to spend, borrow and repay loans, according to reports this week from the largest U.S. banks.
    It makes for an unusually profitable environment for financial firms. The six biggest U.S. banks generated $39 billion in second-quarter profit, outstripping analysts’ expectations and collectively jumping more than 20% from core earnings a year ago.
    It’s a remarkable result after a tumultuous start to the quarter. The period began with shock and plunging markets on April 2 over President Donald Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs.

    (L-R) Brian Moynihan, Chairman and CEO of Bank of America; Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase; and Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup; testify during a Senate Banking Committee hearing at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 6, 2023.
    Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images

    Nearly everywhere you look in the world of finance, things are going surprisingly well — at least for now.
    Wall Street is humming thanks to a boom in stock and bond trading and a pickup in corporations acquiring competitors and taking out massive loans. At the same time, Main Street is holding up as the American consumer continues to spend, borrow and repay loans, according to reports this week from the largest U.S. banks.

    It makes for an unusually profitable environment for financial firms. The six biggest U.S. banks generated about $39 billion in second-quarter profit, outstripping analysts’ expectations and collectively jumping more than 20% from core earnings a year ago.
    It’s a remarkable result after a tumultuous start to the quarter. The period began with shock and plunging markets on April 2 over President Donald Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs. JPMorgan Chase economists said at the time that the policies would probably cause a recession this year.
    But markets roared back after Trump responded to distress signals coming from U.S. bonds and delayed the most punishing tariffs on most trading partners. Investors have begun to tune out the administration’s barrage of tariff pronouncements as bluster or noise, and corporate leaders are stepping off the sidelines to pull off multibillion-dollar transactions, bank results show.
    “Look how far the world’s come in three months,” Wells Fargo banking analyst Mike Mayo told CNBC. “Throughout the quarter, you had a pickup in investment banking, loan growth and optimism with economic scenarios. Here we are, with talk of a recession pretty much absent.”
    That dynamic was clear at JPMorgan, the largest and most profitable U.S. bank. It produced about $15 billion in quarterly profit, which is nearly as much as the next three largest banks combined.

    Trading benefited from turbulent conditions in the quarter as Trump roiled markets with rapidly evolving policy statements. But the real surprise came from investment banking, which involves mergers advice, IPOs and debt and equity issuance. Revenue at JPMorgan jumped 7%, producing $450 million more than analysts had expected, just weeks after managers had warned of an approximate 15% decline.
    “The pickup in investment banking fees, to some extent, reflects people accepting uncertainty and deciding to move on with transactions,” JPMorgan CFO Jeremy Barnum told reporters on Tuesday. “The corporate community has sort of accepted that they just need to navigate through this.”

    ‘Soft landing’

    But the good news didn’t end with corporate confidence. JPMorgan’s internal barometers for U.S. economic risks cooled down from the first quarter as some of the worst-case scenarios were taken off the table, Barnum said.
    That means it’s less likely that a recession will cause a spike in U.S. unemployment this year, hurting consumers ability to repay their debts. That was clear in the bank’s provision for credit losses, which was 14% smaller than in the first quarter.
    The economy is squarely in the “soft landing” scenario, Barnum told reporters this week.
    At the same time, consumers and companies are borrowing more money from JPMorgan, where loan growth rose 5% compared with a year ago, fueled by rising credit card and wholesale loans, the bank said.
    Those stats mean that, at least for now, banks are giving the all-clear signal on the U.S. economy in the early months of the second Trump presidency. Even in a time marked by turbulence and rising geopolitical risks, the economy has defied expectations for a downturn.
    “Banks are economically sensitive businesses, and so how the economy performs under the administration is going to matter to their results,” said Matt Stucky, chief portfolio manager for equities at Northwestern Mutual wealth management. “So far, the economy continues to push forward.”

    ‘Firing on all cylinders’

    The situation even made JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who frequently warns about risks he sees, sound relatively optimistic about the economy.
    “It’s been resilient, and hopefully it’ll continue to be,” Dimon told reporters this week. “It’s always good to hope for the best, prepare for not the best, and we’ll see… One thing I would point out, the world is much bigger and much more diversified” now and that makes for a “slightly more stable global economy than you had 20 years ago,” he said.

    Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., July 17, 2025.
    Brendan McDermid | Reuters

    Trump’s sweeping spending bill, signed into law this month, preserves corporate tax rates and expands business deductions. On top of that, deregulatory efforts across industries will boost the economy, Dimon said.
    Last month, the Federal Reserve released a proposal to amend the capital that banks need to hold for lower-risk assets, potentially freeing up billions of dollars for the banks that they could use to boost share repurchases, buy competitors or fuel more loan growth, executives said this week.
    Taken together, it’s hard to conceive of a better setup for banks than right now, Barnum said.
    “We’re essentially firing on all cylinders,” Barnum told analysts. “Rates are a good level for us. Deal activity is high. Capital markets are very strong. Consumer credit is excellent. Wholesale credit is excellent.”
    To be sure, sentiment can shift on a dime, and risks including inflation, the mounting U.S. deficit and geopolitical turmoil are still out there, Barnum noted.

    Good times ahead?

    Even the banking industry’s former laggards are showing signs of a resurgence.
    Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf, fresh off finally removing the yoke of a Federal Reserve punishment that capped his bank’s balance sheet at 2017 levels, sounded ebullient during an earnings call this week. His company recently gave all its employees a $2,000 bonus to celebrate the milestone.  
    “This is an incredibly interesting and fun time,” Scharf told analysts Tuesday. “We’re starting to see deposit flows, as we’ve talked about. We’ve got new account growth. We’ve got expenses in check. Credit is performing well… We have less constraints.”

    Stock chart icon

    Citigroup shares have outpaced most financial stocks this year.

    The shares of another former laggard, Citigroup, have climbed nearly 30% this year as CEO Jane Fraser convinces investors her turnaround plan is working.
    Fraser this week sounded like a CEO on the attack, disclosing the bank’s new luxury credit card and plans to issue a Citi-branded stablecoin. She also marveled at the resiliency of the U.S. economy.  
    “The strength of the U.S. economy, driven by the American entrepreneur and a healthy consumer, has certainly been exceeding expectations,” Fraser told analysts. “As I’ve been speaking to CEOs, I have yet again been impressed by the adaptability of our private sector.” More

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    Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer to sell blockbuster blood thinner Eliquis at 40% discount

    Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer said they will start selling their blockbuster blood thinner, Eliquis, directly to some patients at a more than 40% discount.
    The companies’ new effort would bypass traditional middlemen, including pharmacy benefit managers and insurers, to cut the drug’s monthly cost from a list price of around $606 to $346.
    But the discounted price of Eliquis is still more than nine times the average monthly out-of-pocket cost paid by patients who are commercially insured, and significantly higher than Medicare’s new negotiated price for the drug under the Inflation Reduction Act.

    George Frey | Reuters

    Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer on Thursday said they will start selling their blockbuster blood thinner, Eliquis, directly to patients at a more than 40% discount.
    The move comes as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to cut drug prices, and threatens to impose sweeping tariffs on pharmaceuticals imported into the U.S. 

    The companies’ new effort would bypass traditional middlemen, including pharmacy benefit managers and insurers, to cut the drug’s monthly cost from a list price of around $606 to $346. Starting Sept. 8, uninsured, underinsured and self-pay patients will be able to purchase the medicine directly from the Eliquis 360 Support program, which will ship their prescriptions directly to their homes.
    But the discounted price of Eliquis is still more than nine times the average monthly out-of-pocket cost of $38 paid by patients who are commercially insured. The price under the new program is also significantly higher than the $231 per month price that Medicare negotiated under a provision of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. That negotiated price is set to take effect next year. 
    The negotiated price is what Medicare will pay for Eliquis, and does not set what Medicare patients will pay for the drug now or in the future, Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer said in a joint statement. They added that the negotiated price does not reflect “the substantial clinical and economic value of this essential medicine.”
    More than 90% of Eliquis prescriptions in the U.S. are currently covered through insurance. But Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer said the new effort aims to expand access to the treatment, reduce out-of-pocket costs for patient and provide transparent pricing for a different group of patients.
    “This program passes more savings directly to patients and demonstrates our continued focus on identifying innovative solutions that foster the best outcomes for each individual while prioritizing access to care,” said Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Chris Boerner.

    In a note on Thursday, Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger said he believes the move came in response to Trump’s plan to lower U.S. drug costs by linking prices to those paid in other developed countries. The president signed an executive order on that plan in May. 
    Risinger said the drugmakers already offer hefty rebates on Eliquis to pharmacy benefit managers, so the firm does not expect the program to create a “net pricing headwind” for Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer. More

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    New York City braces for wealth flight with Mamdani’s political rise

    Zohran Mamdani’s primary win in New York City’s mayoral race and proposal to raise taxes on millionaires have touched off fears of a new wave of wealth flight from the city.
    So far, there is little evidence of a slowdown in high-end real estate or real wealth losses in New York.
    At the center of the economic concern is Mamdani’s so-called “millionaire tax.”

    Zohran Mamdani’s primary win in New York City’s mayoral race and proposal to raise taxes on millionaires have touched off fears of a new wave of wealth flight from the city. Yet so far, there is little evidence of a slowdown in high-end real estate or real wealth losses in New York.
    Florida real estate brokers say they’ve seen a surge in inquiries from the New York wealthy looking to move to Miami or Palm Beach. Business owners are threatening to leave the city or close. And New York developers, caught in the crosshairs of Mamdani’s rent control platform, have banded together to fund Mamdani’s opponents in the November general election.

    At the center of the economic concern is Mamdani’s so-called “millionaire tax.” He’s proposed an additional 2% tax on New Yorkers earning more than $1 million a year. Added to the city’s current top rate of 3.876%, the tax would bring the combined New York City and state tax to 16.776%, by far the highest in the country. The combined federal, state and city rate would be 53.776%.
    And New York’s high earners won’t have to go to Florida to avoid the tax. They can simply move to neighboring Long Island or Westchester County or even New Jersey. Unlike New York state, New York City can’t tax people who work in the city but have their primary residence elsewhere.
    “New York City can only tax its own residents,” said Jared Walczak, vice president of state projects at the Tax Foundation. “A high earner doesn’t need to give up the convenience of the city, they just need to move outside the five boroughs. Migration across city lines is the easiest.”

    Zohran Mamdani gestures as he speaks during a watch party for his primary election, which includes his bid to become the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor in the upcoming November 2025 election, in New York City, U.S., June 25, 2025.
    David Delgado | Reuters

    Importantly, Mamdani wouldn’t be able to raise income taxes. The city’s income tax rates are set by Albany, where Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she will block any tax hike. “I don’t want to lose any more people to Palm Beach,” Hochul told the New York Post.
    Critics also fear Mamdani’s policies toward the police and public safety could make the city even more dangerous, becoming the final straw for many business owners and top earners who were already considering leaving. The top 1% of New Yorkers pay over 40% of the income taxes, so losing even a small number of high earners would set off a downward spiral of lower revenue and lower services and more out-migration.

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    New York state had a net loss of $14 billion in net adjusted income due to taxpayers leaving between 2021 and 2022, according to the Tax Foundation and IRS data. The city’s revenue from personal income taxes declined between 2022 and 2024, from $16.7 billion in 2022 to $14 billion last year — although they’re still above the pre-Covid levels of $13.4 billion in 2019, according to data from the New York City comptroller.
    At the same time, however, there are signs that New York’s powerful wealth machine is constantly replenishing the ranks of millionaires and billionaires, more than making up for the rich who move out. The number of millionaires in New York City has more than doubled over the past decade — despite the Covid losses — to over 2.4 million, according to Altrata. There are now over 33,000 New Yorkers worth $30 million or more, nearly double that of Miami, according to Altrata. Whether it’s measuring millionaires, multi-millionaires or billionaires, New York City has maintained its dominance as the richest wealth hub in the world.

    “New York remains a powerful magnet for the wealthy, offering a blend of luxury consumption, vibrant culture, high-quality education and lifestyle cachet, with the borough of Manhattan the epicenter of ultra-prime real estate,” said a report from Altrata and REALM.
    Demand for pricey luxury apartments in New York also shows no signs of slowing, even after Mamdani’s win in the June 24 primary. There were 64 contracts signed between June 23 and July 13 for apartments priced over $4 million, up 13% over last year, with a sales total of more more than $555 million in sales, according to Olshan Realty. Among the signed contracts was a $35 million, three-bedroom spread on Fifth Avenue that was first listed in December.
    “The luxury market is on pace for one of its best years,” said Donna Olshan, of Olshan Realty, who also cautioned that any potential Mamdani-related weakness could show up in the Fall.
    Not only did New York’s millionaire and billionaire population rebound quickly after Covid, but high earners also bounced back. While the city lost a net 5,000 households earning $1 million or more during the pandemic, their ranks have grown from 30,400 in 2019 to 34,127 in 2022, the latest period available, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute.
    Nathan Gusdorf, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, said the narrative of wealth flight from New York is fed in part by the media, which highlights a small number of high-profile billionaires who move from New York to Florida. Stories about billionaires like Josh Harris, Carl Icahn and Daniel Och decamping to Florida ignores the broader ebb and flow of wealth in New York. New York’s powerful economy, fueled by the financial services industry, continues to produce more new millionaires than it loses.
    “We do not have a fixed population of millionaires that just declines whenever one of them leaves,” Gusdorf said. “The city regenerates that lost millionaire population.”
    Even if Mamdani were to win the mayorship in November and raise taxes, the direct impact on wealth flight may be more limited than many expect. According to the Fiscal Policy Center’s latest research, the top 1% of New Yorkers by income (those making more than $800,000 a year) leave the city at one quarter the rate of all other income groups. When the New York wealthy do move, they have most often oved to other high-tax states like New Jersey, Connecticut or California – suggesting lifestyle rather than taxes are the driver.  
    “There is a strong indication that higher tax rates at the state level imposed on the top earners are not having real behavioral effects,” Gusdorf said.
    Others, however, say taxes have outsized importance for the wealthy, proven by the sweeping population moves in recent years from high-tax to low- or no-tax states like Florida and Texas.
    A study by the California Center for Jobs and the Economy described a “taxodus,” or net loss of $5.3 billion in personal income tax, from high earners who left after a 2016 extension of higher taxes on the wealthy.
    “High tax rates do lead to outmigration and lower income growth,” Walczak said. More

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    Disney’s spent 70 years funneling IP into its theme parks. Here’s why it works

    Disney’s portfolio of intellectual property has been the bedrock of its theme parks since Disneyland first opened 70 years ago.
    Much of the IP that has been imbued in the park in the last decade has come from four major studio acquisitions — Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox.
    Last year, revenue growth in Disney’s experiences division, which includes parks, resorts, cruises and consumer products, was the strongest of any Disney division.

    General views of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland on April 06, 2024 in Anaheim, California.
    Aaronp/bauer-griffin | Gc Images | Getty Images

    The “Happiest Place on Earth” turns 70 this week.
    Disneyland, a pillar of the Anaheim, California, community since 1955, was a passion project of founder Walt Disney, a place where adults and their children could have fun together. It also served as a place where the longtime media company could show off and weave together different pieces of its business from films, television shows and comic strips to music and merchandising.

    Disney’s portfolio of intellectual property has been the bedrock of its theme parks since the very first location opened its doors. These days, the company’s experiences division, which includes parks, resorts, cruises and consumer products, remains one of its best profit drivers. Operating income for the unit for fiscal 2024 was more than double that of the content-centric entertainment division, where the IP originates.
    Disneyland in Anaheim began with more than a dozen attractions, many of which were pulled directly from Disney’s archive of theatrical films. Among them were Mad Tea Party based on “Alice in Wonderland,” Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride from “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad,” Peter Pan’s Flight, Snow White’s Enchanted Wish and Dumbo the Flying Elephant.
    Over the past seven decades, Disney has opened a total of 12 theme parks across the United States, Europe and Asia, with another set to open in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in the coming years. It also has a fleet of cruise ships, which is set to double by 2031, and nearly 60 resort hotels and vacation properties globally.
    “If you go back now 70 years ago, Walt knew the great stories that he was creating, if he combined those with the technologies that were at hand at the time with this idea of an immersive experience that he could create something that no one else had ever done,” said Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Walt Disney’s parks and resorts. “And it really set the Disney brand apart.”

    Vice president Richard M Nixon, Mrs. Patricia Nixon, Tricia Nixon, 9 years, Julie Nixon, 7 years, Donnie Nixon (nephew), Fess Parker (actor), CV Wood, Junior (General manager of Disneyland), Anaheim, California, August 11, 1955.
    University Of Southern California | Corbis Historical | Getty Images

    The first rides at Disneyland were interspersed with original creations like Jungle Cruise, Autopia and the Disneyland Railroad.

    While Disney would bring a number of non-IP attractions to life over the next few decades — Matterhorn Bobsleds, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain, among them — in the last decade, the company has committed to utilizing its existing catalog of stories to fuel new and updated attractions in its domestic and international theme parks.

    Collecting stories

    Much of that strategy has come in the wake of CEO Bob Iger’s acquisition of four major studios — Pixar (2006), Marvel (2009), Lucasfilm (2012) and 20th Century Fox (2019) — which brought coveted franchises under the House of Mouse roof.
    “I think we’ve been fortunate now in that we have gone after that IP, brought it into the Disney fold, and just made the brand even more powerful,” D’Amaro said.
    Many of these brands already appeared in the company’s parks as part of licensing deals, like Star Tours, which opened in 1987; Indiana Jones Adventure, added in 1995; and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster, which debuted in 2005.
    The company also opened entire lands — curated areas that have themed rides, food and entertainment centered on one piece of IP. This included A Bug’s Land, which opened in 2002 at Disney’s California Adventure park, based on Pixar’s “A Bug’s Life” and Pandora — The World of Avatar, which opened in 2017 and is set on the fictional planet Pandora from Fox’s “Avatar” film and built at Animal Kingdom in Florida.

    General views the Pandora The World Of Avatar Dedication at the Disney Animal Kingdom on May 23, 2017 in Orlando, Florida.
    Gustavo Caballero | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

    Many of these additions came under the leadership of then-CEO Michael Eisner, who helmed the company from 1984 until 2005.
    Chief among his acquisitions was securing the IP for Star Wars and Indiana Jones — two of the biggest franchises of the time — according to Gavin Doyle, founder of MickeyVisit.com. Eisner “went and licensed it and brought it into the parks,” Doyle said.

    Attendees sit in the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride following the unveiling of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney Co.’s Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, U.S., on Wednesday, May 29, 2019.
    Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Decades later, Disney acquired Lucasfilm, which owns both film franchises, and expanded their presence.
    In 2019, the company opened two identical Star Wars-themed lands, one in Florida at Hollywood Studios and one in California at Disneyland. A new Indiana Jones attraction is planned for Disney’s Animal Kingdom as part of the park’s new Tropical Americas area. It is set to open in 2027.

    Fueling Disney parks with IP

    Last year, revenue growth in Disney’s experiences division was the strongest of any Disney division.
    Experiences posted record revenue and profit for fiscal 2024, with revenue rising 5% for the full year to $34.15 billion and operating income up 4% to $9.27 billion.
    Heading into 2025, the company said it expected to see 6% to 8% profit growth for experiences in fiscal 2025 — and that’s before it breaks ground on a slew of planned land expansions, new rides and re-themed attractions.
    “While investor focus understandably remains on near-term attendance and consumer spending trends, renewed momentum in creating successful content with Disney’s premium IP play a crucial role in generating long-term earnings power across parks, Disney+ and accelerating the unique advantage of the Disney flywheel across its portfolio,” said Robert Fishman, analyst at MoffettNathanson.
    Disney is relying heavily on IP as part of its 2023 pledge to invest $60 billion in experiences over the next decade.
    On the docket is a new villains land coming to Magic Kingdom, a “Monsters Inc.” land at Hollywood Studios, an “Encanto” ride at Animal Kingdom and the expansion of Avengers Campus with two new attractions. Disneyland is also expected to open a new Avatar area inspired by the scenery in the upcoming “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
    Of course, these new developments also come with some drawbacks. Fan-favorite rides and even whole lands have shuttered or been re-themed as a result.
    Anaheim’s A Bug’s Land closed in 2018 so the space could be used to build Avengers Campus, a Marvel-themed land. DinoLand at Animal Kingdom is disappearing to make space for the new Tropical Americas area. At Magic Kingdom, Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat have shut down to make room for an area called Piston Peak — a second Cars-themed land modeled after America’s natural parks.
    For individual rides, the most recent change was the re-theming of Splash Mountain at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. It was refreshed as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, based on the characters from “The Princess and the Frog.”

    People pass by while riding in the Tiana’s Bayou Adventure log flume thrill ride at the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World on April 3, 2025, in Orlando, Florida.
    Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images

    While some Disney parks fans have balked at the changes the company has made to the parks, the strategy has expanded the company’s fan base and driven revenue growth across its global footprint.
    “It’s interesting because the IP is not always for the most vocal theme park fan,” Doyle said. “By definition, the IP is meant to broaden the audience.”
    “The whole company’s premised on entertaining, great storytelling,” D’Amaro said. “And in all of our stories, whether they be in animation or through our traditional characters or Star Wars or Marvel or Pixar, there’s this sense of connection to these characters. There’s this emotion that’s created, and then we carry that through into the theme parks.”

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    PepsiCo earnings beat estimates even as U.S. demand falls

    PepsiCo’s quarterly earnings and revenue beat Wall Street’s expectations.
    The company reiterated its full-year outlook.

    Cases of Pepsi soda are displayed at a Costco Wholesale store on April 25, 2025 in San Diego, California.
    Kevin Carter | Getty Images

    PepsiCo on Thursday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts’ expectations, despite weaker demand for its food and drinks in North America.
    Shares of the company rose roughly 2% in premarket trading.

    Here’s what Pepsi reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

    Earnings per share: $2.12 adjusted vs. $2.03 expected
    Revenue: $22.73 billion vs. $22.27 billion expected

    Pepsi reported second-quarter net income attributable to the company of $1.26 billion, or 92 cents per share, down from $3.08 billion, or $2.23 per share, a year earlier.
    Excluding restructuring and impairment charges and other items, the company earned $2.12 per share.
    Net sales rose 1% to $22.73 billion. Pepsi’s organic revenue, which excludes acquisitions, divestitures and foreign currency, increased 2.1% during the quarter.
    But the company is still seeing softer demand for its products. Pepsi’s worldwide volume fell 1.5% for its food and was flat for its drinks. The metric strips out pricing and foreign exchange changes.

    Volume dropped again in North America, although CEO Ramon Laguarta said in a statement that the domestic business is improving. The company’s North American food division, which includes both Frito-Lay and Quaker Foods, saw its volume shrink 1%.
    Pepsi’s domestic drinks segment reported that its volume fell 2% in the quarter, although its namesake soda was one bright spot. Executives said in prepared remarks that volume for Pepsi rose during the quarter, and Pepsi Zero Sugar saw double-digit volume growth.
    As part of Pepsi’s strategy to boost its North American sales, it’s leaning into the protein craze and multicultural product offerings, like those from Siete Foods and Sabra. The company is also working on ensuring better in-store availability and placement of its products.
    Pepsi is also cutting costs and trying to improve its profit margins. The company closed two manufacturing plants for its North American food business during the quarter. Pepsi also said it is trying to make its transportation and logistics more efficient.
    The company added it is evaluating how it spends its marketing dollars to make sure it is getting the best return on its investment. And Pepsi is also looking for any overlap between its North American food and beverage businesses to cut down on duplication and better integrate the two divisions.
    Pepsi reiterated its full-year outlook. It still expects its core constant currency earnings per share to be roughly unchanged from the prior year and organic revenue to grow by a low single-digit percentage.
    Last quarter, the company cut its earnings forecast, citing new tariffs, economic volatility and a more cautious consumer.

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    Crypto theft is booming as criminals increasingly turn to physical attacks

    So far this year, $2.17 billion has been stolen from crypto services — already eclipsing 2024’s amount, according to a report from Chainalysis.
    The total amount of crypto stolen from both platforms and individuals is nearing $3 billion amid a spike in attacks on individual crypto wallets.
    It comes as there have been multiple headlines this year about crypto entrepreneurs and their relatives being targeted with physical violence.

    Digital currency thefts are on the rise.
    Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto via Getty Images

    The value of cryptocurrencies stolen by criminals surged in the first six months of 2025 after a high-profile hack and a wave of physical attacks targeting crypto holders and their relatives.
    So far this year, $2.17 billion has been stolen from crypto services — already eclipsing the $1.87 billion of funds stolen from platforms in 2024 — and this is expected to reach $4 billion by the end of 2025, according to a report published Thursday by blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.

    Overall, the combined value of digital tokens stolen from both crypto platforms and individuals hit more than $2.8 billion and is already approaching the $3.4 billion in crypto stolen last year.
    The bulk of the funds stolen from services came from February’s cyberattack on Dubai crypto exchange Bybit, which saw North Korea-linked hackers make off with $1.5 billion. It’s estimated to be the largest crypto heist in history.
    However, the rise in stolen crypto assets was also driven by a spike in attacks on individual crypto wallets. Personal wallets accounted for over 23% of total thefts, with attackers increasingly turning to physical violence and coercion to access funds, Chainalysis said.

    In January, David Balland, a co-founder of crypto wallet firm Ledger, was kidnapped with his wife from their home in central France. Before they were freed, the attackers cut off Balland’s finger and sent footage of it to his fellow co-founder Eric Larcheveque demanding ransom money.
    Separately, in May, the father of a crypto entrepreneur was taken in broad daylight by four men wearing ski masks. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of several million euros and cut off one of the man’s fingers. He was freed by police days later.

    Eric Jardine, cybercrimes research lead at Chainalysis, told CNBC that the rise in crypto-related thefts was primarily being driven by increasing crypto adoption and price appreciation.
    “Adoption means there are more services and users in the crypto ecosystem, making thefts more common. Price appreciation means that services and individuals in crypto have more USD value to lose, even if the total assets stolen are relatively constant over time,” Jardine said via email.

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    Jardine suggested that the uptick in attacks on individual crypto holders could relate to the fact that crypto trading services are beefing up their security.
    “If services become better at security, malicious actors will potentially move to targeting individual wallet holders and trade off a single large-scale heist in favor of a large number of smaller-scale victimizations,” he said.
    Meanwhile, rising wealth accumulated through holdings of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin has resulted in a rise in crypto influencers flaunting their lifestyle on social media platforms.
    Jardine stressed it was important not to blame the victims of physical crypto-related attacks, adding that “showy displays of wealth can quite obviously attract the attention of a bad actor when compared to a more modest outward facing lifestyle.” More

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    Why is AI so slow to spread? Economics can explain

    Talk to executives and before long they will rhapsodise about all the wonderful ways in which their business is using artificial intelligence. Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase recently said that his bank has 450 use cases for the technology. “AI will become the new operating system of restaurants,” according to Yum! Brands, which runs KFC and Taco Bell. AI will “play an important role in improving the traveller experience”, says the owner of Booking.com. In the first quarter of this year executives from 44% of S&P 500 companies discussed AI on earnings calls. More

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    in Finance

    Trump’s real threat: industry-specific tariffs

    When Donald Trump’s tariffs are mentioned, you might recall his “Liberation Day” duties on uninhabited islands, his on-again, off-again threats against Canada, or the curt letters he has sent foreign leaders informing them of imminent rates. These country-level tariffs dominate attention. So it is easy to forget that the steepest tariffs Mr Trump has thus far implemented are on products, not countries. And by all indications more of these “sectoral” tariffs are coming soon. More