 Gas prices over $7.00 a gallon are displayed at a Chevron gas station in Menlo Park, Calif., on May 25. | Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Oil giants Exxon and Chevron posted record profits for Q2 amid a surge in oil prices that saw average U.S. gas prices surpass $5 per gallon for the first time. Exxon reported $17.9B in profits for Q2 compared to $4.7B reported last year, nearly quadrupling its profits YoY. Chevron reported $11.6B in profits for Q2, compared to $3.08B reported last year, nearly quadrupling its profits YoY. Surging energy costs have been a critical contributor to the rise in inflation, which came in at 9.1% in June. Energy prices are up more than 40% YoY. More: - Chevron reported $5.82 EPS, and Exxon reported $4.14 EPS.
- Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said the company more than doubled its investments in traditional and new energy business lines.
- Chevron’s output in the Permian Basin rose 15% YoY.
- For its U.S. operations, the average sales price per barrel of oil was $89 in Q2, up from $54 reported last year.
- Chevron increased its guidance for its buyback program to $15B.
- Exxon said it produced 3.7 million barrels per day in Q2, up 4% from Q1.
- Chevron shares closed at $163.78 on Friday, up ~9%; Exxon closed at $96.93, up ~5%.
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Apple’s Q3 revenue rose 2% YoY to $83B, buoyed by strong sales of iPhone and other services. The reported revenue was higher than analysts’ forecasts of $82.81B. Diluted EPS came in at $1.20 per share, higher than expected figures of $1.16 per share. Net income for the quarter was $19.4B. More: - iPhone continued to be the strongest product line in Apple’s portfolio, bringing in nearly half of the total revenue at $40.67B, up 3% YoY.
- Apple’s services raked up $19.6B in revenue, registering a 12% YoY growth.
- The Mac product line saw revenues decline by 10% to $7.38B.
- Apple did not formally announce the guidance for the fourth quarter, but analysts expect the company’s revenues to touch $90M, equating to $1.31 earnings per share.
- In the quarter, Apple bought back shares worth $21.7B.
- In what CFO Luca Maestri described as a “challenging operating environment,” revenue for Q3 climbed by 36% compared to the same period a year prior.
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 A message from BOXABL Elon Musk said what about this start-up?! The high-profile billionaire shouted out Boxabl, calling it a “cool product.” The Lego Architecture is eye-catching, taking the $13 trillion global construction industry by storm. Can they pull off becoming a disruptor? Why Boxabl? - Setting up a 170,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in less than one year
- Raising over $100M from over 15,000 investors
- Elon Musk shouted out the Las Vegas-based company calling Boxabl a “cool product.”
- Achieving LEED certification and hurricane wind ratings on all houses
- Strategic partnership and investment from the largest home builder in the USA, D.R. Horton Inc.
- Over 50 patent filings due to considerable innovations in building technology
- Factory 2 is now under construction
- Customer waitlist of over 100,000 pre-orders, indicating potential demand worth billions of dollars
- Guided by Volkswagen Group's Porsche Consulting Inc. for the design and implementation of Boxabl’s new factory
- Shipping houses every day
Invest Today
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GDP rose by 0.7% QoQ in the Eurozone and by 0.6% in the EU, per preliminary data compiled by Eurostats. The Eurozone registered a 4% YoY growth, above predictions of a 3.4% gain YoY by economists polled by Reuters. Sweden, Spain, and Italy recorded the highest growth compared to the previous quarter at 1.4%, 1.1%, and 1.0%, respectively. More: - GDP contracted in Latvia, Lithuania, and Portugal by 1.4%, 0.4%, and 0.2%, respectively, compared to the preceding quarter.
- Growth in Germany, the largest economy in Europe, stagnated on account of soaring inflation and gas supply uncertainty.
- France reported 0.5% growth after its economy contracted by 0.2% in the first quarter.
- Inflation increased from the 8.6% number reported last month to 8.9%, a new all-time high for the area.
- Earlier this month, the European Central Bank (ECB) increased its key interest rate by 0.5%, bringing it to 0.0%.
- The rate was increased for the first time in 11 years. It had been negative since 2014.
- There is a recession on the horizon, according to JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, with the latter predicting it to begin in the current quarter.
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Amazon released its Q2 earnings on Thursday, beating expectations on revenue and providing upbeat guidance for Q3. The e-commerce giant reported total revenue of $121.23B, up 7% YoY. Amazon reported a net loss of $2B, or 20 cents a share, primarily due to its investment in EV maker Rivian. Amazon recorded a $3.9B loss on its Rivian investment, bringing its total loss on the investment this year to $11.5B. Rivian shares are down over 60% YTD. More: - Amazon sold more than 300 million items on Prime Day 2022 (July 12 and 13). Prime members globally purchased more than 100,000 items per minute.
- Amazon device sales broke the record on Prime Day.
- Amazon’s core e-commerce business reported a 4% decline in sales YoY; its physical store sales grew 12%.
- Amazon’s AWS business generated $19.7B in revenue, up 33% YoY, and $5.7B in operating income, up 36% YoY.
- Amazon’s operating income fell to $3.3B in Q2, compared to $7.7B reported last year.
- AWS accounted for all the company’s operating income for Q2.
- Amazon’s ad revenue rose 18% YoY.
- The company expects Q2 revenue between $125B and $130B, representing a growth of 13% to 17%.
- Amazon shares jumped more than 13% in after-market trading on Thursday.
- It closed at $134.95 on Friday, up 10% for the day; Amazon is down ~21% YTD.
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 A message from FIREWORK Holiday Commerce No Longer Starts in Q4 Christmas shopping now begins all the way in July for most buyers — especially Gen Z. According to recent Salesforce research, 42% of shoppers worldwide are planning to buy gifts earlier this year, with inflation the biggest motivator behind that trend. With Gen Z making up 30% of the population and some $360bn in spending power, Firework’s Gen Z Labs seeks to provide an interactive and engaging way for marketers to understand how to connect and convert this group when it comes to holiday shopping. Learn from the founders of leading Gen Z brands such as: - Grande Cosmetics
- That’s It Bars
- Minddbra
Watch them share their learnings and best practices for Gen Z marketing. Inside.com subscribers also get 20% any purchases made through the microsite with the code FIREWORK20. Get a headstart
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The U.S. government has reached a $1.74B agreement with Moderna to buy 66 million doses of Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine. The deal also includes an option to buy up to 234 million additional doses as part of a fall booster campaign. The agreement with Moderna comes about a month after the government signed a similar deal with Pfizer for 105 million doses of its updated vaccine worth $3.2B. More: - The FDA still needs to approve the updated vaccines, which the companies are modifying to provide stronger protection against the latest variants of the virus.
- The new vaccines are expected to roll out as early as September.
- The White House has asked Congress for more than $20B to continue buying vaccines, treatments, and other COVID-19 products.
- The Biden administration estimates about 100 million Americans could catch COVID-19 in the fall and winter without additional funds for vaccines.
- The average weekly number of COVID cases rose to 130,000 as of July 26, up from 25,000 cases reported for the week ended March 29.
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Consumer goods company Procter & Gamble reported their Q4 and fiscal year earnings, missing analysts’ expectations on quarterly EPS by one cent. Adjusted EPS came in at $1.21 per share. The company reported higher than expected revenue of $19.52B, against forecasts of $19.4B. Net income for the quarter totaled $3.05B. Net sales figures for Fiscal Year 2022 summed up to $80.2B, with diluted EPS of $5.81 per share. More: - In FY2022, P&G repurchased shares worth $10B and issued dividend payments totaling $8.8B.
- While organic sales increased by 7% in the quarter, the company “expects another year of significant headwinds” going into 2023, per president and CEO Jon Moeller.
- Earnings in FY2023 are forecasted to be higher by only 4%, which amounts to $5.93 per share guidance at mid-range.
- P&G predicts that organic sales growth will be in the 3% to 5% range for the 2023 fiscal year.
- Foreign exchange rates, commodity costs, and freight costs are anticipated to cause headwinds of $3.3B in the next fiscal year, with the effect most pronounced during the first fiscal half.
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Quick Hits - Jennifer Lopez’s and Aaron Rodgers’ newest bottled coffee investment. Get 30% off two 12-packs.*
- Under Armour has agreed to pay $67.5M to settle the UCLA sponsorship suit. UCLA had accused Under Armour of using the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to end their $280M sponsorship agreement. The 15-year deal was the largest college-sports apparel sponsorship deal ever signed. The trial for the suit was scheduled for October.
- The personal consumption expenditures price index rose 6.8% in June, its largest jump since Jan. 1982. The PCE is followed closely by the Fed. Excluding food and energy, core PCE rose 4.8% YoY.
- Rivian is laying off 6% of its workers, or about 840 people. The layoffs would not impact its manufacturing and production departments. The move comes less than a year after Rivian’s record IPO. Rivian is down more than 70% since its public listing.
- The state of California plans to manufacture its own insulin in a bid to reduce costs. A vial of insulin costs about $10 to make but retails for more than $300. California lawmakers approved $100M for the project, with $50M dedicated to developing three types of insulin.
- Your content management system could be doing more. Discover who has the best agile CMS for you and your teams with our checklist.*
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 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie is a Researcher at Inside. Her interests include finance, tech, and startups. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending music festivals, and traveling. Connect with her on Twitter @VanessaOmeo or through email at vanessa@inside.com |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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