macro. we get boj decision tonight, as well. but tomorrow, it's really how much does powell set up the possibility of a september cut, and also, just how much is the fed really focusing on the labor picture as we do see that market continue to soften? >> we'll see. >> all right, that's going to do it for us here at "overtime." >> “fast money” starts now. live from the nasdaq market site in the heart of new york city's times square, this is "fast money." here's what's on tap tonight. a massive fight of earnings. microsoft shedding about $200 billion in market cap after its latest results. pinterest dropping more than 20% at its lows. we're dialed into the calls and more. we'll bring you all the trades. plus, the fed in focus. we're counting down to the central bank's next decision coming tomorrow. and what it could mean for rates and the markets. later, jetblue shares take off after posting a surprise profit. merck with its worst day in three years. and a staples stalwart losing

three months of gains in one day. i'm melissa lee, coming to you live from studio b at the nasdaq. on the desk tonight -- tim seymour, karen finerman, dan nathan, and guy adami. we start off with that huge slate of earnings. some big names on the move in the afterhours trade. we've got team coverage on all these names. kate rolgers with starbucks, julia boorstin is watching pinterest. but we start off with steve kovach, who hasall the details on microsoft's results. steve? >> yeah, mel. microsoft squeaked by with beats on the top and bottom lines, but disappointing growth in cloud, and a big jump in capex from last march quarter is weighing shares down. first, the ruments here, eps was a beat at $2.95. street was looking for $2.93. and revenue, aer have slight beat here, $64.7 billion, street was looking for $64.39 billion. and on azure cloud growth, this was a little bit of a deceleration, and the first miss since october of 2022, 29% versus 30.2% expected.

meantime, azure a.i. services percentage of that revenue, it's 8%. that is up 7% last quarter and 6% the quarter before that. so, at least that part is growing. that final stat is really important one to watch, with a.i. services, making up a larger and larger chunk of azure growth. it appears to be working pretty well for them, as for capital expenditures, though. microsoft spend $19 billion in the quarter, presumably most of that going towards building out a.i. infrastructure. and that's up a whopping 77% from the year ago quarter. so, what to listen for on the call, guys at 5:30? microsoft's explanation for that massive capex. we saw alphabet shares punished for the lack of clarity around its massive capex spend, but not spending as much as microsoft, mel. >> you think we'll hear about revenue contribution from co-pilot yet, steve? >> i truly doubt it, mel. it's -- they've been so opaque and not really talking about

sales figures or anything related to co-pilot. seems like all the a.i. action is really happening in azure. i've been speaking to i.t. professionals for the last several months about whether or not they're buying co-pilot for their employees, and the thing i hear again and again and again about co-pilot is, we're going to test it, we use it and realize it's just not worth the cost, so we're going to put it aside for now. it seems like that's the story, at least for now until we get real sales data from microsoft. >> steve, thank you. keep us posted. again, conference call, half an hour's time, it gets under way. what was wrong with the quarter, guy? >> nothing. what's wrong with the quarter, the valuation is excessive. and now people are sort of focused on valuation. and we talked about it with gene last night. azure needed to come in basically in line with expectations, it came in a percent light. when you start to see deceleration, the market gets concerned. i'll say this, as well. margin is okay, but year over year flat margins. a stock that traded up to $470

now down 15%, question is not where you sell it, it's where you buy it. if you look at the april low, april 30th, the stock basically traded down, i want to say $ $390ish, that's a logical level to trade down and hold. and then, it starts to make sense. and then at least you can sort of wrap your head around or make a decent argument on valuation. >> we got an increase in terms of the percentage points as a contribution to azure from a.i., and that was positive, from last quarter. >> yeah, 6%, two quarters ago, 7% last quarter, 8% now. intelligent cloud was up 19% year over year. if you think about the quarter they just reported, as far as revenues, they are up 15%, 16% year over year. it's good that intelligent cloud is making up a greater percentage of the overall revenue, that's where your margin is going to come from. if you are losing some share in that, and seeing some deceleration, some of the things that we've been talking about as far as multiples are concerned, is something that -- in this sort of environment, you want to pay attention to it, and if we are starting to see, as steve

just mentioned, and we've been talking about this a little bit, there's not too many great examples of fortune 100 companies who are saying co-pilot is a game-changer right now for us, we're deploying it across our, you know, our suites and stuff like that, so, to me, this is probably a back half story. you asked steve, are we going to get numbers around co-pilot? i think the numbers in the quarter are going to start to show you it's not a big uptick right now. >> it was a perfectly fine quarter. the numbers actually beat. it is interesting after the march print we got some sense from management that azure was somewhat capacity constrained. so, a little bit of weakness there, not a total surprise, as dan's referencing, and you did, melissa, the intertwined nature of the a.i. workload and what's going on in cloud usage. if you think there's more competition in cloud, and we know there, and we know this becomes a dog fight that i think someone's going to have to start cutting margins by cutting prices. that's not happening yet. it's still growth period, rewarded for the $13 billion in capex, i think, but again, this

is a case where, have we overbuilt, the market wants to see some results. the buildout is clearly ahead of the results, but i think based upon the secular trend here, this is what they're supposed to be doing. >> so, i agree with everything you've been saying. it's not that the quarter was particularly bad, in a vacuum, i think it would have been fine. we're not in a vacuum. this drawdown from $467 or whatever it was, this is pretty big, so, we'll see the multiple probably be sub-30, right? i don't know, dan, if they are necessarily losing share. i think the pie is growing, but i mean, it's funny, even with -- even without how parts come in from the $467, this 1% miss was just not good enough, so, the bar's very, very high. we'll see, you know, what does this mean for meta, what does this mean for amazon, aws, we'll get that on thursday. it is interesting, though, that alphabet, albeit a much smaller

cloud business, was accelerating faster. >> right. so far what it means in the afterhours action is decline of 3% for amazon and meta, guy. is that fair? do we impute what's going on with microsoft in terms of the lack of amazing growth in a.i., to the others? >> well, fair's an interesting word. when things get dragged up on the back of good quarters over the last couple years, i mean, if it's fair or not doesn't matter. so, it works the other way, as well. i think in the context of what we're talking about, it makes sense, because for the last couple weeks ish, it feels like the market is sell first, ask questions later, which again sort of makes sense. we'll see how this plays out, but in terms of microsoft, it's not, i think, the time to sell it was probably, again, in retrospect, a couple weeks ago. now you're aying, where is the right entry point? that april low sort of sticks out to me. >> just one more thing on meta. with pins, that is weighing heavily on meta, as well. >> that's a good point there. >> yeah, we're going to have our markets conversation, but this is a markets conversation,

because we continue to see theed b broadening of the market. every megacap tech stock, microsoft, amazon, google, meta was there. they were teetering at the 100-day before this. now you have a dynamic where all those people who said, i'm looking for that place to buy this dip, it, you know, it takes a more strong stomach, i should say, even though these are the most defensive companies in the world on some level, and the valuations respect terrible. >> let's say we don't have great traction when it comes to ai a revenue, a.i. contribution for microsoft in the back half of the year, or maybe the first half of next year. how do you -- does that matter for nvidia? >> sure. >> they're still going to spend. >> yeah. nvidia is trading up right now, you know, because basically that capex number is causing some investors, okay, we're okay. especially after how much the stock has come off a little bit. i'll just say this about the spend, and recognizing, you know, some return on this investment, i mean, we're also digesti ing an economy that see

to be slowing right now. so, if you think about just enterprise spending, it usually comes down in a slower, you know, environment. and there's pretty easy things to pull back on a little bit, especially if you spent tens of billions of dollars, you know what i mean, beefing up your sort of a.i., when you don't really see something in the near term. that's when you can kind of -- you know, bring things in a little bit. so, again, none of us can tell you whether the economy is slowing, but right now, it seems to be signs of it. >> let's bring in gene munster of deepwater. he is the managing partner there, and a "fast money" friend. gene, what's your take here? >> melissa, i think they missed on the herb from point, of course, but the stock reaction is an overreaction, and ultimately, i think that this speaks to how sensitive investors are, just for any little blink, i think karen, you were talking about this, just any fracture. there's 12 metrics, kind of key metrics that come out in this quarter. they beat on 11 of the 12 and they missed on the intelligent

cloud by 1%. and i think that this reaction, it is, again, deja vu relative to what we saw with google. >> that's what it's all about, gene. that's the only thing they missed on is the only thing the market cares about. >> all that makes sense, but at the end of the day, i think this is the reaction tonight. we're going to get guidance in a little bit. that's going to have a huge impact. the street is looking at a slight deceleration, to,so that going to be an important piece to this. at the end of the day, i think the piece that really jumps out to me is this capex number. this is a really good sign for the a.i. trade. and these big companies, they cannot afford to take their foot off the accelerator when it comes to this investment. and ultimately, i think dan mentioned that nvidia is up in the afterhours, that makes sense. i see this as most encouraging. so, understand the near-term reaction. people focused on that azure number. but i think the a.i. trade is

still in lock-step and good position. >> and gene, so, it's tim, thanks for joining. certainly microsoft has somewhat unique imbedded a.i. solutions, but what i think we're talking about here is a margin hit, at least in the short run. can you talk about that? because, again, we can say it's the cost of doing business, but at some point, it really is something that could indicate that there's competition and there's dynamics around the valuation. >> so near term, the stock is going to move, long-term in the margins, too. i would say this, i'm confident that as they continue to increase their spend in the near term, that margins are going to be under pressure. i think that is -- that is a safe bet, and you're seeing some of that in the stock. i'm also confident that this investment will bay off, and ultimately, i think that this is going to lead to higher if not highest margins that microsoft has seen. so, i don't know what that period is, if it's a one-yearin v in investment period. by 2026, we're going to really

reap the benefits. we talked about the timing of this contribution last night from co-pilot, it's going to take time. and ultimately, i think this is the right, even if it's at the cost of near-term margins, it is absolutely the right thing. if they don't make this investment, they are going to be -- they won't be microsoft. it won't be a $3 trillion company, it will be $1 trillion. they have to do it. and it's going to be good for margins long-term. >> gene, it's karen, thanks for being on today. do you think we'll get more granularity on the call about co-pilot? one of the giant questions out there is monetization of the a.i. spend. >> it's definitely going to come up, and i think they will probably give a metric. i think this is something that will probably give some indication on it, and probably conclude with, we're starting to build, and that next year is probably the year where they are going to start to see it. that's going to be another factor, along with guidance, as far as what the contribution is. i expect them to say something on that topic. >> gene, great to get your take. we'll check in with you after

the call starts in about 16 minutes time. >> sounds good. >> guy, if they don't give the co-pilot number, which is widely expected at this point, they give okay -- what do you think happens to the stock? >> i think it could get down to that level we talked about, and tim made a great point, as he typically does, everybody says i have a level that i want to buy a stock, until that stock gets there, and it's never for reasons that you thought, and you're scared blankless, as you know. but if you try to take emotion out of it and look at the levels, it starts to make sense. and for the first time in a long time, to karen's point, you know, at least you can make a case on valuation for sure. if you are in gene's camp, this is an entry point for a longer term position, so, again, it's not where you sell microsoft, it's where you step in and buy it. we have a news alert we want to get to on bio gen and an alzheimer's drug. >> according to new data just released, the alzheimer's drug leqembi did slow alzheimer's,

according to new data released today. the study found that the health of alzheimer's patients who took the therapy did worsen after they stopped treatment, and that the rates of adverse side effects associated with the drug including brain bleeding and swelling dropped after six months of treatment. you see there, the stock up about 1% here on that news. melissa? >> all right, thank you very much, pippa. and the other competitor in the market now, el lie lily with its recently approved drug here, tim. a lot of developments in this area, which is very promising. >> look, it's fantastic for mankind. and it certainly is a case where we think there's progress, but bio gen and lilly, it's been a two-horse race. at times -- it was a year ago, we were pushing back on the news, and there's been some followthrough that's very good. lilly, as we get into that trade, we talk about it all the time, the correlation that lilly does seem to have to some of the

other high flying multiple, i should say megacap tech stocks, and that's something that clearly continued again today. so, we'll see where it trades tomorrow along with these other names. >> yeah, let's get back to tech earnings here. want to check in on shares of amd, up 7%. this after the chip maker beat on the top and bottom lines. that kate rooney is here with us to break it down. >> amd's quarter was driven by that record revenue for data center and a.i. lisa su saying she expecting gpu revenue to exceed $4.5 billion this year. that's up from the $4 billion they guided to in april. you saw the stock move slightly higher on that news. data center revenue for the quarter was up 115% from a year ago. lisa su said our a.i. business, as she put it, it's continued accelerating. we are well-positioned to deliver strong revenue growth in the second half of the year. she says the rapid advances in generative a.i. are driving that demand for more compute. she mentioned microsoft, you

were talking about the capex, creating significant growth opportunities. overall, revenue for the quarter beat expectations $5.84 billion, and in gross margins, in line at 53%, same with the outlook there. the investor community, analysts out there are waiting for the full-year revenue forecast for the a.i. chip, in particular, the mi-300. the number to beat is $4 billion, that's the guidance in the first quarter. the a.i. chip is key. wall street wants to see higher revenue forecast as proof of that a.i. demand they've been talking about. do not miss a big interview on "squawk on the street tomorrow," lisa su is going to be joining that team in the morning. >> kate, thank you. kate rooney. we were just talking about amd on the call as being the laggard in the a.i. trade, languishing since february. >> lisa su just said $4.5 billion, that's 18% of their total for the ear, you know, again, this is expected to grow revenues, you know, somewhere about, i don't know, 30% something next year, earnings

are expected to grow 56%, it's trading 25 times. if you think these guys that far behind the eight-ball, or about to catch up, i think lisa su seems confident about this. the sentiment is really bad right now, relative to nvidia, so, again, competition is going to come sooner or later, it should be from these guys. >> it's been awful. going into this print, the stock was down 40% from its highs back in march. as nvidia was starting to separate, we were suddenly waiting for the mi-300, and waiting for that data set. but that stock was down 10% year to date going into this print, in a year when we know what we've been talking about, 24/7. so, do think it's a very interesting story. it's acknowledged as a distant second, but this is a stock for people that have been looking for underperformers. there's no question amd is on that list. >> the valuation is virtually the same. so, in thatten cotext, is this the underperformer that you bet on, because it's been underperforming or is there a notion it is too expensive, considering -- >> who has a greater growth

trajectory, right? same valuation, but one is better than the other. you want to go with the one that has more growth opportunities. however, i mean, given the magnitude of the selloff, this quarter was fine, the guide was fine. is it this guy? probably not. but it's been so oversold, to tim's earlier point, that you are getting this relief rally. i think you have to wait and see on this one. >> i think both nvidia and amd are about 30% off their highs, give or take, so you know, i really wonder, does it matter that amd is 2$220 billion, $230 billion, is that more attractive of something ten times the size? i know it sounds crazy, but i think that's possible. but you know, also, the momentum may be shifting here, so, that's good. part of the reason nvidia is up, not just the spend from microsoft, but the amd numbers. coming up, we're keeping an eye on microsoft as we await the conference call. but first, pinterest plunging after its results.

details from 2 quarter and results from starbucks next. and a number of names catching our eyes from today's session. the reasons behind the moves and why these stocks should be on your radar, ahead. don't go anywhere. "fast money" is back in two. this is "fast money" with melissa lee right here on cnbc. complexity. healthcare payments are filled with it. wasted time, inadequate resources. confusion about the cost of care and how to afford it. it's time to simplify. waystar's technology is the way to make healthcare payments more human. the way for providers to prioritize care and improve margins. the way for patients to have clarity and trust. the way to care for healthcare payments.

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welcome back to "fast money." we've got an earnings alert on pinterest. shares are plummeting afterhours despite a top and bottom line beat. the problem, weak guidance. julia boorstin has the details. >> pinterest shares plummeting, down 11%, on that disappointing third quarter guidance. the stock beat expectations on the top and bottom lines, and added million more monthly active users than expected, but third quarter guidance between $885 and $900 million, that's in a range lower than the analyst consensus of $907 million. pinterest ceo bill ready saying on thecall that they see momentum around pinterest, and they're using a.i. to drive increased use for both users and

results for advertisers. on the call just now, the company's cfo explaining the weaker than expected third quarter outlook, citing tougher comps, foreign exchange headwinds, and the fact that they're guidance does not assume material improvement in the trends for the food and beverage category. but they did note that the ad market is relatively stable versus last quarter. they also said they're seeing real strength in the retail vertical. meta, snap, and reddit are also trading down along with pinterest. meta reports tomorrow. snap on thursday, and then we hear from reddit next week. melissa? >> all right, julia, thank you. julia booursen. tougher comps, but you're giving a lower range anyway? shouldn't make a difference what the comps are in the range its is lower than even the analyst expectations, but putting that aside, it is a disappointing third quarter outlook. >> the outlook. the quarter was okay. arpu, tim?

>> average revenue per user. >> thank you. valuation is okay. the stock has traded down from about 45 bucks, and we talked about april lows, well, throw up a chart. this 33 level is down to the april low. this is one i actually think you close your eyes an buy. >> meta, the read off of it, obviously, not good. at best it's neutral, and likely it's something worse than neutral, but the valuation of meta here is actually, to me, far more attractive than pinterest. or reddit or any of the other ones. let's get to starbucks now. shares at this point are up 3% after the company reported its third quarter results. they missed on revenue. sales abroad falling more than expected. kate rogers has the latest. >> hey, melissa. as you said, mixed q-3 for starbucks. eps in line, revenues a miss. global comps down 3%. north america down 2%. both of those roughly in line. international comps down 7%. that's more than the 5.1

expected. china comps down 14%. transactions also fell in all operating segments, and the company's release said that financial outlook will be discussed during the conference call. it has not yet come up. the ceo, though, did say, we're not satisfied with the results, our actions are making an impact. and leading business and operational indicators are trending in the right direction ahead of our financial results and our runway for improvement is long. some of its new equipment and training systems, he noted, have shown the ability to drive a 10 to 20-second wait time reduction, that's key, and a resulting comp opportunity range of 1% to 1.5%. shares up 2% afterhours, as you said, with the call still ongoing. he did confirm elliott management is a shareholder in the company. conversations to date have been constructive. and on china, very interesting here. more cautious consumer spending and intensified competition were two things he mentioned, but they are playing the long game in that market. >> nothing yet, kate, on the promotional activity and the results of that? >> not yet.

it has boosted some what of its business and remember, they opened up the mobile app to everyone, just now in july. they're saying that people are redeeming some of the offers, but they haven't mentioned that $5 value offer yet. i'm curious to see how that has fared for them. and what the outlook is for the future and if they continue to plan to, you know, use that promotional activity in the app for people who are nonrewards member. they want to continue to grow. >> all right, kate, thank you. kate rogers. relief, tim. >> it is. value is a relative term at starbucks. i get that they've got these pairings and this $5 value, but -- speaking of kind of the loyalty program. $33.5 million loyalty members at this point, up 7% year over year. the china news is the kind of news that we've been expecting and doesn't really -- we're kind of expecting that at this point. the cost controls are a big thing. the elliott dynamic is helpful. it doesn't solve starbucks' issues. and i think the new machinery and the improved operational performance is fine. i think they need to be careful about brewing out of that

machine rather than just a traditional drip brew. it just -- >> you don't like the machine? >> i dislike the machine a lot. doesn't taste as good. >> goes after the starbucks, the chipotle, up by -- >> because i love these brands, because i love these companies, and i'm disappointed. i mean -- >> i'm a channel check. >> right. >> and they should be listening to you. >> like a peter lynch sort of -- >> chipotle makes a burrito faster than starbucks can make a cup of coffee. >> to be fair, people order, like, the extra whatever and the cream and the -- >> that's not me, by the way. >> 10 to 20 seconds wait time something that's tree to five minutes or something like that. it's not great. >> all right. we've got a news alert on intel. let's go to pippa stevens. >> intel will cut thousands of jobs to fund a turnunder a, according to a report in bloomberg, as a company looks to rebound from an earnings slump. the work force reduction could be announced as early as this

week, according to the report. the company does report earnings tomorrow after the bell. now, this comes after intel cut its work force by 5% last year after first implementing job cuts beginning in october 2022. the stock, though, not really reacting to this report. at least not now. melissa? >> pippa, thank you. pippa stevens. maybe a preview of what's to come in that earnings report tomorrow, guy. >> no doubt. no doubt. but it's -- to me, it's a bigger story. think about the world that they live in. think about what they're attempting to do, and this is now the second time in the course of a year they're cutting jobs, to basically try to improve the top line. that's not just intel, by the way. that's going to go across a swath of industries, going to man any fest itself in the unemployment rate, which is still going to continue to go higher. you're going to hear about t tthe sahm rule -- >> you're what? >> sahm rule. 5 obey sis points above the three-month moving average,

3.7%. 4.2 would kit it in, and historically, that's been a very negative indicator for the market, so, that's not bad. >> i'm glad i asked. the more you know, right? that was -- >> can you do -- can we play the graphic? >> i have a button, i should bring that out on set. little chime. >> real quick. unemployment rate, that's going to start to move in ways that people don't think, and that's not going to be positive for the market. >> intel's results -- thursday, i misspoke, after the close. but still, this is a company that's supposed to be reshoring. we're building foundries here in the united states. >> i'm not worried about that. there's so much money being thrown at intel. they have a lot of jv partners. they've raised a ton of money. the fact they're focused on operational control, i actually like to hear that. it's not as if they don't have resources. this is semiconductor usa right here, and i think over the long-term, that's exactly what it's going to be. there's a lot more "fast money" to come. here's what's coming up next. >> big earnings action this mormorn i

ing. the names to watch and more of the afterhours action next. plus, another key fed decision on deck. what tomorrow's move from the central bank could mean for the banking sector. you're watching "fast money," live from the insnasdaq market e in timessquare. we're back right after this. >> no application fee if you apply by august 29th at university of maryland global campus, an accredited university that's transformed adult lives for 75 years. you're not waiting to win, you're ready to succeed again at umgc.edu.

welcome back to "fast money." stocks closing mixed ahead of tomorrow's big fed decision. the dow jumping more than 200 points. the s&p falling half a percent. the nasdaq dropping more than a percent. shares of microsoft are down by 6.25% in the afterhours trading session. the company conference call just getting under way. we'll bring you the headlines as soon as we get them. and more afterhours action. ea on the move after missing on revenues. live nation lower due to an earnings miss. and shares of mondelez higher after posting a top line beat and raising its dividend 11%. and meantime, in the regular session, shares of jetblue flying high on the back of their results this morning. a surprise to fit. and saying it would defer another $3 billion in aircraft spending through 2029 to improve cash flow. shares of paypal jumping after a top and bottom line beat. the company raising its

full-year profit outlook. that is the p in blicep. >> yeah, i think they're making progress here, and there's a turnaround that's maybe faster than it has been. not time to do tons of cartwheels here and the blicep -- >> what's yours, again? >> mine is helm. >> helm. and what is yours again? >> clam. >> the clam. >> how is that -- >> clam -- you know, since you brought it up, the clam is doing extraordinarily well. >> it is. >> didn't even make it clam. clamp would be underwater, so to speak. >> you don't want to put too much in the clam. it's fine the way it is. >> you have to be tender. so, i mean, it's a case where i do think that valuation is fine. i think paypal still has a lot to prove in the world of payments. you know, another name also out there, diagio, which got crushed, it's been a relentless move. and they pointed out about the consumer, stuff we already knew, but ultimately, this, to me, is a name that's starting to get

interesting, because we've heard this for 18 months. coming up, the fed gearing up to deliver another rate call tomorrow and we're honing in on the bank trade to see how that group will fare. that is next. plus, we're dialed into microsoft's conference call. we'll bring you all the headlines you need to know. a check in on the big tech trade. that's coming up. don't go anywhere. "fast money" is back in two. missed a moment of "fast?" catch us any time on the go. follow the "fast money" podcast. we're back right after this. that's why at fisher investments we start by getting to know each other. so i can learn about your family, lifestyle, goals and needs, allowing us to tailor your portfolio. (wife) what about commission-based products? (fisher investments) we don't sell those. we're a fiduciary, obligated to act in your best interest. (husband) so how do your management fees work? (fisher investments) we have a transparent fee, structured so we do better when you do better. at fisher investments, we're clearly different.

z zble. welcome back to "fast money." regionals and big banks rising ahead of tomorrow's fed decision. both groups up double digits in july, and financials are the second-best performing s&p sector this month. the one top money manager sees short-term challenges ahead. max is a portfolio manager, runs the financial opportunities etf. max, great to have you with us. >> thank you. >> so, they pull forward in gains? >> well, we've had a huge runup into this print tomorrow, and, you know, i think that we're all excited about future rate cuts, i think tomorrow we'll just get movement towards an expectation for 25 basis points, maybe 50,

depends on the economic data on friday. and if you think about the earnings that just came from 2q, pretty good, a.i.'s b, better commentary for the banks. i think it's a setup for a better fed. lower deposit costs and maybe a normalized curve. that's a pretty good setup. >> that's not going to be enough to help the smaller banks where you still see landmines out there in terms of real estate? >> right. i think on -- they've all but lifted on this, and i think that's an easing of the fed policy. and then we also have seen the real estate group kind of ral i will, as well, but you have to go house to house, and the credit to credit, and we still see some hot spots, new york community bank, for one, flushing financial. there are still some more challenged portfolios. >> kre has had a great run, as you know. but i look -- we talked about intel laying off people, the unemployment rate starts to move, the economy's slowing down. those all should be headwinds for a sector that's done extraordinarily well over the last month and a half, two

months. is this one of these things where the banks have gotten ahead of themselves? >> it's possible. the big banks are up 16%, 17%, and we've seen a lot of improvement there, and theiccan kicker coming in, the capital markets, ipo markets, and that will be a big help for them. and they are still having headwinds, just look at jpmorgan, et cetera. i think we're going to get a normalization on unemployment, as long as we don't go off the curve there, you know, credit should normalize. even when you think about the trajectory, we're still at pretty low levels of unemployment, historically. around new york, it's pretty active, as well. and the commentary, too, american express, bank of america, is still pretty good. so, we'll have to see how that data pra trajects, but i think they're in good shape. >> do you think the runup in the regional banks, how much of that do you think is from acquisition hopes? >> ah -- i -- so, there's a

number of things about that. i think obviously it's a little easier policy in terms of the balance sheets, and the outlook in terms of deposit costs. if we know that's being capped by the fed at some point, that's helpful. but also, you have the elections, perception around trump, kamala, et cetera, in terms of outlook for regulations. i think that will be appreciated regardless of who gets elected in the fall. but you also need to have more fundamental, better improvement, kind of in the underlying fundamentals for the small banks, as well, in order to get consolidation, because a couple of months ago, we were still looking at capital holes and worries and integration and approval. i think part of that is moving in right to direction, and for next year, i think that will be hel help, but we have to see that underlined. >> you just mentioned the headwinds to net interest income, and you mentioned jpmorgan. wells fargo had some issues there. when you look at the results

that bank of america had, and you look at why it's underperformed over multiyear period, we get it, we know what happened in 2022, and that sort of thing. but when you think about, like, warren buffett selling here and he owns more than, you know, he's obviously the number one shareholder, does that -- when you think about that, is that going to be a big overhang for this company, for this stock in particular? >> well, one of the world's most renowned investors selling a big position, i think it's obvious, pause on it. they've sold 70 million shares, still have 960 million shares. that's $40 billion, when you talk about a $14 cost, it's $26 billion of imbedded gains. there's a couple of reasons they may be selling. you know, as the number two position besides apple, it's a big concentration, it's one of warren's particular ones, maybe there's legacy planning in terms of turning it over to his investment managers and their priorities, in terms of the portfolio. number two, they've talked about the apple position, wanting to sell,potentially, of higher

corporate tax rates. that may be a move to lower the tax burden by selling this year versus in the future, just given the imbedded gains. and then, you know, it had a terrific run here. and at the -- you know, maybe just wanting to trim and take those profits in a bigger position. >> mac, thank you for stopping by. >> thank you. we're getting updates from that starbucks conference call. the stock is taking a leg higher. kate rogers has the details. >> melissa, first the question you asked about promotional activity. executives saying there are green chutes in the reinvention plan. the company's executives say it's been measured in promotional activity given it wants to maintain its position as a premium brand. and the stock moving higher, it reaffirmed its full-year 2024 guyens ga. reminder for viewers, revenue growth expected in the low single digits. u.s. and global same-store sales to low single digits and flat. china expected to decline by

single digits, and earnings per share growth in a range of flat to low single digits. they have lowered their guidance last quarter. they maintain that outlook this quarter, and that's why you're seeing the stock higher. >> thank you, kate. up 5% now. are we going to look back on this, tim, and think this was an inflection in terms of their turnaround, or it was a head fake? >> i don't know that you can call it an inflection point. i mean, the turnaround is a function of a lot of different things. and we had a really weak guide, so, we've reaffirmed numbers we were marking down before. the fact that they've actually delivered or seemingly -- let's let them deliver on this. but i still think the consumer has headend withes here. i love starbucks. i have a very small position. i think i'm buying it lower. coming up, an update on microsoft. we'll bring you the headlines from the conference call. plus, two pharma stocks heading in opposite directions. the details from the trade when "fast money" returns.

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and affordable tuition, and why we have online classes and the support you need from your first day to graduation day and beyond. no application fee if you apply by august 29th at umgc.edu. welcome back to "fast money." a couple of pharma stocks moving in opposite directions after results this morning. merck down nearly 10% for its worst day since 2021, despite an earnings beat and strong sales

of its cancer drug keytruda. the company citing shipment issues in china. pfizer, a brighter spot, closing 2% higher after blowing past est estimates. the stock at its highest level since november. karen, i know you were listening into the merck call. >> yeah, the merck call, i thought it sort of was overdone, but i was listening to them talking about gardasil. there was a stuffing -- not stuffing the channel. the channels didn't continue to ask for more shipments and they didn't have a good answer why. i praise them for saying, we don't know exactly what happened there, you know, they talked about a bribery scandal earlier in the year, but they didn't really have a great answer. and i also was thinking, all right, now we're a month into the next quarter, and they still -- they still don't have an answer. so, that's not great. it's very important part of their sales, and actually, it's the second biggest after key tre keytruda, and is mix is more

international. you have to wait and let it shake out. i think they did a good job on the call, as good as you could do, but it's a big question mark. >> your pfizer. >> yeah, my pfizer. lo, they actually beat, they've upped gross margins a little bit. i think they've been very conservative here. there's a dynamic around second generation products that are showing real signs here. i think there's some sense they have positive signs coming from oncology and a couple of their business lines, and then, even things like paxlovid have surprised. you don't want to get excited about that, because that's the reason the stock has been in the you know what. but it's -- it still needs a catalyst, but this is a stock that's up 20% off those lows. coming up, p&g getting hit. how you should play that one from here. that is next. more "fast money" in two. meets bold new thinking. (laughter) at 88 years old, we still see the world

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welcome back to "fast money." a quick check on microsoft. shares are down 5.8%. the earnings call started just a few minutes ago. gene munster has been listening in. what are some of the takeaways so far? >> so far, it's been satya's show, with prepared remarks. the first piece is lots of numbers, lots of growth rates. one that stuck out to me was that the number of customers

that they have for co-pilot doubled quarter on quarter, which sounds really good, but it's 10,000 customers, 10,000 seats, i should say, 10,000 seats. they have 300 million seats in total, so, put that all into context. we're still very early there. the topic of security came up. and my ears perked up, they said nothing, crowdstrike was not mentioned. we'll see if they tackle that in the prepared remarks. and so far, nothing related to co-pilot. the cfo, amy hood, is taking the reins right now and we'll be getting guidance. >> did you say 10,000 co-pilot customers so far? >> seats. i misspoke there. it's seats. so, doubled quarter on quarter. it's great, doubling quarter on a quarter is impressive, and there were lots of numbers he gave out, must have been 25 that were 50%, 60%, 70% growth, so, lots of those numbers. that one stuck out to me in particular, still off of a very small base. >> yeah. gene, thank you. >> thank you. >> gene munster. let's get to the buzz kill

here on a consumer name reported this morning. proctor & gamble seeing its worst day in more than two years. the maker of tide and pampers warned of continued slowdown in china. play this record again. >> over and over. and proctor & gamble, which seems reasonable, maybe it's 23 times next year's, but talking about a company, maybe 6%, 7% eps in revenue growth. recently just made an all-time high. i mean, they're talking about, again, a slowdown. and people feeling the impact. so, this is one, lower left upper right for the last 2 1/2 years or so. i think you're looking for a place to buy it. but i still think there's more room on the downside. >> yeah, i think, too. i just think they had this unbelievably opportune time to pass along price increases. this was an $80 stock back in 2019. what does that mean? doesn't mean anything, other than the fact that on multiple, i actually think it's expensive

relative to itself and it's had an enormous move at a time when these headwinds and these costs are going to make this company have more headwinds going forward. it's not over. >> yeah. i agree with everything they both said. i feel like the game is kind of over. they really did a good job. >> all the price increases, yeah. >> and now the consumer is just pushing back. >> not happy. >> price increase, shrink inflation. >> when you do your laundry, i'm assuming you do your laundry. >> of course i do. >> do you use the pods? >> no. i use liquid. >> those pods, they do seem like -- you want to -- >> delicious? >> they look really good. >> children do. >> kids are doing that. >> i'm not saying to do it. >> dangerous. >> listen. we've been -- we started with some of the comments from citi bank and some of these -- i mean, it's hard to paint a picture about the consumer, we heard resilience, resilience, but what i'm hearing in q-2 earnings and guidance is that maybe some of that resilience is waning. >> pepsi, p&g, mcdonald's.

>> you should wash in cold water, all the time. >> all the time, even white sheets? white towels? >> you wash in cold water. >> i like the hot wash for the whites. >> that shirt looks a little dingy, guy. >> up next, final trades.

final trade time. tim? >> i feel like we should talk about diageo later in the show. 16 1/2 times, cheap to itself, and it's international. >> karen? >> merck. i am long and want to add, but i got to wait. don't buy it yet. three days at least. >> dan? >> yeah, i remain a seller of igv. by the way, guy, you are so brat. >> what?

>> it's going to blow his mind that that's what you are. >> wash your laundry in cold wetw water. met fans, i'm sorry. i think you buy pinterest here. >> thank you for watching "fast." we'll see you back here tomorrow at 5:00. "mad money" withimrar ar rhtow.j cme my mission is simple, to make you money. i'm here to level the playing field for all investors. there is always a market somewhere. i will help you find it. mad money starts now. >> hey, i am cramer. i'm just trying to make you a little money. i want to explain crazy days like today. this market has become a