Here’s what you need to know today

• Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, posted a jaw-dropping $46.7bn in quarterly revenue, up 56% on the same period last year, with one unnamed customer contributing $10.75bn alone. CEO Jensen Huang was characteristically bullish on the AI revolution, pitching the shift to “agentic AI,” technology capable of perceiving, reasoning, planning and acting autonomously, as requiring trillions of dollars in new computing power. Nvidia beat Wall Street’s expectations, but investors focused on a slight data center miss and ongoing uncertainty around China sales. Shares dipped 3% in after hours trading on Wednesday in the US. (WSJ)
  
  

• Donald Trump followed through on his threat to impose a 50% tariff on most goods imported from India. The president had introduced a 25% levy earlier this month, but doubled the rate to punish India for continuing to buy Russian oil. The White House argues those purchases are helping to fund Russia’s war in Ukraine. Wednesday’s move came after five rounds of failed negotiations on a new US-India trade deal. (BBC)
  
  

• Qantas shares climbed 9% and hit an all time high on Thursday after it reported strong results. Revenue grew 9% to $23.8bn and underlying pre-tax profit for the year rose 15% to $2.4bn. The company also declared a final dividend of 16.5%, the highest total payout in 17 years. "Australians' love of travel continues, demand remains strong," CEO Vanessa Hudson told reporters in Sydney. (SMH)
  
  

• Meanwhile Air New Zealand didn’t have such a rosy result, warning that ongoing engine maintenance issues and sluggish domestic demand would continue to pressure earnings in the current financial year. (Reuters)
  
  

• Despite reporting a 14% drop in annual revenue, IDP Education shares jumped 30% on Thursday after upbeat guidance on “profitable growth and yield improvements.” The company has been hit hard by tighter international student rules in Australia, Canada and the UK, making it the worst performing ASX 200 stock in FY25. Even with the rally, shares remain down 52% year to date. (AFR)
  
  

• ByteDance, TikTok's owner, is set to launch a new employee share buyback that will value the Chinese technology giant at more than $330bn.The company plans to offer employees $200 per share in the repurchase program, up 5.5% from the $189 it offered about six months ago, which valued ByteDance at roughly $315 bn. Bytedance also reported that first-quarter revenue rose to more than $43bn, topping Meta’s $42.3bn. (Reuters)
  
  

• China's chipmakers plan to triple the country's output of AI chips in 2026. This includes plans from Huawei to start production at a dedicated plant this year, with two more facilities set to launch in 2026. The push comes as Beijing accelerates efforts to reduce reliance on foreign technology, with AI chips at the center of trade tensions with Washington. The US has restricted Chinese access to Nvidia’s most advanced processors to curb its AI ambitions. (Financial Times)
  
  

• OpenAI will open an Australian office in Sydney later this year. COO Brad Lightcap said “Australia’s government, businesses and developer ecosystem are already helping shape the future of AI”. The company also revealed ChatGPT’s weekly active users in Australia have grown more than 2.5x over the past year, placing the country in the top ten markets for subscribers. (Capital Brief)
  
  

• Lego posted record revenue of $5.4bn in the first half of 2025, up 12% year on year. Growth was driven by popular brick sets like flowers and formula one race cars, while the company also opened 24 new stores globally. CEO Niels Christiansen said “It’s a record on revenue, a record on operating profit, it’s a record on net profit, so we are very happy.” (CNBC)

What the…?

Volkswagen is letting drivers pay to go faster. UK owners of the electric ID.3 can now subscribe to unlock more power from the car’s engine, with prices set at £16.50 a month, £165 a year or £649 for a lifetime upgrade. The catch? The extra power is already built into the car, you're just paying to access it.

VW says it’s about giving customers flexibility, but many see it as paying twice for the same product. Other carmakers like BMW have introduced similar subscription-based add-ons in the past, including heated seats and steering wheels.

It’s the latest push by automakers to tap into the booming subscription economy, which is estimated to hit nearly $1 trillion by 2028. (BBC)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

When should you switch from Growth to Defensive Assets?

This is taken from the Equity Mates Investing clip titled ‘Stop Buying Bonds in Your 20s (Here’s Why)’ (YouTube)

Daniel: As a 24-year-old who wants to retire early, when and how should I transition from growth investments to more defensive ones like cash and bonds?

Bryce: Thanks Daniel. Love the question. A lot of people often have the ambition to retire early and use their portfolio to support that, and then they get focused on building the retirement portfolio with the assets now that actually should be used later.

So right now Daniel, it's about focusing on growth, growth, growth. You want to be investing in assets that are going to build you the portfolio size that you need when you are 50 to actually generate income. Make sure you're invested in growth assets.

And then I think over time is where you start switching. I remember speaking to some advisors earlier on ‘Ask an Advisor’ and they sort of suggest a gradual approach from around 40 years old depending on when you want to retire, but it's not like a sell everything, put it all in bonds.

Ren: So there's a rule of 110 in financial planning. You take 110 and you minus your age and that should be your allocation to growth assets, which is really stocks. And then the remaining should be in defensive assets. I actually think it should be the rule of 140. So you only start reallocating from a hundred percent growth when you turn 40.

But, it's a transition and it's not a transition that you need to worry about anytime soon at 24.

Bryce: Growth, growth, growth, baby.

Want to watch the full clip? Check out our YouTube Clips page.

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From mindset to mastering leverage and utilising debt recycling, they break down exactly what it takes to scale, whether your goal is 10 properties or 100. This episode is packed with practical frameworks and high-level insights for serious investors.

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