Episode summary
Bloomberg Surveillance TV: August 4th, 2026 | Bloomberg Surveillance
Bloomberg Surveillance
· · Hosts: Tom Keene, Paul Sweeney, Lisa Mateo, Michael Barr · Guests: David Lebovitz, Stephen Schork, Angelo Zino
Summary
Stocks are near all-time highs because the latest hyperscaler earnings have reinforced the case for corporate profit growth and kept the AI trade broadening beyond chips into software, manufacturing, and the real economy. One guest argued that even excluding equity investment gains, earnings growth is still running around 30%, and that is giving the market confidence to look through volatility and tighter financing conditions.
The discussion also focused on whether the AI boom is becoming harder to finance. The guest said credit markets are starting to demand wider spreads, especially in IG and high yield, and that investors are becoming more discerning about which companies can prove ROI. Even so, spreads remain historically tight, with high yield around 270 over, which he said still leaves room for the trade to continue.
A separate segment turned to oil, where Stephen Schork argued that the president is blaming Exxon and Chevron for a shortage and price spike created by war-related policy choices. He said refiners are already running near capacity, with Midwest plants near 100% and Gulf Coast refineries around 97%, leaving little room to add supply. The final segment on semiconductors said AMD still trails Nvidia by a wide margin, but its partnerships, software progress, and rack-scale ambitions could help it close the gap over the next couple of years.
Key takeaways
- The host and David Lebovitz said hyperscaler earnings are supporting a market still trading near all-time highs, with earnings growth even excluding equity gains still around 30%.
- Lebovitz said the AI trade is broadening beyond pure chip exposure into software, industrials, and the real economy, making it more durable.
- Lebovitz warned that IG and high-yield spreads are widening as debt markets push back on AI financing, but he said high yield around 270 over still looks manageable.
- Stephen Schork said refinery utilization is already stretched, with Midwest plants near 100% and Gulf Coast refineries around 97%, so higher gasoline prices reflect a product shortage.
- Angelo Zino said AMD remains far behind Nvidia because Nvidia has had a two-decade software lead, but AMD’s partnerships and rack-scale strategy are building a stronger multi-year case.
Notable quotes
“Hyperscala earnings results reinforce our positive outlook for corporate profits. We maintain a prorisk view in portfolios”
“even if you exclude the equity investment gains from the overall earnings season number, you're still looking at earnings growth of 30%”
“You're seeing this AI trade broaden out. You're seeing it show up in the manufacturing economy, the industrial economy, the real economy at the end of the day”
“the fact that markets are requiring a greater spread in the IG space in the high yield space to take down this paper tells you something about the sheer volume we've seen so far year to date”
“they are running in the Midwest, they are running at virtually 100% of capacity. In the refinery epicenter in the Gulf Coast, they're running at 97% of capacity”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts radio news. This is the Bloomberg Surveillance Podcast. I'm Jonathan Pharaoh along with Lisa Abramitz and Amarie Hordern.
Join us each day for insight from the best in markets, economics, and geopolitics. From our global headquarters in New York City, we are live on Bloomberg television weekday mornings from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else you listen. And as always, on the Bloomberg terminal and the Bloomberg business app, we begin this hour with stocks trading near all-time highs as tech concerns continue to ease. David Levitz of JP Morgan Asset Management writing, "Hyperscala earnings results reinforce our positive outlook for corporate profits.
We maintain a prorisk view in portfolios. David joins us now for more. David, good morning.
Good morning.
Since we got those earnings, those hyperscalers have been off to the races. I'm talking about gains of 10 to 25% over the last three or four days for a handful of some of the biggest companies on the planet. What was in the data, the earnings that has started this move?
Well, so I think what's really interesting is we we've seen this over the past couple of quarters where coming into the earnings announcements, you see this skepticism begin to rise. You know, maybe profit growth won't be as good as it has been. Maybe margins will finally start to come back in.
And then they impress. And for the most part, you know, the numbers are good. They may or they may not be.
But I think the market is focused on the fact that even if you exclude the equity investment gains from the overall earnings season number, you're still looking at earnings growth of 30%. And so these are just unequivocally good numbers.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- global market strategy
- multi-asset investing
- equity outlook
- economic trends
- market news
Companies and tickers mentioned
- JPM
- JPMorgan Asset Management
- The Schork Group
- CFRA
Watch the episode
Watch “Bloomberg Surveillance TV: August 4th, 2026 | Bloomberg Surveillance” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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