National Business Review
July 2026
Microsoft jumps after strong earnings justify AI spend
Software giant Microsoft posted its largest single-day jump in the company’s history after robust earnings helped quell concerns about its huge AI spend
The thing that’s been hanging over Microsoft has been Saas-mageddon and they haven’t quite put them to bed, but it looks like they’ve got their response sorted,
The applications of AI are probably only scratching the surface,
Major Ryman shareholders opposed re-election of directors
Ryman directors face strong objection to their re-election
Microsoft, Amazon, Meta earnings to provide further AI insights
Investors are eyeing earnings of the Magnificent Seven tech stocks
Google’s AI spend-up shocks market even as profit rockets 298%
Alphabet's stock is down about 21% from its all-time highs, achieved in May this year, including the circa-7% drop it experienced overnight on Thursday, New Zealand time
In response to that, we've seen things like airlines sell off quite significantly, and also we've seen interest rates start to move up because people are a bit concerned about inflation,
Fintech company and PE firm team up for US$53b PayPal bid
Podcast #112: Super El Niño economics
Minister doubles down on $200m Bay of Plenty aquaculture
Shane Jones will announce today new marina funding and an iwi aquaculture settlement as the Bay aims for $200m in annual revenue by 2035
Oil prices gush as Iran peace deal ‘dead’; AI stocks slide
Hawks circle RBNZ as economy sputters to life
Yesterday, the Monetary Policy Committee raised the OCR to 2.5%, which came as a shock to some commentators who had
Calibre takes control of Kiwi Crunch subsidiaries
In 2024, NZX-listed agricultural investor NZ Rural Land Co and German insurance giant Munich Re both snapped up land being sold by Kiwi
Chinese missiles and Fiji deal dial up Pacific temperature
Its navy launched an intercontinental missile from a nuclear-powered submarine in the Pacific, sending it over the Philippines before it fell into the ocean near Nauru
Bremworth deal dead as founder’s family also discloses opposition
The NZX-listed carpet maker’s shares fell 15.7% yesterday to 75 cents after it disclosed its largest shareholder, the Ferrier
Oil falls, job market crawls, AI stalls
Brent crude oil has continued its gradual descent since the United States and Iran agreed to a framework to reach a peace deal in the Middle East, reopening the Strait of Hormuz
We’re all in the price stability business. That might not be our only business but, if there was a common thing I heard over the last couple of days, it was open-mindedness on these questions of AI; open-mindedness on productivity; but we’ve all looked around, and we’ve seen that prices are too high,
We are going through another ‘gut check’ few weeks ahead for the tech trade as tech investors await a very important 2Q earnings season in July to further validate the AI revolution buildout,
We’ve been an independent central bank for a very long time,
It’s better to look at what oil prices were trading at last year as the norm,
ASB moves after NZ’s second-largest apple grower collapses
Hawke's Bay apple grower Kiwi Crunch has lost its battle to stay afloat, after the IRD succeeded in placing one of its subsidiaries, Crasborn Fresh