5 things to know before the stock market opens on Wednesday, July 23

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

Investors are turning their attention to earnings reports from Tesla and Alphabet due after the bell. They are the first megacap tech companies — a group that’s been closely watched due to its market leadership in recent years — to release results this quarter. Tesla’s report comes as traders continue assessing the business ramifications of CEO Elon Musk’s political involvement. For those keeping score, it’s the worst-performing “Magnificent Seven” stock so far this year. Meanwhile, investors are wondering what Google parent Alphabet will have to say, as the search and advertising landscape continues to shift amid the artificial intelligence boom.

Big news on the tariff front: President Donald Trump announced what he called a “massive” trade deal with Japan on Tuesday. As part of the agreement, Trump said in a Truth Social post that there will be 15% “reciprocal” duties on Japan’s goods, and that Japan will invest $550 billion into the U.S. The president said in the post that it was “perhaps the largest Deal ever made.” The news comes ahead of the White House’s Aug. 1 deadline for U.S. trading partners to start paying Trump’s steep tariffs. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed before the bell on Wednesday, following the announcement. Follow live market updates here.

Egg lovers who were left scrambling from shortages earlier this year should be able keep calm and carry on. Producer Cal-Maine said in its earnings report on Tuesday that its average number of laying hens in its fourth fiscal quarter of 2025 climbed 18% compared with the same period a year prior. What’s more, Cal-Maine saw breeder flocks grow 48% at the end of the quarter versus a year ago, and the total number of chickens hatched during the three-month period jumped 56% year over year. While the Mississippi-based company acknowledged that future bird flu outbreaks — like the one that recently roiled supply — cannot be predicted, Cal-Maine said the data bodes well for shoppers hoping to see the staple food item on grocery store shelves.

Over the last few days, the biggest companies in the soft drink industry have announced new offerings to woo increasingly health-conscious shoppers. The first headline came from PepsiCo, which on Monday shared plans to launch a prebiotic version of its namesake cola this fall. Pepsi’s beverage will contain three grams of prebiotic fiber and five grams of cane sugar. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola said Tuesday that it will release a version of its titular soda made with cane sugar in the U.S. — also set for a fall debut. Coke has sweetened its soda in the U.S. with high-fructose corn syrup since the 1980s, but cane sugar is a familiar product for the company as it’s already used for soft drinks in markets like Mexico. Believe it or not, there’s a political angle here: Coca-Cola’s announcement came nearly a week after Trump — an avid fan of the Diet Coke brand — said he was talking with the company about using cane sugar in its U.S. products.

In Tuesday’s edition of this newsletter, you learned about Opendoor Technologies, the real estate e-commerce company that fit the profile of a meme stock. The latest name to join the meme stock ranks is one you’re likely much more familiar with: Kohl’s. (Yes, that Kohl’s.) The stock soared more than 37% in Tuesday’s session with no clear catalyst, to use Wall Street lingo. However, as CNBC’s Gabrielle Fonrouge pointed out, the stock has become a topic du jour on the popular Wall Street Bets Reddit page, given its high level of shorting interest and status as a household name. Opendoor investors, on the other hand, had a bad day, with shares finishing Tuesday’s session down more than 10%.

— CNBC’s Pia Singh, Lim Hui Jie, Amelia Lucas and Gabrielle Fonrouge contributed to this report.