Earnings season: Costco Wholesale, Qualcomm, Fast Retailing, SoftBank, BMW, Vonovia, Cellnex, Vestas, Intesa Sanpaolo, Ahold Delhaize, Crédit Agricole, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert and Swiss Life are among companies reporting their earnings today.

A few results:

  • Ahold Delhaize: in addition to its quarterly results, the company has raised its 2020 forecast and announced a new €1 billion share buyback program.
  • BMW: the German carmaker's operating profit was slightly lower than expected in Q3, but nevertheless came in at €1.92 billion, down 16% year-on-year.
  • Burckhardt: the results for the first fiscal quarter improved, confirming the annual targets.
  • Hilton reported a third quarter 2020 loss of $79 million, or -28 cents per share, compared to a profit of $288 million, or $1 per share, for the same period last year.
  • Marks & Spencer: the British retailer reported its first half-year loss in nearly a century.
  • Prudential Financial: the stock rose after the U.S. session in the wake of rather robust quarters. The company traditionally launches the series of publications of American insurers.
  • Subaru: The Japanese automaker raised its forecast thanks to a stronger than expected rebound in U.S. auto sales.
  • Zalando: the German retailer recorded growth of nearly 30% in the third quarter, improving its operating margin to 6.4%. The annual forecast has been raised.

In other news:

  • Curious case, the suspension of Ant Group's IPO in Shanghai and Hong Kong, after the management team was summoned by Chinese regulators. Alibaba falls heavily on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
  • Uber and Lyft rose in U.S. equity markets. They benefit from the favorable vote in California allowing them to maintain their economic model based on the use of independent workers, reports the American press. They will therefore not be obliged to requalify them as employees.
  • Osram's shareholders give the go-ahead for the takeover by AMS AG.
  • Comcast and Walmart discuss the development and sale of "smart" televisions, according to the Wall Street Journal.
  • Shanghai Fosun Pharma ends its trials with BioNTech on a Covid-19 vaccine