Corporate results:

  • Sanofi reports Q4 results weighed down by a weak dollar and competition from generics.
  • BNP Paribas achieves profits of over €11 billion in 2023, but below expectations, and lowers its 2025 targets.
  • ABB targets 5% sales growth in 2024 after exceeding expectations in Q4.
  • AB Volvo, which reported slightly better-than-expected Q4 results, will stop financing Polestar.
  • Adidas warns that its 2024 EBIT will be significantly lower than expected.
  • Deutsche Bank publishes Q4 results below expectations and announces €1.6 bn in share buybacks and dividends.
  • Glencore reports lower production figures for copper, nickel and cobalt in 2023 and further declines for nickel and cobalt this year.
  • ING reports fourth-quarter earnings ahead of estimates. Total income expected to decline in 2024.
  • Qualcomm fell by 1.8% before the opening, as concerns about its sales in China outweighed the slightly better-than-expected earnings reported by the group for its second fiscal quarter.
  • Roche reports 2023 sales down 7% to CHF 58.7 bn.
  • Shell 2023 earnings down 30% to $28 bn. Share buybacks were extended.
  • Siemens Healthineers reports Q1 fiscal sales ahead of forecasts, thanks to the strength of subsidiary Varian.
  • Siltronic suffers a 16% drop in 2023 revenues, in line with forecasts.
  • Merck reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results on Thursday, driven by strong sales of its cancer treatment Keytruda, now the world's best-selling prescription drug. The share price advanced 1% in pre-market trading.
  • Metlife - The insurer loses 4.2% after the close after posting fourth-quarter net earnings of 77 cents per share, compared with $1.96 per share in the previous quarter.
  • Royal Caribbean Group announced on Thursday that it expects this year's earnings to exceed Wall Street expectations, thanks to strong demand for cruises despite higher fares. The cruise operator's sales jumped nearly 28% in the fourth quarter of 2023 to $3.33 billion. The share price rose by around 2.8% in pre-market trading.
  • Peloton Interactive announced Thursday that it expects sales for its fiscal third quarter to fall short of market expectations, as the fitness group anticipates lower demand for its equipment amid high inflation, which is weighing on non-essential spending.
  • Align Technology jumps 12.2% in pre-market trading, as the dental products specialist anticipates better-than-expected sales for the current quarter.

In other news:

  • Boeing confirms that the problem with the Alaska Airlines B737 MAX9 is its own fault.
  • Julius Bär boss resigns. Philipp Rickenbacher is unable to withstand the scandal surrounding loans to Signa, René Benko's bankrupt empire.
  • Amer Sports, the parent company of France's Salomon, announced on Wednesday that it had set the price of its initial public offering (IPO) at $13 per share, below the initial guidance range of $16 to $18 per share. The group is due to make its stock market debut in New York on Thursday.
  • Nvidia has begun taking pre-orders for a new China-specific artificial intelligence (AI) chip, and at the same price as a rival product from Huawei, sources reported.
  • Walt Disney signs a preliminary agreement to sell 60% of its Indian assets to Viacom.
  • Generali completes the acquisition of Liberty Seguros from Liberty Mutual.
  • Volkswagen works on an entry-level electric vehicle for India.
  • Stora Enso will cut around 1,000 jobs.
  • Tesla will call a shareholders' meeting soon to vote on transferring the company's state of incorporation to Texas, Elon Musk said.
  • New York Community Bancorp under threat of downgrade to junk status by Moody's.

Today's main earnings reports: Apple, Amazon, Meta, Honeywell, Merck, Ferrari, BNP Paribas, Sanofi, Glencore, Roche, ABB, Siemens Healthineers, Shell, Chugai Pharmaceutical, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group... The full earnings calendar is here.