Earnings season. Target, Beiersdorf, Lindt, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intertek, OC Oerlikon, Interparfums and Manitou are among companies reporting their earnings today.

Bis repetita for Qiagen. Rumors are circulating about further discussions about the takeover of Qiagen by Thermo Fisher. The European company had announced at the end of last year that it had received several expressions of interest, and it appeared that the American was already in the pipeline. But Qiagen, which was conducting a strategic review of its options, had decided to remain independent. However, information obtained by Bloomberg suggests that negotiations have resumed.

Planned obsolescence? Apple has agreed to pay up to $500 million to owners of older iPhone models, who accuse the group of having favored lower performance to encourage users to buy newer models. "After two years of litigation and hard struggle, the parties have reached an agreement," the Californian court said. Apple had admitted in 2017 to have slowed down some of its terminals to compensate for an ageing battery. But it had denied a programmed obsolescence.

The hostile takeover bid is filed. Xerox Holdings has launched its hostile takeover bid in cash and shares for HP Inc., denominated at USD 24 per share. Relations between the two companies are strained, with HP even going so far as to introduce a "poison pill" to complicate Xerox's plans. Activist Carl Icahn, who has a stake in two companies, is pushing for their marriage. Xerox weighs $7 billion and HP $31.7 billion.

Conversion. According to indiscretions obtained by AWP, Sergio Ermotti could take over the reins of Swiss Re after his tenure at UBS Group. This appointment was confirmed by the reinsurer in a press release. Ermotti will join the board of directors this year, before replacing Walter B. Kielholz as chairman in 2021.

HelloFresh coronavirus-proof? German meal kit delivery company HelloFresh said Tuesday that it expects sales and profits to increase in 2020, after confirming better than expected results in 2019 thanks to good performance in the US and other international markets.

In other news. Sandoz (Novartis) will pay $195 million to the US courts to settle a generic drug price cartel case between 2013 and 2015 in the US. Visa in turn is lowering its expectations because of the coronavirus.  Volkswagen will no longer develop natural gas-powered cars, after selling 110,000 CNGs last year, an insufficient number to justify further development. Elon Musk (Tesla) has tweeted his support for Twitter's Jack Dorsey, who has been attacked by the activist fund Elliott. Herbalife has earmarked $40 million for its pending corruption litigation. Takeda sells OTC assets to Acino. Honda will cut production rates at its Japanese plants because of supply problems. Softbank's CEO promises American investors that he will be more careful in the future. Interroll will not attend a German trade fair because of the coronavirus.