Corporate results:
- BT Group: Annual net profit up 5% to £7.9bn.
- Burberry: Quarterly sales growth reached 16% (consensus 14%).
- Cisco: The stock lost 4% after the publication of the quarterly results.
- EasyJet: The first half loss is in line with forecasts and the management is confident for the summer season.
- National Grid: The group reported a 15% increase in annual operating profit.
- Nomura: The Japanese bank cut its forecast for the year ending March 2025.
- Take-Two: The stock rebounded 9.5% out of session after the release of quarterly earnings.
- Walmart raised its annual revenue and profit targets after better-than-expected first-quarter results, buoyed by demand for its cheaper products. The company was up about 2% in premarket trading.
- Alibaba said Thursday that its fourth-quarter revenue rose 2%, below market expectations.
In other news:
- Volkswagen plans to reorganize its core brand to revive it, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.
- Sony is reportedly considering a spin-off followed by an IPO for its financial division, according to Bloomberg.
- Qatar's sovereign wealth fund is considering a lawsuit against Switzerland over losses with Credit Suisse.
- ThyssenKrupp may reconsider its EUR2bn "green" steel plant as German state aid is on hold.
- Amazon to invest $12.8bn over several years in cloud services in India.
- Kindred's CEO Henrik Tjärnstrom has resigned and will be replaced on an interim basis by Nils Andén. AlphaValue believes this is a manifestation of pressure from Corvex.
- Charles Schwab will issue $2.5 billion in long-term debt, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people close to the matter.
- Shell is reportedly looking to sell French floating wind turbine developer Eolfi.
- Boeing is closing in on a 787 Dreamliner deal with Air Canada.
- Still a lot of hype around Software AG's takeover offers.
- Walgreens Boots Alliance will pay $230M to settle San Francisco opioid complaints.
- Nestlé is cutting 117 jobs in Vittel at Nestlé Waters.
- Deutsche Bank paid $75 million to extinguish Epstein lawsuits.
- Today's top earnings reports: Walmart, Alibaba, Applied Materials, National Grid, BT Group, Burberry, EasyJet... The full earnings calendar is here.