Corporate results:
- Compagnie Financière Richemont improved its Q3 revenues by 4% at constant exchange rates, to €5.59 billion.
- Flutter reported a 15% increase in Q4 sales, but growth in its US business was below expectations due to a series of very favorable customer results.
- Taiwan Semiconductor reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
- Watches of Switzerland revised its annual sales forecast downwards.
- Humana - The health insurer plunged 11.7% in premarket trading after lowering its full-year adjusted profit forecast due in particular to higher medical costs in the fourth quarter.
- Birkenstock advanced 3% in pre-market trading, with the German high-end shoe manufacturer anticipating better-than-expected sales for the year following better-than-expected fourth-quarter sales.
- Kinder Morgan - The oil, gas and terminal operator posted lower-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday, as higher interest expense and weakness in the natural gas segment weighed on margins.
- Discover Financial Services reported a 62% drop in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, as the bank booked more provisions, sending its shares plunging 11.1% in premarket trading.
- Citizens Financial - Group earnings fell 71% in the fourth quarter, hit by a $225 million charge to bail out the US deposit insurance fund, while the bank warned that net interest income could decline this year.
In other news:
- New car registrations down 3.8% in December in Europe.
- Bayer launches a far-reaching reorganization involving numerous job cuts.
- KKR gets the green light from the Italian government to buy Telecom Italia's network for $23.9 bn.
- The ECB asked European banks about their exposure to Spanish drugmaker Grifols, after Gotham Research raised doubts about the soundness of the company's accounts.
- Boeing wins an order for 150 B737MAXs from Indian airline Akasa Air.
- Sheryl Sandberg steps down from Meta Platforms board after 12 years.
- Google launches an AI-based multiple search function in the USA. According to The Verge, management has informed its teams that further job cuts are to be expected after those already announced.
- Amazon is to invest $115 million in Diamond Sports Group, a major U.S. sports rights holder.
- J Sainsbury withdraws from banking activities.
- Serbia to discuss Jadar lithium project with Rio Tinto.
- Stadler delivers additional hydrogen trains to Italy.
- Shell to develop Victory gas field in the North Sea.
- Intel - The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on Thursday that the analysis of EU regulators, which led to the imposition of a €1.06 billion antitrust fine on the US group, was flawed.
- Apple announced on Wednesday that it would be withdrawing a feature from some of its connected watches in the USA that analyzes the amount of oxygen in the blood, due to a patent dispute. Apple shares gained 1.8% in premarket trading after BofA raised its recommendation to "buy" from "neutral", anticipating the integration of artificial intelligence functions into the company's products this year.
- Spirit Airlines fell a further 4.2% in pre-market trading, after a federal judge blocked its proposed $3.8 billion merger with competitor JetBlue, a move seen by the US Department of Justice as anti-competitive and harmful to consumers. Citi has also put Spirit Airlines up for sale.
- Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai warned employees of further job cuts this year, reported the trade publication The Verge on Wednesday.
- Tesla announced on Thursday on the Chinese social network Wechat its plans to tour the country to present its Cybertruck pickup.
- PG&E - The U.S. government has finalized a $1.1 billion aid package for PG&E's Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California, the Department of Energy said Wednesday.
- Plug Power is down 15.5% in pre-market trading, following a 10% drop in Wednesday's session, as the hydrogen fuel cell company seeks to raise $1 billion in equity.
Today's main publications: Compagnie Financière Richemont, Fastenal, EQT, Flutter, Galenica... The full earnings calendar is here.