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By Swissquote Analysts
Morning News

Lyft Shares Plunge Following Loss

Lyft Inc.'s shares sank by more than a third on Friday after the ride-hailing company posted an unexpected quarterly loss and concerns mounted that it was falling further behind Uber Technologies Inc. More than a dozen Wall Street analysts cut their price target for the stock, while six downgraded the stock's rating, after Lyft reported underwhelming revenue guidance and an adjusted quarterly loss of 74 cents a share.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

PepsiCo Earnings Top Views as Sales Rise 11%

PepsiCo Inc. posted a nearly 11% rise in sales for the fourth quarter as higher prices for its beverages and snacks continued to offset rising costs. The beverage maker said Thursday that it expects continued growth this year, with organic revenue, which strips out the effects of foreign-currency fluctuations, acquisitions and divestitures, projected to rise 6%. Adjusted earnings, which exclude one-time items, are expected to increase 8% in 2023 to $7.20 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $7.27 a share this year.

By
David VERELST
Morning News

Bayer Hires Former Roche Executive to Succeed CEO Werner Baumann

Bayer AG said it is replacing the company's embattled chief executive, Werner Baumann, with Bill Anderson, a 56-year-old American pharmaceuticals executive. Mr. Baumann, 60 years old, has served as CEO since 2016 after previously serving as the company's finance chief. His current term was due to expire in April 2024. He led the company's acquisition of Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018, which left Bayer mired in litigation and saddled with about $43 billion in debt.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Apollo in Talks to Take Stake in Credit Suisse Investment-Banking Unit

Apollo Global Management is among a group of financial firms in talks to take a stake in Credit Suisse Group AG’s revamped investment bank, people familiar with the matter said. Credit Suisse said last year that it would carve out the advisory part of its investment-banking operation into a new entity under the resurrected CS First Boston brand following a string of scandals. The bank said it would raise outside capital to launch the new entity, which it hopes to list in a separate initial public offering eventually. The talks with Apollo are continuing and could fall still apart.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

BNP Paribas Raises Targets, to Launch Buyback After Revenue Surges on Interest Income

BNP Paribas SA’s fourth-quarter profit fell but revenue rose on bumper net interest income, as it raised its targets to 2025 and said it would launch a 5 billion euro share buyback. The French bank, the largest in the eurozone by market capitalization, reported net profit of 2.15 billion euros ($2.31 billion) in the three months to December, down from EUR2.31 billion in the same period in 2021. Revenue rose 7.8% on year to EUR12.11 billion, driven by interest income that jumped 16%. The results were, however, slightly below expectations of net profit of EUR2.34 billion and revenue of EUR12.19 billion, according to analysts’ consensus provided by FactSet. At its Corporate & Institutional Banking arm, revenue increased 18%, with all three businesses areas growing by double digits. But commission income fell 5.9% to EUR2.75 billion.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

TotalEnergies Sees Limited Exposure to Stakes in Ventures with Adani Group

TotalEnergies SE said that its exposure resulting from stakes in ventures with Adani Group is limited, as it accounts for 2.4% of its capital employed. The French energy giant said it undertook joint investments in India in partnership with Adani since 2018, and its current holdings include stakes of 37.4% and 19.75% in listed companies Adani Total Gas Ltd. and Adani Green Energy Ltd., as well as 50% stakes in each of Adani Total Private Ltd. and AGEL23. TotalEnergies said its exposure resulting from this stakes amounted to $3.1 billion as of Dec. 31 and $180 million of net operating income in 2022.

By
David VERELST
Morning News

Apple CEO Tim Cook Says Economic Challenges a Headwind

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said economic challenges contributed to the company's slowing sales in the December quarter, in addition to manufacturing issues stemming from Covid-related disruptions in China. The comments came after the iPhone maker announced its first quarterly revenue decline in nearly four years, with sales of $117.2 billion that missed analyst expectations. "We estimated that we would have grown on the iPhone absent the supply constraints," Mr. Cook said in an interview. "

By
David VERELST
Morning News

GSK 4Q Sales and Earnings Rose, Driven by Specialty Medicines, Vaccines

GSK PLC posted rising earnings and sales for the fourth quarter, which the company said were boosted by its specialty medicines and vaccines businesses. The British pharma major reported net profit of 1.50 billion pounds ($1.85 billion) in the fourth quarter, up from GBP749 million for the same quarter of 2021, on sales that grew to GBP7.33 billion from GBP7.08 billion. Operating profit increased to GBP1.87 billion from GBP492 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, reflecting fair-value gains on investments, milestone income from disposals and lower remeasurement charges for contingent consideration liabilities, GSK said. After-tax profit also increased, rising to GBP1.62 billion from GBP930 million the previous year.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Pfizer Expects Drop in Revenue as Vaccine Demand Wanes

Pfizer Inc. expects revenue to drop by as much as a third in 2023 as demand for Covid-19 products continues to slump. The New York-based drug company said that it is projecting revenue to be between $67 billion and $71 billion this year after jumping 23% to $100.3 billion in 2022. Stripping out Covid-19 products, Pfizer expects its 2023 top line to grow 7% to 9%. The company said revenue from Covid-19 products is slated to reach a low point this year due to a significant government stockpile on hand, and then rebound in 2024.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

UBS Posts Surprise 4Q Rise in Profit After Wealth Management Grew Assets

UBS Group AG on Tuesday reported a surprise rise in fourth-quarter profit as its wealth-management arm attracted billions in new client money, despite difficult macroeconomic headwinds. The Swiss bank reported a net profit of $1.65 billion in the three months to the end of December, up from $1.35 billion for the same period a year earlier. Revenue was $8.03 billion compared with $8.71 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021. It meant the Zurich-based bank beat 4Q estimates of net profit of $1.28 billion and revenue at $7.98 billion, according to analysts’ consensus provided by the company.

By
Mathieu VILLARD