Corporate results:

  • Hermès reported Q4 growth of 17.5% at constant exchange rates.
  • L'Oréal reported sales of €41.18 billion in 2023, up 11% on a like-for-like basis.
  • Affirm fell 12% after posting its quarterly results.
  • AMS-Osram achieved its fourth-quarter sales forecasts thanks to strong demand in the automotive sector.
  • Mediobanca's net profit for the fiscal first half beat estimates.
  • Nissan missed expectations, its share price fell.
  • Pinterest dropped 9% after its quarterly results.
  • Saab raised its targets following higher fourth-quarter earnings.
  • Softbank continues to climb after its fiscal Q3, having already been boosted the previous day by the surge in ARM Holdings.
  • Take-Two fell 9% after its quarterly results.
  • PepsiCo missed Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter sales, as multiple price hikes reduced demand for its Lay's fruit juices and potato chips. The stock lost 1% before the opening.
  • Capri Holdings lost 1.8% in after-hours trading, as the parent company of Michael Kors reported below-consensus quarterly sales and earnings amid weak demand for its luxury brands.
  • Take-Two Interactive Software fell by 9.7% in pre-market trading, as the video game publisher forecast bookings for its fourth fiscal quarter below market expectations. The company also lowered its annual guidance due to signs of weak demand for some of its flagship game titles, such as "NBA 2K".
  • Pinterest plunged 11.2% in pre-market trading, as the social network announced on Thursday evening that it expected sales for the current quarter to be between $690 and $705 million, well below the average $702.6 million estimated by analysts, according to LSEG data.
  • Western Digital is down 2% in after-hours trading, after postponing the publication of its quarterly accounts due to errors in the reporting and recording of Flash Ventures' holdings.
  • Motorola Solutions is down 4% in after-hours trading, as the Group's forecast for weak earnings this year takes precedence over the announcement of a $2 billion share buyback plan and good quarterly results.
  • Expedia plunges 12% in after-hours trading following the appointment of Ariane Gorin as CEO, replacing Peter Kern. The group also warned that its sales this year would be impacted by moderating demand in the travel sector. AIRBNB loses 3.5% in the wake of Expedia.
  • Illumina announced on Thursday evening that it expected annual sales to be virtually unchanged from fiscal 2023, against a backdrop of continuing weak demand for its genetic testing tools and diagnostic products. The share price fell by 2.7% in the aftermarket.
  • Verisign reported a 3% increase in fourth-quarter sales on Thursday evening, beating market forecasts thanks to strong demand for its Internet services, which include domain name registration.
  • Cloudflare shares soared by 26.2% in pre-market trading, with the Group anticipating sales for the current quarter at the mid-point above the consensus provided by LSEG.
  • Affirm Holdings fell 10.9% in pre-market trading after the financial technology group presented forecasts for fiscal 2024 that were deemed disappointing.

In other news:

  • Epic's deal with Walt Disney values the Fortnite creator at $22.5bn, according to The Information.
  • Grab and GoTo resume merger talks, according to Bloomberg.
  • Volkswagen maintains plans for electric vehicles in North America.
  • Tesco sells its banking business to Barclays for up to £700 million.
  • Boeing receives firm order for 45 B787s from Thai Airways.
  • Roche will cut just under 340 jobs in its development division.
  • Exxon Mobil withdraws from Equatorial Guinea.
  • Duke Energy - Under pressure from the US Congress, the utilities group plans to withdraw energy storage batteries produced by Chinese manufacturer CATL from one of the largest US Marine Corps bases and phase out CATL products from its civilian projects, the company confirmed to Reuters.

Today's main earnings reports: PepsiCo, Hermès, Telus, Coloplast, EMS-Chemie, Tokyo Electron, Shiseido, Magna... The full earnings report is here.