Corporate results:

  • Akzo Nobel reported lower adjusted fourth-quarter earnings.
  • Amgen on Tuesday reported a 15% jump in adjusted earnings and a 20% rise in sales for the fourth quarter, following the biotech company's October acquisition of rare disease drugmaker Horizon Therapeutics. However, the share price fell 1.6% in pre-market trading, with Leerink Partners having lowered its recommendation from "outperform" to "market perform".
  • Chipotle Mexican Grill gained 2.7% in after-hours trading after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and sales.
  • Carlsberg raised its medium-term growth target after reviewing its strategy.
  • Equinor beats Q4 earnings expectations.
  • Ford gained 6% post-trading after its quarterly results.
  • Fortinet gained 11% post-trading after its quarterly results.
  • Snap dropped 30% following the publication of quarterly sales that fell short of forecasts. 
  • Orsted waives 2023/2025 dividend.
  • Pandora targets organic sales growth of 6% to 9% in 2024.
  • Siemens Energy posted fiscal Q1 net income of €1.6 bn thanks to exceptional gain.
  • TeamViewer reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter sales.
  • Telenor reported in line with expectations.
  • Gilead Sciences - The drugmaker dropped 1.9% in after-hours trading due to adjusted quarterly earnings below Wall Street forecasts.
  • Hilton Worldwide fell by 3.8% in pre-market trading, as the hotel group forecast a lower-than-expected full-year profit due to signs of a slowdown in demand for leisure travel in the US.
  • VF Corp dropped 9.6% in pre-market trading after announcing the departure of its CFO Matt Puckett. The manufacturer of Vans sneakers and The North Face clothing also reported that it had missed consensus on its quarterly results due to weak demand.
  • Vestas expects an adjusted EBIT margin of 4% to 6% this year.
  • Uber Technologies on Wednesday forecast better-than-expected operating profit and gross bookings for the current quarter after reporting better-than-expected results for the October-December period, amid rising demand in its VTC and meal delivery businesses.
  • Cognizant Technology Solutions plunged 8.7% in the pre-market after announcing a sales forecast for this year below analysts' consensus.
  • Cirrus Logic - The chipmaker jumped 8.7% in after-hours trading on the back of better-than-expected quarterly results.

In other news:

  • Woodside and Santos end merger talks.
  • Bayer disagrees with US court decision rejecting its appeal in the Roundup pesticide case.
  • Barratt acquires its smaller rival Redrow in a £2.52 billion share deal (1.44 Barratt for 1 Redrow).
  • Moody's downgrades New York Community Bancorp's credit rating to speculative.
  • J Sainsbury targets a £1 billion reduction in structural costs.
  • Volkswagen chooses the city of Hefei for the joint development of electric vehicles with XPeng.
  • State-owned bank KfW sells 50 million DHL Group shares at EUR 43.45 each.
  • Walt Disney joins forces with Fox and Warner Bros to launch a dedicated sports streaming platform.
  • Meyer Burger's boss does not rule out a sale of the company.
  • SBB (Samhällsbyggnadsbolaget) revealed that one of its creditors had initiated legal proceedings against the Swedish real estate group due to its inability to repay a bond.
  • Telecom Italia's administrators want a higher bid for submarine cable subsidiary Sparkle.
  • Knorr-Bremse completes sale of Kiepe Electric to Heramba.
  • Target - A Bloomberg report that the retailer is considering a new loyalty program for its customers.
  • Boeing will review the preliminary results of the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) investigation into the ALASKA AIRLINES 737 MAX 9 incident and decide whether to take further action regarding the problem with the aircraft's door, a U.S. aircraft manufacturer official said.
  • Freeport-McMoran - On Tuesday, the copper mining group announced the promotion of Kathleen Quirk to Chief Executive Officer, effective June, replacing Richard Adkerson, who will remain Chairman of the Board.

Today's main earnings reports: Alibaba Group, Walt Disney, TotalEnergies, Equinor, Vinci, Uber Technologies, CVS Health, ARM Holdings, PayPal, McKesson, O'Reilly Automotive, Emerson Electric... The full earnings calendar is here.