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By Swissquote Analysts
Morning News

Holcim Boosts Third Quarter Profitability

Holcim has posted the best operating result in its history for the third half of the year. Organic growth was also achieved, enabling the construction materials giant to raise its EBIT targets. Sales between July and September totaled CHF 7.34 billion, down 8.8% compared to the same period a year earlier. In organic terms, however - i.e., adjusted for exchange rate and acquisition effects - growth was positive (+4.3%), Holcim stated in a press release on Friday.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Meta Reports Record Sales as Ad Rebound Continues

Facebook parent Meta Platforms reported its largest quarterly revenue since going public more than a decade ago as demand for advertising picked up and the company continued to reap the benefits of cutting costs and developing new AI technology. Meta’s sales increased to $34.1 billion, up more than 23% compared with a year ago. That represents Meta’s third quarter in a row of rising revenue after the company saw its business shrink for most of 2022. The 23% increase is Meta’s largest year-to-year growth in revenue since the third quarter of 2021.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Sharp Decline on Quarterly Results at Kühne+Nagel

Logistics specialist Kühne+Nagel posted sharply lower results for the third quarter of 2023, after benefiting from a surge in business caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The Schindellegi-based group did not comment on business trends for the rest of the year. During the period under review, sales fell by 46% to CHF 5.4 billion, according to a press release issued on Wednesday. In terms of profitability, gross profit fell by 23% to CHF 2.08 billion.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Novartis Raises Earnings Guidance After Key Drugs Boost Profit

Novartis raised its full-year earnings guidance for the third time this year after it reported higher net profit and sales for the third quarter, boosted by strong sales of key drugs. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant said Tuesday that it now expects core operating profit to grow this year by a percentage in the mid to high teens range. It had previously anticipated a growth rate from low double percentage digits to mid-teens excluding Sandoz, the generics unit that was spun off earlier this month.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Roivant Agrees with Roche To Acquire Telavant Holdings

Roivant announced a definitive agreement with Roche to acquire Telavant Holdings Inc., a Roivant company, owned by Roivant Sciences Ltd. and Pfizer Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will pay a purchase price of $7.1 billion upfront and a near-term milestone payment of $150 million. Roche will gain the rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize RVT-3101 in the US and Japan to treat inflammatory bowel disease and potentially multiple other diseases.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Jerome Powell Signals Fed Will Extend Interest-Rate Pause

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested the run-up in long-term Treasury yields could allow the central bank to suspend a historic run of interest-rate increases so long as recent progress on inflation continues. Powell’s remarks at a Thursday lunchtime address in New York closely tracked those of colleagues who indicated in recent days that they would hold short-term interest rates steady at their next meeting on Oct. 31-Nov. 1.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Nestle's Nine-Month Organic Sales Growth Missed Expectations

Nestle posted a lower-than-expected organic sales growth in the first nine months of the year and confirmed its outlook. The Swiss food and beverage giant said sales stood at 68.83 billion Swiss francs ($76.57 billion) in the period from CHF69.13 billion a year earlier. Sales grew 7.8% organically, missing a company-compiled consensus estimate of 8.1%. Organic growth was driven by pricing at 8.4%, while real internal growth - the sum of volume and mix - came in line with expectations at minus 0.6%.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Goldman Sachs, Pulling Back From Consumer Lending, Posts 33% Profit Drop

Goldman Sachs reported lower profit for the third quarter, hurt by losses from selling off pieces of its consumer-lending business and a big drop in revenue in its asset and wealth-management division. The bank on Tuesday said quarterly profit was $2.1 billion, down 33% from a year ago. That amounted to $5.47 per share, which beat the $5.42 per share expected by analysts polled by FactSet. Revenue was $11.8 billion, down 1% from a year ago. That still beat the $11.2 billion expected by analysts. The quarter’s earnings reflect the continuing financial hit that Goldman is experiencing as it narrows its ambitions - namely, pulling back from its once-trumpeted consumer-lending efforts.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Moderna confirms Covid sales guidance as shares sink on Pfizer news

With its shares under pressure due to revised Covid guidance from Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. on Monday said it “remains comfortable” with its existing guidance on full-year 2023 COVID-19 sales. Moderna reiterated that full-year Covid vaccines sales are expected to be in the range of $6 billion to $8 billion, guidance previously provided in its August earnings release. The company also sounded a note of caution, saying in a statement Monday that “it is still too early in the U.S. vaccination season to accurately project where vaccination rates will land for the full year.”

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Microsoft’s Activision Buy Extends Nadella’s Decade of Deals

Microsoft closed its $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the largest in a decade of deals under Chief Executive Satya Nadella that have positioned the software giant at the center of sectors from videogames to artificial intelligence. The purchase is the biggest deal in its nearly 50-year history and took 21 months to get through a global gantlet of regulators.

By
Ludovica SCOTTO DI PERTA