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HSBC hits multi-year high on profit beat and new buyback
Thursday 09 May 2024Shares in global banking group HSBC (HSBA) hit a five-year peak of 700p last week after the Asia-focused lender said first-quarter net interest income dipped 3% to $8.65 billion, beating market forecasts of $8.5 billion. Pre-tax profit of $12.65 billion, down around 2% on last year, also beat the...
Why competition in the market for obesity drugs just got tougher
Thursday 09 May 2024The emerging battle for market share in the lucrative obesity market, which analysts at Goldman Sachs estimate could be worth more than $100 billion by 2030, is starting to heat up. Sales of market-leading weight-loss drug Wegovy more than doubled to around £1 billion in the first quarter of 2024,...
Shares in coffeehouse colossus Starbucks plunge 16% after earnings miss
Thursday 09 May 2024Are consumers starting to push back on their pricey skinny lattes in response to higher interest rates and cost-of-living pressures? It’s a key question for analysts and investors in Starbucks (SBUX:NASDAQ) after the Seattle-headquartered coffeehouse colossus posted a second-quarter earnings and...
Why Berkshire Hathaway trimmed Apple stake as Q1 profit jumps 39%
Thursday 09 May 2024The pilgrimage to Omaha for Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK-B:NYSE) annual shareholder meeting had a tinge of poignancy this year following the passing of Warren Buffett’s long-term business partner and vice-chair Charlie Munger in November 2023. In memory of the ‘abominable no-man’, as Buffett sometimes...
Royal London rattled by exodus as star manager and colleagues strike out on their own
Thursday 09 May 2024Investors in the high-profile Royal London Global Equity Select (BF93W97) fund face a dilemma following the surprise resignation of star manager Peter Rutter from RLAM (Royal London Asset Management) alongside several of the firm’s global equities team. The managers are expected to set up their own...
Stagflation fears rise on resilient US economy and sticky core inflation
Thursday 02 May 2024With around 40% of S&P 500 constituents reporting earnings last week including heavyweights Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ) and Alphabet (GOOG:NASDAQ) , the micro picture was widely expected to be the main investor focus. As things turned out, a surprisingly weak first quarter GDP (gross domestic...
Alphabet joins Meta in shareholder dividend commitment
Thursday 02 May 2024Google-owner Alphabet (GOOG:NASDAQ) shocked the market with a first-quarter announcement that it plans to kick-start regular quarterly dividends. In February 2024, Meta Platforms (META:NASDAQ) made headlines with its own dividend announcement, joining Apple (AAPL:NASDAQ) , Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ)...
What is happening at Smithson after continuation vote dissent?
Thursday 02 May 2024Investment trust Smithson (SSON) has work to do to repair its relationship with shareholders after recent controversy over a continuation vote at the stablemate of Terry Smith’s Fundsmith Equity (B41YBW7) . Smithson, which looks to apply Smith’s ‘buy good companies, don’t overpay, do nothing’...
Barclays breaks to 52-week high despite lower earnings
Thursday 02 May 2024It has been a while since investors in UK banks had cause to celebrate but shareholders in Barclays (BARC) were toasting a small win last week as the high-street lender posted first-quarter profit above market expectations, sending its shares to new 12-month high of 200p. !function(){"use strict";...
Shoe Zone shares slump on fears over trading and higher costs
Thursday 02 May 2024It has been a turbulent couple of months for value retailer Shoe Zone (SHOE ), which seems to have metamorphosed from cost-of-living-crisis winner to stock market pariah on the strength of a single comment by chief executive Anthony Smith. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message...