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By Swissquote Analysts
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
Morning News

Salesforce Names Three Directors, Braces for Proxy Fight

Salesforce Inc. has appointed three new directors, including the finance chief of Mastercard Inc., to its board as a potential proxy fight with activist investor Elliott Management Corp. looms. The business-software maker said that Mastercard CFO Sachin Mehra, ValueAct Capital Chief Executive Mason Morfit and Arnold Donald, the former president and chief executive of Carnival Corp., have been named independent directors, effective March 1.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

STMicroelectronics Shares Jump on Better-Than-Expected Revenue Guidance

Shares of STMicroelectronics NV - a key Apple Inc. supplier - jumped in trading after the company posted better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter of 2022 and guided for revenue growth ahead of analysts’ forecasts for the current quarter and the full year. The European chip maker is targeting net revenue of $4.20 billion at the midpoint for the current quarter. Analysts at Jefferies wrote in a note to investors that the forecast is above consensus of $3.81 billion as well as their own $3.84 billion estimate.

By
David VERELST
Morning News

Boeing Reports Quarterly Earnings Fall, Plans to Increase Jet Production

Boeing Co. reported another quarterly loss but maintained plans to increase jet production and deliveries this year despite lingering supply-chain challenges. The company reported its fourth annual loss in a row as it wrestles with commercial-jet production costs that are higher than planned. Both Boeing and rival Airbus SE benefited from a rebound in aircraft orders last year as airlines recovered from the pandemic-driven travel downturn. The companies have struggled to boost production to match, citing shortages of jet engines and other components. Boeing’s fourth-quarter earnings and sales both fell short of analysts’ expectations.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Microsoft Earnings Fell Last Quarter Amid Economic Concerns

Microsoft Corp. recorded its slowest sales growth in more than six years last quarter as demand for its software and cloud services cooled on concerns about the health of the global economy. The Redmond, Wash., company’s revenue expanded 2% in the three months through Dec. 31 from a year earlier to $52.7 billion. Its net income fell 12% to $16.4 billion. That is the company’s lowest revenue growth since the quarter that ended in June 2016. “Organizations are exercising caution given the macroeconomic uncertainty,” Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella said on an earnings call.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Microsoft to Deepen OpenAI Partnership, Invest Billions in ChatGPT Creator

Microsoft Corp. said it is making a multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI, substantially bolstering its relationship with the startup behind the viral ChatGPT chatbot as the software giant looks to expand the use of artificial intelligence in its products. Microsoft said the latest partnership builds upon the company’s 2019 and 2021 investments in OpenAI. The companies didn’t disclose the financial terms of the partnership. Microsoft had been discussing investing as much as $10 billion in OpenAI, according to people familiar with the matter.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Google Parent Alphabet to Cut 12,000 Jobs Amid Wave of Tech Layoffs

Google’s parent company said it would cut its staff by 6% in its largest-ever round of layoffs, extending a retrenchment among technology companies after record pandemic hiring. Alphabet Inc. said the cuts would eliminate roughly 12,000 jobs across different units and regions, though some areas, including recruiting and projects outside of the company’s core businesses, would be more heavily affected. The layoffs reached as high as the vice president level and affected divisions including cloud computing and Area 120, an internal business incubator that had already faced cuts last year, said people familiar with the matter.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Netflix Q4 Subscriber Growth Above Expectation - Reed Hastings Transitions to Chairman Role

Shares of Netflix Inc. gained over 6% in extended session on Thursday after the online-video streaming giant reported fourth-quarter results, with earnings missing Street view. However, the company added over 7 million subscribers, beating its expectations. The company also announced that Reed Hastings is resigning from Co-CEO role. Netflix added 7.66 million subscribers globally in the quarter, which was better than the company's estimate of 4.50 million. The company ended the quarter with 230.75 million subscribers. Los Gatos, California-based Netflix's fourth-quarter profit dropped to $55 million or $0.15 per share from $607 million or $1.33 per share last year.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Geberit to lose momentum in 2022

Sanitary installation specialist Geberit slowed down last year in a difficult environment, marked in particular by soaring costs and currency effects. The Jona-based company nevertheless confirmed its medium-term objectives. Over the past 12 months, the St. Gallen-based multinational saw its net revenues fall by 2% to 3.39 billion francs, as wholesalers emptied their stocks with energy and raw material prices rising. Excluding exchange rate fluctuations, however, revenues edged 4.8% higher, Geberit announced on Thursday.

By
Nadine PEREIRA