North America:

  • AbbVie cuts 2024 earnings forecast due to acquisition costs.
  • Nvidia has been actively expanding its partnerships and product offerings, including collaborations with Aurora Innovation, Continental, Toyota, and Kion Group for autonomous vehicles and AI-powered systems, while also launching new gaming chips and AI training technologies, leading to a surge in its stock price.
  • NXP Semiconductors is set to acquire TTTech Auto for $625 million to enhance its automotive safety software offerings, while also projecting up to 10% of its revenue to come from India by 2030, amid a broader context where tech stocks, including semiconductor ETFs, are experiencing gains.
  • Phillips 66 buys EPIC NGL for $2.2 billion to strengthen its presence in the Permian.
  • Stryker to buy Inari Medical for $4.9 billion (USD 80 per share).
  • Meta Platforms has appointed new directors including UFC CEO Dana White to its board and is replacing its U.S. third-party fact-checking program with a 'Community Notes' system, while an insider has sold shares.
  • Walt Disney to merge its Hulu+ Live TV service with FuboTV, forming a major new streaming entity 70% controlled by Disney.
  • FGL Environmental is about to sell the controlling stake in its services unit to Apollo and BC Partners for $5.6 billion.
  • KKR plans to sell Japanese supermarket chain Seiyu.
  • Exxon Mobil sues California Attorney General and environmental groups.
  • Walt Disney and FuboTV are merging their streaming services to form North America's second-largest internet pay-TV provider, while US Steel and Nippon Steel contest a presidential order blocking their merger, amidst mixed US stock market reactions and notable activity in communications stocks due to these developments.
  • Deere bets on autonomous tractors with new machines.
  • Ansys sells its PowerArtist business to Keysight.
  • Ulta Beauty announces the retirement of CEO Dave Kimbell, replaced by Kecia Steelman, and raises its forecasts.
  • Microsoft plans to invest $3 billion over the next two years to enhance its cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure in India, aiming to boost its Azure services and long-term success in the region.
  • BlackBerry gained 8% yesterday thanks to the collaboration of its QNX unit with Microsoft.

Europe and Asia:

  • Julius Baer has agreed to sell its Brazilian wealth management business to Banco BTG Pactual for 91 million Swiss francs, a move that will increase its CET1 capital ratio by 30 basis points.
  • Next, Tesco, and Sainsbury's emerged as festive winners with Next raising its fiscal 2025 earnings guidance due to robust Christmas sales and high international demand, although it cautioned about a potential sector slowdown.
  • Atlas Copco, a Swedish industrial group, has expanded its global presence and product offerings in compressed air treatment by acquiring India-based Trident Pneumatics for 134 million SEK and Canada-based VOL Industries, while Mats Rahmström has joined the board of Qvantum.
  • Investment AB Latour Unit has acquired the Danish company Lyngsøe Rainwear, which reported revenues of 136 million Danish kronor, to enhance its workwear portfolio, while Latour's chairman Johan Nordström purchased shares worth 1.1 million kronor through Van Genegen.
  • Nokia and Intuitive Machines have successfully integrated Nokia's Lunar Surface Communication System into the Athena mission lander, enhancing lunar exploration capabilities while Nokia also strengthens its position in terrestrial networks by acquiring over 7,000 patent families crucial for 5G and leading in 6G standardization.
  • GSK's experimental B7-H3-targeted antibody-drug conjugate, GSK'227, has received breakthrough therapy designation from the US FDA for treating relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma in adults.
  • Sodexo's Q1 results revealed a 4.6% internal growth rate and 6.403 billion euros in revenue, falling short of the 6.5 billion euros expected, despite maintaining its 2025 organic revenue growth forecast of 5.5% to 6.5%, with weaker volumes in Continental Europe offset by gains in India, Brazil, Australia, and North America.
  • HSBC repurchased over 4 million shares and appointed Lisa McGeough as the new US CEO, amid a decline in financial stocks during late Monday afternoon trading in both the UK and Hong Kong.
  • Volvo is evaluating the effects of the US blacklisting on CATL, while the Stockholm stock exchange opened higher and North American heavy truck orders rose by 39% year-over-year in December, despite a slight decrease from November.
  • Tencent has refuted claims of connections with the Chinese military and pledged to contest its inclusion on a US blacklist, which led to a decline in its shares and those of its major shareholder, Prosus, despite some investors maintaining a positive outlook.
  • At CES 2025, Samsung Electronics and its subsidiary Samsung Display introduced new AI-powered displays, QD-OLED products, and AI-integrated PCs, despite anticipating lower Q4 earnings due to delays in supplying high-end chips to Nvidia.
  • Epiroc secured an $18 million order from BHP Group for blasthole drill rigs, amidst falling iron ore prices and a looming elections deadline for BHP's acquisition of Filo by Lundin.
  • Toyota Motor is investing $44.4 million in Japanese space startup Interstellar Technologies to support the mass production of rockets and plans to begin relocating residents to its Woven City by fall.
  • OCBC has repurchased 273,000 shares for SG$4.6 million to use as treasury shares for its employee share scheme.
  • KKR is urging Fuji Soft to take legal action against Bain Capital for alleged breach of a non-disclosure agreement and misuse of confidential information, while also considering selling the supermarket chain Seiyu in a deal potentially worth several billion dollars.
  • BYD Company Limited Chery announced a significant 38.4% increase in vehicle sales, reaching 2.6 million units in 2024.
  • Saudi Aramco's venture capital arm, Wa'ed Ventures, has invested in Zension Technologies, an e-commerce startup.
  • State Bank of India has appointed Baldev Prakash as deputy managing director and group chief risk officer, and Shiva Om Dikshit as deputy managing director for operations-channel management.
  • Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc Fitch Ratings has assigned an A- rating to the senior notes issued by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.