arm (arm)
Arm Holdings shares rose 25% in premarket trading Thursday after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter results.
The chip designer had revenue of $87 million in the December quarter, compared to $182 million in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, revenue increased 14% to $824 million.
The group also released its fourth-quarter revenue guidance, beating expectations at $850-900 million, compared with the previous estimate of $778 million.
“There are signs of recovery in the broader semiconductor market, particularly in smartphones, with the smartphone market returning to strong growth,” the report said. [the third quarter]. “We're just getting started.”
AI is also a factor in the success, with “increasing demand for new technologies driven by AI.”
Arm also gained market share and new royalty streams in the cloud server and automotive markets.
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Ben Barringer, technology analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said: “Arm has reported significant outperformance, primarily due to increased demand for AI in data centers. “This is leading to a growing need for high-performance chips in cloud computing.” Evolution of smartphones equipped with AI functions.
“These developments resulted in increased royalty rates. The transition from Version 8 to Version 9 further contributed to these royalty rate increases. The company saw its stock price rise 20% in after-hours trading. , has shown strong momentum” in the field of AI technology. ”
Unilever (ULVR.L)
Unilever's shares rose as much as 3% after soap maker Dove posted a rise in fourth-quarter sales and launched a €1.5bn (£1.3bn) share buyback programme.
The consumer goods company reported a 7.0% underlying sales increase in 2023, with prices rising 6.8% and sales volumes increasing just 0.2%, especially for nutritional and ice cream products.
Due to a slowdown in raw material inflation during 2023, the underlying price growth rate slowed to 2.8% in the fourth quarter from 10.7% in the first quarter of last year.
But the company's new boss said Unilever's competitive position “remains disappointing”.
CEO Hein Schumacher said: “Today's results demonstrate that our financial performance is improving due to increased sales volumes and the restructuring of our profit margins.'' However, our competitiveness remains disappointing and we need to improve our overall performance. We are working to address this issue by improving execution to unlock Unilever's full potential. ”
Schumacher, a former Heinz executive, was appointed to the management team in July, succeeding Alan Jope, an insider who spent 38 years at Unilever.
British American Tobacco (BATS.L)
British American Tobacco fell into an annual loss last year after incurring higher-than-expected costs for its U.S. operations.
The tobacco and e-cig company, which owns brands such as Lucky Strike and Dunhill, slumped to a pre-tax loss of £17.1bn in 2023, compared with a profit of £9.3bn the previous year.
This follows a £27.3bn write-down on US brands, which exceeds the £25bn hit it warned in December.
The charges are based on the company's long-term strategy to move away from traditional cigarettes, as well as growing economic uncertainty and “uncertainty surrounding the rise in illegal disposable vapor products and a potential menthol ban in the United States.” This was due to a decrease in sales. .
BAT expects the global tobacco industry's volume sales to fall by around 3% in 2024, but expects organic and underlying profit growth to be in the “low single digits” this year. He said he supported the outlook.
Meanwhile, the company announced a 2% increase in its dividend to 235.52p, in line with its gradual approach to dividend increases.
The stock rose nearly 7% in London, pushing it to the top of the FTSE 100.
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“We are investing to strengthen our U.S. operations, accelerate our innovation momentum, and strengthen our capabilities to support our strategic delivery,” said CEO Tadeu Marko. “In combination with macroeconomic pressures, we expect this to have an impact in 2024.”
“We will then gradually build to deliver 3-5% organic revenue and mid-single-digit adjusted organic profit growth, excluding currency effects, by 2026. ”
Maersk (Maersk B.CO)
Shipping company Maersk on Thursday reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profits and said 2024 profits were expected to be significantly lower than 2023 levels due to the impact of the Red Sea crisis.
The company expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to grow from $1bn to $6bn (£790m to £4.8bn) this year, compared to $9.6bn (£7.6bn) last year. I predict that it will.
“There remains high uncertainty about the duration and extent of the Red Sea disruption, and our guidance range reflects a quarter to full year period,” Maersk said in a statement.
Underlying profit for the fourth quarter fell to $839 million from $6.5 billion a year earlier, well below analysts' expectations of $1.1 billion.
Vincent Clerc, CEO of AP Moller-Maersk, said: “While the current market remains one of strong volume, the Red Sea crisis has caused immediate capacity constraints and temporary rate increases. “However, ultimately an oversupply of transport capacity will lead to lower prices.” This creates pressure and affects the results.
“The ongoing disruptions and market fluctuations highlight the need for supply chain resilience, and Maersk's path to integrated logistics is the right choice for our customers to effectively manage these challenges. This further confirms this.”
This comes after the company announced in November that it would cut 10,000 jobs, citing a drop in demand due to the global economic slowdown.
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