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By Swissquote Analysts
Morning News

Uber’s Rides, Delivery Lift First-Quarter Results

Uber Technologies said continued demand for its ride-share and delivery services boosted its revenue in the first quarter, offsetting weak results from its smaller freight division. The San Francisco-based company said Tuesday that revenue for the three months through March rose 29% from a year earlier to $8.82 billion. It also increased the number of consumers and trips, and the value of transactions, on its platform. The sales expansion was in line with Wall Street’s expectations.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

First Republic Bank Is Seized, Sold to JP Morgan in Second-Largest U.S. Bank Failure

Regulators seized First Republic Bank and struck a deal to sell the bulk of its operations to JP Morgan Chase & Co., heading off a chaotic collapse that threatened to reignite the recent banking crisis. JP Morgan said it will assume all of First Republic’s $92 billion in deposits - insured and uninsured. It is also buying most of the bank’s assets, including about $173 billion in loans and $30 billion in securities. As part of the agreement, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will share losses with JP Morgan on First Republic’s loans. The agency estimated that its insurance fund would take a hit of $13 billion in the deal. JP Morgan also said it would receive $50 billion in financing from the FDIC.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Amazon Rebounds From Postpandemic Doldrums

Amazon.com Inc. reported surging growth as it rebounded from stagnant sales after a postpandemic slowdown, but its cloud-computing business showed further signs of cooling. Stronger-than-expected performance in its advertising and international businesses was initially greeted warmly by investors.

By
David VERELST
Morning News

Facebook Parent Meta Platforms Sees First Sales Increase in Nearly a Year

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. on Wednesday reported its first increase in sales in nearly a year due to continued improvements in its advertising business, as the company continues to pare back spending during what Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has called a “year of efficiency.” Mr. Zuckerberg attributed some of these gains to Reels, the company’s short-form video product. Shares surged by more than 12% in after-hours trading, as the company also forecast that second-quarter revenue could reach as high as $32 billion. The tough economic climate, an increasing number of regulations limiting personalized ads and the fallout from Apple Inc.’s ad-tracking changes in 2021 have weighed on the digital-ad market.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Google Ad Revenue Drops for Second Straight Quarter

Google reported a second straight drop in advertising revenue, extending a rare decline as the company navigates economic concerns and tries to capitalize on recent advances in artificial intelligence. Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company (+1.47% after-hours), posted $54.5 billion in ad revenue for the first quarter, a decrease of less than 1% from the same period last year but a smaller decline than Wall Street anticipated. Both Google and Microsoft Corp. , which also reported earnings Tuesday, showed slowing growth but also areas of resilience that defied somber market expectations. Microsoft said revenue for the three months through March rose 7% from a year earlier, better than expected but marking the second-straight quarter below the company’s yearslong trend of double-digit percentage growth. Shares in both companies advanced after hours as the results surpassed analysts’ estimates and Alphabet disclosed plans to buy back as much as $70 billion of its stock.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

UBS Reports A Pre-tax Profit Of USD 1.5 Billion

The UBS banking group posted a pre-tax profit of nearly 1.5 billion dollars in the first three months of 2023, down by almost half (-45%) on an annual basis, despite capital inflows in all regions. In a press release issued on Tuesday, the giant on the verge of swallowing its eternal rival Credit Suisse (CS) explained this decline in particular by the creation of new reserves for legal disputes in the United States to the tune of 665 million and value adjustments for credit risk of 38 million.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

CS records asset outflows of 61 billion by the end of March

Credit Suisse suffered total asset outflows of CHF 61.2 billion in the first quarter of 2023. The quarterly report of the crisis-ridden big bank published on Monday reveals as much. However, the financial results of Switzerland's second-largest bank for the first three months of the year will be strongly influenced by the upcoming merger with UBS. Due to the write-off of the AT1 instruments ordered in the context of the CS rescue, a net profit of 12.4 billion francs resulted. CS reported a pre-tax profit of CHF 12.8 billion.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Renault Shares Fall After Flagging Continuing Logistics Issues

Renault SA shares fell Thursday after the company said it continued to experience logistics issues in the first quarter, but reported a jump in revenue and confirmed its outlook for 2023. The French car company reported a first-quarter revenue increase to 11.50 billion euros ($12.60 billion), a 30% increase over the previous-year period. Unit sales were up 14% to 535,000 vehicles.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Tesla Earnings Dented by Price Cuts

Tesla Inc. reported a 24% decline in first-quarter profit after a wave of price cuts dented the electric-vehicle maker’s bottom line. Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle maker has lowered prices for models in the U.S. by between 14% and 25% this year as it contends with weaker demand, higher interest rates and burgeoning competition. The latest round of reductions came on the eve of earnings. Tesla on Wednesday reported first-quarter profit of $2.5 billion, down from $3.3 billion a year earlier and a hair below Wall Street’s expectations.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Johnson & Johnson Posts Higher Quarterly Sales, Raises 2023 Outlook

Johnson & Johnson raised its full-year sales and earnings outlook after revenue rose 5.6% in the first quarter, lifted by demand for everything from Tylenol and Imodium to the company’s pharmaceutical products. The New Brunswick, N.J., healthcare-products company also said Tuesday that first-quarter earnings were wiped out by a $6.9 billion charge tied to litigation and other costs from its Covid-19 vaccine commitments. Costs tied to the separation of its consumer-health business also weighed on results. Stripping out those charges, adjusted earnings came to $2.68 a share, topping the $2.50 a share expected by Wall Street analysts.

By
Mathieu VILLARD