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By Swissquote Analysts
Morning News

Alcon slowed by stronger dollar in Q3

Bucking the negative trend of the Swiss stock market, Alcon rallied more than 5% after the presentation of figures for the third quarter. The eye care company slightly increased sales thanks to solid international revenues. However, the operating return fell due to the difficult economic environment. The group narrowed its outlook for 2022 to the upper end of the profit range. The group now expects revenue of $8.5 billion to $8.7 billion this year, compared to $8.6 billion to $8.8 billion Alcon forecast previously.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Elliott Fund increased its stake in Pinterest

Elliott Management has tripled its stake in Pinterest (+7.5%) during the third quarter, according to a US stock exchange filing. The investment fund, known for its shareholder activism, held 15 million shares, valued at nearly $350 million, in the third quarter, up from 5 million shares in the previous quarter, according to the exchange document. Pinterest shares have jumped 46% since the Wall Street Journal revealed in July that the fund had become Pinterest's largest shareholder.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Berkshire Hathaway Bought $9 Billion in Stock in Third Quarter

The stock market has had a rough year. That has made it irresistible to Warren Buffett ‘s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Berkshire spent roughly $9 billion on the stock market in the third quarter, with roughly a third of that money going toward energy companies Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Chevron Corp. , according to filings. Overall, Berkshire spent $66 billion buying stocks in the first nine months of the year. That is more than 13 times its spending over the same period in 2021.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Bankrupt Crypto Exchange FTX Probing Unauthorised Transactions

Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX is probing a potential hack and asked customers to stay off the FTX website, the company said. More than $370 million worth of crypto funds appears to be missing, according to crypto analytics firm Elliptic Enterprises Ltd. FTX and a bevy of affiliates said they had more than 100,000 creditors and tens of billions of dollars in assets and liabilities.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Credit Agricole Profit, Revenue Ticks Down as Market Volatility Bites

Credit Agricole SA said Thursday that third-quarter profit and revenue fell on year amid market volatility. The French bank said net profit in the three months to the end of September was 2.00 billion euros ($2.00 billion), down from EUR2.22 billion in the same period last year. Revenue fell 0.5% to EUR8.93 billion. In terms of the bank’s operations within the group, Credit Agricole reported net income of EUR1.35 billion, above consensus expectations of EUR1.27 billion, according to analysts’ estimates provided by FactSet.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Facebook Parent Meta Announces Layoffs of 11,000 Staff

Meta Platforms Inc. said it would cut more than 11,000 workers, or 13% of staff, embarking on the company’s first broad restructuring as it copes with a slumping digital-ad market and plunging stock price. The layoffs add to a wave of job cuts that are roiling Silicon Valley, where tech giants that added employees by the tens of thousands through the pandemic are now retrenching. In a message to staff on Wednesday morning, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the company, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, would cut staff across all of its businesses, with its recruiting and business teams disproportionately affected.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Bayer Confirms 2022 Objectives After 3Q Sales Beat

Bayer AG backed its 2022 financial objectives after third-quarter sales beat expectations and it reported earnings growth in all segments. The German pharmaceutical-and-agricultural company posted a net profit of 546 million euros ($547.2 million) for the period, up from EUR85 million the year prior, when its agricultural division was in a recovery phase. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization before special items - a closely-watched metric - was EUR2.45 billion for the period, up from EUR2.09 billion the year prior. Sales rose to EUR11.28 billion for the quarter from EUR9.78 billion the year prior.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Ryanair Swings to Profit as Traffic Rebounded, But Recovery Remains Fragile

Ryanair Holdings PLC said that it swung to a net profit for the first half of fiscal 2023 as traffic recovered strongly in the period, but that recovery for the rest of the year remained fragile. The Irish low-cost carrier said the recovery could still be hurt by new Covid-19 variants or by Russia’s war in Ukraine. For the period ended Sept. 30, net profit was 1.37 billion euros ($1.36 billion) compared with a net loss of EUR48 million for the first half of fiscal 2022, the airline said.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Société Générale Q3 Underlying Profit Rises; Revenues Up 2.3%

Société Générale reported that its third-quarter underlying Group net income increased to 1.41 billion euros from 1.39 billion euros, prior year. Net banking income growth was 2.3% from last year. The company said the business performance was driven by the resilience of French Retail Banking, strong growth in International Retail Banking and in Financial Services, and a robust performance from Global Markets and Financing & Advisory. Adjusted for changes in Group Structure and at constant exchange rates, net banking income growth was 3.7%, for the quarter.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Starbucks Rings Up Record Sales

Starbucks Corp. said its sales hit a record in its most recent quarter, while a planned multimillion-dollar investment in new cafe equipment and higher wages for employees cut into store-level profit. The coffee giant reported $8.41 billion in revenue for the three months ended Oct. 2, up about 3% from the comparable year-ago period and above expectations of analysts polled by FactSet. The company said Thursday its same-store sales globally increased 7% year-over-year, and Interim Chief Executive Howard Schultz said global demand for Starbucks’s coffee was strong.

By
Mathieu VILLARD