JD.com (JD)

Shares of Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com plunged 10% on Wednesday in Hong Kong and was lower in US pre-market trading after retailer Walmart (WMT) confirmed it will sell its stake in the firm.

Walmart is seeking to raise about $3.74bn (£2.87bn) by selling its stake in JD.com, Bloomberg first reported. The retailer is offering 144.5 million shares at a range of $24.85 to $25.85 a share.

The deal also signals Walmart’s confidence that its own operations in China are big enough to compete in its competitive retail market.

The US retailer said it would maintain co-operation with JD.com and that the sale “allows us to better focus on the strong development of China, including the operation of Walmart Supercenter and Sam’s Club, and allocate assets to other priorities”.

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JD.com said in a statement that it was "full of confidence in the future cooperation between the two sides."

Walmart first acquired a stake in the group in 2016 in exchange for the sale of its Chinese e-commerce site Yihaodian to JD.com. Walmart nearly doubled its holding later that year by continuing to invest in the Chinese group.

Netflix (NFLX)

Shares in the streaming company touched a new record high on Tuesday and were higher in pre-market trading as it announced a 150% increase in sales commitments over 2023.

In a blog post, Amy Reinhard, president of advertising, said the company closed upfront deals with all major holding companies as well as independent agencies.

The ad commitments included spots for consumer products, technology, entertainment, auto, retail and fast-food restaurants.

This pushed its share price to an all-time high on Tuesday morning, momentarily rising above a share price of $700.

Upcoming movies and series such as Happy Gilmore 2 and Squid Game 2, along with the recent acquisition of live sports content like the NFL Christmas Day games and WWE Raw, which will kick off in January 2024, helped fuelled the success, according to the company.

Eli Lilly (LLY)

Eli Lilly stock was higher ahead of the US opening bell after the drugmaker revealed its weight-loss drug significantly cut the risk of developing diabetes over three years.

The company’s weight loss drug Zepbound, reduced the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 94% in obese or overweight adults with prediabetes compared with a placebo, according to initial results from a long-term study. The drug is sold as Mounjaro for diabetes in the US.

Jeff Emmick, senior vice president of product development at Lilly, said: “These data reinforce the potential clinical benefits of long-term therapy for people living with obesity and prediabetes.”