Tech giant Microsoft (MSFT) unveiled its Majorana 1 quantum chip on Wednesday, with competition heating up in the quantum computing space.
This comes just a couple of months after Google (GOOGL, GOOG) unveiled its own quantum chip called Willow.
Microsoft (MSFT) said that the processor is the world's first to be powered by topological core, which is designed to scale to a million qubits on a single chip. Qubits are the basic unit of information in quantum computing.
Microsoft (MSFT) said it was on track to build a fault-tolerant prototype of a scalable quantum computer "in years, not decades".
Chetan Nayak, technical fellow and corporate vice president of quantum hardware at Microsoft (MSFT), said: "A million-qubit quantum computer isn’t just a milestone — it’s a gateway to solving some of the world’s most difficult problems."
"Quantum computing at this scale could lead to innovations like self-healing materials that repair cracks in bridges, sustainable agriculture, and safer chemical discovery," he added.
Shares in Microsoft (MSFT) closed Wednesday's session more than 1% higher and were up nearly 1% in pre-market trading on Thursday.
Shares in data analytics software maker Palantir (PLTR) slumped 10% on Wednesday and were down a further 1% in pre-market trading on Thursday following a report of defence spending cuts, which is key part of the company's business.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the Trump administration wants to cut US Defense Department spending.
Defence secretary Pete Hegseth has reportedly ordered senior military leaders to develop plans to cut 8% from defence spending per year for the next five years.
In a statement on Wednesday, acting deputy secretary of defense Robert G Salesses, said: "Hegseth has directed a review to identify offsets from the Biden administration's FY26 budget."
He said that offsets were targeted at 8% of the Biden administration's 2026 budget, totalling around $50bn, which "will then be spent on programs aligned with president Trump's priorities".
The pull-back in Palantir (PLTR) shares came after the stock reached a new record closing price of $124.62 (£98.89) on Tuesday. Shares soared on the back of the company's earnings beat earlier in the month.
For the year, analysts expect Walmart (WMT) to post revenue growth of roughly 5% to $680.7bn, while net sales are anticipated to have grown by between 4.8% and 5.1%.
Jefferies analyst Corey Tarlowe told Yahoo Finance that while "expectations are high", Walmart (WMT) would likely deliver above estimates as it continues to gain higher-income shoppers with its emphasis on value and convenience.
As one of the world's largest retailers by sales, Walmart's (WMT) results can help offer some insight into shopper sentiment, which is particularly important given the recent uptick in US inflation.
Carmaker Mercedes-Benz said on Thursday that it expected profits this year to be "significantly" lower than in 2024.
Mercedes-Benz (MBG.DE) said it also expected free cash flow from its industrial business to be significantly below prior-year levels, and group revenue to be "slightly" lower than in 2024.
The carmaker also announced a cost cutting programme in its full-year results, published on Thursday. The company said it planned to cut production costs by 10% until 2027.
In terms of its 2024 performance, Mercedes-Benz posted a 4.5% fall in revenue yea-on-year to €145.6bn (£120.52bn). Earnings before interest and tax were down nearly 31% to €13.6bn.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell (AJB.L), said: "Mercedes was stuck in reverse as it warned of a big potential hit from tariffs and announced plans to cut costs. Like much of the industry it is struggling with uncertain demand for electric vehicles."
Mercedes-Benz shares were trading 1.6% in the red on Thursday morning.
On the London market, British Gas-owner Centrica (CNA.L) was the biggest riser on the FTSE 100 (^FTSE), with shares surging 8%.
The energy company said profits in 2024 had fallen to £2.3bn ($2.9bn), down from £3.5m, in preliminary results released on Thursday.
However, Centrica declared a higher full-year dividend of 4.5p per share, up from 4p for 2023, as well as announcing another £500m of share buybacks. The company said it also intended to increase its dividend to 5.5p for 2025.
“A bumper 2023 was always going to be a tough act to follow for Centrica and, sure enough, profit and revenue were sharply lower in 2024 as energy markets normalised and a one-off recovery of costs in its British Gas division didn’t, as implied, repeat," said Mould.
“However, it’s all about expectations for the market and Centrica came in ahead of what had been pencilled in, which, along with retaining its 2025 forecast, was sufficient to get investors energised," he added .
"The company is still throwing off a decent amount of cash and has a strong balance sheet which has allowed it to serve up further generous returns to shareholders."
Other companies in the news on Thursday 20 February:
