Shell (SHEL.L)

The oil major reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter profit, boosted by higher refining margins and robust oil trading. The company also announced $3.5bn (£2.8bn) of share buybacks.

The group reported underlying earnings of $7.7bn (£6.1bn) for the first three months of 2024, down from $9.7bn a year earlier.

But the result was 6% higher than earnings in the previous quarter and well ahead of analyst estimates of $6.3bn.

Shell CEO Wael Sawan described the results as “another quarter of strong operational and financial performance.”

The oil major announced a $3.5bn share buyback program, which it expects to complete over the next three months. Its dividend remains unchanged.

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The company, which handed its shareholders $23bn in payouts last year, had one of its most profitable years on record in 2023 when it reported better than expected profits of more than $28bn for the year.

Alexander Kirk, fossil fuel campaigner at Global Witness, said such profits show the energy system simply doesn’t work.

“Shell continuing to rake in huge sums of money shows us that huge polluter profits were not a one-off but are the twisted reality of an energy system that benefits climate-wrecking companies to the cost of everyone else.”

Apple (AAPL)

Apple will announce its second quarter earnings after the US market closes later this Thursday. Investors will be watching for key metrics that shape its stock trajectory.

For the March quarter, analysts tracked by FactSet expect Apple to post revenue of $90.5bn, down 4.5% from the year-ago quarter. Analysts expect $1.51 in earnings per share, down a penny from a year earlier.

That would equate to a 4.75% year-over-year revenue decline.

Wall Street is bracing for what has the potential to be a sizable drop in iPhone sales out of China. According to Counterpoint Research, iPhone sales fell 19% in the quarter.

“At this point, expectations are pretty darn low,” Dan Niles, founder of Niles Investment Management, told Yahoo Finance.

“Competition from China isn’t going away, they’re late to AI, and unfortunately, you’re paying a pretty high PE multiple at 25 times for a company whose March quarter revenues they guided to is exactly the same as three years ago,” he added.

Novo Nordisk (NOVO-B.CO)

Europe’s most-valuable company revealed better-than-expected profits for the first three months of the year as it races to boost output of its miracle Wegovy weight-loss drug.

The Danish pharmaceutical company reported better than expected quarterly sales of DKr65bn (£7.42bn/$9.3bn), up 24% year on year at constant exchange rates, while net profits jumped 28%t to DKr25bn. The drugmaker is now expecting sales to grow between 19% and 27% in 2024, while operating profits are set to rise as much as 30%, up from an upper limit of 29%.