Shares in chipmaker Nvidia were flat in pre-market trading ahead of the release of its highly anticipated third-quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday.
Nvidia has become a bellwether for gauging the strength of the global push in AI, with demand for its chips as an enabler of this trend continuing to drive the company's shares higher. The stock is up 197% year-to-date, with Nvidia recently overtaking Apple (AAPL) to become the world's most valuable company, at a market capitalisation of $3.6tn (£2.8tn).
Deutsche Bank's strategists pointed out in a note on Wednesday that this market valuation makes Nvidia nearly as big as Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) and France's CAC (^FCHI) indices combined.
"To give you a scale for their astonishing earnings trajectory over such a short period of time, at the recent lows in Jan 2023 Nvidia earned $4.4bn over the preceded last 12 months," they wrote. "However, today the consensus will see them earn $61.4bn over the last 12 months. Then, by the time we hit 2027, they are expected to earn $118.1bn [over the last 12 months].
"There has never been a large cap company like it in the history of financial markets," they added.
For the third quarter, Nvidia has guided to revenue of $32.5bn, plus or minus 2%.
Shares in Finnish telecommunications company Nokia rose on Wednesday morning, after operator T-Mobile (TMUS) said it had no plans to stop working with the company, following analyst comments.
Helsinki-listed shares in Nokia were up nearly 3%, while New York-listed shares climbed 4% in pre-market trading.
The US-listed shares closed the previous session down nearly 7%, after Earl Lum, president of EJL Wireless Research suggested in a LinkedIn post that Nokia would be "kicked out" of T-Mobile US.
In response, Nokia and T-Mobile published a statement on Wednesday morning.
T-Mobile said: "T-Mobile works with both Nokia and Ericsson on our RAN (radio access networks), who have helped us over the years build the largest and fastest 5G network in the nation. We continue to work with them on ensuring our customers have the best mobile network experience.
"We have made no decision to end our working relationship with Nokia, and any reports in the media implying this are untrue."
Nokia said: "In response to some recent analyst claims, Nokia states that these comments mainly relate to its first generation 5G products designed in 2018.
"Since then, strong investment in R&D (research and development), system on chip technology and new product launches have positioned Nokia as one of the market leaders globally."
However, Walmart raised concerns that President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs would make its products more expensive.
Following the release of its earnings report, Walmart told Reuters in a statement: "We're concerned that significantly increased tariffs could lead to increased costs for our customers at a time when they are still feeling the remnants of inflation."
On the campaign trail, Trump had floated a 10% tariff on all imports into the US and a 60% levy on imports from China.
Shares in Walmart were flat in pre-market trading on Wednesday morning but are up nearly 65% year-to-date.
Shares in Volkswagen edged slightly lower, down just less than 1% on Wednesday morning, after the carmaker announced that former Rivian (RIVN) executive Kjell Gruner would be taking over as head of its America business.
Volkswagen said in an announcement on Tuesday that Gruner had been appointed as CEO of Volkswagen Group of America effective from 12 December, succeeding Pablo Di Si who stepped down last week.
Gruner has previously worked as CEO of Porsche Cars North America and later became chief commercial officer and president of business growth at electric carmaker Rivian Automotive.
This comes after Volkswagen said in a recently released report that its nine-month results had been impacted by higher fixed costs and restructuring provisions.
The carmaker posted a 31% fall in earnings after tax to €8.9bn (£7.4bn) for the nine months to 30 September, with a 64% drop in this figure in the third quarter at €1.6bn.
Despite commercial property firm British Land posting a small increase in profits in its half-year results on Wednesday, shares dipped nearly 2%.
Underlying profit was up 1% to £143m ($181m) for the period, with underlying earnings per share up 1% to 15.3p and a dividend per share also 1% higher at 12.24p.
Simon Carter, CEO of British Land, said that the company's increased exposure to retail parks as its preferred subsector was paying off, "with retailers competing for cost-efficient out-of-town space to support their online operations".
"This is leading to strong rental growth and valuation uplifts which are outperforming all other subsectors," he said.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “British Land is laying solid foundations for recovery, proving that even in challenging markets, a giant landlord can still think on its feet.
"Rent growth is driving revenues forward while stabilising interest rates are helping to steady property values," he said. "The focus on retail parks and London campuses continues to deliver, tapping into areas of strong, sustainable demand."
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Other companies in the news on Wednesday 20 November:
