MORNING NEWS

PepsiCo tapped a Walmart executive to fill its top finance role as the packaged-food company aims to turn around its slowing soda and snack sales. Also on Thursday, PepsiCo said fiscal third-quarter revenue rose, which Chief Executive Ramon Laguarta attributed to resiliency in its international business and improved momentum in its North American beverage unit.

Nestle said it quit a major alliance between the world's largest global food companies aimed at reducing methane emissions from dairy suppliers. A spokesperson from the Swiss maker of Nescafe coffee and Purina pet food said Wednesday that Nestle decided to discontinue its participation in the Dairy Methane Action Alliance, following a review of its external organization memberships.

OpenAI and chip-designer Advanced Micro Devices announced a multibillion-dollar partnership to collaborate on AI data centers that will run on AMD processors, one of the most direct challenges yet to industry leader Nvidia. Under the terms of the deal, OpenAI committed to purchasing 6 gigawatts worth of AMD’s chips, starting with the MI450 chip next year.

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group announced on Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Tecentriq(R) (atezolizumab) and Tecentriq Hybreza(R) (atezolizumab and hyaluronidase-tqjs) in combination with lurbinectedin (Zepzelca(R) ) for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) whose disease has not progressed after first-line induction therapy with Tecentriq or Tecentriq Hybreza, carboplatin and etoposide (CE).

Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix surged to multiyear highs after the South Korean memory-chip makers struck initial agreements with ChatGPT maker OpenAI as part of a global artificial-intelligence push. OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman signed letters of intent with Samsung Group affiliates and SK Hynix on Wednesday to team up to establish the global AI infrastructure, including next-generation data centers, under his company-led Stargate initiative.

Nike posted a surprise sales increase in its latest quarter on strength in North America but cautioned that weakness in China may stymie some turnaround progress going forward. The sportswear brand said Tuesday revenue rose 1% in its latest quarter, reversing several quarters of declines and beating prior guidance for a mid-single-digit decrease.

Zijin Gold International’s shares surged in their Hong Kong trading debut, marking the city’s second-largest initial public offering so far this year. Its shares jumped 65% early Tuesday to 118.00 Hong Kong dollars, giving the company a market capitalization of HK$309.16 billion, equivalent to US$39.72 billion. The gold-mining arm of China’s Zijin Mining, the world’s third-largest metals miner by value, raised $3.21 billion in the deal, having raised HK$24.98 billion by selling 349 million shares at HK$71.59 each.

Ypsomed has set ambitious growth targets for the coming years. The medtech company is aiming for sales of CHF 1 billion by 2029/30. The company announced on Monday before the start of an investor day that sales are expected to reach between CHF 0.9 and 1.1 billion. This represents roughly a doubling of turnover compared to the 2024/25 financial year (ending March).

President Trump announced many new tariffs Thursday, including a large one on drugs from pharmaceutical companies that aren’t building plants in the U.S. “Starting October 1st, 2025, we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America,” Trump posted on his social-media site, Truth Social, without providing details.

The Trump administration is in talks to take another stake in a company that wants a loan from the U.S. government. Lithium Americas, a Vancouver-based mining company, is in negotiations with the U.S. Energy Department and automaker General Motors over the terms of its $2.26 billion government loan for a large lithium mining project in Nevada.