MORNING NEWS

Walmart announced solid growth in third-quarter revenue and adjusted operating income, prompting the company to raise its fiscal year 2026 outlook. Consolidated net income attributable to the company totaled $6.143 billion, or $0.77 a share, compared to $4.577 billion, or $0.57 a share, last year. On adjusted basis, profit stood at $0.62 per share compared to $0.58 per share in the prior year. Analysts, on average, estimated earnings of $0.6 per share for the same quarter.

Nvidia reported record sales and strong guidance Wednesday, helping soothe jitters about an artificial intelligence bubble that have reverberated in markets for the last week. Sales in the October quarter hit a record $57 billion as demand for the company’s advanced AI data center chips continued to surge, up 62% from the year-earlier quarter and exceeding consensus estimates from analysts polled by FactSet. The company increased its guidance for the current quarter, estimating that sales will reach $65 billion - analysts had predicted revenue of $62.1 billion for the quarter.

Three of the biggest companies in artificial intelligence said Tuesday they formed a partnership featuring tens of billions of dollars in spending, adding to an investment spree that is aimed at supercharging AI model development. Under the partnership, Nvidia and Microsoft will invest up to $15 billion in Anthropic, a competitor to OpenAI whose models are popular with coders and businesses.

Insurer Zurich Insurance reaffirmed its 2025-2027 targets on Tuesday ahead of today's investor day. The group highlighted its “solid performance” and a strategy focused on accelerating growth in specialty products, the mid-market, distribution, and agricultural products.

UBS and Ant International have entered into a strategic partnership. The major bank and the provider of digital payment, digitization, and financial technology solutions intend to explore innovations in the area of blockchain-based tokenized deposits in the future, thereby supporting Ant International's global payment processing and liquidity management.

Diageo appointed Dave Lewis as its new chief executive, tapping a consumer-industry veteran to revitalize the booze giant as it contends with weaker demand in the U.S. and China. The U.K.-based company behind Johnnie Walker whisky, Guinness beer and Baileys Irish Cream liqueur said Monday that Lewis would take over the position from interim CEO Nik Jhangiani on Jan. 1. Shares in Diageo rose more than 7% in morning trading in London. The stock is still down by more than a quarter since the start of the year.

Pfizer has agreed to buy the weight-loss drug startup Metsera in a deal that could be worth more than $10 billion, besting Novo Nordisk following a heated bidding war. Under the terms of the cash deal, Pfizer will pay $65.60 a share upfront and a contingent value right worth up to $20.65 a share, Metsera said. In September, Pfizer had agreed to buy Metsera for up to $7.3 billion.

Advanced Micro Devices reported sharp increases in both profit and sales for the latest quarter as the chip designer moved deeper into artificial-intelligence data centers and increased sales of personal computer processors. The chip maker posted a profit of $1.96 billion, or $1.20 a share, compared with $1.5 billion, or 92 cents a share, a year earlier.

Palantir Technologies reported another quarter of record revenue on Monday, propelled by a surge in new customers flocking to buy artificial-intelligence technology from one of the hottest names on Wall Street. The data-analytics company said it had $1.18 billion in sales for the third quarter, a year-over-year gain of 63%, and a net profit of $475.6 million.

Ryanair Holdings posted an increase in first-half net profit, beating analysts’ estimates, and said that earlier-than-expected deliveries of Boeing aircraft would allow it to carry more passengers in fiscal 2026 than previously forecast. The Irish budget airline said Monday that net profit in the first six months of its fiscal year reached 2.54 billion euros ($2.93 billion), up 42% on year, compared with a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 2.50 billion euros.