MORNING NEWS

Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros. for $72 billion after the entertainment company splits its studios and HBO Max streaming business from its cable networks, a deal that would reshape the entertainment and media industry. The cash-and-stock transaction was announced Friday after the two sides entered into exclusive negotiations for the media company known for Superman and the Harry Potter movies, as well as hit TV shows such as “Friends.”

Salesforce raised its full-year guidance as its AI product, Agentforce, gained some traction. Agentforce, which has been the main focus for many Salesforce investors, hit $540 million in annual recurring revenue during the third quarter. More companies, including Williams Sonoma and SharkNinja, are adopting the AI agent to use for customer service and internal operations, Chief Executive Marc Benioff told analysts Wednesday. Shares advanced 1.8% to $243 in after-hours trading, a contrast from previous quarters this year when the stock declined following earnings calls.

Marvell Technology agreed to acquire Celestial AI in a cash and stock deal valued at $3.25 billion in a bid to help the semiconductor company build out its AI and cloud data center business. Celestial AI provides a form of data center infrastructure technology called photonic fabric, which Marvell said is needed to help AI servers operate more efficiently. Shares rose 8.73% to $101 in post-market trading. Marvell separately swung to a profit in the third quarter and recorded higher sales driven by data-center demand. It posted a profit of $1.90 billion, or $2.20 a share, in the quarter ended in early November, compared with a loss of $676.3 million, or 78 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 37% to $2.07 billion, in line with analysts’ expectations.

Baloise Holding AG and Helvetia have obtained all necessary approvals for their merger and will complete the transaction as planned on December 5, 2025.

Chemicals company Sika expects to book a one-off hit of up to 100 million Swiss francs ($124 million) this year from an overhaul of its operations in China and other measures to cut costs in the future. Sika said the measures set out in its “fast forward” program would deliver annual cost savings of 150 million to 200 million Swiss francs from 2028.

The rise of artificial intelligence is turning out to be a problem for HP Inc. on two fronts. HP Inc.’s CEO said skyrocketing prices for memory chips will be a “fairly significant” drag on its results for the current fiscal year as the company issued financial guidance that fell short of what analysts had expected. At the same time, he said, customers are investing more in AI, leaving less money to buy new printers.

BHP Group said it won't pursue a takeover of Anglo American following new talks, shutting the door on a deal that could have turbocharged its copper business and helping clear the way for its U.K. rival to close a merger with Teck Resources. Australia-based BHP first approached London-listed Anglo American about a possible takeover in April last year, arguing that a combination of the companies' prized copper mines and other operations would have significant benefits.

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.