Nvidia (NVDA)
Nvidia shares rose 9.3% on Thursday to close above $1,000 for the first time, giving the semiconductor giant a market capitalization of more than $2.5 trillion (£1.97 billion) after the company reported first-quarter profits that again beat expectations.
Nvidia’s first-quarter results, released after the close of trading on Wednesday, reported adjusted earnings per share of $6.12 on revenue of $26 billion, up 461% and 262%, respectively, from the prior year.
The company also announced a 10-for-1 stock split and a dividend increase, following the example of some large technology companies that have increased their quarterly dividends to shareholders.
Analysts were expecting adjusted EPS of $5.65 on revenue of $24.69 billion, according to Bloomberg data. The company reported adjusted EPS of $1.09 on revenue of $7.19 billion in the same period last year.
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For the current quarter, Nvidia expects revenue to be $28 billion, plus or minus 2%, beating analysts’ expectations of $26.6 billion.
Boeing (BA)
Boeing (BA) shares fell 7.5% in Thursday’s trading session after Chief Financial Officer Brian West warned that the company expects aircraft deliveries to slow and free cash flow to be negative in 2024.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in an interview with Yahoo Finance on Wednesday that Boeing still has a “long way to go” as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) continues its investigation into the company’s production concerns.
Boeing is currently rated BBB- by S&P and has a negative credit outlook. The rating agency changed its outlook to negative from stable in April as it became increasingly likely that cash flows would take longer to recover.
National Grid (NG.L)
National Grid was the biggest faller on the FTSE index on Friday morning after news it would issue new shares at a deep discount. The £7 billion raise would be the biggest by a European company outside the banking sector in 15 years.
By 10:10 a.m. in London, shares were down 9.5%.
The funding will be used to fund a £60 billion investment plan over the next five years, including to fund electricity distribution and transmission in the UK, as well as networks in New York and New England.
The new shares will be issued at 645 pence each, a discount of around 35% to Thursday’s closing price.
National Grid expects the investment to grow its asset base at an average compound rate of 10% over the five years to 2029, with earnings growing at a rate of 6% to 8% from 2025.
Abledon shares fell in morning trading in London on news that the company’s chief executive, Stephen Bird, would step down with immediate effect.
During his four years at the helm, the fund has underperformed its benchmark, with its share price falling about 50% since February 2021. Assets under management fell 8% in 2022 and a further 1.2% in 2023.
One of Bird’s most famous moves in running the business was the rebranding of the company: after the sale of the Standard Life business, the name was changed from Standard Life Aberdeen to just Aberdeen, dropping all vowels except the first one.
WATCH: U.S. stocks fall despite NVIDIA profit growth
