Shares magazine
Magazine archive
News
Can drinks giant Diageo raise investors’ spirits?
Thursday 31 Jul 2025Investors will want to learn more about the expected impact of tariffs on the business and see evidence of ongoing organic sales improvement when spirits leader Diageo (DGE) serves up full-year results on 5 August. Still nursing a post-pandemic hangover, the alcoholic drinks giant is now in the...
Trump hails EU-US trade deal as greatest in history
Thursday 31 Jul 2025Markets are all about pricing in expectations, so when the range of potential outcomes narrows, there is naturally some relief that the worst case didn’t materialise. That helps explain the positive reaction to the framework trade agreement announced at the weekend (27 July) between the European...
Second-quarter dividends dip on fewer one-offs and strong pound
Thursday 31 Jul 2025After a year-on-year decline of 4.6% in the amount of dividends paid out by UK firms in the first quarter of 2025 (to £14 billion), there was another drop in the total payout in the second quarter according to the latest report by global financial services company Computershare. However, before...
Second-quarter earnings from bellwether Caterpillar will be closely watched
Thursday 31 Jul 2025Irving, Texas-based construction and mining equipment-maker Caterpillar (CAT:NYSE) has always been regarded as something of a bellwether, not just for the state of the US economy but for the global economy, given its industry-leading position and its end markets. However, dealers and stockists can...
Diploma shares make new all-time high on stronger sales outlook
Thursday 24 Jul 2025We have said it before, but there’s nothing better than a ‘boring’ company which quietly goes about its business and compounds earnings at a higher rate than the market, and once again specialist distributor Diploma (DPLM) has proved our point. The group, which makes and distributes seals, controls...
B&M continues to slump despite return to like-for-like growth
Thursday 24 Jul 2025Warmer weather and soft comparatives helped embattled shopkeeper B&M (BME) return to like-for-like growth in its core UK business in the first quarter to 28 June 2025. However, this growth came in at the lower end of market expectations and the variety goods discounter warned of lower margins...
Nvidia poised to resume H20 sales to China with Washington’s blessing
Thursday 24 Jul 2025Artificial intelligence chip designer Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ) hopes to resume sales of its H20 processing chips to China with Washington’s blessing in what would be a major boon for a company that has suffered from US export curbs. The H20 is a less-advanced semiconductor designed for AI workloads...
Supermarket sales show households continuing to tighten spending
Thursday 24 Jul 2025The uptick in UK CPI (consumer price index) to 3.6% in June from 3.4% in May – and just 2.5% in December – was largely attributed to a sharp increase in housing and energy costs, which are growing at an annual rate of 7.5% according to the ONS (Office for National Statistics). However, food price...
Can Next deliver yet another upgrade?
Thursday 24 Jul 2025Best-in-class retailer Next (NXT) has delivered 11 upgrades to earnings forecasts in the last three years, the latest (8 May) driven by warm spring weather in the first quarter to 26 April. Consequently, there is pressure on the fashion-to-homewares seller to raise guidance for a 12th time with its...
Infrastructure group Galliford Try hits five-year high on raised guidance
Thursday 17 Jul 2025In case investors were in any doubt as to which part of the UK construction market looks most attractive, infrastructure and civil engineering firm Galliford Try (GFRD) laid that to rest this morning with another increase to full-year revenue, margin and earnings guidance. Ahead of the release of...