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Why Brown-Forman investors are in need of a stiff drink
Thursday 27 Feb 2025A sluggish US spirits market, Gen Z cutting back on drinking and concerns over the impact of weight-loss drugs on alcohol consumption have left shares in Jack Daniel’s distiller Brown-Forman (BF.B:NYSE) down 45% over one year. Throw tariff worries and the US surgeon-general’s Vivek Murthy’s call (3...
No easy way back for embattled B&M
Thursday 27 Feb 2025Struggling discounter B&M European Value Retail’s (BME) stock plunged to a five-year low after the variety retailer delivered its latest profit downgrade (24 February) and announced chief executive Alex Russo would step down at the end of April. Profit warnings almost always put a dent in a...
Buffett keeps his powder dry as Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile tops record $134 billion
Thursday 27 Feb 2025US investment giant Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B:NYSE) continued to raise cash from its marketable equites portfolio in the final quarter of 2024, pushing its cash hoard to a record $334 billion by year-end and making it a net seller of equities for nine consecutive quarters. Overall, Berkshire sold $...
Glencore slips to multi-year lows on weak coal price as it mulls London exit
Thursday 27 Feb 2025FTSE 100 commodity trader and mining outfit Glencore (GLEN ) is languishing close to multi-year lows in the wake of its latest disappointing results (19 February). Management’s frustration at the company’s current valuation – which stands at 11.7 times 2025 consensus forecast EPS (earnings per...
Rentokil has a long way to go to catch up with US peer Rollins
Thursday 27 Feb 2025Long-suffering shareholders in pest control and hygiene business Rentokil Initial (RTO) will be hoping the firm has good news when it reports its full-year results on 6 March. Over the past year, the shares have drifted sideways, in contrast to those of US peer Rollins (ROL:NYSE) which have chalked...
Centrica shares hit fresh 12-month high despite normalised trading
Thursday 27 Feb 2025Shares in Centrica (CNA) hit a new 12-month of 151p (24 February) not long after the British Gas owner announced better-than-expected results and a £500 million share buyback. Although the FTSE 100 company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest taxation depreciation amortisation) for the full year...
German election result promises continuity as the centre holds
Thursday 27 Feb 2025The outcome of last weekend’s German elections wasn’t just a matter for Germans – as the largest economy in Europe, and the third-largest in the world, the result will ‘set the tone for the whole continent from security and defence to technology policy to relations with China,’ as Bloomberg’s Alan...
Airbnb shares enjoy record day after strong Q4 and growth initiative
Thursday 20 Feb 2025Travel platform Airbnb (ABNB:NASDAQ) saw its shares jump more than 14% on 14 February, the biggest one day jump since its IPO (initial public offering) in 2020. The source of the excitement was not just that fourth quarter earnings came in ahead of Wall Street estimates, but the hosting firm’s...
Strong regulatory tailwinds keep XPS Pensions in the ascendency
Thursday 20 Feb 2025Pension consulting and administration group XPS Pensions (XPS) has been on a tear over the last year with the shares almost doubling, reflecting double-digit growth in the business. An unscheduled trading update on 14 February sent the shares to yet another new all-time high as the FTSE 250 company...
Wood Group shares hit an all-time low after review and cash flow revelation
Thursday 20 Feb 2025In the annals of stock market history there can be few deals as disastrous as Wood Group’s (WG.) merger with Amec Foster Wheeler. The tie-up, which took place in 2017, has caused a plethora of problems for Wood Group in the interim and, combined with industry-wide structural pressures, has seen its...