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Mitchells & Butlers shares knocked by £100 million ‘cost headwinds’
Thursday 06 Feb 2025Shares in Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) seem to be in a downward spiral despite the pubs, bars and restaurants group reporting strong trading during its first quarter which encompassed the festive season. Mitchells said first-quarter like-for-like sales remained well ahead of the market, however...
A return to growth in international markets in focus at McDonald's
Thursday 06 Feb 2025Wall Street analysts are expecting McDonald’s (MCD:NYSE) to report a 4.4% year-on-year decline in EPS (earnings per share) to $2.82 for the fourth quarter as revenues nudge-up by 1% to $6.48 billion, when it reports on 10 February. The Golden Arches delivered a positive earnings surprise in the...
Markets brought back from the brink after planned tariffs put on hold
Thursday 06 Feb 2025In a fitting irony for our high-tech 21st century world, it was an old-fashioned technology which brought markets back from the brink on 3 February after Donald Trump’s telephone conversations with the presidents of Mexico and Canada resulted in planned 25% tariffs being delayed by a month. Mexico...
Saba rebuffed as retail shareholders turn out for trust votes
Thursday 06 Feb 2025As we write, the first five investment trusts targeted by Saba have seen the US activist hedge fund proposals overwhelmingly voted down. As a brief reminder Saba was proposing to replace the current independent boards with two new directors and had stated an intention to follow this up with a...
Can Palantir keep the plates spinning as its valuation balloons?
Thursday 30 Jan 2025Cryptocurrencies, gold and Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ) have all been going gangbusters lately, but if it’s momentum you’re after, you don’t get any hotter than Palantir (PLTR:NASDAQ) , the company co-started by prominent Silicon Valley entrepreneur Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal (PYPL:NASDAQ) ,...
WH Smith hangs ‘for sale’ sign over historic High Street stores
Thursday 30 Jan 2025Shares in WH Smith (SMWH) jumped 5% to £12.11 on 27 January after the storied retailer confirmed it was ‘exploring potential strategic options’ for its High Street business, which opened its first shop in London back in 1792. These options include a potential sale of all 500 High Street stores at a...
Sage Group hits new high after 2024 results and buyback spur gains
Thursday 30 Jan 2025Sage Group (SGE) has put in a robust performance over the last three months, with shares in the accounting software provider gaining 21% since late November to hit an all-time high last week. Much of the increase came on the 20 November when the company reported full-year results, which included a...
US technology stocks tumble on surprise Chinese AI innovation
Thursday 30 Jan 2025The fast-changing world of AI (artificial intelligence) has taken another unexpected turn after reports over the weekend that Chinese firm DeepSeek had developed a competitive LLM (Large Language Model) at a fraction of the cost of traditional AI models. DeepSeek’s latest R1 model can perform...
Everyman Media plumbs the depths after registering all-time low
Thursday 30 Jan 2025In a week when the FTSE 100 and FTSE-All Share indices made new all-time highs, it is quite striking that shares in posh cinema company Everyman Media (EMAN:AIM) made an new all-time low. The stock is down 17% over the last six months and has lost around half its value since listing on AIM in 2013...
Will Diageo shareholders be raising their glasses or downing their sorrows?
Thursday 30 Jan 2025Prevailing negative sentiment towards alcoholic drinks companies reflects tariff and regulation risk, the fact drinkers’ disposable incomes are under pressure and the younger demographic is quaffing less alcohol, as well as worries over the demand impact of weight loss drugs on the sector. Little...