Barratt buys Redrow in a £2.52 billion deal

DAX

Germany's DAX closed above 17,000 points on Tuesday for the first time ever. In Germany, industrial production fell more than anticipated, by 1.6% in December. Economists had anticipated a 0.4% fall. In the UK, the Halifax house price index rose 1.3% ,month-over-month (MoM).

Barratt and Redrow

Barratt and Redrow reached an agreement on a recommended all-share offer for the combination of Barratt and Redrow. Redrow shareholders will receive 1.44 New Barratt shares per Redrow share. Both companies produced half-year results lower than last year, and both slashed their interim dividends.

TotalEnergies

TotalEnergies adjusted income fell to $5.2 billion in Q4, down 31% compared to the same period a year ago, mainly due to lower oil prices and refining margins. Adjusted net income reached $23.2 billion for the full year, down 36%. TotalEnergies proposed a dividend of 3.01 euros per share for 2023, up 7.1% compared to 2022.

Ford motor

Ford Motor shares jumped to a six-month high after better-than-expected earnings and sales. Earnings per share came in at 29 cents. Analysts had anticipated 12 cents per share. Revenue also beat forecasts by nearly $3 billion, reaching $46 billion. The carmaker said it would return more cash to shareholders. The first quarter will start with an extra 18 cents per share in dividends. Ford forecast $10 billion to $12 billion in pretax profit for 2024, after earning $10.4 billion before taxes last year. Electric vehicle operations were a money pit in 2023 for Ford, which said it will continue to be a cash drain this year. Its Model E lost an average of more than $47,000 per vehicle in the fourth quarter. Ford has decided to slow investment in new EV capacity to match slower demand. It added that the next generation of Ford EVs will be launched "only when they can be profitable."

Snap

Snap gains over the past three months were cut to nothing yesterday evening when the group unveiled its quarterly report. The group posted a loss per share of 15 cents, marginally better than the 17 cent loss anticipated. But revenue missed expectations, confirming concerns that Snap is struggling to compete against its much larger rivals. As a comparison, Meta's advertising sales surged 25% in the December quarter. Google's ad business grew 11% as ad sales from YouTube increased 16% in the same period. In yesterday's statement, Snap said it will focus this year on increasing Snapchat's user base and investing in markets where the tech company earns the most money, including North America and Europe.

Alibaba

Alibaba reports before the bell today. Wall Street expects it to earn $2.67 per share, down from last year's $2.79 on revenues of $36.73 billion. That revenue line would be an improvement of $1.9 billion. The problem is that the Chinese authorities have been heavily involved in the business ever since it became obvious that Alibaba knew more about Chinese citizens living in the country than the state did.

Walt Disney

Entertainment giant Walt Disney reports after the bell this evening. For its fiscal first quarter, Disney is expected to have earned $1 per share, mirroring the 99 cents achieved a year ago. Revenue forecasts suggest a modest year-on-year increase for the same quarter, with projections around $23.75 billion. Analysts anticipate growth across all three segments: entertainment, experience, and sports.

Uber

Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies reports Q4 earnings. Forecasts are for 39 cents in earnings per share, up 17% year-overyear (YoY) on a 5% increase in revenues to $9.76 billion. Uber aims to recover from a previous revenue dip while sustaining a 30% gross margin.

Paypal

Another all-sessions stock that's due to report after the bell this evening is PayPal. Earnings per share (EPS) forecasts are for $1.36 per share, suggesting growth of 9.7% year-over-year on a near 7% climb in revenue to $7.88 billion. With the growing adoption of the company's credit business, its buy now, pay later solution is anticipated to have contributed well.

Crude oil

Elsewhere on the commodity market, crude oil stocks rose by 674,000 barrels last week, according to the API. Gasoline stocks rose by 3.7 million barrels. Distillates fell by 3.7 million barrels. On Tuesday, the Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) cut its forecast for 2024 domestic oil growth by 120,000 to 170,000 bpd, contrasting with last year's output increase of 1.02 million bpd. It had previously projected that crude production would rise this year by 290,000 bpd.