Barclays share price up 5% on Q1 earnings beat

In today’s top stories, Barclays beat Q1 earnings estimates, sending its shares up 5% Thursday morning; its £1.78bn in net profits marked a 27% year-over-year increase. Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s biggest IPO of 2023 to date was a flop, as ZJLD Group’s shares fell almost 18% on its debut. Despite beating Q1 revenue estimates, STMicroelectronics has warned of falling chip prices later in the year. Meanwhile, Meta’s Q1 earnings reflected the company’s first sales increase in almost a year. Lastly, Japanese brewer Kirin has struck a deal to buy Blackmores, the largest vitamin producer in Australia, whose shares climbed 22% on the news.

ZJLD shares slump on debut

Hong Kong’s biggest IPO of 2023 to date was a flop as liquor maker ZJLD Group’s [6979.HK] shares fell almost 18% to close at HK$8.88. Tepid demand hit the stock, which listed without a cornerstone investor. Elsewhere, Rene Haas, CEO of Arm, has joined SoftBank’s [9984.T] board ahead of the British chipmaker’s eagerly anticipated IPO.

STMicroelectronics warns chip prices will be down

In an echo of earlier comments from TSMC [TSM], STMicroelectronics [STM] has warned of falling chip prices later in the year. The chipmaker increased revenues by 20%, beating first quarter (Q1) revenue estimates, and upped its forecast for the year, but chief financial officer Lorenzo Grandi’s warnings of “negative price pressure” nevertheless sent the stock down 7.8% on Thursday morning.

Metaverse back in business

Meta [META] CEO Mark Zuckerberg has denied that his focus shifted from the Metaverse to AI, as rebounding ad sales helped Meta beat Q1 revenue estimates. The results marked the company’s first sales increase in almost a year. User growth also exceeded expectations. Chief financial officer Susan Li pointed to an increase in activity from Chinese retailers, thanks “to dropping shipping costs and easing Covid lockdown”.

Barclays 5% up on Q1 earnings beat

Barclays [BARC.L] beat Q1 earnings estimates, sending its shares up 5% Thursday morning. The £1.78bn in net profits marked a 27% year-over-year increase, with the bank’s consumer, cards and payments division growing income by 47%. Elsewhere, Deutsche Börse [DB1.DE] is set to acquire Danish fintech developer SimCorp [SIM.CO] for approximately €3.9bn, in a bid to expand its own data and analytics offering.

Kirin moves into vitamin market

Japanese brewer Kirin [2503.T] has struck a A$1.9bn deal to buy Blackmores [BKL.AX], the largest vitamin producer in Australia. The offer of A$95 per share represents a premium of nearly 24% on the stock’s closing price on Wednesday. The acquisition will enable the Japanese beermaker to take strides into the healthcare market. Blackmore shares climbed 22% on the news.