Trending tickers: Tesla, Reddit, Walmart and GSK
The latest investor updates on stocks that are trending on Friday.
Tesla (TSLA)
Tesla faces a climb up “Mount Everest” as it tries to persuade shareholders to approve a relocation to Texas and sign off yet again on a $56bn (£44.26bn) pay deal for Elon Musk, according to the electric car company’s chair.
Tesla chair Robyn Denholm pointed out the significance of receiving approval from its shareholders, stressing that their decision is "important" for "corporate America as well,” in an interview with the FT.
The controversial pay deal has already been backed once by shareholders, back in 2018, but was vetoed by a Delaware judge in January.
Musk has criticised the decision and has asked shareholders to move Tesla out of Delaware, something he has already done with SpaceX. However, Denholm said that Musk remains committed to the EV maker even if he loses the upcoming vote.
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“There is always a risk, but he’s not holding a gun to anybody’s head . . . He hasn’t said one way or another quite frankly. And do I believe he’s committed to Tesla? Absolutely.”
Reddit (RDDT)
Shares in Reddit were higher in pre-market trading as the platform announced it will give artificial intelligence (AI) startup OpenAi access to its data.
The agreement “will enable OpenAI’s AI tools to better understand and showcase Reddit content, especially on recent topics,” the companies said in a joint statement. The deal allows OpenAI to display Reddit’s content and train AI systems on its partner’s data.
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"Reddit will be building on OpenAI’s platform of AI models to bring its powerful vision to life," OpenAI wrote in the post. "Using LLMs, ML, and AI allow Reddit to improve the user experience for everyone."
Investors view selling its data to train AI models as a key source of revenue beyond Reddit's advertising business.
The two will also collaborate on advertising.
Walmart (WMT)
Walmart surged to an all time high and was trading higher in pre-market hours at the retailer beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates.
The big-box retailer reported net income jumped to $5.1bn, or 63 cents per share, in the three-month period that ended 30 April, compared with $1.67bn, or 21 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Revenue climbed 6% from $152.3bn in the year-ago quarter. That increase includes a benefit of roughly 1% from an additional selling day in the period.
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US comparable sales, or those from digital channels and stores operating at least 12 months, rose 3.8% in the quarter ended 26 April. That was slower growth than last year, when comparatively higher prices sent sales soaring.
Looking ahead, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company now expects growth in full-year net sales to be at the high end or slightly above its original guidance of 3% to 4%. Adjusted earnings per share are forecast to be at the high end or slightly higher than its original guidance of $2.23 to $2.37.
GSK (GSK.L)
GSK has raised £1.2bn after offloading its last remaining stake in Sensodyne and Advil maker Haleon (HLN.L), nearly two years after spinning off the consumer healthcare business.
The pharma giant initially retained a 12.9% stake in Haleon after its IPO and, having now sold its shares, has raised a total of around £3.9bn.
GSK said in a statement this morning: “GSK's exit of its position in Haleon is consistent with its previous commitments to monetise its holding in a disciplined manner.”
Haleon was formed in 2019 by the merger of the consumer healthcare businesses of British pharmaceutical group GSK and US rival Pfizer, sitting as a joint venture within GSK.
It was then spun out of GSK as a standalone business listed on the London Stock Exchange in July 2022.
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