Trending tickers: Pfizer, Micron, Nissan, Teva and National Grid
Pfizer ( PFE )
Pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer closed Tuesday's session nearly 5% in the green, after it issued an upbeat full-year outlook for 2025.
Pfizer guided to 2025 revenue of between $61bn (£48bn) and $64bn, along with adjusted earnings per share of $2.80 to $3 next year, both of which were in line with expectations.
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The drugmaker also reiterated its 2024 full-year guidance, estimating earnings per share of between $2.75 and $2.95.
Pfizer said it had also delivered on its goal of $4bn in net operating expense savings through 2024, with a further $500m in savings expected to come in 2025.
Dr. Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, said: "Additionally, in support of our ongoing efforts to improve gross margin performance, we will work to make additional progress with our manufacturing optimization program in the coming year."
Micron Technology ( MU )
US chipmaker Micron is due to report first-quarter results on Wednesday, with it having forecasted revenue of $8.7bn , which was ahead of the $8.3bn forecast by analysts.
Micron logged revenue of $25.1bn in its full-year results, released at the end of September, which was up from $15.5bn in the previous year.
Shares jumped after the release of its last set of results, though the stock has been volatile this year, leaving it 27% in the green year-to-date.
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Last week, it was confirmed that AI chipmaker Micron had secured a $6.1bn subsidy from the US Department of Commerce for the build-out of semiconductor manufacturing plants within the US.
In a statement, the Department of Commerce said the funding would support Micron's two-decade plans to invest around $100bn in New York and $25bn in Idaho, which will create approximately 20,000 jobs.
The department said this would help the US grow its share of advanced memory manufacturing from less than 2% currently to around 10% by 2035.
These efforts to invest in chipmaking domestically come as trade tensions in this space intensify between the US and China.
Nissan ( 7201.T )
Shares in carmaker Nissan jumped 24% following reports that it was set to start merger talks with Honda ( HMC ).
According to a report from Nikkei Asia , the two carmakers are planning to begin talks with the hope of joining their resources amid increasing competition in the electric vehicle (EV) space.
The carmakers are considering operating under a holding company and may look for an eventual three-way tie-up with Mitsubishi ( 8058.T ), the report said.
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A spokesperson for Nissan said: "The content of the reports that Honda, Nissan and MMC are considering a business integration is not based on an announcement from our company.
"As announced in March and August of this year, Nissan, Honda, and MMC are considering various possibilities for future collaboration including the content of the report, but no decisions have been made."
A spokesperson for Honda had not responded to Yahoo Finance UK 's request for comment at the time of writing.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ( TEVA )
Pharmaceuticals companies Teva and Sanofi ( SAN.PA ) rose on Tuesday after promising drug trial success, with the former jumping nearly 27% in the previous session.
A trial for their experimental inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) drug showed promising results.
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Teva and Sanofi said that the phase two trial of their duvakitug drug, demonstrated "best-in-class potential" to treat ulcerative colitis and Crohn's as the most common forms of IBD.
Houman Ashrafian, executive vice president and head of research and development at Teva, said: "These unprecedented results show that duvakitug could represent the next frontier in treating ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
"If the magnitude of effect persists in the phase three program, we believe we will have a differentiated medicine for IBD patients who are in urgent need of new options."
National Grid ( NG.L )
British utilities company National Grid said that planned to invest up to £35bn ($44bn) over the next five years in its electricity transmission business.
This included £11bn to maintain and upgrade its existing networks, as well as a pipeline investment of around £24bn.
John Pettigrew, CEO of National Grid, said: "This plan represents the most significant step forward in the electricity network that we've seen in a generation.
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"Through it we will nearly double the amount of energy that can be transported around the country, support the electrification of the industries of today and tomorrow; create new jobs; and support inward investment for the UK."
National Grid shares were little moved by the news, edging less than 1% into the red.
Barclays ( BARC.L ) analysts said in a note released on Wednesday morning that the £35bn figure was slightly ahead of their estimates. They had an 'overweight' rating on the stock.
Other companies in the news on Wednesday 18 December:
Birkenstock ( BIRK )
General Mills ( GIS )
Jabil ( JBL )
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Apple and Android .