MORNING NEWS

ABB’s first-quarter earnings increase exceeded analysts’ expectations, and the company said it intends to spin off its robotics division. The Swiss industrial-technology company said it achieved $1.10 billion in net profit for the first three months of the year, compared with $905 million a year prior, on revenue that grew 1% to $7.935 billion.

Rio Tinto said iron ore shipments from its Australian mining operations are likely to be at the lower end of guidance following disruptions from four cyclones during the first quarter of the year. The world's second-biggest miner by market value said it shipped 70.7 million metric tons of the steel ingredient from pits in Australia's minerals-rich Pilbara region in the three months through March.

Goldman Sachs said a jump in equities trading revenue fueled its profit in the first quarter, which ended just before President Trump’s sweeping tariffs set off market turmoil. JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley also last week reported big revenue increases from equities trading. The heightened activity reflected investors repositioning their portfolios in the face of uncertainty about Trump’s trade and economic policies. The upheaval in markets since then has put top bankers and their corporate clients on edge about what might come next.

Morgan Stanley said its profit jumped in the first quarter, fueled by a surge in trading revenue. The bank’s profit increased 26% to $4.32 billion in the first three months of the year. That amounted to $2.60 per share, easily surpassing the $2.18 per share analysts expected. Its revenue increased 17% to a record $17.74 billion. Analysts had expected $16.54 billion. Trading revenue surged, led by a 45% increase in equities.

Novartis said it will spend $23 billion over the next five years to expand its footprint in the U.S. The company said it will establish a research hub in San Diego, expand three U.S. plants and build six new ones. The investment will create roughly 1,000 new jobs at Novartis, and lead to around 4,000 other jobs in the U.S. outside of Novartis, the company said.

Barry Callebaut expects to reap benefits from a cost-saving plan later than initially anticipated amid market volatility, after a surge in cocoa prices hurt customer demand. The Swiss maker of chocolate and cocoa products said Thursday that a highly disruptive and volatile environment will result in a 12-month delay for planned savings to be fully reflected in its bottom line. The company previously said it expected to achieve the savings at the end of fiscal 2026.

Porsche AG car deliveries fell 8% in the first quarter to 71,470 vehicles as strong growth in North America failed to offset hefty declines in China and Europe. Automakers faced a turbulent end to the quarter ahead of U.S. President Trump’s automobile tariffs starting in the first week of April. Analysts believe Porsche prepared itself for the new duties by shipping more vehicles ahead of the deadline and adjusting its pricing strategy, with some pass-through to customers.

Apple plans to send more iPhones to the U.S. from India to offset the high cost of China tariffs, people familiar with the matter said. The adjustments are a short-term stopgap while Apple attempts to win an exemption from President Trump’s tariffs - which Chief Executive Tim Cook obtained during the first Trump administration. The company sees the current situation as too uncertain to upend long-term investments in its supply chain, which is centered around China, the people said.

Bill Ackman is calling for a 90-day pause on the implementation of President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs. “I have a lot of respect for our president and what he has accomplished so far, but I don’t think he is infallible, which is why I am stating loud and clear that I strongly believe launching tariffs on April 9th against the entire world — massively in excess of what we are being charged — is a mistake,” said Ackman in a post on the social-media platform X.

Puma is getting a new CEO. As the sporting goods manufacturer announced, the Supervisory Board has appointed Arthur Hoeld as Chairman of the Executive Board of the MDAX group from July 1, 2025. The 55-year-old Hoeld was responsible for global sales as a member of the Adidas Executive Board until October last year.