Google's advertising business defies AI rivals and Trump's tariffs + New Intel boss announces 'painful decisions' + Procter & Gamble lowers forecast + Pepsico cuts profit target due to tariff dispute + Evotec beckons with 75 million dollars from research alliance with Bristol-Myers Squibb

Google's $GOOGL (-1,98 %)Advertising business defies AI rivals and Trump's tariffs

• Google's online advertising business continues to grow - despite competition from new AI rivals.
• In the past quarter, advertising revenue rose by 8.5 percent year-on-year to just under 66.9 billion dollars (58.9 billion euros).
• This was slightly above analysts' expectations.
• The share price rose by 4.6 percent at times in after-hours trading.
• Advertising at Google continues to generate the majority of the parent company Alphabet's revenues.
• The development of the advertising business is being monitored very closely.
• A key question is whether attempts by competitors to use artificial intelligence to display direct answers instead of links will leave a mark on Google's search engine.
• Meanwhile, Google itself is moving in this direction with AI-generated overviews of search queries.
• These "AI overviews" currently reach 1.5 billion users per month, said CEO Sundar Pichai.
• AI is also increasingly being used in another area at Google.
• "Significantly more" than 30 percent of the software code - the millions of lines of program code behind Google services - is now pre-formulated by artificial intelligence and taken over by humans, said Pichai.
• In the past, this was mainly manual work for programmers.
• There was also an unusual factor behind the strong increase in profits: the revaluation of the stake in a company not listed on the stock exchange contributed eight billion dollars, it was said.
• A name was not mentioned - but according to the Bloomberg financial service, this is Elon Musk's space company SpaceX.
• According to the report, the internet company participated in a SpaceX financing round a decade ago.

New Intel boss $INTC (-0,92 %)announces 'painful decisions'

• The new CEO of the crisis-ridden chip company Intel has announced "painful decisions" and the prospect of job cuts just a few weeks after taking office.
• Intel must reduce costs and remove bureaucratic hurdles, said Lip-Bu Tan after the presentation of quarterly figures.
• He emphasized that this would also involve cutting jobs.
• Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner said at the same time that Intel could not yet give any figures on the extent of the job cuts.
• The company also wants to reduce costs in other ways.
• The financial service Bloomberg recently reported that Intel could soon announce the reduction of around a fifth of its jobs.
• The number of Intel employees had already fallen to just under 109,000 by the end of last year from a good 124,000 at the end of September.
• Intel once dominated the semiconductor market, but has been struggling with problems for years.
• Graphics card specialist Nvidia has conquered a leading position, particularly in the business with chips for artificial intelligence.
• Intel is also under greater pressure in its traditional business with PC processors and chips for data centers.
• Intel disappointed investors with its sales forecast for the current quarter.
• The shares fell by a good five percent in after-hours trading.
• Intel forecast revenues of between 11.2 and 12.4 billion dollars for the second quarter. Analysts had expected an average forecast of around 12.8 billion dollars.
• From the investors' point of view, this weighed more heavily than the results of the first quarter, in which Intel exceeded market expectations.
• Sales stagnated at 12.7 billion dollars, while analysts had expected a decline to 12.3 billion dollars on average.
• At the bottom line, the loss of 800 million dollars was twice as high as a year ago.
• However, Intel's adjusted earnings per share of 0.13 dollars clearly exceeded analysts' forecasts of just 0.01 dollars.

Procter & Gamble $PG (+1,18 %)lowers forecast

• The gloomy consumer sentiment and the ongoing trade disputes are making the consumer goods group Procter & Gamble more pessimistic for the current financial year.
• The company lowered its sales and profit forecasts when presenting its figures for the third financial quarter.
• The company announced in Cincinnati on Thursday that revenue in the 2024/25 financial year (as at the end of June) is likely to grow organically by only around two percent.
• Previously, the Group had forecast growth of three to five percent.
• This excludes currency and portfolio effects.
• Adjusted earnings per share are also likely to increase less than expected.
• Procter & Gamble now expects growth of two to four percent instead of five to seven percent.
• CFO Andre Schulten had already reported in February that deliveries to retailers had slowed down - the manager warned at the time that the company could miss its profit forecast.
• He also pointed to a decline in consumption in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, which he attributed to the "anti-Western sentiment" prevailing there.
• Analysts had already expected earnings per share to be below the previous Group forecast, but Procter & Gamble has now cut its profit expectations even more sharply than expected.
• In the third quarter, sales fell by two percent to 19.8 billion US dollars (around 17.4 billion euros), as the company also announced.
• In organic terms, revenue grew slightly by one percent.
• However, this was less than analysts had expected.
• At 3.8 billion dollars, net profit was roughly on a par with the previous year.
• Adjusted earnings per share increased by one percent to 1.54 dollars.

Pepsico $PEP (-1,16 %)cuts profit target due to customs dispute

• The US food company Pepsico expects lower profits than before this year due to the global customs dispute.
• Pepsico announced on Thursday that earnings per share adjusted for special effects (core EPS), excluding currency effects, are likely to remain at around the previous year's level.
• Originally, Pepsico had targeted an increase in the mid-single-digit percentage range.
• Sales, on the other hand, are expected to continue to grow organically in the low single-digit percentage range.
• The tariffs are likely to make supply chains more expensive, complained Pepsico CEO Ramon Laguarta according to the press release.
• Pepsico is trying to counteract the higher costs.
• However, volatility and uncertainty are likely to increase.
• At the same time, consumer sentiment remains weak in many regions - here, too, the outlook is uncertain.
• In the twelve weeks to March 22, Pepsico missed analysts' expectations.
• Sales fell by 1.8 percent to 17.92 billion US dollars (15.74 billion euros) compared to the same period last year.
• Net income attributable to shareholders fell by around ten percent to 1.83 billion dollars.

Evotec $EVT (-0,22 %)will receive 75 million dollars from research alliance with Bristol-Myers Squibb $BMY (-1,17 %)

• For the Hamburg-based drug researcher and developer Evotec, the long-term collaboration with the pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb is paying off.
• The Hanseatic company announced on Thursday that it had made significant progress in the field of protein degradation.
• Evotec will therefore now receive a total of 75 million dollars in accordance with the agreement.
• The news was well received on the stock market, with the share price rising by almost four percent in pre-market trading.
• Evotec has been working with Bristol-Myers Squibb since 2018 and extended the partnership in 2022.

Friday: Stock market dates, economic data, quarterly figures

Stock exchange holiday Australia

• ex-dividend of individual stocks
• ENGIE EUR 1.48
• Semperit Holding EUR 0.50
• ABN AMRO Bank 0.75 EUR
• BE Semiconductor Industries EUR 2.18

• Quarterly figures / company dates USA / Asia
• 13:00 Colgate-Palmolive quarterly figures
• 13:45 Abbvie quarterly figures

• Quarterly figures / Company dates Europe
• 07:00 Nordex | Südzucker | Safran | Signify quarterly figures | Holcim Trading Update 1Q
• 07:30 Atoss Software quarterly figures
• 08:00 Yara | Palfinger quarterly figures
• 10:00 Bayer | Continental | Merck KGaA AGM | Holcim Analyst Conference
• 14:00 Nordex Conference Call | Akzo Nobel AGM

• Economic data

08:00 DE: Construction industry, new orders and sales February

08:00 UK: Retail Sales March FORECAST: -0.4% yoy/+1.6% yoy previous: +1.0% yoy/+2.2% yoy

08:45 FR: Business Climate Index April FORECAST: 96 previous: 96

16:00 US: Consumer Sentiment Index Uni Michigan (2nd survey) April FORECAST: 50.8 1st survey: 50.8 PREV: 57.0

16:15 US: Atlantic Council, fireside chat with member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England, Greene

19:30 US: IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings, IMF Steering Committee (IMFC) press conference.

PepsiCo ($PEP (-1,16 %) ) published its results for the first quarter of 2025 and narrowly missed expectations with earnings per share (EPS) of USD 1.48 (forecast: USD 1.51). However, revenue of USD 17.92 billion exceeded expectations of USD 17.78 billion. The share price reacted with a pre-market decline of 0.94% to USD 142.26.

Key findings

• EPS: USD 1.48 (below expectation of USD 1.51)
• Sales: USD 17.92 billion (above expectation of USD 17.78 billion)
• Organic sales growth: 1%
• Frito-Lay North America showed subdued development
• Outlook for the year as a whole adjusted (new tariffs, macroeconomic uncertainties)

Corporate performance

The company achieved slight sales growth despite difficult conditions and confirmed its target of low single-digit organic growth for the year as a whole. The subdued performance of Frito-Lay North America slowed growth, but led to a stronger strategic focus on efficiency and value investments.

Financial highlights

• Sales exceeded forecast by USD 140 million
• EPS slightly below expectations
• Sales growth supported primarily by international business

Outlook & forecast

PepsiCo revised its outlook for the year due to economic uncertainties and emphasized the importance of international markets as a key source of growth. The company plans to optimize its global portfolio and secure long-term operational strength.

Management statements

CEO Ramon LaGuarta emphasized the role of international markets as growth drivers. CFO Jamie Caulfield emphasized the goal of ensuring the long-term stability and profitability of the business model.

Risks & challenges

• New tariffs burden cost structure
• Macroeconomic uncertainties influence consumer behavior
• Weak performance in North America (Frito-Lay)
• Potential regulatory intervention for ingredients

Surprising comeback after the XXL dispute! Pepsi is back on the shelves at Edeka. After two and a half years of radio silence and a delivery stop, the US beverage giant and the German supermarket giant have finally got their act together again. The tug-of-war over prices and conditions is over.

Edeka confirms the deal in BILD: "After long talks, we have reached a very successful agreement with Pepsi at Everest and Epic level." This refers to the international purchasing alliances that Edeka negotiates with other retail giants.

The "Lebensmittel Zeitung" first reported on the agreement. The spokesperson continued to BILD: "Pepsi had the absolute desire to reach an agreement with us in order to be able to resume business in Germany."

Edeka and Pepsi quarrelled over price mark-up

In December 2022, PepsiCo (brands including Pepsi, Rockstar Energy) demanded a whopping 30 percent price increase. The reason? Rising delivery and energy costs. Edeka blocked it - and bang, no more Pepsi drinks, Lay's potato chips or Rockstar energy drinks on the shelves.

And other retailers also protested. In addition to Edeka, Pepsi was also removed from the shelves at Kaufland, Aldi Süd, Globus and Netto Germany. The result? A severe slump in sales for the soft drinks giant.

Now the turnaround.

From mid-June, the first Pepsi products will be back in Edeka stores - from Schwipp-Schwapp to Doritos. But: the full load will probably not arrive until later, as Pepsi's production has to be ramped up again first.

Source: Picture

$PEP (-1,16 %)

I have taken advantage of the fall in the share price in recent weeks (and actually even 2 1/2 years) and more than doubled my position from around 15 shares to a total of 25 shares.

My last purchase was on 25.02.2021 at € 107 per share.

If the share price continues to fall towards €105, I may increase the position further.

$PEP (-1,16 %)