Rolls-Royce said Thursday it expects profits of over £4 billion ($5.42 billion) this year as the aero engine and power systems maker banks on another year of robust growth. The aerospace giant is targeting underlying operating profit of between £4 billion and £4.2 billion in 2026, above the midpoint of £3.65 billion as expected by analysts polled by FactSet. It expects free cash flow of between £3.6 billion and £3.8 billion this year, also above expectations. Based on the bullish outlook, the company now ex ...

Antonio Filosa attends the presentation of the new Fiat 500 Hybrid at the Stellantis FIAT Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy, on November 25, 2025.Auto giant Stellantis on Thursday reported its first-ever annual loss after saying it had over-estimated the pace of the energy transition.The multinational conglomerate, which owns household names including Jeep, Dodge, Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot, posted a full-year 2025 net loss of 22.3 billion euros ($26.3 billion), compared to full-year profit of 5.5 billion eur ...

President Donald Trump walks past Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Brent Kavanaugh and Associate Justice Mary Coney Barrett as he arrives for the State of the Union address during a Joint Session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C.Win Mcnamee | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump defended his tariff agenda during his State of the Union address Tuesday, even as a Supreme Court ruling striking down h ...

Core Insights - Asian tech stocks experienced a rally due to stronger-than-expected results from Nvidia, alleviating concerns about the artificial intelligence sector's momentum [1][4] - Nvidia's revenue for its fiscal fourth quarter increased by 73% to $68.13 billion, surpassing analysts' expectations [4] Group 1: Company Performance - Shares of South Korean chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rose significantly, with SK Hynix increasing over 2% and Samsung up about 5% [1] - Other South Korean tech stocks also saw gains, with LG Innotek surging almost 14% and Seoul Semiconductor soaring 13% [2] - Japanese software firm Trend Micro jumped 5.95%, while Sony Group rose over 3.86% and SoftBank Group added 5% [3] Group 2: Market Trends - The demand for data centers is driving positive sentiment for companies in the Asia supply chain, particularly for SK Hynix and Samsung [2] - The TOPIX Information & Communication index in Japan climbed 2.6%, building on a previous day's gain of 0.58% [2] - Investors are favoring AI-linked companies, indicating potential upside for Japanese firms involved in gallium nitride and silicon carbide, such as Fuji Electric, which saw a 1.7% increase [3] Group 3: Financial Performance - Nvidia's data center unit now accounts for over 91% of its sales, highlighting its dominance in the AI chip market [4] - Dan Niles from Niles Investment Management noted that the current market conditions favor semiconductor infrastructure companies over software [4] Group 4: Mixed Performance - Japanese chip firms Advantest and Renesas experienced declines, with shares down 2.35% and 1.75% respectively [5]

Core Viewpoint - Nvidia continues to experience significant revenue growth, reporting its 11th consecutive quarter with revenue growth exceeding 55%, driven by strong demand for its AI chips [1][2]. Financial Performance - Nvidia's year-over-year revenue is projected to surge approximately 77% this quarter, reaching around $78 billion, marking the fastest growth rate since January 2025 [2]. - Revenue in the fourth quarter increased by 73%, surpassing estimates, following a 62% growth in the previous quarter [3]. - The data center business, which includes Nvidia's AI graphics processing units, now constitutes over 91% of total sales [3]. Product Development - The company is ramping up production of its next-generation AI system, Vera Rubin, which is expected to deliver ten times more performance per watt compared to its predecessor, Grace Blackwell [4]. - Nvidia has already shipped its first Vera Rubin samples to customers and anticipates widespread deployment among model builders and cloud providers [6]. Market Position and Competition - Nvidia's shares remained stable after an initial rise, reflecting high investor expectations, with the company valued at nearly $5 trillion due to its leadership in AI processors [8]. - Competition is emerging from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which plans to release its first rack-scale AI system, Helios, later this year [8]. - Major customers like Amazon and Google are developing their own in-house AI chips, posing a potential risk to Nvidia's future results [9]. Future Outlook - Nvidia expects growth this year to exceed previous projections for a $500 billion revenue opportunity between its Blackwell and Rubin systems [6]. - However, growth is anticipated to slow significantly beyond fiscal 2027, dropping from 63% this year to 30%, 11.5%, and 3% in the following three years [9]. - The company has not included any potential data center revenue from China in its forecasts due to uncertainties surrounding export controls [13][15].

Jensen Huang, chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., speaks during the 2026 CES event in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. Siemens and Nvidia announced an expansion of their strategic partnership to develop industrial and physical AI solutions to bring AI-driven innovation to industrial workflow. Photographer: Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesIt's a good day for the artificial intelligence sector. New partnerships and earnings reports from AI-related companies lifted sentiment whic ...

Core Viewpoint - The ongoing dispute between the U.S. Defense Department and Anthropic regarding the use of AI tools is significant but not critical, according to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang [1][4]. Group 1: Dispute Overview - The U.S. Defense Secretary has given Anthropic a deadline to relax its usage rules for AI tools or face potential loss of its government contract [2]. - If Anthropic does not comply, it may be labeled a "supply chain risk" or have the Defense Production Act invoked against it [2]. Group 2: Perspectives on the Dispute - Huang emphasized that both the Defense Department and Anthropic have valid viewpoints regarding the use of AI technology and its marketing [3]. - Anthropic is seeking assurances that its AI models will not be used for autonomous weapons or mass surveillance, while the Defense Department desires unrestricted use of the technology [3]. Group 3: Company Background and Contract - Anthropic, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers, is known for its AI models called Claude and was awarded a $200 million contract with the DoD last year [4].

Core Viewpoint - Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang believes that the market has underestimated the impact of AI on software companies, asserting that companies like ServiceNow will excel in optimizing AI tools for their services [2]. Financial Performance - Nvidia's revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter increased by 73% to $68.13 billion compared to the previous year, surpassing analysts' expectations of $66.21 billion [3]. - The company provided a positive revenue forecast for the fiscal first quarter, projecting $78 billion, plus or minus 2%, which is significantly higher than analysts' predictions of $72.6 billion [3]. Market Sentiment - There is growing investor concern regarding the sustainability of the significant spending on AI hardware, leading to fears of a potential bubble in the sector [3].

Group 1 - Software companies are expected to survive AI disruption, with the ability to merge and adapt to remain in business, although they are currently priced for perfection [2][4] - A blog post by Citrini Research sparked an AI-related sell-off in software and other sectors, discussing potential future impacts of AI on white-collar jobs and software models, which caused significant market reactions [2][3] - The market's response to AI concerns was deemed overblown, with the stock market exaggerating the potential negative impacts on enterprise software firms [3] Group 2 - Real consequences are anticipated, with software companies likely to trade at lower price-to-earnings multiples due to AI compressing pricing power and revenue growth, but this does not indicate a collapse [4] - The sell-off has negatively impacted sectors that could benefit from AI-driven productivity, such as banks, travel companies, and select retailers [5] - Nvidia's strong performance and guidance indicate high demand for AI, suggesting that AI is a significant driver of economic growth rather than destruction [5][6]

South Korea's central bank raised its key interest rate by a quarter-percentage point as expected on Thursday, in a bid to contain inflation and prevent capital outflows as the U.S. Federal Reserve gears up for more hikes.Japan's Nikkei 225 hit another record Thursday fueled by "Takaichi trade," while the broader Asia-Pacific markets climbed after tech stocks powered a Wall Street rally overnight.The Nikkei 225 rose 1.1%, to an all-time high of 59,199.31, extending its winning streak of record highs to a th ...