Google reported a second straight drop in advertising revenue, extending a rare decline as the company navigates economic concerns and tries to capitalize on recent advances in artificial intelligence. Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company (+1.47% after-hours), posted $54.5 billion in ad revenue for the first quarter, a decrease of less than 1% from the same period last year but a smaller decline than Wall Street anticipated. Both Google and Microsoft Corp. , which also reported earnings Tuesday, showed slowing growth but also areas of resilience that defied somber market expectations. Microsoft said revenue for the three months through March rose 7% from a year earlier, better than expected but marking the second-straight quarter below the company’s yearslong trend of double-digit percentage growth. Shares in both companies advanced after hours as the results surpassed analysts’ estimates and Alphabet disclosed plans to buy back as much as $70 billion of its stock. Google combined its two main AI research groups into a unit called Google DeepMind last week, a move it said would significantly accelerate research. Alphabet’s total revenue increased by 2.6% from last year to $69.8 billion in the first quarter, aided by continued growth in the company’s cloud-computing unit. The company reported operating income of $17.4 billion in the first quarter, a decrease of 13% from the same period last year. Sales in Google’s cloud-computing division increased 28% from the same period last year to $7.5 billion in the first quarter, a slower pace of growth compared with the fourth quarter. The share buyback announced Tuesday follows a separate $70 billion buyback authorization in 2022 and a $50 billion buyback authorization in 2021.

Looking for New Structured Product Ideas?
https://en.swissquote.com/trading/investment-products/yield-boosters

On Tuesday, the SMI gained 0.4 per cent to 11,513 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 15 price losers and five price winners. 48.57 (previously: 31.69) million shares were traded. Nestle was able to pass on higher costs to its customers. The shares of the index heavyweight advanced 0.8 per cent. Novartis shares rose strongly by 4.0 per cent. The pharmaceutical giant has become more optimistic about the full year after a good start to the year. Shares of rival Roche rose 0.4 per cent in the wake. Roche will provide insights into its business performance on Wednesday. ABB (+3.5%) started the year with an increase in profit and turnover and was also able to grow in terms of incoming orders. Meanwhile, UBS shares suffered losses. The share dropped 2.2 per cent. High provisions for legal cases in the USA and lower earnings in investment banking and asset management caused a massive decline in profits for the bank in the first quarter. At the same time, the financial institution, which is facing the state-organised takeover of Credit Suisse, was able to attract new client funds in asset management. The Credit Suisse share fell 1.3 per cent. The share of the luxury goods group Richemont went out of trading 0.9 per cent lighter. Meanwhile, shares in competitor Swatch were up 1.3 per cent. Swiss watch exports continued to pick up in March, helped by the continued recovery of the Chinese market.

European stocks continued their start-of-week retreat, as investors looked ahead at some big-tech earnings on Wall Street and as fresh worries in U.S. regional banking stocks weighed on the overall mood. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.4% to 467.08 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 gave up 0.6%, while the FTSE 100 lost 0.3% in London. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt, on the other hand, gained almost 0.1%. In Paris, Société Générale lost 3.3%, BNP Paribas 2.4% and Crédit Agricole 1.5%. In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank shares, which were badly beaten up last month, finished down 3.8%. In Madrid, Banco Santander fell by 6%, despite announcing a slight increase in its first quarter results. M6 (-1.1%) reported weaker first-quarter results marked by macroeconomic pressures, strikes and delays in negotiating some advertising campaigns. Automotive supplier Plastic Omnium (-1.5%) confirmed all of its targets for the 2023 financial year, after posting a significant increase in revenue in the first quarter.

Disappointing earnings from companies including First Republic Bank and United Parcel Service helped interrupt a weekslong stretch of market calm on Tuesday, with stocks falling as investor concerns about the economy ticked upward. The S&P 500 fell 1.6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell around 345 points, or 1%, marking the largest single-day declines for both indexes since March 22. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 2%, its biggest decline since March 9. The tough day for stocks essentially started after trading closed on Monday, when beleaguered lender First Republic reported that last month’s banking turmoil had cost it around $100 billion in deposits. That was worse than investors and analysts anticipated, putting the health of regional banks back on the forefront after weeks of relative calm. By the end of the day, First Republic shares had fallen 49% to $8.10 per share, its lowest level since concerns first emerged about the bank last month. Bank shares fell broadly, with the KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index down 3.5%. Transportation stocks also slid, led by a 10% drop in UPS shares after the package carrier warned that “macro conditions” would likely continue to pressure volume. Unlike last month, when declines in economically sensitive sectors were often offset by gains in tech shares, investors found no such refuge Tuesday. Tech giants Alphabet and Microsoft both reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the most recent quarter after the close. General Motors lost 4% despite raising its full-year forecast and reporting a higher-than-expected pre-tax profit in the first quarter thanks to consumer interest in its premium models. McDonald's (-0.5%) on Tuesday posted higher-than-expected first-quarter results, helped by higher menu prices and increased foot traffic.

Stocks in Asia mostly fell on Wednesday. Uncertainty about the outlook for the economy and corporate figures weighed on the Japanese market after two days of gains. Mizuho Financial Group lost 2.6 per cent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 2.1 per cent. Shimano hurtles down 8.7 per cent after first-quarter net profit plunged 30 per cent from a year earlier. Concerns about a possible recession also weigh on Shanghai. The Hong Kong market is up after losses in early trading as the reopening of the Chinese economy should lead to improvements of corporate earnings in the long run. In the South Korean market, the benchmark index is little changed. SK Hynix has reported a net loss that is lower than expected. The share price rises by 2.1 per cent. Hyundai Motor climbs 2.2 per cent, the stock extending gains from the previous session after strong quarterly figures. Armour stocks come back after profit-taking. Hyundai Rotem, for example, loses 5.4 per cent, after a ten-day winning streak.

U.S. government debt yields plunged by the most in a month on Tuesday, after first-quarter results from First Republic Bank reignited concerns about the banking sector and boosted the attractiveness of most government debt. Rates on very short-dated Treasury bills bucked the trend, however. The 1-month T-bill rate rose 47.7 basis points to 4.03% from Monday’s level, as investors sold off the underlying maturity on debt-ceiling fears. The 10-year Treasury note fell 12 basis points to 3.392%. The 2-year Treasury note slipped 21 basis points to 4.035%.

Richemont target price: Goldman Sachs lifts to CHF 165 (155) - Buy

Credit Suisse target price: Société Générale cuts to CHF 0.80 (3.00) - Hold

Price target Kühne+Nagel: Vontobel upgrades to CHF 345 (333) - Buy

Produced by MBI Martin Brückner Infosource GmbH & Co. KG on behalf of Swissquote. All news is acquired with journalistic accuracy. No liability is assumed for delays or errors.