Amazon.com Inc. reported surging growth as it rebounded from stagnant sales after a postpandemic slowdown, but its cloud-computing business showed further signs of cooling. Stronger-than-expected performance in its advertising and international businesses was initially greeted warmly by investors. But shares fell 2% in after-hours trading as the company revealed in a call with investors that Amazon Web Services, or AWS—long a central engine of the tech company’s profitability— has seen revenue growth in April fall to about 11%, down from the nearly 16% increase in the first quarter. Amazon’s first-quarter sales increased 9% from a year earlier to $127.4 billion, beating Wall Street projections. It posted $3.2 billion in profit for the period, almost 50% higher than analysts expected. The company’s advertising business, which has expanded quickly, grew 21%, beating expectations. The company’s shares initially surged more than 10% in after-hours trading Thursday before falling after the AWS figures were reported. Amazon has made efforts in recent months to reduce costs and focus on profitability. The company has recently been marketing its efforts in generative AI models, the technology behind the buzzy ChatGPT. Amazon recently announced new artificial-intelligence offerings which target corporate customers.

The Swiss stock market ended trading on Thursday at the previous day's level. The SMI closed almost unchanged at 11,362 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were twelve price gainers and eight price losers. 29.27 (previously: 42.31) million shares were traded. Nestle, the index heavyweight, recorded a decline of 1.2 per cent and thus pulled the SMI down markedly. Meanwhile, cyclical stocks were more in demand among investors. Geberit, for example, advanced by 2.3 per cent. And the luxury company Richemont advanced by 1.1 per cent. Against the background of renewed concerns about the US banking sector, the shares of the two major banks Credit Suisse (+0.2 per cent) and UBS (-0.1 per cent) were stable. The share of the pharmaceutical giant Roche now increased by 0.6 per cent after the previous day's markdowns. Meanwhile, the shares of competitor Novartis lost 0.3 per cent. Lonza gained 0.7 per cent within the sector. In the broader market, Temenos added another 3.2 per cent. The previous day, the software company's share price jumped by around 13 per cent following the presentation of good first quarter figures.

European stocks were mostly higher on Thursday as investors waded through earnings, with banks especially in focus. The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed up 0.2% at 463.97 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 each gained 0.2%. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 was virtually unchanged, while in London the FTSE 100 was down 0.3%. Overall, the banking sector shone in Europe thanks to the robust results unveiled by Barclays (+5.3% in London) and Deutsche Bank (+1.7% in Frankfurt). In Paris, Société Générale and BNP Paribas gained 1.1% and 2% respectively. The share price of electronic label specialist SES-imagotag soared 33.9% to 150 euros, reaching a new high. The group announced the signing of a historic contract with Walmart and a proposed capital increase reserved for the American retail giant, which could allow the latter to take a 10% stake. Soitec (-15.4%) and STMicroelectronics (-8.7%) presented outlooks considered disappointing by the market. The mining group Eramet (-4.2%) lowered its adjusted gross operating profit (Ebitda) target for 2023. Electrical equipment manufacturer Schneider Electric (+3.9%) raised its outlook for 2023, after a strong improvement in first-quarter sales. Teleperformance shares gained 3.2%. The stock had fallen 14% on Wednesday after the call centre operator announced its plan to buy Majorel for €3 billion. TotalEnergies (-2.6%) unveiled an adjusted net result for the first quarter, due to the drop in gas and oil prices. The oil giant also disclosed the sale of its oil sands assets in Canada to Suncor Group for C$5.5 billion (US$4.1 billion, €3.7 billion), a deal which will result in share buybacks or a special dividend for shareholders.

Stocks rallied Thursday, after a strong round of corporate earnings helped reverse a selloff earlier this week. The S&P 500 rose 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 524 points, or 1.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 2.4%. Facebook parent Meta Platforms led the way Thursday. The stock jumped 14% after the social network reported its first sales increase in nearly a year. That followed stronger-than-expected results earlier this week from Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet. The S&P communication-services sector rose 5.5%, its best one-day session since February. Big-tech earnings have helped investors shake off mixed economic signals. New data showed U.S. growth was weaker than expected in the first quarter. On the other hand, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge came in at an annual rate of 4.9%, which was hotter than expected. The inflation news solidified investor expectations for another interest-rate increase when the Federal Reserve meets next week. Fed-fund futures implied a roughly 83% chance that the central bank raises interest rates by 0.25 percentage point at the meeting, up from 72% Wednesday. Shares of toy maker Hasbro jumped 15%. Verizon Communications rallied about 5%, its biggest one-day gain since 2021. The worst-performing major stock was dental supplier Align Technology, which sank 10%. Shares of embattled lender First Republic Bank rose about 9%, after two days of sharp losses. The KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index advanced 2.1%. Earnings from European heavyweights Barclays and Deutsche Bank showed little sign of lasting damage from last month’s banking tumult.

In Asia, major indexes broadly closed with gains. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index advanced 0.7 per cent, with strong corporate figures supporting the index. Makita, for example, jumps 19 per cent reporting that its fiscal year profit is expected to more than double. Kansai Electric Power is up 13 per cent, with the company expecting a marked increase in profit. Kikkoman rise 9.6 per cent with 12 per cent profit growth. In Shanghai, the benchmark index (+0.7 per cent) is also boosted by strong corporate figures. Hong Kong is up 0.9 per cent after the downturn of recent weeks. In South Korea, the Kospi has turned slightly negative. KG Mobility, formerly SsangYong Motor, jumps 22 per cent after trading resumed following a more than two-year suspension.

In Asia, major indexes broadly closed with gains. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index advanced 0.7 per cent, with strong corporate figures supporting the index. Makita, for example, jumps 19 per cent reporting that its fiscal year profit is expected to more than double. Kansai Electric Power is up 13 per cent, with the company expecting a marked increase in profit. Kikkoman rise 9.6 per cent with 12 per cent profit growth. In Shanghai, the benchmark index (+0.7 per cent) is also boosted by strong corporate figures. Hong Kong is up 0.9 per cent after the downturn of recent weeks. In South Korea, the Kospi has turned slightly negative. KG Mobility, formerly SsangYong Motor, jumps 22 per cent after trading resumed following a more than two-year suspension.

Price target Kühne+Nagel: UBS raises to CHF 254 (238) - Neutral
Target price PSP Swiss Property: Credit Suisse lowers to CHF 105 (116) - Neutral
Feintool rating: Baader Helvea starts with Add - Target 27 CHF
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