Top Midday Stories: China Retaliates With Tariffs, Antitrust Probe of Google; Merck Shares Tumble on Downbeat Guidance

MT Newswires Live
05 Feb

All three major US stock indexes were up in late morning trading on Tuesday as investors digest the latest US tariff news.

China imposed retaliatory measures on Tuesday after President Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff on Chinese goods over the weekend. China announced tariffs of 15% on coal and LNG coming from the US and 10% for crude oil, farm machinery and certain vehicles, set to take effect Feb. 10. In addition, China's State Administration for Market Regulation opened an antitrust investigation in Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google over suspected violations of the country's anti-monopoly law, according to media reports. Lastly, China's Commerce Ministry has reportedly placed PVH (PVH), owner of brands like Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and Illumina (ILMN) on its "unreliable entity" list, the reports said. Alphabet shares were up 1.9%, while those of PVH and Illumina were down 1.3% and 5.8%, respectively.

Merck (MRK) reported Q4 non-GAAP earnings Tuesday of $1.72 per share, up from $0.03 a year earlier and above the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by FactSet of $1.61. Fourth-quarter sales were $15.62 billion, up from $14.63 billion a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus estimate of $15.48 billion. For full-year 2025, Merck expects non-GAAP EPS of $8.88 to $9.03 on sales of $64.1 billion to $65.6 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expect non-GAAP EPS of $9.13 on sales of $67.07 billion. Merck shares were down about 11%.

PepsiCo (PEP) reported fiscal Q4 core earnings Tuesday of $1.96 per diluted share, up from $1.78 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus estimate of $1.94. Fiscal Q4 revenue was $27.78 billion, down from $27.85 billion in the year-ago period and below the FactSet consensus of $27.89 billion. The company expects fiscal 2025 core earnings to increase by low-single digits and expects low-single-digit organic revenue growth. Pepsi shares were down 4.2%.

Palantir Technologies (PLTR) reported Q4 adjusted earnings late Monday of $0.14 per share, up from $0.08 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus of $0.11. Fourth-quarter revenue was $827.5 million, up from $608.4 million in the year-ago period and above the FactSet consensus of $775.8 million. The company expects Q1 revenue of $858 million to $862 million, compared to the FactSet consensus estimate of $799.6 million. For full-year 2025 revenue, Palantir expects $3.74 billion to $3.76 billion, compared to the FactSet consensus of $3.50 billion. Palantir shares were up nearly 25%.

Pfizer (PFE) reported Q4 adjusted earnings Tuesday of $0.63 per diluted share, up from $0.10 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus estimate of $0.47. Fourth-quarter revenue was $17.76 billion, up from $14.57 billion a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus of $17.35 billion. The company reaffirmed both its full-year 2025 adjusted EPS guidance of $2.80 to $3 and its full-year 2025 revenue guidance of $61 billion to $64 billion. Pfizer shares were down 1.2%.

Price: 88.93, Change: -10.87, Percent Change: -10.89

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