Cisco, AMD, Bullish, Carlsberg and Aviva

Digital communications tech company Cisco (CSCO) posted a slight earnings beat for the fiscal fourth quarter, in results released on Wednesday.

Adjusted earnings of $0.99 came in just ahead of the Bloomberg consensus estimate of $0.98. Meanwhile, revenue of $14.67bn (£10.8bn) topped estimates of $14.63bn.

Cisco's first quarter outlook for revenue and adjusted earnings were also slightly better than analysts had been expecting. The company guided to revenue in the range of $14.65bn to $14.85bn for the first three months of its 2026 fiscal year, while adjusted earnings are anticipated to between $0.97 and $0.99.

For the full fiscal year ahead, Cisco has guided to revenue of $59bn to $60bn and adjusted earnings of $4.00 to $4.06.

Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco, said: “We delivered a strong close to fiscal 2025, driven by our accelerated innovation and solid execution. The AI infrastructure orders we received from webscale customers in fiscal 2025 were more than double our original target, indicating a massive opportunity ahead as we lead the required architectural shift and build the critical infrastructure needed for the AI era.”

Shares were little changed in pre-market trading on Thursday, though the stock is up 12.5% year-to-date.

Shares in chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) popped 5.4% on Wednesday to close at their highest point in more than a year.

The rise in AMD shares comes just days after the company made a deal with the White House on Chinese chip sales.

The White House confirmed reports on Monday that AMD and fellow chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) had agreed to share 15% of their revenue from chip sales to China with the US government.

AMD shares dipped nearly 1% back into the red in pre-market trading on Thursday, though the stock is still up nearly 53% year-to-date.

Shares in crypto exchange Bullish (BLSH) soared nearly 84% in their market debut in New York on Wednesday and were up a further 11% in pre-market trading on Thursday.

The stock opened for trade at $90 per share on Wednesday, rising as high as $118 shortly after and was halted for trade due to volatility at least twice within the first few minutes of trading. The stock closed Wednesday's session at $68 per share, with a market valuation of $9.94bn.

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Bullish, which also owns the trade publication CoinDesk, priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $37 per share on Tuesday.

This is Bullish's second shot at a market debut, having made a first attempt to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger in 2021, but the deal fell through following regulatory scrutiny and the firm withdrew its registration.

In Europe, shares in Carlsberg (CARL-B.CO) slid 6.7% on Thursday morning, after the Danish brewer's first half profits missed expectations.

The beer maker posted slower-than-expected organic operating profit growth of 2.3% in the first half, along with a 1.7% dip in volumes.

The fall in shares came despite Carlsberg lifting the lower end of its earnings guidance for the year, saying it now expected to see organic operating profit growth of 3% to 5% in the 2025 fiscal year, compared to a previous forecast of 1% to 5%.

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Carlsberg CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen said that the group had delivered “solid results in a difficult half year”.

He said: “We don’t expect the consumer environment to improve over the remainder of the year. Nevertheless, we’re continuing our long-term investments in key brands and capabilities, including in areas such as digital, marketing and value management, to create an even stronger Carlsberg.

“Being able to narrow our earnings guidance towards the upper end of the range in a difficult trading environment reflects our relentless focus on commercial execution as well as continued strong performance management and cost discipline.”

On the London market, insurer Aviva (AV.L) was the second biggest riser on the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) on Thursday, after reporting a surge in operating profits.

Aviva reported a 22% rise in operating profits in the first half to £1.07bn ($1.45bn), prompting the company to hike its interim dividend 10% to 13.1p per share.

Adam Vettese, market analyst for eToro, said: “Aviva has once again shown itself to be a safe pair of hands in the insurance market, delivering half year results that underline its strong operational momentum.”

“Growth was broad based across insurance and wealth, with UK commercial lines a standout, and the Direct Line acquisition bringing added scale and the prospect of meaningful synergies.”

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