markets

Luke Kawa1/3/25

US Steel slumps after Biden blocks takeover attempt by Japan’s Nippon

Nippon Steel’s acquisition of US Steel has been blocked by US President Joe Biden.

In his decision, Biden said that US Steel will remain “American-owned, American-operated, by American union steelworkers.”

Shares of the Pittsburgh-based company fell as much as 9.5% in premarket trading. Investors had already been assigning low odds to Japan’s Nippon being able to complete this transaction, as US Steel was trading far below the agreed-upon price of $55 per share that had been announced over a year ago.

Blocking this deal had bipartisan support from the Democratic and Republican leaders, as President-elect Donald Trump had also pledged to block this transaction and wrote on Truth Social that he would use tax incentives and tariffs to make US Steel great again.

As reported by Reuters, a letter from Nippon’s lawyers suggested that both companies would file an appeal if this decision were to be made.

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Cisco beats expectations for Q2 sales and EPS; Q3 margin forecast is light

Cisco is dropping in Thursday’s premarket, down 8% at 4:45 a.m. ET, after a middling Q3 margin forecast offset sales and earnings beats in its second-quarter results yesterday.

For the fiscal second quarter of 2026, the computer networking equipment giant reported:

Non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.04 vs. the $1.02 expected by Wall Street analysts, according to FactSet.
Sales of $15.35 billion vs. the $15.11 billion consensus expectation.
AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers of $2.1 billion vs. $1.3 billion in the previous quarter.
Revenue guidance for fiscal Q3 of between $15.4 billion and $15.6 billion vs. $15.19 billion consensus estimate.
Adjusted gross margin guidance for fiscal Q3 of 65.5% to 66.5%, compared with analysts’ forecasts for 68.2%.
Fiscal year 2026 sales guidance of $61.2 billion to $61.7 billion vs. previous guidance of between $60.2 billion and $61.0 billion.

Along with other companies like Lumentum, Corning, and new S&P 500 member Ciena, which provide things like the wiring and networking equipment needed to connect server racks, Cisco shares had been enjoing a strong start to 2026 as the AI data center boom continues to roll.

markets

J. Edward Moreno13h

McDonald’s Q4 earnings, sales beat Wall Street estimates

McDonald’s reported Q4 results on Wednesday that beat Wall Street’s expectations, which the company attributes to its “value leadership.”

For the last three months of 2025, the fast-food giant reported:

Adjusted earnings per share of $3.12, compared to the $3.05 analysts polled by FactSet were expecting.
Revenue of $7 billion, higher than the $6.8 billion analysts were penciling in.
Global comparable-store sales growth of 5.7%, compared to the 3.9% growth analysts were expecting. In the US, comparable sales grew 6.8% versus the 5.4% that was expected. The company said this was “driven by positive check and guest count growth primarily from successful marketing promotions.”

McDonald’s has emphasized discounts and promotions, such as its $5 meal deals. “McDonald’s value leadership is working,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a statement.

Shares were little changed in after-hours trading.

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Tasha Matsumoto

Stocks finish flat after blockbuster jobs report

Employers added 130,000 jobs last month, crushing estimates for 65,000.

BISHOP'S STORTFORD, ENGLAND - JANUARY 25: Snowfall in the Essex countryside on January 25, 2021 in Bishop's Stortford, Essex, United Kingdom.

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