The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
0946 ET - CN Rail has a tendency to underpromise on guidance and then overdeliver, but Cherilyn Radbourne of TD Cowen says guidance is still a little soft. She says 4Q results came in strong, solid with EBIT was a at a 3%-4% beat on tighter cost control and EPS of C$2.08 which topped expectations even if "some of the beat came below the EBIT line." The operating ratio was a bright spot at 60.1%, improving 250 bps topping consensus. However, CN guided to "flattish volumes" in 2026 and EPS growth only slightly exceed volume growth. Radbourne notes that after three years of guidance cuts, she expected CN would "try to underpromise and overdeliver," but the new outlook "seems to fall short of even low-single-digit growth." (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
0946 ET - Shoppers are still feeling stressed. "Right now, there is just a lot of uncertainty at the consumer level, in terms of where things are headed in the marketplace," Colgate-Palmolive CEO Noel Wallace says on a call with analysts. "As a result, they're holding back on filling their pantries and buying a lot more on promotion, as perhaps they've done in the past." He also notes a bifurcation between high- and low-income consumers. On the high end, the company has experienced a lot of growth across the super premium side of its business, Wallace says. And on the low end, the company has seen some more trade down to value products. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
0937 ET - While French satellite operator Eutelsat's failure to complete the sale of its ground stations might be disappointing to some investors, Deutsche Bank analysts say the situation has changed since it first announced the deal in August 2024. Eutelsat completed a 1.5 billion euro fundraising in June and that should make upcoming refinancing easier, they add. Eutelsat didn't disclose why the deal collapsed but the analysts believe it was most likely regulatory issues given that all parties had agreed to the deal. Still, the analysts say there is further infrastructure deal potential, given interest in the satellite sector. Eutelsat shares are down 4.3% at 2.25 euros.(najat.kantouar@wsj.com)
0937 ET - Colgate-Palmolive issued a wider-than-normal outlook for the year to account for all the uncertainty, CEO Noel Wallace says on a call with analysts. "The geopolitical environment, including tariffs, is volatile, particularly in Latin America, and the U.S. market remains sluggish," he says. "While we think trends will improve, we're not building in a big rebound because of this uncertainty." The toothpaste and soap maker says it is still well positioned to grow in 2026, though, citing its new operating strategy and the strength and resilience of its model. Colgate-Palmolive climbs 5% in early trading. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
0935 ET - An artificial-intelligence premium from Apple's partnership with Google's Gemini models is not yet reflected in the company's stock price, Wedbush analysts led by Dan Ives write in a note, adding that the premium could be as high as $75 to $100 a share. Management's timeline for Gemini integration in Siri is longer than the analysts anticipated. Still, they write, "Gemini announcements were necessary moves for Apple to deliver its own personal assistant within its hardware ecosystem while expecting to deliver a new subscription-based revenue stream to its 2.5 billion user installed base worldwide." (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
0934 ET - Sandisk surges 22% in early trading after better-than-expected F2Q earnings--but Raymond James sees even more upside, as analysts upgrade shares to outperform from market perform, saying "better late than never." The analysts don't see the company's pricing power letting up anytime soon. "Demand is exceptionally strong and likely only growing, supply is tightening to the point of potentially being sold out for years, and we see limited new supply coming online in the near term --supporting continued strong (an understatement) pricing going forward," they write, setting a price target of $725. Sandisk jumps 22% in early trading to $657.51. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
0921 ET - Colgate-Palmolive faced a very volatile operating environment in 2025, marked by lower-than-expected category growth, higher-than-anticipated raw-material inflation and the impact of higher tariffs, CEO Noel Wallace says on a call with analysts. Despite these challenges, the maker of Ajax and Softsoap notched sales and earnings growth. "I believe our ability to deliver dollar-based earnings per share growth in a year with that much volatility is a sign that the flexibility and resilience we have built into our operating model is working effectively to drive value for our shareholders," Wallace says. Colgate-Palmolive climbs 2.7% premarket. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
0911 ET - There is likely an easy path forward to avoid escalation following President Trump's threats against Canada's aerospace industry, Scotiabank's Derek Holt reckons. Trump warned of tariffs on aircraft sold by Canada and decertifying all Canadian-made aircraft, a shot at Bombardier over alleged Canadian footdragging on approving Gulfstream jets. Holt says this may be another empty threat, given the pattern to date. But the economist says Canada hasn't blocked Gulfstreams, its just that newer jets haven't finished the validation process and existing Gulfstreams do fly in the country. He says it waits to see how things evolve, but Canada has a right to independently review its own policies. (robb.stewart@wsj.com; @RobbMStewart)
0859 ET - A weaker dollar could lead to positive global economic surprises which in turn boost European equities, analysts at Bank of America write. Positive macroeconomic surprises reduce the risk associated with equities, the analysts say. However, earnings for pharma, software and construction-materials companies are most threatened by a weaker dollar because of their high U.S. sales exposure, they say. The analysts expect the euro will rise by around 2% against the dollar over the course of the year. Therefore, dollar weakness "will not have a meaningful impact on the direction of European equities," they say. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
0858 ET - Yields on U.K. government bonds fall following the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next U.S. Federal Reserve chair calmed market concerns about government interference in monetary policy. Warsh is considered a relatively safe choice, given his track record of a preference for tighter monetary policy. "We don't see this nomination as a further attack on the Fed's independence," ABN Amro says in a note. Ten-year gilt yields last trade at 4.511%, down from 4.518% prior to the announcement, Tradeweb data show. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)
0857 ET - The implementation of the EU-Mercosur trade deal shouldn't be delayed despite the EU Parliament pushing for a legal review of the agreement this month, Brussels-based trade expert David Kleimann says. He says that the EU institutions are meant to provisionally apply the deal once at least one Mercosur country has signaled its readiness to go ahead. "The [European Commission] has no discretion here," he says. The agreement is expected to take effect in the coming months, he says. According to Kleimann, the European parliament's vote this month has led the EU executive to break away with a custom precluding application of trade deals before lawmakers vote to give consent. "Parliament's move, in this way, has done more damage to its own standing than to the credibility of EU external action in the economic sphere." (edith.hancock@wsj.com)
0835 ET - Flutter Entertainment investors are focused on whether prediction markets are starting to impact regulated sports betting, Davy research analysts Paul Ruddy and Tara Tabesh write in a note. Prediction markets are exchange-based platforms where participants bet on the outcomes of events. Recent weakness in share price of the gambling and betting group behind the FanDuel, PokerStars and Paddy Power brands has fueled concerns about potential structural challenges from these markets, they say. However, the analysts suggest that the recent softness in betting activity is due to short-term factors rather than long-term change in the business, they add. Shares are down 1% at 120.75 pounds.(najat.kantouar@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 30, 2026 09:47 ET (14:47 GMT)
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