The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

1239 ET - Telecommunications company América Móvil plans to lower its capital expenditures this year from around $7.2 billion in 2024 as economies slow. "We've been investing a lot in 5G, in the last three years a lot in fiber and IT. We have our cloud and data centers all in place so that gives us a chance this year with the slowdown to reduce Capex to $6.7 billion," chief executive Daniel Hajj tells analysts in a conference call. The executive says América Móvil is open to considering acquisitions in Latin America, referring to Spain's Telefónica selling assets in the region. "We're aware of that and open if something fits América Móvil's strategy," he says. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1234 ET - Newell Brands is figuring out what to do about baby gear. The maker of Yankee Candle and Sharpie pens is most exposed to this category, as is the larger industry given products including strollers and car seats are heavily sourced from China. About 20% of its baby business is baby care, which Newell manufactures domestically under its Nook brand. Another 20% isn't exposed to tariffs under the gear business. But the remaining percentage under the baby gear business is generally sourced from China and sold in the U.S., which Newell has priced higher by about 20%. Newell hasn't priced yet for the 125% tariffs imposed on China as it's sitting on a few months of inventory but expects the industry to raise prices when inventory dries up and retailers turn back to China. Shares decline 8.5% to $4.73. (denny.jacob@wsj.com; @pennedbyden)

1216 ET - Pizza Hut will focus on group offerings, value offerings and menu innovation to gain market share after its U.S, same-store sales dropped 5% in 1Q, its parent company Yum Brands says. The company says that sales were soft in January, but improved through February and March. The pizza chain also took a $6 million hit to operating growth because it was transitioning four franchise stores to new ownership. (roshan.fernandez@wsj.com)

1202 ET - Algoma Steel's state-of-the-art new steel electric arc furnaces will take a little longer to start up due to weather related delays. In its 1Q earnings call, executives say that "the factors the team has run into has primarily been weather related, which affected our ability to commission some of the critical systems like the water treatment plant." The Canadian steel maker began works on the EAFs in April of 2022, and had planned for first pour in April of 2025. "We were thinking second half of April, but the change today is that it's still happening in 2Q. "There are always things that cause you to slip a day or a week at a time," the execs said. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1146 ET - Yum Brands says that sales in the Middle East have been recovering. The restaurant operator that owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, says that the fried chicken chain is responsible for about 85% of its international profits. CEO David Gibbs says they're continuing to monitor changes in consumer behavior in the Middle East amid the conflict, but they've seen "meaningful improvements" and feel good about their recovery. KFCs in the Middle East, Turkey and North Africa saw an 11% increase in system sales growth compared to the first quarter last year, the company says in its earnings release. Gibbs says they had not seen any anti-American sentiment impacting stores in the Middle East. (roshan.fernandez@wsj.com)

1133 ET - Yum Brands' $1 billion partnership with Nvidia involves more than 40 artificial intelligence initiatives, the restaurant's CEO says in a quarterly earnings call. The restaurant operator is currently working with Nvidia to advance voice-automated technology in its drive-throughs and to optimize its back-of-house processes with real-time analytics. The parent company of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut said it was Nvidia's first AI restaurant partner in a March announcement. The company also says there's potential for AI to enable a more personalized experience for customers. "They recognize that in the restaurant space, there's nobody that's built the capability that we have," CEO David Gibbs says. (roshan.fernandez@wsj.com)

1119 ET - Prada's first-quarter revenue beat expectations mainly thanks to strong momentum at Miu Miu, but the brand could face stronger competition next year, analysts at Bernstein say in a research note. Strong growth at Miu Miu seems likely to continue as long as other brands remain on the back foot in terms of creativity and fashion content, Bernstein says. "We believe new creativity will likely arrive in end-2025 along with [spring-summer 2026] runway shows; management believes competition will heat up in 12 months time," the analysts say. Meanwhile, weakness at the Italian luxury group's core Prada brand is expected to linger, according to Bernstein. Shares in Hong Kong closed 1.2% lower before the results. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

1114 ET - Chicken tenders are emerging as a hot area for new restaurant products, with McDonald's recently launching its version. Wingstop is also pushing its option for tenders, and says in a 1Q investor call that it has an advantage in having more sauce options for its version than rivals. Wingstop shares climb 10% after reporting an increase in expectations for new units globally this year. (heather.haddon@wsj.com; @heatherhaddon)

1047 ET - Repsol's executives reassured that the company can keep buying back shares even amid a weaker economic outlook, a recurrent line of investor questioning coming into its first-quarter update, RBC Capital Markets' Biraj Borkhataria and Adnan Dhanani say in a research note. The Spanish energy company reiterated its plans to buy back 700 million euros in shares this year. Executives struck a reassuring tone, emphasizing that the company's investment program is flexible and could be downsized to sustain shareholder distributions should economic conditions remain weak, RBC says. Shares fall 0.5%. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

1035 ET - Hapag-Lloyd's guidance confirmation is interesting in the context of trade volatility, but it seems more a result of uncertainty than of the company's confidence in its prospects, JPMorgan analysts say in a research note. The German container-shipping company still expects earnings to be lower this year, but cautioned that its forecast is subject to considerable uncertainty given the impacts the situation in the Read Sea and trade conflicts could have on the shipping market and its own earnings. "We expect the market to see this update as neutral, while the maintaining of the guidance in the current environment likely reflects uncertainties rather than confidence in the outlook in our view," the analysts say. Shares fall 0.3%. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

1017 ET - The euro could rise against the dollar if eurozone investors increase their protection against the risk of volatility in the U.S. currency, BNP Paribas analysts say in a note. Eurozone investors' dollar hedge ratios are low, they say. "If European investors agree with our view that there could be a rotation out of U.S. assets with the euro a key beneficiary, hedge ratios could rise or dollar asset allocations could be reduced." This could drive the euro higher versus the dollar, they say. In addition, the exchange rate could be more sensitive to a rotation out of U.S. equities into Europe than in the past given eurozone investors' large stock of U.S. equity holdings. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0954 ET - European stocks head lower after U.S. gross-domestic-product data showed the world's largest economy contracted in the first quarter. All major stock indexes fall after the U.S. economic data, reversing gains for most of them earlier in the session. The Stoxx Europe 600 drops 0.5%, while the Euro Stoxx 50 is down 0.8%. Among national indexes, Spain's Ibex 35 is the biggest decliner, shedding 1.9%. Germany's DAX is down 0.5% and both France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 are down 0.3%. The U.S. economy fell at a seasonally and inflation adjusted 0.3% annual rate in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said. The reading fell short of the 0.4% growth that economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 30, 2025 12:40 ET (16:40 GMT)

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