Must read: FTSE 100 higher, oil, Tesla, Unilever

GLOBAL MARKETS

The FTSE 100 has opened modestly higher as the index digests a slew of corporate updates including from heavyweights like Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) and Unilever (LSE:ULVR). Rentokil Initial (LSE:RTO) is the biggest mover, jumping around 10% after third-quarter organic revenue beat analyst expectations.

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Oil prices are surging, with WTI and Brent crude both rallying by over 3% after the US hit Russian oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil with sanctions, after a meeting between Trump and Putin was cancelled as the US leans towards taking a harder stance on Moscow.

US futures are pointing to a flat open after the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq fell 0.9% on Wednesday, as the White House weighs software export curbs to China and as the US government shutdown reaches its 23rd day.

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares are under pressure in Frankfurt after investors shrugged off a 12% increase in third-quarter revenue to $28.10 billion, beating analyst expectations. Instead, they were disappointed by its earnings per share which hit 50 cents, below forecasts for 54 cents. Net income also plunged by 37% year-on-year to $1.37 billion driven by lower electric vehicle prices. Tesla is also dealing with higher costs associated with investments into AI and robotics and pressure from the expiration of tax credits for EVs from the White House.

UNILEVER

Unilever beat analyst expectations with third-quarter underlying sales growth of 3.9%, or 4% excluding ice cream with particular strength in beauty and wellbeing, up 5.1%.

The group’s ‘Power Brands’, which account for 78% of turnover, saw underlying sales growth of 4.4% driven by a mix of price (2.6%) and volume (1.7%) with names like Dove, Vaseline, Cif, Domestos and Hellman’s demonstrating impressive resilience. Unilever appears to be navigating ongoing headwinds from some cost-conscious consumers switching to cheaper own brand labels. In terms of outlook, the group maintained its projections for underlying sales growth of between 3% and 5% with an improvement in the second half of the year.

There was a strong performance in North America driven by Personal Care and Beauty & Wellbeing driven by volume expansion. In emerging markets, sales growth however was driven more by price increases while India was hit by a short-term sales impact from Goods and Services Tax reforms. CEO Fernando Fernandez said the company is anchoring its growth in the US and China.

Meanwhile, its 15 billion euro ice cream demerger including Magnum and Ben & Jerry brands is expected to complete in Q4 2025 having been pushed back because of the US government shutdown. Delays to The Magnum Ice Cream Company’s Amsterdam listing originally scheduled for 10th November cause a bit of a headache for investors looking forward to a simpler, more streamlined version of Unilever. Nonetheless the ice cream business which saw underlying sales growth of 3.7% still appears to be sticking to plans for a spin-off.

Rival Reckitt Benckiser set the bar high for Unilever – yesterday it delivered a strong beat in like-for-like sales growth with particular strength in China-led emerging markets as well as a return to growth in developed markets, sending shares to a two-year peak highlighting the progress made by CEO Kris Licht over the past year.

For many however, Unilever will continue to be seen as a solid defensive play and a core constituent of many portfolios, making it a consensus buy from the analyst community. Its characteristics have helped shares rise lately amid an uncertain global economic environment, leading to a respectable stock market gain of 10% so far this year, although it has underperformed rival Reckitt Benckiser up over 20% YTD and the wider market - the FTSE 100 is up 15%.