Trending tickers: SoftBank, Reddit, Vodafone, GSK

SoftBank (9984.T)

SoftBank shares rose 1.5% overnight to a record all-time high as it ramps up investments in artificial intelligence and semiconductors.

The Japanese tech firm is gaining investor attention as its telecom arm moves aggressively towards generative AI, tying up with Microsoft and start-up Perplexity AI Inc. It is also building data centres stocked with Nvidia accelerators.

Its chip unit Arm Holdings is also trying to position its architecture as a means to conserve energy in devices running AI.

Tomoaki Kawasaki, a senior analyst at Iwaicosmo Securities, said: “It’s getting another boost as more investors see it as a semiconductor-related stock."

Last month, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son told shareholders that investments the technology group had made in the past were “just a warm-up” for his grand ambition to create an era of artificial intelligence.

Reddit (RDDT)

Reddit found favour with investors last night, with the San Francisco-based company surging 10%.

It comes as usage for Reddit search has boomed. According to data from Similarweb, the social media platform saw a 39% increase in website visits, year-over-year, while Google (GOOG, GOOGL) reported a drop of 2.2%.

Meanwhile in May, the firm revealed it had struck a partnership deal with artificial intelligence start-up OpenAI.

Under the agreement, the company behind the ChatGPT chatbot will get access to Reddit content, while it will also bring AI-powered features to the social media platform.

Shares were slightly lower in pre-market trading on Wednesday.

Vodafone (VOD.L)

Vodafone struck a fresh network sharing agreement with Virgin Media O2 on Wednesday, boosting hopes of winning approval for its merger deal with Three.

The operators have agreed to extend a partnership that was due to expire in 2025, while Virgin Media O2 will acquire more spectrum to better align spectrum holding between different operators in anticipation of the takeover being waived through.

The acquisition is conditional upon the merger being completed.

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Vodafone’s planned merger with Three is currently under investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The UK competition regulator will reach a decision expected before the end of the year.

Lutz Schüler, chief executive of Virgin Media O2 said: “This new agreement with Vodafone ensures that quality mobile network choice, performance, coverage and competition is enhanced to the benefit of millions of consumers, businesses and our mobile operator partners across the country.

“We are extending and bolstering elements of our existing network-sharing arrangement, while also ensuring there is a robust, balanced and functional structure in place for the long-term should Vodafone and Three’s proposed merger gain consent.

“We believe that this new agreement addresses the issues we have voiced and the CMA outlined in its initial decision, and will now continue our engagement with the regulator in this spirit.”

GSK (GSK.L)

GSK has bought the full rights to develop, make and sell COVID and influenza vaccines from Germany's CureVac

The UK’s second-biggest drugmaker is paying €400m (£339, $430) upfront and up to an additional €1.05bn to the biotech firm, which was founded in Tübingen in southwest Germany in 2000.

The two companies have restructured their existing collaboration into a new licensing agreement.

Since 2020, GSK and CureVac have worked together to develop mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases. GSK will now take control of CureVac's leading experimental vaccines to fight infections, including seasonal flu and bird flu.

They currently have vaccine candidates for seasonal influenza and Covid-19 in intermediate clinical trials (phase II) and avian influenza in phase I clinical development. The jabs are based on CureVac’s mRNA technology.

GSK shares were steady on the back of the news, while CureVac shares surged, trading 24% higher to reach a three-week high.

Tony Wood, GSK’s chief scientific officer, said: "We are excited about our flu/Covid-19 programmes and the opportunity to develop best-in-class mRNA vaccines to change the standard of care. With this new agreement, we will apply GSK’s capabilities, partnerships and intellectual property to CureVac’s technology, to deliver these promising vaccines at pace."

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