London pre-open: Stocks seen steady after record close

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set for a steady open on Thursday after a record close in the previous session, as investors digested solid results from US tech giant Nvidia and a raft of UK earnings.

The FTSE 100 was called to open flat at around 10,806.

Overnight, Nvidia delivered better-than-expected numbers for the fourth quarter, but the reaction to the beat was muted.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "It was another monster earnings report from Nvidia for fiscal Q4. Revenues were $68.1bn, smashing estimates of $65bn. Gross profit margin was a healthy 75%, up from 73.5% in the prior quarter, and the outlook for this quarter was monstrous. Nvidia is predicting that revenues will be $78bn, estimates were for $72bn.

"Although this is practically perfect earnings report, the share price reaction was muted in the post market.

"The muted reaction to this A* earnings report could be down to a few factors. Nvidia and the semiconductor space has outperformed the broader tech sector so far this year. Nvidia's results suggest that demand for AI is strong, and fears of an AI bubble are overdone. Thus, investors could pile into the less loved parts of tech, for example software, before going headfirst into Nvidia. The Nasdaq e-mini contract is higher by 1.4% after Nvidia's earnings report.

"Secondly, this report did not generate much reason for disappointment, but even so, some investors may have hoped that CEO Jensen Huang would boost sales pipeline estimates for this year above $500bn. Huang was also asked about hyperscalers and their future capex plans now that there was some pressure on their cash flows. This did not bother Huang, but it could sow a seed of doubt in the mind of investors."

In UK corporate news, WPP said it was planning to save £500m in annual costs by 2028 as it looks to restore growth.

Announcing the restructure with the company's preliminary results, chief executive Cindy Rose said "WPP will become a single company, streamlined into four operating units across four regions, all unified by our pioneering agentic marketing platform, WPP Open".

Aerospace firm RollsRoyce said it had delivered a "strong" performance in 2025, supported by further progress in its transformation programme and continued growth across its end markets.

Rolls-Royce said underlying revenues were up 12.38% at £20.05bn in the year ended 31 December, while underlying operating profits came in 28.82% higher year-on-year at £3.46bn, giving it an operating margin of 17.3%, up from 13.8% twelve months earlier.

Alongside the results, RollsRoyce said that it will repurchase up to £2.5bn of shares, starting with a £2.3bn programme set to begin immediately, alongside a previously completed £200m interim buyback.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals said it has named chair Said Darwazah chief executive, as it posted an uplift in annual sales and earnings.

Executive chair Darwazah became chief executive on an interim basis in December, after former incumbent Riad Mishlawi stepped down by mutual agreement.

However, on Thursday the blue chip confirmed Darwazah would now relinquish his chairmanship to focus exclusively on the chief executive role for the next two years.

The update came as Hikma posted a 5% uplift in core revenues to $3.35bn and a 3% improvement in core operating profit, at $853m.

Grocer and warehouse technology group Ocado posted a rise in underlying profits and said it expected cash flow to turn positive in the second half of this year.

Underlying core earnings rose to £178m in the year to 30 November, up from £112m a year earlier.