Trending tickers: Disney | Arm | Astrazeneca | S4 Capital

Disney's earnings beat expectations as the streaming service gained 7 million subscribers.

Disney (DIS)

Disney reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings that beat expectations as the company increased its annual cost cutting goal to $7.5bn (£6.1bn), up from the previous $5.5bn set in February.

Adjusted earnings of $0.82 a share beat expectations of $0.69 per share and was more than double the prior-year period's earnings per share of $0.30. Revenue, meanwhile, slightly missed estimates of $21.43bn to hit $21.24bn, up 5% compared to the prior-year quarter's $20.15bn.

Disney+ topped 150 million streaming subscriptions by the end of its fiscal fourth quarter of the year, up from 146.7 million in the previous quarter.

Boss Bob Iger said he believed the company was entering a new "era of building", after a painful year focused on job cuts and restructuring.

He said the moves were paying off in bigger savings and other growth. Disney has already cut 8,000 jobs at the company.

Arm (ARM)

Disappointing forecasts for Q3 has sent the chip designer’s shares tumbling in pretrading.

For the September quarter, Arm reported revenue of $806m and an adjusted earnings-per-share of 36 cents, both above analysts’ expectations.

The company generated $388m in revenue from licenses and other sources, along with $418m from royalties.

However, guidance wasn’t as strong, with the chip designer Arm giving revenue forecast for the current quarter, ending in December, of $720m to $800m, below the consensus of $776m at its midpoint.

The company went public in mid-September in the biggest IPO of the year, after shunning London to list in the US.

Astrazeneca (AZN.L)

Astrazeneca’s shares rose after the pharma company raised guidance for sales and earnings, and announcing a deal in the high profile area of obesity treatments.

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker reported a 12% rise in third-quarter sales, excluding Covid-19 treatments, to $11.5bn (£9.4bn. Including the impact of the Covid-19 sales hit, revenues lifted 5%.

It said sales of cancer medicines surged 20% in the first nine months of the year.

AstraZeneca will also develop a new diabetes and weight loss treatment after striking a $2bn (£1.6bn) deal to enter the obesity drug race.

It has signed a licensing agreement with Eccogene to create a pill, known as ECC5004, which will encourage glucose and body weight reduction.

S4 Capital (SFOR.L)

Digital marketing firm S4 capital has slashed earnings forecast yet again, sending shares tumbling by over 20%.

Martin Sorrell's digital ad group reported a 10% drop in third-quarter net like-for-like revenue and cut its full-year earnings margin guidance to 10-11%, which it already reduced to 12-13.5% in September.

Revenues at the advertising agency were almost a fifth lower year on year at £245.9n, while billings from clients were down 7% at £450.3mn.

Sorrell said trading in the third quarter was "difficult, reflecting the global macroeconomic conditions".

The company has now lost more than two-thirds of its value since the beginning of the year after multiple profit warnings.

Watch: Disney streaming results show 'encouraging signs': Analyst

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.