GSK PLC (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) shares jumped to a three-month high after the drugmaker beat second-quarter expectations across its main measures and accelerated investment in its pipeline.
Revenue rose 5% to £8.41 billion, ahead of the £8.25 billion City consensus. Adjusted earnings per share increased 9% to 50.5p, beating the 46.8p forecast by almost 8%.
Vaccines sales grew 8% to £2.28 billion, compared with expectations of £2.1 billion. Shingrix revenue reached £888 million, topping the £867.8 million consensus, while sales of respiratory syncytial virus vaccine Arexvy more than doubled.
Specialty Medicines also performed strongly, with sales up 14%. Respiratory, Immunology & Inflammation advanced 19%, Oncology rose 17% and HIV increased 10%. General Medicines declined 9%, however.
GSK reaffirmed its full-year guidance, expecting sales growth in the upper half of its 3%-5% range and core operating profit growth in the upper half of its 7%-9% range. Core earnings growth is forecast in the lower half of the 7%-9% range.
The company plans to more than double its phase III trial starts this year to over 20, accelerating seven late-stage assets across 18 indications. It also said it remains "on track" to generate more than £40 billion of annual sales by 2031.
A three-year restructuring programme was announced, targeting £1.9 billion of annual savings by 2029, with most reinvested in research and development.
Statutory operating profit fell 75% after a £1.3 billion impairment linked mainly to cough drug camlipixant. GSK declared a 17p quarterly dividend.
The shares surged 6% to 2,080p, their highest since mid-April.
Analysts at Jefferies hailed a second quarter "of good quality", with vaccines and specials more than offsetting softer general medicines.
"Better product mix more than offsets higher opex leaving core operating income 5% ahead and core EPS 7% beat."
The cost-cutting plan was seen as "surprisingly strong", about double what was expected.
"The aim of the program is to protect the margin through the patent cliff but also to restructure the business and move R&D from Stevenage to Cambridge. With over double the number of Phase III trial initiations expected in 2026 to 20+, reinvestment will be part of it but this is a strong and unexpected move."
UBS expects investors to pay little attention to GSK PLC's (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) second-quarter results, with focus shifting instead to a strategy update from...
Bango PLC (AIM:BGO, OTCQX:BGOPF), the payments and subscriptions technology company, has set a target for its subscriptions division to achieve positive cash earnings in 2027, following a strong start to the current financial year.
Revenue for the first quarter of 2026 rose 13% year-on-year, with adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) up 39%, driven by higher-quality revenue and the annualised effect of cost cuts made during 2025.
The Cambridge-based company said it had secured three new Digital Vending Machine (DVM) customer wins so far in 2026, with one contracted, alongside continued expansion from existing customers.
The DVM is Bango's proprietary platform that allows telecoms operators and other partners to manage and bundle subscription services for consumers.
The board cautioned that rising geopolitical uncertainty following recent developments in the Middle East had not yet affected trading but could weigh on customer processes and sales cycles in the coming months.
For the full year ended 31 December, total revenue slipped 2% to $52.2 million, as a 15% decline in payments segment revenue to $30 million offset a 22% rise in subscriptions revenue to $22.2 million.
Annual recurring revenue (ARR), a key measure of the quality and predictability of the business, grew 30% to $18.2 million, with a net revenue retention rate of 117% and zero churn among live customers.
Adjusted EBITDA rose 7% to $16.4 million, while cash EBITDA turned positive, improving by $2.5 million to $2.3 million.
Gross margin expanded by more than six percentage points to 84%, reflecting the deliberate shift away from legacy low-margin payment routes.
Bango ended the year with net debt of $9.2 million, having drawn on an enhanced loan facility from NHN and a new $15 million revolving credit facility with NatWest.
The company reduced permanent headcount from 219 to 164 during the year while maintaining an employee engagement score above 80%, and cut core administrative expenses by $2.9 million.
Active subscriptions managed through the DVM increased by almost 60% year-on-year to 24 million, with 39 DVM customers now signed, including seven of the top eight US telecoms operators.
88 Energy Ltd (AIM:88E, ASX:88E, OTCQB:EEENF, FRA:POQ) has tightened its contractual position at Project Phoenix in Alaska while giving joint venture partner Burgundy Xploration more time to complete funding ahead of a planned US listing.
The company agreed to extend Burgundy’s funding milestone under the Participation Agreement to 30 September, aligning the timetable with Burgundy’s initial public offering process.
In return, 88 Energy will receive US$400,000 of near-term payments, comprising a US$100,000 amendment fee and US$300,000 toward the Icewine 3D payment.
Burgundy remains committed to funding 100% of Project Phoenix costs under the agreed US$29 million carry.
The revised terms also include additional security over Burgundy’s lease positions, accelerated payment terms for the outstanding Icewine 3D consideration and an option for 88 Energy to acquire up to 25% of Burgundy’s 2025 North Slope leases at cost.
The Franklin Bluffs-1H horizontal well, designed as the next step in the appraisal and commercialisation plan for Project Phoenix, is now expected to spud in the first quarter of 2027, with a revised target spud date of 30 March 2027.
88 Energy noted that Burgundy has submitted its draft Form S-1 to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and completed two rounds of SEC comments.
Since the PA was executed in February 2025, Burgundy has paid around US$1.5 million gross to 88 Energy, delivering about A$2.0 million of net cash-flow benefits.
GSK PLC's (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) oncology subsidiary TESARO has secured a partial legal victory after a Delaware court dismissed a counterclaim brought by AnaptysBio, the US biotechnology company, in a dispute over the licence for cancer drug dostarlimab.
The Delaware Chancery Court granted TESARO's motion to dismiss AnaptysBio's claim for anticipatory breach, though the ruling does not address the core contractual dispute between the parties.
TESARO's remaining claim for declaratory judgment, which seeks a formal court ruling on the parties' legal rights under the licence agreement, is unaffected and will proceed to trial.
The litigation stems from allegations by AnaptysBio that TESARO failed to fulfil certain requirements under a licence agreement signed in March 2014, with AnaptysBio threatening to revoke TESARO's licence for the drug.
GSK and TESARO have rejected those allegations as entirely without merit.
Dostarlimab, sold under the brand name Jemperli, is approved in more than 35 countries for the treatment of certain endometrial cancers, the most common gynaecologic cancer in the United States.
GSK has reported strong growth for Jemperli following label expansions in endometrial cancer across the US and European Union.
The company is running clinical trials to assess whether dostarlimab could be used to treat additional cancer types, including rectal, colon, and head and neck cancers.
OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX:OTCM) announced that Charlotte’s Web Holdings, a botanical wellness innovation company, has qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market, upgrading from the OTCQB Venture Market.
Charlotte’s Web begins trading on OTCQX under the ticker symbol 'CWBHF.'
OTCQX:OTCM
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Chris King on OTC Markets growth and ID Market OTC Markets Group SVP Americas Business Development Chris King joined Steve Darling from the Vancouver Resources Investment Conference to share news about the company’s performance and initiatives over the past year during the Vancouver conference.King explained that over 70% of the 190+...
Ideal Power Inc (NASDAQ:IPWR, FRA:5ILA), developer of its B-TRAN bidirectional semiconductor power switch, said management will host a conference call on May 14, 2026, at 10am Eastern Time to discuss first quarter results for the period ended March 31, 2026.
A press release with results will be issued prior to the call. The event will include a Q&A session, with questions accepted during and in advance of the call. A webcast will be available on the investor relations website.
Bank sits 5-10% below consensus on core earnings from 2027, citing need for pipeline success and new launch execution
JP Morgan has retained its underweight rating on GSK PLC (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) with a June 2027 price target of £17, arguing that near-term earnings upgrade potential is limited and that the pharmaceutical group's longer-term outlook remains contingent on pipeline success and the execution of new product launches.
Analyst Zain Ebrahim made modest forecast changes following GSK's first-quarter 2026 results, including foreign exchange-related adjustments of 0% to 1% to sales forecasts across 2026 to 2031 and upgrades of 1% to 2% to core operating profit estimates.
It has left local currency guidance unchanged at 4% sales growth and 8% core operating profit growth for the full year.
JP Morgan's 2031 sales forecast of £32 billion sits approximately 8% below market consensus, with the broker running 7% behind peers on Specialty Medicines, 8% behind on General Medicines and 11% behind on Vaccines.
This reflects scepticism around the contribution from new launches, including Exdensur and Blenrep.
The broker identified several near-term catalysts to monitor, including detailed Phase III data on bepirovirsen, a treatment for chronic hepatitis B, at the EASL liver disease conference on 27-30 May.
Expected are readouts from the camlipixant CALM-1 and CALM-2 trials in July, as well as GSK's second-quarter results and pipeline update on 29 July.
Sonoro Gold Corp (TSX-V:SGO, OTCQB:SMOFF, FRA:23SP) said on Friday that it has increased the size of its previously announced non-brokered private placement in response to investor demand.
The Vancouver-based company said the offering has been upsized to 60 million units for gross proceeds of up to C$15 million. The financing was originally announced on May 20.
The offering price remains at C$0.25 per unit. Each unit will consist of one common share and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant will allow the holder to purchase an additional common share at an exercise price of C$0.34 for a period of three years following the closing of the financing.
The net proceeds from the offering are expected to be used to support the ongoing development of the Cerro Caliche gold project in Sonora, Mexico, as well as for general working capital purposes.
Citi is holding back from recommending GSK PLC (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) shares despite a significant clinical breakthrough in hepatitis B treatment, arguing that unanswered commercial questions mean any value from the new drug is unlikely to materialise for shareholders in the near term.
The bank maintains its 'neutral' rating on GSK after trial results for the company's experimental drug bepirovirsen were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The hesitation centres on practical questions that remain unresolved: how the drug will be priced, which countries will be able to access it first, and whether the intensive blood and liver monitoring required during treatment will prove workable in everyday clinical settings outside of a trial environment.
The cautious stance comes despite results that Citi itself describes as clinically meaningful.
Bepirovirsen works by silencing the genetic instructions the hepatitis B virus uses to replicate inside the body, an approach known as an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO).
Current treatments keep the virus under control but rarely eliminate it, meaning most patients must take medication every day for the rest of their lives, with fewer than 1% ever achieving what doctors call a functional cure, where the virus is suppressed to undetectable levels without ongoing treatment.
Trial results showed bepirovirsen curing 19% of a broad group of hepatitis B patients and 26% of those with lower levels of the virus in their blood, compared with zero cures in the group receiving standard treatment alone.
Hepatitis B is a chronic liver infection affecting around 300 million people worldwide, which can lead to liver failure and cancer if left uncontrolled.
Citi models peak annual sales of £1.6 billion for the drug, broadly in line with market consensus.
Gunnison Copper Corp (TSX:GCU, OTCQB:GCUMF, FRA:3XS0) has announced plans for a district-wide drilling program at its Gunnison copper project, including the Strong & Harris satellite deposit, in Arizona's Cochise Mining District.
The company said the program has been fully contracted and committed, with drill rig mobilization expected to begin this month.
The campaign is expected to include up to 120 drill holes totaling about 138,000 feet (42,000 metres) of drilling.
According to Gunnison, the work is intended to support ongoing pre-feasibility study (PFS) activities, resource expansion, metallurgical optimization and resource conversion across its copper assets.
The drilling campaign will begin with a metallurgical optimization phase using two drill rigs. Gunnison expects to expand capacity to as many as six rigs after completing a larger core processing and storage facility, which is anticipated during the third quarter of 2026.
The company estimates the total direct cost of the drilling program and related laboratory testing at approximately US$15 million, excluding employee payroll. Preliminary results are expected within six months, with full results anticipated within 12 to 15 months.
The metallurgical component of the program is expected to include up to 36 drill holes totaling roughly 33,000 feet (10,000 metres) across the Gunnison and Strong & Harris deposits. The samples will be used for metallurgical testing, engineering studies and mine planning activities associated with the PFS and permitting process.
As part of that work, Gunnison plans to conduct up to 270 column leach tests over the next 12 months, which it described as the industry standard for predicting and optimizing large-scale copper heap leaching.
After the initial metallurgical phase, the company plans to undertake a resource drilling program of up to 84 drill holes totaling approximately 105,000 feet (32,000 metres).
The objectives include expanding known mineralization, identifying new mineralized zones, upgrading inferred resources to measured and indicated classifications, further defining mineralization limits at both deposits, and evaluating the continuation of the Gunnison mineralized system at depth.
Gunnison said the Gunnison Copper Project and the Strong & Harris deposit are part of its district-scale land package in Arizona's Southern Copper Belt, where it believes additional opportunities exist to expand and further define mineralization across multiple nearby deposits.
"We are moving forward with a great sense of urgency to deliver on our vision of fueling America's security and prosperity by acting to rapidly increase the domestic copper supply," Gunnison Copper CEO Craig Hallworth said in a statement.
"This program is designed not only to potentially add more copper to our flagship project, but also support metallurgical optimization and the resource conversion required to support a mineral reserve in our planned PFS."
Jefferies has flagged four near-term catalysts in GSK PLC's (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) oncology pipeline following a fireside chat with the pharmaceutical company's global head of oncology and research and development at the bank's New York healthcare conference, reiterating its buy rating and 2,500p price target on the stock.
GSK, which is trading at 1,872p, plans to present additional datasets for its B7H3 antibody-drug conjugate. This targeted cancer therapy delivers toxic payloads directly to tumour cells, at a major oncology conference in the second half of 2026, which Jefferies believes is likely to be ESMO, the European Society for Medical Oncology's annual meeting.
The bank said management views the B7H3 asset as equally important to its B7H4 programme, with B7H4 focused on gynaecological cancers, particularly ovarian and endometrial, while B7H3 has a broader expression profile spanning thoracic, gastrointestinal, prostate and sarcoma tumours.
Several additional phase III trials are expected to be disclosed for B7H3 over the coming months.
On IDRx-42, GSK's treatment for gastrointestinal stromal tumours, which produced positive data at the ASCO oncology conference, management highlighted that the grade 3 adverse event rate is notably lower than competing combination approaches, and said it is doing what it can to accelerate the phase III first-line programme.
Jefferies also flagged renewed interest in Blenrep, GSK's multiple myeloma treatment, after modelling data presented at the European Myeloma Network suggested median progression-free survival in a triplet combination could reach 100 months at the DREAMM-10 trial dose, comparing favourably to the 90 months seen with the currently approved quadruplet regimen.
The bank noted GSK's view that external mergers and acquisitions will always be necessary to complement internal research and development, with management flagging a growing pipeline of innovation from Asia.
Artificial intelligence and digital pathology were described as fundamental pillars of GSK's research approach, including the 2025 acquisition of CELLphenomics, which specialises in organoid technology to better understand tumour biology.
Jefferies said oncology remains on track to make a significant contribution to GSK's sales by 2031 and beyond.
Longspur Research has initiated coverage of Gelion PLC (AIM:GELN, OTC:GELNF, FRA:X0S), the battery materials company, with a central case valuation of 153p per share, representing nearly eight times the current share price of 19.25p.
The broker's bullish case rests on Gelion's proprietary nano-encapsulated sulfur cathode active material, a technology it says can produce batteries that outperform conventional lithium-ion chemistries while costing less to manufacture, even when made in the West.
The cost advantage is the most striking claim in the note.
Longspur calculates that using Gelion's material, a battery cell can be produced in the United States for $52.60 per kilowatt-hour, below the $58.60 per kilowatt-hour cost of a conventional nickel manganese cobalt cell made in China.
That figure, if it holds at commercial scale, would represent a significant shift in the economics of battery manufacturing, removing one of China's most durable competitive advantages in the sector.
The technology also sidesteps several supply chain vulnerabilities that affect rival chemistries, replacing cobalt, nickel and phosphate with sulfur, an element that is abundant globally and produced largely as a byproduct of oil refining.
Gelion's most significant commercial development is a three-year collaboration agreement with Nissan Technical Centre Europe, which is working towards a solid-state electric vehicle by 2028, with manufacturing planned at the company's Sunderland plant.
Longspur says Nissan is looking to Gelion's sulfur cathode to keep its solid-state offering cost-competitive against Chinese rivals.
The company is also working with TDK Corporation, the Japanese electronics giant, which has already produced pouch cells using Gelion's cathode material at its Nagano facility, and with UK defence and security company QinetiQ on drone power applications.
Longspur is forecasting commercial sample sales beginning in the current financial year, with full commercial revenues from 2030 and a move into profit that year.
The broker's low case valuation of 108p reflects a one-year delay to full commercialisation, while its high case of 201p incorporates penetration of the emerging markets for silicon anode, sodium-ion and solid-state batteries.
Key risks cited include the early-stage nature of the technology, dependence on partners to drive adoption, and the possibility that competing approaches to suppressing the polysulfide shuttle effect, a technical problem that had previously hampered sulfur cathode development, could erode Gelion's advantage.
Abacus Global Management (NYSE:ABX) has unveiled LifeARC, a proprietary AI-powered platform that generates personalized lifespan models for individuals using medical history, medications, genetics, and biometrics.
The alternative asset manager said LifeARC draws on 20 years of proprietary data to produce individualized longevity projections.
"LifeARC harnesses AI to do something no competitor can match: it's powered by 20 years of Abacus proprietary data that can't be bought, built, or displaced,” CEO Jay Jackson told shareholders in a letter announcing the launch.
“LifeARC takes an individual's medical history, conditions, medications, genetics, and biometrics and builds a personalized lifespan model.”
To deploy the technology with active clients, Abacus invested more than $50 million in Manning & Napier, an advisory firm with roughly $18 billion in assets under management and more than 3,400 clients.
"You can build the best lifespan modeling platform in the world, but if it's sitting on a server somewhere and not connected to real client portfolios, it doesn't improve anyone's retirement,” Jackson said. “We needed a partner who already had client relationships, client trust, and the infrastructure. Manning & Napier gave us that.”
The company said it plans to pursue additional wealth management partnerships.
"The technology moat is real -- every LifeARC profile we build makes our model more accurate, and nobody can replicate that dataset from scratch. The timing is better than we could have planned for," Jackson added.
Abacus said LifeARC's revenue model spans data licensing to institutions, advisory fees, and integration with insurance and annuity products, all running on the same proprietary data layer.
The company positioned the platform as central to what Jackson described as a $120 trillion intergenerational wealth transfer currently underway as Baby Boomers pass assets to their heirs.
Shares of Abacus Global were up around 3% ahead of the midway point of trading on Wednesday.
Lisata Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:LSTA, FRA:8NE) has agreed to be acquired by privately held Kuva Labs Inc. for $4 per share in cash, plus a contingent value right worth up to an additional $3.00 per share tied to drug development milestones.
Kuva's wholly owned subsidiary Kuva Acquisition Corp launched the tender offer on June 10, with the offer period set to expire July 10, 2026.
Shareholders who tender their shares will also receive one non-tradeable CVR entitling them to $1.25 per share upon enrollment milestones in a Phase 2a glioblastoma trial evaluating Lisata's lead candidate certepetide, and a further $1.75 per share if a New Drug Application for certepetide is filed or accepted for review by a regulatory authority.
Lisata's board unanimously recommended that stockholders tender their shares. The merger agreement contains no financing condition, though Kuva disclosed it has not yet secured committed financing for the deal and intends to fund the acquisition through a combination of debt, equity, or credit facilities.
Following a successful tender of a majority of shares, Kuva will acquire remaining shares through a second-step merger at the same consideration. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.
Upon completion, Lisata will be delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Markets.
Shares of Lisata were up around 15% on Wednesday morning.
Snail Inc (NASDAQ:SNAL) has launched its open-world kingdom-building survival RPG Bellwright on PlayStation and Xbox, extending a title that has surpassed one million lifetime units sold on Steam to a broader console audience.
The game has been optimized for console play with large-screen enhancements and streamlined controls, Snail said in a statement.
RPG Bellwright has accumulated over 46.4 million playtime hours and holds a "Very Positive" rating from more than 18,000 Steam user reviews, according to the company.
The console release follows Snail Games' appearance at IGN Live 2026, where the company showcased Bellwright alongside the ARK franchise.
Also at IGN Live, Studio Wildcard co-founder and ARK franchise co-creative director Jeremy Stieglitz unveiled a teaser for ARK Maker, a creation tool aimed at expanding community-generated content within the ARK ecosystem. Stieglitz also shared new details on ARK: The Animated Series ahead of Part 2's return to Paramount+.
Snail Games said additional ARK news is expected later this month as Tides of Fortune and Genesis Ascended Part One prepare to launch.
Thistle Resources (TSX-V:TRCG, OTC:TRCGF) has intersected broad, high-grade gold mineralization at its Middle River Gold Project, the company said Wednesday.
Drill hole 21TRC-AU007 returned 1.65 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 20.71 metres, including 4.65 g/t over 2.82 metres.
The 74-metre hole was collared in the northeast extension of the mineralized fold trend.
“This hole is another example of the robust deposit we have at Middle River Gold - strong gold results over this shallow 74-metre drill hole, exactly the kind of result that keeps impressing us as we drill our mineralized ribbons,” CEO Patrick Cruickshank told shareholders.
Cruickshank said the company has received its Phase 3 drill program permits and looks forward to testing high-priority targets along the identified seven kilometres of mineralized fold ribbons.
COO and vice president exploration Gary Lohman said the result confirms the consistency of the system, noting that the current deposit covers only about 400 metres of a 7-kilometre trend independently confirmed by geophysical firms EarthEx Geophysical Solutions and Abitibi Geophysics.
"We have over 50 high-priority targets and permits in hand," Lohman said. "Our 2026 program will expand the deposit along strike and down-dip while we begin testing the deeper, high-chargeability lower zone that has never seen a drill bit."
The Middle River Gold Project is anchored by a seven-kilometre mineralized "S-Trend" of folded stratigraphy. Two completed drill programs have returned consistent high-grade, broad gold intersections, with the current deposit defined from surface to a depth of 130 metres. Geophysical surveys have identified stronger, high-chargeability zones at 400 metres and below, representing a deeper target that has not yet been drill-tested.
Thistle's stated objective is to define more than two million ounces of gold across the trend.
