The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

0945 ET - Spin Master's CFO Jonathan Roiter says that tariffs didn't affect the pricing, but rather consumer and retailer sentiment. "It's a difficult tariff and macro environment," he says on an analyst call, pointing to the U.S. import tariffs likely rising from 10% to 15%, which Roiter notes are lower than last year. In 2025, he says tariffs weren't material to the net dollar that Spin Master paid, but he says that it was more about how the "consumer ended up showing up and how the retailer ended up buying" throughout the year. So far in 2026, he says that the toymaker hasn't seen any changes in retailer purchasing behavior from 2025, but that "the biggest question mark is does it impact the consumer and retailer purchasing." (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

0922 ET - Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel used his entire take-home compensation to buy Berkshire shares, which he plans to do every year he is CEO, he tells CNBC. Over that period of time, Abel's purchases could sum to hundreds of millions of dollars, he says. The goal is to demonstrate "absolute alignment with our shareholders," Abel says, adding that he believes in Berkshire's future opportunities. "It's a logical thing to do when you're leading the company," he says. "Our shareholders, our owners use their after-tax dollars to buy Berkshire. I'll do the same." (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)

0920 ET - Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel consulted former CEO Warren Buffett before making the decision to resume share repurchases, Abel tells CNBC. The company has had a long-standing policy of buying back stock when it believes shares' intrinsic value exceeds their market value, Abel says. That determination, as well as the decision about timing, was made in consultation with Buffett, Abel says. The company decided to disclose the resumption of the share repurchases given its recent change in leadership, but going forward, it won't be disclosed when the company is in the market to buy back shares, Abel says. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)

0918 ET - We need better and better networks to serve Africa's growing population, Helios Towers' chief financial officer, Manjit Dhillon, says in a panel at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. "By the end of the century it is going to be the most populous place on the planet. So, by 2050 there is going to be an incremental 1 billion people across that region and of those 1 billion, 800 million will be new mobile subscribers," he says. This demographic shift also means roughly 1.7 billion new mobile data devices across the region, the U.K.-based telecommunications tower company's finance chief adds. One challenge is making sure that existing towers are running as efficiently as possible. "It's a very different dynamic [compared to Europe], and the growth is phenomenal," he says. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)

0907 ET - Kroger logs better-than-expected 4Q earnings, aided by a smaller-than-anticipated last-in-first-out charge and lower-than-expected depreciation and amortization, JPMorgan analysts say in a research note. For the year ahead, though, the grocer's outlook came in below Wall Street models. However, the analysts say Kroger's identical sales outlook is probably more in-line with expectations, if not slightly better, given what seemed to be softening consumption trends in third-party data. And the EPS shortfall seems to be driven by below-the-line items, they add. The analysts are looking for more information on the earnings call, which will be Greg Foran's first as CEO. "We are interested to hear of incremental details on his strategic plans," they write. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0840 ET - Wizz Air is more exposed to higher fuel prices resulting from the conflict in the Middle East due to its 'cap and collar' hedging mechanism, RBC Capital Markets analysts write in a note. The Eastern European airline on Wednesday said it expects a 50 million-euro hit to its fiscal 2026 net profit due to the conflict. It attributed this to jet fuel prices, dollar-euro rates and the cancellation of services to the Middle East. Shares are down 9.1% at 10.02 pounds. (ian.walker@wsj.com)

0836 ET - Bitcoin is up 1.6% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The cryptocurrency has been edging lower in the past few hours after breaking the $73,000 mark, but is up roughly 7% in the past 7 days. Bitcoin ETFs recorded record inflows for the past 3 days, making it around $1.15 billion that's come into them since the start of the month, says Konstantinos Chrysikos of Kudotrade. "These flows suggest that institutional investors are selectively rebuilding exposure after months of intermittent outflows," says Chrysikos in a note. But how much room Bitcoin has to run is questionable, as the ongoing conflict in Iran creates a risk-off mentality that's feeding the U.S. dollar more than riskier assets like cryptocurrency. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

0757 ET - Canadian Natural Resources' operational performance was right down the fairway and the Canadian energy company continues to deliver as expected, Michael Barth of Raymond James says. Adjusted fund flows from operations at C$3.75 billion for 4Q was 8% ahead of the analysts forecast and 7% ahead of the consensus forecast, through Barth says that appears to have been largely driven by lower cash tax and high netbacks. Raymond James has an outperform call on the shares, which last closed in Toronto at C$60.24. In premarket trade in New York, the stock is up 1.8% at $44.97. (robb.stewart@wsj.com)

0717 ET - A more sustained weakening of the currencies of European energy importer countries would likely require the market to price a longer disruption to natural gas prices resulting from the Middle East conflict, Goldman Sachs analysts say in a note. The European natural gas market is pricing this energy price shock as more temporary compared to the rise in oil and gas prices after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, they say. This would need to shift in order to see a more prolonged depreciation of European energy importer currencies including the euro, sterling, Hungarian forint, Polish zloty and Czech koruna, they say. The forint and zloty "screen as the most vulnerable to energy price upside." (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

0714 ET - European markets reversed course from losses at the opening bell to move into the green. The moves come after reports Iran's deputy foreign minister said Tehran offered to abandon its nuclear program before the United States and Israel launched attacks against the country Saturday. The Stoxx 600 index is up 0.5% after falling 0.1% in opening trade. All major European indexes now trade higher, with the Spanish IBEX 35--up 0.8%-- leading the charge. "These comments don't actually change anything at this moment, but it does highlight how reactionary markets are to headlines right now," XTB's Kathleen Brooks says. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

0616 ET - Broadcom's guidance for strong artificial-intelligence growth show that the AI market continues to boom, Jefferies analysts write. "The party isn't quite over," the analysts said. The provider of cloud computing capacity to artificial intelligence companies including OpenAI and Anthropic posted earnings after market close Wednesday. The company's 2027 guidance for AI chip revenue of $100 billion is likely conservative, the analysts say, as they foresee revenue of over $200 billion. Expectations of rising prices per gigawatt underpin the analysts' bullish revenue view. Broadcom shares jump 7% premarket.(josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

0556 ET - Proposed new European Commission local buying rules are the biggest development for low-carbon European industries since former ECB President Mario Draghi's 2024 industrial strategy blueprint, analysts at Jefferies write. The Industrial Accelerator Act, announced Wednesday, says European manufacturers would only be able to access government contracts if they procure some materials from local providers. Policymakers hope to make European parts manufacturers more competitive against Chinese peers. The rules will likely be inflationary for components from clean technology manufacturers, the analysts say. Shares in European manufacturers continue to rise Thursday. European chip-maker STMicroelectronics gains 5.8% after rising 2.3% Wednesday, while Infineon climbs 1.4% after gaining 5.4% in the previous session. Low-carbon-steel maker ArcelorMittal nudges up 0.1% after rising 5% Wednesday. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 05, 2026 09:45 ET (14:45 GMT)

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