Sergio Ermotti, CEO of UBS, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 20th, 2026.<\/p>\n
Oscar Molina | CNBC<\/p>\n
UBS<\/a> fourth-quarter profit<\/a> rose 56% year on year to $1.2 billion, beating expectations. The Swiss bank on Wednesday also announced plans for a $3 billion share buyback in 2026 \u2014 but said it aims to exceed that target. <\/p>\n Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk<\/a>, however, disappointed investors when it said Tuesday it expects sales and profit growth dropping this year<\/a>. Following the surprise release \u2014 Novo was scheduled to announce results on Wednesday \u2014 Novo’s American depository shares fell more than 14%.<\/p>\n “In 2026, Novo Nordisk will face pricing headwinds in an increasingly competitive market,” said CEO Mike Doustdar.<\/p>\n However, he expects to see tailwinds long term. Novo recently launched Wegovy in pill form, and a higher dose of its original injection form<\/a> was approved by U.K. regulators. Doustdar added that the company is always looking at potential M&A opportunities.<\/p>\n Major U.S. indexes had a bad day as well. On Tuesday, the S&P 500<\/a> lost 0.84% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a> ended 0.34% lower \u2014 despite rising as much as 0.5% earlier in the session to touch a new record. <\/p>\n The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite<\/a> slumped 1.43%, weighed by software stocks, such as ServiceNow<\/a> and Salesforce<\/a>, with both tumbling nearly 7% \u2014 investors appear to be factoring in that artificial intelligence could diminish the value of those companies. Asian software firms likewise fell<\/a> on Wednesday, with Japanese names leading losses in the region.<\/p>\n Asset firms with significant private credit market holdings,<\/a> such as Blue Owl<\/a>, Ares Management<\/a> and KKR<\/a>, also sank on Tuesday stateside. The software industry makes up around 20% of private loans from direct lenders, according to iCapital<\/a>, an alternative investment company. <\/p>\n There was at least one positive development overnight. U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law a bill to fund the federal government<\/a>, which had been on a brief shutdown since Saturday morning. <\/p>\n \u2014 CNBC’s Hugh Leask and Elsa Ohlen contributed to this report.<\/p>\n What you need to know today<\/p>\n Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang denies rumors about a rift with OpenAI, telling CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Tuesday that there’s “no drama involved.<\/a>” Over the past weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia’s $100 billion deal to invest in OpenAI was “on ice<\/a>.”<\/p>\n The xAI and SpaceX merger is the biggest of all time, with the deal valuing the combined company at $1.25 trillion<\/a>. That’s just 26% below Tesla’s current market capitalization, which means Elon Musk now derives more of his net worth from SpaceX<\/a> than from Tesla.<\/p>\n Stephen Miran resigns from his White House post as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, CNBC confirmed. He had been on leave from this post<\/a> since September 2025 \u2014 when he became a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.<\/p>\n U.S. software and asset management stocks slump, driving major indexes<\/a> lower on Tuesday. Asia-Pacific markets bucked the trend and mostly rose Wednesday<\/a> even as software stocks in the region also declined. Spot gold<\/a> prices continued climbing and broke the $5,000 level.<\/p>\n [PRO] JPMorgan’s list of favorite stocks for February adds an industrial real estate owner<\/a> but removes some retailers. The Wall Street bank’s analyst focus list looks at growth, income, value and short investment strategies.\u00a0<\/p>\n