European markets edge lower as corporate earnings remain in focus; Novo Nordisk jumps 5.8%

Wind farm operator Orsted announced on Wednesday that it would discontinue its Hornsea 4 project, a move expected to incur costs of up to 4.5 billion Danish krone this year ($680 million).

The company cited multiple "adverse developments" that had influenced its decision to withdraw funding for the project, including rising supply chain costs, higher interest rates, and greater risks involved with completing construction within the current timeline.

"These developments have increased the execution risk and deteriorated the value creation of the project," it said in a statement on Wednesday. "Therefore, Ørsted has taken the decision to stop further spend on the project at this time and terminate the project's supply chain contracts."

Hornsea 4 would have been Orsted's fourth windfarm site in the Hornsea Zone of the North Sea, with the U.K. government awarding the company a contract last year to sell energy generated from the farm at 2012 prices. At the time, Orsted said it was targeting commissioning of the project by the end of 2030.

Wednesday also saw Orsted confirm its full-year guidance for 2025 and post an 18% year-on-year jump in operating profit. Quarterly operating profit came in at 8.87 billion Danish krone, above the 8.16 billion krone expected by analysts polled by LSEG.

Shares of Orsted were down 1.3% by 10:39 a.m. in London.

— Chloe Taylor

Regional health-care stocks led losses in Europe on Wednesday, with the Stoxx Healthcare index shedding 1.2% during early morning trade.

Medical device manufacturer Ambu was the biggest loser in the sector, with its stock falling 11.9% despite the company confirming its full-year guidance and assuring investors that it is "prepared and well-positioned to navigate" new U.S. tariffs. Ambu posted organic revenue growth of 11.7% in its fiscal second quarter, with revenue for the three months to March coming in at a worse-than-expected 1.55 billion Danish krone ($240 million).

Ambu is expecting organic revenue growth in the range of 11% to 14% this year.

At the other end of the sector index, Novo Nordisk shares were up 5% after the company posted better-than-expected first-quarter profit and cut its 2025 outlook on weaker demand for its weight loss drug Wegovy.

Regional investors are also reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement on Monday that sector-specific tariffs on pharmaceuticals would be announced within two weeks.

— Chloe Taylor

German carmaker BMW confirmed its full-year guidance on Wednesday, despite acknowledging "volatile developments" in relation to U.S. trade policy.

As it posted first-quarter revenues of 33.8 billion euros ($38.5 billion) — slightly below analyst expectations, according to LSEG data — BMW said it still expects 2025 earnings before tax to be flat from the previous year. Currency-adjusted revenues were down 8.7% from the previous year.

The company said that although vehicle deliveries fell by 1.4% year on year, its fully electric vehicles saw "significant sales growth" of 32.4% to account for a quarter of all sales.

Meanwhile, BMW's automotive EBIT margin, a key profit indicator, came in at 6.9% in the first quarter — putting it at the upper end of its 2025 target range of 5% to 7%.

The company said it expects demand to rise in many markets for the remainder of the year, while noting that permanent tariffs in the U.S. could lead to rising inflation.

However, BMW said it had already priced some of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs regime into its outlook.

"The guidance published … in March 2025 includes all tariff increases that had taken effect by 12 March 2025," it said in a news release on Wednesday. "Due to the volatile developments and ongoing negotiations, the potential impact of tariffs in the current financial year can only be estimated, based on assumptions."

The company added that it expects some U.S. tariff increases to be temporary, with reductions being rolled out from July.

"The forecast also includes mitigating measures to offset the impact of higher tariffs," BMW said of its outlook. "Given the sustained demand for its attractive premium vehicles, the BMW Group is able to confirm its guidance for the year."

— Chloe Taylor

Novo Nordisk on Wednesday reported a better-than-expected rise in first-quarter net profit but lowered its full-year sales growth forecast on weaker demand for its blockbuster Wegovy weight loss drugs amid increased competition from copycat compounders.

The Danish pharmaceutical giant's net profit came in at 29.03 billion Danish kroner ($4.4 billion) for the three-month period to the end of March, ahead of the 27.8 billion Danish kroner forecast by analysts in an LSEG poll.

Sales of the company's popular Wegovy obesity drug rose 83% annually at constant exchange rates to 17.36 billion Danish kroner, slightly below the 18.51 billion Danish kroner anticipated by analysts in a Factset poll Tuesday.

Read the full story here.

— Karen Gilchrist

TCW CEO Katie Koch expects the rockiness to return to the markets as investors continue to digest economic data.

"There will be a lot of uncertainty," she said in an interview with CNBC's Sara Eisen from the sidelines of Milken Institute Global Conference Tuesday. "This is a process and it's going to take time. We are going to continue to get a series of conflicting data points."

"We've got a lot of dry powder and we're excited for the opportunity to lean in when that happens," she added.

The path of the economy can range anywhere from a soft landing to a recession to stagflation, Koch said. At the moment, she said a recession is possible but is too difficult to predict.

In the meantime, selectivity is key across the board, she said. In equities, there are some bottom-up opportunities and in private credit, she sees an opportunity in rescue financing. Still, longer term, Koch still believes in the artificial intelligence revolution and the shortage of energy to support it.

"Do I think there is massive wealth creation opportunities in equity markets by allocating capital to AI and energy? 100%," Koch said. "I just think in the near term we've got a lot of volatility that we'll have to weave through."

— Michelle Fox

Stock futures rallied after U.S. government spokespeople said that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and top trade official Jamieson Greer would meet with their Chinese counterparts this week in Switzerland.

Investors can take this as an indicator of forthcoming developments on trade negotiations after President Donald Trump's tariff announcement last month ratcheted up volatility in the market.

— Alex Harring, Kevin Breuninger

European markets are expected to open in mixed territory Wednesday.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 6 points lower at 8,591, Germany's DAX up 40 points at 23,276, France's CAC 5 points higher at 7,696 and Italy's FTSE MIB 26 points higher at 38,018, according to data from IG.

There's another busy day of earnings ahead with Novo Nordisk, Ørsted, Pandora, Veolia, Legrand, BMW, Siemens Healthineers, Fresenius, Skanska B, JD Wetherspoon, Vonovia, Delhaize and Telecom Italia. Data releases include European retail sales.

— Holly Ellyatt