{"id":61346,"date":"2026-04-28T01:38:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T05:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-markets-novartis-and-air-liquide-miss-estimates-as-deepseek-ignites-ai-price-war\/61346\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T01:38:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T05:38:34","slug":"global-markets-novartis-and-air-liquide-miss-estimates-as-deepseek-ignites-ai-price-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-markets-novartis-and-air-liquide-miss-estimates-as-deepseek-ignites-ai-price-war\/61346\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Markets: Novartis and Air Liquide Miss Estimates as DeepSeek Ignites AI Price War"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Novartis (<a href=\"\/stock\/NOVN\">NOVN<\/a>) and Air Liquide (<a href=\"\/stock\/AI\">AI<\/a>) both missed Q1 revenue and earnings estimates<\/strong>, pressured by generic drug competition and softer industrial demand.<\/li>\n<li><strong>China\u2019s DeepSeek launched its V4 AI model with pricing 97% below OpenAI\u2019s GPT-5.5<\/strong>, potentially triggering a massive global price war in the foundational model market.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Trump administration is weighing a $500 million bailout or federal acquisition of Spirit Airlines (<a href=\"\/stock\/SAVE\">SAVE<\/a>)<\/strong>, a move supported by major creditors to avoid liquidation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>China\u2019s regulatory block of Meta\u2019s (<a href=\"\/stock\/META\">META<\/a>) $2 billion acquisition of Manus<\/strong> has sent shockwaves through the venture capital community, signaling a new era of cross-border tech protectionism.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Thailand slashed its 2026 GDP growth forecast to 1.6%<\/strong>, down from 2.0%, as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East drives up energy costs and suppresses regional tourism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>European Giants Face Q1 Headwinds<\/h2>\n<p>Major European blue chips reported a sluggish start to the year on Tuesday. Novartis (<a href=\"\/stock\/NOVN\">NOVN<\/a>) saw its <strong>Q1 net sales fall to $13.11 billion<\/strong>, missing the estimated <strong>$13.36 billion<\/strong>, while <strong>core EPS of $1.99<\/strong> came in below the <strong>$2.10<\/strong> consensus. The pharmaceutical giant attributed the miss to <em>significant &quot;U.S. generic erosion&quot;<\/em> following the patent loss of blockbuster treatments like Entresto. Consequently, the company expects <strong>core operating income to decline by a low single-digit percentage<\/strong> for the full year.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, French industrial gas leader Air Liquide (<a href=\"\/stock\/AI\">AI<\/a>) reported <strong>Q1 revenue of \u20ac6.79 billion<\/strong>, missing the <strong>\u20ac6.92 billion<\/strong> target. While <strong>comparable sales grew 1.9%<\/strong>, this was softer than the <strong>2.3%<\/strong> analysts had anticipated. The company\u2019s <strong>Gas &amp; Services division recorded \u20ac6.60 billion in revenue<\/strong>, also falling short of the <strong>\u20ac6.72 billion<\/strong> estimate, reflecting a <em>broader slowdown in global industrial activity<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2>AI Price Wars and Regulatory Friction<\/h2>\n<p>The artificial intelligence sector is bracing for extreme margin pressure after China&#39;s <strong>DeepSeek<\/strong> priced its new <strong>V4 AI model at 97% below OpenAI\u2019s GPT-5.5<\/strong>. With input costs as low as <strong>$0.0036 per million tokens<\/strong>, DeepSeek\u2019s aggressive strategy <em>undercuts every major U.S. rival<\/em>, including Google (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>) and Anthropic. This development comes as Google faces internal turmoil, with roughly <strong>600 employees signing a letter of protest<\/strong> after the company reportedly secured a <strong>classified AI contract with the Pentagon<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Geopolitical tensions are further complicating the tech landscape. China\u2019s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) officially <strong>blocked Meta\u2019s (<a href=\"\/stock\/META\">META<\/a>) $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus<\/strong>. Regulators cited concerns over the <em>transfer of advanced technology and intellectual property<\/em> to a foreign rival. Investors and entrepreneurs noted that the move <em>effectively kills the &quot;Singapore-washing&quot; model<\/em>, where Chinese firms relocate to Singapore to avoid regulatory scrutiny.<\/p>\n<h2>Spirit Airlines Bailout and Macro Shifts<\/h2>\n<p>In the aviation sector, Spirit Airlines (<a href=\"\/stock\/SAVE\">SAVE<\/a>) creditors have signaled support for a <strong>Trump administration bailout plan<\/strong>. The proposal includes a <strong>$500 million financing package<\/strong> that could lead to a <strong>taxpayer-funded takeover<\/strong> of the carrier. President Trump stated the intent would be to <em>stabilize the airline and resell it for a profit<\/em> once jet fuel prices subside. The carrier has struggled significantly as the war in the Middle East continues to drive up operational costs.<\/p>\n<p>Macroeconomic forecasts across Asia are also being revised downward. <strong>Thailand\u2019s finance ministry cut its 2026 growth outlook to 1.6%<\/strong>, citing the <em>severe impact of regional conflict on energy imports and tourism<\/em>. Conversely, Indonesia is taking steps to support its domestic industry by <strong>reducing import tariffs on naphtha to zero<\/strong>. In the real estate sector, <strong>Hong Kong home prices rose in March<\/strong> even as rents peaked for a fifth consecutive month, suggesting a <em>resilient but increasingly expensive<\/em> property market.<\/p>\n<h2>Analyst Ratings and Target Adjustments<\/h2>\n<p>Equity analysts were active on Tuesday with several high-profile rating changes. <strong>Citigroup downgraded J Sainsbury (<a href=\"\/stock\/SBRY\">SBRY<\/a>) to Neutral<\/strong> and slashed its price target to <strong>335p from 377p<\/strong>, while <strong>Jefferies raised its target for rival Tesco (<a href=\"\/stock\/TSCO\">TSCO<\/a>) to 460p<\/strong>. In the tech and energy sectors, <strong>Jefferies lifted Rambus (<a href=\"\/stock\/RMBS\">RMBS<\/a>) to a $145 target<\/strong>, and <strong>Peel Hunt surged its Volex (<a href=\"\/stock\/VLX\">VLX<\/a>) target to 750p<\/strong>. However, <strong>ARC Resources (<a href=\"\/stock\/ARX\">ARX<\/a>) was downgraded to &quot;Tender&quot;<\/strong> by ATB Cormark, reflecting <em>cautious sentiment in the Canadian energy space<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Novartis (NOVN) and Air Liquide (AI) both missed Q1 revenue and earnings estimates, pressured by generic drug competition [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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