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- This Healthcare Giant’s Guidance Beat Despite Policy Pressure Sends a Clear Signal
This Healthcare Giant’s Guidance Beat Despite Policy Pressure Sends a Clear Signal
Noah Zelvis
January 21, 2026
Fresh guidance has caught investors' attention after management forecasted stronger-than-expected sales and profit for the year ahead.
The outlook suggests pricing pressure is proving manageable, reinforcing confidence in the company’s ability to deliver steady returns through policy shifts.
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Oil & Gas
A Calculated Bet in a Complicated Neighborhood
Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is quietly exploring a move that fits its long-standing playbook, entering complex geographies where scale and patience can unlock long-life energy assets.
Talks about a potential partnership with Turkey’s state-owned Turkish Petroleum Corp. would involve joint seismic studies and possible drilling in underexplored regions linked to the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean.
This is not opportunistic exploration. Chevron has consistently maintained a global portfolio that blends mature cash-generating assets with selective frontier exposure.
You are looking at a company that prefers fewer bets, but ones that can move the portfolio when they work.
Partnership Lowers the Barrier
Working alongside a national oil company reduces regulatory friction and embeds local expertise from day one.
Türkiye’s push to reduce energy imports adds political momentum behind domestic exploration, improving the odds that projects receive sustained support rather than short-lived approval.
Timing Starts to Matter
Improving U.S.-Turkey relations has created a more constructive environment for cooperation.
Ankara has already opened the door to other U.S. energy majors, signaling its intent to attract operators with deep offshore and complex-project experience. Chevron fits that profile comfortably.
You can see why Chevron moves deliberately here, weighing long-term upside against exposure.
If this progresses, Chevron is reinforcing a familiar strategy, targeted exploration, strong partnerships, and discipline in regions where energy security priorities are reshaping demand curves for decades.
CVX currently trades at $168 and pays a dividend of $6.84 per share, a yield of 4.08%
Pharmaceuticals
Pfizer Builds a Vaccine Escape Hatch
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is quietly widening its vaccine playbook by locking in access to Novavax’s Matrix-M adjuvant, adding a new layer of flexibility to future injectable vaccines.
The deal gives Pfizer optionality without surrendering control, a subtle but important distinction.
Matrix-M is not tied to a single disease or platform.
That gives Pfizer room to design vaccines around durability, population needs, and evolving science rather than forcing everything through one technological lens.
This matters to you because the vaccine strategy is no longer just about speed. It is about adaptability when conditions change mid-cycle.
Policy Risk Moves Front and Center
The U.S. vaccine environment is growing more volatile, shaped by funding shifts, political pressure, and uneven public trust.
By adding a proven adjuvant already used globally, Pfizer reduces its exposure to sudden policy swings.
Instead of betting everything on one approach, the company is spreading technical risk. That puts Pfizer in a position where regulatory noise does not derail long-term planning.
Execution Still Decides the Outcome
Adding an external adjuvant increases manufacturing and coordination complexity. Pfizer will need tight operational discipline to keep timelines intact and costs controlled.
The bigger signal is strategic. Pfizer is building a modular vaccine engine, and that puts you on notice that its future growth is designed to bend, not break, as the market keeps shifting.
PFE currently trades at $25 and pays a dividend of $1.72 per share, a yield of 6.75%.
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Consumer Staples
PepsiCo Reengineers Its Food Supply Chain From the Ground Up
PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP) is making a quiet but structural shift in how it tackles emissions, and it starts far earlier than trucks, factories, or packaging.
By expanding its partnership with Yara to deploy low-carbon fertilisers and precision nutrient systems, PepsiCo is moving upstream to the farm, where a large share of food-related emissions are actually created.
Where Emissions Really Hide
Fertiliser production and use represent one of the most stubborn sources of agricultural emissions, and nearly half of global food output depends on them.
PepsiCo is no longer treating that as someone else’s problem.
This matters to you because it shows the company redesigning inputs, not just optimizing outputs. Emissions reduction is being built into how crops are grown, not layered on afterward.
Supply Chains Get Smarter
Pairing low-carbon fertilisers with soil diagnostics and digital monitoring strengthens PepsiCo’s relationship with farmers while improving yield stability.
That reduces exposure to input volatility and weather-driven surprises.
After early success in Europe and the UK, the model is now expanding across major agricultural regions in Latin America.
That shift signals scalability across climates, crops, and regulatory systems.
You are not looking at a one-off sustainability project here. This is agriculture turning into a repeatable operating system, one that could quietly separate PepsiCo from peers as climate pressure tightens margins across the food industry.
PEP currently trades at $145 and pays a dividend of $5.69 per share, a yield of 3.92%.
Dividend Stocks Worth Watching
Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE: D) stock is lighting up after a federal judge temporarily lifted the Trump administration’s suspension of its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, allowing construction to resume on the largest offshore wind farm currently under development in the US.
The ruling clears a key regulatory hurdle for the project, which is scheduled to begin delivering power in early 2026 and is seen as critical to meeting rising electricity demand in northern Virginia, driven by data centers and AI infrastructure.
For investors, the decision reduces near-term uncertainty around a flagship energy asset while legal proceedings continue.
D pays a 67-cent quarterly dividend, yielding 4.39%.
Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: SFD) has agreed to acquire the iconic hot dog brand Nathan’s Famous, after serving as an exclusive license holder since 2014.
The deal brings one of America’s most recognizable food names under Smithfield's umbrella, expanding its presence in higher-margin branded products while complementing its existing packaged meats business.
Management positioned the acquisition as a way to leverage Smithfield's scale, distribution, and operational expertise to drive further growth for the Nathan’s brand.
By adding a well-established consumer favourite with strong pricing power, the company is aiming to support steadier earnings growth and long-term shareholder returns.
SFD pays a 25-cent quarterly dividend, yielding 4.23%.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) struck a confident tone on the year ahead after forecasting 2026 sales and profit above Wall Street expectations, even after absorbing a hit of hundreds of millions of dollars tied to a recent US drug pricing agreement.
Management said the company expects 2026 operational sales of $99.5 billion to $100.5 billion, ahead of analyst estimates, and that full-year earnings will also track slightly above consensus.
CFO Joseph Wolk said surpassing expectations despite the pricing headwind reflected strong execution across the business.
The upbeat outlook followed a fourth-quarter earnings beat, supported by strong demand for cancer and immunology treatments alongside steady performance in medical devices.
For investors, the guidance reinforced confidence in Johnson & Johnson’s earnings resilience and ability to navigate policy pressure while protecting long-term returns.
JNJ pays a $1.30 quarterly dividend with a yield of 2.38%.
Dividend Increases
FSBC has increased its dividend to 25 cents, up 25.00%. Its new yield is 2.65%.
FAST has increased its dividend to 24 cents, up 9.09%. Its new yield is 2.09%.
AMAL has increased its dividend to 17 cents, a rise of 21.4%. Its new yield is 2.01%.
MCB has lifted its dividend to 20 cents, an increase of 33.33%. Its new yield is 1.01%.
IBCP has raised its dividend to 28 cents, a growth of 7.69%. Its new yield is 3.31%.
USCB has raised its dividend to 12 cents, an increase of 25.00%. Its new yield is 2.59%.
Dividend Decreases
SCM has cut its dividend to 11 cents, a 15.00% reduction. Its new yield is 10.24%.
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Upcoming Dividend Payers
ORCL’s ex-dividend date for the forthcoming 50-cent payment is 01/23/26.
IVR’s ex-dividend date for the forthcoming 36-cent payment is 01/23/26.
GE’s ex-dividend date for the forthcoming 36-cent payment is 01/26/26.
BGS’s ex-dividend date for the forthcoming 19-cent payment is 01/26/26.
Everything Else
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has told the World Economic Forum in Davos that energy costs will determine who wins the AI race.
Disney topped the box office in the USA and Canada in 2025, according to Comcast data, with $2.49 billion in ticket sales. It could surpass that figure this year, with a series of new releases including the first Star Wars movie in seven years, a new Moana, and Toy Story 5.
Charles Schwab has reported a 34% increase in quarterly profits. The step forward comes from increased brokerage activity and net interest revenue.
Abbott Laboratories has secured CE Mark approval for its TactiFlex Ablation Catheter, strengthening its position in the fast-growing European market for cardiac rhythm management devices.
That’s all for today’s edition of the Dividend Brief.
Thanks for reading, and if you have any feedback or dividend stocks you want me to take a look at, just reply to this email!
—Noah Zelvis
DividendBrief.com