Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 12th March 2024

12th March 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks traded mixed following the tentative mood stateside and as participants await US CPI data. ASX 200 notched slight gains but with upside capped by a lack of macro drivers and mixed business surveys. Nikkei 225 slipped at the open after firmer-than-expected PPI data and the ongoing hawkish BoJ-related speculation, but then clawed back the majority of the losses after BoJ Governor Ueda refrained from any major hawkish commentary. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. diverged with the former boosted by continued tech strength and as property developers showed resilience including Vanke despite being cut to junk by Moody's, while the mainland was pressured by lingering headwinds including US-China frictions and economic concerns.

Alumina (AWC AT) - Entered into binding scheme implementation deed with Alcoa (AA) in which eligible Alumina shareholders will be entitled to receive 0.02584 shares in Alcoa for every Alumina share held. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.05% at 17,755.45, FTSE 100: +0.12% at 7,669.23, CAC 40: -0.10% at 8,019.73, Euro Stoxx 50: -0.63% at 4,930.65, IBEX 35: +0.19% at 10,325.70, FTSE MIB: -0.27% at 33,315.07, SMI: +0.28% at 11,680.10.

SECTORS: Healthcare 0.31%, Consumer Stpl 0.20%, Consumer Disc 0.01%, Financials -0.09%, Energy -0.20%, Utilities -0.28%, Telecoms -0.42%, Materials -0.43%, Industrials -0.75%, IT -2.68%

FTSE 100

British American Tobacco (BATS LN) - Confirms that it is evaluating a possible disposal of a small part of its shareholding in ITC by means of an on-market block trade. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Indivior (INDV LN) - Indivior announces publication demonstrating that OPVEE (nalmefene) Nasal Spray rapidly reverses effects of opioid-induced respiratory depression in the head-to-head study against Intranasal Naloxone. (Newswires)

Superdry (SDRY LN) - Confirms it is in discussions with Hilco over an increase to its lending facilities by roughly GBP 10mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Virgin Money UK (VMUK LN) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley

DAX

Mercedes-Benz (MBG GY) - The CEO is calling for the EU to cut tariffs on Chinese EV imports, to increase competition, in hopes that European carmakers will be able to produce better vehicles in the long run. (FT)

SAP (SAP GY) - Oracle (ORCL) shares rose 14.3% after-market as EPS and cloud Revenue beat while the Co. highlighted that demand for Gen2 AI infrastructure substantially exceeds supply. However, hardware revenue and services revenue missed forecasts. SAP Index Weightings: DAX 40 (9.5% - 2nd largest), Euro Stoxx 50 (4.5% - 4th largest), Stoxx 600 (1.4% - 9th largest).

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Fuchs Petrolub (FPE GY) - FY23 (EUR): Net 282mln (prev. 260mln Y/Y), EBIT 413mln (prev. 365mln Y/Y), Revenue 3.54bln (prev. 3.41bln Y/Y). Guides initial FY24 Revenue 3.6bln, EBIT 430mln (exp. 440mln). (Newswires)

Siltronic (WAF GY) - Q4 (EUR): Net 32.2mln (exp. 23mln, prev. 118.6mln Y/Y), Revenue 356.6mln (exp. 356mln, prelim. 357mln Y/Y). Guides initial FY23 Revenue and EBITDA margin "in the region of last year". Affirms FY24 EBIT significant decline. Growth targets until 2028 confirmed: Sales to rise to more than EUR 2.2bln and EBITDA margin to increase to the high 30's. Outlook: Co. expects continued weak demand for silicon wafers. Appoints Klaus Buchwald as COO, effective August 1st. (Newswires)

TAG Immobilien (TEG GY) - FY23 (EUR): FFO/shr 0.98 (exp. 0.99), Adj. EBITDA 236mln (exp. 243mln), Rental Income 350.8mln (prev. 339.9mln Y/Y), Confirms dividend payment proposal for FY23 at the next AGM be suspended. (Newswires)

Wacker Chemie (WCH GY) - FY23 (EUR): Net 327.3mln (exp. 314mln, prev. 1.28bln Y/Y), EBITDA 824mln (exp. 830mln, prev. 2.08bln Y/Y), Revenue 6.4bln (exp. 6.37bln, prev. 8.21bln Y/Y). Guides initial FY24 EBITDA 600-600mln, Revenue "at least years level." (Newswires) Shares seen -3% in pre-market trade

BROKER MOVES

GEA (G1A GY) upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at RBC

HelloFresh (HFG GY) downgraded to Sell from Buy at Baader Europe

CAC

TotalEnergies' (TTE FP) - A small crude unit and coker at the Texas refinery has been shut due to the FCC leak, according to Reuters citing sources. (Reuters)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Accor (AC FP) - Agreement between the Co. and Jinjiang International for the repurchase by Accor of 2.775 of its own shares held by Jinjiang International. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

A2A (A2A IM) - FY23 (EUR): Revenue 14.8bln (exp. 20.9bln), Net 659mln (prev. 401mln Y/Y), Div/shr 0.10 (exp. 0.09). Guides initial FY24 EBITDA 2-2.2bln. The dividend policy envisages sustainable growth of at least 3% per year. (Newswires)

Generali (G IM) - FY23 (EUR): Net 3.75bln (exp. 3.56bln), Op. 6.88bln (exp. 6.81bln), GWP 82.5bln (79.0bln Y/Y). Affirms guidance. (Newswires)

Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP IM) - ECB authorises Intesa Sanpaolo buyback for up to EUR 1.7bln. (Newswires)

OMV (OMV AV) - Announced two acquisitions to strengthen its refinery and supply chain integration; size not disclosed. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Poste Italiane (PST IM) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Intermonte

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Galencia (GALE SW) - FY23 (CHF): Adj. Net 162mln (prev. 157mln Y/Y), Adj. EBIT 191mln (prev. 191mln Y/Y), Revenue 3.75bln (prev. 3.59bln Y/Y). Guides initial FY24 EBIT +8-11%, Revenue +3-5% Y/Y. (Newswires)

Tecan (TECN SW) - FY23 (CHF): Net 132.1mln (exp. 125mln), EBITDA 207.3mln (exp. 209.2mln). Revenue 1.07bln (exp. 1.08bln). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Demant (DEMANT DC) - Targets annual revenue growth +8-10%. Strategic communications are still ongoing. Raises target annual hearing aid market growth +4-6% (prev. +2-5%). (Newswires)

Skanska (SKAB SS) - Signs new contract for data center in USA for USD 242mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.11% at 5,117, NDX -0.37% at 17,951, DJIA +0.12% at 38,769, RUT -0.81% at 2,065.

SECTORS: Real Estate -0.49%, Consumer Discretionary -0.49%, Industrials -0.53%, Technology -0.38%, Communication Services -0.23%, Health -0.05%, Financials +0.2%, Utilities +0.51%, Consumer Staples +0.58%, Energy +1%, Materials +1.13%.

Apple (AAPL) - Testing AI-powered ad products for the App Store, according to Business Insider. The tool mimics Google's (GOOGL) Performance Max and Meta's (META) Advantage+, automating ad placement. Experts said an expansion of this tool could lead to new ad placements across Apple's properties. (Newswires)

Boeing (BA) - Reportedly failed 33 of 89 audits during an examination conducted by FAA regarding the Alaska Airlines incident in January, according to NYT. (NYT)

Tesla (TSLA) Raises the price of Model Y to USD 43,990 (prev. 42,990) in the US and Model Y Long Range to USD 48,990 (prev. 47,990). (Newswires)

Oracle Corp (ORCL) - Q3 adj. EPS 1.41 (exp. 1.38), Q3 revenue USD 13.28bln (exp. 13.31bln). Q3 cloud revenue USD 5.1bln (exp. 5.06bln); cloud revenue in constant currency +24% (exp. +24.7%); Q3 cloud services and license support revenue USD 9.96bln (exp. 9.85bln); cloud license and on-premise license revenue USD 1.26bln (exp. 1.2bln); Q3 hardware revenue 0.754bln (exp. 0.769bln); Gen2 Cloud Infrastructure business Remaining Performance Obligations (RPOs) +29% to USD 80bln in Q3. Q3 service revenue 1.31bln (exp. 1.37bln). Exec said demand for Gen2 AI infrastructure substantially exceeds supply, and expects Gen2 cloud infrastructure business will remain in a hypergrowth phase up 53% in Q3 for the foreseeable future. Sees Q4 EPS between 1.62-1.66 (exp. 1.64), and sees Q4 revenue growth of +4-6% Y/Y (exp. 14.75bln); Q4 cloud revenue seen rising +22-24%. FY24 revenue seen accelerating Y/Y, and will likely be significantly higher in FY25. FY24 capex seen between USD 7-7.5bln, expects capex to be considerably higher in Q4. Sees FY25 capex above USD 10bln; is building an AI data centre in Salt Lake City; building 20 data centres for Microsoft (MSFT), with three new orders this year. Oracle said it is set to make a joint announcement with Nvidia (NVDA) in the coming week (at NVDA's GTC event), and Reuters noted that execs mentioned Nvidia at least three times during their conference call. (Oracle IR/Newswires) Shares rose 14.3% after-market

12 Mar 2024 - 06:50- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk