Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 14th January 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks traded mixed following the similar performance stateside where price action was choppy as most indices attempted to nurse post-NFP losses although the Nasdaq remained pressured on tech weakness, while Japanese stocks were heavily pressured on return from the long weekend. ASX 200 gained with outperformance in the commodity-related sectors but with the upside capped after weak consumer confidence data. Nikkei 225 slumped as it took its first opportunity to react to the post-NFP higher yield environment and last week's source reports of the BoJ mulling a rate decision for its meeting next week, while comments from BoJ Deputy Governor Himino also suggested the upcoming meeting is live. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp outperformed despite the recent announcement by US and allies of new controls on AI chips, with participants awaiting the PBoC and FX regulator's looming briefing on financial support for the economy, while there was also a report that the Trump team is studying gradual month-by-month tariff hikes of 2%-5%.

Nippon Steel (5401 JT) - Co. says it remains the only partner for US Steel (X) that can keep the company intact and blast furnaces running and protect jobs. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX -0.38% at 20,137, FTSE 100 -0.29% at 8,224, CAC 40 -0.30% at 7,409, Euro Stoxx 50 -0.50% at 4,952, AEX -0.56% at 885, IBEX 35 -0.28% at 11,688, FTSE MIB -0.83% at 34,799, SMI -0.59% at 11,723.

SECTORS: Energy 1.28%, Telecoms 0.23%, Materials 0.06%, Utilities -0.03%, Financials -0.26%, Consumer Stpl -0.50%, Consumer Disc -0.72%, Industrials -0.90%, IT -1.25%, Healthcare -1.31%

FTSE 100

British American Tobacco (BATS LN) - Holder Reinet offers to sell 43.3mln shares, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

GSK (GSK LN) - GSK CEO said she is optimistic about future deals as the company focuses on cancer medicines. Following the announcement of a USD 1.15bln agreement with cancer biotech IDRx, she hinted at more deals to come in 2025. (Bloomberg)

Hikma (HIK LN) – Fresenius Kabi USA’s Dacarbazine injection, 10 MG/1 now available. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Carnival (CCL LN) – Announced repricing of senior secured first lien term loan B facilities; exp. to save USD 18mln annually in interest expenses. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Land (LAND LN) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Kempen

Informa (INF LN) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Wise (WISE LN) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley

DAX

Bayer AG (BAYN GY) - Bayer head of pharmaceuticals Stefan Oelrich said it will scale back its pharmaceutical dealmaking to focus on reducing its EUR 38bln debt, primarily stemming from its EUR 63bln acquisition of Monsanto. The company aims to rely on its existing drug pipeline for future growth. (Newswires)

Daimler Truck Holding (DTG GY) - Amazon (AMZN) has ordered 200 Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 electric trucks from Daimler for the UK and Germany, marking its largest electric truck purchase. Deployment begins in 2025 to support Amazon's net-zero carbon goals by 2040. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Nordex (NDX1 GY) – Co. received orders for 638 MW from Turkey. (Newswires)

Suedzucker (SZU GY) – 9M (EUR): EBITDA 502mln (prev. 1.12bln Y/Y), Revenue 7.46bln (prev. 7.77bln Y/Y). Affirms FY25 EBITDA guidance; to be in a 550-650mln range (prev. 1.31bln Y/Y). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Mercedes Benz (MBG GY) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs

CAC

Renault (RNO FP) – Signed a framework agreement to develop fast-charging infrastructure in Italy. (Newswires)

Safran (SAF FP) – Mexico plans to develop a capacity to fully assemble Safran Motors locally. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Vivendi (VIV FP) – Italian Court is expected to decide this week on a request made by Vivendi to revoke Telecom Italia’s decision to sell its landline grid to KKR, via Reuters citing sources. (Reuters)

BROKER MOVES

Safran (SAF FP) upgraded to Buy from hold at Jefferies

Technip Energies (TE FP) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Worldline (WLN FP) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley

PAN EUROPE

Auto Stocks - China's electric car boom is expected to slow down this year, according to CNBC. (CNBC)

Brunello Cucinelli (BCU IM) - FY24 (EUR): Revenue 1.28bln (exp. 1.27bln); confirms 2025 and 2026 revenue guidance at 10%. (Newswires)

European Stocks - US President-elect Trump's team studies month-by-month tariff hikes of 2%-5%, although Trump still hasn’t reviewed or approved the gradual tariff idea, according to Bloomberg. Bessent, Hassett, Miran are discussing gradual tariffs. (Bloomberg)

OMV (OMV AV) – Q4: Refining indicator margin Europe in USD/bbl at 5.90. Average realized crude oil price in USD/bbl at 72.6. (Newswires)

Philips (PHG NA) CEO expects subdued demand in China this year and he eventually expects China to account for roughly 10% of Co. revenue, down from over 13%. (Newswires)

Telefonica (TEF SM) – Executed an amendment to the syndicated facility agreement, composed of a 5yr single tranche revolving credit facility in an agreement amount of up to EUR 5.5bln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

ASML (ASML NA) – PT raised to EUR 642 (prev. 572) at HSBC

BE Semiconductor (BESI NA) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel

Moncler (MONC IM) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays

Pirelli (PIRC IM) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

SMI

Roche (ROGN SW) - Pharmaceuticals Chief Graham says Roche has about USD 10bln for deals each year, the 2026 pipeline is to look materially different. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Clariant (CLN SW) says it is among four companies served with a claim from BASF (BAS GY) and it rejects the allegations, noting the BASF claim alleges damages amounting to EUR 1.4bln. (Newswires)

Galderma (GALD SW) - Galderma premieres positive interim results demonstrating the efficacy of its injectable aesthetics portfolio in addressing facial volume loss as a result of medication-driven weight loss. (Galderma)

Lindt (LISN SW) – FY (CHF): Revenue 5.47bln (exp. 5.49bln). Organic Total Revenue (Y/Y) +7.8% (exp. +7.4%), European 9.5%, NA 5.0%. 2024 outlook: Confident that it will achieve an op. profit margin EBIT of at least 16% (prev. 15.6% Y/Y). 2025: Expects increased organic growth of 7-9% in 2025 and an improved. op. profit margin of 20-40bps. (Newswires)

Temenos (TEMN SW) - Q4 adj. EBIT margin 37.6%, FY24 ARR +12% to USD 804mln (vs guidance of +11-12%), total software licensing growth of 10% in Q4 24 (vs guidance of 0-10%) and 2% in FY24 (vs flattish growth guidance). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.16% at 5,836, NDX -0.30% at 20,785, DJI +0.86% at 42,297, RUT +0.24% at 2,194

SECTORS: Energy +2.25%, Materials +2.21%, Health +1.27%, Real Estate +1.25%, Industrials +1.16%, Financials +0.69%, Consumer Discretionary +0.48%, Consumer Staples -0.06%, Communication Services -0.48%, Technology -0.87%, Utilities -1.19%.

Chip Names - NVIDIA (NVDA): Reports in Taiwanese media, cited by analysts, indicate that the GB200 shipment schedule continues to be delayed, and Q1 shipment volumes are likely to fall short of market expectations. Additionally, the analysts citing press indicate the yield rate for B200 chips is 90-95%, which still does not meet TSMC’s (TSM) internal standards. (X) Reminder, follows a report in The Information on Monday that top-customers are delaying Blackwell racks due to overheating issues

Eisai (ESAIY), Biogen (BIIB) - Eisai and Biogen announced the FDA's acceptance of their Biologics License Application for LEQEMBI subcutaneous autoinjector, targeting early Alzheimer’s. A Prescription Drug User Fee Act decision is expected by August 31st.

LA Wildfires - Wildfires in Los Angeles could cause up to USD 30bln in insurance losses, according to analysts from Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs. The damage surpasses previous estimates, where the likes of JPMorgan predicted costs of up to USD 20bln. (Newswires)

Nvidia (NVDA) - CEO Huang will begin China and Taiwan tour this week. (Newswires)

US Tech - EU reassesses its tech probes into Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG) and Meta (META) just as US groups urge President-elect Trump to intervene against 'overzealous' EU enforcement, according to FT. (FT)

Zinc - Production at two Australian zinc mines, MMG Ltd.'s Dugald River mine and Zhongjin Lingnan's operation, has been temporarily halted due to separate bushfires, Bloomberg reports. MMG expects minimal impact on full-year production. (Bloomberg)

14 Jan 2025 - 06:55- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk