Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 15th August 2024

15th August 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks shrugged off the mixed lead from the US and gained as participants digested a slew of key data. ASX 200 traded higher but with gains capped as participants digested earnings releases and jobs data. Nikkei 225 was among the biggest gainers after GDP data topped forecasts and showed a return to growth. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. gradually advanced in the aftermath of mixed Chinese activity data in which industrial production disappointed but retail sales topped forecasts, while Chinese indices were also unfazed by the steeper contraction in home prices. Furthermore, the PBoC delayed its MLF operation to later in the month but announced a firm liquidity injection via 7-day reverse repos which is meant to counteract maturing MLF loans, tax payments and government bond issuance.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.38% at 17,879, FTSE 100: +0.56% at 8,281, CAC 40: +0.79% at 7,333, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.67% at 4,727, AEX: +0.15% at 890, IBEX 35: +0.27% at 10,753, FTSE MIB: +1.00% at 32,328, SMI: +1.21% at 12,073, PSI: +0.35% at 6,612.

SECTORS: Consumer Disc 1.34%, Financials 0.76%, Industrials 0.68%, IT 0.68%, Telecoms 0.64%, Consumer Stpl 0.25%, Energy 0.13%, Healthcare 0.10%, Materials -0.34%, Utilities -0.52%

FTSE 100

Barclays (BARC LN) - Co. planned to pull out of Israel's bond auction, with the Co. put under pressure by pro-Palestinian activists. (FT)

Ex-Dividends - Pershing Square Holdings (PSH LN), Anglo American (AAL LN), HSBC (HSBA LN), Rio Tinto (RIO LN), GSK (GSK LN), Shell (SHEL LN), Barclays (BARC LN), London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG LN), Haleon (HLN LN), Entain (ENT LN), Hikma (HIK LN) will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend payout. (Newswires)

easyJet (EZJ LN) - Co. has cancelled more than 200 flights to and from Portugal due to a cabin crew strike. (Newswires)

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Co. and the Queensland government enter a partnership to support Gladstone's Boyne smelters. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Encavis (ECV GY) - H1 (EUR): Op. EBITDA 126.1mln (prev. 151.6mln Y/Y), Revenue 205mln (prev. 226.3mln Y/Y). Coming months will show whether risks of an adjustment to guidance for FY24 increase or decrease. Currently expects only slight decreases in key op. metrics in 2024 and confirms op. guidance. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

DWS (DWS GY) - Co. has unveiled a synthetic ETF fund which trades in Chinese mid-cap stocks. (FT)

Metro (B4B GY) - Q3 24 (EUR): Sales 7.98bln (exp. 7.65bln, prev. 7.64bln Y/Y), Adj. EBITDA 327mln (exp. 317mln, prev. 332mln Y/Y), Net income to share holders at 15mln (prev. 174mln). Confirms FY24 outlook with slight adjustment for Russia segment over volatility and inflation. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

FTSE MIB - Italy's FTSE MIB will be closed on account of the Assumption Day holiday.

Mining / BHP (BHP AT) - Co. and the striking union at the Escondida copper mine in Chile failed to resume formal negotiations although operations continue under contingency plans. Furthermore, BHP said it asked the union to suspend the strike temporarily to resume dialogue although the union declined. (Newswires/BHP)

NN (NN NA) - H1 (EUR): FCF 899mln, +8% Y/Y. Committed to annual share buyback of EUR 300mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Geberit (GEBN SW) - H1 (CHF): Net Sales 1.63bln, -1.4% Y/Y, EBITDA margin 31.6%, -10bps Y/Y. For 20224: Expects net sales in local currencies to be at prior-year level. (Newswires)

Roche (ROG SW) - In 2018 the Co. turned down a potential USD 14bln/year weight-loss drug which is now under development by Eli Lilly (LLY), via FT citing sources/filings; drug was known as Owl-833 and is now labelled orforglipron. (FT)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

DNO (DNO NO) - Q2 (USD): Net Income 137mln (exp. -5mln), EBIT -3mln (exp. 31mln). Hikes dividend to NOK 0.3125/shr, +25% from prior distribution. (Newswires)

Demant (DEMANT DC) - Q2 (DKK): Revenue 5.6bln (exp. 5.4bln). Outlook 2024: Organic Growth 2-4%. Share buyback of 2.3bln (prev. guided "more than 2bln". (Newswires)

Equinor (EQNR NO) - Co. and Dominion (D) are winners of offshore wind leases in Central Atlantic; Equinor winning offshore wind lease bid was USD 75mln, and Dominon's (D) was USD 17.7mln, via US Interior Dept. (Newswires)

Fingerprint Cards (FINGB SS) - Q2 (SEK): Revenue 112.3mln (prev. 203.3mln), EBITDA -2.4mln (prev. 57.7mln Y/Y). Decrease in mobile rev. in Q2 will continue into next quarters. (Newswires)

Kojamo (KOJAMO FH) - Q2 (EUR): Net Rental Income 82.1mln (prev. 79mln Y/Y). Reiterated FY outlook. (Newswires)

Vestas Wind Systems (VWS DC) - Co. successfully developed Lotus Creek Wind Farm in Australia and secured 285MW order from CS energy. (Newswires)

Veidekke (VEI NO) - Q2 (NOK): Revenue 10.8bln (exp. 10.46bln), EPS 2.7 (exp. 3.46). Expects activity levels to remain high. Does not expect any change in short-term outlook. (Newswires)

Zealand Pharma (ZEAL DC) - H1 (DKK): Revenue 49.2mln (prev. 24mln Y/Y), Op. Result 523.5mln (prev. 364mln Y/Y). FY guidance: Sees net op. expenses 1.25-1.25bln (prev. guided 1.1-1.2bln). In H2, expects to initiate Phase 2b program with Petrelintide in people with overweight or obesity. On Dapiglutide: expects topline results from an additional cohort (Part 2 of Phase 1b trial) evaluating higher doses in H1-25. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.38% at 5,455, NDX +0.09% at 19,023, DJIA +0.61% at 40,008, RUT -0.52% at 2,084

SECTORS: Communication Services -0.9%, Consumer Discretionary -0.4%, Utilities -0.1%, Materials flat, Real Estate +0.4%, Industrials +0.4%, Consumer Staples +0.5%, Health +0.5%, Technology +0.6%, Energy +0.7%, Financials +1.3%.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) - Cisco's stock price rose 5.6% in afterhours trading after top- and bottom-line beats, and news it would cut 7% of its workforce. Q4 adj. EPS 0.87 (exp. 0.85), Q4 revenue USD 13.60bln (exp. 13.54bln). Exec said the period of customer inventory digestion is now largely done, and it saw steady demand in the latest quarter despite persistent macro uncertainty. It crossed USD 1bln in AI orders and expects an additional USD 1bln of AI product orders in FY25. Estimates it will recognise pre-tax charges of up to USD 1bln on workforce reductions; estimates 700-800mln of this will be recognised in Q1. Sees Q1 adj. EPS between 0.86-0.88 (exp. 0.85), and sees Q1 revenue between USD 13.65bln-13.85bln (exp. 13.71bln). For the FY, sees FY25 adj. EPS between 3.52-3.58 (exp. 3.55), and FY25 revenue between USD 55bln-56.2bln (exp. 55.67bln). (Newswires)

Intel (INTC), SoftBank (SFTBY), TSMC (TSM) - SoftBank held talks with Intel to produce an AI chip rivalling Nvidia, but talks failed due Intel struggling to meet the Japanese group’s requirement, FT reports. The talks with Intel failed in recent months, and came before its announcement of cost-cutting plans in early August. SoftBank is now focusing on discussions with the world’s largest contract chipmaker TSMC, the report adds. (FT)

15 Aug 2024 - 06:53- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk