Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 16th February 2024

16th February 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks sustained the positive momentum from Wall St where yields softened after the US data deluge. ASX 200 was led higher by the mining sector but with the upside capped as large insurers faltered post-earnings. Nikkei 225 rallied and briefly approached within 100 points of its record high before reversing some of the gains. Hang Seng climbed back above the 16,000 level with notable gains in biopharmaceuticals and property with the latter underpinned after a court dismissed liquidation petitions against Chinese developer Logan Group.

Chinese Housing - Liquidation petitions against Chinese developer Logan Group (3380 HK) have reportedly failed, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.60% at 17,046.69, FTSE 100: +0.38% at 7,597.53, CAC 40: +0.86% at 7,743.42, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.73% at 4,743.55, IBEX 35: +0.11% at 9,927.30, FTSE MIB: +1.17% at 31,694.44, SMI: +0.61% at 11,281.80.

SECTORS: Consumer Disc 1.40%, Materials 0.96%, Industrials 0.93%, Consumer Stpl 0.75%, Utilities 0.71%, Financials 0.68%, Telecoms 0.56%, Healthcare 0.41%, IT 0.34%, Energy -1.13%

FTSE 100

Barclays (BARC LN) – Co’s payment business has reportedly attracted the interest of PE firms including CVC and Brookfield Asset Management, who are said to be looking for a majority stake in the unit, according to Bloomberg sources. The division could be worth some GBP 1bln, albeit “lower than previously reported”, according to sources. Sources added that the deal could impact Barclays’ revenues from the unit in the future. (Bloomberg)

Vodafone (VOD LN), Iliad, Wind Tre, Sky (CMCSA) - And Fastweb says planned Telecom Italia (TIT IM) network asset split should avoid effectively reinforcing former phone monopoly's dominant position, according to Reuters citing a letter to the government. Telecom Italia competitors are concerned about the risk of its service operations and future network units could maintain strong vertical mutual dependence. Competitors flag risk of worsening infrastructural competition if new network wholesale company would not effectively offer "dark fibre". (Reuters)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Tate & Lyle (TATE LN) - Partners with Cyrptobiotix on new ex-vivo study on low and no-calorie sweeteners finds positive impact or no impact on human gut microbiota. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Merck (MRK GY) - Unit EMD SERONO INC receives US FDA NDA supplement approval for TEPMETKO for metastatic non-small lung cancer. (Newswires)

Volkswagen (VOW3 GY) - Mahindra & Mahindra (MM IS) and Co. signed a supply agreement in which the Indian automaker will equip a certain range of its electric platform Inglo with electric components from Volkswagen. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Hella (HLE GY) - FY (EUR): Sales 8bln (exp. 7.76bln), Operating Income 486mln (exp. 536mln), Orders 11bln. Forecasts a slight improvement in 2024 in a challenging market environment. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Sanofi (SAN FP) - Japan approves Dupixent for CSU, based primarily on results from a Phase 3 trial. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Casino (CO FP) - Files for Chapter 15 protection from creditors in US bankruptcy court, via Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

Covivo (COV FP) - FY23 (EUR): Group Revenue 648mln (prev. 633mln Y/Y), ERPA Earnings 435mln. Proposes dividend of EUR 3.3/shr. Guides initial FY24 ERPA earnings EUR 440mln Y/Y. (Newswires)

Eutelsat (ETL FP) - H1 (EUR): Revenue 573mln (exp. 549mln), Net +51.9mln (prev. 191.3mln Y/Y). Provides update on OneWeb integration and cuts FY25-30 average capex EUR 600-700mln/yr (prev. guidance 725-875mln/yr). (Newswires)

Euronext (ENX FP) - FY23 (EUR): Adj. EPS 5.51 (exp. 5.79, prev. 5.21 Y/Y), Adj. EBITDA 864.7mln (exp. 938mln, prev. 861.6mln Y/Y), Revenue 1.47bln (exp. 1.56bln, prev. 1.42bln Y/Y). Adj. EBITDA 58.6% (exp. 56.6%). (Newswires)

Orpea (ORP FP) - FY (EUR): Revenue 5.19bln (exp. 4.9bln), EBITDA 200mln (exp. 797mln). End-2023 liquidity position of 935mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Chip Names - Applied Materials (AMAT) shares rose 12% post-earnings after topping expectations across the board whilst the outlook was constructive. Co. CEO said the DRAM market is strengthening and expects NAND revenues to be up Y/Y.

Defense Names - EU Commission Chief von der Leyen calls on the EU to subsidise defence production, "we have to spend more", according to an FT interview. (FT)

Delivery Names - DoorDash Inc (DASH) shares fell 6.8% post-earnings after EPS missed expectations, although Orders and Revenue beat estimates.

Gambling Names - DraftKings Inc (DKNG) shares fell 3.3% post-earnings after missing on EPS, Net Income, and Revenue expectations, although Monthly Unique Payers topped forecasts and guidance was upgraded.

Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP) - Co. said the estimates that US labour costs will rise by USD 1bln are "way too high. (Newswires) "

Telecom Italia (TIT IM) - Competitors have sent a letter to Italy government about concerns about eroding infrastructure competition if a potential new network wholesale company does not offer dark fibre, via Reuters. (Reuters)

Umicore (UMI BB) - FY23 (EUR): Adj. EBIT 674mln (exp. 687mln), Revenue 3.9bln (exp. 4.13bln). Proposes gross annual dividend for 2023 of 0.80/shr, of which 0.55/shr is to be paid in May 2024. Guides initial FY24 Adj. EBITDA 900-950mln, Battery Materials Revenue 575-675mln. (Newswires)

Unipol Gruppo (UNI IM) - Begun its merger project for Unipol Group and Unipol Sai, which will be known as Unipol Assicurazioni post-merger. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

ABB (ABBN SW) - To acquire SEAM Group, terms undisclosed. (Newswires)

DKSH (DKSH SW) - FY23 (CHF): Adj. Net 206mln (exp. 218mln, prev. 208mln Y/Y), Core EBIT 330mln (prev. 319mln), Revenue 11.1bln (exp. 11.1bln). Guides initial FY24 Core EBIT "higher Y/Y". (Newswires)

Swiss Re (SREN SW) - FY23 (USD): Net 3.21bln (exp. 3.23bln, prev. 472mln Y/Y), Net premiums earned 45.0bln (prev. 43.1bln Y/Y). Raises annual dividend to 6.80/shr (prev.6.40/shr). Affirms guidance. (Newswires)

Sika (SIKA SW) - FY23 (CHF): Net 1.06bln (exp. 1.32bln, prev. 1.16bln Y/Y), EBIT 1.55bln (exp. 1.59bln), Adj. EBIT 1.68bln (exp. 1.89bln, prev. 1.49bln Y/Y), Revenue 11.2bln (exp. 12.1bln, prelim. 11.3bln). (Newswires) Guides for FY24 Revenue +6-9%. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

Huthamaki (HUH1V FH) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.58% at 5,029, NDX +0.21% at 17,845, DJIA +0.91% at 38,773, RUT +2.45% at 2,061.

SECTORS: Energy +2.48%, Real Estate +2.36%, Materials +1.88%, Financials +1.66%, Utilities +1.54%, Consumer Discretionary +0.88%, Health +0.7%, Industrials +0.69%, Consumer Staples +0.54%, Communication Services +0.08%, Technology -0.44%.

Apple (AAPL) - Readies AI tool to rival Microsoft's (MSFT) Github copilot, according to Bloomberg; also looking to use AI to generate code for testing apps. (Bloomberg)

Applied Materials (AMAT) - Q1 2024 (USD): Adj. EPS 2.13 (exp. 1.91), Revenue 6.71bln (exp. 6.48bln). Sees Q2 Adj. EPS USD 1.79-2.15 (exp. 1.80). Sees Q2 rev. USD 6.5bln (exp. 5.92bln). CEO says there is a reacceleration in capital investment by cloud companies; memory investment levels are normalising; fab utilisation is increasing across all device types. The DRAM market is strengthening. Sees leading-edge foundry logic being stronger Y/Y in 2024 even though some important projects are delayed. Expect NAND revenues to be up Y/Y but NAND to remain less than 10% of total wafer fab equipment spending. CFO says expect the equipment market to grow as fast or faster than semiconductors over time. (Newswires) Shares rose 12% after hours

Coinbase Global Inc (COIN) - Q4 2023 (USD): EPS 1.04 (exp. -0.01), Revenue 953.8mln (exp. 826.3mln). Q1 subscription and services revenue view USD 410-480mln (exp. 367.3mln). (Newswires) Shares rose 14.3% after hours

Streaming Names - Disney (DIS)-Fox (FOXA)-Warner Bros (WBD) streaming deal faces DOJ antitrust review, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

DoorDash Inc (DASH) - Q4 2023 (USD): EPS -0.39 (exp. -0.16), Revenue 2.3bln (exp. 2.24bln). FY gross order value view 74-78bln (exp. 76.54bln). FY adj. EBITDA 1.5-1.9bln (exp. 1.62bln). Q1 EBITDA view 320-380mln (exp. 360.3mln). Q1 Marketplace gross order value 18.5-18.9bln (exp. 18.57bln). (DoorDash IR) Shares fell 6.8% after hours

DraftKings Inc (DKNG) - Q4 2023 (USD): EPS -0.10 (exp. 0.08), Net income -44.6mln (exp. profit 39.7mln), Revenue 1.23bln (exp. 1.24bln). Monthly Unique Payers 3.5mln (exp. 3.44mln). Average revenue per monthly unique payer 116 (exp. 119.79). FY24 revenue view 4.65-4.9bln (prev. 4.5-4.8bln). FY24 adj. EBITDA view 410-510mln (prev. 350-450mln). DraftKings to acquire Jackpocket for USD 750mln. (DraftKings IR) Shares fell 3.3% after hours.

Nike (NKE) - Co. is to cut 1,600 jobs, according to WSJ. (WSJ)

Wells Fargo (WFC) says OCC terminated its 2016 consent order which was tied to sales practices misconduct, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

16 Feb 2024 - 06:51- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk