Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 1st November 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks traded mixed following the tech-heavy losses stateside and heightened geopolitical concerns, while Chinese markets outperformed after further encouraging manufacturing PMI data. ASX 200 declined with nearly all industries subdued aside from the commodity-related sectors. Nikkei 225 slumped at the open after recent currency strength and the hawkish tone from BoJ Governor Ueda. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were underpinned after the Chinese Caixin Manufacturing PMI followed suit to yesterday's official release with a surprise return to expansion territory, while the attention was also on recent earnings reports.

EUROPEAN CLOSES 

CLOSES: DAX: -1.03% at 19,059, FTSE 100: -0.61% at 8,110, CAC 40: -1.05% at 7,350, Euro Stoxx 50: -1.28% at 4,823, AEX: -0.80% at 874, IBEX 35: -0.36% at 11,673, FTSE MIB: -0.64% at 34,281, SMI: -1.44% at 11,793, PSI: +2.21% at 6,533.

SECTORS: Energy -0.08%, Financials -0.74%, Materials -0.79%, Industrials -1.08%, Healthcare -1.36%, Utilities -1.38%, Consumer Stpl -1.39%, Consumer Disc -1.40%, Telecoms -1.44%, IT -2.35%

FTSE 100

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Completes acquisition of Sumitomo's 20.64% stake in NZ's aluminium smelter. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Aixtron (AIXA GY) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

Deutsche Lufthansa (LHA GY) downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC

CAC

EssilorLuxottica (EL FP) - CEO Milleri said "the next step with Meta (META) is to become leaders in the wearable computing space... glasses we think will one day replace most other technology devices". (FT)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Casino (CO FP) - Q3 2024 (EUR): Net sales 2.07bln (prev. 4.56bln); 9mnth: Net debt 1.12bln, Adj. EBITDA 402mln, Free cash flow -539mln. (Newswires)

Elis (ELIS FP) - Closes the acquisition of Wasned in the Netherlands. (Newswires)

Getlink (GET FP) - Eiffage (FGR FP) says it has passively risen above 25% stake in Getlink; does not intend to acquire a controlling stake. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SocGen (GLE FP) upgraded to Overweight from Equalweight at Morgan Stanley

PAN EUROPE All Saints Day - No Trading After Hours for Italy

China-exposed stocks - Chinese Caixin Manufacturing PMI Final (Oct) 50.3 vs. Exp. 49.7 (Prev. 49.3). (Newswires)

Fugro (FUR NA) - Q3 (EUR): EBIT 99.3mln (prev. 97.5mln Y/Y), Revenue 596.5mln (prev. 609mln Y/Y). FY24 revenue "mid-single digit growth" (prev. guided "continued revenue growth"). (Newswires)

Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP IM) - Fitch revises Co. outlook to positive; confirms long-term rating to BBB. (Newswires)

UMG (UMG NA) - Q3 2024 (EUR): Revenue 2.87bln, +4.3% Y/Y, EBITDA 621mln, +6.9% Y/Y. CFO Muir was promoted to COO. Immediately initiating an executive search process to identify a new CFO. Until then, Muir will serve as both COO and CFO. (Newswires)

UCB (UCB BB) - UCB presents encouraging data on Bepranemab in early Alzheimer’s disease in Phase 2a study at CTAD 2024. Results provide first evidence of biological and clinical effect of a mid-domain tau-targeting disease-modifying therapy. In full study population primary endpoint was not met, however in key secondary endpoints bepranemab slowed cognitive decline and rate of tau accumulation. (UCB)

UniCredit (UCG IM) - Fitch upgrades UniCredit's long-term IDR and Senior Preferred rating to BBB+. Fitch improves outlook from stable to positive. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Repsol (REP SM) downgraded to Equalweight from Overweight at Barclays

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Tecan (TECN SW) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS

SCANDINAVIA All Saints Day - Sweden has an early close.

HEXPOL (HPOLB SS) - Acquires 80% of the shares in Piedmont Resin Supply for a price of USD 86mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX -1.86% at 5,705, NDX -2.44% at 19,890, DJIA -0.90% at 41,763, RUT -1.63% at 2,197

SECTORS: Technology -3.57%, Consumer Discretionary -1.81%, Real Estate -1.73%, Communication Services -1.63%, Materials -1.52%, Financials -1.22%, Industrials -1.13%, Health -0.81%, Consumer Staples -0.14%, Energy +0.66%, Utilities +1.04%.

Amazon (AMZN) - Amazon's shares rose 6% afterhours after a Q3 profit beat, and guidance which was said to soothe investor fears. It reported Q3 EPS 1.43 (exp. 1.14), Q3 revenue USD 158.9bln (exp. 157.2bln). North America operating margin 5.9% (exp. 5.5%), international operating margin 3.6% (exp. 1.2%). Q3 online stores net sales USD 61.41bln (exp. 59.6bln), Q3 physical stores net sales USD 5.23bln (exp. 5.17bln), Q3 third-party seller services net sales USD 37.86bln (exp. 38.22bln), Q3 subscription Services net sales USD 11.28bln (exp. 11.17bln); Q3 AWS net sales USD 27.45bln (exp. 27.49bln); AWS operating margin 38.1% (exp. 33.5%); Exec said AWS' AI business continues to grow at a triple-digit Y/Yrates, and is growing more than three times faster at this stage of its evolution as AWS itself grew. YTD capex USD 51.9bln, expects to spend about USD 75bln in capex for FY24. Exec said it is continuing to lower prices as product unit growth continues. Said all new Kindle lineup is significantly outperforming expectations. Sees Q4 operating income between USD 16bln-20bln (exp. 17.28bln), and sees Q4 revenue between USD 181.5bln-188.5bln (exp. 186.36bln).

Apple (AAPL) - Shares fell 1.8% afterhours following a mixed set of results, where it saw top= and bottom line beats, topped iPhone sales expectations, though service segment revenues were short, and its Q1 guidance was a little soft. Q4 adj. EPS 1.64 (exp. 1.58), Q4 revenue USD 94.93bln (exp. 94.58bln). By segment, Q3 products revenue USD 69.96bln (exp. 69.15bln); iPhone revenue USD 46.22bln (exp. 45.04bln); Mac revenue USD 7.74bln (exp. 7.74bln); iPad revenue USD 6.95 bln (exp. 7.07bln); Wearables, home, and accessories revenue: 9.04bln (exp. 9.17bln); service revenue USD 24.97bln (exp. 25.27bln). Q4 total operating expenses USD 14.29bln (exp. 14.35bln); Q4 gross margin 46.2% (exp. 46.1%). Maintained cash dividend of 0.25/shr, (exp. 0.25/shr). Apple said early iPhone 16 sales grew faster than iPhone 15 sales; users are adopting iOS 18.1 at twice the rate they adopted 17.1 in the year ago quarter. Exec said China revenue remained stable due to favourable FX (Q4 Greater China sales were USD 15.03bln vs an expected 15.8bln). Noted strong operating cash flow, record Q4 performance, and continued momentum in services and Apple Vision Pro. Execs projects Q1 revenue growth in the low-to-mid single digits (exp. 7.1%), a gross margin of 46-47% (exp. 45.7%), and a 16% tax rate, emphasising the early stage of new product launches.

Boeing (BA) - Boeing and the union representing 33,000 striking machinists reached a tentative agreement to end their prolonged dispute, Bloomberg reports. The proposed deal includes a 38% wage increase over four years and a USD 12,000 ratification bonus; the deal is pending approval on November 4th.

Intel (INTC) - Shares rose 6.9% afterhours after it topped profit expectations, and issued upbeat guidance. Q3 adj. adj. EPS 0.17 (exp. -0.02), Q3 revenue USD 13.3bln (exp. 13.02bln); Q3 adj. gross margin 18% (exp. 38%), R&D expenses USD 4.05bln (exp. 4.28bln). Said it recognised USD 15.9bln of impairment charges in Q3, and 2.8bln in restructuring charges. By segment, Q3 Intel Products sales USD 12.19bln (exp. 11.95bln), Client Computing sales USD 7.33bln (exp. 7.46bln), Datacenter & AI sales USD 3.35bln (exp. 3.15bln), Network & Edge sales USD 1.51bln (exp. 1.39bln), Intel Foundry sales USD 4.35bln (exp. 4.44bln). Exec said it was making "significant progress" on plan to deliver USD 10bln in cost reductions in 2025; in October, it approved a series of cost and capital reduction initiatives, which include reducing headcount by 16.5k employees; expects to recognise USD 3bln of restructuring charges related to restructuring actions. Took steps to reduce inventory in PC processors; intends to keep company together. Said Intel 18A development progressing well with products launching in 2025. exec stated that the company would not meet its previous 2024 sales target of USD 500mln for its Gaudi AI chip due to slower-than-expected overall adoption. Sees Q4 revenue between USD 13.3-14.3 bln (exp. 13.63bln), Q4 adj. EPS of 0.12 (exp. 0.08), and Q4 adj. gross margin of 39.5% (exp. 38.7%).

01 Nov 2024 - 06:58- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk