Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 21st November 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were mostly subdued after the indecisive lead from the US where geopolitics and Nvidia earnings were in the spotlight. ASX 200 lacked firm direction amid weakness in the consumer-related sectors and after Westpac pushed back its forecast for when the RBA will begin cutting rates to May next year from a prior forecast of February. Nikkei 225 underperformed and tested the 38,000 level to the downside as the Japanese currency nursed some of its recent losses and despite a report that Japan is planning an economic package of around JPY 21.9tln. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were uninspired as participants digested recent earnings releases although support was seen in automakers after a MOFCOM official said they are planning the continuation of car trade-in incentives for next year to stabilise market expectations.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX -0.31% at 19,001, FTSE 100 -0.17% at 8,085, CAC 40 -0.43% at 7,198, Euro Stoxx 50 -0.42% at 4,731, AEX -0.40% at 859, IBEX 35 +0.01% at 11,590, FTSE MIB -0.29% at 33,228, SMI -0.02% at 11,539.

SECTORS: Healthcare 0.39%, Materials 0.21%, Telecoms 0.13%, Financials 0.02%, Consumer Stpl 0.01%, Energy -0.12%, IT -0.13%, Utilities -0.33%, Industrials -0.36%, Consumer Disc -0.47%

FTSE 100

Ex-Dividends - National Grid (NG/ LN), Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (SMT LN), Vodafone (VOD LN), DCC (DCC LN), B&M European (BME LN) will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend payout. (Newswires)

Unilever (ULVR LN) - Reportedly shelves its private equity plan for ice-cream business, according to FT. (FT)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Wizz Air (WIZZ LN) - Moody's changes outlook to Negative; affirms BA1 rating. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Crest Nicholson (CRST LN) upgraded to Add from Hold at Peel Hunt

DAX

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Technip Energies (TE FP) - 2025 Financial Guidance: Projects delivery of revenue between 5-5.4bln with EBITDA margin of about 6%. To payout a minimum range of 25-35% of FCF, excluding working capital. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Soitec (SOI FP) - H1 (EUR): Revenue 338mln (exp. 335.5mln). Confirms FY25 guidance. For calendar year 2025 sees auto and industrial market weakness persisting into H1; expects cloud AI investment to remain elevated. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

BBVA (BBVA SM) - Proposes measures to Spain's antitrust watchdog CNMC to obtain authorisation for its hostile takeover of rival Sabadell (SAB SM). Measures include not shutting down office when there isn't a BBVA or Sabadell office within a 300m radius, not closing offices in zip codes per-capita income below EUR 10k. (Newswires)

BMPS (BMPS IM) - Italy's Economy Ministry held 11.7% stake in the Co. as of Nov 13, via a filing. (Newswires)

Iberdrola (IBE SM) - Co. and EIB sign a EUR 500mln loan financed by next generation funds for an investment in smart grids in Spain. (Newswires)

MediaForEurope (MFE IM) - 9m (EUR): EBIT 126.6mln, +28.7% Y/Y, Net Revenue 2.00bln, +7.7%. Sees advertising revenue in Q4 to remain in positive territory, resulting in year-end growth of around 5% above expectations. CEO said in 9m improved financial position by 200mln and renumerated shareholders with dividends of approx. 140mln. (Newswires)

Tech names - NVIDIA slipped after-hours despite top- and bottom-line beats, some analysts were seeking firmer guidance for Q4, and were disappointed by slowing growth rates, while some also continue to cite production concerns. Full details in the US section below

UniCredit (UCG IM) - Goldman Sachs held 7.05% of UniCredit as of November 12; of which 1.51% of voting right. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Novartis (NOVN SW) - Upgrades mid-term guidance: Mid-term sales guidance upgraded to +6% CAGR (prev. guided +5%) and +5% in 2024-29. Strong momentum in business with 8 in-market brands with USD 3ln to USD +8bln peak sales potential. Remains on track to deliver core op. income margin of +40% by 2027. (Newswires)

Swiss Re (SREN SW) - Moody's affirms co's AA3 rating; outlook stable. (Newswires)

Zurich Insurance (ZURN SW) - New financial targets for 2025-27: Core RoE of more than 23%. Cumulative cash remittances in excess of USD 19bln. Core EPS compound annual growth rate of more than 9%. Business op. profit to exceed USD 4.2bln and middle market GWP to surpass USD 10bln by end-2027. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Julius Baer (BAER SW) - 10m (CHF): AuM 480bln, +12% YTD. CET1 Ratio improved to 16.7%. Gross margin 83bps (prev. 88bps Y/Y). CEO Bollinger to start 9 Jan 2025. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) - A Mercer survey showed that about 44% of US employers with 500 employees or more cover drugs for weight loss vs 41% in 2021; these include drugs made by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly (LLY). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.00% at 5,917, NDX -0.09% at 20,667, DJIA +0.32% at 43,408, RUT +0.03% at 2,326.

SECTORS: Health +1.18%, Energy +1.00%, Materials +0.72%, Industrials +0.10%, Utilities +0.08%, Communication Services +0.07%, Real Estate -0.18%, Consumer Staples -0.18%, Technology -0.23%, Financials -0.28%, Consumer Discretionary -0.57%.

Apple (AAPL) - Moody's affirm Apple (AAPL) at AAA; outlook stable.

Google (GOOG) - DoJ asked judge to make Google (GOOG) divest Chrome browser and said it should not be allowed to re-enter the browser market for five years. Google says DoJ's approach would result in unprecedented government overreach, while it will files its own proposals in December and make a broader case in 2025. (Newswires)

NVIDIA (NVDA) - Nvidia shares fell as much as 5% after results were published, but closed the extended trading session down 2.5%; despite top- and bottom line beats, some analysts were seeking firmer guidance for Q4, and were disappointed by slowing growth rates, while some also continue to cite production concerns. Nvidia reported Q3 adj. EPS 0.81 (exp. 0.75), Q3 revenue USD 35.08bln (exp. 33.12bln). Q3 adj. gross margin 75% (exp. 75%), Q3 adj. operating expenses USD 3.05bln (exp. 2.99bln), Q3 adj. operating income 23.28bln (exp. 21.9bln). By segment, Q3 Data Centre revenue USD 30.8bln (exp. 29.14bln), China data centre revenue increased Q/Q but remains below pre-regulation levels; Q3 Gaming revenue USD 3.3bln (exp. 3.06bln); Q3 Professional Visualization revenue USD 486mln (exp. 477.7mln); Q3 Automotive revenue 449mln (exp. 364.5mln). Exec said Blackwell production continue to ramp into fiscal 2026; it will be shipping both Hopper and Blackwell in Q4 FY25; Blackwell production shipments to begin in Q4 FY25; said that Hopper and Blackwell systems have some supply constraints, but Blackwell to exceed supply for several quarters in FY26. CFO said it had shipped 13k Blackwell samples to customers in Q3, and Blackwell was now in the hands of all their major customers, adding that demand for Blackwell was staggering. Elsewhere, H200 AI chip sales increased significantly to double-digit billions in Q3. Ahead, it sees Q4 revenue at around USD 37.5bln+/- 2% (exp. 37.1bln), and sees Q4 adj. gross margins between 73-74% (exp. 73.5%). Expects sequential growth in networking business in Q4; says will deliver more Blackwells than previously estimated in Q4, and is on track to exceed previous Blackwell revenue estimate of several billion dollars in Q4. (Newswires)

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) - Shares fell 4.8% after results, with some citing disappointing guidance. It reported Q1 adj. EPS of 1.56 (exp. 1.48), Q1 revenue of USD 2.14bln (exp. 2.12bln). Q1 next-generation security ARR +40% to USD 4.5bln (exp. 4.37bln), Q1 RPOs +20% to USD 12.6bln (exp. 12.44bln). It has approved a two-for-one forward stock split. Raises FY guidance for EPS, sales, and its next-generation security ARR; sees Q2 adj. EPS between 1.54-1.56 (exp. 1.55), sees Q2 revenue between USD 2.22-2.25bln (exp. 2.23bln), and sees Q2 next-generation security ARR between USD 4.70-4.75bln (exp. 4.65bln). For the FY, sees FY adj. EPS between 6.26-6.39 (exp. 6.28), and sees FY revenue between USD 9.12-9.17bln (exp. 9.13bln). (Newswires)

Snowflake (SNOW) - Shares surged almost 20% in afterhours trading after it beat Q3 metrics, and raised its product revenue guidance and announced an AI deal with Anthropic. Q3 adj. EPS 0.20 (exp. 0.15), Q3 revenue USD 942.1mln (exp. 898.6mln). Q3 product revenue USD 900.3mln (exp. 857mln), Q3 RPO USD 5.7bln (exp. 5.2bln), Q3 operating margin 6% (exp. 3.2%). Sees Q4 product revenue between 906-911mln (exp. 890.7mln), sees FY product revenue between USD 3.43bln (exp. 3.36bln), and sees Q4 operating margins at 4% (exp. 1.7%). Snowflake also announced partnership with Anthropic that integrates advanced AI models into secure data environments, enabling customers to enhance AI applications, analyse data, and generate visualisations; Anthropic's models are accessible to enterprises across industries, supporting diverse AI-driven initiatives. (Newswires)

21 Nov 2024 - 06:49- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk