Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 22nd March 2024

22nd March 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were ultimately mixed after momentum from the fresh record highs on Wall Street waned. ASX 200 closed with mild losses with the index weighed on by underperformance in miners amid declines in underlying commodity prices, while the RBA's Financial Stability Review noted conditions are to remain challenging for households and businesses. Nikkei 225 swung between gains and losses in which it initially climbed above 41,000 for the first time but then faltered and briefly wiped out all its gains as participants digested somewhat mixed inflation data which was mostly softer-than-expected but the Core reading matched estimates at a four-month high. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. suffered amid weak earnings from the likes of CK Asset Holdings, CK Hutchison, CNOOC and Ping An, while tech slumped after a US Commerce Department official said SMIC may have violated US export controls to produce chips for Huawei.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.88% at 18,174, CAC 40: +0.22% at 8,180, PSI: +0.43% at 6,178.82, FTSE 250: +1.32% at 19,741.31, FTSE 100: +1.88% at 7,882.55, IBEX 35: +1.07% at 10,867.50, Euro Stoxx 50: +1.02% at 5,051.55, SMI: +0.73% at 11,703.66

SECTORS: IT 4.01%, Financials 1.18%, Materials 1.07%, Industrials 1.07%, Consumer Disc 0.56%, Telecoms 0.36%, Healthcare 0.24%, Energy 0.17%, Consumer Stpl -0.01%, Utilities -0.48%

FTSE 100

AstraZeneca (AZN LN) - Saphnelo shows higher rates of remission in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus vs standard over a four-year period. (Newswires)

IAG (IAG LN) - Warns Air Europa's consumers of a personal data leak, according to WSJ. (WSJ)

Legal & General (LGEN LN) - Co. has reportedly shelved its plan to seek a China business license for offering cross-border investment products to such investors, via Reuters citing sources; headcount in China cut as a result. (Newswires)

Unilever (ULVR LN) - Ice cream unit sale could be valued between EUR 10-15bln, according to FT. (FT)

UK Pharma – The UK is running out of critical medicines as it fails to stay competitive on generics, according to the Sandoz (SDZ SW) head, cited by Bloomberg. If the UK does not take further steps to make the country attractive, it will face further shortages. (Bloomberg)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Cineworld (CINE LN) - Thomas Song appointed as CFO. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Centamin (CEY LN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Liberum

St James Place (SJP LN) downgraded to Sectorperform from Outperform at RBC

THG (THG LN) initiated with Buy at Peel Hunt

DAX

Adidas (ADS GY)/Puma (PUM GY) - Nike Inc (NKE) Q3 2024 (USD): EPS 0.77 (exp. 0.74), Revenue 12.43bln (exp. 12.28bln). Shares slipped lower following Nike's conference call/H1-FY25 guidance. (Details below). Adidas shares -3.1% in the Lang & Schwarz pre-market. Puma seen lower by 1.9%.

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

MorphoSys (MOR GY) - Announces US antitrust clearance of the proposed acquisition by Novartis (NOVN SW). Continue to expect the offer to close in H1. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

LVMH (MC FP) - Belloni to step down as MD/Chairman of the Executive Committee, following the 18th April 2024 AGM. Belloni will be appointed President of LVMH Italy. (Newswires)

TotalEnergies (TTE FP) - Restarted gas production at the Tyra offshore hub, following a major redevelopment. At plateau, the hub will produce 22k/bbl of condensate per day. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Bankinter (BKT SM) - The Board has agreed to appoint Gloria Portero as the CEO. (Newswires)

BPER (BPE IM) - Shareholder Unipol has nominated Franco Papa for the CEO position. (Newswires)

Energy Names - The US has reportedly urged Ukraine to seize strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, via FT citing sources. (FT)

Enel (ENEL IM) - FY (EUR): Revenue 95.5bln (exp. 115.8bln), adj. Net 6.5bln (exp. 6.8bln). CEO says the announcement that the Peru assets sale has been completed will occur shortly. Not the time now to discuss a special dividend linked to recent asset disposals, there could be upside potential for the dividend starting in 2024. (Newswires)

Eni (ENI IM) - Co. has been provided approval by the UK Government for its Hyent CO2 pipeline. (Newswires)

Grifols (GRF SM) - CNMV, Spanish stock supervisor, says investigations have not identified significant errors in quantitative magnitudes of the main financial statements for the analysed period. Co. is not required to restate accounts. Have found deficiencies in detail, accuracy of breakdowns and explanatory notes in some of the periods analysed. Deficiencies in the presentation of some alternative measures. Currently, not possible to prejudge any potential consequences of possible sanctions. Have not undertaken an in-depth assessment of the liabilities from Gotham's actions re. market abuse, could be determined at a later stage. (Newswires)

Iberdrola (IBE SM) - To propose a gross engagement dividend of EUR 0.005/shr. (Newswires)

Renault (RNO FP) - Co. and Volvo Group (VOLVB SS) complete the creation of the EV JV Flexis. (Newswires)

Postal Names - FedEx Corp (FDX) - Q3 2024 (USD): Adj. EPS 3.86 (exp. 3.45), Revenue 21.7bln (exp. 22.06bln). Shares +12.2% afterhours (Details below)

Stoxx600 - Citigroup raises 2024 year-end Stoxx 600 target to 540 (prev. view 510, last close 509.77). (Newswires)

UCB (UCB BB) - Received a positive CHMP opinion for Bimzelx. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Abb (ABBN SW) - Intends to launch a buyback of up to USD 1bln once the 2023-24 programme concludes. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.32% at 5,242, NDX +0.44% at 18,320, DJI +0.68% at 39,781, RUT +1.14% at 2,098.

SECTORS: Industrials +1%, Financials +0.85%, Energy +0.54%, Consumer Discretionary +0.46%, Real Estate +0.43%, Materials +0.4%, Technology +0.14%, Health +0.11%, Consumer Staples +0.04%, Communication Services -0.17%, Utilities -0.21%.

American Airlines (AAL), United Airlines (UAL), Southwest Airlines (LUV) and Alaska Airlines (ALK) - CEOs are to meet with the Boeing (BA) board chair to discuss January 5th Alaska Airlines incident and 737 MAX production, according to a Reuters source. (Reuters)

FedEx Corp (FDX) - Q3 2024 (USD): Adj. EPS 3.86 (exp. 3.45), Revenue 21.7bln (exp. 22.06bln); Authorises a new USD 5bln buyback programme. Narrows FY earnings outlook range; sees FY24 adj. EPS of 17.25-18.25 (prev. 17.00-18.50, exp. 17.40). Adj. OM 6.2% (exp. 5.63%). Reduces Capital spending forecast to USD 5.4bln from USD 5.7bln. Still sees a low-single-digit percentage drop in FY revenue. CFO says “DRIVE is having a real impact, supporting both operating income growth and margin expansion,”. Says if a new deal is not reached with USPS, the Co can't adjust FedEx express costs after expiration of contract (September 2024) and profitability could be negatively affected. Says will know in days or weeks if it has a new contact with the US Postal Service which is its biggest customer and with the current contract to expire September 29th. (Newswires) Shares +12.2% afterhours

Lululemon Athletica Inc (LULU) - Q4 2023 (USD): EPS 5.29 (exp. 5.00), Revenue 3.21bln (exp. 3.19bln). Guides Q1 EPS USD 2.35-2.40 (exp. 2.60). Guides Q1 net rev. USD 2.18bln-2.20bln (exp. 2.26bln). Guides FY24 EPS USD 14.00-14.20 (exp. 14.25). Guides FY24 rev. USD 10.7bln-10.8bln (exp. 10.97bln). FY guide does not forecast share buybacks. (Newswires)

Meta (META) - User reports indicate Meta's (META) Instagram is experiencing issues, according to Downdetector. (Newswires)

Nike (NKE) - Although shares initially rallied after its earnings report was published, they slipped into the red during the conference call, ending the extended trading session down 5.7%. It reported Q3 EPS 0.77 (exp. 0.74), Q3 revenue USD 12.43bln (exp. 12.28bln); North America sales USD 5.07bln (exp. 4.82bln), EMEA sales USD 3.14Bbln (exp. 3.18bln), Greater China sales USD 2.08bln (exp. 2.04bln), Asia Pacific & Latin America sales USD 1.65bln (exp. 1.68bln). Q3 gross margin 44.8% (exp. 45.1%). Q3 inventory USD 7.73bln (exp. 8.16bln). On call, execs acknowledged that the apparel maker had lost share in its running shoes category, sending shares into the red. Exec. said it was to cut back on inventories of "classic" shoes to focus on upcoming launches and new product development. It added that it must lean in with their wholesale partners to elevate the brand and grow the total marketplace. NKE is prudently planning for revenue in the first half of the FY25 to be down low single digits. It continues to expect FY revenue to grow about 1% and expects Q4 revenue to be up slightly. (Newswires) Shares -5.6% afterhours

22 Mar 2024 - 06:55- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk