Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 23rd April 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks rallied amid tailwinds from the US owing to trade deal hopes and after US President Trump softened his rhetoric on Fed Chair Powell in which he stated he has no intention of firing the Fed chair. ASX 200 was led higher by outperformance in energy and tech with the former supported by a rebound in oil prices and after a quarterly production update from Woodside Energy, while gold miners suffered after the precious metal dropped as the risk-on mood sapped haven demand. Nikkei 225 benefitted from initial currency weakness and briefly surged to above the 35,000 level shortly after the open before fading some of its advances. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were varied as the Hong Kong benchmark joined in on the broad rally and the mainland was contained despite the encouraging comments from Treasury Secretary Bessent who noted the tariff standoff with China is unsustainable and expects the situation to de-escalate, while President Trump said they are going to be very nice with China and that the tariff on China will not be anywhere near the 145% level.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.34% at 21,279, FTSE 100: +0.64% at 8,329, CAC 40: +0.56% at 7,326, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.61% at 4,965, AEX: +0.59% at 857, IBEX 35: +0.61% at 12,997, FTSE MIB: -0.09% at 35,948, SMI: -0.05% at 11,655, PSI: +1.40% at 6,830

SECTORS: Telecoms 1.09%, Consumer Disc 1.03%, Utilities 1.03%, Financials 0.92%, Consumer Stpl 0.77%, Materials 0.71%, Energy 0.07%, Industrials -0.44%, Healthcare -0.57%, IT -1.19%

FTSE 100

UK Gambling - The UK Government has put a pause on plans to ease slot machine rules across the country; ministers were expected to allow customers to play slots 24 hours a day, via The Guardian. (The Guardian)

UK/US Trade - US is preparing negotiating terms for UK trade talks and will aim for the UK to reduce its automotive tariff from 10% to 2.5%, according to Wall Street Journal citing sources US will also push the UK to relax rules on agricultural imports from the US, including beef and revise rules of origin for goods from each nation. (Wall Street Journal)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Just Eat (JET LN) - Q1 Trading Update (EUR): Total Orders 156mln, -6% Y/Y. Guidance for 2025 reiterated. Recommended offer by Prosus of EUR 20.30/shr is expected to launch in Q2'25. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

DAX

BMW (BMW GY) - CEO says beginning later this year, "we will integrate AI from DeepSeek in our new vehicles in China". (Newswires)

Delivery Hero (DHER GY) - Co. to exit Thailand; FoodPanda to stop operations in Thailand on May 23, 2025. (Newswires)

Mercedes (MBG GY) - CEO says in the next 2-3 years, will see momentum building in EV upper end of the segment. Adds that a pure tariff barrier is the crudest instrument you can apply. (Newswires)

SAP (SAP GY) - Q1 2025 (EUR): Adj. EPS 1.44 (exp. 1.28), Revenue 9.01bln (exp. 9.10bln), Adj. EBIT 2.46bln (exp. 2.23bln), Current cloud backlog 18.2bln, +29% Y/Y. IFRS cloud gross margin 74.5% (prev. 72.2% Y/Y). Affirms FY25 guidance. FY 21.6-21.9bln cloud revenue at constant currencies FY 33.1-33.6bln cloud and software revenue at constant currencies. (Newswires) Shares +9.5% in pre-market trade

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Danone (BN FP) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 6.84bln (exp. 6.91bln), LFL +4.3% (exp. +3.8%). Confirms 2025 guidance. (Newswires)

Eurofins Scientific (ERF FP) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 1.76bln, +6.9% Y/Y. Proposes annual dividend of EUR 0.60/shr. Tariffs not expected to have a direct material impact on Eurofins' cost structure. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Eiffage (FGR FP) - Won a EUR 83.2mln contract for Formula 1 circuit construction. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Trade - US President Trump says we are doing fine with China and we're going to be very nice with China, adds they have to make a deal and if they don't, we will set a deal; tariff on China will not be as high as 145% but it won't be zero. White House reportedly ‘close’ on Japan and India trade agreements, according to Politico. US Treasury Secretary Bessent told a closed-door investor summit Tuesday that the tariff standoff with China is unsustainable and that he expects the situation to de-escalate, according to Bloomberg (Newswires/Politico/Bloomberg)

Trump/Powell - US President Trump says the Fed should lower interest rates and we would like the Fed chair to be early or on time, adds no intention of firing the Fed chair and wants Powell to be more active on rates. (Newswires)

Russia/Ukraine - Russian President Putin has offered to halt invasion of Ukraine across current front line as part of efforts to reach a peace deal with US President Trump, via FT. US reportedly proposes recognizing Crimea as Russian as peace talks ramp up, according to WaPo. (FT/WaPo)

Akzo Nobel (AKZA NA) - Q1 (EUR): Net Income 107mln (exp. 125mln), Revenue 2.61bln (exp. 2.65bln). Efficiency actions are ahead of schedule. Notes of higher prices and strong cost reductions are compensating for lower volumes and inflation. Affirms guidance. (Newswires)

BE Semiconductor (BESI NA) - Q1 (EUR): Net Income 31.5mln (exp. 49mln, prev. 34mln Y/Y), Revenue 144.1mln (exp. 170mln, prev. 146mln Y/Y). Guides Q2 Revenue flat Q/Q, Gross Margin 62-64% (exp. 64.1%). (Newswires)

Colonial (COL SM) - Co. invests EUR 200mln in deeplabs platform in Spain. (Newswires)

Randstad (RAND NA) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 5.66bln (prev. 5.94bln Y/Y). Q2 Gross Margin exp. to be modestly lower sequentially due to seasonality. (Newswires)

Ryanair (RYA ID) - The FT writes that Ryanair has taken advantage of the recent fall in oil prices to lock in cheaper fuel costs. Its CEO also added that the Co. has yet to see an impact on bookings amid the US tariff uncertainty. (FT)

Pharma Names - European pharma bosses have called on the EU to lift drug prices towards the levels paid by the US, suggesting it would improve innovation and to counter the tariff threats, via the FT. (FT)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Roche (ROG SW) - Roche receives CE Mark for its Chest Pain Triage algorithm to enhance detection of Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS). (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

DKSH (DKSH SW) - Acquiring Zircon-Swis Fine Foods in Singapore. (Newswires)

Temenos (TEMN SW) - Q1 (USD): EBIT 69.5mln (exp. 67.4mln). Announced USD 307mln share buyback. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Boliden (BOL SS) - Q1 (SEK): Revenue 21.12bln (exp. 22.59bln), EBIT 3.06bln (exp. 2.59bln). Global metal prices as well as currencies fluctuate more than usual. Sees 2025 Capex 15.5bln (prev. guided 14bln). (Newswires)

Tele 2 (TEL2A SS) - Q1 (SEK): Net Income 0.9bln (prev. 0.8bln Y/Y), Revenue 7.15bln (exp. 7.28bln). Affirms guidance. (Newswires)

Volvo (VOLVB SS) - Q1 (SEK): EPS 4.86 (exp. 5.54, prev. 6.92 Y/Y), Adj. Op. 13.3bln (prev. 18.2bln Y/Y), Revenue 121.8bln (exp. 126.4bln). Seeks to mitigate tariff effects and impact on demand. Total Truck Order Intake 55,227 (exp. 51,555). Says sales of vehicles were -9% Y/Y; too early to assess the full impact of tariffs; sees 2025 North American construction equipment market at -15% to -5% (prev. view -10% to 0%). Affirms China truck orders. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +2.51% at 5,288, NDX +2.63% at 18,276, DJI +2.66% at 39,187, RUT +2.71% at 1,890

SECTORS: Consumer Staples +1.61%, Industrials +1.77%, Health +1.80%, Real Estate +2.09%, Materials +2.35%, Technology +2.45%, Energy +2.62%, Utilities +2.76%, Communication Services +2.90%, Consumer Discretionary +3.23%, Financials +3.28%.

Capital One Financial Corp (COF) - Q1 2025 (USD): Adj. EPS 4.06 (exp. 3.66), Revenue 10bln (exp. 10.04bln). (Newswires)

Intel (INTC) - Co. is to announce plans this week to cut over 20% of staff, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

Tesla Inc (TSLA) - Tesla shares rose 5.4% in after-hours trading despite reporting a 20% drop in auto revenue, but optimism was lifted after CEO Musk suggested he will pull back from his role at the DOGE starting in May. Q1 2025 (USD): Adj. EPS 0.27 (exp. 0.42), Revenue 19.34bln (exp. 20.73bln). Adj. net income 934mln (exp. 1.43bln). Capital expenditure 1.49bln, -46% y/y (exp. 2.49bln). Free cash flow 664mln vs. negative 2.53bln y/y (exp. 1.08bln). Operating income 399mln, -66% y/y (exp. 1.13bln). Gross margin 16.3% vs. 17.4% y/y (exp. 16.1%). Said difficult to measure impacts of global trade policy. Will revisit 2025 guidance in our Q2 update. Rapidly evolving trade policy adversely impacts global supply chain and cost structure of Tesla and peers. Continues to prepare for launch of FSD in Europe this year, pending regulatory approval Leaves out return to growth forecast from earnings report (refers to " Last quarter, executives said Tesla will return to growth this year."). Tariffs to impact energy more than automotive. Difficult to measure impacts of global trade policy – actions to stabilize in medium to long-term. Uncertainty could impact demand in near term. CEO Musk says expects time allocation to DOGE to drop significantly in May and will be devoting more time to Tesla in May. Says: Will continue to advocate for lower tariffs. Sees millions of Tesla’s operating fully autonomously by second half of next year. (Newswires)

23 Apr 2025 - 06:52- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk