Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 25th April 2024

25th April 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks were mostly subdued after the uninspiring handover from the US where futures were pressured after-hours following Meta's underwhelming guidance, while the region also digested several earnings releases and markets in both Australia and New Zealand markets were closed for ANZAC Day. Nikkei 225 underperformed and retreated beneath the 38,000 level amid tech weakness and with earnings releases influencing price action, while the BoJ also kick-started its 2-day policy meeting. KOSPI was dragged lower amid losses in tech heavyweights despite stronger-than-expected GDP data and a blockbuster earnings report from SK Hynix. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were positive with the Hong Kong benchmark underpinned amid resilience in the property industry, while the mainland eked slight gains after Premier Li noted China seeks to enhance development momentum and with US Secretary of State Blinken calling for the US and China to manage differences responsibly during a trip to China.

Hyundai Motor (005380 KS) - Q1 (KRW) net 3.2tln (exp. 3.0tln), oper. profit 3.6tln (exp. 3.5tln), rev. 41.0tln (exp. 39.7tln). (Newswires)

Renesas (6723 JT) - Q1 (JPY) net 79.9bln (prev. 105.2bln Y/Y), rev. 351.8bln (prev. 359.4bln Y/Y). (Newswires)

SK Hynix (000660 KS) - Q1 (KRW) net 1.9tln (exp. 1.3tln), oper. 2.9tln (exp. 1.9tln), rev. 12.4tln (exp. 12.3tln). Says: Q1 DRAM average selling price 20% or more up vs Q4. Q1 NAND average selling price 30% or more up vs Q4. The memory market is entering into a full recovery cycle with the ongoing strength of AI demand. Demand improvement is also expected from conventional applications from 2H. Plans Q2 DRAM shipments mid-teen% increase vs Q1. Plans Q2 NAND shipments flat vs Q1. Expanding customer base in HBM using increased production capability. With sizeable investments planned, the overall capital expenditure for this year is expected to be larger than initially planned at the beginning of 2024. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: -0.35% at 18,073.62, FTSE 100: -0.06% at 8,040.38, CAC 40: -0.17% at 8,091.86, Euro Stoxx 50: -0.39% at 4,988.85, IBEX 35: -0.43% at 11,027.80, FTSE MIB: -0.27% at 34,271.12, SMI: -0.80% at 11,377.81

SECTORS: IT 0.96%, Energy 0.13%, Materials 0.12%, Industrials 0.11%, Consumer Stpl -0.08%, Utilities -0.39%, Consumer Disc -0.42%, Telecoms -0.65%, Healthcare -0.94%, Financials -1.24%

FTSE 100

Anglo American (AAL LN) - BHP (BHP AT) reportedly weighs a potential takeover of Anglo American, according to Bloomberg. Anglo received an offer that hinges on the spinout of its South African units. Bloomberg added that the move reflects BHP's renewed interest in major deals under CEO Mike Henry, aiming to expand its copper operations and possibly prompting similar actions from other companies. (Bloomberg)

Barclays (BARC LN) - Co. announced the disposal of its performing Italian mortgage portfolio; will receive cash proceeds of EUR 400mln in a transaction that values the portfolio at c. EUR 3.3bln. (Barclays)

Ex-Dividends - St. James’s Place (STJ LN), Rightmove (RMV LN), Legal & General (LGEN LN), ConvaTec (CTEC LN), and Spirax-Sirco (SPX LN) will trade without entitlement to its latest dividend payout. (dividenddata)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Metro Bank (MTRO LN) – Cristina Alba Ochoa Interim CFO transitions to Exec director, effective Sept 2nd. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

DAX

BASF (BASF GY) – Q1 (EUR): EBITDA 2.7bln (exp. 2.57bln), Sales 17.6bln (exp. 18.58bln). Net Income 1.4bln (exp. 1.08bln). Confirms FY forecast. (Newswires)

Deutsche Bank (DBK GY) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 7.78bln (exp. 7.73bln). Adj. pretax 2.04bln (exp. 2.07bln); FIC Sales & Trading Revenue 2.52bln (exp. 2.41bln); CET1 Ratio 13.4% (exp. 13.7%); Co. is to raise buyback and dividend by over 50% Y/Y in FY24. Provisions for credit losses 439mln (prev. 372mln Y/Y). Corporate Banking Revenue -5% Y/Y, Investment Banking Revenue +13% Y/Y, Private & Commercial Banking -2% Y/Y. CFO says seeing strong momentum in investment banking. (Deutsche Bank IR/Newswires)

Wacker Chemie (WCH GY) – Q1 (EUR): Revenue 1.48bln (exp. 1.5bln), EBIT 63mln (exp. 45.1mln), Net Income 48.4mln (exp. 31.9mln). FY outlook: Revenue 6-6.5bln. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

HelloFresh (HFG GY) – Q1 (EUR): Revenue 2.07bln (exp. 2.02bln). Adj. EBITDA 16.8mln (exp. 3.6mln). Revenue growth +3.8%.Launches ready-to-eat meal service factor in Sweden and Denmark. (Newswires)

Kion (KGX GY) – Q1 (EUR): Net Income 108.8mln (exp. 98mln), Revenue 2.85bln (exp. 2.82bln). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

BNP Paribas (BNP FP) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 12.5bln (exp. 12.2bln). Net 3.10bln (exp. 2.5bln). FICC Sales & Trading Revenue 1.60bln (exp. 1.74bln); Confirms revenue guidance. (Newswires)

Carrefour (CA FP) - Q1 2024 (EUR): Group pre-IAS 29 sales incl. VAT 22.16bln, +13.5% LFL; France sales incl. VAT 10bln, -0.4% LFL; Affirms FY24 outlook and cost savings plan raised to 1.2bln in 2024 (prev. 1bln). "Broadly stable sales in France (-0.4% LFL) and the rest of Europe (-0.2% LFL), reflecting the slowdown in inflation and price investments, while volumes remained under pressure". Initiated its EUR 700mln share buyback programme with EUR 428mln secured to date. (Carrefour IR)

Dassault Systemes (DSY FP) – Q1 (EUR): Revenue 1.5bln (exp. 1.51bln, prev. 143bln Y/Y). Op. margin 31.1% (prev. 31% Y/Y). FY24 targets confirmed. Q2 targets: Revenue 1.53-1.56bln. (Newswires)

Michelin (ML FP) - Q1 sales -2.7% at constant exchange rates, 4.1% decline in volumes, stemming primarily from the truck and speciality tyres. Maintains FY guidance. Strong mix development reflects group performance in most value-accretive segments. Group total sales EUR 6.64bln. (Newswires)

Pernod Ricard (RI FP) – Q3 (EUR): Net Sales 2.35bln, -2% Y/Y. Outlook: Dynamic Q4 net sales, improving versus 9M broadly stable FY organic net sales. EUR 300mln share buyback for the year, with EUR 150mln completed in H1. (Newswires)

Sanofi (SAN FP) – Q1 (EUR): Net Income 1.13bln (exp. 2.19bln), Revenue 10.4bln (exp. 10.3bln), Business EPS 1.78 (exp. 1.77). (Newswires)

Spie (SPEI FP) – Q1 (EUR): Revenue 2.23bln, +6.2% Y/Y. Confirms 2024 outlook. (Newswires)

STMicroelectronics (STM FP) - Q1 (USD): Revenue 3.47bln (exp. 3.63bln). Guides Q2 Revenue 3.2bln (exp. 3.8bln) and gross margin 40% (exp. 42.4%). Cuts FY24 Revenue guidance amid slower than expected Auto chip demand, now between 14-15bln (exp. 16.2bln). (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Casino (CO FP) - Q1 24 (EUR): EBITDA after leases -9.6mln, Revenue 2.1bln, SSS -3.8%. Announces reverse share split. (Casino IR)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Andritz (ANDR AV) – Q1 (EUR): Net 104.1mln (prev. 102.5mln Y/Y), Revenue 1.89 (exp. 1.94bln). (Newswires)

Adyen (ADYEN NA) – Q1 (EUR): Net Revenue 438mln (exp. 438mln), Aims to continue to grow net revenue annually between the low-twenties and high-twenties, up to and including 2026. Confirms outlook. (Newswires)

Auto Names - Ford (F) rose 2.4% post-earnings, while STMicroelectronics (STM FP) cut its FY guidance citing slower-than-expected Auto chip demand.

BE Semiconductor (BESI NA) – Q1 (EUR): Revenue 146.3mln (exp. 149.9mln), Net Income 34mln (exp. ), Orders 146.3mln (exp. 186mln). Outlook: For Q2’24, we forecast that revenue will be flat +/- 5% versus Q1’24. (Newswires)

Chip Names -SK Hynix (000660 KS) shares fell 4.1% post earnings despite topping on core metrics. C. said the memory market is entering into a full recovery cycle with the ongoing strength of AI demand. Demand improvement is also expected from conventional applications from H2. Plans Q2 DRAM shipments mid-teen% increase vs Q1. Plans Q2 NAND shipments flat vs Q1. (Newswires)

Moncler (MONC IM) - Q1 2024 (EUR): Revenue 818mln (exp. 786mln, prev. 726.4mln Y/Y), Stone Island revenue 113mln (prev. 121.6mln), Moncler Brand revenue 705mln (prev. 604.8mln). Exec said despite very good Q1 results, our view for this year is very prudent; sees business in the US good more volatile than other regions. (Newswires)

Ryanair (RYA ID) - Announced cancellations of over 300 flights due to the French ATC strike on Thursday. (Newswires)

Sabadell (SAB SM) – Q1 (EUR): Net Profit 308mln (exp. 231mln), NII 1.23bln (exp. 1.21bln). (Newswires)

Telecom Italia (TIT IM) – Appoints Chairwoman Albert Figari, Confirms CEO Pietro Labriola; effective immediately. (Newswires)

Tech Names - Meta Platforms (META) and International Business Machines (IBM) shares fell 15.2% and 8.3% respectively post-earnings.

BROKER MOVES

Akzo Nobel (AKZA NA) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs

Pirelli (PIRC IM) reiterated with Hold at HSBC

SMI

Bucher (BUCN SW) – Q1 (CHF): Revenue 853mln (prev. 970mln Y/Y). (Newswires)

Holcim (HOLN SW) – Q1 (CHF): EBIT 532mln (prev. 492mln Y/Y), Net Sales 5.58bln , +3.4% Y/Y. Confirms guidance. (Newswires)

Nestle (NESN SW) Q1 (CHF): Organic Revenue +1.4% (Exp. 2.9%); Revenue 22.1bln (prev. 23.5bln Y/Y). CEO says “We had expected a slow start and see a strong rebound in Q2 with reliable delivery for the remainder of the year.” (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Axfood (AXFO SS) – Q1(SEK): Adj. EPS 2.6, Revenue 20.5bln. (Newswires)

Essity (ESSITYB SS) – Q1 (SEK): Sales 34.8bln (exp. 34.8bln), EPS 3.51. (Newswires)

Equinor (EQNR NO) – Q1 (USD): Revenue 25.1bln (exp. 25bln), Op. Income 7.6bln, Net Income 2.67bln (exp. 2.13bln), Dividend 0.35. The board initiates a second tranche of the share buy-back programme of up to USD 1.6bln. Sees 2024 equity output to be reduced by around 60 MBOE/day due to maintenance. (Newswires)

Kesko (KESKOB FH) – Op. environment is estimated to remain challenging. Op. profit guidance adj. due to a weaker than anticipated outlook for construction in 2024. (Newswires)

Swedbank (SWEDA SS) – Q1 (SEK): NII 12.59bln (exp. 12.79bln), Net Profit 8.4bln (exp. 8.15bln). (Newswires)

Telia (TELIA SS) – Q1 (SEK): Net Income 757mln (exp. 1.04bln), Adj. EBITDA 7.14bln (exp. 7.2bln). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Atlas Copco (ATCOA SS) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Handelsbanken

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.02% at 5,071, NDX +0.32% at 17,527, DJI -0.11% at 38,461, RUT -0.36% at 1,995.

SECTORS: Consumer Staples +0.93%, Utilities +0.59%, Consumer Discretionary +0.5%, Real Estate +0.41%, Energy +0.1%, Materials +0.07%, Technology +0.03%, Communication Services -0.06%, Financials -0.13%, Health -0.25%, Industrials -0.79%.

Boeing (BA) - Cut to Baa3 from Baa2 by Moody's; outlook negative. (Newswires)

Ford Motor Co (F) - Q1 2024 (USD): Adj. EPS 0.49 (exp. 0.42), Revenue 42.8bln (exp. 40.1bln). Co. remains on track to achieve USD 2bln in cost reductions in areas such as materials, freight and manufacturing. Co. guides to high-end of FY24 adj. EBIT USD 10bln-12bln. (Ford IR) CFO says adoption and economics of EVs will remain bumpy for a while - earnings call. (Newswires) Shares rose 2.4% after-market

International Business Machines Corp (IBM) - Q1 2024 (USD): Adj. EPS 1.68 (exp. 1.60), Revenue 14.46bln (exp. 14.55bln). Software revenue: USD 5.90B, +5.5% y/y. Consulting segment revenue: USD 5.19bln, -0.2% y/y. Infrastructure revenue: USD 3.08bln, -0.7% y/y. Financing revenue: USD 193mln, -1.5% y/y. Other revenue: USD 108mln, -36% y/y. Adj. gross margin: 54.7% vs. 53.7% y/y. Free cash flow: USD 1.91bln, +43% y/y. FY GUIDANCE: Still sees free cash flow of about USD 12bln. Still sees constant currency revenue growth consistent with its mid-single-digit model. Co. is said to offer about USD 35/shr for HashiCorp (HCP), according to Bloomberg. (Newswires) Shares fell 8.3% after-market

Meta Platforms Inc (META) - Q1 2024 (USD): EPS 4.71 (exp. 4.32), Revenue 36.46bln (exp. 36.16bln). Q2 24 revenue view 36.5-39bln (exp. 38.38bln). FY24 capex view 35-40bln (exp. 34.73bln), also expects capex to increase in FY25 (exp. 37.73bln). Capex 6.72bln (exp. 8.3bln). Average Family service users per day: 3.24bln, +7.3% y/y, (exp. 3.16bln). BREAKDOWN: Advertising 35.64bln, +27% y/y, (exp. 35.57bln), Family of Apps 36.02bln, +27% y/y, (exp. 35.53bln), Reality Labs 440mln, +30% y/y, (exp. 494.1mln), Other 380mln, +85% y/y, (exp. 300mln). INCOME BREAKDOWN: Family of Apps 17.66bln, +57% y/y, (exp. 17.76bln), Reality Labs -3.85bln, -3.7% y/y, GUIDANCE: Raises FY total expenses view to 96-99bln from 94-99bln (exp. 96.53bln). Cites higher capex plans to support its "ambitious AI research and product development efforts". (Meta) CEO Zuckerberg says the initial roll out of Meta AI is going well and making it available for some English-speaking countries, adds even shifting existing resources to focus on AI, will grow investment meaningfully before we make much revenue. (Newswires) Shares fell 15.2% after-market

25 Apr 2024 - 06:58- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk