Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 30th January 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks were ultimately mixed amid the ongoing mass closures in the region and after the choppy performance stateside in reaction to the FOMC, while the first earnings results from the magnificent 7 stocks were also varied. ASX 200 climbed to a fresh record high amid broad strength across sectors and further calls for a February RBA rate cut with NAB joining the rest of Australia's big 4 banks in forecasting a cut next month. Nikkei 225 swung between gains and losses amid earnings releases and as the index largely shrugged off a firmer currency.

SoftBank (9984 JT) - Is reportedly in talks to invest USD 15bln-25bln directly into OpenAI on top of its commitment of over USD 15bln to Stargate, according to FT. (FT)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.90% at 21,623, FTSE 100: +0.28% at 8,558, CAC 40: -0.32% at 7,872, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.67% at 5,231, AEX: +0.73% at 905, IBEX 35: +0.99% at 12,275, FTSE MIB: +0.62% at 36,372, SMI: +0.50% at 12,533, PSI: +0.62% at 6,531.

SECTORS: IT 2.69%, Telecoms 1.89%, Industrials 1.02%, Financials 0.73%, Energy 0.28%, Utilities 0.28%, Healthcare 0.17%, Materials -0.15%, Consumer Disc -0.51%, Consumer Stpl -0.62%

FTSE 100

Shell (SHEL LN) - Co. increases interest in Scotford upgraded and quest ccs facility and fully exist oil sands. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Metro Bank (MTRO LN) - Co. is in early talks to sell its performing consumer loan portfolio. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Deutsche Bank (DBK GY)- Q4 (EUR): Revenue 7.22bln (exp. 7.18bln), FIC & Trading Revenue 1.90bln (exp. 1.77bln), Pretax Profit 583mln (exp. 1.1bln). Received supervisory authorisation for further share repurchases of EUR 750mln so far in 2025. Expects provision for credit losses to moderate from 2024 levels, expects to reduce non-interest expenses. Reaffirms target for ROTE above 10% in 2025. Announces plan for EUR 2.1bln in further capital distributions to shareholders in 2025. Shares -3.3% in pre-market trade.

Deutsche Lufthansa (LHA GY) - Co. has signed an agreement to receive a convertible share representing a 10% stake of Latvian state airline AirBaltic. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Hapag Lloyd (HLAG GY) - FY (USD): Revenue 20.7bln (exp. 18.85bln), EBIT 2.8bln (exp. 2.5bln), EBITDA 5bln (exp. 4.5bln)

Thyssenkrupp (TKA GY) - Germany approves guarantees for Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems to secure Argentine submarine deal, via Reuters citing sources. (Reuters)

DWS (DWS GY) - FY (EUR): Adj. Revenue 2.74bln, +6% Y/Y, PBT 957mln, +23% Y/Y. Outlook 2025: Reported revenue exp. to be higher vs 2024. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Renault (RNO FP) - Co. execs have travelled to Japan to maximise value of Nissan shares ahead of its merger with Honda, via Reuters citing sources. (Reuters)

Sanofi (SAN FP) - Q4 (EUR): EPS 0.54 (exp. 0.70), Revenue 10.56bln (exp. 10.79bln); plans a EUR 5bln share buyback for 2025. Intends to sell a controlling stake in Opella consumer health an attractive valuation; closing in Q2'25 at the earliest. Guides initial FY25 rev. mid-to-high single-digit percentage growth at CER. (Newswires)

STMicroelectronics (STM FP) - Q4 (USD): Revenue 3.32bln (exp. 3.30bln), Op Income 369mln (exp. 342.2mln), EPS 0.37 (exp. 0.35); guides Q1 Revenue 2.51bln (exp. 2.73bln). Start of the company-wide program to resize global cost base; expects annual cost savings of 300-360mln exiting 2027 vs 2024. FY25: Intend to invest 2.0-2.3bln in Net Capex. Q1 Guidance: Gross Margin 33.8%, impacted by 500bps from unused capacity charges. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Eurofins Scientific (ERF FP) - FY (EUR): Revenue 6.95bln (exp. 6.97bln), Adj. Net Income 687mln (exp. 612.6mln). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

BBVA (BBVA SM) - FY (EUR) net income 10.58bln (exp. 9.65bln), NII 25.3bln (exp. 24.9bln), Q4 net 2.43bln (exp. 2.25bln), NII 6.41bln (exp. 5.97bln), board approves EUR 993mln share buyback. (Newswires)

Caixabank (CABK SM) - Q4 (EUR): NII 2.74bln (exp. 2.71bln), Net Income 1.53bln (exp. 1.40bln). 2025: Sees NII down mid-single digit. Sees FY24 ROTE about 15%. (Newswires)

KPN (KPN NA) - Q4 (EUR): Net Income 215mln (exp. 222mln), adj. Revenue 1.45bln (exp. 1.44bln); announces a new share buyback EUR 250mln. (Newswires)

Generali (G IM) - Targets FY25-27 EPS CAGR of 8-10%. To launch EUR 500mln buyback in 2025. (Newswires)

Telefonica (TEF SM) - Telefonica Brasil proposes reverse stock split in the proportion of 40:1 followed by 1:80 stock split. (Newswires)

Mediobanca (MB IM) - Acquired 438k shares for EUR 6.96mln in a buyback program. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

ABB (ABBN SW) - Q4 (USD): EPS 0.54 (prev. 0.50 Y/Y), Revenue 8.59bln (exp. 7.39bln). Q1 Outlook: Anticipates comparable rev. growth in mid-single digit range. Intends to launch a new share buyback program of up to USD 1.5bln. (Newswires)

Roche (ROG SW) - FY (CHF): 2024 guidance exceeded - Revenue 60.5bln (exp. 60.96bln), Pharma. division 46.2bln (prev. 44.3bln), Diagnostics 14.3bln (prev. 14.5bln), Core EPS 18.80 (exp. 18.70), Net Income 9.2bln (exp. 14.5bln). 2024: Core earnings per share exceeded the guidance raised at half year. Q4: Revenue 15.5bln (exp. 15.1bln). Sees FY25 sales increase in mid-single digit range. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Swatch (UHR SW) - FY (CHF): Operating profit 304mln (exp. 557.5mln), Sales 6.7bln (exp. 6.9bln), Net Income 219mln (exp. 378mln). Dividend of 0.90/shr (prev. 1.30/shr). 2025 Guidance: Positive sales development is expected, based on a strong December ex-China; improvements also seen in operating result and cash flow. Demand in China will continue to be rather restrained. The expectation is that the habits and behaviour of Chinese consumers will continue to change, which will open up plenty of new opportunities for the strongly positioned brands. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Logitech (LOGN SW) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Kepler

SCANDINAVIA

Ambu (AMBUB DC) - Q1 (DKK) Revenue 1.5bln (prev. 1.25bln Y/Y). (Newswires)

Intrum (INTRUM SS) - Q4 (SEK): Net Income 4.82bln (exp. 4.85bln). No intention to propose dividend. (Newswires)

Nokia (NOKIA FH) - Q4 (EUR): EPS 0.18 (exp. 0.13), Revenue 5.98bln (exp. 5.74bln). Expects comparable op. profit between EUR 1.9-2.4bln in 2025. Proposes increasing dividend to EUR 0.14. (Newswires)

Nordea (NDA FH) - Q4 (EUR): Net Profit 1.12bln (exp. 1.13bln), Op. Profit 1.46bln (exp. 1.50bln). There are signs that economic activity is picking up. Demand for new loan promises increased, indicating that housing markets are improving. (Newswires)

Telia (TELIA SS) - Q4 (SEK): Revenue 23.7bln (prev. 23.1bln Y/Y). Outlook for 2025 is unchanged. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.47% at 6,039, NDX -0.24% at 21,411, DJIA -0.31% at 44,714, RUT -0.25% at 2,283

SECTORS: Real Estate -1.19%, Technology -1.09%, Health -0.57%, Consumer Discretionary -0.5%, Industrials -0.38%, Materials -0.2%, Financials -0.03%, Energy +0.17%, Utilities +0.19%, Consumer Staples +0.26%, Communication Services +0.31%.

American Airlines (AAL) - Ronald Reagan National Airport says all take-offs and landings halted and emergency personnel responding to aircraft incident, while DC Fire Dept says there was a confirmed small aircraft down in Potomac River vicinity of Reagan National Airport. White House Press Secretary says it appears that a military helicopter collided with a regional jet, while there are many agencies working on the response to save as many lives as possible. (Newswires)

International Business Machines (IBM) - IBM's Q4 earnings and revenue exceeded expectations, with shares rising 9% in extended trading; Software revenue grew 10%, driven by AI and Red Hat, while consulting revenue fell 2%, and it sees +5% annual growth in FY25. It reported Q4 EPS of 3.92 (exp. 3.75), Q4 revenue of USD 17.54bln (exp. 17.54bln); Software revenue +10% Y/Y to USD 7.92bln (exp. 7.95bln), Consulting revenue -2% Y/Y to USD 5.18bln (exp. 5.27bln), Infrastructure revenue -7.6% Y/Y to USD 4.26bln (exp. 4.13bln). It's Q4 adj. gross margin rose to 60.6% from 60.1% Y/Y (exp. 60.5%), while FCF rose +1.2% Y/Y to USD 6.16bln (exp. 5.63bln). For the FY, it sees revenue growth of at least +5% (exp. +4.81%), and sees FCF at around USD 13.5bln (exp. 12.92bln).

Lam Research (LRCX) - Shares rose in extended trading following a Q4 profit beat, and solid guidance for Q1. It reported Q4 adj. EPS 0.91 (exp. 0.88), Q4 revenue USD 4.285bln (exp. 4.31bln). Q4 systems revenue USD 2.63bln (exp. USD 2.6bln), customer support-related revenue USD 1.75bln (exp. USD 1.72bln). It reported a Q4 adj. gross margin of 47.5% (exp. 47.1%), and an adj. operating margin of 30.7% (exp. 30.1%). Q4 capex was USD 188.3mln (exp. USD 111.6mln). It sees Q1 revenue between USD 4.35-4.95bln (exp. 4.339bln), and sees Q3 adj. EPS between 0.90-1.10 (exp. 0.88). Elsewhere, it said that its Aether dry photoresist technology has been adopted by a leading memory manufacturer for advanced DRAM production, enhancing Extreme Ultraviolet lithography by improving resolution, yield, and cost efficiency while reducing defects.

Levi Strauss & Co (LEVI) - Shares slipped almost 8% afterhours despite it beating earnings estimates; traders noted that it sees sales declining due to currency effects, one fewer fiscal week, as well as divestitures. Q4 adj. EPS 0.50 (exp. 0.48), Q4 revenue USD 1.84bln (exp. 1.73bln). Q4 Americas revenue USD 995mln (exp. 924.7mln), Europe USD 434mln (exp. 407.5mln), Asia USD 286mln (exp. 277.2mln). Exec said it delivered a strong Q4 and holiday season, positioning it well into 2025. Sees FY adj. EPS between 1.20-1.25 (exp. 1.37), and sees guides net revenue growth of -1% to -2%. Exec said it will focus on direct-to-consumer growth, women's apparel, and higher-margin sales.

Meta Platforms (META) - Meta's shares rose in afterhours trading following an earnings and revenue beat, with Q4 sales up 21% and net income rising 49%. Meta AI's userbase reached 700mln monthly users. Threads has more than 320mln monthly active users; WhatsApp has more than 100mln monthly active users in the US, and Facebook is used by more than 3bln monthly active users. It reported Q4 EPS of 8.02 (exp. 6.77), Q4 revenue of USD 48.39bln (exp. 47.03bln). Q4 advertising sales USD 46.78bln (exp. 45.65bln), family of apps revenue USD 47.30bln (exp. 46.08bln). Sees Q1 revenue between USD 39.5bln-41.8bln (exp. 41.67bln), and said it sees opportunities for strong sales growth throughout 2025. The majority of its 2025 capex will be directed towards its core business. It added that it sees FY depreciation expenses about USD 2.9bln less than it previously did. FY25 capex is expected to be between USD 60-65bln; It expects capex growth will be driven by increased investment to support both our generative AI efforts and core business; the majority of capex will continue to be directed to its core business. It sees FY25 total expenses are seen between USD 114-119bln; it expects the single largest driver of expense growth will be infrastructure costs, driven by higher operating expenses and depreciation. On DeepSeek, exec said it was too early to have a strong view on what it means for the trajectory of infrastructure and capital expenditure. Does not expect AI Engineer to be widely deployed and publicly released, but 2025 is the year it starts to become possible. Ahead, it will launch a new app, Edits, in the coming weeks that will provide a suite of creative tools for Reels. It does not expect ads on Threads to be a meaningful driver of revenue growth in 2025. It added that more than 4mln advertisers are now using at least one of Meta's generative AI ad creative tools. Separately, WSJ reports that Meta has agreed to pay USD 25mln to settle a 2021 lawsuit from President Trump, with USD 22mln allocated to his presidential library fund, while denying any wrongdoing; the settlement was signed by Trump in the Oval Office.

Microsoft (MSFT) - Shares fell in afterhours trading following its results, where it reported disappointing Azure growth forecasts, higher-than-expected capex, and concerns over competition from cheaper Chinese AI models, raising investor fears of a price war and delayed returns on substantial AI investments. It reported Q2 EPS 3.23 (exp. 3.11), Q2 revenue USD 69.6bln (exp. 68.78bln). Q2 Azure and other cloud services revenue growth of 31% (exp. 31.8%); Q2 cloud revenue USD 40.9bln (exp. 41.1bln); Q2 Intelligent Cloud USD 25.5bln (exp. 25.74bln); Q2 More Personal Computing USD 14.7bln (exp. 14.13bln). Q2 Capital expenditure: 15.80bln (exp. 15.64bln). It sees Q3 revenue between USD 67.7bln-68.7bln (exp. 69.68bln), Q3 Azure & Other Cloud Services revenue growth between 31-32%, Q3 operating expenses between USD 16.4bln-16.5bln (exp. 17.23bln), Q3 cost of revenue between USD 21.65bln-21.85bln (exp. 22.14bln); by segment, it sees Q3 Intelligent Cloud revenue between USD 25.9-26.2bln, Q3 More Personal Computing revenue between USD 12.4-12.8bln, Q3 Productivity and Business Processes revenue between USD 29.4-29.7bln, sees Q3 Azure revenue growth of 31-32%, and sees Q3 capex at similar levels to Q2. FY revenue expected to grow double digits. For the FY26, sees capex growth lower than FY25 levels, but expects capex to boost in coming years. Elsewhere, Microsoft said it was seeing significant efficiency gains in AI, and strong demand for its Cloud and AI offerings in Q2. It is energised about opportunities ahead, and remains happy with partnership with OpenAI, noting that rival DeepSeek has some real innovations.

NVIDIA (NVDA) - US President Trump officials discuss tightening curbs on Nvidia (NVDA) China sales, according to Bloomberg; any curbs would likely be long way off as new team sets goals and officials held early talks about restricting Nvidia’s H20 chip. (Bloomberg)

ServiceNow (NOW) - Shares fell over 8% in extended trading after it forecast slightly slower growth, and subscription revenue growth of up to 19% for the year ahead; its numbers for Q4 were marked by 21% revenue growth and a 12% increase in customer numbers, while it sees AI's potential offering significant upside. It reported Q4 adj. EPS 3.67 (exp. 3.67), Q4 revenue USD 2.96bln (exp. 2.96bln); has added USD 3bln to its share buyback programme. Q4 RPO were USD 22.3bln, representing +23% Y/Y growth. It now has nearly 500 customers with more than USD 5mln in ACV, representing +21% Y/Y. Sees Q1 subscription revenue view up 19.5%-20.0% (exp. 20.8%), sees a Q1 operating margin of 30% (exp. 30.3%), and Q1 cRPO +20.5%; Sees FY25 subscription revenue growth +19.5-20.0%, FY25 operating margin of 30.5% (exp. 30.5%). Guidance for 2025 assumes a more pronounced H2 weighted linearity in the US Federal business, due to seasonality from the change in presidential administration. It also said that it will begin shifting more of its business model to include elements of consumption-based monetisation, forgoing upfront incremental new subscriptions.

Tesla (TSLA) - Q4 earnings and revenue missed expectations, and its vehicle sales profit margin narrowed; while shares initially slipped on the release, they rebounded as investors focussed on the automaker's plans to launch cheaper EVs in early 2025 and test autonomous vehicles in June, as well as cost-cutting measures and future self-driving prospects. It reported Q4 adj. EPS 0.73 (exp. 0.75), Q4 revenue USD 25.71bln (exp. 27.21bln); Q4 FCF USD 2.03bln (exp. 1.75bln), Q4 Gross margin 16.3% (exp. 18.9%), Q4 capex USD 2.78B (exp. 2.72B). It noted less cost reductions than previously expected regarding its manufacturing lines. Exec said FSD continues to “rapidly improve” and it continues to work on launching FSD in Europe and China in 2025. Its new product approach should help enable more than 60% growth over 2024 production before investing in new manufacturing lines. It also noted that progress on Optimus hardware and software continued in Q4, including the latest generation hand, robust locomotion and training on additional tasks, ahead of planned pilot production in 2025. The Robotaxi product Cybercab will continue to pursue an "unboxed" manufacturing strategy, is scheduled for volume production starting in 2026; it expects Cybertruck Eligible for IRA Consumer Tax Credit. Achieved Record Deliveries in China in Q4. New vehicles remain on track for output start in H1 25. Model Y expected to once again be the best-selling vehicle of any kind, globally for FY24.

30 Jan 2025 - 06:58- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk