Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 7th May 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks traded mostly higher as participants digested the PBoC's announcement to loosen monetary policy and reports of upcoming US-China talks this week but with the gains capped amid geopolitical escalation between India and Pakistan. ASX 200 eked mild gains as outperformance in the commodity-related sectors was partially offset by losses in healthcare and tech, while the top-weighted financials industry was kept afloat post-NAB earnings. Nikkei 225 was underpinned at the open as Japanese markets reopened from the four-day weekend although momentum waned shortly after in the absence of any major pertinent catalysts for Japan. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were underpinned following reports that the US and China will meet for talks on Saturday involving US Treasury Secretary Bessent, USTR Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, while there was also encouragement from the briefing by Chinese officials where PBoC Governor Pan announced to cut RRR by 50bps and the policy interest rate by 10bps.

Chinese monetary policy - PBoC Governor says world economy is full of uncertainties, adds will resolutely safeguard China's financial stability and says will cut RRR by 50bps and cut the policy interest rate by 10bps. PBoC cuts 7-day reverse repo rate by 10bps to 1.40% effective May 8th and PBoC Governor Pan says China's average RRR level will be cut to 6.2% from 6.6% Says: China will use multiple policy tools to make dynamic adjustments. Will guide commercial banks to lower deposit rates. Will lower interest rates on structural policy tools by 25bps. Will help banks save CNY 15bln-20bln in annual capital costs. Will prepare to roll out tech board on bond markets.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: -0.46 % at 23,238, FTSE 100: +0.01 % at 8,597, CAC 40: -0.40 % at 7,697, Euro Stoxx 50: -0.39 % at 5,263, AEX: -0.10 % at 896, IBEX 35: -0.07 % at 13,509, FTSE MIB: +0.22 % at 38,560, SMI: -0.07 % at 12,224, PSI: +0.13 % at 7,009

SECTORS: Utilities 0.50%, Consumer Stpl 0.42%, Telecoms 0.23%, Consumer Disc 0.09%, Energy 0.00%, Financials -0.01%, Industrials -0.28%, Materials -0.55%, IT -0.97%, Healthcare -1.13%

FTSE 100

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

BT (BT/ LN) downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank

DAX

BMW (BMW GY) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 33.8bln (exp. 35bln), Net 2.17bln (exp. 1.96bln), Automotive EBIT 2.02bln (exp. 1.85bln). 2025: maintain view of an auto EBIT margin of 5-7%, ROCE of 9-13%. (Newswires) Shares +2% in pre-market trade

Fresenius (FRE GY) - Q1 (EUR): EBIT 654mln (exp. 651mln), Revenue 5.63bln (exp 5.61bln). Affirms guidance. (Newswires)

Siemens Healthineers (SHL GY) - Q2 (EUR): Net Income 537mln (exp. 537mln), Revenue 5.91bln (exp. 6.04ln). Sees FY25 EPS 2.20-2.50 (exp. 2.35-2.50). Confirms FY Revenue outlook. Negative net effect of tariffs expected to be around EUR 200-300mln before taxes. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Hensoldt (HAG GY) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 395mln (exp. 405mln, prev. 329mln Y/Y), Order Intake 701mln (prev. 665mln Y/Y). Confirms outlook for 2025. Raises revenue outlook 2030 to EUR 6bln (prev. saw 5bln). (Newswires)

Vonovia (VNA GY) - Q1 (EUR): Adj. EBITDA 698.5mln, +15.1% Y/Y. Notes of a strong start to the year. Confirms FY guidance. Announces that CEO Rolf Buch to step down by end of the year; Luka Mucic to replace. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

AXA (CS FP) - Q1 (EUR): GWP 37bln (Co. consensus 36.3bln), Solvency II Ratio 213% (Co. consensus 217%). Notes that natural catastrophe experience, including estimated losses from California wildfires of EUR 0.1bln, was below prorated annual budget. (Newswires)

LVMH (MC FP) - US President Trump hosted LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault at the White House on Tuesday, amid the luxury brand facing sales pressure due to US tariffs. Around a quarter of LVMH's sales come from the US. Specific decisions or agreements from the meeting were not disclosed.

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Arkema (AKE FP) - Q1 (EUR): Net Income 99mln (exp. 190mln, prev. 138mln Y/Y), Revenue 2.38bln (exp. 2.50bln, prev. 2.34bln Y/Y). Sees limited impact from tariffs. (Newswires)

JCDecaux (DEC FP) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 858mln, +7% Y/Y. Expects low single digit organic growth in Q2'25. (Newswires)

Legrand (LR FP) - Q1 (EUR): Sales 2.28bln, +7.6% Y/Y. Outlook for 2025 confirmed. (Newswires)

Scor (SCR FP) - Q1 (EUR): Net Income 200mln (exp. 120mln). Natural catastrophe claims ratio at 12.5% mainly due to LA wildfires. (Newswires)

Valneva (VLA FP) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 49.2mln (prev. 32.8mln Y/Y). Sees FY25 Revenue 170-180mln (prev. 180-190mln). (Newswires)

Veolia (VIE FP) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 11.5bln (exp. 11.95bln), EBITDA 1.69bln (exp. 1.68bln). Agreement with CDPQ to buys its 30% stake in Water Technologies and Solutions, for USD 1.75bln. Deal to become accretive from 2026. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Geopolitical / India-Pakistan - An Indian missile attack on Pakistan-controlled territory has killed at least 26 civilians and left 46 injured; a Pakistani military spokesman noted there were exchanges of fire with Indian troops at multiple places along the ceasefire line in Kashmir and announced that five Indian aircraft were shot down. (Newswires)

Trade - US Treasury Secretary Bessent confirms he is meeting Chinese team on Saturday in Switzerland, adds we agreed to talk then on Saturday and Sunday we will agree what we're going to talk about. China MOFCOM says Vice Premier He Lifeng will visit Switzerland from May 9th-12th and will visit France from May 12th-16th for economic and financial dialogue. (Newswires)

Ahold Delhaize (AD NA) - Q1 (EUR): Sales 23.3bln (Co. consensus 23.05bln), Op. Income 890mln (Co. consensus 865mln), Op. Margin 4.4% (exp. 4.36%). (Newswires

Arcadis (ARCAD NA) - Q1 (EUR): EBITDA 1111mln (prev .125mln Y/Y), Revenue 972mln (prev. 968mln Y/Y). (Newswires)

BBVA (BBVA SM) / Banco Sabadell (SAB SM) - Received notification from CNMC confirming the approval of economic concentration BBVA and Sabadell. (Newswires)

Endesa (ELE SM) - Q1 (EUR): Net Profit 583mln (exp. 516mln). Progressing to achieve FY guidance. (Newswires)

FinecoBank (FBK IM) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 329.3mln (exp. 323.2mln), NII 161.2mln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

SoftwareOne (SWON SW) - Co. achieved a 90% stake in Crayon at the end of the offer period. Closing of offering exp. to occur in June 2025. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Aker BP (AKRBP NO) - Q1 (USD): Revenue 3.2bln (exp. 3.14bln). FY guidance remains unchanged. (Newswires)

Ambu (AMBUB DC) - Q2 (DKK): Revenue 1.55bln (prev. 1.36bln Y/Y). 2025 guidance maintained. (Newswires)

DNB (DNB NO) - Q1 (NOK): NII 16.41bln (exp. 16.31bln), EPS 7.04 (exp. 6.59). Notes of high activity among "our" customers. (Newswires)

Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) - Q1 (DKK): Sales 78.08bln (exp. 78.27bln), Op. Profit 38.79bln (exp. 37.20bln), EPS 6.53, Net 29.03bln. Sees 2025 Sales Growth 13-21% (prev. saw 16-24%, exp. 18.6%). Not conducting a buyback programme, following the step-up in CAPEX investments in 2025. Sees periodic supply constraints & related drug shortage notifications for some products/areas. Q1: WeGovy Sales 17.36bln (exp. 18.7bln). 2025 Guide: FY outlook cut due to lower-than-planned branded GLP-1 penetration, impacted by the rapid expansion of compounding within the US. Sales Growth 13-21% (prev. saw 16-24%, exp. 18.6%) Operating Profit Growth 16-24% (prev. saw 19-27%). (Newswires)

Pandora (PNDORA DC) - Q1 2025 (DKK): Sales 7.35bln (exp. 7.32bln), EBIT margin 22.3%, EBIT 1.64bln (exp. 1.58bln); maintains 2025 guidance. (Newswires)

Skanska (SKAB SS) - Q1 (SEK): Revenue 42.3bln (exp. 39.62bln). Notes that mixed performance for residential development remains. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Carlsberg (CARLB DC) downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC

US

CLOSES: SPX -0.77% at 5,607, NDX -0.88% at 19,791, DJI -0.95% at 40,829, RUT -1.05% at 1,983

SECTORS: Health -2.76%, Consumer Discretionary -0.85%, Industrials -0.85%, Real Estate -0.69%, Materials -0.66%, Technology -0.63%, Financials -0.52%, Communication Services -0.50%, Consumer Staples -0.17%, Energy +0.10%, Utilities +1.23%.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) - AMD's shares eventually rose 1.8% in extended trading after it beat Q1 expectations with strong data centre growth, but warned of a USD 1.5bln revenue hit in 2025 from AI chip export controls to China. Client sales surged, gaming declined, and AI demand offset macro headwinds. It reported Q1 adj. EPS 0.96 (exp. 0.94), Q1 revenue USD 7.44bln (exp. 7.10bln). Q1 gross margin 50% (prev. 47% Y/Y); Q1 Data Center revenues +57% Y/Y to USD 3.7bln, Q1 Client and Gaming revenue +28% Y/Y to USD 2.9bln, Q1 Client revenue +68% Y/Y to USD 2.3bln. Sees Q2 revenue between USD 7.10-7.70bln (exp. 7.23bln). Exec said key milestones were reached in April to begin chip manufacturing at TSMC's (TSM) new Arizona fab, with initial production expected in H2 2025; said there was strong customer interest in the new MI350 series of AI chips sets the stage for broader deployment in H2.

Electronic Arts (EA) - Shares rose around 5% in extended trading on solid bookings guidance. Q4 EPS 0.98 (exp. 1.07) (note: EPS might not compare), Q4 revenue USD 1.90bln (exp. 1.56bln). Q4 bookings were USD 1.80bln (exp. 1.56bln), and FY25 bookings totalled USD 7.355bln; FY26 bookings are seen between USD 7.6-8.0bln (exp. 7.62bln).

Coty (COTY) - Shares fell 3% in extended trading after a Q3 profit and sales miss, and lower guidance amid tariff uncertainty. Q3 adj. EPS 0.01 (exp. 0.05), Q3 revenue USD 1.299bln (exp. 1.31bln). Sees FY25 EPS between 0.49-0.50, near the low end of its prior guidance range (prev. saw 0.50-0.52). Coty cut FY25 EPS guidance and delayed its investor day, citing weak US demand and tariff uncertainty. FY sales are now expected to decline around 2%, with Q4 like-for-like sales seen down high single digits.

Super Micro Computer (SMCI) - Shares fell by almost 5% in afterhours (having fallen by as much as 12% on the initial release) trading following a Q3 miss along with weak guidance for Q4, as it cites economic uncertainty, tariffs, and delayed AI server demand. It reported Q3 EPS of 0.17 (exp. 0.54), Q3 revenue USD 4.6bln (exp. 5.50bln). Exec said economic uncertainty and tariff impacts may have a short-term impact, adding that some customers delayed making platform decisions in Q3. Lowers outlook; sees Q4 net sales between USD 5.6-6.4bln (exp. 6.82bln), Q4 adj. net income per diluted share between 0.40-0.50 (exp. 0.69); sees FY revenue between 21.8-22.6bln (exp. 23.94bln). Said it expects many of the delayed customer commitments to land in June and September quarters. FY26 outlook was withheld.

Microsoft (MSFT), OpenAI - OpenAI has informed investors that it plans to reduce the revenue share with major backer Microsoft, as part of its restructuring, Reuters reports. The current agreement sees OpenAI sharing 20% of its revenue with Microsoft through 2030, but this will be cut to 10% by the decade's end. Microsoft, in response, has expressed a desire for continued access to OpenAI's technology beyond 2030.

07 May 2025 - 06:57- Geopolitical- Source: Newsquawk