Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 8th May 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks were mostly higher amid some trade optimism and following the mildly positive handover from Wall St where price action was choppy in the aftermath of the FOMC meeting as the Fed kept the FFR at 4.25-4.50%, as expected, and noted that risks to the economic outlook increased further, while Fed Chair Powell reiterated a wait-and-see approach and ruled out a pre-emptive cut during the presser. ASX 200 marginally gained amid strength in gold miners, industrials and tech but with the upside capped by weakness in the top-weighted financial sector after Big 4 bank ANZ's earnings. Nikkei 225 was underpinned by recent currency weakness and trade deal optimism, although a return to the 37,000 level remained elusive. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp remained positive following the previous day's PBoC's policy loosening, but with further upside in the mainland limited after recent comments from US President Trump, who was unwilling to lower tariffs to get China to the table.

Toyota (7203 JT) - FY24/25 net fell 3.6% Y/Y to 4.77tln, rev. 48.0tln (prev. 45.1tln Y/Y), sees FY25/26 net to decline 34.9% Y/Y to 3.1tln

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: -0.57 % at 23,118, FTSE 100: -0.44 % at 8,559, CAC 40: -0.91 % at 7,627, Euro Stoxx 50: -0.59 % at 5,233, AEX: +0.05 % at 896, IBEX 35: -0.37 % at 13,480, FTSE MIB: -0.62 % at 38,320, SMI: -0.80 % at 12,127, PSI: +0.19 % at 7,022.

SECTORS: IT 0.06%, Utilities -0.01%, Consumer Stpl -0.03%, Financials -0.15%, Telecoms -0.15%, Materials -0.29%, Industrials -0.67%, Energy -0.71%, Consumer Disc -0.94%, Healthcare -1.58%

FTSE 100

Airtel Africa (AAF LN) - FY (USD): Revenue 4.95bln, (prev. 4.98bln Y/Y). Anticipate a listing event for Airtel Money IPO in H1'26. (Newswires)

Ex-dividends - Relx (REL LN), HSBC (HSBA LN) will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend payouts. (Newswires)

Flutter Entertainment (FLTR LN) - Q1 (USD): EPS 1.59 (exp. 1.89), revenue USD 3.67bln (exp. USD 3.84bln); average monthly players +8%. Exec said miss was due to customer-friendly March Madness results. Flutter lowered its FY US guidance, but raised its global outlook due to currency effects and acquisitions. CEO expects stable customer spending despite broader economic concerns.

Shell (SHEL LN) - Co. reported planned maintenance at Sarina site. (Newswires)

UK-US Trade - US President Trump posts on Truth "Big News Conference tomorrow morning at 10:00 A.M., The Oval Office, concerning a MAJOR TRADE DEAL WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF A BIG, AND HIGHLY RESPECTED, COUNTRY. THE FIRST OF MANY!!!". (Truth)

UK Housing - UK RICS Housing Survey (Apr) -3.0 vs. Exp. -5.0 (Prev. 2.0)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Deliveroo (ROO LN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

Deliveroo (ROO LN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC

Weir (WEIR LN) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS

DAX

Henkel (HEN3 GY) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 5.2bln (prev. 5.32bln Y/Y). (Newswires)

Infineon (IFX GY) - Q2 (EUR): Revenue 3.59bln (exp. 3.61bln), Adj. EPS 0.34 (exp. 0.35); now sees 2025 rev. slightly lower Y/Y due to tariff impact. Q3 Outlook: Revenue 3.7bln (exp. 3.61bln). CEO says still sees strength in China's auto market, via Bloomberg (Newswires/Bloomberg)

Rheinmetall (RHM GY) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 2.3bln (exp. 2.04bln), Basic EPS 1.92 (prev. 1.13 Y/Y). Confirms 2025 annual forecast and sees further upside potential. Notes that demand in defence business remains high and market situation continue to gain momentum. Sees the possibility to adjust guidance if expected increase in demand due to the latest geopolitical development materialises. (Newswires)

Siemens Energy (ENR GY) - Q2 (EUR): Net Profit 502mln (exp. 217mln). Expects profit hit of less than EUR 100mln due to US tariffs in H2. Notes that order backlog reached new record high. (Newswires) Shares +2.2% in pre-market trade

Qiagen (QIA GY) - Q1 (USD): Sales 483mln (exp. 507mln). Reaffirms 2025 outlook. Co. will seek shareholder approval to initiate a dividend and new USD 500mln repurchase. Supervisory Board intends to elect Stephen Rusckowski as Chairman, succeeding Lawrence Rosen after the company's AGM on June 26th. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Aurubis (NDA GY) - H1 (EUR): EBIT 229mln (prev. 243mln Y/Y). Affirms guidance. (Newswires)

GEA (G1A GY) - Q1 (EUR): Adj. EBITDA 198.2mln (prev. 180.5mln Y/Y), Revenue 1.26bln (exp. 1.27bln). Affirms guidance. (Newswires)

Heidelberg Materials (HEI GY) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 4.71bln (exp. 4.71bln). Confirms 2025 forecast. Dividend of EUR 3.30 (prev. EUR 3.00). Next tranche of share buyback program to start in Q2. Sees demand in construction sector to increasingly stabilise at low level. (Newswires)

Lanxess (LXS GY) - Q1 (EUR): Sales 1.6bln (exp. 1.61bln), EBITDA 133mln, +32% Y/Y. Confirms FY guidance. FY Outlook: EBITDA 600-650mln. Sales of Urethane Systems Business completed. Expects Q2 earnings to decline primarily due to earnings contribution from the Urethane Systems unit will not be included. (Newswires)

Thyssenkrupp (TKA GY) - Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems receives order extension for two additional submarines from Singapore; increases total order book to around EUR 16bln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - Numbers (April): Deliveries 56, -8% Y/Y, Gross orders 11. 2025 to date: Deliveries 192 Gross aircraft orders 291 Net aircraft orders 215. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Amadeus (AMS SM) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 1.63bln (exp. 1.65bln), EBITDA 628.3mln (exp. 633.2mln). Outlook unchanged. (Newswires)

argenx (ARGX BB) - Q1 (USD): Op. Profit 138.9mln (exp. 140mln). (Newswires)

AB InBev (ABI BB) - Q1 (USD): Underlying EPS 0.81 (exp. 0.77), Revenue 14.5bln (exp. 13.9bln), Organic Adj. EBITDA +7.9% (exp. +3.68%). Still sees FY Organic Adj. EBITDA +4-8%. Notes that performance impacted by soft industry footprint in China. (Newswires)

Bper Banca (BPE IM) - Q1 (EUR): NII 811.9mln (prev. 843.62mln Y/Y), Net Income 442.9mln, CET1 Ratio 15.8%. (Newswires)

Chip Names - US President Trump to rescind global chip curbs amid AI restrictions debate, according to sources cited by Bloomberg "The Trump administration will not enforce the so-called AI diffusion rule when it takes effect on May 15, and instead plans to develop a new rule that would strengthen the control of chips abroad." "The Commerce Department will continue to strictly enforce chip export curbs while it develops a new rule, the people said". "One element of the move to repeal the diffusion rule will be to impose chip controls on countries that have diverted chips to China, including Malaysia and Thailand, one of the people said". (Newswires)

EDPR (EDPR LN) - Q1 (EUR): EBITDA 476mln (exp. 465.5mln), Net Profit 52mln (exp. 54.8mln). (Newswires)

Iberdrola (IBE SM) - The UK's National Wealth Fund is looking to invest more than GBP 600mln in the region's energy grid; the funding will go to Iberdrola though its ScottishPower unit, via Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

Sabadell (SAB SM) - Q1 (EUR): Net Income 489mln (exp. 412.6mln), NII 1.56bln (exp. 1.23bln). On track to meet guidance. Lifts shareholder payout targets for 2024 and 2025, in an attempt to resist takeover interest from BBVA (BBVA SM). (Newswires)

Prysmian (PRY IM) - Q1 (EUR): Sales 4.77bln (exp. 4.58bln), Adj. EBITDA 527mln (exp. 510mln). Confirms FY25 outlook. (Newswires)

Trade - US President Trump says not open to pulling back 145% tariffs China should reassess who asked for a meeting. Might be easing chip policy to the Gulf. Will take a look at exemptions; don't know on tariffs exemptions. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Endesa (ELE SM) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Oddo

Endesa (ELE SM) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

SMI

Zurich Insurance (ZURN SW) - P&C Insurance Revenue 10.75bln, +5% Y/Y. GWP 13.32bln, +5.5% Y/Y. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Swatch (UHR SW) - Investor Steven Wood has criticised that the Co. is being run for just majority shareholder the Hayek family. Calling for a seat on the board. (FT)

VAT (VACN SW) - Q1 (CHF): Op. Income 133.5mln (exp. 133.6mln). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Zealand Pharma (ZEAL DC) - Q1 (DKK): Revenue 8.1mln (prev. 15.1mln Y/Y). Confirms 2025 guidance. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.43% at 5,631, NDX +0.39% at 19,868, DJI +0.70% at 41,114, RUT +0.33% at 1,990

SECTORS: Communication Services -1.84%, Materials -0.50%, Real Estate -0.02%, Energy +0.08%, Consumer Staples +0.20%, Utilities +0.29%, Industrials +0.51%, Financials +0.62%, Health +0.81%, Technology +0.91%, Consumer Discretionary +1.02%.

Arm Holdings (ARM) - Arm posted record Q4 revenue, surpassing USD 1bln for the first time, with royalty revenue over USD 600mln. FY25 revenue topped USD 4bln, with royalties exceeding USD 2bln, driven by growth across all key markets. Q4 adj. EPS 0.55 (exp. 0.52), Q4 revenue USD 1.24bln (exp. 1.23bln). However, Q1 guidance underwhelmed; sees Q1 adj. EPS between 0.30-0.38 (exp. 0.42), and sees Q1 revenue between USD 1.0-1.1bln (exp. 1.1bln).

Meta Platforms (META) - Meta is developing facial recognition technology for its smart glasses, having initially abandoned it for the first version, The Information reports. The company is now working on wearables capable of scanning and identifying nearby faces, potentially incorporating this feature into future AI-powered earphones with built-in cameras.

08 May 2025 - 06:59- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk