Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 9th February 2024

9th February 2024

ASIA

APAC stocks traded mixed and were mostly subdued in holiday-thinned conditions ahead of the Lunar New Year. ASX 200 was rangebound amid light catalysts, while RBA Governor Bullock reiterated a focus on bringing inflation down but noted that the Board hasn't ruled in or out a further rate hike and even touched upon cuts. Nikkei 225 breached 37,000 for the first time since February 1990 amid a weaker currency and earnings updates. Hang Seng was pressured amid losses in property and tech in a shortened trading session and with mainland participants already away for Chinese New Year celebrations.

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +0.25% at 16,963.83, FTSE 100: -0.44% at 7,595.48, CAC 40: +0.71% at 7,665.63, Euro Stoxx 50: +0.65% at 4,709.25, IBEX 35: +0.17% at 9,905.40, FTSE MIB: +0.28% at 31,064.15, SMI: -0.64% at 11,138.50.

SECTORS: Utilities 1.59%, IT 1.31%, Materials 1.08%, Consumer Disc 0.94%, Healthcare 0.78%, Consumer Stpl 0.60%, Telecoms 0.28%, Industrials -0.27%, Energy -0.32%, Financials -0.39%

FTSE 100

Rio Tinto (RIO LN) - Rio Tinto and BHP (BHP AT) are to partner with BlueScope Steel (BSL AT) to investigate the development of an ironmaking electric smelting furnace pilot plant, according to a joint statement. (Newswires)

UK Stocks - UK Chancellor Hunt says his priority is to bring down the tax burden. (Newswires)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

DAX

Beiersdorf (BEI GY) - Shares seen opening -1.6% following L'Oreal (OR FP) dissapointing Asia sales. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Carl Zeiss (AFX GY) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 475mln (exp. 467mln), EBIT 44.4mln (exp. 39mln), Order Backlog normalised to circa. 315mln. Revenue is expected to grow in line with the market for FY24, with EBIT seen around the prior year's level. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Adidas (ADS GY) initiated with Overweight at Barclays

Nemetschek (NEM GY) downgraded to Reduce from Add at Baader Helvea

CAC

L'Oreal (OR FP) - Q4 2023 (EUR): Sales 10.61bln (exp. 10.89bln), +6.9% (exp. +9.56%). Q4: North Asia comp. sales -6.2%(exp. +7.29%). Europe sales 3.27bln, +11.6%. North America sales 2.84bln, +9.4%. Luxe sales 4.1bln, +0.4% (exp. +4.42%). Consumer product sales 3.7bln, +7.7%. Professional products sales 1.23bln, +6.4%. Dermatological beauty sale 1.5bln, +27.3%. FY23: EPS 12.08 (exp. 13.15), +7.3%. Sales 41.18bln (exp. 44.5bln), +7.3%. Operating margin 19.8%. Op. 8.1bln (exp. 9.08bln, prev. 7.4bln Y/Y). Notes of the stagnating beauty market in China. CEO sees price rises slowing in 2024, expecting industry-wide price rises to fall back to 5% (in line with pre-COVID averages) from 8% in 2023, via FT interview. (FT/Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Air France (AF FP) - Co. is to study the ruling on state aid and will consider if it will lodge an appeal to the EU Court of Justice, via Air France. (Air France)

Ubisoft (UBI FP) - Q3 2023-24 (EUR): Sales 606mln (exp. 697mln, prev. 773mln), Net Bookings 626mln (prev. 727mln). Q4 Net Bookings seen "sharply up", leading to a record annual net bookings figure. Reaffirms FY targets. “Moving forward, we're gearing up for a very promising line-up for fiscal year 2025, including the upcoming release of Star Wars Outlaws' in 2024". Confirms Assassin’s Creed Red will be released between April 2024 and March 2025. (Newswires/ Ubisoft)

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Leonardo (LDO IM) - Affirms FY23 guidance (prev. guidance 15-15.6bln, EBITA 1.26-1.31bln). (Newswires)

MedioBanca (MB IM) - Q2 (EUR): Net 259.9mln (exp. 257.2mln), Revenue 866.9mln (exp. 839.3mln). (Newswires)

Mercedes-Benz (MBG GY) / Stellantis (STLAM IM/STLAP FP) - Automotive Cells Co., a JV led by the Co., is in serious talks to raising EUR 4.4bln in debt to finance its expansion into Europe, according to Bloomberg citing sources. (Bloomberg)

Oil stocks – Crude prices rallied by over 3% yesterday amid concerns of a widening Middle East conflict as Israel and Hamas have yet to come to a ceasefire agreement.

Travel Names - Expedia Group Inc (EXPE) - Q4 2023 (USD): Adj. EPS 1.72 (exp. 1.68), Revenue 2.89bln (exp. 2.88bln). Negative free cash flow USD 415mln (exp. negative USD 192.6mln). (Newswires) Shares -13% after-hours

Verbund (VER AV) - Earnings warning: FY24 forecast is significantly below market expectations. Guides FY24 EBITDA EUR 2.6-3.3bln, Group Result EUR 1.3-1.75bln. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Adyen (ADYEN NA) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at TD Cowen

Solvay (SOLB BB) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Unibail (URW NA) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

SMI

ams OSRAM (AMS SW) - Q4 (EUR): Revenue 908mln (exp. 908mln), adj. EPS -0.03 (exp. 0.03), adj. EBIT 62mln (exp. 21mln), Net -16mln (exp. 14mln). Continues to see weak demand from industrial and medical markets. Expects to exit certain non-core semiconductor businesses with 300-400mln of revenues. (Newswires)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

SCANDINAVIA

Kongsberg Gruppen (KOG NO) - Q4 (NOK): EBITDA 1.3bln (prev. 1.1bln Y/Y), Revenue 11.94bln (exp. 11.21bln). Orders 1.3bln, +141% Y/Y. (Newswires)

Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) - Bloomberg writes that the weight-loss drug Wegovy cannot be widely launched without hampering the performance of its existing best-sellers. To achieve this, the Co. must find a way to ramp up production or curtail the pill's launch, which may allow competitors to develop their own drug. (Bloomberg)

Saab (SAABB SS) – Q4 (SEK): Net 1.25bln (exp. 1.12bln, prev. 1.15bln Y/Y), EBITDA 2.03bln (exp. 2.12bln, prev. 1.88bln Y/Y), Revenue 16.1bln (exp. 15.8bln, prev. 13.9bln Y/Y). Guides initial FY24 Organic Revenue +12-16%, Op. Income “growth higher than organic sales and positive operational cash flow”. Raises medium-term FY23-27 target Op. Revenue CAGR approx. 15% (prev. guidance approx. 10%).

Sweco (SWECB SS) - Q4 (SEK): Revenue 7.7bln (exp. 7.7bln), EBITA 654mln (exp. 775mln), Net 417mln (exp. 542mln), EPS 1.16 (exp. 1.53). (Newswires)

Skanska (SKAB SS) – Q3 (SEK): Op. 1.08bln (prev. 3.5bln Y/Y), Revenue 41.9bln (prev. 40.8bln Y/Y). (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Boliden (BOL SS) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Berenberg

Equinor (EQNR NO) downgraded to Sell from Hold at Danske Bank

Handelsbanken (SHBA SS) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS

Nel (NEL NO) downgraded to Sell from Hold at Danske Bank

Rockwool (ROCKB DC) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Handelsbanken

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.06% at 4,997, NDX +0.16% at 17,783, DJIA +0.13% at 38,726, RUT +1.50% at 1,979.

SECTORS: Energy +1.09%, Real Estate +0.56%, Communication Services +0.39%, Consumer Discretionary +0.29%, Technology +0.14%, Industrials +0.05%, Consumer Staples -0.04%, Health -0.17%, Materials -0.18%, Financials -0.48%, Utilities -0.83%.

Expedia Group Inc (EXPE) - Q4 2023 (USD): Adj. EPS 1.72 (exp. 1.68), Revenue 2.89bln (exp. 2.88bln). Negative free cash flow USD 415mln (exp. negative USD 192.6mln). Gross bookings USD 21.67bln (exp. 22.0bln). Announces CEO transition plan with Ariane Gorin to succeed Peter Kern as CEO. (Newswires) Shares -13% after-hours

Intel (INTC) - Moody's downgraded Intel's ratings to A3 from A2, with its outlook changed to stable from negative. The downgrade reflects its view that Intel's financial profile will remain challenged over the next 12-24 months, and while its competitive position was expected to improve with further progress in its product and manufacturing process improvements, Moody's said gross leverage will remain high and adj. FCF will remain negative as substantial R&D and capital investments will weigh on profitability and cash flow generation.

Motorola Solutions (MSI) - Slipped 2.6% afterhours post-earnings. Q4 adj. EPS 3.90 (exp. 3.63), Q4 revenue USD 2.85bln (exp. 2.82bln). Q4 backlog flat Q/Q. Sees Q1 EPS between 2.50-2.55 (exp. 2.37), and sees Q1 revenue growth of roughly 8% (exp. 6.75%). Sees FY24 adj. EPS between 12.62-12.72 (exp. 12.68), and sees FY24 revenue growth of +6% (exp. 5.7%).

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (TTWO) - Q3 2024 (USD): EPS -0.54, Revenue 1.37bln (exp. 1.34bln); currently working on a significant cost reduction programme across the entire business to maximise margins. Cuts FY24 net bookings view to 5.25-5.3bln (prev. 5.45-5.55bln, exp. 5.48bln). Shares -9% after-hours

09 Feb 2024 - 06:49- Research Sheet- Source: Newsquawk