Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 9th May 2025

ASIA

APAC stocks traded with a positive bias as the region took impetus from the gains stateside, where sentiment was underpinned by trade optimism following the announcement of a UK-US trade agreement framework and President Trump's rhetoric regarding China tariffs. ASX 200 gained as outperformance in tech, financials and energy more than atoned for the slack in mining stocks, while earnings also provided a tailwind after an increase in profits for Macquarie Group. Nikkei 225 returned to above the USD 37,000 level for the first time since late March with the index propelled by recent currency weakness, while the data was mixed as Household Spending topped forecasts, but Labour Cash earnings softened. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were cautious amid the latest Chinese trade data which topped forecast but showed a slowdown in export growth, although downside was limited ahead of US-China talks on Saturday and after recent comments from President Trump who expects tariffs to go down, while the US was also reportedly weighing a plan to slash China tariffs to as low as 50% as soon as next week.

Chinese Data - Chinese Trade Balance USD (Apr) 96.18B vs. Exp. 89.0B (Prev. 102.64B); Imports YY (Apr) -0.2% vs. Exp. -5.9% (Prev. -4.3%); Exports YY (Apr) 8.1% vs. Exp. 1.9% (Prev. 12.4%). (Newswires)

TSMC (2330 TT) - April (TWD): Revenue 349bln (prev. 286bln). YTD: sales 1.19tln,+43.5%. (Newswires)

EUROPEAN CLOSES

CLOSES: DAX: +1.01 % at 23,349, FTSE 100: -0.32 % at 8,532, CAC 40: +0.89 % at 7,694, Euro Stoxx 50: +1.11 % at 5,288, AEX: +0.66 % at 902, IBEX 35: -0.02 % at 13,478, FTSE MIB: +1.71 % at 38,974, SMI: -0.29 % at 12,067, PSI: +0.04 % at 7,024

SECTORS: IT 1.98%, Industrials 1.72%, Consumer Disc 0.93%, Energy 0.86%, Financials 0.85%, Materials 0.68%, Telecoms -0.63%, Consumer Stpl -0.65%, Healthcare -1.73%, Utilities -2.00%

FTSE 100

BP (BP/ LN) - Shell (SHEL LN), TotalEnergies (TTE FP), Chevron (CVX) and Exxon (XOM) have all reportedly run the numbers on a BP takeover, via FT citing sources; in addition to ADNOC while Vitol may be interested in some units of the Co. (FT)

Shell (SHEL LN) - Co's LNG Canada plans first exports as soon as late June, according to Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Haleon (HLN LN) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

DAX

Bechtle (BC8 GY) - Q1 (EUR): EBIT 55.3mln, Revenue 1.46bln, -2.8% Y/Y. Confirms positive outlook. (Newswires)

Commerzbank (CBK GY) - Q1 (EUR): NII 2.07bln (exp. 2.02bln), Revenue 3.07bln (exp. 2.97bln), CET1 Ratio 15.1% (exp. 15%); Sees FY Net Income Guidance 2.4bln (exp. 2.26bln, prev. 2.4bln); buyback application targeted for Q3'25. (Newswires) Shares +1.5% in pre-market trade

Deutsche Bank (DBK GY) - CEO says not changing strategy. (Newswires)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

Fraport (FRA GY) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Oddo

Wolters Kluwer (WKL NA) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS

CAC

Airbus (AIR FP) - IAG (ICAG LN) to order around 30 wide-body jets from Airbus including A330 and A350 models. (Newswires)

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

BROKER MOVES

PAN EUROPE

Trump - US President Trump said, "Better go out and buy stocks now" and commented that the stock market will really rally now. (Newswires)

Trade - US weighs a plan to slash China tariffs to as low as 50% from 145% as soon as next week, according to the New York Post citing sources. US President Trump said China tariffs can't get any higher than 145% and know it's coming down. (New York Post)

Alcohol names - European Commission approves EUR 5bln French scheme to facilitate export of wines and spirits to the US. (Newswires)

BPost (BPOST BB) - Q1 (EUR): EBIT 41.6mln (exp. 59mln), Net Income -5.9mln (exp. 31mln). (Newswires)

BMPS (BMPS IM) - Q1 (EUR): Net Profit 413mln (Co. consensus 341mln), Op. Income 941mn (Co. consensus 958mln). Notes of strong approval at recent shareholder meeting so is proceeding on schedule with its plan to execute its bid for Mediobanca (MB IM). (Newswires)

Campari (CPR IM) - Q1 (EUR): Net Sales 666mln, -4.2% Y/Y. Sees gradual return in medium-term to mid-to-high single digit organic net sales growth trajectory in normalised environment, Sees negative impact from tariffs to be around EUR 25mln on EBIT in 2025. (Newswires)

EDP (EDP PL) - Q1 (EUR): EBITDA 1.42bln (exp. 1.38bln). (Newswires)

Geopolitics - US President Trump posts on Truth "Talks with Russia/Ukraine continue. The U.S. calls for, ideally, a 30-day unconditional ceasefire. Hopefully, an acceptable ceasefire will be observed" and warned of further sanctions. (Newswires)

Enel (ENEL IM) - Q1 (EUR): EBITDA 3bln (prev. 3.2bln Y/Y). Says hopes share buyback to be approved on May 22. (Newswires)

Leonardo (LDO IM) / Rheinmetall (RHM GY) - Leonardo CEO says has filed a bid for Iveco (IVG IM) Defence Business together with Rheinmetall. (Newswires)

Melia Hotels (MEL SM) - Q1 (EUR): Revenue 444.5mln (exp. 458mln), EBITDA 91mln (exp. 92mln). (Newswires)

Mediobanca (MB IM) - Q3 (EUR): NII 497.1mln (Co. consensus 496mln), Net Profit 334mln (Co. consensus 304mln). Confirms FY guidance. Risks linked to BMPS's (BMPS IM) bid would be further amplified with combination Mediobanca-Generali. Notes that share buyback decision to be disclosed by end-June 2025. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

SMI

Sonovo (SOON SW) - FY24/25 (CHF): Adj. EBITDA 807.8mln (prev. 771.4mln Y/Y), Revenue 3.87bln (prev. 3.63bln Y/Y). Appoints Eric Bernard as CEO, effective October 1. (Newswires)

UBS (UBSG SW) - Co. is in talks to sell Hedge Fund O'Connor to Cantor Fitzgerald, Bloomberg reports. (Bloomberg)

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Swisscom (SCMN SW) - Q1 (CHF): Net Income 367mln, -19.3% Y/Y. Confirms FY outlook. (Newswires)

Lonza (LONN SW) - Q1 DMO performance "strong", in line with expectations. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

Barry Callebaut (BARN SW) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi

SCANDINAVIA

Aker (AKER NO) - Q1 NOK): Pretax Profit 741mln (prev. 1.4bln Y/Y). (Newswires)

Bavarian Nordic (BAVAB DC) - Q1 (DKK): Revenue 1.34bln (exp. 940mln), EBITDA 420mln (exp. 127mln). Outlook: FY Revenue 5.7-6.7bln. (Newswires)

Zealand Pharma (ZEAL DC) - Announces closing of collaboration and licensing agreement with Roche. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

US

CLOSES: SPX +0.58% at 5,664, NDX +0.98% at 20,064, DJI +0.62% at 41,368, RUT +1.85% at 2,026

SECTORS: Health -0.91%, Utilities -0.86%, Real Estate -0.54%, Consumer Staples -0.49%, Communication Services +0.60%, Financials +0.71%, Technology +0.85%, Materials +1.20%, Energy +1.26%, Industrials +1.34%, Consumer Discretionary +1.35%.

Affirm Holdings (AFRM) - Stock fell over 8% afterhours on soft Q4 guidance. It reported Q3 EPS of 0.01 (exp. -0.01), Q3 revenue USD 783mln (exp. 783mln). Q3 GMV +36% Y/Y, and exec said its card product and 0% loan usage saw growth, despite macro pressure on lower-income consumer spending. Sees Q4 revenue between USD 815-845mln (exp. 841.6mln), and sees FY25 revenue between USD 3.163-3.193bln (exp. 3.18bln).

Coinbase (COIN) - COIN fell after hours on mixed results. Q1 adj. EPS 1.94 (exp. 2.04), revenue USD 2.03bln (exp. 2.09bln). Q1 transaction revenue USD 1.3bln, subs/services nearly USD 700mln. April transaction revenue USD 240mln. Sees Q2 subs/services revenue between USD 600–680mln.

Cloudflare (NET) - Q1 adj. EPS 0.16 (exp. 0.16), Q1 revenue USD 479.1mln (exp. 469.7mln). CEO highlighted strong Q1 results, including the largest contract in Cloudflare's history, driven by the Workers platform. For Q2, expects adj. EPS of 0.18 (exp. 0.19) and revenue between USD 500-501mln (exp. 502mln). For FY25, reiterates adj. EPS view of 0.79-0.80 (exp. 0.80), and revenue of USD 2.09-2.094bln (exp. 2.1bln).

Illumina (ILMN) - Q1 adj. EPS 0.97 (exp. 0.94), Q1 revenue USD 1.04bln (exp. 1.04bln). CEO highlighted strong Q1 performance, but noted a weakened outlook due to policy and geopolitical developments. For FY25, Illumina lowered its adj. EPS view to 4.20-4.30 (from 4.50, exp. 4.46) and expects Core Illumina revenue to decline by -1% to -3% on a constant currency basis. Revenue outside Greater China is expected to grow by +0-2%.

Lyft (LYFT) - Lyft shares surged by 7% in afterhours trading following a boost to its share buyback programme. Reported Q1 EPS of 0.01 (exp. -0.02), Q1 revenue USD 1.5bln (exp. 1.46bln); Q1 gross bookings +13% Y/Y to USD 4.2bln, with rides up 16% Y/Y to 218.4mln. Lyft increased its share buyback program to USD 750mln, with USD 500mln to be used in 12 months. For Q2, Lyft expects gross bookings between USD 4.41-4.57bln, and adj. EBITDA between USD 115-130mln; Q2 rides growth seen in the mid-teens Y/Y.

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