(Boursier.com) — THE TREND
The CAC40 continued to rise this morning to 6,562 points but returned to equilibrium around midday around 6,250 points. Investors may have jubilant a little quickly after the surprise announcement of stagnation in consumer prices in July in the United States, against an increase of 0.2% expected. Wall Street accelerated vigorously on Wednesday, counting on a less aggressive posture from the Fed at its next meetings.
Alas, several Federal Reserve officials stepped up to the plate in the following hours, saying that these data, although positive, did not change the posture of the American Central Bank. The American indices could therefore correct today while technology stocks led the dance in the United States yesterday, in the wake of the relaxation of rates on the bond markets…
RISING VALUES
* IIS gains +6% to 51.4 euros. The specialist in the engineering professions achieved during the first quarter of its 2022-2023 financial year a turnover of 238.5 ME, up 27.4%. SII emphasizes that all geographical entities contributed to this positive performance, with the sole exception of Spain, whose comparison base was high. This growth was fueled by an activity rate at its highest for almost three years, a change in the workforce linked to the level of recruitment in the previous financial year and an excellent commercial performance by all the teams. SII confidently confirms the outlook expected for the first half of this year as a whole: double-digit organic revenue growth, now expected to exceed 20% and an operating margin of between 9 and 10%, under subject to an evolution without major change in the health and geopolitical situation.
* The producer of biological biocide Amoeba soared 34% to 0.91 euro, as the group informed the market that the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) had issued a favorable pre-decision following the assessment of the application file of authorization of Willaertia magna C2c Maky as a biocidal active substance in cooling systems. The EPA has concluded that the amoeba Willaertia magna C2c Maky and Biomeba products containing it may be authorized in the territory of the United States for biocidal use in closed cooling systems, for the control of microbial sludge (bioslime) , control of microorganism-induced corrosion and control of general microbial flora in cooling tower waters. Given the final administrative steps necessary for the US EPA to finalize the procedure, the issuance of the authorization for the marketing of the products is expected no later than the end of 2022…
* AXA advance of 0.6% to 24.3 euros. The insurer is progressing in the wake of its Dutch counterpart Aegon, which soared 7.5% in Amsterdam after revising its forecasts upwards. If the group suffered a new net loss in the second quarter, it raised its forecasts for free cash flow and operating capital. The firm is now targeting free cash flow of at least 2.2 billion euros over the period 2021-2023 against a previous range of 1.4 to 1.6 billion euros. As for the generation of operating capital for 2022, it is now expected at 1.4 billion euros against 1.2 billion euros previously.
* Worldline gained 2% to 44.5 euros. The payments specialist, which pleasantly surprised the market in the first half, has the support of JP Morgan, which reiterated its ‘overweight’ opinion on the stock and its target of 59 euros. Analysts are largely positive on the issue since, according to the ‘Bloomberg’ consensus, 21 are for ‘buying’, 2 for ‘holding’ and only 1 for ‘selling’. The average 12-month target is set at 57.39 euros. More generally, the strong rise of the Nasdaq yesterday with the drop in bond yields benefits the technology sector.
* TotalEnergies Takes 2% to 51.6 euros with the help of a barrel of Brent which goes back to more than 98 dollars.
FALLING VALUES
* By far the largest drop in the CAC40, Sanofi drops another 6.6% to 81.9 euros, in the red for the fourth consecutive session. Bad news around the pharmaceutical giant has been piling up in recent days. The group must first deal with the end of recruitment for clinical trials of tolebrutinib, an experimental treatment for certain forms of multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis, following an opinion from the independent monitoring committee data (independent data monitoring committee). The latter requested the suspension of the recruitment of all trials, without specifying the reason for this interruption. On Tuesday, UBS added some fuel to the fire by downgrading the file to ‘neutral’. The Swiss bank sees few major catalysts for the rest of the year and says major pipeline programs such as amcenestrant and tolebrutinib have “recently encountered hurdles.” If the specialist recognizes that the action was perceived favorably in a difficult context in the 2nd quarter, it seems to lack the drive to attract additional buyers, especially as a potential Zantac affair hovers above the company. UBS lowered its target from 118 to 103 euros. It is precisely the sword of Damocles around Zantac that seems to explain most of the current downward pressure on the stock. Sanofi is not the only one concerned since Haleon and GSK are also heckled in Europe on fears of a lawsuit in the United States. Zantac, a heartburn medicine whose active chemical is ranitidine, is suspected of causing increased levels of a probable carcinogen, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA).
* Valneva fell 2% below 10 euros. Valneva expects its total sales to reach €340 million to €360 million in 2022, taking into account the current recovery in sales of traveler’s vaccines, the recognition of revenues related to supply contracts with the European Commission and the United Kingdom, and the addendum to the Advance Purchase Agreement with the European Commission for Valneva’s COVID-19 vaccine. Sales of products from Valneva’s Travel Vaccines franchise are expected to reach 70 million to 80 million euros, while sales of the COVID-19 vaccine are expected to reach 30 million to 40 million euros.