THE TREND
(Boursier.com) — The CAC40 remains stuck around 7,950 points this Wednesday (-0.1% at the end of the morning) even if the rankings are marked by a violent drop in the Teleperformance call center group.
Investors are especially awaiting the publication of PCE inflation in the United States tomorrow and inflation in the euro zone on Friday, which could force the markets to revise their monetary easing scenarios… Between now and these two meetings , a wait-and-see attitude seems likely to prevail on the Parisian market which remains just below its recent records.
Over the past week, the Parisian index has broken its closing record every day, peaking at 7,966.68 points on Friday, also beating its historic record during each session. The last one, Friday, was set at 7,976.40 points.
Quoting…
RISING VALUES
* Interparfums gains almost 10% to 54.5 euros. The sharp increase in sales volumes as well as continued sustained investments in marketing and advertising, for an amount of 177 ME, or 22% of sales, combined with the recurring control of fixed costs, contributed to a strong increase in profit. current operating income which exceeds 160 ME in 2023, up 16%. The current operating margin thus reached 20%.
* Down this morning, Atos goes back slightly into the green at 2.33 euros. The group noted the end of discussions with the company EP Equity Investment (EPEI) of Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky regarding the proposed sale of its Tech Foundations division. “As part of the exclusive negotiations with EP Equity Investment for the sale of Tech Foundations announced on August 1, 2023, the parties did not reach a satisfactory mutual agreement,” explained Atos management. The two parties therefore “ended by mutual agreement the discussions as well as the put agreement, without any compensation from either side”. At the beginning of August 2023, the IT group announced the opening of discussions with Daniel Kretinsky for the takeover of Tech Foundations. But the talks came to an end after the appointment of a new president of Atos last October, replacing Bertrand Meunier.
* Hermès International nibbles 0.2% to 2,301 euros. Barclays, ‘overweight’ on the value, still appreciates the title given that it expects the sector to be very polarized in 2024. The analyst raises its price target from 2,073 to 2,410 euros while consumers wealthier and upscale could remain more resilient. The bank anticipates organic growth of 15% in the first quarter and for the whole year.
* Schneider Electric increases 1.2% to 208 euros. BNP Paribas Exane remains at ‘outperformance’ on the file with a price target which increases from 195 to 240 euros.
* OSE Immunotherapeutics (+68% to 5.58 euros) and AbbVie announced a strategic partnership to develop OSE-230, a monoclonal antibody in preclinical development, in the resolution of chronic and severe inflammation. Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie will obtain an exclusive worldwide license to develop, manufacture and commercialize OSE-230. OSE Immunotherapeutics will receive an upfront payment of $48 million and may receive up to an additional $665 million in development, regulatory and commercialization milestone payments. Additionally, OSE Immunotherapeutics may receive tiered royalties on worldwide net sales of OSE-230.
FALLING VALUES
* Violent dropout for Teleperformance which falls by more than 25% below 100 euros. A reaction that several traders cited by ‘Bloomberg’ link to a press release from Klarna published Tuesday evening according to which its AI assistant has made a great contribution to the company. The fintech claims its AI assistant, powered by OpenAI, did the equivalent of the work of 700 full-time agents and had 2.3 million conversations, or the equivalent of two-thirds of customer service chats, during of the first month following its deployment. The tool also helped reduce repeat requests by 25% and resolve customer issues faster. Financially, the AI assistant is expected to improve the firm’s profits by $40 million in 2024. This will revive concerns that this revolutionary technology could disrupt Teleperformance’s call center activities. The French giant warned last year that 20 to 30 percent of its call volumes could be automated over the next three years as chatbots become more widespread.
* New gadin for Worldline. The title of the electronic payments specialist fell 9% to 11.2 euros, sanctioned after its annual publication. Accounts marked by a net loss, group share of 817 million euros, mainly due to a depreciation for goodwill worth E1.15 billion linked to its customer service activities. tradespeople. The adjusted EBITDA (previously EBO) was stable at 1.110 billion euros, for a turnover up 6% to 4.61 billion euros. Free cash flow from continuing operations was €355 million, representing an adjusted EBITDA conversion rate of 32.0%.
* Stellantis point in slight decline (-0.3% to 24.2 euros). The news around the manufacturer is marked by a note from Bernstein who lowered his recommendation to ‘market performance’, affirming that at current levels, the group is fairly valued. The broker says it expects operating margins and free cash flow to deteriorate in 2024 and be below consensus for the year. He sees more upside in 2025. He is waiting for the June investor day to get more details on margins, lower capital spending or higher share buybacks.
* Edenred drops another 3% to 45.6 euros despite record results published yesterday. Morgan Stanley adjusted its price target from 58 to 60 euros (‘inline weighting’) and BNP Paribas Exane reduced its target from 64 to 63 euros (‘outperform’).