THE TREND
(Boursier.com) — Overall stable start to the week for the Paris stock market. The CAC40 returned to 7,600 points at the end of the morning, with a very small increase of 0.1%. The rankings are calm on the CAC40 while awaiting a burst of annual publications between Wednesday and Thursday including TotalEnergies, Vinci, Kering, L’Oréal and Société Générale.
The monthly report published Friday by the American Department of Labor rather dampened the enthusiasm of investors: it showed that tensions remained high on the job markets in the United States, even though it is one of the main factors of inflation which notably supports the dynamics of the price of services. While the Federal Reserve showed during its last meeting that it was remaining wait-and-see and would not ease its monetary policy before being certain that inflation is indeed slowing towards its target, the markets have in turn readjusted their rate outlook for 2024 after employment figures. Investors now only expect 120 basis points of monetary easing this year, compared to more than 140 basis points at the start of 2024.
RISING VALUES
* Valneva (+2.3% to 3.62 euros) announced the sale for 103 million dollars (95 million euros) of the priority review voucher (PRV) that it obtained from the American health agency, Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Valneva received this voucher in November 2023 with the marketing authorization granted by the FDA for its single-shot vaccine for the prevention of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) disease in the elderly. 18 years and older at increased risk of exposure to CHIKV. With this US authorization, IXCHIQ(R) became the first vaccine in the world to be authorized against chikungunya, an unmet medical need.
* L’Oreal rose 0.2% to 448.75 euros this Monday, while Stifel is buying the stock with a target raised from 450 to 490 euros. Goldman Sachs is also buying on the file with a target which had increased from 450 to 460 euros. L’Oréal’s annual accounts will be published this Thursday.
* Thales (+0.3% to 136.1 euros): the British Ministry of Defense has signed a 1.8 billion pound sterling contract, lasting 15 years, to improve the availability and resilience of naval vessels. the Royal Navy. This MSET (Maritime Sensor Enhancement Team) contract will optimize the availability of assets, a necessity for forces faced with the instability of the international situation.
* BNP Paribas rose timidly by 0.7% to 56.4 euros this Monday after falling at the end of last week in the wake of results lower than expectations in the fourth quarter. The bank was particularly penalized by a series of exceptional charges and a weakening of activities linked to consumer credit and commercial real estate. Among the latest broker opinions, RBC Capital remains at ‘outperform’ on BNP Paribas but with an adjusted price target of 82 to 77 euros. SG also remains a buy on BNP Paribas but reduces its target from 74 to 72 euros.
FALLING VALUES
* Atos plunges 25% to around 2.9 euros after informing that the conditions for carrying out the capital increase project with preferential subscription rights of 720 million euros are no longer met and that the guarantee commitment granted by BNP Paribas and JP Morgan are no longer in force. Atos will inform the market in due time of the progress of discussions with its banks, its new refinancing plan, its divestment plans, as well as the possible evolution of its capital structure which could lead to dilution of existing shareholders, depending on the agreement on the refinancing structure…
* Societe Generale (-0.4% to 23 euros) announced an objective of progressive and significant improvement in its operating ratio, notably through the achievement of an amount of approximately 1.7 billion euros in gross savings in 2026 compared to 2022. Beyond the synergies planned as part of initiatives already underway such as the creation of the new retail bank in France, the digitalization of activities at Komerczni Banka or the integration of LeasePlan within Ayvens, this amount includes additional savings of around 700 million euros from new projects launched across all Group entities in order in particular to rationalize information systems and optimize management processes. purchases or to simplify the organization. At the end of this consultation scheduled for the second quarter of 2024, the implementation of these organizational changes would result in approximately 900 job cuts at headquarters without forced departures (i.e. approximately 5% of the headquarters workforce).