THE TREND
(Boursier.com) — The S&P 500 almost crossed 5,000 points for the first time in its history last night and finds itself at its all-time highs! The CAC 40 progressed by a few points this morning, less than 100 points from its own (+0.10% to 7,618 points)…
There are winners and losers among the companies that have published their accounts since yesterday’s close. The latter being more numerous! And among them, the banks with Crédit Agricole and Société Générale in the red… Publicis, and Vinci are also sold, unlike Kering, one of the rare exceptions on the rise.
Across the Atlantic, four members of the Fed’s board of governors recalled on Wednesday that the central bank would wait until it was certain that inflation would return to its 2% target before lowering its rates…
WALL STREET
Wall Street was trending higher again on Wednesday, even setting new highs on the S&P500. Operators took note of a new series of quarterly results including Ford, Amgen, Alibaba, Uber and CVS Health. The S&P 500 rose 0.82% to 4,995 pts and the Dow Jones rose 0.40% to 38,677 pts, while the Nasdaq climbed 0.95% to 15,756 pts.
ECO AND CURRENCIES
UNITED STATES :
– Weekly unemployment registrations. (2:30 p.m.)
– Stocks and wholesale sales. (2:30 p.m.)
The euro/dollar parity reached $1.0785 this morning. A barrel of Brent is trading at $79.60. An ounce of gold sells for $2,034.
RISING VALUES
Soitec (+4% to 135.30 Euros) announces its consolidated turnover for the 3rd quarter of the 2023-2024 financial year at 240 ME, down 13% in published data compared to the turnover of 274 ME achieved in the 3rd quarter of 2022-2023. This change results from a decrease of 12% at constant scope and exchange rates and a negative exchange rate effect of 1%. Despite early signs of recovery seen in the global smartphone market and increasing sales penetration of premium smartphones, inventory adjustment across the supply chain continued to impact revenue. The objectives for the entire 2023-2024 financial year are revised. Revenue is expected to fall by around 10% at constant scope and exchange rates, compared to a decline of around mid-single digit previously expected. The EBITDA margin is expected to be around 34% compared to 35% previously.
Kering (+0.70% to 393.05 Euros) published a decline of 4% in its turnover in the fourth quarter on a comparable basis and warned of a decline in its current operating profit in 2024 due to investments devoted to revive its sales. In 2023, current operating profit stood at 4.746 billion euros, down 15%. Net income, Group share, stands at €2.983 billion. The proposed ordinary dividend is 14 euros per share. “In a context where growth in the sector is expected to continue to normalize, the impact of this investment strategy will weigh on the group’s annual current operating profit, which should be down compared to the level published in 2023, particularly in the first half”, warned the Kering group.
FALLING VALUES
Societe Generale (-0.02% to 22.24 Euros) exceeded analysts’ expectations, thanks in particular to the resumption of its retail banking activity in France. Over the last three months of the fiscal year, the bank’s group share of net income fell by 59.8% year-on-year, to €430 million, above the market consensus of €333 million. Net banking income fell by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, to 5.96 billion euros, above the 5.86 billion euros expected here also by analysts. Market activities fell by 0.8%, the bank further indicated, the good performance of equity activities having offset the 22.1% decline in rates, credit and foreign exchange activities.
Agricultural credit (-4.20% to 12.47 Euros) published quarterly results above analysts’ expectations, with retail banking and investment banking activities having offset the drop in revenues from the insurance activity. The group’s net profit in the fourth quarter thus fell by 25.2% year-on-year to 1.33 billion euros, while analysts on average expected an amount close to 1.28 billion euros. The group’s net banking income for the past period stood at €6.04 billion, up 1.2% compared to a market consensus of around €6.16 billion.
Publicis (-1.60% to 91.70 Euros) presents a net income of 3.54 billion euros in the fourth quarter of 2023, organic growth of 5.7%, in line with the latest outlook communicated by the group in month of October. The group expects annual organic growth in its net income of between 4% and 5%, after an increase of 5.7% in the fourth quarter of 2023. “In a particularly difficult macroeconomic context, and after six years transformation, Publicis has clearly stood out in 2023”, underlined Arthur Sadoun, Chairman of the Management Board of Publicis. The group forecasts an operating margin rate of 18% for 2024, stable compared to 2023, including an operating expense of 100 million euros dedicated to the artificial intelligence investment plan.
Vinci (-0.60% to 116.98 Euros): consolidated turnover amounts to 68.8 billion euros, up 11.6% (organic growth: +9.9%; impacts of changes in scope: +2.5%; exchange rate variations: -0.9%). This trend confirms the good momentum of the Group’s activities both in France and internationally. Operating Profit on Activity (ROPA) shows an increase of 22.5% to 8.4 billion euros (6.8 billion euros in 2022). Vinci is planning a further increase in its turnover for 2024, but this should be of a lesser magnitude than that achieved in 2023. Results should also improve. The Board approved the payment of a dividend for the 2023 financial year in the amount of 4.50 euros per share, payable entirely in cash.
Hexaom (-2.40% to 20.10 Euros) achieved 2023 turnover of 1.016 billion euros, up 5.4% on a like-for-like basis. In the fourth quarter, turnover of €260.6 million was down 2.4% compared to the same period of 2022.
Icape (-5.60% to 10.90 Euros) reveals a 2023 turnover of 179.5 ME, affected by the international industrial and economic context observed during the financial year. Activity fell by 18.3% compared to 2022 and even -22.8% at constant scope. The company explains that the drop in overall demand, an unfavorable effect on sales prices as well as the normalization of its customers’ stocks calls into question its turnover objective of 500 ME in 2026, which is therefore postponed “to a medium-term horizon. Icape is still targeting average organic growth of 10% between 2023 and 2026, 120 ME of additional turnover via external growth and an operating profit margin of around 9.5% by this date.
LATEST SALES/RESULTS PUBLICATIONS…
Spineway, Aurea, Saint Jean Groupe, Vogo, Neurons
THE LATEST “RECOS” FROM ANALYSTS…
Morgan Stanley is ‘market weighted’ on BNP Paribas with a target reduced from 76 to 70 euros and remains ‘underweight’ on Bouygues while raising its target from 30 to 33 euros.
Morgan Stanley is ‘market weighted’ on Amundi with a target adjusted to 71.30 euros, while Société Générale remains a buy with a target raised from 71 to 72 euros.
BNP Paribas Exane remains at ‘outperformance’ on Stellantis with a target that goes from 25 to 28 euros and goes from ‘neutral’ to ‘outperformance’ on Renault with an adjusted objective of 40 to 49 euros.
MARKET INFO
Chargeurs: opening of the takeover bid this Thursday
IN SHORT
Herige: transaction concluded with Samse
Kalray collaborates with Arm in AI
Vallourec: major order in the North Sea