(BFM Bourse) – Since January 1, several stocks that suffered in 2022 have recorded a sharp rebound and the biggest increase is signed by STMicroelectronics. On the other hand, Orpea and Casino are once again in limbo in the rankings.
The last will be first. It’s a bit of a teaching point on the winners and losers of the SBF 120 since the start of the year.
The first quarter had started with a bang in January, thanks in particular to the reopening of the Chinese economy, and this rise was somewhat prolonged in February with excellent corporate results. The momentum then broke in March with the sharp decline in banking stocks that came to an end last week. In this “tumultuous” context, to use Deutsche Bank’s words, which SBF 120 stocks have fared the best since January 1?
Answer: titles which, for many, suffered last year, but sent reassuring signals. Leader of the SBF 120 and also of the CAC 40, STMicroelectronics (+39.22%) had lost 24% in 2022, the 15th largest drop in the CAC 40.
The rebound of Technip Energies
The rebound of the Franco-Italian specialist in semi-conductors is part of the broader one of technology stocks (to give an idea Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has taken over nearly 80% since the start of the year on Wall Street). The company was also buoyed by its annual results that exceeded expectations as well as by prospects for the first quarter deemed reassuring by the market, and better than those of its competitors. Its robust positioning in the automotive industry, an industry that consumes electronic components due to its electrification, should “improve its pricing power” in the medium term, estimates Bank of America.
In second place is Solutions 30 (+36.93%). The former PC 30 had also sunk in 2022, with the second largest drop in the SBF 120, weighed down by a decline in activity in France. But 2023 looks more promising, with the group expecting to generate revenues of 1 billion euros, reflecting double-digit growth. “The new objectives of the group and the reassuring speech of the management can allow a gradual rebound of the title”, judged in this respect TP ICAP Midcap at the beginning of the year.
The podium is completed by Technip Energies (+35.38%), the engineering group for the energy industry resulting from a split from TechnipFMC, at the beginning of 2021. The company led by Arnaud Pieton suffered in the first part of 2022 from its exposure to the Arctic LNG 2 liquefied natural gas project, led by Russian gas producer Novatek. The group had to withdraw from the project, which obviously weighed on its order book (at the end of 2021 Russian contracts represented 23% of this book). But since the fall of 2022, the group has regained momentum on the stock market and is now evolving at historic highs.
“Technip Energies’ business is well positioned to benefit from the growing demand for LNG and the energy transition. We believe the company is well funded and in a position to capture significant market share in the domain of CCUS [les technologies de capture, d’utilisation et de gestion du carbone, NDLR]“, judged recently Royal Bank of Canada.
Orpea’s endless stock market torture
Note the good performance of values linked to tourism with Accor (+29.51%) and Air France-KLM (+29.61%) which are in the 10 strongest increases, thanks in part to the reopening of China. In addition, Atos narrowly fails to grab the top 10 of the highest increases, while the group was still at the top of the rankings last week. But the decision of Airbus to abandon discussions to take a minority stake in Evidian, a future subsidiary of Atos, has weighed down its share price.
On the downside, this time we find two groups which, on the contrary, have prolonged their poor course in 2022. Orpea (-68.83%), which has been suffering a stock market ordeal for more than a year and the publication of the book The Gravediggers, announced in January a financial restructuring that will result in a mega-dilution of more than 99% for its current shareholders. The fall of the title is all the more logical.
Casino (-37.55%), for its part, pays cash for weak financial results, with around 900 million euros of cash burnt on its French perimeter last year. Moody’s recently downgraded the group’s credit rating and expects the company to consume more cash in the medium term. Its parent company Rallye has announced that it will try to arrange its backup plan with its creditors. This promises to be difficult given the tightening of financial conditions which may encourage banks to be cautious…
The third largest drop was recorded by OVHcloud (-31.91%), the specialist in dematerialized IT services having suffered from the rise in interest rates and the deterioration of the macroeconomic context. The group was also undermined by the sale of a block of shares by the KKR and TowerBrook funds.
The other retirement home operator, Korian (-31.72%), was dragged into the wake of Orpea and finished at the foot of the “podium” of the biggest falls. The market is worried about the group’s refinancing operations with around 900 million euros in liabilities maturing this year and slightly less in 2024.
Euroapi follows (-21.73%), which lost its status as a market darling after a setback in production in Hungary and the one-year shift in its medium-term profitability target.
Julien Marion – ©2023 BFM Bourse