A double win for AEX on a busy earnings day

The AEX is heading for a flat to slightly higher opening. The picture is also not clear elsewhere in Europe. Three companies presented figures before the trade fair and tonight all eyes are of course on Amazon.

The hesitation was also palpable on Wall Street last night, where the major indices went wildly up and down. There is still a lot coming up for investors this week, including the Fed’s interest rate decision, the American jobs report and figures from Amazon and Apple, among others. Then it is not surprising that investors are cautious.

In addition, it will of course be exciting what Philips will do today. Will the share be able to maintain yesterday’s price gains or will investors take some profits off the table? In any case, the settlement has not led to adjustments in price targets or advice at many investment banks.

Three companies opened their books this morning. We walk past them at a rapid pace.

More turnover and orders for Arcadis

Arcadis presented what appeared to be an excellent set of figures. Turnover increased by 3% year-on-year in Q1 and Ebita increased by 11%. Operating margin increased from 9.8% at the end of Q1 2023 to 10.7% now. And the company secured many additional orders, as shown in the chart below:

Air France-KLM deeper into the red

Air France-KLM also came through with figures. Unlike Lufthansa, this company was not affected by strikes. Turnover increased by 6.2%, but the bottom line remains a significant (and much larger) net loss:

Van Lanschot Kempen sees profits and assets under management increasing

Van Lanschot Kempen saw its net profit increase by no less than 64% in the past quarter compared to the same period last year. This was due to an increase in commission income and an increase in assets under management by 6% (to €134.6 billion).

Asia (-China) is joining Wall Street

Asia seemed to benefit from a good Wall Street. Only the Chinese stock market lagged behind. Some purchasing data indicated a leveling off growth rate. The purchasing managers’ index for manufacturing fell to 50.4 in April from 50.8 in March, according to official figures, slightly higher than the 50.3 that analysts had expected according to a Reuters poll. Growth also leveled off in the services sector.

The Chinese economy grew faster than expected last quarter, but since purchasing data are leading indicators, these figures fuel the fear that things are slowing down. The real estate sector and the significantly increased debts of local governments are particularly worrying. It cannot therefore be ruled out that Beijing will take even more measures to boost economic growth.

In Japan the yen has rebounded somewhat. Miraculously rebounded, raising suspicions that Japan has intervened by buying yen and selling dollars. The authorities are tight-lipped.

Here are the positions of the most important indices at a glance, clocked at 7:45 am:

Nikkei 225: +1%
TOPIX (Japan): +1.8%
Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300: -0.4%
Hang Seng (Hong Kong): -0.2%
Kospi (South Korea): +0.5%

A lot of attention was paid to the quarterly figures of Samsung Electronics. The group reported operational profit growth of no less than 932.8% year-on-year, partly due to a recovery in memory chip prices thanks to the advance of AI. It must now be noted that the basis for comparison is very favorable: a year earlier, Samsung suffered a record loss, due to sluggish demand in the period immediately after the corona pandemic. Sales increased by 12.8% YoY.

Good price gains in the tech sector, except for Tencent:

Samsung +1.6%
Alibaba: +0.1%
Since-yesterday Tesla partner Baidu: +1.3%
Prosus participation Tencent: -0.9%
TSMC: +0.6%

Wall Street closes higher after volatile final meters

Wall Street has started a very busy stock market week with a day’s profit. That was exciting, because in the last hour the most important indices fluctuated above and below zero.

Here are the final positions:

S&P 500: +0.3%
Dow Jones index: +0.4%
Nasdaq: +0.4%

Tesla in top gear

The leading role was reserved for Tesla, which saw its share price jump by 15% after reports of a deal with Baidu that will enable the rollout of Tesla’s software for self-driving cars (Full Self-Driving) in China. This has not taken off well until now, due to concerns about data security and privacy. But now major obstacles appear to have been removed.

The rate of Apple rose 2.5% after the share was put on the buy list by Bernstein. Shareholders of Alphabet took some profits off the table after Friday’s price explosion: the price fell by 3%. Coinbase (-7.7%) seemed to suffer from the fall in the price of bitcoin.

Even Boeing (+3.7%) was in demand, despite the report that yet another aircraft had lost a part shortly after take-off, this time an emergency slide. The aircraft manufacturer raised $10 billion in bonds and the interest in this was very high.

After the fair, it was established in the Netherlands, but listed on the Nasdaq NXP Semiconductors with figures indicating slightly higher adjusted profit and almost flat turnover. Today, investors can respond to this; in after-hours trading the price rose by 4.8%.

The big test case for the American stock market, of course, the figures will be from Amazon (tonight) and Apple (after trading hours on Thursday).

The indicators:

The European stock markets are heading for a mixed opening.
Mostly green rates in Asia tonight.
The CBOE VIX index (indicator of volatility) has now fallen below 15 points and stands at 14.67.
The euro falls slightly and is trading at 1.0698 against the dollar.
The Dutch ten-year interest rate is 1 basis point lower at 2.81%. The American rate fell by 4 basis points to 4.61%.
The gold price is 0.5% lower at $2,323 per troy ounce.
Oil prices continue their slide. For a barrel of WTI you now pay $82.29 (-0.5%).
Bitcoin is climbing again to $63,641.94

The AEX is expected to open 0.1% higher.

News, advice, shorts and agenda

08:07 German retail sales are increasing
08:05 Stock market view: Arcadis just better than expected
07:56 Volkswagen turnover and results down
07:52 AEX will probably start in a wait-and-see manner
07:43 Lufthansa is suffering from strikes
07:42 Slight growth in the French economy
07:29 Arcadis turnover increases more than expected
07:25 Results Samsung is on the rise
07:18 Van Lanschot Kempen assets under management increased
07:07 Picture of the Dutch economy deteriorated further in April
07:02 Dutch inflation cools to 2.7%
06:56 Output prices of Dutch industry down
06:56 Asian stock markets are trading mainly higher
06:50 European stock markets are expected to open cautiously
06:39 China’s service sector loses growth rate
06:31 Stock market agenda: foreign funds
06:31 Stock market agenda: macroeconomic
06:30 Exhibition agenda: Dutch companies
Apr 29 NXP share on the rise after figures
April 29 Stock market update: AEX on Wall Street
Apr 29 Wall Street closed higher
Apr 29 Oil price closed lower
April 29 Wall Street heads for a higher close
April 29 European stock exchanges closed divided

IEX also produces an overview of the most important news in the morning newspapers every morning. The complete news overview can be found here.

The AFM reports these shorts.

Advice

Various banks have subjected Philips to an MOT, but this has not led to adjustments in price targets or advice.

Unilever: to 5,000 pence from 4,600 pence and buy – Barclays

Agenda: Amazon and European inflation and GDP

The Acomo share is trading at €0.75 ex-dividend.

There have already been some number crunchers, and it doesn’t stop there. After lunch, 3M, Coca-Cola, Eli Lilly and McDonald’s open their books, but be sure to log in after 10 p.m., because then the quarterly figures of Magnificent 7 share Amazon, and also those of Super Micro Computer, are due.

There will also be interest in two figures from the eurozone: a quick estimate of inflation and GDP for the first quarter. Economists expect the eurozone economy to have grown by 0.2% on an annual basis, while there was still stagnation in Q4 of 2023. Inflation is expected to remain the same at 2.4% on an annual basis. Core inflation (excluding food and energy prices) has probably fallen from 2.9% on an annual basis to 2.6% on an annual basis: still above the desired 2%.

In the US, the ‘high’ consumer confidence (measured by the Conference Board) and the Chicago purchasing managers index can count on interest.

Here is the full agenda for the rest of the day: