- European markets still under selling pressure
- Investors await tomorrow's CPI report from the US
- BofA boosts sentiment around Heidelberg Materials company
Overall market situation:
Wednesday's session on European stock markets brings a continuation of slight sell-offs. This is largely the aftermath of today's mixed session in the APAC markets, where the only "visible" winner was Japan's Nikkei, with the rest of the benchmarks mostly recording declines. The macro calendar for today's session is relatively empty. Investors are waiting for tomorrow's CPI data reading from the US, which, along with the release of Wall Street banks' Q4 results, will be the main macro event of the week.
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European companies listed during Wednesday's trading session are currently trading at mixed levels. Source: xStation 5
Germany's benchmark DE40 is losing nearly 0.1% during today's session. Overall, the benchmark is trading all the time in a local consolidation zone close to historical highs. A mixed session in the APAC market (excluding Japan) puts pressure on European markets. Source: xStation 5
News:
Shares of Heidelberg Materials (HEI.DE; formerly Heidelberg Cement) continue their upward trend today (1.9% on an intraday basis) following a recommendation from Bank of America (Bofa). It's worth mentioning that the company was the best performing stock in the DAX index in 2023, thus gaining more than 57%. At the time, the group benefited from, among other things, a good order situation for infrastructure projects and parts of the commercial construction sector. This partially offset declines in residential construction. The Bank of America analyst sees further upside potential for Heidelberg Materials even after the recent upward moves. He thus raised his target price for the stock from €78 to €105 and upgraded the stock from "Neutral" to "Buy."
Source: xStation
Redcare Pharmacy (RDC.DE) is down as much as 5% after the German company's preliminary results for the fourth quarter failed to give the stock an additional boost. Moreover, Warburg Research ("hold"; €130 target price) and AlsterResearch ("sell," €120 target price) downgraded the company's stock.
PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE FOURTH QUARTER
Preliminary revenues of €531 million, estimated at €519.4 million
PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR 2023.
Preliminary revenues €1.80 billion, estimated €1.78 billion
COMMENTARY AND CONTEXT
Active customer base increased by 0.3 million in Q4 to 10.8 million, up 1.5 million y/y.
Redcare Pharmacy will publish its full annual report for fiscal 2023 on March 5, 2024.
Source: xStation
Analyst recommendations:
* Bayer (BAYN.DE): Stifel downgrades the company to "hold" from previously "buy." Target price set at €370.
* Sartorius (SRT.DE): UBS raised its recommendation on the company's shares to "buy" from previously "hold." Target price set at 42 euros.
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