DE40: Speculation over Novartis bid knocks MorphoSys shares down

• Wednesday's session marked by moderate declines in Europe
• Speculation over Novartis' acquisition of MorphoSys lifts MOR.DE shares lower
• TeamViewer results above market expectations

European stock indices are losing during Wednesday's trading session. Despite continued gains in Chinese indices following new rumours suggesting the implementation of broad-based solutions to support the economy, the improved sentiment is not transferring to the Old Continent. Investors' attention during today's session will focus on US foreign trade balance data and speeches by Fed bankers. In Germany, DHL, MorphoSys and TeamViewer are the most volatile stocks today.

Źródło: xStation5

Futures contracts on DAX (DE40) are recording a 0.35% decline today, negating the breakout above the barrier set by the upper limit of the consolidation zone initiated in mid-December 2023. It is worth mentioning that yesterday's D1 candle closed its body above the zone of historical highs, which from a technical analysis perspective could theoretically be considered a positive aspect. The most important support is consistently located in the zone of local lows from the end of December.

Company News

The German state-owned bank KfW plans to sell approximately 50 million shares of DHL (DHL.DE) worth nearly 2.17 billion euros. The shares, representing 4.04% of DHL, had an offer price of 43.45 euros, according to the document. After the share issuance directed to institutional investors, KfW's stake in the company will decrease from about 20.5% to around 16.5%, according to the Ministry of Finance. This, in turn, means that the free float of DHL has increased, but KfW remains the largest shareholder in the company. The company's shares are currently down by 4%.

Adam Feuerstein stated in STAT News that Novartis (NOVN.CH) intends to withdraw from the recently announced acquisition of MorphoSys (MOR.DE). However, a spokesperson for the German pharmaceutical company MorphoSys said in an email statement to Bloomberg News that "this information is incorrect." Feuerstein acknowledges that the opinion in his report is speculation but cites "separate conversations with two people familiar with pelabresib and internal debate within Novartis" about the transaction, Bloomberg notes. Nevertheless, MOR shares are down by nearly 2.2% following these speculations.

Siemens Energy (ENR.DE) reported a net profit of 1.58 billion euros in the first quarter, citing a one-time gain related to the sale of an Indian affiliate formerly part of the dominant Siemens AG. The company's stock reacted with a 0.8% increase, with preliminary financial data for the first quarter presented a month ago.

TeamViewer's (TMV.DE) stock price rose by approximately 10% as the German software company announced higher-than-expected revenues and profits in the fourth quarter. The company's revenues increased by 8% to 163 million euros, slightly above analysts' forecast of 160 million euros. Adjusted EBITDA turned out to be 2.5% higher than the consensus.

Analyst Actions

• Bernstein maintained a "neutral" rating for Porsche (P911.DE) shares; the target price is set at 90 euros.
• Barclays rated DHL Group (DHL.DE) shares as "buy" with a target price of 49 euros.
• Jefferies maintained a "buy" rating for Hannover Re (HNR1.DE) shares. The target price is set at 250 euros.