The AEX, AMX (+1.4%) and AScX (+0.7%) have recovered somewhat from the blows that were dealt yesterday. The Dutch main index closed the day with a neat +1%.
In this is Randstad (+4.7%) the biggest riser, already coming Signify, ASMI in Adyen with increases around 4% nearby. The employment agency even set a new intra-day all-time high earlier today. Investors were pleased with Randstad’s figures. Organic sales growth and results in the fourth quarter were higher than expected.
It is risk-on with investors. The threat from the Russian army that might kick in the Ukrainian door has abated somewhat, so investors are daring to buy some shares again. That makes the oh-so-safe bonds less popular today. As a result, interest rates are also rising today. In the Netherlands, the 10-year yield rose by four basis points to 0.48%.
Macro figures from Germany and America
As usual, we briefly discuss the most important macro figures. Today they come not only from the United States, but also from Germany, where the ZEW index was updated. The index for economic sentiment among our eastern neighbors rose from 51.7 in January to 54.3 this month. While this is an increase, it is slightly below economists’ expectations. They expected an increase to 56 points.
It also became clear today that US producer prices have risen by as much as 1% on a monthly basis. That’s double what experts expect. In December, the increase was still 0.4%. On an annual basis, producer prices rose by 9.7% in January and core prices by 6.9%.
OCI performed better than expected
“OCI (+5.5%) in the fourth quarter of 2021 performed a lot better than expected in the market. Shareholders will reap the benefits for the first time in the form of a nice dividend, supplemented with a possible extra in October,” writes equity analyst Peter Schutte.
“And now that market conditions remain good for the time being and OCI has the debt burden under control, this will not be the last profit distribution.” Despite OCI’s cyclical nature, Schutte believes that the company’s finances are in good order. You can read his full analysis with the accompanying advice below.
OCI turns out to be a nice dividend share #OCI https://t.co/1dlTgR6e9s
— IEX Investor Desk (@Investor Desk) February 15, 2022
Inflation takes a toll at DSM
“DSM (+1.8%) underperformed slightly in Q4 than expected due to the impact of inflation,” analyst Martin Crum wrote. “Inflation is currently the hot topic, also in the boardrooms, with the exception of DSM. The rising costs of raw materials, energy and logistics are putting pressure on margins.” However, this does not hinder the prospects enormously, explains Crum in his analysis of DSM.
Moreover, not all figures were disappointing. “Investors have little reason to be dissatisfied with the growth in turnover at DSM. The group reported sales of more than €2.4 billion, which is 16% higher than in 4Q20.” Read Crum’s comprehensive analysis of DSM here.
Annuities
Not only in the Netherlands, but also in Germany, France and the United States, four basis points have been added.
broad market
- The AEX (+1%) lags somewhat behind France (+1.6%) and the German Dax (+2%).
- The CBOE VIX Index (Volatility) drops to 26 points.
- Wall Street is trading in the green: S&P 500 (+1.5%), Dow 30 (+1.3%) and the Nasdaq (+2.1%).
- The euro is down 0.5% and is now trading at 1.136 against the US dollar.
- Gold (-1.2%) and silver (-2.3%) are both falling.
- Oil: WTI (-5.5%) and Brent (-3.3%) are falling sharply.
- Bitcoin (+2.8%) is rising.
The Damrak:
- Grubhub is rolling out Grubhub Goods across the US with a partnership with 7-Eleven. This made the American daughter of Just Eat Takeaway (+0.7%) announced on Tuesday afternoon.
- There are probably more golden yellow rascals from last year Heineken (+2.3%) knocked back. That is the expectation of analysts in the run-up to the figures tomorrow morning. It is estimated that beer volumes increased by 10 million hectoliters on an annual basis to 231.6 million hectoliters. Cheers!
- Akzo Nobel (+3.1%) wants to increase the production of resins, in order to be less dependent on suppliers.
- “NN Group (+0.3%) has reached an agreement to acquire the remaining interest in the life insurance division of ABN Amro (+0.9%) Insurance for an amount of 253 million euros,” writes ABM Financial News today.
- BAM (-2.5%) sells its Brussels operating company BAM Contractors. “BAM Contractors is located in Brussels and generates an annual turnover of more than 190 million euros with approximately 400 employees. Current projects include the Scheldt tunnel near Antwerp”, reports ABM Financial News.
Advice
- Randstad: to €66.50 from €62.50 and keep – Morgan Stanley
- Randstad: to €49 from €46 and sell – Jefferies
- Adyen: to €3,300 from 2,900 and buy – Goldman Sachs
- Just Eat Takeaway: to €61 from €60 and buy – JPMorgan Cazenove
Agenda Wednesday 16 February 2022
03:30 Consumer and Producer Prices – January (Chi)
07:00 Ahold Delhaize – Fourth Quarter Figures
07:00 Alfen – Fourth quarter figures
07:00 Heineken – Fourth quarter figures
07:00 Vopak – Fourth quarter figures
07:00 Umicore – Fourth quarter figures (Bel)
08:00 Consumer and Producer Prices – January (UK)
13:00 Garmin – US Fourth Quarter Figures
13:00 Kraft Heinz – US Fourth Quarter Figures
13:00 Mortgage Applications – Weekly (US)
14:30 Retail Sales – January (US)
14:30 Import Prices – January (US)
15:15 Industrial Manufacturing – January (US)
16:00 Company Inventories – December (US)
16:00 Homebuilders’ Confidence – February (US)
16:30 Oil Stocks – Weekly (US)
20:00 Federal Reserve – Notulen (VS)
22:00 Applied Materials – US Fourth Quarter Figures
22:00 Cisco Systems – US Q2 Figures
22:00 DoorDash – US Fourth Quarter Figures
22:00 Nvidia – Fourth Quarter Figures (US)
00:00 Shopify – US Fourth Quarter Figures
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Coen Grutters is editor of IEX. The information in this column is not intended as professional investment advice or as a recommendation to make certain investments. click here for an overview of the investments of the IEX editors.
