Research Market strategy
By Swissquote Analysts
Morning News

MSCI upgrades Baloise's sustainability rating once again

The internationally respected rating agency MSCI has upgraded the sustainability rating of Baloise for the second time in succession. This means that Baloise's ESG rating has now improved from A to AA, the second-highest level on the scale. "The fact that MSCI has upgraded our sustainability rating once again, this time to AA, demonstrates that we have made further progress on environmental, social and corporate governance aspects of sustainability. I am delighted that MSCI describes us as a leader in the corporate governance sphere. Further factors that contributed to the ESG rating upgrade included progress in the field of talent management and our initiatives to mitigate climate change," says Gert De Winter, CEO of Baloise Group. Baloise believes that the concept of sustainable development and the insurance and financial services industries share some important characteristics, for example the need to act with a long-term focus and to manage risks and resources responsibly.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Credit Suisse Gets Booked by Investors

Credit Suisse plunged 12.4%, hitting a record low, on reports that the bank is sounding out investors for fresh cash. Credit Suisse has taken pole position in a race to the bottom among big, but weak, European banks. For some time, Deutsche Bank has held the dubious title of the lowest-valued big European bank, based on price/book value. This is a ratio of a bank's share price to its net worth. When a bank is trading below one on this metric--as are Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and a host of other European banks--investors are signaling they think a firm's assets are overvalued, its liabilities are undervalued, it will destroy value going forward, or some combination of all three.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Airbus Backs 2025 Production Target Despite Supply-Chain Snarls

Airbus SE still aims to increase its production rate of narrow-body planes to 75 a month in 2025 despite the difficulties it faces in securing enough engines and other components from its suppliers. The European plane maker’s target for its A320 family of aircraft remains unchanged, and takes into account its assessment of the readiness of its supply chain, a company spokesman said Thursday.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Meta and Google Are Cutting Staff

In response to stalling growth and intense competition, Meta Platforms Inc. executives have spoken of cost cuts, hiring freezes and “ruthless prioritization.” One word the company hasn’t used: layoffs. But Meta has begun quietly nudging out a significant number of staffers by reorganizing departments and giving affected employees a limited window to apply for other roles within the company, according to current and former managers familiar with the matter, in a move that achieves staffing cuts while forestalling the mass issuance of pink slips.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Germany in Talks to Nationalize Energy Supplier Uniper After Russian Natural-Gas Halts

Germany is in talks to nationalize the ailing energy giant Uniper SE, seeking to save a systemically important supplier that was hit hard by throttled Russian gas flows to Europe, the company said on Tuesday. Germany's largest importer of Russian natural gas until recently, Uniper suffered heavy losses after Moscow throttled supplies in recent months and was forced to buy gas on the market where prices have hit records. The German state in July pledged to take a 30% stake in Uniper and extended credit lines as part of a bailout package. Uniper on Tuesday said it was in final discussions with the German government which would inject EUR8 billion, or around $8 billion, and obtain a significant majority stake in the company.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

VW Sets Price Range for Porsche IPO, Valuing Car Maker at Up to $78 Billion

Porsche AG shares are set to begin trading Sept. 29 in one of the largest European public listings in years, raising up to $9.4 billion and valuing the sports car maker at as much as $78 billion. Porsche’s parent, German car giant Volkswagen AG , priced the public offering of preferred stock in line with average analyst expectations. Combined with a private sale of Porsche ordinary stock to VW’s largest investor, Porsche Automobil Holding SE, the sale of 25% of Porsche could raise €19.5 billion for VW, the equivalent of $19.5 billion.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Adobe to Buy Collaboration-Software Company Figma for About $20 Billion

Adobe shares fell $62.39, or 17%, to $309.13 after the company agreed to buy collaboration-software company Figma for about $20 billion, in the technology giant’s largest acquisition. Adobe, which will pay for the company using roughly half cash, half stock, unveiled the deal with its quarterly results, which it pulled forward from a planned afternoon announcement after The Wall Street Journal began inquiring about an acquisition Wednesday. Adobe, which had a market value of about $174 billion as of Wednesday’s close, reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $1.14 billion on revenue of $4.43 billion, a 13% increase year-over-year.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Zara Looks Sharp, but It Is Not the Winter Trend

So far, the world’s biggest fashion retailer has shrugged off high inflation, rising energy prices in Europe and a strong dollar. Its competitors look disheveled even before a chilly winter. Industria De Diseno Textil (3.8%), commonly known as Inditex and owner of Zara and other brands, grew sales by a quarter in the six months through July at constant exchange rates, versus the same period last year. The company’s half-year gross profit margin was the highest in seven years, boosted by price increases for its products and measures to control costs, and are expected to be stable for the full year. Clothing companies that make most of their sales in Europe and will soon have to compete with utility providers as well as each other for consumers’ cash.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

UBS Raises Dividend After Scrapping Wealthfront Deal

UBS Group upped its 2022 dividend by 10% and said it will buy back more shares after abandoning a $1.4 billion acquisition of online wealth adviser Wealthfront last week. Its shares rose 1.3%. The Swiss bank had been targeting share buybacks of up to $5 billion this year, and said it repurchased $4.1 billion worth of stock as of Friday. Now it said it expects to spend more than $5 billion in 2022, and that the buybacks and rising dividends should continue next year.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Oracle Sales Top Expectations as Cloud Businesses Thrive

Oracle Corp. (+1.5% after-hours trading) sales topped expectations in the latest quarter, as its cloud businesses and integration of Cerner Corp. lifted results despite concerns about a slowdown among technology companies in response to economic uncertainty. The business-software giant said a stronger dollar compared with foreign currencies had a significant impact on its fiscal first-quarter results. Revenue rose 18% to $11.45 billion, beating analysts’ expectations of $11.33 billion. Cloud revenue grew 45% to $3.6 billion.

By
Nadine PEREIRA