Top of the Street: Maersk, Sartorius, Safran, Worldline, Aixtron, Electrolux, Rational
04/01/2024 12:40
A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's
top-ranked* analysts:
** J.P.Morgan cuts Maersk MAERSKb.CO to "neutral" from
"overweight", saying rising spot rates due to attacks at the Red
Sea offer only short-term gains for the Danish shipping group as
the broker sees this disruption as a "one-off boost"
** Deutsche Bank downgrades Sartorius SATG.DE to "hold"
from "buy", seeing many potential stumbling blocks, such as a
longer destocking in the Bioprocess Solutions unit or prolonged
weakness in Lab Products & Services, while the laboratory gear
maker's high debt level limits growth opportunities through M&A
** Bernstein cuts French jet engine maker Safran SAF.PA to
"market-perform" from "outperform", saying the stock looks
fairly valued in a more challenging 2024 environment, with a
smaller likelihood of positive surprises
** Barclays lowers French payment services company Worldline
WLN.PA to "equal weight" from "overweight", as it considers
the challenging market outlook to be in balance with valuation
after the stock recovered from its earlier lows
INITIATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS
** UBS starts coverage of Aixtron AIXGn.DE with "sell",
saying the German chip systems manufacturer won't be "as strong
as the market expects" in 2024, forecasting flat revenue growth
for the year
** Barclays initiates Swedish home appliances maker
Electrolux ELUXb.ST at "underweight", citing overly optimistic
sales and earnings prospects amid rising competition from China
** Barclays starts coverage of Germany's Rational RAAG.DE
with "overweight", citing the industrial kitchen retailer's
leadership in a niche market, "superior" financials and growth
outlook
(*Analyst rankings from Thomson Reuters StarMine. The scale is
from 1-star to 5-star with 5 being the best. Analysts are ranked
on earnings accuracy as well as relative performance of
recommendations over trailing 12-month & 24-month periods.)
(Reporting by Tiago Brandao and Luca Fratangelo)
((Tiago.Brandao@thomsonreuters.com;
luca.fratangelo@thomsonreuters.com))