Top of the Street: European semis, oil and gas, Accor, Heineken, Roche
19/01/2023 14:19
A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's
top-ranked* analysts:
** Barclays upgrades Accor ACCP.PA to "equal-weight" from
"underweight", citing brighter outlook for the hotel group as
the reason to no longer consider a heavy discount to pre-COVID
multiples
** J.P.Morgan cuts OMV OMVV.VI and Equinor EQNR.OL to
"underweight" from "neutral", expecting their above-average EU
gas gearing to weigh on both utilities' Q4 results
** The broker also cuts Eni ENI.MI to "neutral" from "buy"
pointing to a narrowed valuation discount to the European oil
sector
** RBC raises Heineken HEIN.AS to "sector perform" from
"underperform", expecting the priority the beer maker gives to
organic performance and better marketing to stimulate growth
** With estimates suggesting a significant decline in
Kuehne+Nagel's KNIN.S quarterly adj. EBIT, Exane BNP Paribas
downgrades it to "neutral" from "outperform"
** Exane also cuts Andritz ANDR.VI to "neutral" from
"outperform" as most of the catalysts, such as the upside to the
consensus and increasing market share, have now materialised
** While Viscofan VIS.MC still enjoys healthy returns and
generates good FCF, UBS cuts it to "neutral" from "buy" as the
shares are fully valued now
** Deutsche Bank cuts Roche ROG.S to "sell" from "hold",
expecting it to break out of its decade-long P/E multiple
trading range
INITIATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS
** Bernstein adopts a positive outlook towards the European
semiconductor sector, despite 2023 challenges, as capex
bounce-back in 2024 and strong secular growth drivers show that
there's more to like about the semis than the market gives them
credit for
** It initiates ASMI ASMI.AS , Soitec SOIT.PA ,
STMicroelectronics, and Infineon Technologies IFXGn.DE with
"outperform"; and BE Semiconductor BESI.AS , ams Osram AMS.VI
with "market perform"
(*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 Agata Rybska and Tiago Brandao)
((agata.rybska@thomsonreuters.com))