Gainers:
- Burlington Stores (+27%): The clothing retailer is on a roll. It reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with revenues and adjusted earnings up, despite a difficult economic context and a sluggish October. The group, which plans to open around 500 net new stores over the next 5 years, expressed confidence for the coming years and unveiled ambitious targets for 2028. In the meantime, JPMorgan Chase, Jefferies and Barclays have raised their price targets on the stock.
- Vinfast (+19%): This week, the Nasdaq-listed Vietnamese manufacturer of electric vehicles unveiled its new SUV: the VF7, smaller than its predecessors and therefore more suited to the European market. Available to order only in Vietnam, it is due to join the foreign market next year: the automaker aims to expand to 7 new countries by 2024. Not enough to make up for the 38% drop in sales since January 1.
- Coinbase (+16%): The US crypto-currency platform is rubbing its hands. This week, the group and its CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to several charges, including money laundering. The result: a $4.3 billion fine and the forced resignation of the founder. Brian Armstrong, Coinbase's CEO, took advantage of this debacle, and to a lesser extent of the SEC's accusations against the Kraken platform, to reiterate his commitment to respecting the laws and regulations governing crypto-assets. Clever. Coinbase gains over 200% on the year.
- ARM Holdings (+14%): ARM, the Nasdaq-listed British chip designer, is riding on the buoyant trend of artificial intelligence and on Nvidia's good results, which commented on the performance of its Grace CPU chip, based on Arm. Note that the stock is almost back to its IPO price, after two turbulent months.
- Sage group (+12%): The British publisher of management software for small and medium-sized businesses has posted a fine performance for fiscal 2023, with sales up 10%, EPS up 22% and increased profitability, driven by growth in subscriptions and cloud solutions, and the strength of the North American market. For next year, management forecasts double-digit revenue growth and improved margins.
- Diploma (+10%): The British industrial conglomerate specializing in technical services, which joined the FTSE 100 in September, has published its results: over the year, sales rose by 19%, profit by 24% and free cash flow by 36%. The market also praised the Group's well-executed external growth strategy, financed by profits, the upward revision of its outlook, and the announcement of a dividend increase, bringing it closer to the sector averages.
Losers:
- American Eagle Outfitters (-16%), Urban Outfitters (-12%), Guess (-12%): These are hard times for the apparel sector. American Eagle Outfitters, Urban Outfitters and Guess have all performed well over the past three months, with positive results, and the former has even raised its sales forecasts for the holiday season. But the brands are suffering from the sector's cautious stance and investors' concerns about falling consumer spending.
- Virgin Money UK (-12%): Weakened by pressure on lending margins, inflation and rising bad debt provisions, the UK digital bank reported a 24% fall in full-year profit and a very slight increase in revenues. The group also declared a reduction in its dividend, and an additional share buyback of £150 million.
- Jacobs Solutions (-9%): The US engineering and consulting services specialist reported quarterly earnings and revenues below most analysts' expectations. The group also announced its intention to spin off its Critical Missions Solutions and Cyber & Intelligence businesses, and merge them with Amentum to create a new listed company focused on the government services sector, in order to streamline its portfolio and improve margins. An operation that does not require shareholder approval, hence their timidity.
- DLocal Limited (-7%): The New York-listed Uruguayan fintech reported encouraging results for the quarter and the first 9 months of the year: revenues and profits were up. It also reaffirmed its annual revenue forecasts of between $620 and $640 million. But the markets took a dim view of the announcement of the resignation of the company's CFO. Immediate punishment.
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