TheChek News Flow

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:

LESL -20.1%, WOOF -13.3%, JBL -7.6% (lower guidance, cites softening demand from short-term inventory corrections), PDCO -7.3%, BILI -4.4%, HRL -2.2%, DLTR -2.1%, AZEK -1.7%

Other news:

SEEL -40.8% (commences stock offering; subsequent 15% buyback)
FTCH -12.9% (will not announce Q3 results)
VERV -10.1% (announces public offering $35 mln; and concurrent private placement to LLY)
LVS -4.1% (prices secondary offering of 46264168 shares of its common stock at $44.00 per share)
FLEX -3.1% (in sympathy with JBL lowered guidance)
PCG -2.9% (proposes offering of $1.5 bln convertible senior secured notes due 2027 to repay portion of existing term loan)
SBSW -1.3% (begins repositioning its US PGM operations for lower cost structure to secure operational sustainability)

Analyst comments:

GOL -2.6% (downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup)
CAE -2.2% (downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA Securities)
HSY -0.5% (downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Sandler)

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance:

FLNC +16.9%, NTAP +12.3%, GM +8.9% (reinstates guidance; announces $10 bln accelerated share repurchase program and raises dividend by 33%), WDAY +8.7%, FL +8.6%, CRWD +2.3%, INTU +0.8%

Other news:

BITF +14.9% (closes CAD60 mln private placement)
GME +10.5% (extends momentum following +13% move during regular session)
FREY +8.4% (provides operations update; achieves important interim milestone by successfully conducting automated cathode casting trials)
ALVO +5.5% (Announces Positive Top-Line Results from a Pharmacokinetic Study for AVT05 a Proposed Biosimilar for Simponi and Simponi Aria)
STLA +4.3% (following GM news/guidance) U +2.7% (to close corporate offices in approximately 14 locations)
F +2.5% (following GM news/guidance)
OTEX +2.1% (OTEX to divest its AMC business to RKT for $2.275 bln in cash)
OLMA +1.5% (to present new Palazestrant data)
RKT +1.4% (OTEX to divest its AMC business to RKT for $2.275 bln in cash)
TSLA +1.3% (Announces Details for Cybertruck Delivery Event)
VEEV +1% (prices offering of 12.5 mln shares of common stock at $10.00 per share)

Analyst comments:

AVB +0.7% (upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan)

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 29th of November 2023 V3(++)

>>> Up

* B&S Group Raised to Outperform at Oddo BHF; PT 6 euros

* BMW Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan; PT 110 euros

* Carlsberg Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 840 kroner

* Direct Line Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank; PT 250 pence

* Evolution Raised to Buy at Citi; PT 1,350 kronor

* Gestamp Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 4 euros

* Legal & General Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank; PT 295 pence

* M&G Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank; PT 250 pence

* Michelin Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 27 euros
* Partners Group price target raised to CHF 1,055 from CHF 978 at JPMorgan

* Prosus price target raised to EUR 48 from EUR 47 at JPMorgan

* Siltronic Raised to Buy at Berenberg; PT 107 euros

* Vestas Raised to Buy at Berenberg; PT 205 kroner

>>> Down

* Adevinta Cut to Hold at Jefferies; PT 115 kroner

* Airbnb Cut to Hold at Jefferies; PT $140

* Aviva Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank; PT 485 pence

* Campari Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan; PT 8.30 euros

* Carlyle Group Cut to Inline at Evercore ISI; PT $32
* Clas Ohlson Cut to Hold at SEB Equities; PT 130 kronor

* Cool Cut to Hold at Pareto Securities; PT 140 kroner (+)

* Diageo Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 3,500 pence

* Equinor Cut to Underperform at Jefferies; PT 270 kroner

* Kering Cut to Hold at Stifel; PT 430 euros

* Legrand Cut to Underperform at RBC; PT 80 euros

* TotalEnergies Cut to Hold at Jefferies; PT 65 euros

* VW Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 128 euros

>>> Initiation

* Alphabet Rated New Positive at Vertical Group

* Amazon Rated New Positive at Vertical Group

* Comcast Rated New Neutral at Vertical Group

* Disney Rated New Neutral at Vertical Group

* Fox Corp Rated New Neutral at Vertical Group

* Halfords Cut to Sell at Liberum; PT 170 pence (++)

* Meta Platforms Rated New Positive at Vertical Group

* Nokian Renkaat Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 7.30 euros (++)

* Paramount Global Rated New Neutral at Vertical Group

* Rockwool Rated New Buy at Kepler Cheuvreux; PT 2,200 kroner (++)

* Roku Rated New Positive at Vertical Group

* Rusta Rated New Buy at DNB Markets; PT 56 kronor

* Rusta Rated New Buy at Carnegie; PT 55 kronor (+)
* Snap Rated New Neutral at Vertical Group

>>> Call

* Airbnb Falls as Jefferies Cuts to Hold on Bookings Slowdown (++)

* Bernstein Strategists See Subdued European Profit Growth in 2024 (+)

* Equinor, TotalEnergies Slip as Jefferies Cuts on Gas Exposure (++)

* Evolution Upgraded to Buy at Citi on Cash Returns Outlook

* JPMorgan’s Matejka Sees Risky Assets Challenged in Early 2024

* Legal & General, M&G Raised, Aviva Downgraded at Deutsche Bank
* Legrand Downgraded to Underperform at RBC on Upcoming Headwinds

* Siltronic Upgraded to Buy at Berenberg, Tide May Be Turning

* Trigano Gains as FY Profit Beats Estimates; Portzamparc Lifts PT (++)

* Vestas Raised to Buy at Berenberg Over Margins Progression (+)

FT : Jack Ma urges ‘change and reform’ at Alibaba

Jack Ma urges ‘change and reform’ at Alibaba

Intervention comes at critical moment for tech group as main rival gains ground

Jack Ma has urged Alibaba to “change and reform” as the ecommerce giant he founded tries to find a new path after abandoning parts of its ambitious restructuring plan and its main Chinese rival gains ground.

“I firmly believe that Alibaba will change and reform,” Ma wrote in a post published on Alibaba’s internal forum on Wednesday and seen by the Financial Times. “I believe that Alibaba employees are always watching and listening,” he said.

He was responding to an employee post about the “stunning” third-quarter financial results from PDD Holdings, which saw Alibaba’s upstart rival nearly double revenue to $9.4bn.

The results sent its shares 18 per cent higher on Tuesday in New York. This gives the group behind Pinduoduo and Temu a market value of $183bn, only just below the $195bn of Alibaba, long China’s biggest ecommerce company.

Ma’s intervention comes at a critical moment for Alibaba, with new chief Eddie Yongming Wu rethinking the group’s restructuring plan, under which the company was expected to split into six different business units, so-called “mini babas”. Earlier this month, Wu cancelled parts of the restructuring, including the spin-off of the cloud business, and delayed the listing of the grocery business, citing “market conditions”.

In his post, Ma congratulated PDD on their “execution over the past few years” but added it was only companies that “reformed for the future” that earned “respect”.

The enigmatic founder, who stepped down as chief executive in 2013 and as chair in 2019, has kept a low profile since the cancellation of Ant Group’s initial public offering three years ago. In March, he made a rare publicised trip to Hangzhou, where Alibaba has its headquarters. This was just before the group announced the ambitious restructuring programme.

Alibaba’s core domestic ecommerce businesses Taobao and Tmall have been battling growing competition from Pinduoduo and ByteDance.

Many Alibaba employees were on Wednesday discussing how Pinduoduo would soon eclipse them, according to one person close to the company. The U-turn on the restructuring plan has created a lot of confusion internally, employees said.

Alibaba had also planned to create a separate business to handle IT services across all divisions, from ecommerce to media, two employees said. But after months of preparation, the plans were cancelled.

“One day we are worried about the future of our business units that have been split off. The next day they’re being quietly merged back into Alibaba. I don’t know what the future holds for the company’s restructuring,” said one employee.

Ma ended his post with a rallying cry to employees, who have seen their company share price collapse 75 per cent since Beijing called off Ant’s IPO. He wrote, “back to our mission and vision, Ali people, come on!”

Alibaba declined to comment.

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 29th of November 2023 V2(+)