>>> Panalpina investor Artisan Partners against large acquisition, poison pill (

Panalpina investor Artisan Partners against large acquisition, poison pill (translated)
20 FEB 2019
Panalpina [SWX:PWTN] 12% shareholder Artisan Partners does not believe a major acquisition would aid the group, Finanz und Wirtschaft reported. Artisan Managing Director David Samra told the Swiss bi-weekly that a major acquisition as a defensive step or a poison pill is not a well thought-out strategy and will not help solve Panalpina's problems, adding that large buys rarely create value.
Samra said he encourages the Panalpina board to review how value can be increased for the group and its shareholders.
Asked about the potential deal with Kuwaiti group Agility, Samra said it would be complex as a majority of Agility's profits come from the infrastructure business and not from freight logistics, making it unclear what a deal might look like.
Asked if he would sell his stake to Panalpina's 46% shareholder Ernst Göhner Foundation or another bidder for CHF 170 or CHF 180 per share if the bidder offered to buyout the other shareholders, Samra said he would prefer a buyer offering cash as this is tax efficient.

>>> What to look at today - 20th of February 2019

 Stocks in Asia rose after encouraging U.S. earnings buoyed sentiment, while Treasuries held gains as trade concerns lingered. The yuan climbed amid a report the U.S. is asking China to keep its currency stable as part of the negotiations.
Shares in South Korea and Hong Kong led the region, with Japan also climbing. Australia and China underperformed. Earlier, the S&P 500 Index advanced after profit at Walmart Inc. lifted retailers and home builders got a push from higher housing activity. Still, gains were tempered as worries remained the trade truce will end March 1 without a deal, leading to fresh tariffs. The yen slipped after Japan’s trade deficit came in wider than expected.
US After Hours CDNS / CRMT +8%, NVTA / FIVN +5% are higher, while TVTY / LC -8%, TX -6%, TXRH -3% are lower following earnings/guidance

Nikkei +0.60% Hang Seng +0.90% CSI +0.30% Shanghai +0.13% Shenzen +0.23%

Eur$ 1.1337 CNH 6.7291 CNY 6.7266 JPY 110.962 GBP 1.3049 CHF 1.0020 RUB 65.88 TRY 5.2877 WTI$ 56.16+0.12%

S&P +0.02% EuroStoxx +0.28% FTSE +0.09% Dax +0.37% SMI +0.22%

Macro :
- S&P 500 Earnings Beats Reap Biggest Rewards Since 2012: BofAML
- Police Seize Over EU700m From Italy Banks on Diamond Probe: Ansa
- Credit Suisse, Goldman Downplay Market Risks From Earnings Slump

Keep an eye on :
- AED BB : Aedifica First Half Adjusted EPS EU1.74 Vs. EU1.58 Y/Y
- ASRNL NA : ASR Nederland Full Year Operating Profit Meets Estimates
- AF FP : Air France-KLM Board to Propose Renewing Elbers’ KLM Mandate
- AF FP : Air France-KLM Annual Profit Drops 31%, Fares Lower This Quarter
- AGS BB : Ageas Fourth Quarter Net Income Misses Estimates
- MT NA : ArcelorMittal May Buy Essar’s Hazira Assets for 100B Rupees: ET
- ATE FP : Alten Expects ‘Satisfactory’ Organic Sales Growth in 2019
- ATL IM : Atlantia Independent Director Monica Mondardini Resigns
- ATL IM : Airline Departures From Rome Ciampino Suspended Wednesday: Ansa
- AV/ LN : Aviva Wins Green Light to Transfer Assets out of U.K. on Brexit
- BAMNB NA : BAM Full Year Adjusted Pretax Profit Beats Highest Estimate
- BESI NA : BE Semiconductor Expects 1Q Sales Drop of About 15% vs. 4Q
- BETSB SS : Betsson Concerned with ’Cooling Off Period’ in New Gambling Law
- BILL SS : Billerud to Seek M&A When Financial Position Allows It: DI
- CTEC LN : Most Unloved ConvaTec Has Scope For Re-Rating, Jefferies Says
- CSGN SW : Credit Suisse Has Only One Sell Remaining as Berenberg Upgrades
- DIA SM : DIA Hires PWC to Seek Buyers for Stores Set to Close: Expansion
- ZIL2 GY : ElringKlinger Shares Fall As Co. Proposes Dividend Suspension
- FME GY : Fresenius Medical to Buy Back Up to EU1b in Shares Over 2 Years
- FME GY : FTC to Require Fresenius, NxStage to Divest Assets for Deal
- GFC FP : Gecina Sees FY 2019 Recurrent Net/Share Growth of Around 2%
- HAL NA : El Corte Ingles Sells Opticians Unit to GrandVision: Cinco Dias
- IBE SM : Iberdrola to Carry Out Share Buy-Back For Up to EU1.15B
- LR FP : Legrand Acquires U.S.-Based Universal Electric
- MED SW : Medartis FY Sales Growth, Adj. Ebitda Margin Lower End of Range
- MEKO SS : Mekonomen CEO Says Key Focus Is to Raise Profitability: DI
- MMT FP : M6 Full Year Ebita Beats Highest Estimate
- MOWI NO : Mowi Says Inspected by EU at Sites in Scotland, Netherlands
- NAS NO : NAS Says HBK Will Sell 10.4 Million Subscription Rights
- NETC DC : Netcompany Offering by Holder Prices 3.1m Shrs at DKK216.55/Shr
- NXI FP : Nexity Expects Sales, Ebitda to Rise at Least 5% in 2019
- NOVOB DC : Novo Nordisk’s Esperoct Gets FDA Approval, Launch Seen Post 2020
- RED SM : Red Electrica to Invest EU6 Billion Over Five Years
- RNO FP : Ghosn Charged Renault-Nissan Alliance for Rio Party: L’Express
- RENE PL : REN Says Govt Approved EU535.1m Power Grid Plan For 2018-2027
- SAN FP : Sanofi’s Dengue Vaccine Suffers Setback as Philippines Bans Drug
- SCST SS : Scandi Standard 4Q Adj. Operating Profit Fell to SEK102 Mln
- SCR FP : Scor Full Year Net Income Misses Estimates
- SCR FP : SCOR: Jean-Paul Conoscente Is Promoted to CEO of Scor Global
- SEN GY : Senvion Preliminary Fiscal 2018 Revenue Misses Estimates
- SEN GY : Senvion Warning is ‘Deja Vu,’ Estimates May Be Halved: Citi
- SOI FP : Soitec, Simgui Raise Prod Capacity of 200mm SOI Wafers in China
- SONI PL : Sonae Industria Expects 4Q Ebitda to Fall to EU4m on Canada Unit
- TEF SM : Telefonica to Extend EU5.5B Loan to 2024, Expansion Says
- O2D GY : Telefonica Deutschland 4Q Adj. OIBDA Beats Estimates
- TIT IM : Telecom Italia CEO’s New Plan Is Said to Focus on Cutting Debt
- TKKT FP : Tarkett, Sonae Arauco to End German JV, Close Eiweiler Plant
- VALN SW : Valora Full Year Revenue Meets Estimates
- VAO GY : Vapiano CEO Plans to Complete Financing Talks in March: FAZ
- VCT FP : Vicat Full Year Ebit 3.4% Below Estimates
- VOW3 GY : VW Brazil Plant to End Layoff, Resume 2nd Shift in Parana State

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 20th of February 20

>>> Up
* Bakkafrost Upgraded to Buy at SEB Equities; PT 482 Kroner
* BayWa Upgraded to Buy at Oddo BHF; PT 28 Euros
* Credit Suisse Upgraded to Hold at Berenberg
* Ipsen Upgraded to Neutral at Goldman; PT 125 Euros
* Tele2 Upgraded to Buy at SocGen; PT 130 Kronor
* VolkerWessels Upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley
* XXL Upgraded to Buy at Goldman; PT 39 Kroner

>>> Down
* ACS Downgraded to Underweight at Morgan Stanley
* Axel Springer Downgraded to Hold at HSBC; PT 62 Euros
* Bakkafrost Downgraded to Hold at Kepler Cheuvreux; PT 452 Kroner
* Bakkafrost Downgraded to Sell at SpareBank; PT 410 Kroner
* HSBC Downgraded to Outperform at CLSA
* HSBC Downgraded to Underweight at JPMorgan
* PhotoCure Downgraded to Hold at Norne Securities; PT 55 Kroner

>>> Initiation


>>> Call

>>> US After Hours Summary: CDNS / CRMT +8%, NVTA / FIVN +5% are highe


After Hours Summary: CDNS / CRMT +8%, NVTA / FIVN +5% are higher, while TVTY / LC -8%, TX -6%, TXRH -3% are lower following earnings/guidance

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: OSPN +25.4%, HSTM +18.7%, LNTH +11.2%, CRMT +8%, CDNS +7.8%, LMAT +6.4%, PFGC +6.4%, DVN +6.3% (also to pursue separation of Canadian and Barnett Shale assets, adds to repurchase authorization, boosts dividend), NVTA +5.4%, FIVN +5.2%, LZB +4.3%, DK +1.8% (light volume), EVBG +1.2%, WIRE +1.2%, HLF +1%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: FCX +2.5% and PCG +2.2% (continued strength), UNIT +1.5% (to sell its Uniti Towers' business in Latin America for cash consideration of ~$100 mln), ADI +0.8% (increases dividend 12.5% to $0.54/share; raises annual dividend growth target), TSLA +0.5% (slightly higher in after hours trade -- Elon Musk tweeted image of 4K cars being loaded for Europe)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: TVTY -8.1%, LC -8%, TX -6.1%, CXO -5.2%, TXRH -2.9%, SSTI -2.5% (light volume), FANG -2.2%, OMI -1.9% (also names Edward Pesicka Pres/CEO effective March 4; lowers dividend)

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: OVID -22.2% (commences offering of common stock and Series A convertible preferred stock), AI -4.4% (announces public offering of 6.0 mln shares of common stock), ARR -2.7% (announces underwritten public offering of 6.0 mln shares of common stock), NRZ -2.5% (commences 40,297,096 common stock offering, 40 mln are being offered by the Company), CPT -1.8% (announces public offering of 3,375,000 common shares), MRK -1.1% (announces pivotal Phase 3 KEYNOTE-240 trial evaluating KEYTRUDA did not meet co-primary endpoints of overall survival and progression-free survival)

>>> US Close Dow+0.03% S&P +0.15% Nasdaq +p.19% Russel+0.33%


Closing Stock Market Summary

The S&P 500 increased 0.2% on Tuesday, as strong earnings results from Wal-Mart (WMT 102.20, +2.21, +2.2%) helped ease some concerns about consumer spending. Investors also remained optimistic about U.S.-China trade talks and a market-friendly Federal Reserve. 

The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2%, and the Russell 2000 gained 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, finished flat. 

Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors finished higher with materials (+0.6%), utilities (+0.5%), consumer staples (+0.5%), and consumer discretionary (+0.5%) outperforming. Conversely, the health care (-0.3%) and industrial (-0.1%) sectors were the lone groups to finish in the red.

The U.S. and China resumed trade negotiations in Washington. President Trump said he believes China is intent on working quickly toward a deal to avoid a tariff hike on March 2. President Trump reiterated a possible extension to the trade deadline, telling reporters that the March 1 deadline was "not a magical date."

There was also some Fedspeak ahead of the FOMC's Minutes from the January meeting, which will be released on Wednesday.

New York Fed President Williams (FOMC voter) said mixed economic data has been a strong argument for a pause for further rate hikes, although he added that he expects to be drawing down the balance sheet for some time. Cleveland Fed President Mester (non-FOMC voter) for her part reportedly said she favors slowing the Fed's balance sheet normalization effort, but said the fed funds rate may need to move a bit higher than current levels if the economy evolves as she expects.

The market took the good and ignored the bad, which is all it has done so far in 2019.

Wal-Mart's earnings report was definitely good news for investors. An earnings beat and healthy same-store sales growth from the Dow component helped spur gains in the consumer staples (+0.5%) and consumer discretionary (+0.5%) sectors.

Its strong earnings report helped temper concerns about a slowdown in consumer spending that were fueled by the lousy Retail Sales report for December released last week. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 45.58, +0.24) increased 0.5%.

U.S. Treasuries saw continued buying interest, driving yields lower across the curve. The 2-yr yield and 10-yr yield decreased two basis points each to 2.50% and 2.65%, respectively. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.4% to 96.52 amid strength in the euro. WTI crude rose 1.6% to $56.45/bbl.

Reviewing Tuesday's lone economic report, the NAHB Housing Market Index for February:

  • The NAHB Housing Market Index for February increased to 62 (consensus 59) from 58 in January.

Looking ahead, investors will receive the FOMC Minutes for the January meeting and the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index on Wednesday.

  • Russell 2000 +16.8% YTD
  • Nasdaq Composite +12.8% YTD
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average +11.0% YTD
  • S&P 500 +10.9% YTD