The new week on the markets starts on the right foot. The first spring session saw the Ftse Mib mark an increase of 0.26% at the end of the day to 24,262. The leading index of Piazza Affari has returned for three consecutive weeks on the rise. Today few important ideas with investors reassured by the retracement of US Treasury yields after last Friday’s peak. Drop in yields that gave growth stocks breathing space with Nasdaq well-suited to Wall Street.
STM runs, Ferrari more
In Milan, purchases rewarded STM (+ 3.89% to 32.02 euros), the main tech testimonial of the Italian price list. The Italian-French semiconductor giant today released a quarterly coupon of $ 0.042, the first of four expected in 2021. This year STM has cut the dividend from 0.24 to 0.168 euros even if the Board proposed to consider in September a possible increase in the coupon up to a maximum of $ 0.24. Also today Credit Suisse confirmed the outperform valuation on STM with a target price of 39 euros, noting how the group has outperformed the automotive semiconductor sector in the last 4 years and the management aims to extend this trend in the coming years.
The best title of the day on the Ftse Mib was Ferrari which regained 170 euros and during the session managed to score over + 4%. Investors are still waiting for the name of the new CEO and positive expectations are growing for a quick post-Covid normalization in the US, a key market for the Cavallino. In the meantime, the F1 championship kicks off in a week.
The Poste Italiane stock rose again today (+ 1.6% to 10.5 euros) after last Friday’s profit-taking on the day of the presentation of the new business plan to 2024. Today, Equita SIM analysts reviewed the I increase the valuation on Poste by 19% to 12.6 euros mainly as a result of a positive valuation for M&P (€ 0.1 per share vs -1.4 ps prev.) with the division still making a loss in the next 4 years but in profit from 2025. The “2024 Sustain & Innovate” plan expects revenues to increase to 12.7 billion in 2024, with an annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3%, thanks to the contribution of all business segments. Net income is expected to rise to 1.6 billion in 2024, with a CAGR of 6% and + 33% compared to 2020. Poste has indicated an initial dividend per share of 0.55 euros for 2021, increasing by 14% compared to 2020 (payout ratio of 60%) and then a constant growth of 6% per year by 2024.
Bad Saipem and banks
On the other hand, sales on Saipem (-1.48%) despite the order worth over one billion dollars relating to the North Field Production Sustainability Pipelines Project, in Qatar.
Bank stocks are also bad: Bper (-2.51%) and Unicredit (-1.17%) follow up on last Friday’s bad session. Over the weekend the M&A speech continued with market operators who await Unicredit’s moves once the new CEO Andrea Orcel starts his work in mid-April.
Telecom does not recover
Finally, minus sign for Telecom Italia (-1.44%) which is unable to recover after last Friday’s 7% crash on fears of a slowdown on the single network project. Equita SIM analysts believe that the share’s reaction on Friday was excessive compared to the government’s stances which indeed reaffirm the strategic nature of the single network project, asking for an acceleration from the parties involved, leaving at most some uncertainty on the relative formula the governance identified by the parties and endorsed by the previous executive. “We expect a series of clarifications in response to government pressure in the coming weeks. The creation of the single network represents one of the catalysts on the title ”, argues the Milanese sim. On Friday, Minister Giorgetti made it clear that he is not against the single network, but rather that he sees the need for acceleration on the dossier. The minister also underlined the importance of public control over the asset, an issue that could be satisfied by the governance agreements signed between CdP and TIM last summer or could indicate greater requests from the government on the issue of asset control. .