Newsquawk Daily European Equity Opening News - 4th March 2026

APAC stocks extended losses with markets roiled by the widening conflict in the Middle East, with the UAE considering taking military action to stop Iranian missile and drone strikes on the country, while it was also estimated that Saudi Arabia could attack Iran soon. ASX 200 slumped with the index dragged lower by underperformance in the commodity-related sectors, while better-than-expected Australian GDP data for Q4 failed to inspire a turnaround. Nikkei 225 dipped beneath the 54,000 level with mining and materials the worst performers amid disruption concerns. KOSPI saw a double-digit percentage drop and had triggered a circuit breaker with declines led by shipbuilders and shipping firms, while large exporters such as Samsung, SK Hynix and Hyundai Motor also suffered. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp conformed to the bloodbath in the region as participants digested mixed Chinese PMI data in which the official NBS Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing PMIs disappointed, but the private sector RatingDog PMI accelerated to multi-year highs, while attention is also on the Two Sessions, which began today in Beijing, while the focus will be on the Work Report on Thursday.

Chinese Gaming - US President Trump's administration is reportedly debating permitting Tencent (700 HK) to keep its gaming investments, according to FT. (FT)

CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -3.64% at 5,774, Dax 40 -3.59% at 23,753, FTSE 100 -2.75% at 10,484, CAC 40 -3.46% at 8,104, FTSE MIB -3.92% at 44,468, IBEX 35 -4.55% at 17,062, PSI -4.24% at 8,879, SMI -2.88% at 13,418, AEX -2.55% at 990

SECTORS: Energy -0.37%, Telecoms -1.79%, Healthcare -2.13%, Materials -2.76%, Consumer Stpl -2.82%, IT -3.05%, Consumer Disc -3.07%, Industrials -3.57%, Financials -3.89%, Utilities -4.06%

BAE Systems (BA/ LN) - Co. awarded an AUD 163mln contract by Australia. (BAE Systems)

OTHER UK COMPANIES

Loveholidays IPO / Travel names - Loveholidays has reportedly postponed plans to IPO, amidst the current war in the Middle East. The FT writes that the Co. sought to float in early March, looking for a valuation of around GBP 1bln. (FT)

BROKER MOVES

Adidas (ADS GY) - Q4 2025 (EUR): Revenue 6.08bln (exp. 6.33bln). FY 2025: Revenue 24.8bln, +13% Y/Y, Op. Profit 2.05bln, +54% Y/Y. By region (Y/Y): Europe +8%, North America -1%, Greater China +5%, Japan/South Korea +5%. Proposed dividend increase of 40% to EUR 2.80/shr; in combination with share buyback total cash returns of up to EUR 1.5bln this year. Outlook: Sees 2026 Op. Profit “about” 2.3bln (exp. 2.69bln). Mid-term outlook: Adidas well positioned for further market share gains in an attractive industry. Elsewhere Co. announced the contract extension of CEO Bjorn Gulden’s. (Adidas)

Bayer (BAYN GY) - FY 2025 (EUR): Adj. EBITDA 9.67bln (exp. 9.61bln). Q4 2025: Sales 11.48bln (exp. 11.31bln), EBITDA before special items 1.97bln (exp. 1.92bln). Outlook: Sees stable 2026 sales and earnings adjusted for currency changes. Declares a dividend of EUR 0.11/shr (prev. EUR 0.11/shr). (Bayer)

Continental (CON GY) - FY 2025 (EUR): Revenue 19.7bln (exp. 19.7bln), EBIT 2.04bln (exp. 2.03bln), Basic EPS -0.83 (exp. -0.49); FY outlook: Sales 17.3-18.9bln (exp. 18.7bln). Contitech sales of EUR 4.2-4.8bln and FY outlook tires sales of EUR 13.2-14.2bln. (Continental)

OTHER GERMAN COMPANIES

Aroundtown (AT1 GY) - FY 2025 (EUR): Adj. EBITDA 999mln (exp. 976.3mln), Net Rental Income 1.18bln, “slightly above the prior”. 2026 EPS guidance 0.24-0.27/shr. Aroundtown will launch a voluntary exchange offer, structured as a partial offer, to increase its ownership in GCP to up to 89.5%. The transaction strengthens Aroundtown’s position as a leading European real estate platform, simplifies the group structure, is FFO accretive, and further increases trading liquidity. (Aroundtown)

Evonik (EVK GY) - FY 2025 (EUR): Revenue 14.1bln (exp. 14.0bln), Adj. EBITDA 1.87bln (exp. 1.88bln); sees FY outlook adj. EBITDA of EUR 1.7-2bln. (Evonik)

SIX2 (SIX2 GY) - FY 2025 (EUR): Revenue 4.28bln (prev. 4.00bln Y/Y), EBT 400.5mln (prev. 335mln Y/Y). FY Outlook: 4.45-4.6bln (exp. 4.51bln) (SIX2)

BROKER MOVES

OTHER FRENCH COMPANIES

Scor (SCR FP) - Q4 2025 (EUR): Insurance Revenue 3.78bln (exp. 3.99bln), P&C insurance revenue 1.79bln (prev. 1.92bln Y/Y), GWP 4.56bln (prev. 5.04bln Y/Y). Proposed regular dividend of EUR 1.90/shr, +5.6% Y/Y. (Scor)

BROKER MOVES

Accor (AC FP) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Kepler Cheuvreux

Dassault Systemes (DSY FP) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs

Danone (BN FP) to Outperform from Neutral at BNP Paribas

Nexans (NEX FP) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays

Thales (HO FP) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan

Aedifica (AED BB) / Cofinimmo (COFB BB) - Results of the initial acceptance period for Aedifica’s exchange offer on Cofinimmo. Aedifica acquires 80% of the shares in Cofinimmo. (Aedifica)

ASM International (ASM NA) - Q4 2025 (EUR): Revenue 698mln (exp. 654.2mln), New Orders 731.4mln (prev. 802.8mln Y/Y), Gross Profit 407.2mln (prev. 347.7mln Y/Y).Proposed dividend over 2025 of EUR 3.25/shr and new EUR 150mln share buyback announced. Outlook: Q1 Revenue 830mln (exp. 767mln), with a range of +/- 4%. Expect Q2 revenue to be up from the level in Q1. We anticipate revenue in the second half of 2026 to be higher than in the first half. Expects sales in China to rise in 2026. A notable improvement from the earlier forecast of a double-digit decline. (ASM International)

Geopols / Insurance / Energy - US President Trump, effective immediately, said the US is to provide political risk insurance and guarantees (at a v reasonable price) for financial security of all maritime trade, especially energy, travelling through the Gulf. (Truth Social)

Spanish stocks - US President Trump says he told Scott [Bessent] to cut off all dealings with Spain and not happy with UK either. (Newswires)

BROKER MOVES

OTHER SWISS COMPANIES

Implenia (IMPN SW) - FY 2025 (EUR): Revenue 3.47bln (exp. 3.61bln), EBIT 140.5mln (prev. 130.47bln Y/Y). Sees FY outlook EBIT of 150mln. Proposed dividend increase to CHF 1.40/shr, +56% Y/Y. (Implenia)

BROKER MOVES

Temenos (TEMN SW) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays

EQT (EQT SS) - Co. to buy back shares for SEK 2.5bln. Repurchases may be made during the period 4 March – 8 May, 2026. (EQT)

Maersk (MAERSKB DC) - Co. has suspended all new bookings between the India subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka). (Maersk)

Subsea7 (SUBC NO) - Co. announced John Evans will retire as CEO in June; will be succeeded by Stuart Fitzgerald (currently CEO of Seaway7). (Subsea7)

BROKER MOVES

Clas Ohlson (CLASB SS) upgraded to Hold from Sell at SEB

CLOSES: SPX -0.94% at 6,817, NDX -1.09% at 24,720, DJI -0.83% at 48,501, RUT -1.75% at 2,609.

SECTORS: Materials -2.69%, Industrials -1.96%, Health -1.14%, Technology -1.05%, Consumer Staples -0.97%, Energy -0.94%, Consumer Discretionary -0.86%, Utilities -0.65%, Real Estate -0.59%, Communication Services -0.27%, Financials -0.18%.

CrowdStrike (CRWD) - CrowdStrike shares slipped in extended trading despite an earnings beat, after it projected quarterly sales roughly in line with analyst estimates, indicating steady rather than accelerating demand. Q4 adj. EPS 1.21 (exp. 1.10), Q4 revenue USD 1.31bln (exp. 1.3bln). Ended FY26 with USD 5.25bln in ARR, including USD 1.01bln of net new ARR, its first year exceeding USD 1bln, alongside record operating and free cash flow. Exec said enterprise AI adoption is expanding demand for its cybersecurity platform. Sees Q1 adj. EPS between 1.06-1.07 (exp. 1.07), Q1 revenue between USD 1.36-1.364bln (exp. 1.36bln); for FY27, it sees adj. EPS between 4.78-4.90 (exp. 4.84), and FY27 revenue between USD 5.868-5.928bln (exp. 5.87bln). (CrowdStrike)

Moderna (MRNA), Roivant Sciences (ROIV) - Roivant Sciences unit Genevant Sciences and Arbutus Biopharma reached a USD 2.25bln global settlement with Moderna over alleged unauthorised use of LNP delivery technology in COVID-19 vaccines. Moderna will pay USD 950mln in Q3, and up to USD 1.3bln depending on a Federal Circuit ruling, and will receive a global non-exclusive licence for infectious disease applications. (Moderna)

OpenAI, Microsoft (MSFT) - OpenAI is developing a code repository platform to rival Microsoft’s GitHub, according to The Information, and the project could put OpenAI in competition with Microsoft, one of its major investors. The initiative followed a rise in GitHub outages that disrupted engineers’ ability to store, share and collaborate on code. Separately, OpenAI is considering a contract to deploy its technology on NATO’s unclassified networks; the talks follow a recent agreement to deploy its tech on the Pentagon’s classified network after the US government ended work with Anthropic. (OpenAI)

Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA), Blackstone (BX), Sanofi (SAN FP) - Teva and funds managed by Blackstone agreed a USD 400mln strategic funding deal over four years to support development of duvakitug; Blackstone will receive regulatory and commercial milestones and low single-digit royalties on global sales. Teva is co-developing the drug with Sanofi. (Teva Pharmaceuticals)