Salesforce earnings came in below Wall Street estimates for the company’s latest quarter, but revenue exceeded expectations. The stock surged in after-hours trading on the report. Late Tuesday, Salesforce reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.41 a share, which was below analyst estimates of $2.44 a share, according to FactSet. Revenue for the quarter of $9.44 billion came in above expectations of $9.35 billion. In the same period last year, Salesforce reported earnings of $2.11 a share on revenue of $8.72 billion. The company said it now expects fiscal 2025 revenue to be between $37.8 billion to $38 billion. Salesforce previously guided for revenue of $37.7 billion to $38 billion. “Agentforce, our complete AI system for enterprises built into the Salesforce Platform, is at the heart of a groundbreaking transformation,” CEO Marc Benioff said in the company’s earnings release. The theme has been clear: Spending on generative artificial intelligence is a priority. That’s been a boon for software companies. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector exchange-traded fund has jumped 30% this year. Shares of Salesforce were up 6.4% in after-hours trading following the report.

The Swiss stock market was very quiet across the board on Tuesday. The SMI rose minimally to 11,834 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 11 price gainers and 8 price losers, while Nestlé closed unchanged. A total of 19.46 million shares were traded (Monday: 17.39 million). Swiss Life shares were the clear loser of the day, falling by 4.7 per cent. The life insurer had announced its intention to significantly increase its return on equity by 2027 with the help of a broader product range and greater efficiency. The sharp drop of the share price was reported as possibly being used for profit-taking after the good share price performance since the beginning of the year (+30 per cent). Partners Group (+1.3%) was among the winners. The expert for private market investments had announced the takeover of the Empira Group property platform. According to the company, this strengthens its position as a global property investor. ABB (+0.5%) also saw its share price rise following an acquisition. The Swiss company is buying Solutions Industry & Building, a French provider of cable protection systems. Without any new news, Geberit (+2.2%) was the day's winner in the SMI. Sika, which had already been firm the previous day, rose by a further 1.5 per cent.

Europe
The European stock markets closed in the green on Tuesday, despite the political storm brewing in France with the likely censure of the government. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.4% to 515.5 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 advanced by 0.3% and 0.2% respectively. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt climbed 0.4% and the FTSE 100 in London added 0.6%. Restaurant voucher specialist Edenred (-2.5%) confirmed the downward revision of its 2025 Ebitda target ‘in a new macroeconomic context and taking into account potential changes in the regulatory environment in Italy’. It has also doubled its share buyback programme to a maximum of €600 million over a three-year period. Automotive supplier Forvia (-4.8%) announced on Tuesday that Patrick Koller would step down as CEO on 1 March 2025. Saint-Gobain (+1.9%) declared on Tuesday that it had completed the acquisition of Kilwaughter, a company specialising in façade mortars in the UK and Ireland. The biopharmaceutical company Valneva (+2.1%) published on Tuesday positive data on the persistence of antibodies three years after vaccination with a single dose of its chikungunya vaccine, Ixchiq. Danish brewer Carlsberg (-2.4% in Copenhagen) announced on Tuesday that it had sold its Russian subsidiary Baltika Breweries to two of its employees, putting an end to a legal dispute arising from the Russian authorities' takeover of these activities.

United States
U.S. stocks were mixed on Tuesday. The S&P 500 was little changed and the Dow Jones Industrials Average ticked lower. On Monday, December’s first trading day, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at new record highs. Newly released economic data pointed to a solid labor market. Job openings in the U.S. increased in October, bucking a trend of falling vacancies for most of the past two years, the Labor Department said Tuesday in its latest job openings and labor turnover survey. Signs the economy remains strong could reduce traders’ bets on a Fed interest-rate cut in December, but some investors believe that the central bank is likely to continue easing monetary policy barring any significant data surprises. Meanwhile, money managers eyed political turmoil overseas. New York-listed South Korean securities fell, and the won tumbled after South Korea’s Parliament voted to end martial law, just hours after the country’s president declared the move. Bitcoin prices hovered around $95,000, little changed from Monday and off about 5% from their recent all-time high. AT&T shares gained 4.6% after the telecommunications operator announced that it would distribute more than $40 billion to its shareholders over the next three years in the form of share buybacks and dividends. Meta Platforms shares broke a new record on Tuesday, rising to 613.65 dollars after a gain of 3.5%. US Steel fell by 8% as US President-elect Donald Trump announced on Monday that he would prevent Japanese steel group Nippon Steel from acquiring its US rival. Tesla (-1.6%) saw its sales in China drop by 4.3% year-on-year in November, amid intensifying competition from Chinese carmakers. Data centre broadband solutions specialist Credo Technology Group Holding soared 48% after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results and a better-than-expected revenue forecast, as demand for artificial intelligence boosts its business. General Motors (-2.5%) withdrew from a project for an electric battery factory in the state of Michigan by selling its stake to its Korean partner LG Energy Solution. Microsoft (+0.1%) is being sued in the UK for anti-competitive practices in the cloud computing sector.

Asia
Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday. On the South Korean stock exchange, however, political uncertainties are causing heavy losses. The Kospi in Seoul slumped by 2.1 per cent to 2,449 points. Steel and financial stocks were among the biggest losers. Posco, for example, shed 1.5 per cent, although recovering from losses of around 3 per cent at the start of trading. KB Financial Group, meanwhile, tumbled by 6.1 per cent. Shares in Korea Gas plunged by around 18 per cent. In Tokyo, the Nikkei index is 0.1 per cent firmer at 39,279 points. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index is up 0.1 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite on the Chinese mainland is down 0.1 per cent.

Bonds
The 10-year Treasury note yield climbed by 4 basis points to 4.23%, while the 2-year Treasury note yield, more sensitive to the Fed's interest rate policy, declined by 2 basis points to 4.18%. Traders were seeking safe assets after the declaration of martial law in South Korea, while data showed an uptick in job openings in October, pointing to a solid labor market. Fed-funds futures indicate traders now see a 74% chance of another 0.25 percentage point cut in December, up from 59% a week ago. That would mark a third consecutive decrease, and would take rates down by a total of 1 percentage point for the year.

Analysis
Dt. Bank downgrades Lonza target to CHF 645 (660) - Buy
UBS cuts Essilorluxottica to Neutral (Buy)/target EUR 248 (232) - Trader
UBS reduces Porsche AG to Neutral (Buy)/target EUR 61 (87) - Trader

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