Givaudan reported lower profit in fiscal 2025, while sales edged up from last year with growth in both segments. The firm further lifted its dividend, and said it delivered on its ambitious targets’ of 2025 strategy, and also issued outlook for 2030. In fiscal 2025, net income dropped 1.7 percent to 1.071 billion Swiss francs from last year's 1.090 billion francs. In local currency, net income increased 3.9 percent. Basic earnings per share were 116.08 francs, compared to 118.17 francs for the same period in 2024. EBITDA was 1.75 billion in 2025, down 0.8 percent from last year. The EBITDA margin was 23.4 percent, compared to 23.8 percent a year ago. On a comparable basis, the EBITDA margin decreased to 24.2 percent from 24.5 percent last year. Full-year Group sales were 7.47 billion francs, an increase of 0.8 percent from 7.41 billion francs a year ago. Sales grew 5.1 percent on a like-for-like or LFL basis. Further, at the Annual General Meeting on March 19, Givaudan's Board of Directors will propose a cash dividend of 72.00 francs per share for 2025, an increase of 2.9 percent from last year. From March, Christian Stammkoetter will take over operational management from long-standing CEO Gilles Andrier, who will assume the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors.

On Wednesday, the SMI lost 1.5 percent to 13,024 points. The weakest performer in the SMI was Logitech, down 5.2 percent. Although the computer accessories manufacturer exceeded its own targets in the third fiscal quarter, sales were not convincing, according to reports. Market participants noted that pharmaceutical stocks followed their US counterparts downwards. The two heavyweights Roche and Novartis lost 3.3 and 2 percent, respectively. Roche presented its financial results on Thursday. Lonza (-2.1%) was unable to escape the negative sentiment, even though the pharmaceutical contract manufacturer exceeded market expectations with its figures for 2025 and its outlook for the current year, as Vontobel noted. Alcon performed better than the market, declining by 0.3 percent. Richemont dropped 2.3 percent. Disappointing figures from French luxury goods group LVMH weighed on the market. On the day before the publication of its 2025 figures, ABB shares slipped 0.4 percent. Givaudan also reported on its performance over the past year on Thursday. With a gain of 0.2 percent, the fragrance and flavor manufacturer's shares bucked the negative trend. UBS shares (-2.5%) declined in line with the European banking sector.

Europe
European stock markets fell on Wednesday. The Stoxx Europe 600 index slid 0.8% to 608.5 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 1.1% and the SBF 120 gave up 1% of its value. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 shed 0.3%, while the FTSE 100 retreated 0.5% in London. AIRBUS (-2.2%): US airline Delta Air Lines announced on Tuesday that it had ordered 31 wide-body aircraft from aircraft manufacturer Airbus in order to accelerate the renewal of its long-haul fleet. CAPGEMINI (-2%): The French government, through its Minister of Economy, asked the digital services group on Tuesday to shed light on its contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the US federal agency responsible for enforcing immigration and customs laws. EUTELSAT (+11.2%) and SES (+8%): The two satellite operators advanced on the Paris Stock Exchange, as the European Union has just activated certain parts of its sovereign secure satellite communications systems GovSatCom and Iris2. LVMH (-7.9%): On Tuesday evening, the world's leading luxury goods company reported net income attributable to the group of €10.88 billion, down 13% in 2025, and expressed caution about its outlook. Kering (-3%) and Hermès (-3.8%) slipped in the wake of LVMH. SANOFI (-2.8%): Biotech company Sensorion reported Wednesday that it had completed a capital increase reserved for global healthcare specialists, including pharmaceutical company Sanofi.

United States
The U.S. stock markets ended trading on Wednesday little changed after the US Federal Reserve left its key interest rate on hold, as widely expected. The Dow Jones index gained twelve points to 49,016. The S&P 500 closed flat. Early in the session, it broke through the 7,000-point mark for the first time. The Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.2 percent. Earnings season is in full swing, with three of the trillion-dollar market-cap "Mag Seven" companies reporting earnings after the close Wednesday. Tesla (TSLA): The EV-maker will invest $2 billion in Elon Musk’s artificial-intelligence company, xAI, the company announced Wednesday in an earnings report that saw drops in revenue and profit. Shares rose 4% afterhours. Meta Platforms (META): Investors cheered the tech giant's earnings, sending shares up 9% afterhours. The Facebook owner reported record sales in the fourth quarter and a massive increase in projected 2026 spending, a sign the company has no plans to slow down an ambitious AI expansion. Microsoft (MSFT): The company posted quarterly revenue of $81.3 billion but also indicated that it is spending more than what investors expected. The stock dropped 5% in postmarket trading. Seagate Technology surged 19%. The hard-disk-drive maker beat analysts’ estimates for fourth-quarter earnings and revenue, and CEO Dave Mosley touted a surge in demand from artificial-intelligence data centers. Peer Western Digital gained 11% and flash-memory supplier Sandisk, which spun off from Western Digital last year, advanced 9.6%. Memory-chip maker Micron Technology rose 6.1%, getting a boost from three other earnings reports that indicated the AI boom was continuing to drive semiconductor demand.

Asia
In Asia, major indexes are recording moderate gains on Thursday. In South Korea, the technology-heavy Kospi index is extremely volatile. Having reached a new all-time high, the index is now falling significantly before rising again – it is currently up 1.3 percent. SK Hynix is climbing 2.5 percent, while Samsung is dropping 0.8 percent due to profit-taking after recent gains. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.3 percent to 53,506 points, retreating from its daily highs. The Shanghai Composite, with little correlation to stock markets in the West and the region, added 0.1 percent, while Hong Kong's HSI, with a much stronger correlation to other stock markets, climbed 0.7 percent.

Bonds
Long-dated U.S. government debt yields edged higher on Wednesday. The 10-year Treasury note yield increased by 2 basis points to 4.25%. Expectations continued to focus on two interest rate cuts of 25 basis points each before the end of the year, noted FXEM analyst Abdelaziz Albogdady, referring to the less pronounced yield increases at the short end of the market.

Analysis
Rating Partners Group: Kepler upgrades to Buy (Hold) – target price CHF 1260 (1140)
Target price Kühne+Nagel: Barclays upgrades to CHF 150 (145) – Underweight
Rating PSP Swiss Property: UBS upgrades to Buy (Neutral) – target price CHF 162 (148)

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