Lindt & Sprüngli announced on Monday that Group CEO Adalbert Lechner will leave the company. The Board of Directors has initiated a search process to identify his successor. Dieter Weisskopf, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors and former Group CEO, will assume leadership of the Group as interim CEO with immediate effect. The company additionally announced a leadership change in Germany and Austria. The Board of Directors has concluded that Lindt & Sprüngli requires new operational leadership to return to consistent, strong growth and to capture opportunities in all its markets globally.

The Swiss stock market recorded its sixth consecutive day of gains on Friday. The SMI added 0.3 percent to close at 14,391 points. Once again, the two SMI newcomers, Galderma and Sandoz, were among the top performers, with increases of 2.3 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively. Nestlé climbed 1.7 percent to 82.43 francs after JP Morgan upgraded it to “Overweight” with a price target of 100 francs. At the bottom of the SMI was Novartis, down 1.0 percent. Alcon lost 0.7 percent. Givaudan fell 0.5 percent following strong gains the previous day after an upward revision to its forecast. Roche ended the day down 0.1 percent. The news that Roche had received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the drug Enspryng for the treatment of a rare autoimmune disease failed to provide a boost. Furthermore, this is already the second indication for Enspryng in the U.S.

Europe
On Friday, European stock markets gained ground as concerns eased over the debt used to finance the development of artificial intelligence (AI). The Stoxx Europe 600 index added 0.7% to 644.74 points, bringing its weekly gains to 2.1%. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 each advanced 0.3%. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 rose 0.95%, and the FTSE 100 climbed 0.4% in London. ALSTOM (+1%): The rail equipment manufacturer announced Thursday evening that it had extended its rail services contract with Greater Anglia for 15 years, covering the British operator’s fleet of Class 720 Aventra trains. This contract is “worth approximately 800 million pounds,” or about 947 million euros, Alstom revealed in a press release. ADP GROUP (+1%): The airport group lowered its forecast for current EBITDA for 2026 on Thursday evening, while still expecting current EBITDA to be at the lower end of the range of 2.3 billion to 2.35 billion euros. MERCIALYS (+2.4%): The shopping center operator confirmed its 2026 targets on Thursday evening, after reporting an increase in rental revenue for the first nine months of the year. SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC (-1.8%): The electrical equipment manufacturer upgraded its financial targets for 2026 on Friday—for the second time this year—after posting record revenue that exceeded analysts’ expectations in the third quarter.

United States
U.S. stocks lost ground on Friday as fears mounted that artificial-intelligence profits would not come soon enough to meet increasingly expensive credit obligations for CoreWeave and other aspiring hyperscalers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 175.28 points, or 0.34%, to 52002.41. The S&P 500 lost 84.62 points, or 1.09%, to 7659.44. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 572.99 points, or 2.14%, to 26140.03. Shares of CoreWeave plunged 12% and are down more than 50% from their highs earlier this year as concerns about the cloud-computing company’s ability to pay down debt lingered. The Russell 2000 index of small cap stocks sank deeper into correction territory, paring its year-to-date gains to around 10%. Nvidia shares dropped 1.4% to $214.13 and Dell Technologies, another CoreWeave supplier, retreated 4.6% to $451.71. Dell’s stock lost more than 22% of its value this week for its biggest five-day loss since it relaunched on public markets in 2018. Varonis Systems’ VRNS shares climbed 2.9% to $48.72 after closely held cybersecurity firm Proofpoint agreed to acquire the data-security company for about $6.3 billion, honing its focus on AI security. Apple, which has moved more cautiously on AI than many rivals, increased by 0.4% to $343.46. Orders for its iPhone Duo foldable smart phone are off to a strong start. The financial sector was another bright spot as earnings from regional bank holding companies including M&T Bank and Citizens Financial were generally strong.

Asia
Asian stocks were mixed on Monday. The Topix in Tokyo is down 0.1 percent, while on the Seoul stock exchange—which is considered particularly AI-driven—the Kospi is up 0.6 percent. Among the two index heavyweights that took a heavy hit on Friday—Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix—the former is recovering by 1.0 percent, while SK Hynix is down slightly. The Shanghai Composite added 0.2 percent. Trading was suspended in Hong Kong due to a holiday. China’s industrial production and retail sales both significantly exceeded forecasts in September. Brent crude oil dropped by just under 2 percent to $107.88 on Monday in Asia.

Bonds
Rising oil prices and broader inflation worries spurred long-term U.S. government debt yields higher on Friday. The 10-year Treasury note yield added 0.011 percentage point to 5.097%. The 30-year Treasury note yield rose 0.009 percentage point to 5.436%. The 2-year Treasury note yield declined by 0.013 percentage point to 4.734%.

Analysis
JPMorgan upgrades Nestlé to Overweight (Neutral) - Target price CHF 100 (90)
Deutsche Bank lifts Docmorris's target price to CHF 17.50 (12.50) - Buy
Deutsche Bank raises Lonza's target price to CHF 715 (697) - Buy


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