The chip maker beat expectations for sales and profit in its latest quarterly earnings report, released after the closing bell. Nvidia’s shares fell about 2.5% in after-hours trading, however, with the results falling short of some investors’ expectations following several quarters of sky-high revenue and profits. Nvidia’s sales surged in its latest quarter and profits nearly doubled, a sign of the strength of an artificial intelligence boom that has made the company the world’s most valuable. Nvidia also projected around $37.5 billion of revenue for its current quarter, topping forecasts and suggesting its next-generation AI chips, known as Blackwell, are in high demand from customers like Microsoft, Google, Meta and Elon Musk’s xAI. The company, whose chips have powered the rise of AI technology, said it expects the Blackwell chips to ship in the current quarter and be in short supply into its next fiscal year. Sales were $35.1 billion in the fiscal third quarter, the company said, up 94% from a year prior and ahead of forecasts in a FactSet survey of analysts. Profit reached $19.3 billion, also ahead of Wall Street forecasts. Nvidia’s market capitalization has increased by $2.36 trillion in 2024 through Wednesday’s close, greater than the entire current value of Google parent Alphabet.

On Wednesday, the SMI lost 1.8 points to 11,540, with 11 losers and 9 winners among the 20 SMI stocks. A total of 18.77 (previously: 21.49) million shares were traded. Holcim was in high demand among investors. The shares of the building materials group rose by 1.8 per cent. Swiss Life and Partners Group also had a good run with increases of 0.9 per cent each. However, the heavyweights lagged slightly. The shares of food giant Nestlé fell by 0.2 per cent after the previous day's significant losses. Among the pharmaceutical giants, Roche dropped by 0.5 per cent and Novartis by 0.1 per cent. The day's losers were Kühne & Nagel with declines of 1.1 per cent, followed by Sika (-0.7%). Among small caps, SGS closed 0.2 per cent lower. At its Capital Markets Day, SGS confirmed its outlook for 2024 and its medium-term targets. Avolta shares benefited from a buy recommendation by Berenberg analysts. The share price climbed by 1.1 per cent.

Europe
The European stock markets closed on a gloomy note on Wednesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of American chip giant Nvidia's results. The Stoxx Europe 600 index finished close to balance at 500.5 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 lost 0.4% and 0.5% respectively. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt gave up 0.3%, while the FTSE 100 fell by 0.2% in London. Elior plunged by 24.3%. The publication by the contract catering specialist of an overly cautious outlook overshadowed a sharper-than-expected recovery in profitability for its 2023-2024 financial year ending at the end of September. Casino (-4.2%) announced on Wednesday that it had been informed that British investment fund Trinity had reached an agreement to sell its stake in France Retail Holdings, the retailer's largest shareholder. Semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics (-1.2%) pushed back its financial targets, including sales of more than $20 billion, from 2025-2027 to 2030, ahead of a day dedicated to investors. The petroleum product distributor Rubis (-0.8%) is considering various options for its future, including a potential sale, at a time when its share price has halved in five years, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday evening, citing sources requesting anonymity.

United States
Major indexes were mixed on Wednesday. The Dow industrials closed 0.3% higher, while the S&P 500 was flat. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1%. Nvidia’s earnings day didn’t live up to the hype. The day’s other big news was Target. The retailer’s shares plunged after it reported much weaker-than-expected results, a day after a positive update from Walmart on the holiday shopping season. Bitcoin notched yet another record. The cryptocurrency hit a new intraday peak of $94,963, following strong volumes in this week’s debut of options on BlackRock’s bitcoin exchange-traded fund. Ford (-2.9%) announced 4,000 job cuts in Europe, mainly in Germany but also in the UK. Power distribution systems supplier Powell Industries (-16%) reported strong fourth-quarter profit and revenue growth, although new orders fell in the 2023-2024 financial year. Chinese electric car manufacturer NIO (-0.2% on ADR) published a higher-than-expected loss for the third quarter, while its sales came in below analysts' expectations. US cable operator Comcast (+1.6) announced plans on Wednesday to spin off the cable channels of its subsidiary NBCUniversal, confirming information published by the Wall Street Journal. Delta Airlines (-1.7%) confirmed its profit forecast for the fourth quarter, in a range of 1.60 to 1.85 dollars per share. Chip manufacturer GlobalFoundries (-1.7%) confirmed on Wednesday that it would receive up to $1.5 billion in funding from the US government to expand and modernize its factories in the United States under the CHIPS Act.

Asia
Overall, little is happening on the Asian and Australian stock exchanges on Thursday. Only in Tokyo did the index display slightly more momentum, with the Nikkei-225 falling by 1.0 per cent to 37,985 points. In Seoul, on the other hand, the Kospi rose by 0.4 per cent, while the trend on the Chinese stock exchanges and in Sydney was just about unchanged. In Seoul, the share price of Korean Nvidia supplier SK Hynix fell by half a per cent. Celltrion increased in price by 2.5 per cent after the biosimilar company presented a share buyback plan. In Sydney, Worley slipped 1.8 per cent in the wake of the engineering services provider reporting incoming orders in line with expectations.

Bonds
U.S. government debt sold off Wednesday, sending yields broadly higher, as geopolitical anxiety eased and investors awaited President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary. The 10-year Treasury note yield increased by 4 basis points (0.04 percentage points) to 4.416% while the 2-year Treasury note yield climbed 2 basis points to 4.319%.

Analysis
JP Morgan upgrades Holcim to Overweight (Neutral) / target CHF 108 (81) - Trader
Berenberg starts Avolta with Buy - Target 40 CHF
UBS raises target Heidelberg Materials to EUR 121 (106) / Neutral - Trader

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