Zurich Insurance Company unveiled a new strategic plan on Thursday, targeting an increase in earnings per share of more than 9% per annum over the period 2025/2027. Various measures are intended to support the new targets, which have been set at a time when most of the previous ones will already be achieved ahead of schedule, the Zurich-based company explained. ‘Most of the objectives of the current strategic plan will already have been achieved by 2024,’ Zurich CEO Mario Greco emphasised in a conference call. The adjusted return on core capital should reach more than 23%, after 20% in the previous strategic cycle. At mid-year, this figure had reached 25%, clearly above target, thanks to the solid development of the business. Cumulative cash inflows should total 19 billion dollars. ‘By the end of 2024, we already expect to be at $12 billion’, added the CEO. Operating profit should exceed 4.2 billion dollars, an increase of 18% on the 2023 figure. Gross premiums are expected to hit $10 billion by the end of 2027, compared with $7.5 billion in 2023, thanks in particular to contract sales on better terms, according to Mr Greco. In 2024, Zurich passed the 75 million customer mark. On the stock exchange, Zurich Insurance shares edged up 3.13% to CHF 547.60, while the SMI gained 0.45%.

The Swiss stock market ended trading on Thursday with slight gains. The SMI climbed 0.5 per cent to 11,592 points. Of the 20 SMI stocks, there were 12 price gainers and 8 price losers. A total of 17 (previously: 18.77) million shares were traded. Zurich Insurance was particularly popular with investors. The share price rose sharply by 3.1 per cent. Swiss Re (+1.0%) and Swiss Life (+0.6%) also posted price gains. Among the index heavyweights, Nestlé fell 0.7 per cent. Novartis, meanwhile, recorded gains of 0.6 per cent. The pharmaceutical giant aims to increase sales by an average of around 6 per cent by 2028, adjusted for exchange rate effects. Previously, Novartis had forecast an increase of 5 per cent. The shares of competitor Roche rose by 0.8 per cent. In the broader market, Julius Baer advanced by 4.7 per cent. Vontobel described the bank's interim report as being in line with expectations. However, the analysts emphasised the positive development of net cash inflows.

Europe
The European stock markets rose on Thursday, against a backdrop of contrasting results from US chip giant Nvidia and tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.4% to 502.5 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 each picked up 0.2%. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt climbed 0.7% and the FTSE 100 added 0.8% in London. Soitec (+7.5%) on Wednesday confirmed its targets for the current financial year, after a mixed first half on its various markets. Elior plunged by 11.8% to 2.75 euros. The catering group's shares had already plummeted by 24.3% on Wednesday, due in particular to disappointment over net profit for 2023-2024, cautious forecasts and profit-taking, commented Oddo BHF. Technip Energies (-2.5%) on Thursday announced financial targets for next year and for 2028, boosted by its traditional energy infrastructure activities and by growth in the decarbonisation markets. The banking group Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, or BBVA (-0.7% in Madrid), presented proposals to address the concerns of the Spanish competition regulator regarding its hostile takeover bid for its compatriot Banco de Sabadell (+0.6% in Madrid), an operation to which the Spanish government has expressed its opposition.

United States
U.S. stock indexes closed higher on Thursday. The Dow was up 1.1%, trailed by the S&P 500, which rose 0.5%. The Nasdaq ticked up less than 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed more than 460 points on Thursday, powered by gains at Salesforce and International Business Machines. Snowflake shares soared 33% after the data-cloud company reported higher-than-expected revenue. Other software stocks posted gains in its wake, including Salesforce, lifting the Dow. The Dow industrials are about 1% below the closing record they hit last week. Markets climbed immediately after the election on expectations that President-elect Donald Trump will usher in lower taxes and lighter regulations for U.S. companies. But the rally has since lost momentum. One area where the Trump trade has kept going: crypto. Bitcoin hit a new intraday peak just above $99,000 on Thursday, continuing its wild rally on hopes of crypto-friendly policies from the Trump administration. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up slightly, weighed down by losses at Google parent Alphabet. The company’s class A shares fell 4.7% on Thursday after the Justice Department said Google should be forced to sell off its popular Chrome browser, the latest twist in the government’s antitrust case against the tech giant. Nvidia shares were up 0.5%. The chip maker reported blockbuster results and an upbeat outlook on Wednesday, but the report failed to meet some investors’ sky-high expectations. Cloud data management specialist Snowflake (+33%) has reported better-than-expected third-quarter results, while its sales forecast for the current quarter is ahead of analysts' expectations. Cybersecurity group Palo Alto Networks (+1.2%) published better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its full-year outlook. The company's board of directors also approved a two-for-one share split. Stocks linked to crypto-currencies showed mixed fortunes, even though the value of bitcoin hit a new record high of over 98,000 dollars. MicroStrategy fell by 16% and Coinbase lost 7.7%, while MARA gained 6.9%. The reversal in the session corresponded with the publication of a statement by Citron Research, indicating that it had taken a short position in MicroStrategy in order to hedge its exposure to bitcoin.

Asia
Asian and Australian stocks were mixed on Friday. The Chinese stock exchanges in Shanghai and Hong Kong dropped significantly by up to 1.3 per cent, while the Nikkei-225 in Tokyo climbed 1.0 per cent to 2,505.91 points. In Australia, fashion retailer Lovisa announced a slight increase in like-for-like sales. The share price responded by advancing 2 per cent.

Bonds
Thursday’s rally in U.S. government debt faded as trading progressed, leaving yields little changed again, as market participants assessed media reports that Russia had fired missiles on Ukraine. The 10-year Treasury note yield gained one basis point (0.01 percentage point) to 4.421%. The 2-year Treasury note yield climbed 3 basis points to 4.357%.

Analysis
UBS upgrades Logitech to Neutral (Sell)/target CHF 68 (65) - Trader
Target price Sonova: Jefferies lowers to CHF 275 (290) - Hold
UBS cuts Bayer target to EUR 22 (30) / Neutral - Trader

Produced by MBI Martin Brückner Infosource GmbH & Co. KG on behalf of Swissquote. All news is acquired with journalistic accuracy. No liability is assumed for delays or errors.