Siemens on Thursday posted earnings that beat expectations and its own fiscal-year targets, and proposed boosting its 2021 dividend after overcoming supply-chain issues caused by the pandemic. The German industrial company’s net profit attributable to shareholders jumped to 6.16 billion euros ($7.07 billion) in the 2021 fiscal year, from EUR4.03 billion last year. On a reported basis, net income reached EUR6.70 billion, beating Siemens’s own guidance of EUR6.1 billion to EUR6.4 billion and expectations of EUR6.59 billion, according to analysts’ estimates provided by the company. The Munich-based company said it would propose to increase its dividend to EUR4.00 a year from EUR3.50 a year earlier, reflecting what it called a “stellar” performance in fiscal 2021. In the fourth quarter, net profit was EUR1.17 billion, down from EUR1.76 billion in 4Q 2020, although last year’s figure included around EUR800 million from discontinued operations resulting mainly from the spinoff of Siemens Energy. Revenue in the final quarter rose 18% to EUR17.44 billion, or 10% on a like-for-like basis, above consensus views at EUR16.82 billion. The company said its book-to-bill ratio was 1.09.

For the fourth trading day in a row, share prices on the Swiss stock exchange rose slightly on Thursday. The Sika share was clearly in focus with a daily gain of 10.9 per cent. The SMI gained 0.2 per cent to 12,421 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 10 price losers and 10 price winners. 28.21 (Wednesday: 31.83) million shares were traded. The price jump at Sika was triggered by the purchase of the construction chemicals specialist MBCC Group by the chemical group at an enterprise value of CHF 5.5 billion. MBCC emerged from BASF's construction chemicals business. Zurich Insurance (-1.9%) was at the bottom of the SMI table. The insurer increased gross premiums in property and casualty insurance in the third quarter and continued to benefit from premium increases. Zurich Insurance was undercut only by Alcon (-2.8%). The share thus continued the downward trend of the previous day at an accelerated pace after the presentation of the quarterly report late on Tuesday.

Equity markets in Europe ended in the green on Thursday, overcoming concerns about accelerating inflation in the US. Investors also digested a string of corporate results. The Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 0.3% to 485.3 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 gained 0.2% and 0.1% respectively. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 gained 0.1%. In London, the FTSE 100 rose 0.6%, setting a new post-pandemic high. Shares in Burberry Group PLC fell Thursday after the company said performance dipped in China in August and in the EMEA region during the first half of fiscal 2022 due to significantly lower tourism flows. The British luxury-goods company delivered strong double-digit growth Mainland China, Americas, and South Korea, and overall saw double-digit full-price comparable store sales growth in nearly each month during the first half. However, it noted that revenue took a hit in August in China due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. This trend improved in September, the company said, but didn’t provide data for October. Delivery Hero SE said Thursday that revenue and orders for the third quarter jumped, and raised its 2021 revenue guidance. The Berlin-based food-delivery company said revenue for the quarter was 1.79 billion euros ($2.06 billion), an 89% jump from the same period the previous year. The company’s gross merchandise value—GMV—for the period rose 65% to EUR9.56 billion, while orders rose 52% to 791.4 million units. The company said it grew significantly faster than listed competitors.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose Thursday, staging a rebound as investors shook off concerns about mounting inflation. On Thursday, however, there was evidence that investors were once again taking pricing pressures in stride. The benchmark S&P 500 added 2.56 points, or 0.1%, to end at 4649.27, reversing direction after finishing Wednesday with its largest one-day decline in more than a month. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 81.58 points, or 0.5%, to finish at 15704.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, in contrast, lost 158.71 points, or 0.4%, to end at 35921.23. The blue-chip index was pulled down, in part, by Walt Disney's worst daily performance in more than a year. Rivian Automotive Inc. made its debut on the public markets Wednesday, scoring a valuation that instantly made it a rival of traditional car makers and the latest beneficiary of investors’ fervor for greener auto technologies. The California-based startup, founded in 2009 by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate, closed at $100.73 a share, well above the $78 initial offering price set Tuesday night. The closing price gave Rivian a valuation of roughly $86 billion, based on the expected number of shares outstanding. On a fully diluted basis, the company’s valuation was more than $100 billion. Beyond Meat Inc.’s revenue forecast for the fourth quarter was well short of Wall Street expectations, citing pandemic-related uncertainty and its potential impact on retail and food-service demand levels. Shares of the company, which focuses on plant-based meat substitutes, fell about 19% to $76.80 in after-hours trading. Through Wednesday’s close, the stock was down 24% so far this year. Beyond Meat projected $85 million to $110 million in revenue this quarter, compared with the $101.9 million it reported for the comparable year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet projected $130.5 million in fourth-quarter revenue.

On the Asian stock exchanges, premiums predominate in late trading on Friday, which are quite lush in Tokyo and Seoul at 1 and 1.5 per cent respectively. China's President Xi Jinping paving the way for an unlimited term in office is viewed with mixed feelings in the region.

The German 10-year Bund yield is at -0.226%, down from -0.246% on Wednesday evening. US bond markets are closed on Thursday for Veterans Day.

IR lowers the Adidas target to EUR 320 (355) – Buy
UBS raises the Uniper target to EUR 37 (34) – Neutral
UBS raises the Novo Nordisk target to DKK 725 (630) – Neutral

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