BioNTech ‘s first-quarter sales fell from a year earlier as demand for Covid-19 vaccines waned, but the company reported earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street’s expectations. BioNTech (ticker: BNTX) reported first-quarter earnings of €2.05 ($2.26) a share from revenue of €1.28 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting earnings of 27 euro cents a share from revenue of €1.06 billion. The results released Monday were a significant decline from last year. In the first quarter of 2022, the biotech company reported earnings of €14.24 a share from revenue of €6.37 billion. BioNTech said that the decline in revenue in the latest quarter was mostly due to lower sales for its Covid-19 vaccine worldwide. On Friday, the World Health Organization declared that Covid-19 no longer constitutes a public health emergency. BioNTech said in the earnings release that “while a vaccine adaptation is expected to lead to increased demand, fewer primary vaccinations and lowered population-wide levels of boosting are anticipated.” The company reiterateda forecast that revenue from its Covid-19 vaccine will be approximately €5 billion in 2023. BioNTech’s American depositary receipts were down 0.4% to $108.05. The stock has fallen 27% this year.

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The Swiss stock market started the new week on a moderately positive note. Nevertheless, the SMI marked a new high for the year in the course of the day. The SMI gained 0.4 per cent to 11,595 points. At 11,607 points, the index reached its highest level so far this year. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were ten gainers and nine losers, with one stock closing unchanged. Trading volume was thin at 19.2 (previously: 29.89) million shares. Support came from pharmaceutical heavyweights Novartis (+0.5%) and Roche (+0.1%). Alcon advanced 1.9 per cent. The company will report first-quarter results late on Tuesday. Richemont (+1.8%) inched up in the absence of breaking news. Insurers were also sought after, benefiting from rising market interest rates. Swiss Life, Swiss Re and Zurich climbed between 0.6 and 1.5 per cent. Bank shares, on the other hand, were held back by fears of a banking crisis. Credit Suisse fell 0.4 per cent, Julius Baer closed little changed, while UBS more than made up for interim losses and added 0.4 per cent. Within the broader market, AMS-Osram rose by 6.9 per cent and Dufry by 2.8 per cent.

European equity markets closed mixed on Monday as the London Stock Exchange was closed for a public holiday in honour of the coronation of King Charles III and investors awaited new US inflation data on Wednesday. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.4% to 466.9 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 each added 0.1%. In contrast, the DAX 40 in Frankfurt gave up 0.1%. Nanobiotix jumped another 22.7% on Monday, having already soared 158% on Friday after entering into negotiations to market its cancer treatment. The manufacturer of seamless tubes Vallourec (+4.6%) announced on Friday evening that it had obtained the necessary authorisations from the Brazilian mining and environmental authorities to resume full operation of its Pau Branco iron mine in the state of Minas Gerais (south-east Brazil). The European Commission approved on Monday the acquisition of Groupe Assurances du Crédit Mutuel (GACM) España by insurer Axa (+1.8%). German carmaker Volkswagen (+1.7% for the ordinary share in Frankfurt) announced on Monday the appointment of Peter Bosch as CEO of its software division, Cariad, as part of its restructuring.

Another slide in regional-bank stocks and data showing tightening lending conditions left major stock indexes little changed on Monday. Shares of several smaller lenders spiked early Monday, lifted by a dividend cut from PacWest Bancorp that boosted investors’ confidence in its survival odds. While PacWest added around 3.7% for the day, the broader gains unwound as a volatile session wore on, leaving the KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index down 2.8%. Indexes were buoyed by gains in some large technology firms. Communication-services companies led the S&P 500, boosted to a 1.3% gain by advances in shares of Meta and Alphabet. The S&P 500 gained less than 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 56 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.2%. That was enough to push the tech-heavy index up 20% from its 2022 low and into bull market territory. The index had endured a 143-trading-day stretch in a bear market, the longest for the Nasdaq since 2008. The swings in regional-bank stocks came after PacWest slashed its dividend late Friday, a move that investors expect will boost its capital buffers and aided confidence in its survival odds. The stock surged as much as 30% early in the session. Even though some banks—such as Western Alliance, which rose 0.6%—held on to some of their early-morning rallies, analysts said a full-fledged rebound remains well away. Concerns over the lending environment and a potential recession have hammered regional-bank stocks, sending regional banks down 11% in May. Elsewhere, Tyson Foods slid 16% after reporting a swing to a loss. That was its worst daily decline since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, Six Flags Entertainment rose 19% after reporting that spending at its amusement parks held up despite rising prices.

Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday. The Tokyo market is the most volatile, with the Nikkei index rising by 1.0 per cent to 29,234 points. In Shanghai, the market barometer is up 0.4 per cent, while in Hong Kong it is down 0.5 per cent. In Hong Kong, China Mobile lost 1.1 per cent and BYD 0.3 per cent. Traders commented that Berkshire Hathaway had further reduced its holdings in the telecoms company and the electric car maker. Among individual stocks in Tokyo, JFE Holdings jumped more than 13 per cent. The steelmaker has forecast a 17 per cent rise in net profit. Shipping stock Kawasaki Kisen rallies 8 per cent after an 8.2 per cent rise in net profit. Unicharm, on the other hand, is down 4.8 per cent in the wake of disappointing results posted by the consumer goods company.

U.S. Treasury yields broadly edged higher on Monday, extending the gain seen at the end of last week after a stronger-than-expected April jobs report, while investors assessed the latest Fed Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey for signs that financial institutions have tightened lending standards after the collapse of three U.S. regional banks. The 2-year Treasury note rose to 4.00% from 3.91% on Friday while the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 3.51% from 3.43%.

Target price Landis+Gyr: Credit Suisse raises to CHF 68 (62) - Neutral

Target price Nestlé: Julius Baer lifts to CHF 130 (125) - Buy

Target price Rieter: UBS lowers to 98 (104) Fr. - Neutral

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