Tesla’s net income slid 71% in the first quarter, as the company struggled to overcome competitive pressure overseas and a reputational hit from Chief Executive Elon Musk’s polarising role in the Trump administration. Musk said he would be devoting significantly less time to his federal cost-cutting work at the Department of Government Efficiency starting next month, but struck a defiant tone against critics. The electric-vehicle maker also reported adjusted earnings per share of 27 cents, which missed analysts’ expectations of 41 cents. Tesla said that shifting trade policies, exacerbated by the administration’s tariff regime, are stressing supply chains while adding to the automaker’s costs. Tesla imports some of its battery cells from China, but said it was looking to source them from the U.S. instead. Tesla shares were up 5,4% in after-hours trading on Tuesday, after gaining 4.6% ahead of the first-quarter report. Analysts attributed the rise to investors taking comfort in Tesla reaffirming plans to launch more affordable models later this year. The company’s first-quarter revenue fell after a steep decline in automotive sales, including double-digit percentage drops in crucial markets such as the U.S., China and Germany. Still, Tesla reported $19.3 billion in revenue for the quarter, down 9% compared with the same period last year. Revenue from the company’s automotive business fell 20%. The energy business grew 67%. Tesla also reported $595 million in revenue from other automakers that pay Tesla for carbon credits to offset their sale of conventional vehicles, up sharply from a year earlier. The company reported a 2.1% operating margin for the quarter, compared with 5.5% a year earlier. Tesla also is contending with 25% tariffs imposed on auto imports.

The Swiss stock market returned from the Easter weekend on Tuesday with a barely maintained trend. The SMI lost 0.1 per cent to 11646 points. Of the 20 SMI stocks, there were 11 gainers and 9 losers. A total of 20.80 million shares were traded (Thursday: 28.45 million). Among the individual stocks, Novartis closed as the day's winner with a performance of 2.6 per cent, ahead of Lonza (+1.9%). Geberit (-2.1%) and ABB (-2.1%) ranked at the bottom. Nestlé (-1.5%) likewise performed weakly in the market. On the corporate side, Roche generated a lot of buzz with its announcement that it will invest USD 50 billion in the USA over the next five years to expand its business activities. This is expected to create more than 12,000 jobs. According to the analysts at AlaphaValue, Trump's tariff strategy is proving successful. Only recently, competitor Novartis revealed plans to expand production as well as research and development in the USA and invest a total of 23 billion dollars over the next five years. Roche shares fell by 0.3 per cent, while Novartis held up well. In the second tier, Baloise rose by 4.7 per cent and Helvetia by 2.6 per cent. The two insurers are planning a merger of equals. Insurance company shares included in the leading SMI index climbed in the wake of consolidation within the industry: Swiss Re advanced by 1.3 per cent, Zurich Insurance by 0.8 per cent and Swiss Life by 0.7 per cent.

The European stock markets rose on Tuesday at the end of a long Easter weekend, but caution remains the order of the day in the face of uncertainties linked to Donald Trump's economic policy. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.3% to 507.7 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 advanced by 0.6% and 0.5% respectively. The DAX 40 climbed 0.4% and the FTSE 100 added 0.6% in London. TF1 (+1.7%), M6 (+2.7%): the easing of European regulations could allow Bertelsmann to re-examine the planned merger between the French television channel M6, which it owns via RTL Group, and its rival TF1, according to Thomas Rabe, the CEO of the German broadcasting group, in an interview with the Financial Times published on Tuesday. L'OREAL (+6.3%): the world's number one cosmetics company reported first-quarter sales of 11.73 billion euros on Thursday evening, up 4.4% on a reported basis and 3.5% on a like-for-like basis. This figure was ‘slightly better than expected’, noted analysts at Invest Securities. VALLOUREC (-0.5%): the manufacturer of seamless tubes confirmed on Tuesday having won what was described as a ‘major’ contract from Allseas to supply pipelines for the Buzios offshore project in Brazil, operated by the oil group Petrobras.

On Tuesday, the US stock markets made up for the heavy losses of Easter Monday. At the end of trading, the Dow Jones index was up 2.7 per cent at 39,187 points. The much broader S&P 500 rose by 2.5 per cent and the Nasdaq indices by up to 2.7 per cent. According to initial counts, there were 2,553 (Monday: 387) price gainers on the Nyse, compared with 259 (2,402) losers. 25 (28) stocks closed unchanged. Verizon Communications exceeded expectations with its business figures for the first quarter. However, the telecommunications group also announced that more customers than expected had cancelled their telephone contracts in the past quarter. The share lagged behind the broad market with a gain of 0.6 per cent. 3M rose by 8.1 per cent after confirming its outlook for 2025. The conglomerate reported adjusted earnings and sales for the first quarter that exceeded analysts' expectations. The aerospace and defence group RTX exceeded expectations in terms of adjusted profit and revenue, but disappointed with its outlook. The share price fell by 9.8 per cent. In the same sector, Northrop Grumman slumped by around 13 per cent after the company missed analysts' expectations and also lowered its profit forecast. Lockheed Martin (+0.8 per cent) moved up slightly. Although the defence contractor's earnings exceeded expectations, Lockheed lowered its forecast for the year. Lockheed Martin (+0.8%) moved slightly upwards. Although the defence contractor's earnings exceeded expectations, Lockheed left its forecast for the full year unchanged. Boeing rose by 2.0 per cent following the aircraft manufacturer's agreement to sell parts of its Digital Aviation Solutions division to a financial investor in a deal worth USD 10.55 billion. GE Aerospace earned more and generated more revenue than expected. The company also announced cost-cutting measures to offset the impact of the US tariff policy and confirmed its forecast. The share price rose by 6.1 per cent. Hertz Global jumped by 8.8 per cent. The fact that the company owned by hedge fund manager Bill Ackman recently disclosed a major investment is likely to have been a further driver here. In the technology segment, Nvidia recovered by 2.0 per cent. A report on the mass production of Chinese high-performance chips had recently put the brakes on the share price. Apple increased in price by 3.4 per cent.

In Asia, major indexes broadly closed with gains on Wednesday. The Nikkei-225 climbed 2.1 per cent to 34,925 points. Export-heavy electronics and automotive stocks as well as financial shares lead the list of winners. There is also a good mood in Hong Kong, where more international investors are active, with the HSI rising by 2.4 per cent - supported by technology and automotive stocks. BYD and Li Auto climbed 3.2 and 2.3 per cent respectively in the automotive sector. In Taiwan, the Taiex recovers strongly and jumps by 3.9 per cent - the heavyweight TSMC soars by 5.5 per cent. In South Korea, the Kospi increased by 1.5 per cent. Shares from the battery, automotive and semiconductor sectors are the main drivers. Samsung Electronics picked up 1.7 per cent and SK Hynix 3.1 per cent.

Foreign bond buyers seem to be retreating from U.S. markets and unlikely to rush back as long as the Trump administration keeps pressuring the Fed to cut interest rates. The 10-year Treasury note yield edged up 8 basis points (0.08 basis point) to 4.41%. The 2-year Treasury note yield shed 1 basis point to 3.80%.

Vontobel downgrades Partners Group target to CHF 1,250 (1,400) - Buy
Citi lowers Holcim target to CHF 95 (109) - Neutral
Vontobel cuts ABB target to CHF 49 (52) - Hold

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