Before the bell: U.S. Investors Regain Their Cool

Biotech firms uneasy about new U.S. health secretary. Floridienne flourishes, Vranken-Pommery treads water.

Asian and European markets fell on Monday, driven by fears over the additional import tariffs Trump is expected to announce on Wednesday. Both the Euro Stoxx 50 and the Bel20 lost 1.6%. Wall Street also opened deep in the red, but unlike previous weeks and months, U.S. markets managed to regain their trademark composure. By the close, the S&P 500 was up 0.55%, while the Nasdaq limited its loss to just 0.14%. Major AI and tech stocks failed to recover. Even the newest AI hopeful, CoreWeave, failed to impress. After a disappointing IPO price on Friday, the stock fell sharply—down another 7% yesterday. The day’s biggest losers were vaccine and biotech stocks. A key figure at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) resigned in protest. Donald Trump has appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—a known anti-vaxxer—as his health secretary. Moderna, which developed the most effective COVID vaccine, briefly dropped 15%, although losses were halved by the close.

Today, all eyes are on the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing index in the U.S. After two consecutive months above 50 points, expectations are for a dip to 49.5, which would signal mild contraction. With Trump’s “tariff terror” looming, business confidence is shaky, and it remains to be seen whether sentiment has dropped more significantly. Both Hong Kong and Japan started the day with modest gains. European markets may also find some room to breathe.

Floridienne Cross-Pollinates Profits

With a market capitalization of 657 million euro, Belgian holding company Floridienne isn’t exactly tiny by local standards. However, with just under 19% of its shares freely tradable, the stock remains fairly illiquid. Still, recent investments and acquisitions appear to be paying off. Yesterday, just in time, Floridienne reported a record net profit of 15.7 million euro, or 16.07 euro per share, for 2024. Its subsidiary BioFirst is a global player in crop pollination and biological pest control. Floridienne also owns SNAM, a battery recycling firm. The company has invested in expanding SNAM’s capacity and is considering a stock market listing. The group expects further profit growth this year.

Champagne, But No Celebration

Belgian-French champagne group Vranken-Pommery also waited until the last possible moment to publish its full-year results after market close yesterday. As expected, the results were disappointing, with revenue falling 10.2% to 304 million euro. Demand weakened, and harvests in its vineyards were less than ideal. Vranken-Pommery—which once acquired the Pommery label from French luxury giant LVMH—saw its operating profit fall 8% to 35.7 million euro. A major challenge for the group is the need to continuously store and age large quantities of champagne, which ties up capital and contributes to high debt. Interest payments nearly wiped out the entire operating profit—an uncomfortable situation, especially if interest rates rise further.

Did you know…

that gold set yet another record yesterday? With a nearly 19% gain in dollar terms, it just logged its best quarter since 1986.

This article was translated from Dutch and was originally published on Spaarvarkens.be.