Before the bell: acquisitions and milestones

Meta takes a stake in EssilorLuxottica, Ferrero and Econocom are on an acquisition spree, and Nvidia briefly touches a market value of 4,000 billion dollar.

Brussels’ Bel20 rose by 0.7% yesterday, while the average European stock climbed 1.4%. Banks were the standout on the continent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Banks Index rose 1.6%, reaching its highest level since 2008. KBC Group benefited and gained 3%. In the United States, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed 0.6% and 1% higher, respectively. The Nasdaq even closed at a record high.

This morning in Asia, Japan’s Topix is down 0.8%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is up 0.4%. Today, Barry Callebaut reports its results in Switzerland, and across the Atlantic, we’ll hear from Delta Air Lines, Levi Strauss, and WD-40 Company.

Econocom goes big

IT company Econocom is betting heavily on audiovisual services. To strengthen its strategic position, the firm isn’t doing just one acquisition—but four at once. On Wednesday, Econocom announced it is acquiring a 67% stake in ISSAV (Ireland), 60% in Avanzia (Spain), 70% in ICT (Germany), and parts of the UK’s Smartcomm. Together, the deals account for 60 million euro in annual revenue. Following the acquisitions, Econocom’s audiovisual division will generate 300 million euro in revenue. According to CEO Angel Benguigui, these moves are essential to increase the group’s strength in a still fragmented market. Founder and majority shareholder Jean-Louis Bouchard is now 82. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he is positioning Econocom to attract potential buyers.

Sharing nicely at Mars & Ferrero

Two large, privately held companies are dividing up Kellogg’s USA. In 2023, Kellogg’s was split into two separate businesses: WK Kellogg Co, which produces cornflakes, and Kellanova, home to snack brands like Pop-Tarts and Pringles. Yesterday, Ferrero International of Italy announced after the bell that it will acquire WK Kellogg Co for 3 billion dollar—a 100% premium over the current market value of 1.5 billion dollar. The share price jumped by over 50% in after-hours trading, and is likely to rise further today. In 2024, Mars had already revealed plans to acquire Kellanova for 36 billion dollar. That deal has just received approval from US regulators and now awaits one final green light—from the European Commission.

Nvidia briefly hits 4,000 billion milestone

Nvidia shares rose over 2.5% during Wednesday’s US morning session to 164.15 dollar per share, making Nvidia the first company ever to reach a market value of more than 4,000 billion dollar—though it ended the day just below that threshold. The stock had a rocky start to the year after Chinese AI lab DeepSeek claimed it could match ChatGPT’s capabilities with far less computing power. Less computing power means fewer chips, a bearish signal for Nvidia’s sales. Still, demand for AI chips continues to rise. In June 2023, Nvidia first surpassed the 1,000 billion dollar mark; within a year, its valuation surged to 3,000 billion dollar. It’s lonely at the top—Microsoft (3,750 billion dollar) and Apple (3,150 billion dollar) are the only other companies valued above 3,000 billion dollar.

Did you know…

that Microsoft saved 500 million dollar last year on call centres thanks to artificial intelligence? No wonder the company announced last week that it plans to lay off nearly 4% of its workforce.

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