Before the bell: A top day

China and the U.S. are friends again, pharma shakes off its morning blues, and Alfen disappoints.

Yesterday was one of those trading days you don’t want to miss: one of the best of the year. Investors who stay in the market get to enjoy these rallies. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 surged 3.3%, while the Nasdaq jumped 4.4%. Gains were even more impressive at Alibaba (+5.8%), Tesla (+6.8%), BYD (+7%), and Amazon (+8.1%). The reason? A (temporary) ceasefire in the trade war between China and the United States. Europe followed suit: the 50 largest European stocks rose by an average of 1.6%. Germany’s DAX lagged with just a 0.3% gain, while Belgium’s Bel20 did slightly better at +0.8%. In Brussels, Azelis (+5.9%) and Melexis (+9%) stood out. In Paris, luxury group LVMH gained 7%. The pharmaceutical sector was hit hard early in the day, dropping 6%, but rebounded once it became clear that the impact of Trump’s proposed reforms was smaller than feared. Argenx (+2.1%) and UCB (+2.6%) still managed to close with solid gains.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index surged 3% in the final hour of trading, but has already fallen 1.7% this morning. In Tokyo, the Topix rose 1.7%. Today is a big day for shareholder meetings—just in Belgium, companies like Aedifica, Agfa-Gevaert, Banimmo, Ekopak, Fluxys, Lotus Bakeries, Melexis, Solvac, Solvay, Tessenderlo, and Texaf are all meeting investors. In Germany, Bayer and Munich Re will report results, along with Honda, JD.com, and Brazilian fintech firm Nu Holdings. In Amsterdam, investors will react to the profit warning Alfen issued after markets closed yesterday. In the U.S., the latest inflation data will be released at 2:30 p.m. CET.

Shock to the system

Unfortunately, not every player in the fast-growing electrification space is basking in sunshine. Just look at Alfen. The Dutch charging station manufacturer was forced to release very weak quarterly figures after hours yesterday and simultaneously cut its full-year guidance. First-quarter revenue dropped 11% to 112 million euro. Operating profit fell by 43% to just 5.5 million euro. “Market conditions remain challenging,” said the CEO. Former Microsoft BeLux and RealDolmen CEO Bruno Segers recently suggested things could be even more challenging. He believes governments should ban charging stations entirely, claiming electric vehicles can easily be charged using a standard outlet. Not everyone agrees. Personally, I plan to buy a charging station. Maybe one from Alfen. But the stock won’t be going into my portfolio.

It’s Nu or never

After the bell, Brazilian fintech firm Nu Holdings will release its quarterly results. Our colleague Jim covered the listed company in Saturday’s Spamalot. Wall Street expects the firm to post earnings of 12 dollarcent per share on revenue of 3.23 billion dollar. In three of the last four quarters, the company beat analyst expectations. In Q4, Nu Holdings attracted 4.5 million new customers, bringing its global total to 114.2 million. According to JP Morgan, the company is expected to grow profits by over 30% annually for the next three years. A bet on Brazil may offer good long-term potential, and Nu Holdings also recently secured a banking license in Mexico. Definitely one to watch. The stock is up 25% year-to-date, but on “Doom Day” April 4th, you could’ve picked it up for 9.01 dollar—9.4% below its closing price from 2024.

Did you know…

The “Nu” in Nu Holdings and its brand name Nubank comes from the word “new”? The founder wanted to signal a new way of banking. The fintech only launched in 2013, yet it’s already valued at 62.4 billion dollar.

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