Before the bell: better than expected

Oracle and BE Semiconductor raise their guidance, US inflation eases, and New York has something to celebrate.

On Wall Street, investors took some profits yesterday. The S&P 500 lost 0.25%, while the Nasdaq fell by 0.5%. Apple (-1.9%), Home Depot (-2%), and Amazon (-2%) posted even sharper losses. UnitedHealth (+2.2%) was picked up by investors, and IBM (+1.9%) also performed well. US inflation data came in slightly below expectations. Over the past year, the average American paid 2.4% more for their expenses. Doomsayers predicting a sharp and immediate spike in inflation were proven wrong. A wise investor is no doomsayer and sees opportunity in every situation. In Brussels, the average stock fell by 0.4%, while the London Stock Exchange managed to hold steady.

In Asia, sellers dominated this morning as well, with losses in Japan (-0.3%) and Hong Kong (-0.7%). Alibaba dropped 2.5%, and BYD lost 2.2%. Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket chain, will publish quarterly results today. Dutch chip equipment manufacturer BE Semiconductor Industries is hosting its investor day in Schiphol and treated shareholders to a guidance upgrade this morning. After the bell, Brederode will update the market on the holding company’s status. In the United States, Adobe will report its quarterly earnings after hours. Also keep an eye on Oracle, which announced strong results yesterday after the close and expects solid growth for the rest of the year.

Green strawberries are even healthier

Not everyone in the Spaarvarkens stable is a fan of Bayer — that’s an understatement. I was a buyer of Bayer. The stock is part of my selection. Nutritionists and scientists agree on one striking fact about the German chemical giant: without Bayer, there would be far more hunger in the world. While many of Bayer’s products are labelled “poison”, much like medicine, we simply can’t do without them — at least not yet. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pursue healthier alternatives. Biotalys, based in Ghent, is contributing to that effort. The company has a platform for efficiently developing biological crop protection products. It’s not profitable yet, but the share price jumped 13.9% yesterday after the company announced it expects an update on Evoca — its first product — by 30 September.

Still room for growth?

2025 doesn’t appear to be another year dominated by tech giants. That’s a change from recent years — with the exception of 2022. It’s encouraging to see global investors rediscovering smaller companies and value stocks, particularly in Europe. At Spaarvarkens, we’ve often highlighted the potential of these hidden gems. That said, I’m not removing tech from my portfolio. On the contrary — I recently bought more Alphabet at 149 dollar. Oracle and BE Semiconductor Industries prove that the sector shouldn’t be written off. Growth is actually stronger than expected. Cathie Wood, fund manager at ARK, remains a major tech enthusiast. She believes SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space company, could eventually be worth 2,500 billion dollar. While SpaceX isn’t listed yet, if you’re a shareholder of Sofina — you are a shareholder, right? — you indirectly own a piece of SpaceX as well.

Did you know…

that New Amsterdam was renamed New York exactly 360 years ago today? The wall that once protected the Dutch settlers from the “Indians” and later the English is now a street: Wall Street.

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