Before the bell: Big tech cushions the blow

Markets in Europe and China are closed today, but trading continues in London and on Wall Street. In Belgium, all eyes are on Cofinimmo and Aedifica.

While equity markets in Europe and much of Asia remain closed, Wall Street and London are open today. Investors can react to the strong quarterly results from Microsoft and Meta. Both companies posted earnings that exceeded analysts’ expectations. This may help counterbalance yesterday’s negative news: for the first time since 2022, the American economy contracted. GDP shrank by 0.3% quarter-on-quarter—this even before Trump’s global tariffs kicked in. Markets initially dropped sharply, with the Nasdaq down 3% intraday, but the index closed flat after a spectacular rebound.

This afternoon, Mastercard and McDonald’s will report earnings. Most attention, however, will go to Amazon and Apple, which will publish after the bell. Reddit and Airbnb are also scheduled to release their quarterly results.

Big tech jumps over the bar

Why are the Magnificent Seven such investor darlings? Because they are solid, cash-generating machines with significant pricing power. Take Microsoft: even during a trade war, cloud services remain in high demand. The software giant reported a 13% rise in revenue to 70.1 billion dollar—1.6 billion dollar above expectations. Earnings per share came in at 3.46 dollar, beating the consensus by 0.25 dollar. Remarkably, Microsoft is spending less on data centres and capital expenditure for the first time in years. That fuels hopes for increased shareholder returns. Meta, parent company of Facebook, also exceeded expectations. Advertisers remain undeterred by geopolitical tensions. Revenue rose to 42.3 billion dollar, roughly 900 million dollar ahead of forecasts. EPS landed at 6.43 dollar, well above the expected 5.25 dollar. Unlike Microsoft, Meta is increasing its investment budget—from 60–65 billion dollar to 64–72 billion dollar. Markets are poised for a green open.

A healthcare property merger in the making?

What’s happening with Cofinimmo and Aedifica? While US markets focus on Apple and Amazon today, Belgian investors are keeping a close watch on these two healthcare real estate specialists. Yesterday, Cofinimmo’s share price spiked sharply around 16:00 CET. Such abrupt movements near market close are rare—and more intriguingly, the Belgian market watchdog FSMA suspended trading shortly afterward. Some point to a rumour on market blog Betaville, mentioning potential takeover interest in Cofinimmo. That’s plausible—but what’s more surprising is that FSMA also suspended Aedifica shortly thereafter. Between 16:00 and 16:30, Aedifica’s share rose only 1%, suggesting volatility wasn’t the only issue. Is a merger on the cards? No confirmation yet, but the market is clearly anticipating news. We await a press release from both companies.

Did you know…

that the term bull market refers to the upward thrust of a bull’s horns, symbolising rising markets. A bear market, by contrast, evokes the downward swipe of a bear’s paw—fitting imagery for falling markets.

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