Before the Bell: Good Times Never Last

Nvidia swings from +5% to –3%. Walmart swims against the tide. Ackermans & van Haaren is heading for a record year.

After the surprisingly strong results from tech giant Nvidia (-3.2%), it briefly looked as if all concerns about artificial intelligence had been swept away. Global stock markets opened very strong yesterday. But worries about soaring investment costs and stretched valuations in the AI sector quickly resurfaced. European indices managed to close just in the green: the average European stock rose 0.5%, while the Bel20 (+0.1%) ended the day virtually unchanged. Across the Atlantic, the picture was far bleaker: the S&P 500 fell 1.6% and the Nasdaq lost 2.2%.

This morning in Asia, investors were rattled by Wall Street’s reversal. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is down 1.6%. Tokyo’s Topix slipped only 0.1%, but several chipmakers suffered heavy losses: SoftBank dropped 11% and Advantest 11.5%. In Belgium, we’ll see results today from Bekaert and EVS. On the macro front, U.S. investors will be watching the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey and the PMI figure measuring purchasing managers’ economic confidence.

Walmart, a Technology Company

Walmart was one of the few stocks able to move against the tide yesterday. Shares of the retailer jumped 6.5%, even as the broader market sold off sharply. Investors welcomed the company’s results: revenue rose 5.8% to 179.5 billion dollar, while earnings came in at 62 dollar cents per share (+6.9%). Walmart also raised its full-year guidance, beating analysts’ expectations. The company does not appear to be suffering from Donald Trump’s import tariffs, despite earlier warnings. Its e-commerce division once again delivered impressive growth of 27%, intensifying competition with Amazon. To underscore that evolution, Walmart will swap its New York Stock Exchange listing — after 53 years — for a listing on the more tech-focused Nasdaq.

Record Results for Ackermans & van Haaren

The companies most important to the Ackermans & van Haaren portfolio are extending their strong first-half performance into the third quarter. DEME, private banks Delen and Bank van Breda, and Sipef all appear on track for record full-year results. At the private banks, client assets under management have risen 8% since January. AvH therefore reaffirms its guidance for at least a 15% increase in net profit this year. Recently, the holding invested 20 million dollar in Venturi Partners’ second fund, focused on the consumer sector in India and Southeast Asia. AvH is also investing 22 million euro in VKC Nuts — another India investment — this time in a market leader in the country’s fast-growing nuts and dried-fruit segment. There are no major divestments. The discount to net asset value currently stands at around 12%.

Did you know…

that the U.S. Mint struck its final one-cent coin this week? The penny, bearing the portrait of Abraham Lincoln, has circulated for 232 years — but high production costs have finally sealed its fate.

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