Before the bell: instability persists

In the East, South Korea unsettled the markets, while France threatens to plunge Europe into further uncertainty. X-FAB is hosting its investor day.

Despite hopes for a calmer global landscape following Israel’s ceasefire with Lebanon, South Korea unexpectedly roiled the markets yesterday. The South Korean president declared a state of emergency, invoked martial law, and attempted to suspend parliament and political activities. A dramatic turn of events saw lawmakers storm the parliament to vote down martial law, with the military initially attempting to arrest those involved. The turmoil caused South Korean stocks to tumble, with the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF plunging over 8% before recovering to a 1.6% loss after the coup attempt failed.

In the United States, the S&P 500 hit its 55th record high of the year yesterday. Palantir surged 6.9% after news of its inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 index, replacing underperformers like Super Micro Computer (-4.3%) and Moderna (-3.8%). Meanwhile, U.S. Steel dropped 8% following Trump’s announcement that he would block its acquisition by Nippon Steel. In Belgium, key players today include Ageas and Proximus, with the former cutting a dividend of 1.50 euros per share and the latter 0.50 euros. Attention will also turn to chipmaker X-FAB’s investor day and the potential fall of the French government, which could leave Belgium, France, and Germany all without functioning governments.

Exmar’s second time around

“La deuxième fois fonctionne mieux, comme on dit.” Exmar’s largest shareholder, Nicolas Saverys, may have had this thought as he launched a second takeover attempt for the Antwerp-based gas shipping company. This time, he is offering 11.50 euros per share in cash, though the bid is currently only an intention. If Saverys’ firm, Saverex, secures 98.46% of the shares, it can delist the company through a simplified takeover. Last year’s failed bid was higher at 12.10 euros per share, but since then, Exmar has distributed 7.18 euros in dividends and capital reductions. Adjusting for these payouts, the current offer equates to 18.68 euros. According to Spaarvarkens.be, the bid is fair, especially considering recent market pressures on the sector. The recommendation? Accept the offer.

The AI story remains strong

7716%. That’s the return you would have made if you had bought Salesforce shares on December 31, 2004. And that figure is conservative—it doesn’t even include dividends. Initial investors may see that return surpass 8000% today following Salesforce’s strong earnings report. Unlike disappointing forecasts from peers like HP, Dell, and Crowdstrike, Salesforce delivered better-than-expected revenue and margins for this fiscal year. Revenue exceeded expectations by 90 million dollars, reaching 9.44 billion dollars this quarter. Although earnings of 2.41 dollars per share fell four cents short of estimates, investors are likely to forgive this, given Salesforce’s position to capitalize on AI-driven growth in the future.

Did you know…

In 2023, Spaarvarkens led the resistance against Exmar’s initial takeover bid via dejuisteprijs.be. Including dividends, today’s offer is 46% higher than the original bid.

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