The year to date shows that excessive dependency harbors risks. Increasing political uncertainty and high valuations are prompting many investors to look for alternatives. Europe and Asia offer exciting companies that are often valued more favorably and have great long-term potential.

Strong European alternatives for your portfolio:

Adyen $ADYEN (-0.62%) is a leading payment service provider that is benefiting from increasing digitalization. After a difficult year, the company could get back on track.

Schneider Electric $SU (-0.21%) from France is a key player in energy and automation technology and is benefiting from electrification and the growing focus on sustainability.

Novo Nordisk $NOVO B (-7.67%) a classic and dominates the market for diabetes and obesity medication. The strong demand for Wegovy and Co. ensures continuous growth.

ASML $ASML (-0.27%) is indispensable for the chip industry. Without ASML's machines, there would be no modern semiconductors. A real growth stock for the future.

Lotus Bakeries $LOTB (+2.61%) is growing worldwide with its popular Biscoff cookies. The expansion into new markets makes the company exciting for long-term investors. More on this in one of my last posts.

Exciting stocks from Asia:

Tokyo Electron $8035 (+1.86%) is one of the most important suppliers to the semiconductor industry and is benefiting from the global chip boom.

Alibaba $9988 (+2.43%) remains an e-commerce and cloud giant with long-term potential despite regulatory challenges.

Fast Retailing $9983 (+0.82%) (Uniqlo) is growing strongly in Asia and could establish itself as a global fashion brand.

The MSCI World ex USA as an alternative for passive investors:

If you want to reduce your US share but do not want to invest in individual stocks, you can use an ETF on the MSCI World ex USA as an alternative. Regular purchases via a savings plan can gradually dilute the US share in the portfolio.

What is your current US share? Are you planning to reallocate or are you still heavily invested in the USA?

#etfs
#stockanalysis
#tech
#dividends
#growth
#usa
#eu
#asien

The payment service provider $ADYEN (-0.62%) held its H2 2024 earnings call last week. Ingo Uytdehaage, Co-CEO, looked back on a strong year in which Adyen continued to invest in its financial technology.

These investments included products such as Uplift and Intelligent Payment Routing, which aim to balance cost, conversion and fraud. The CEO was particularly proud of the launch of SFO1, a terminal that helps retail customers optimize their customer journeys. These product innovations help to increase market share with customers, which is an important part of Adyen's growth strategy.

Ethan Tandowsky, the CFO, added that the customer focus is also reflected in the figures. In the second half of the year, Adyen increased net sales to almost 1.1 billion euros, which corresponds to growth of 22%. This growth is mainly due to the expansion of business with existing customers. EBITDA margins increased to 53% in the second half and just under 50% for the full year, due to a lower level of hiring compared to previous years.

The CEO explained that product investments such as Intelligent Payment Routing or Uplift are based on a unified platform. This platform enables access to more data, as a volume of over 1 trillion euros was processed last year. One example of this is Payment Routing for U.S. Debit, which resulted in 26% lower costs and 22 basis points higher conversion for 20 pilot customers. The number of merchants using this product has doubled in recent months. The Net Promoter Score reached an all-time high of 66.

Ethan emphasized the importance of the combination of innovation and reliability, especially on Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. Adyen processes around 160,000 transactions per minute and supports its customers in these crucial moments.

Examples of customers that have grown with Adyen were also mentioned: Adobe in digital, Motel One in hospitality and Spendesk as a platform merchant. Ethan discussed the regional development and emphasized that EMEA was the fastest growing region. In North America, Adyen gained market share and invested in new office space. In APAC, long-term investments were made, while in Latin America there was an acceleration on a constant currency basis.

For 2025, Adyen plans to continue investing in relevant markets, especially in North America, both commercially and on the engineering side. Margins are expected to continue to increase, but not as strongly as in the period from 2023 to 2024. Management forecast slightly accelerated net revenue growth in the low to high 20 percent range for 2025.

The Q&A session covered the following topics:

Competition in the US: Adyen is focused on creating value for its customers and gaining market share, even against competitors that compete on a cost basis.

Embedded Finance: Adyen is focusing on growth with its platforms. Many SaaS platforms already use Adyen and there is great potential for the sale of financial products. The volume of the issuing business is around 1 billion euros per year, with expense management and virtual cards being important use cases.

Growth momentum: Growth is mainly driven by the expansion of business with existing customers. The areas of digital, unified commerce and platforms are making a positive contribution.

Growth in Europe: This is a combination of growth with existing customers (e.g. Zalando) and the acquisition of new customers. Europe is benefiting from the complexity and fragmentation of the market and from the platforms.

Regulatory environment: Adyen sees the regulatory environment as an opportunity to develop products that reduce friction for customers.

Importance of an in-house solution: The approach of having everything in-house helps Adyen get more data with a single platform. With more data, Adyen can gain better insights and make better risk assessments.

Capital allocation: Acquisitions are still not a central part of the strategy. A strong balance sheet is important to gain customer confidence and support the launch of financial products.

I hope this summary has helped you.

Stay tuned!

Today an overview of what can happen to a trader like me. The day before yesterday I fell flat on my face with a derivative on $TUI1 (-0.11%) with a loss of 35%. Today my derivative is up $ADYEN (-0.62%) 60%. So the joys and sorrows are so close together. Let's see what else the day brings.

Total return

1.425,88 €

True time-weighted rate of return

24.37 % That's my balance sheet from January! I am very happy with that! I have sold all my short-term trading positions. I built up my first positions for February yesterday and today. These are derivatives on $ADYEN (-0.62%) (MG9L2B) purchase yesterday at 4.15 $ZAL (+1.45%) ( UG0W0H) Buy today at 5.84 $NOC (+0.58%) (HT21L8) purchase day before yesterday at 1.10 I have planned purchases in $FTNT (+0.97%) ( JT7XG3) $AMZN (-0.18%) ( MJ5V94) $ADS (+0.37%) (ME44Y2) and for a little longer $AXON (-0.08%) (Ht1KYH) I am keeping the remaining powder dry in case there are great opportunities like last Monday.

Analyst updates, 04.12.

⬆️⬆️⬆️

- BARCLAYS raises the price target for SIEMENS from EUR 125 to EUR 130. Underweight. $SIE (+0.81%)

- BARCLAYS raises the target price for SIEMENS ENERGY from EUR 35 to EUR 36. Equal-Weight. $ENR (+4.98%)

- JEFFERIES raises the target price for ADYEN from EUR 1695 to EUR 1797. Buy. $ADYEN (-0.62%)

- JPMORGAN raises the target price for SALESFORCE from USD 340 to USD 380. Overweight. $CRM (-1.03%)

- HSBC raises the target price for ZALANDO from EUR 37 to EUR 40. Buy. $ZAL (+1.45%)

- JPMORGAN raises the target price for RHEINMETALL from EUR 680 to EUR 800. Overweight. $RHM (-1.27%)

- DEUTSCHE BANK RESEARCH raises the target price for COCA-COLA HBC from GBP 31.50 to GBP 32. Buy. $CCH (+2.09%)

- BARCLAYS raises the target price for KNORR-BREMSE from EUR 55 to EUR 60. Underweight. $KBX (+0.97%)

- BARCLAYS raises the price target for ABB from CHF 40 to CHF 42. Underweight. $ABBNY (+2.03%)

- BARCLAYS raises the price target for ALSTOM from EUR 8 to EUR 9. Underweight. $ALO (-2.25%)

- HSBC upgrades MERCK & CO to Buy. Target price USD 130. $MRK (+2.61%)

- JPMORGAN raises the target price for DSV from DKK 1685 to DKK 1800. Overweight. $DSV (+1.88%)

- JPMORGAN raises the target price for LUFTHANSA from EUR 4.80 to EUR 5.50. Underweig$LHA (-0.23%)

- UBS raises the target price for AROUNDTOWN from EUR 2 to EUR 3.30. Neutral. $AT1 (+1.68%)

⬇️⬇️⬇️

- JPMORGAN lowers the target price for DHL GROUP from EUR 47 to EUR 42.50. Overweight. $DHL (-0.01%)

- WARBURG RESEARCH lowers the target price for UNITED INTERNET from EUR 38.50 to EUR 37.30. Buy. $UTDI (+0.27%)

- WARBURG RESEARCH lowers the target price for 1&1 from EUR 23.50 to EUR 19.10. Buy. $1U1 (-0.13%)

- WARBURG RESEARCH lowers the target price for KWS SAAT from EUR 89 to EUR 88. Buy. $KWS (-0.55%)

- DEUTSCHE BANK RESEARCH downgrades HEINEKEN from Buy to Hold and lowers target price from EUR 95 to EUR 76. $HEIA (+1.41%)

- EXANE BNP lowers the price target for SCHOTT PHARMA from EUR 36 to EUR 28. Neutral. $1SXP (+1.33%)

- BARCLAYS downgrades SIGNIFY to Underweight. Target price EUR 18. $LIGHT (+0.88%)

- CFRA downgrades BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB to Hold. Target price USD 60. $BMY (+1.37%)

- MORGAN STANLEY downgrades MOLLER-MAERSK to Underweight. Target price DKK 12200. $AMKBY (+0.71%)

- BARCLAYS downgrades ANDRITZ to Underweight. Target price EUR 40. $ANDR (+0.09%)

- JPMORGAN lowers the price target for HAPAG-LLOYD from EUR 85 to EUR 80. Underweight. $HLAG (-0.26%)

Adyen Q3 2024 $ADYEN (-0.62%)

Financial results

• Net revenue: EUR 498.3 million in Q3 2024, an increase of 20% year-on-year; on a constant currency basis, year-on-year growth was 21%.
• Volume processed: 320.6 billion euros, an increase of 32% year-on-year.

Balance sheet and cash flow overview

• Balance sheet: The report does not contain any specific balance sheet information.
• Income statement: Apart from net sales, no further details on the income statement are provided.
• Cash flow: Cash flow details are missing from the report.

Key figures and profitability metrics

• EBITDA margin: The company is aiming to improve its EBITDA margin to over 50% by 2026.

Segment information

• Platforms: Volume processed increased by 44% year-on-year; excluding eBay, growth was 54%.
• Digital: Processed volume increased by 29 % year-on-year.
• Unified Commerce: Volume processed increased by 33% year-on-year.

Competitive position

• Scaling the customer base: The company is constantly expanding its customer base; 25 platforms currently process over one billion euros annually, compared to 17 in the previous year.

Management forecasts and comments

• Net sales growth: Expected to grow net sales between low and high 20 percent ranges annually through 2026.
• Capital expenditure: Capital expenditure to be maintained at up to 5% of net sales.

Opportunities and risks

• Opportunities: Expansion in North America and improvements to the product range, such as the "Intelligent Payment Routing" solution.
• Risks: Dependence on a single large customer, which could affect volume growth.

Positive aspects

• Strong sales growth: Net sales increased by 20% year-on-year.
• Platform expansion: Processed volume via platforms increased by 44 % year-on-year.
• Unified Commerce growth: Processed volume increased by 33% year-on-year.
• Product innovation: Launch of new products such as the SFO1 terminal and "Intelligent Payment Routing".
• Expansion of the customer base: Increasing number of platforms with a processed volume of over one billion euros annually.

Negative aspects

• Dependence on volume growth: Limited volume growth due to a single large customer.
• Lack of financial details: No detailed balance sheet, income statement or cash flow information.
• Unchanged financial targets: No adjustment to financial forecasts despite market conditions.
• Hiring challenges: Non-linear hiring processes, yet focus on key investments.
• Currency effects: Currency fluctuations slightly affect net sales growth.

Summary Earnings, 07.11.

$MUV2 (+1.06%)
| Munich Re Q3 24 Earnings

EPS EU7.02 (est EU6.67)

Sees FY Insurance Rev. About EU61B, Saw About EU59B

Sees FY Profit Above EU5B, Saw EU5B

$RHM (-1.27%) | Rheinmetall AG Q3 24 Earnings

Sales EU2.45B (est EU2.42B)

Still Sees FY Sales About EU10B (est EU9.99B)

Sees FY Operating Margin At Upper End Of Guidance

Nissan Motor Q2 2024 Earnings $7201 (+0.77%)

Q2 Operating Income 31.91B Yen (est 65.25B Yen)

Q2 Net Loss 9.34B Yen (est Profit 49.07B Yen)

Sees FY Oper Income 150.00B Yen, Saw 500.00B Yen

To Cut 9,000 Jobs Globally

To Reduce Global Production Capacity By 20%

To Sell Back Up To 10.02% Of Mitsubishi Motors Shares

Air France KLM Q3 24 Earnings $AF

EBITDA EU1.90B (est EU1.9B)

Rev EU8.98B (est EU8.88B)

Net Income EU780M (est EU874.3M)

Sees FY Capex EU3B, Saw Below EU3B

$TEF (+2.02%) | Telefonica Q3 24 Earnings

REV. EU10.02B (est EU10B)

Adj. EBITDA EU3.26B (est EU3.26B)

Net Income EU10M (est EU357M)

To Book €314 Million Non-Cash Impairment For Peru

ArcelorMittal Q3 24 Earnings: $MT (+0.51%)

- Sales $15.20B (est $15.23B)

- EBITDA $1.58B (est $1.47B)

- Still Sees FY CAPEX $4.5B To $5.0B

- Markets Conditions Are 'Unsustainable'

- Positive On Medium/Long Term Outlook

Daimler Truck Holdings Q3 24 Earnings: $DTG (-0.8%)

- Rev EU13.14B (est EU12.98B)

- Adj EBIT EU1.19B (est EU1.13B)

- Still Sees FY Rev EU53B To EU55B (est EU53.45B)

Adyen disappoints with lower than expected sales growth and loses 13% on the stock market. $ADYEN (-0.62%)

Lanxess-shares rise by 4.4% to 26.80 euros after a positive quarterly report, having previously fallen by 13%. The operating margin exceeds expectations, although prices weaken. $LXS (+0.08%)

National Grid increased its adjusted operating profit by 14% to 2 billion pounds in the first half of the financial year and expects an increase of around 10% for the year as a whole. Higher fees in New York and higher revenues in the UK are supporting growth. $NG. (+1.59%)

AMS-Osram increased its profitability in the third quarter despite a decline in sales, but expects business development to be subdued in the fourth quarter and early 2025. To ensure profitability, the company plans further cost reductions of 225 million euros by the end of 2026. $AMS

Suess Microtec is more optimistic after a strong third quarter and now expects to achieve its annual targets in the upper half of the forecast range. Sales are expected to reach 380 to 410 million euros, with an EBIT margin of 14 to 16 percent. $SMHN (+1.03%)

The investment company Mutares slips into the red operationally in the third quarter with an adjusted EBITDA loss of EUR 16.5 million. However, sales increased by 14% to 3.9 billion euros. $MUX (+1.1%)

Delivery Hero expects a free cash flow of EUR 50 to 100 million for 2024 and anticipates GMV growth at the upper end of the forecast of 7 to 9 percent. However, the Group expects adjusted EBITDA to be at the lower end of the range of EUR 725 to 775 million. $DHE

Deutz recorded an 80% drop in profits to EUR 7.2 million in the third quarter and slipped into the red with a bottom line of EUR 2 million. Turnover falls by 14.9% to 430.4 million euros due to a slump in demand. $DEZ (+1.78%)

Compugroup Medical records a decline in EBITDA in the third quarter

EBITDA fell by 12% to 54.9 million euros in the third quarter, but slightly exceeded

analysts' expectations slightly. Turnover falls by 1% to 283.4 million euros

euros, and the company confirms its reduced forecast for 2024. $COP (+0.27%)

Alzchem reports a jump in profits for the first nine months with

a 36% increase in EBITDA to EUR 76.8 million and increases the EBITDA margin to

EBITDA margin to 18.5 %. The Group is sticking to its profit target for 2024

but is aiming for the lower end of the sales forecast due to the discontinuation of low-margin

the lower end of the sales forecast. $ACT (-1.13%)

Nordex is raising its forecast for the EBITDA margin for 2024 and

now expects it to be closer to the upper end of the range of three to four

percent. In the first nine months of the year, the company recorded

an increase in revenue of 14 percent to EUR 5.1 billion and an improved

improved EBITDA margin of 3.7 percent. $NDX1 (+4.26%)

Nemetschek recorded an increase in revenue in the third quarter thanks to the

thanks to the GoCanvas acquisition, Nemetschek recorded a 15.1% increase in revenues to 253 million euros,

however, earnings remained slightly below expectations. The

The operating costs of the acquisition put pressure on profits, so that EBITDA

increases by 6.7 %. $NEM (+0.42%)

Rational increases earnings before interest and taxes in the third quarter

taxes by 18% to just under 78 million euros, exceeding analysts'

analysts' expectations, while sales revenues grew by 8% to 294 million

euros. The company confirms its forecast for the year. $RAA (-0.96%)