(yes, shamelessly stolen)

Nike exceeds forecasts despite declines + Fedex lowers business outlook + Micron Technology surprisingly optimistic about the third quarter + Xiaomi 2024 with record sales

Nike $NKE (-5.44%)exceeds forecasts despite declines

• The sporting goods giant Nike continues to struggle with declining sales even under a new boss.
• In the third quarter (to the end of February) of the 2024/25 financial year, revenue fell by nine percent year-on-year to 11.3 billion US dollars (10.4 billion euros).
• Nike thus slightly exceeded the expectations of analysts, who had expected an average of just over eleven billion dollars.
• On balance, the quarterly profit fell by 32 percent to 794 million dollars.
• However, Nike's earnings per share of 54 US cents clearly exceeded the analysts' forecast of 29 cents.
• In an initial reaction, the share price rose by more than three percent in US after-hours trading.
• One trigger for the decline in turnover was a slump in business in China.
• In October, former top manager Elliott Hill returned to Nike from retirement to take over the top job.
• Part of his predecessor John Donahoe's strategy was to focus more on direct sales.
• The downside, however, was that the shelf space given up by Nike in stores was filled by products from competitors.
• This made the rivals more visible to consumers.

Fedex $FDX (-3.98%)lowers business outlook

• Weak demand is making the US logistics group Fedex more cautious for the 2024/25 financial year, which runs until the end of May.
• According to a statement issued on Thursday evening, Group CEO Raj Subramaniam now expects stable to slightly declining sales, after previously assuming a roughly stable development.
• According to the manager, the revised outlook reflects the ongoing weakness and uncertainty in the US industry.
• Demand for shipping services among business customers is suffering as a result.
• Adjusted for special effects, earnings per share are expected to reach 18.00 to 18.60 US dollars instead of 19 to 20 dollars.
• The average analyst estimate is above the upper end of the new target - and the rival of DHL Group and UPS now intends to invest less money in the business than previously planned.
• In the third quarter of the past financial year, Fedex increased its turnover by a good two percent to 22.2 billion US dollars (20.4 billion euros).
• Adjusted earnings per share grew by 17 percent to 4.51 dollars.
• On average, analysts had expected slightly higher earnings per share.

Micron Technology $MU (-4.11%)is surprisingly optimistic about the third quarter

• The manufacturer of DRAM and NAND memory chips Micron Technology is more optimistic than expected about the current third financial quarter due to AI-driven demand from data center operators.
• The company is also confident about demand from consumer electronics manufacturers.
• Sales in the third financial quarter should therefore reach 8.80 billion US dollars plus/minus 200 million dollars, the company stated on Thursday evening after the US stock exchange closed.
• Adjusted for special effects, earnings per share are expected to reach 1.57 dollars - plus or minus 10 cents.
• The Micron share price rose by almost five percent in US after-hours trading.
• The outlook could signal an upturn in demand from smartphone and PC manufacturers, which has been rather sluggish across the industry for some time.
• During the coronavirus pandemic, these manufacturers had filled their warehouses as full as possible due to a shortage of parts, but were then left with excessively high inventories after the end of the pandemic, which first had to be reduced.
• This also affected manufacturers of semiconductor wafers such as the German Siltronic Group.
• The wafers are the starting product for computer chips.
• In the second quarter (ending February 27), Micron increased its turnover by 38 percent year-on-year to 8.05 billion dollars (7.4 billion euros).
• The bottom line profit doubled to just under 1.6 billion dollars.

Xiaomi $1810 (+4.99%)2024 with record turnover of RMB 365.9 billion

• Record year for Xiaomi
• Total sales in 2024 increased by 35 percent to RMB 365.9 billion
• Q4 over RMB 100 billion for the first time
• Adjusted net profit grows by 41.3 percent to RMB 27.2 billion.
• Strong growth in key areas: smartphone sales increase to RMB 191.8 billion (+21.8%)
• Electric vehicles and new initiatives generate RMB 32.8 billion in sales
• IoT and lifestyle products grow by 30% to RMB 104.1 billion
• Successful push into the ultra-premium segment: Xiaomi 15 Ultra and SU7 Ultra with strong sales figures, secured orders for SU7 Ultra exceed 10,000 units - annual target achieved ahead of schedule.
• Technological innovation and AI integration: R&D investments increase by 25.9% to RMB 24.1 billion, over 42,000 patents worldwide
• HyperOS 2 strengthens networking and AI applications in the "Human x Car x Home" ecosystem.

Friday: Stock market dates, economic data, quarterly figures

• ex-dividend of individual stocks
• BB Biotech CHF 1.80
• Walmart 0.24 USD

• Quarterly figures / company dates Europe
• 07:00 Fuchs annual result
• 07:30 Salzgitter annual result
• 10:00 Fuchs | Salzgitter PK
• 11:00 Salzgitter Analysts' Conference
• 12:00 Fuchs Analyst Conference
• No time specified: BASF Annual Report

• Economic data

01:50 JP: Nationwide consumer prices February Forecast: n/a previous: +4.0% yoy Core consumer prices (ex food) Forecast: n/a previous: +3.2% yoy

08:45 FR: Business Climate Index March PROGNOSE: 97 previous: 97

10:00 EU: ECB, current account euro area January

16:00 EU: Eurozone Consumer Confidence Index (flash estimate) March FORECAST: -13.0 previous: -13.6

Untimed: BE: EU Summit, Brussels

The week of March 17, 2025 brings with it some of the most anticipated earnings releases.

Here are some highlights:

📅 Monday: SAIC $SAIC (-6.31%) ) and Getty Images publish their figures. Will the AI revolution continue to drive Getty's growth?

📅 TuesdayHealthEquity $HQY (-4.89%) Tencent Music ($TCEHY (-4.18%) ) are in focus. Particularly exciting: Can Tencent Music continue to benefit from the streaming boom?

📅 Wednesday: General Mills ($GIS (-1.96%) ) and Joyy ($YY (-3.84%) ) report. Will General Mills remain profitable despite inflation?

📅 Thursday: Big names like Nike ($NKE (-5.44%) ), FedEx ($FDX (-3.98%) ) and Micron ($MU (-4.11%) ) are on the agenda. FedEx in particular could surprise with its performance in the logistics sector.

📅 Friday: The Chinese electric car manufacturer NIO ($9866 (-4.65%) ) will publish its figures. Can NIO convince despite the competition with Tesla?

Which earnings are you following with particular interest? 📊💬

#Investing
#Aktien
#Earnings
#Nike
#NIO
#FedEx
#Micron
#GrowthStocks

$NKE (-5.44%)
$9866 (-4.65%)
$NIO (-3.06%)
$ACN (-3.44%)
$MU (-4.11%)
$FDX (-3.98%)

Donald Trump wants to overturn US Chips Act + Lufthansa profits slump + DHL expects little earnings growth in 2025 + Merck aims for further profitable growth in 2024 after uprising + Kontron share price jumps to record high after order

Donald Trump wants to overturn US Chips Act

• Should the US government actually stop payments or cut commitments, this would affect many US companies: Although reporting is dominated by Intel $INTC (-1.83%), Micron $MU (-4.11%), Samsung $005930and TSMC $2330, which will receive up to 8.49 billion US dollars. But also Texas Instruments $TXN (-3.31%), Applied Materials $AMAT (-2.55%)and the University of Arizona will also receive money.
• In addition, a number of small companies are to receive between 200,000 and 300,000 US dollars. All projects can be found in a list maintained by Nist. In the case of Intel, the loss of subsidy commitments could exacerbate the current crisis.

Lufthansa $LHA (-1.16%)Profit collapses

• Strikes, higher costs and lower ticket prices caused Lufthansa's profits to plummet last year.
• The core brand Lufthansa Airlines was even in the red in its day-to-day business, as the MDax-listed company announced in Frankfurt on Thursday.
• Group-wide operating profit before special items therefore slumped by over one billion to around 1.65 billion euros.
• For the current year, CEO Carsten Spohr is aiming for a "significant" improvement.
• The already announced restructuring program should contribute to this.
• Last year, Group airlines such as Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian and Eurowings carried 131 million passengers, seven percent more than in the previous year.
• Turnover increased by six percent to 37.6 billion euros.
• Unlike the passenger division, the cargo subsidiary Lufthansa Cargo and the maintenance division Lufthansa Technik were also able to increase their operating profit.
• The bottom line was a Group-wide surplus of just under 1.4 billion euros, 18 percent less than in the previous year.
• Nevertheless, shareholders are to receive an unchanged dividend of 30 cents per share.

DHL $DHL (-3.02%)expects only little earnings growth in 2025

• The logistics group DHL is implementing a cost-cutting program to combat sluggish global trade and the uncertain geopolitical situation.
• This is accompanied by the reduction of 8,000 jobs in the German mail and parcel business, as the company announced in Bonn on Thursday.
• CEO Tobias Meyer sees "both shadow and light" for the Group in the US customs policy.
• Meanwhile, the Bonn-based DAX-listed company expects only a sluggish improvement in earnings in 2025, after 2024 performed somewhat better than analysts had feared.
• "We continue to expect an operating result (EBIT) of over 7 billion euros in the medium term," Group CEO Tobias Meyer told the financial news agency dpa-AFX.
• He had previously targeted earnings before interest and taxes of more than EUR 7 billion for 2026.
• Similar to Brexit, the number of shipments is expected to decline on the one hand, while on the other hand DHL is likely to gain in added value, for example because more shipments will have to be cleared through customs.
• On this basis, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) are expected to increase slightly to at least EUR 6 billion in 2025.
• However, analysts surveyed by the company had estimated a median of 6.3 billion euros.
• At the same time, free cash flow is expected to remain stable at EUR 3.0 billion and thus be slightly better than expected, as in 2024.
• In 2024, the DAX-listed company earned EUR 5.9 billion in day-to-day business, a good 7 percent less than in the previous year.
• However, the operating result did not fall quite as sharply as analysts had feared.
• At 3.0 billion euros, the free cash flow was also better than experts had expected.
• DHL therefore met the targets it had set itself.
• At EUR 3.3 billion, the bottom line for shareholders in 2024 was a good 9 percent less profit than in 2023.
• The Board of Management intends to propose a stable dividend of EUR 1.85 per share at the Annual General Meeting.
• The share buyback program is to be increased by EUR 2 billion to EUR 6 billion and extended until 2026.

Merck $MRK (-2.07%)aims to continue to grow profitably after the upswing in 2024

• After a weak previous year, day-to-day business at the pharmaceutical and technology group Merck KGaA has picked up again in 2024.
• The final quarter was above average.
• CEO Belen Garijo now wants to build on the upswing in the current year.
• "Merck is back on course for growth with all three businesses," said the manager in a statement on Thursday.
• "In 2025, we will once again grow profitably across the entire company."
• Shareholders are to receive a stable dividend of 2.20 euros for the past year.
• According to the statement, Merck is targeting sales of EUR 21.5 to 22.9 billion in the current year, which corresponds to organic growth of three to six percent.
• Adjusted for special effects, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (adjusted EBITDA) are expected to increase organically by three to eight percent to EUR 6.1 to 6.6 billion.
• Last year, Group revenue climbed by 0.8 percent year-on-year to EUR 21.16 billion, supported by good business with medicines and semiconductor materials for artificial intelligence (AI).
• Since the second half of the year, there have also been signs of an upturn in the laboratory division, after the division had suffered from weak demand for a long time following the coronavirus boom.
• The Group also kept its costs in check.
• Adjusted for special effects, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (adjusted EBITDA) increased by 3.3% to almost EUR 6.1 billion.
• Merck's sales and operating result were thus in line with its own targets and also more or less in line with analysts' expectations.
• Due to higher taxes, however, the Darmstadt-based company earned just under EUR 2.79 billion, around two percent less than in the previous year.

Kontron $KTN (+1.5%)share price jumps to record high after order

• Following an order, Kontron shares reached a record high of EUR 23.34 on Wednesday.
• Most recently, the share price rose by 12.9 percent to EUR 23.18 and was one of the top positions in the small cap index SDax.
• The Austrian technology group announced a further order from the automotive industry worth 40 million euros.
• This involves the delivery of highly developed sensor technologies.
• This should at least benefit the perception of the share, commented a trader.
• On February 20, Kontron had announced an order with a total volume of 250 million US dollars over several years from a "leading supplier to the automotive industry".

Thursday: Stock market dates, economic data, quarterly figures

• ex-dividend of individual stocks
• Qualcomm USD 0.85
• BHP Group AUD 0.80

• Quarterly figures / company dates USA / Asia
• 22:00 Broadcom quarterly figures
• 22:05 Hewlett Packard Enterprise quarterly figures
• No time specified: Costco Wholesale | Universal Music Quarterly figures

• Quarterly figures / Company dates Europe
• 07:00 Lufthansa | DHL Group | Merck KGaA | Siltronic | Ströer | Zalando | Aareal Annual results
• 07:30 Compugroup Medical | Prosiebensat1 | Dürr | GFT Technologies | Air France-KLM | Bouygues Annual results
• 08:00 Deutsche Beteiligungs AG | Reckitt Benckise Annual Results
• 09:00 DHL Group Analyst Conference | Aareal Bank | Zalando BI-PK | Ströer Analyst and Press Conference
• 09:30 Lufthansa BI-PK
• 10:00 Merck KGaA PK | Siltronic Analyst Conference | Dürr BI-PK
• 10:45 Zalando Analyst Conference
• 11:00 DHL Group BI-PK
• 11:30 Prosiebensat1 BI-PK
• 12:30 Lufthansa Analyst Conference
• 14:00 Merck KGaA Analyst Conference | Dürr Analyst Conference
• 18:00 Vivendi Annual Results
• No time specified: Andritz | Solvay Annual figures

• Economic data

08:00 DE: Services turnover December

11:00 EU: Retail Sales January Eurozone FORECAST: +0.1% yoy previous: -0.2% yoy

12:00 TR: Turkish Central Bank, outcome of the Monetary Policy Council meeting Key interest rate FORECAST: n/a previously: 45.00%

14:15 EU: ECB, outcome of the Governing Council meeting and staff projection for growth and inflation in the eurozone Deposit rate FORECAST: 2.50% previously: 2.75%

14:30 US: Initial jobless claims (week) FORECAST: 235,000 previously: 242,000

14:30 US: Trade Balance January FORECAST: -128.7 bn USD previously: -98.4 bn USD

14:30 US: Productivity ex Agriculture (2nd release) 4Q annualized PROGNOSE: +1.2% yoy 1st release: +1.2% yoy 3rd quarter: +2.3% yoy Unit labor costs PROGNOSE: +3.0% yoy Preliminary: 1st release: +3.0% yoy Previously: 3rd quarter: +0.5% yoy

$MU (-4.11%)

The memory manufacturer Micron has now presented its first SSD with a 5th generation PCIe interface for end consumers. The new connection to the system should ensure significantly higher data transfer speeds.

Four capacity classes

The Micron 4600 comes in the M.2-2280 format and is available in four storage configurations: 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB. According to Micron, the new SSD doubles the bandwidth compared to the previous Gen4 SSDs. According to the manufacturer, the sequential read and write speeds reach up to 14.5 gigabytes per second and 12 gigabytes per second respectively, which represents a significant improvement on the previous Micron 3500 model.

The random read and write speeds have also been improved and reach up to 2.1 million IOPS. Data-intensive applications in particular, such as various AI applications and the training of large language models (LLMs), benefit from these performance increases.

In addition to the improvements over previous SSD generations, the Micron 4600 offers up to 11 percent more performance than other current PCIe Gen5 models according to the PCMark10 benchmark, the company explained. And significantly better results were also achieved in the SPECwpc5 benchmarks. However, independent tests of the SSD will have to show whether this is actually achieved in everyday practice.

Soon in finished PCs

In addition to the improved speeds, the new SSD also scores with optimized energy consumption. Thanks to the G9 TLC NAND technology, the Micron 4600 works more efficiently and consumes up to 8.5 watts at maximum performance. In addition, the average operating time is specified as two million hours.

The Micron 4600 PCIe Gen5 SSD is now available for OEM partners worldwide. It should therefore soon be found in high-end computers from various manufacturers that rely on the latest AMD Ryzen 9000 and Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors. It has not yet been announced when the memory will be available in retail stores and how much it will cost.

Summary

Micron presents first PCIe Gen5 SSD for consumers

The new SSD achieves read speeds of up to 14.5 GB/s

Available in capacities from 512 GB to 4 TB in M.2-2280 format

Improved random read and write performance

Optimized energy consumption thanks to G9 TLC NAND technology

Initially available for OEM partners worldwide

Retail availability and pricing not yet known

https://m.winfuture.de/news/148955

Yesterday I sold my position in Micron with about 10% profit. Compared to others here, that's not a huge amount of course, but you don't have 10% gains every day and so I preferred to play it safe now, especially when I was down over 10% for a month before.

Now I just have to think about where to reinvest the money.