Stock exchanges, positive week for Europe. Stellantis plunges in Milan (+0.8%)

(Il Sole 24 re Radiocor) - The European stock exchanges archived the first eighth of February in positive territory, as the quarterly earnings season continued in full swing. The main indices of the Old Continent rose, with Milan's Ftse Mib gaining 0.8 per cent. The Paris Cac (+1.8%) and London's Ftse 100 (+1.4%) fared better, while Frankfurt's Dax (+0.7%) and Madrid's Ibex (+0.3%) lagged behind.

Among the European sectors, food (+6.2% in the Stoxx 600 sector) and telecommunications (-6.2%) stand out. On the other hand, media (-4.8%) and technology (-2.8%) as well as financials (-3.1%) performed poorly. The minus sign for cars (-1.3%), weighed down in the last session of the week by the maxi profit warning announced by Stellantis (-26.2% in the eighth quarter, at the lowest level since the company was formed after the merger between Psa and Fca), which in Friday's session alone burned about 6 billion in terms of market capitalisation.

Indices rose on Wall Street after declines on the eve of the event. Overseas, however, the topic of the multibillion-dollar budgets allocated by the big tech companies to AI is still holding sway. Last among them Amazon, which in its accounts speaks of a 200 billion spending. A move that has increased concerns in the markets, with the stock falling heavily despite a record quarter. On the fears related to the AI market, Mark Dowding - Fixed Income Cio of Rbc BlueBay Am - speaks of a "risk of 'disruption', should software customers abandon vendors for tools they may be able to develop themselves at low cost in the future". At this point the four major hyperscalers, namely Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet's Google and Meta, will collectively spend over USD 500 billion this year. A level that Wall Street is beginning to fear is not sustainable.

At the Italian Stock Exchange Stellantis was hit by heavy selling on Friday, so much so that the shares dropped close to 30 per cent. The stock, by the way, draggedthe entire European auto sector down, starting with the German big boys. The company unexpectedly issued a maxi profit warning, announcing an estimated net loss of between EUR 19 and 21 billion in the second half of 2025. The company booked extraordinary charges of EUR 22.2 billion. The immediate consequence is the suspension of the dividend in 2026 and weak 2026 guidance, factors that frighten the market despite better operating signals (revenues and deliveries recovering in the second half of the year).

Among the other stocks in the Ftse Mib, sales also focused on Leonardo (-5.5%), Nexi (-3.7%) and Fincantieri (-2.4%). Opposite side for Mediobanca (+7.5%), in the week of the shareholders' meeting of Banca Mps, which approved key statutory changes, including the introduction of the board of directors' list, confirming the hypothesis of a delisting of the Piazzetta Cuccia's institution. Inwit (+7%) also did well during the week, while Bper (+6.6%) and Popolare di Sondrio (+5.7%) benefited from the presentation of their 2025 results.