London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Europe Inc earnings offer market optimists more hope

Europe Inc earnings offer market optimists more hope

Earnings from major European companies on Wednesday offered some reasons for optimism about the region's corporate health, even as investors worry about the slowing global economy.
Earnings from major European companies on Wednesday offered some reasons for optimism about the region's corporate health, even as investors worry about the slowing global economy.

Fourth-quarter earnings from ASML Holding NV (ASML.AS) exceeded expectations and the Dutch technology company, Europe's largest, forecast a rise of more than 25% in 2023 sales despite possible new curbs on exports to China.

CEO Peter Wennink said that although economic uncertainty and growing semiconductor inventories were clouding the outlook, customers see conditions improving towards the end of the year and China's economy recovering after COVID-19 curbs were ended.

"That means that the demand is still higher than what we can make," he said. Shares in ASML were lower after the results, having rallied recently to hit their highest since last April.

Shares in budget airline easyJet EZJ.L shot up more than 10% to their highest since June after it said it expected to beat market expectations this year based on the strength of bookings into summer.

Rivals Ryanair (RYA.I), Wizz Air (WIZZ.L) and BA-owner IAG (ICAG.L) got a lift too, as investors cheered the latest evidence that people will not sacrifice their holidays even as double-digit inflation leaves them with less money to spend.

Helped by strong orders in Europe, French train maker Alstom (ALSO.PA) posted an 8% rise in third-quarter sales. Its shares fell after hitting their highest in almost a year in early trade.

While it is still early in the corporate earnings season, the results offer some hope that recent economic data which has buoyed equities this month is grounded in reality.

Expectations that the economy will make a soft landing in 2023 have grown as a result of China's reopening from three years of zero-COVID policies and the fact that Europe has managed to keep the lights on through the winter, helped by warmer weather and ramped-up energy capacity.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said last week that the Fund's new 2023 global growth forecast, due soon, could be revised upwards slightly from a current 2.7% - a turnaround from the gloomy tone she had struck at the start of the year.

Even Germany, one of the economies most exposed to last year's soaring energy prices, is now expected to dodge a recession in 2023.

French central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau said last week that the euro zone was looking more resilient than expected and should avoid a recession this year.

On Monday, a key U.S. survey showed businesses see lower odds that the United States is already in or will fall into recession this year.

That greater economic optimism has in turn raised hopes that the corporate downturn may not be as severe as feared just a few weeks ago.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) is up more than 6% since the start of the year, hitting its highest since April last week after better-than-expected economic data.

The index is on course for its best January since 2015. It ended the day down 0.45%.

Results on Thursday from heavyweights SAP (SAPG.DE), Nokia (NOKIA.HE), Diageo (DGE.L) and LVMH (LVMH.PA) will be a further test.

BARELY ANY GROWTH

Expectations for fourth-quarter 2022 earnings and revenues have dimmed further, however, with Refinitiv I/B/E/S data on Tuesday suggesting European companies will see barely any revenue growth.

Sentiment on Wall Street took a turn too, as Microsoft's (MSFT.O) outlook weighed down technology stocks, and after a bleak quarterly report from Boeing.

"After a couple of strong days for Wall St on expectations the Fed is about to pause, earnings are just looking a bit wobbly," said Market.com analyst Neil Wilson.

AT&T Inc (T.N) forecast annual profit below expectations while U.S. defence contractor General Dynamics (GD.N) reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit, boosted by higher demand for weapons at its unit that produces Abrams tanks and combat systems.

Tesla (TSLA.O) will report after market close later on Wednesday.

Not everything was rosy in Europe. Swiss fragrance and flavour maker Givaudan (GIVN.S) posted a slowdown in end-year sales, putting further strain on margins in a year marked by high input costs and supply chain disruptions.

Swiss asset manager GAM (GAMH.S) meanwhile warned on profits after experiencing negative asset flows, knocking its shares 2.5% lower in early morning trading.

($1 = 0.8115 pounds)
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×