On the investor agenda next week: US inflation, Agfa-Gevaert & Cisco Systems

Investors are looking forward to US inflation. Various Belgian companies organize analyst days. Cisco Systems publishes quarterly results.

The US Department of Labor will release October inflation figures on Tuesday. Economists expect inflation to have fallen to 3.3 percent, compared to 3.7 percent in September. Core inflation, excluding food and energy, may have remained stable at 4.1 percent. The US central bank (Fed) mainly looks at core inflation. She kept the policy interest rate unchanged last week. In the meantime, Chairman Powell indicated that it is not certain that the interest rate peak has already been reached.

With Solvay

(Monday), Melexis

(Tuesday), Barco

(Wednesday) and Econocom

(Thursday) an interesting analyst day takes place almost every day. That of the chemical group Solvay will be followed with great attention in the run-up to the split in December, between the classic activities (soda, adhesives, etc. under the name Solvay) and the growth activities (polymers, composite materials, etc. under the name Syensqo). Ilham Kadri becomes CEO of Syensqo. ‘Solvay has already provided proforma financial figures. We are looking forward to the strategic insights,’ say De Belegger and the stock exchange Kepler. At chip designer Melexis, investors will want to hear reassuring news about the slowdown in growth in semiconductors for electric cars. “We hope for more clarity and even long-term objectives from Melexis,” De Belegger said.

Agfa-Gevaert publishes on Wednesday morning

third quarter results. As a reminder: in the second quarter, Agfa unexpectedly hit the spot with a turnover of 287 million euros, after which the share fell to the lowest level in eight years. Moreover, Agfa went into the red and had a negative free cash flow of 45 million euros. For the whole of 2023, CEO Pascal Juéry still counted on a recovery in profitability compared to 2022. Analysts are skeptical.

In the US we are looking forward to the results of Cisco Systems

(Wednesday after trading hours) about the first quarter of the broken financial year 2023/2024. In August, Cisco forecast a turnover of between 57 and 58.2 billion dollars for the new financial year. Analysts expect quarterly revenue of $14.7 billion and earnings per share of $1.03. On the one hand, the group benefits from the growing interest in generative artificial intelligence. On the other hand, companies are saving on IT expenses due to the uncertain economic environment and the rise in interest rates. “We see little upside potential compared to the current annual forecast,” Bloomberg Intelligence said.

Supermarket giant Walmart will publish its results on Thursday before the stock market opens

results for the third quarter of the 2023/2024 financial year. The stock exchange UBS expects ‘solid results’, partly thanks to the growth in e-commerce. “Growth at Walmart is not simply a result of price increases. We believe Walmart is gaining market share in the American consumer’s wallet.” UBS thinks organic sales growth in American stores will amount to 4.5 percent. The analyst consensus is 3.5 percent.