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After the sharp price slumps in January, especially in the technology sector, the stock exchanges have recently been able to stabilize again at times. However, investors are not in the mood to buy just yet. Because of the high inflation rates, key interest rates are likely to rise significantly in the current year. This would also lead to rising interest rates on government bonds, which could make equities less attractive. Nevertheless, there is likely to be significant catch-up potential again, especially for many shares in particularly high-growth companies.
OMV
Crude oil prices have continued to climb since the early 2020 lows. In early February, WTI and Brent crudes hit new multi-year lows. One of the big beneficiaries of the oil price rally is OMV (WKN: 874341 / ISIN: AT0000743059). The Viennese oil, natural gas and chemical group was able to more than double its sales in 2021 compared to 2020 to EUR 35.6 billion thanks to higher oil and gas prices and increased gas sales.
OMV chart: Boerse Stuttgart–
A profit of 2.8 billion euros was achieved, which was almost twice as much as in 2020. Due to the recent EU decision on natural gas investments, the partially state-owned group wants to focus more on this fossil energy source in the future.
As OMV CEO Alfred Stern explained, the European Commission’s taxonomy regulation recognized that gas as a transitional energy source can achieve a very significant CO2 reduction compared to coal. From the October 2020 low of EUR 19 to the beginning of February 2021, the OMV share was able to work its way up to over EUR 55 at times. The next price target is the 60 mark.
| HVB Mini Future Bull on OMV | |
| WKN | HR8V78 |
| RAY | DE000HR8V788 |
| issue date | July 27, 2021 |
| product type | Hebel certificate |
| issuer | UniCredit |
UBS
The shares of the major Swiss bank UBS (WKN: A12DFH / ISIN: CH0244767585) have risen sharply in the past two years. Since the March 2020 low of 7 euros, the price has meanwhile risen to over 19 Swiss francs, which means that the shares are trading as high as they were last in January 2018. Due to the strong business development, the share is likely to continue to soar.
For 2021 as a whole, profit increased by 14 percent to almost $7.5 billion for the year. The future outlook is also very positive. UBS intends to level out the return on core Tier 1 capital, which was 15 percent recently, in a range between 15 and 18 percent in the future.
The cost-to-income ratio is to be reduced from 73.6 percent in 2021 to 70 to 73 percent in the future. A share buyback program should also ensure further price increases for UBS shares. The money house wants to buy its own shares with a volume of up to 5 billion US dollars in the current year 2022.
| Long Mini Future auf UBS | |
| WKN | VQ9S7T |
| RAY | DE000VQ9S7T2 |
| issue date | July 21, 2021 |
| product type | Hebel certificate |
| issuer | Vontobel |
Infineon
The ongoing consolidation of technology stocks was also reflected in the price development at Infineon (WKN: 623100 / ISIN: DE0006231004). After the multi-year high in November 2021 at around 44 euros, the share of the leading German semiconductor manufacturer collapsed to below 33 euros at the beginning of February 2022.
Infineon chart: Boerse Stuttgart–
In addition to the general weakness of the tech sector, profit-taking should also be responsible for this, as the price more than quadrupled between March 2020 and November 2021. The prices, which have fallen again, could open up a favorable entry opportunity, since Infineon is operationally still on the road to success. In the first financial quarter of 2021/2022 (as at the end of December 2021), sales increased by five percent compared to the previous quarter to EUR 3.2 billion.
The segment result (operating profit) improved compared to the previous quarter by 16 percent to 717 million euros. The company forecast and the analysts’ expectations were thus topped. For the 2022 financial year, Infineon has raised its sales forecast to EUR 13.0 billion plus or minus EUR 500 million.
| Infineon Technologies Mini Long | |
| WKN | PF1WAX |
| RAY | DE000PF1WAX9 |
| issue date | October 1, 2020 |
| product type | Hebel certificate |
| issuer | BNP Paribas |
Spotify
The music streaming market leader Spotify (WKN: A2JEGN / ISIN: LU1778762911) was once again able to come up with strong business figures. Thanks to the good subscription business and high advertising revenue, sales in the fourth quarter of 2021 increased by 24 percent to EUR 2.7 billion over the year. The loss was reduced from EUR 125 million in the same period of the previous year to EUR 39 million.
Spotify chart: Boerse Stuttgart–
The fact that the Spotify share was still under strong selling pressure at times was due to the general weakness of the technology sector and the forecast, which was below analysts’ expectations. Spotify expects 418 million active users by the end of the current first quarter, of which 183 million are said to be paying subscribers.
The Swedish group explained the slightly weaker outlook with the strong development in the past quarter, because of which the expected increases could be recorded in part earlier. Despite the missed expectations, Spotify remains on the growth path. Founder and boss Daniel Ek is sticking to the goal of reaching one billion users in the future.
| Mini Future Long on Spotify | |
| WKN | MC9BU8 |
| RAY | DE000MC9BU83 |
| issue date | 5. May 2020 |
| product type | Hebel certificate |
| issuer | Morgan Stanley |
Image source: Press photo © OMV Aktiengesellschaft
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