Against the backdrop of a weaker European stock session on Friday, shares of Daimler Truck Holding rose in its market debut.
Shares of Daimler Truck Holding DTG, made their debut on Germany’s stock market at 28 euros ($31.62) a share, and were last changing hands at €30.47. The initial public offering follows a spinoff of parent Daimler DAI, -14.09%, shares of which fell 15% to €72.96, adjusting for the split.
Berenberg analysts Adrian Yanoshik and Romain Gourvil initiated coverage on Daimler Truck with a provisional buy rating and 35 euro price target. “Daimler Truck’s margins have credible upside from a turnaround already under way in Europe. The group’s self-help gets support from price-mix momentum into a record backlog, with strong freight markets that underpin demand,” they said.
The analysts said they were keeping a buy rating on parent Daimler, with a revised 85 euro price target to incorporate the spinoff, as they expect Daimler Truck will “re-engage investor interest in Daimler.”
“We forecast underappreciated pricing durability and higher premium market growth over the next several years,” said Yanoshik and Gourvil.
Daimler was the biggest loser on the Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, -0.21%, which fell nearly 0.4% to 475.19, with the German DAX DAX, -0.11% and French CAC 40 PX1, -0.16% down 0.3% each. The FTSE 100 index UKX, -0.06% was trading flat.
Weaker action in Europe bucked gains for U.S. stock futures, with investors on both sides of the pond waiting for November consumer price inflation, which is forecast to rise by the most in decades ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week.
Data from Germany on Friday showed prices rising 5.2% on the year, measured by national standards, confirming preliminary data and marking the highest reading since June 1992, the statistics office Destatis said.
In the U.K., October gross domestic product rose just 0.1%, falling short of expectations for growth of 0.4%.
Technology stocks fell in Europe, tracking losses for the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -1.71%, which slumped 1.7% on Thursday. Shares of ASML Holding ASML, -3.89% ASML, -0.58% fell 1.5%, SAP SAP, -1.23% dropped 0.7% and Infineon IFX, -0.38% dropped more than 1%.
Apparel makers were also under pressure, led by a 1.3% drop for LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton LVMH, +0.15%.
Among the biggest gainers, shares of Swedish Match SWMA, +6.21% climbed 6%, after U.S. Senate Democrats were said to be dropping a proposal that would have imposed vaping taxes, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.
“Concerns around the potential impact of the proposed tax changes on NGPs [Next Generation Products] has weighed on the tobacco space over recent weeks and in particular Swedish Match (-21% over the last 3-months),” said Citi analysts Simon Hales and Ravi Sharma in a note to clients.
They said Swedish Match and BAT BTI, +0.17% BATS, +2.14% will likely see the most support from that move. BAT shares rose 1.6%.
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