The stock market saw a mixed day of trading, with Wall Street falling while leading European markets rose. The OMXS30 index closed up 0.82% at 2,657.33, with trading volumes reaching around 25.2 billion Swedish Krona on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
Among the major industrial sectors, the industrial sector saw the best performance, rising by 1.72%, while the real estate sector lagged behind, dropping by 0.92%. Within the OMXS30 index, Volvo saw a significant increase of 7.7%, driven by positive quarterly results and an increase in net truck orders. Sinch also performed well, rising by 5.9%. On the other hand, SEB experienced a decline of 4.2%, while Getinge dropped by 1.5%.
Several large companies released their quarterly earnings reports during the morning trading session. Volvo, the truck manufacturer, raised its regular dividend and reported a slightly lower than expected operating profit. However, the net truck order intake exceeded expectations. SEB, the major bank, reported better-than-expected operating profit but disappointed investors by keeping the total dividend unchanged.
Steel company SSAB saw a 3.3% increase in its stock price after reporting a better-than-expected EBITDA result, despite significantly reducing its dividend. The company expects weak demand in its home markets to continue into the first quarter of 2025. Trelleborg, a manufacturing company, exceeded expectations with its adjusted EBITA and raised its dividend, leading to a 4.3% increase in its stock price.
Telecom operator Tele2 reduced its dividend but provided guidance for 2025, expecting low single-digit growth in service revenue and a moderate to high single-digit growth in underlying EBITDA. The stock rose by 5.2%. Dometic, a leisure products company, saw a 4.5% increase in its stock price after lowering its dividend but reporting better-than-expected adjusted EBITA.
BHG surged by 23.6% after reporting a modest organic sales growth in the fourth quarter and a significant increase in adjusted operating profit. Similarly, Cloetta, a confectionery manufacturer, saw its stock price jump by 11.5% after increasing its dividend and reporting higher operating profit.
In other news, Volvo Cars announced the acquisition of Novo Energy, taking full ownership of the company after entering into a share transfer agreement related to Northvolt’s shares in the company. This news drove Volvo Cars’ stock up by 2.9%. Embracer, a gaming company, released a trading update for the third quarter, revealing better-than-expected performance, leading to a 9.8% increase in its stock price.
Vicore Pharma, a pharmaceutical company, received fast-track status from the FDA for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, causing its stock to rise by 5.3%. On the analyst front, Handelsbanken downgraded Getinge to market perform from outperform, resulting in a 1.5% decline in its stock price. However, Bernstein upgraded Elekta to market perform from underperform, boosting its stock by 1.7%.
Overall, the market experienced a day of mixed performances, with some companies exceeding expectations and others facing challenges. Investors will continue to monitor these developments closely as they navigate the ever-changing landscape of the stock market.