This electronics giant is a new Top Pick at Morgan Stanley

Investing.com -- RBC Capital Markets on Wednesday initiated coverage of Schott Pharma AG & Co. KGaA with a “sector perform” rating and a €21.50 one-year price target, saying the pharmaceutical packaging supplier faces continued earnings pressure from weakening polymer-syringe demand tied to mRNA vaccines, while GLP-1 exposure provides only a partial offset. 

The brokerage said it sees modest downside to consensus estimates, 3% on 2026 revenue and 6% on 2026 EPS, with margins broadly in line. 

The Germany-based company, which manufactures vials, syringes, ampoules and cartridges used in injectable drugs, has seen a contraction in its high-margin polymer syringe segment. 

Polymer syringes represented about 20% of 2024 sales and nearly 30% of EBITDA, with roughly half of those volumes linked to mRNA vaccines. 

RBC noted that demand fell in 2025 (undisclosed magnitude, estimated by RBC at about 30%) and may decline further in 2026, creating what it described as a low-to-mid single-digit sales headwind. It added that replacing mRNA volumes could “take years.”

RBC said Schott’s GLP-1 exposure is growing, with the company previously disclosing more than $1 billion in GLP-1-related container contracts through 2030. 

GLP-1 products accounted for around 5% of 2024 revenue, increasing to about 10% in 2025, and the contract total implies about €150 million annually through 2030, equivalent to about 5% incremental revenue growth in 2026. 

Schott also holds a strong position in high-growth antibody-drug conjugate packaging, although volumes remain small.

The analysts project FY2026 revenue of €1.06 billion, versus €987.8 million estimated for 2025, with their forecast approximately 3 percentage points below consensus due mainly to foreign-exchange assumptions. 

They expect 2026 EBITDA of €317.4 million, up from €280.1 million in 2025, with an estimated 30% EBITDA margin roughly 1 percentage point above consensus due to easing ramp-up costs in Hungary and Serbia and higher RTU (ready-to-use) product mix. RTU products made up 60% of sales in Q3 2025, up from 55% in H1 2025 and 30% in 2020.

Below operating profit, RBC models higher financial expenses and a 23.5% tax rate compared with consensus expectations of 21%, resulting in 2026 EPS of €1.11, in line with its estimates but 6% below consensus. It projects low-double-digit revenue growth beyond 2026 and mid-teens EPS CAGR in the medium term. 

The brokerage said Schott’s valuation has fallen 45% in 12-month forward EV/EBITDA and P/E since its IPO, compared with about 25% declines for packaging peers. 

The shares trade with liquidity of less than $1 million per day, while Schott AG retains a 77% stake. RBC applied a 9x 2027E EBITDA multiple, incorporating a 15% liquidity discount and 10% discount for potential consensus downside, to reach its €21.50 target.

RBC said clarity on the mRNA trajectory, GLP-1 contract expansion, divisional mix and FX effects will be key when Schott issues FY25 results and FY26 guidance on Dec. 11.

Investing.com -- U.S. stock futures rose Wednesday, as growing confidence in a Federal Reserve rate cut and a rebound in Bitcoin helped steady sentiment.

At 05:30 ET (10:30 GMT), Dow Jones Futures traded 115 points, or 0.2%, higher, S&P 500 Futures gained 13 points, or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 40 points, or 0.2%.

The main averages on Wall Street advanced in the prior session, shrugging off some risk-off sentiment at the onset of the trading week.

Rising Fed rate cut expectations

Investors were now turning much of their focus back to expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut later this month.

Odds of that the U.S. central bank will bring down borrowing costs by a quarter of a percentage point at the end of its December 9-10 gathering have hovered around 87%, CME FedWatch has shown, reflecting widespread bets that policymakers will feel comfortable providing support to a sputtering labor market despite signs of sticky inflation.

On the economic front, attention is turning to Wednesday’s release of the private-sector payrolls report from ADP Research Institute, offering an early peek at the strength of the labour market.

Later, on Friday, the markets will get to see the delayed publication of the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE), the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation, along with personal income and spending figures.

The PCE print could heavily influence expectations about the magnitude and timing of rate cuts.

Meanwhile, risk assets got a boost from a rebound in cryptocurrency markets. Bitcoin climbed back above the mid-$90,000 range after sharp losses earlier in the week, giving a lift to crypto-linked stocks and improving overall risk appetite among investors.

The rebound in crypto and tech names helped underpin broader gains on Wall Street.

Marvell to buy Celestial AI

Marvell Technology has confirmed a multi-billion deal to buy semiconductor startup Celestial AI, as the U.S. chipmaker looks to expand its compute capacity during an ongoing surge in demand driven by the artificial intelligence boom.

Crucially, the $3.25 billion transaction grants Marvell access to Celestial’s work on photonics, a process that harnesses light instead of electrical signals to establish connections between AI and memory chips. Meaningful revenue contributions from the Celestial acquisition are expected to materialize in the second half of Marvell’s fiscal 2028.

Elsewhere, the likes of Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG), CrowdStrike Holdings (NASDAQ:CRWD) and Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) will be in the spotlight after the companies reported earnings after the close Tuesday.

Crude prices surge

Oil prices rose as an immediate deal to end the war in Ukraine looked unlikely, leaving a persistent threat to supply in play.

Brent futures climbed 1.2% to $63.22 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 1.4% to $59.48 a barrel.

Russia and the U.S. did not come to an agreement on a possible peace deal for Ukraine after a lengthy meeting between Russia President Vladimir Putin and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner late Tuesday.

Oil markets are awaiting the outcome of the talks to see if a deal could lead to the removal of sanctions on Russian companies that would free up restricted oil supply.

Rising U.S. inventories also added to the concerns about a crude surplus, after the American Petroleum Institute reported on Tuesday that crude stocks rose by 2.48 million barrels in the week ended November 28.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release official government stockpile data later on Wednesday.

Ayushman Ojha contributed to this article

Investing.com – India stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Public Sector Undertakings, Capital Goods and Consumer Durables sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NSE, the Nifty 50 fell 0.18%, while the BSE Sensex 30 index fell 0.04%.

The best performers of the session on the Nifty 50 were Wipro Ltd (NSE:WIPR), which rose 1.61% or 4.03 points to trade at 254.20 at the close. Meanwhile, Hindalco Industries Ltd. (NSE:HALC) added 1.47% or 11.85 points to end at 818.70 and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (NSE:TCS) was up 1.41% or 44.20 points to 3,179.90 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Tata Consumer Products Ltd (NSE:TACN), which fell 2.25% or 26.20 points to trade at 1,136.00 at the close. Adani Enterprises Ltd (NSE:ADEL) declined 2.15% or 48.10 points to end at 2,191.50 and Bharat Electronics Ltd (NSE:BAJE) was down 2.02% or 8.35 points to 404.70.

The top performers on the BSE Sensex 30 were ICICI Bank Ltd (BO:ICBK) which rose 1.44% to 1,392.40, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (BO:TCS) which was up 1.37% to settle at 3,178.50 and HDFC Bank Ltd (BO:HDBK) which gained 1.12% to close at 1,001.05.

The worst performers were Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (BO:MAHM) which was down 1.79% to 3,650.00 in late trade, State Bank Of India (BO:SBI) which lost 1.78% to settle at 950.50 and Titan Company Ltd (BO:TITN) which was down 1.76% to 3,818.55 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the India National Stock Exchange by 1710 to 771 and 47 ended unchanged; on the Bombay Stock Exchange, 2540 fell and 1423 advanced, while 145 ended unchanged.

The India VIX, which measures the implied volatility of Nifty 50 options, was up 0.42% to 11.27.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.30% or 12.75 to $4,233.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.47% or 0.86 to hit $59.50 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.28% or 0.80 to trade at $63.25 a barrel.

USD/INR was up 0.45% to 90.29, while EUR/INR rose 0.62% to 105.17.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.32% at 98.98.

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Investing.com - A potential investigation into a deadly fire at a housing complex in Hong Kong is likely to heavily scrutinize every company with responsibilities at the site, including Denmark’s ISS, according to analysts at UBS.

At least 156 people were killed in the city’s deadliest blaze in decades, Reuters reported.

Hong Kong authorities cited by BBC News suggested that the fire at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex was especially ferocious due the presence of styrofoam outside the windows of apartments. Authorities added that fire alarms in all eight of the complex’s housing blocks were discovered to not be working effectively.

In a statement on Tuesday, ISS confirmed it operated a service contract for administrative support at the properties impacted by the fire. Shares tumbled by more than 7% following the announcement, but pared back some of those losses in early European trading on Wednesday.

Writing in a note, the UBS analysts including Nicole Manion and Rory McKenzie said Tuesday’s decline was likely a reflection of "investor uncertainty about any potential impact on ISS’s contract, financials and reputation."

Material from ISS indicates that Hong Kong represents 2.9% of group sales in total, meaning the Wang Fuk contract probably constitutes a "very small proportion" of its worldwide revenue. The company said it offered administrative support and some on-site services at the Wang Fuk, as well as the arrangement for services carried out by third parties.

These third parties were selected by property owners, rather than assessed by ISS, the firm said. It added that, under Hong Kong law, fire safety installation and maintenance has to be conducted by a licensed contractor, flagging that it has arranged the services of these contractors in compliance with these local rules.

ISS also stated that it was not involved in the selection or monitoring of the contractor doing ongoing major renovation work at the premises.

Still, the UBS analysts said, "any investigation is likely to heavily scrutinize every company’s role and responsibilities at the site."

They added that, historically, contract or execution failures in the outsourcing sector have led to examples of withheld payments, "onerous contracts," or "public fines and/or investigations."

In all cases this can impact company profits and/or reputation (impacting long-term growth prospects),” the analysts wrote, although they said they would not make an attempt to assess any specific potential impacts “at this stage.”

Investing.com -- Cosmo Pharmaceuticals’ shares jumped more than 20% on Wednesday after the Swiss drugmaker reported that two Phase III trials of its hair-loss treatment Breezula met their co-primary endpoint, showing large relative improvements in hair count and a favorable safety profile.

The company released topline six-month data from its SCALP Phase III program in men with androgenetic alopecia. 

The report said both studies showed statistically significant gains on target area hair count, recording over 539% and above 168% relative improvements over vehicle. 

A pooled analysis showed a over 252% increase with p<0.05. Patient-reported outcomes were described as aligned with the clinical findings, which the analysts at Kepler Cheuvreux said supported “the robustness of the signal at six months.”

Cosmo, which develops therapies in dermatology, gastrointestinal diseases and health-technology applications, reported a safety profile that the report described as favorable. 

Treatment-emergent adverse events were 5.1% in the clascoterone arms compared with 6.1% in the placebo group. 

The brokerage said the results were consistent with the drug’s local, non-systemic activity and noted that “no systemic androgen-related events were reported,” a detail highlighted as maintaining a differentiation from oral finasteride .

The trials, which enrolled 1,465 participants across two studies, represent the first full topline dataset publicly disclosed from the six-month analysis. 

Cosmo said it “remains on track to complete the 12-month safety follow-up in spring 2026, after which parallel FDA/EMA filings are planned.”

Absolute hair-count values were not released, and the note stated that cross-trial comparisons were difficult to establish at this stage, citing the limits of early datasets.

Kepler referenced the magnitude of separation from vehicle, stating it was “notably higher than what has historically been observed with topical minoxidil/finasteride over similar timeframes,” while emphasizing that the observation was restricted to the disclosed relative data. 

The brokerage also described the safety findings as central, stating that “tolerability (was) comparable to vehicle and no evidence of systemic exposure” was identified. 

It said this characteristic positioned Breezula within a category that has not seen a topical androgen-receptor inhibitor advance this far in development in more than three decades.

Cosmo has identified Breezula as one of its key programs, and the note said the update “offers a clear step forward for the equity story,” with the 12-month readout labeled the final major element before regulatory submission. 

The company’s broader business includes commercialized dermatology and gastrointestinal products, and the brokerage described Breezula as a mid-term growth driver within its pipeline.

The Phase III results were presented as materially reducing risk for the program ahead of the upcoming safety dataset. “We now look forward to the 12-month dataset expected in spring 2026,” the brokerage said, outlining the next expected milestone for the clascoterone development path.