European Economics Preview: Germany Gfk Consumer Confidence Data Due

Consumer confidence from Germany and revised consumer prices from euro area are due on Wednesday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 2.00 am ET, the market research group GfK releases consumer confidence survey results. The forward looking consumer sentiment index is seen at -6.3 in March compared to -6.7 in February.

At 2.45 am ET, France business confidence survey results are due from Insee. The business sentiment index is seen at 112 in February, unchanged from the previous month.

At 3.00 am ET, producer prices from the Czech Republic and gross wages from Hungary are due.

At 5.00 am ET, Eurostat is slated to issue euro area revised consumer price data for January. According to flash data, inflation rose to a record 5.1 percent in January from 5.0 percent in December.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Raises FY22 Profit Outlook

While reporting its results for the first quarter on Tuesday, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Tuesday raised its earnings outlook for the full year 2022.

For the full year 2022, Hewlett Packard now expects earnings of $1.36 to $1.50 per share and adjusted earnings of $2.03 to $2.17 per share. Previously, the company expected earnings of $1.24 to $1.38 per share and adjusted earnings of $1.96 to $2.10 per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters currently estimate earnings of $2.03 per share for the full year 2022.

The company reiterated its free cash flow guidance for the full year to be in the range of $1.8 to $2.0 billion.

The company’s board of directors has declared a regular cash dividend of $0.12 per share on the company’s common stock, payable on April 8, 2022, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 11, 2022.

Salesforce Lifts Q1, FY Revenue Outlook; Shares Up

While reporting its results for the fourth quarter on Tuesday, Salesforce (CRM) lifted its revenue outlook for the first quarter and full year 2023. Shares of Salesforce gained nearly 4% in extended trading hours.

Looking forward to the first quarter, the company now expects revenues of $7.37 billion to $7.38 billion and adjusted earnings of $0.93 to $0.94 per share. This compares to previous estimate of revenues of $7.215 billion to $7.250 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters currently estimate revenues of $7.26 billion and earnings of $0.99 per share.

For the full year 2023, the company now expects revenues of $32.0 billion to $32.1 billion and adjusted earnings of $4.62 to $4.64 per share. Previously, the company had expected revenues of $31.7 billion to $31.8 billion. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $4.74 per share and revenues of $31.78 billion.

Marc Benioff, Chair and Co-CEO of Salesforce, said, “As we continue to see tremendous demand from customers, we’re raising our FY23 revenue guidance to $32.1 billion at the high-end of range, with non-GAAP operating margin of 20%, and operating cash flow growth of 22% year-over-year.”

SMA Solar Technology Expects 2021 EBITDA To Be Below Prior Outlook

SMA Solar Technology AG expects EBITDA for 2021 to be below the prior outlook of 20 million euros to 30 million euros.

According to the company, the background is the pre-contractual agreement on the extraordinary dissolution of a contract for operation and maintenance services for PV power plants. Based on the resulting increased need for provisions, the company anticipates EBITDA of about 9 million euros. SMA sales amounted to 984 million euros in 2021.

In addition, SMA anticipates sales to be between 900 million euros and 1.05 billion euros and EBITDA of between 10 million euros and 60 million euros for 2022.

SMA will publish the consolidated financial statements for 2021 on March 31, 2022.

SoftBank's record-breaking chip designer sale to Nvidia called off

(Reuters)Chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) said Tuesday that the cybersecurity breach it has been investigating for almost a week has resulted in the theft of company data.

“We are aware that the threat actor took employee credentials and some NVIDIA proprietary information from our systems and has begun leaking it online,” a company spokesperson told CNN in a statement.

There is no indication that the attack was an instance of ransomware or that it is connected to the war in Ukraine, the spokesperson added.

The company reiterated that it does not expect any disruptions to business operations stemming from the breach, which was first detected Feb. 23.
At a market cap of about $600 billion, Nvidia is the most valuable chipmaker in the United States. It is known for its graphics processing units (GPU) that enhance videogaming experiences and advanced computer simulations.

Persimmon FY21 Profit Climbs On Higher Volume, Prices; Sees Volume Growth In FY22 – Quick Facts

Housebuilder Persimmon plc (PSN.L) reported Wednesday that its fiscal 2021 profit before tax grew to 966.8 million pounds from last year’s 783.8 million pounds.

Underlying profit before tax was 973.0 million pounds, compared to 863.1 million pounds a year ago.

Total Group revenues increased to 3.61 billion pounds from prior year’s 3.33 billion pounds. New housing revenues were 3.45 billion pounds, higher than 3.13 billion pounds a year ago.

New home completions increased to 14,551 units from 13,575 units last year. New home average selling price increased 2.8 percent to 237,078 pounds.

Looking ahead, Dean Finch, Group Chief Executive, said, “The new year’s trading has started well, with private sales rates ahead by c. 2 percent in the opening weeks and a robust forward sales position of £2.21bn. We expect to grow our outlet position in 2022 and are targeting volume growth of 4-7 percent on 2021 levels, whilst maintaining our industry-leading margins, although we are mindful of the growing risk of an economic impact as a result of the tragic conflict in Ukraine.”

The company anticipates a greater proportion of completions in the second half of the year relative to the first reflecting a return to more typical trading patterns and the growth profile of our outlet network.

The company currently anticipates increases in selling prices will mitigate build cost inflation.