Futures Bullish; Desks Focus on Earnings

(Alliance News) - European stock markets—according to futures markets—are gearing up for a bullish open on Friday, following two sessions of heavy pressure, as traders assess a flurry of European and U.S. corporate earnings reports.

Sentiment was buoyed by optimism over a stronger euro, seen as a potential brake on inflation and as a lever giving the ECB greater flexibility to cut funding costs.

Thus, the Mib—after closing down 0.1% at 45,075.60 on Thursday evening—is marking a rise of 100.00 points.

The CAC 40 is up by 29.90 points, the DAX 40 shows a gain of 130.00 points, while the FTSE 100 is moving just above parity.

Among the smaller indexes, last night the Mid-Cap fell 0.5% to 60,277.63, the Small-Cap dropped 0.8% to 36,934.56, and Italy Growth posted a loss of 0.7% to 8,778.49.

On Piazza Affari, last night, DiaSorin closed up 1.0% after receiving De Novo authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the first fully automated diagnostic test for the hepatitis delta virus on the LIAISON XL immunodiagnostic system.

STMicroelectronics, with a marked drop of 5.8% to EUR23.525 per share, approved its fourth-quarter 2025 accounts, reporting a net loss of USD30 million, compared with a profit of USD341 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, penalized by one-off tax charges of USD163 million.

2026 could be a key year for both the MPS-Mediobanca dossier and Generali's industrial plan, which was up 0.2%. This is also why, in financial circles, the hypothesis of continuity at the current top management is gaining traction, with Philippe Donnet and Andrea Sironi expected to be confirmed at least in the medium term.

At this stage, the priority is to clarify the future of Montepaschi, up 0.2%, between governance and the industrial plan, with developments that will inevitably have repercussions on Mediobanca, which was up 1.7% and is the largest shareholder of the Lion. Only once the situation in Siena is defined will it be possible to assess any effects on Trieste.

Telecom Italia dropped 4.0% to EUR0.5658 per share.

On the Mid-Cap, Sesa finalized the closing of the sale to TeamSystem of its business unit relating to the agency for sales of TeamSystem software solutions. The transaction generates a positive impact of about EUR8.0 million on net profit and consolidated net financial position. The stock was down 0.9%.

Webuild, down 2.4%, is ready to deploy the refurbished Tunnel Boring Machine that will dig the 7 km tunnel of Lot 2 of the Line 15 West of the Grand Paris Express, a project with a total value of EUR1.38 billion.

Banca Sella announced it will complete the integration of Hype through a merger by incorporation expected by the end of March 2026: the transaction involves Banca Sella acquiring 50% of Hype's capital held by illimity Bank—part of the Banca Ifis group, flat at EUR27.18—and the remaining 50% held by parent company Banca Sella Holding.

Alerion Clean Power announced that the public offering of green bonds was closed early after reaching the offer amount subject to the upsize option, totaling EUR100 million. The stock rose 0.6%.

CIR, up 1.2%, completed the acquisition of the 40.23% stake in KOS held by F2i Healthcare, thus finalizing the transaction announced with the binding agreement signed on 19 November 2025.

Brembo, up 3.3%, closed 2025 with preliminary consolidated revenues of EUR3.70 billion, down 1.6% at constant exchange rates compared to EUR3.84 billion in 2024.

On the Small-Cap, Bestbe Holding, with no trades, approved the sending of a preliminary, non-binding expression of interest for a possible acquisition in the energy sector.

Aedes finalized the terms of its rights issue for up to a maximum amount of EUR5 million. Specifically, the board approved the issuance of up to 96.0 million new ordinary shares.

Class Editori fell 8.7% to EUR0.1315 per share; GPI gained 4.1% to EUR18.46 per share.

Among SMEs, Friends, which gained 0.8%, announced it had reviewed the preliminary closing estimate of the main consolidated economic and financial management indicators as of 31 December 2025 of PMG Italia, the company subject to the binding agreement signed by Friends on 22 December 2025.

SG Co announced Thursday that Geotag, 51% controlled, finalized the acquisition of 100% of Waymedia. Waymedia recorded revenues of EUR2.2 million and an Ebitda of EUR844,000 as of 31 December 2024.

Gismondi 1754—with gains of 11% to EUR1.505—closed 2025 with total sales of EUR10.4 million, down from EUR12.0 million as of 31 December 2024. In the fourth quarter, total sales reached EUR3.1 million, up from EUR2.4 million in the same period last year.

SolidWorld Group announced Thursday that the administrative bodies of Bio3DModel and Bio3DPrinting had reviewed and approved the project for a "reverse" merger by incorporation of the two companies, with the intention to complete the merger process from 1 April. The stock was up 1.2%.

Redelfi, down 6.7%, signed a term sheet with the WRM group for the creation of a joint venture specializing in the development of data center projects in Italy.

In New York last night, the Dow Jones slipped 0.1%, the Nasdaq lost 0.7%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.1%.

The Nikkei fell 0.1%, the Shanghai Composite slipped 1.0%, while the Hang Seng is retreating 2.0%.

On the currency front, the euro is trading at USD1.1922 from USD1.1936 at Thursday's close of European equities, while the pound is trading at USD1.3756 from USD1.3778 last night.

Among commodities, Brent is trading at USD68.35 per barrel from USD70.87 per barrel on Thursday, while gold is valued at USD5,174.25 an ounce from USD5,295.34 an ounce last night.

On Friday's economic calendar, Spain's GDP is expected at 0900 CET, with Italy's and Germany's following at 1000 CET.

At 1100 CET, Italy's monthly unemployment rate will be analyzed and, subsequently, at 1200 CET, Italy's producer price index.

Germany's consumer price index is expected at 1400 CET, and at 1430 CET, Canada's GDP and the U.S. producer price index will follow.

On Piazza Affari, results are expected from Convergenze, Emak, Soges, among others.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News Reporter

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