(Alliance News) - The Mib closed higher in the fourth session of the week, surpassing the 47,400-point mark and confirming a constructive short-term outlook. The main driver behind market momentum is the intensifying earnings season, which is becoming increasingly dominant on trading floor calendars.
On the interest rate front, money markets are almost fully pricing in a 'hold' move by the European Central Bank in March, with only a 30% probability of a rate cut by December.
Thus, the FTSE Mib ended up 0.5% at 47,425.94, the Mid-Cap gained 0.5% to 60,219.21, the Small-Cap rose 0.8% to 36,288.01, while the Italy Growth index recorded a 0.2% increase to 8,748.34.
Across Europe, London's FTSE 100 closed up 0.4%, Paris' CAC 40 gained 0.7%, while Frankfurt's DAX 40 advanced 0.5%.
Back in Milan, Nexi showed strength, closing up 4.4% at EUR3.41 per share, marking its second consecutive positive session and emerging as the best performer on the index. Notably, Two Sigma reduced its short position on the stock to 1.26% from 1.39%.
Stellantis — up 4.2% — announced it closed fiscal year 2025 with a net loss of EUR22.33 billion compared to a net profit of EUR5.52 billion in 2024, a result impacted by EUR25.4 billion in extraordinary charges related to strategic repositioning. To preserve a strong capital structure, the company explained, the board of directors has authorized the suspension of the 2026 dividend and the issuance of hybrid bonds up to EUR5 billion.
Eni — up 2.5% — reported Thursday it closed 2025 with adjusted net profit of EUR4.99 billion, down from EUR5.26 billion as of December 31, 2024. Hydrocarbon production in 2025 stood at 1.73 million barrels per day, compared to 1.71 million the previous year.
Saipem slipped 0.7% to EUR3.48 per share. RBC Capital Markets maintains a 'sector perform' rating on the stock and raised its target price to EUR3.90 per share from EUR2.75 following the release of Q4 2025 results. The company reported Tuesday it closed fiscal 2025 with net profit of EUR310 million, up 1.3% from EUR306 million in 2024. The board intends to propose a dividend of EUR0.17 per share — unchanged from 2024 — equivalent to about EUR330 million.
Telecom Italia, meanwhile, dropped 4.3% after two positive sessions, despite strong results that showed, among other things, a slight increase in revenue and margins. Following a EUR400 million buyback planned for this year, Telecom Italia CEO Pietro Labriola announced a EUR500 million dividend to be paid in spring 2027.
In the mid-cap segment, BFF Bank performed well, rising 6.2% following a 1.2% gain on Wednesday evening.
Comer Industries also advanced, gaining 2.0% and posting its fourth consecutive positive session.
Pirelli — up 1.2% — reported Wednesday it closed 2025 with net profit up 5.9% to EUR530.7 million from EUR501.1 million in 2024. The board will propose a total dividend of EUR0.34 per share, of which EUR0.24 is ordinary (about EUR260 million) and EUR0.10 is extraordinary (about EUR109 million), for a total payout of approximately EUR369 million.
Cementir Holding ended lower, down 1.2% to EUR15.98 per share, continuing its losing streak.
Technoprobe fell 2.8% after two positive sessions.
On the Small-Cap index, Beewize gained 3.6% to EUR0.34 after two losing sessions in which it shed a combined nearly 11%.
Eurotech — up 4.0% — announced the completion of its fully subscribed rights issue for a total value of EUR17.5 million. The transaction involved up to 21 million new ordinary shares and concluded at the end of the subscription rights exercise period, following the option offer which ended on February 19.
Banca Sistema, on the other hand, slipped 0.4% to EUR1.60 per share. Applying peer multiples, the theoretical price would be about double the offer price from Banca CF+, which is controlled by the Elliott fund. To justify Equita's fairness opinion, which values the share at EUR1.795 — in line with the initial offer of EUR1.8 — it would require "unrealistic assumptions."
This is according to Julian Harper, CIO of Tico Capital Management, a fund specializing in small caps and a shareholder with over 1% of Banca Sistema, who has been following the company since 2019. Harper has written several times to Consob since the end of January requesting clarification on the valuation criteria, but has yet to receive a response.
Generalfinance advanced 1.6% to EUR26.00 per share. Intesa Sanpaolo confirmed its 'buy' rating on the stock and target price of EUR28.20, in line with previous broker guidance.
Among SMEs, Alfonsino dropped 1.8% to EUR0.21. The company announced Thursday that, following the successful conclusion of the testing phase and operational validation, it has begun the nationwide roll-out of its Table Reservation service in four cities.
Compagnia dei Caraibi rose 4.5% to EUR0.4190 per share after two losing sessions.
Datrix — up 5.4% — closed 2025 with adjusted Ebitda of around EUR1.8 million, up 70% from EUR1.0 million in 2024, with adjusted Ebitda margin on total revenue rising to 13% from 6% in the previous year. Consolidated net revenue stood at about EUR10.9 million, down 15% from EUR12.8 million in 2024, in line with its repositioning strategy focused on higher-margin businesses.
Circle — up 2.0% — announced Thursday the launch of the BoostEDIC M&L project — European Digital Infrastructure Consortium for Mobility & Logistics Data Support Project — a strategic initiative aimed at accelerating the development of the common European mobility data space. The project — funded with a total of EUR15 million under the EU's Digital Europe Programme — includes a contribution of EUR189,000 to Circle.
In New York on Wednesday, the Dow Jones was up 0.1%, the S&P 500 slipped 0.6%, while the Nasdaq retreated 1.2%.
On the currency front, the euro traded at USD1.1793 from USD1.1805 at Wednesday's European equities close, while the pound exchanged at USD1.3533 from USD1.3537 the previous evening.
Among commodities, Brent crude traded at USD72.36 per barrel from USD70.68 per barrel Wednesday evening, while gold was valued at USD5,178.00 per ounce from USD5,195.16 per ounce the previous evening.
Key events on Friday's economic calendar include Germany's unemployment rate at 0855 CET and 1300 CET, while at 1000 CET, Italy's industrial sales data will be released. At the same time, focus will also be on Germany's inflation data.
At 1100 CET, Italy will release its trade balance data.
At 2030 CET — as is customary on Fridays — the COT Report will be published.
On the corporate calendar at Piazza Affari, results are expected from Renovalo, Reti, Sogefi, TXT e-solutions, and 4AIM Sicaf.
By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter
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