Darktrace, up 3.6%, in its trading update for the three months ended 31 March 2023, announced that its ARR on a constant currency basis stood at $583.6m, indicating an annual growth of 33.7%. Revenue during the period jumped 28.1% to $139.2m. It also reported that gross margin for Q3 FY 2023 remained in the range of recent reported periods and that its Q3 FY 2023 adjusted EBITDA margin was at or above the top end of its previously communicated 16% to 18.5% FY 2023 guidance range. On the outlook front, Darktrace is increasing its expectations for its FY 2023 adjusted EBITDA margin to at or around 19%, above its previous 16% to 18.5% range.
Cambridge Cognition, up 1.5%, announced that it has secured two contracts worth £2.1m to provide its CANTAB® cognitive assessments and electronic Clinical Outcome Assessments (eCOA) for two pivotal trials involving patients with a rare disease. Dialight, unchanged at 211.0p, announced that its AGM would be held on 16 May 2023.
1Spatial, down 2.1%, announced that it would release its final results for the financial year ended 31 January 2023 on 26 April 2023.
Checkit, unchanged at 26.5p, announced that its preliminary results for the year ended 31 January 2023 would be released on 24 April 2023.
UK markets closed higher last week, supported by gains in industrial miners, healthcare, and consumer staple sector stocks. On macro front, Britain’s economic growth stagnated in February, due to a wave of public sector strikes. Additionally, UK’s industrial production unexpectedly dropped in February, while the nation’s manufacturing production recorded a flat reading in the same month. UK’s BRC like-for-like retail sales climbed in March, while the nation’s RICS housing price balance improved in March. The FTSE 100 index advanced 1.7% to settle at 7,871.9, while the FTSE AIM 100 index rose 2.4% to close at 3,974.6. Additionally, the FTSE techMARK 100 index gained 2.8% to end at 6,755.6.
US markets ended higher in the previous week, as a softer inflation data fuelled hopes that the US Fed could pause further rate hikes. On the macro front, US consumer price inflation slowed in March, amid drop in gasoline prices, while the nation’s producer prices unexpectedly declined in March. Additionally, the US weekly jobless claims climbed to its highest level since January 2022 in the week ended 07 April 2023. Furthermore, the US retail sales declined for a second consecutive month in March, as consumers cut spending on motor vehicles and other big items. Meanwhile, the US industrial production climbed in March, while the nation’s consumer sentiment index advanced in April. Separately, the US FOMC meeting minutes indicated that the US economy could likely to fall into a mild recession later this year, following the recent banking sector crises. The DJIA index rose 1.2% to end at 33,886.5, while the NASDAQ index gained 0.3% to close at 12,123.5.
