ARM Holdings, up 10.1%, in its results for the nine months ended 30 September 2015, announced that its revenues rose to £699.1m from £569.3m in the same period the previous year. Profit before tax climbed to £301.0m from £225.1m. Earnings per share stood at 248.0p compared to 182.5p in the prior year. Morgan Stanley reissued its “Overweight” rating on the stock with a target price of 1180p. The stock was subjected to mostly “Buy” ratings from other brokers.
HSBC reiterated its “Buy” rating on Johnson Matthey, up 4.0%, with a target price of 3750p. The stock received mixed recommendations from other brokers. Canaccord Genuity reaffirmed its “Hold” rating on DS Smith, up 3.5%, with a target price of 430p.
Berenberg Bank upgraded its target price on AVEVA Group, up 5.0%, to 2450p from 1977p and maintained its “Buy” rating. JP Morgan Chase restated its “Neutral” rating on Abcam, up 3.0%, with a target price of 506p.
Sepura, up 0.9%, in its trading update for the six months ended 02 October 2015, announced that it expects revenues to surge by 70% to €93.0m compared to previous year. Organic revenues increased by 34% mainly due to healthy demand in the group's core markets. The closing order book rose by €57.0m as the company secured numerous contracts across various regions. It expects to report net debt of €80.0m arising out of Teltronic’s acquisition financing and working capital requirements. N+1 Singer restated its “Buy” rating on the stock with a target price of 195p.
Gaming Realms, down 0.9%, in its trading update for third quarter 2015, announced that total group revenue rose by 48% to £6.2m on a QoQ basis, compared to £4.2m in the previous quarter. Net gaming revenue increased by 18% to £2.8m from £2.4m on the launch of its Slingo.com gambling website. It expects overall group revenue to be in line with expectations for the year ending 31 December 2015.
1Spatial, down 2.1%, in its interim results for six months ended 31 July 2015, announced that its revenues slid to £8.4m from £10.1m in the same period last year. Loss before tax widened to £1.49m from £0.68m in the previous year.
UK markets ended higher last week, after the People’s Bank of China cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 bps. Moreover, upbeat retail sales data in the UK added to the positive sentiment. The FTSE 100 index advanced 1.0% to 6,444.1, while the FTSE AIM 100 Index rose 1.5% to finish at 3,433.3. Also, the FTSE techMARK 100 Index gained 2.9% to settle at 3,826.9.
US markets closed firmer in the previous week, amid positive corporate earnings as well as strong macro releases on jobs, housing market & manufacturing data in the US. The DJIA index climbed 2.5% to 17,646.7, while the NASDAQ Index jumped 3.0% to finish at 5,031.9.
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