Trending tickers: ASML, MP Materials, Barclays, Renault and AstraZeneca

Yahoo

16-07-2025

Amsterdam-listed shares in ASML (ASML.AS, ASML) slid more than 7% on Wednesday morning, after the chipmaking equipment supplier narrowed its guidance and offered a cautious outlook for 2026.
In results released on Wednesday morning, ASML reported total net sales of €7.7bn (£6.7bn) for the second quarter, which was at the top end of guidance. The Dutch company, which supplies lithography machines are used to make semiconductors, posted net income of €2.3bn for the second quarter.
ASML said it expected total net sales of between €7.4bn and €7.9bn for the third quarter. For the year, ASML said it expected total net sales sales to grow by 15% year-on-year, which compared to €28.3bn in 2024, would work out to €32.5bn, according Yahoo Finance UK calculations. That compares to the range of €30bn and €35bn ASML provided in the first quarter.
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In addition, ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet said that while "AI customers' fundamentals remain strong", the company continued to "see increasing uncertainty driven by macro-economic and geopolitical developments".
"Therefore, while we still prepare for growth in 2026, we cannot confirm it at this stage," he said.
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "AI remains the key growth driver particularly for its advanced EUV lithography machines. Within that revenue stream there are also signs that orders for the next generation High NA machines are starting to pick up albeit at a lower margin than older models.
"But uncertainty on tariffs and export controls means ASML won't stick its neck out on growth expectations for next year. Market consensus coming into the results was a bit more confident, looking for a 7% uplift in 2026. To meet that, ASML's order intake needs to pick up significantly, so there are some short-term headwinds."
Shares in MP Materials surged 20% in Tuesday's session and were up another 4% in pre-market trading on Wednesday, after tech giant Apple (AAPL) announced $500m (£373m) deal to buy rare earth magnets from the company.
Apple said in an announcement on Tuesday that it had entered a multi-year deal with rare earth producer MP Materials, expanding the IPhone maker's US supply chain. It comes as part of Apple's pledge to spend more than $500bn in the US over the next four years.
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The deal will see Apple and MP Materials launch a recycling facility for processing recycled rare earth elements. Once complete, the recycling facility in California will enable MP Materials to take in recycled rare earth feedstock — including material from used electronics and post-industrial scrap — and reprocess it to be used in Apple products.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said: "Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States."
Apple shares were little changed on Tuesday and in pre-market trading on Wednesday.
On the London market, Barclays (BARC.L) was in focus after the UK's financial regulator said it had fined the bank £42m ($56m) for failed money laundering checks.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said in a statement on Wednesday that it had fined Barclays for for "separate instances of failings in its financial crime risk management".
In the first case, the watchdog said Barclays Bank UK had "failed to check it had gathered sufficient information to understand the money laundering risk, before opening a client money account" for wealth manager WealthTek. The FCA shut down WealthTek in 2023, after identifying "serious regulatory and operational issues". The regulator said on Wednesday that Barclays had agreed to make a voluntary payment of £6.3 million to WealthTek's clients who have a shortfall in the money they have been able to reclaim.
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In the second case, the FCA said it had fined Barclays Bank PLC £39.3m for "failing to adequately manage money laundering risks associated with providing banking services" to Stunt & Co.
"Barclays did not gather enough information at the start of the relationship or carry out proper ongoing monitoring," the regulator said. "In the space of just over a year, Stunt & Co received £46.8 million from Fowler Oldfield, a multimillion-pound money laundering operation."
The FCA added that Barclays "failed to properly consider the money laundering risks associated with the firm even after receiving information from law enforcement about suspected money laundering through Fowler Oldfield, and after learning that the police had raided both firms."
Despite the announcement, shares in Barclays hovered around the flatline on Wednesday morning.
On the Paris bourse, shares in Renault (RNO.PA) tumbled 15% after the carmaker lowered its guidance for the year.
In a trading update released late on Tuesday, Renault shared preliminary financial figures for the first half of the year, posting a 2.5% rise in group revenue at €27.6bn.
Renault said its results had been impacted by weaker-than-expected performance in June, including lower volumes than anticipated and "increasing commercial pressure".
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Renault said that in order to "take into account the deterioration of the automotive market trends with an increasing commercial pressure from its competitors and the anticipation of the continuation of the retail market decline", it was now aiming to achieve an operating profit margin of around 6.5% for the 2025 fiscal year, down from previous guidance of a margin greater than or equal to 7%.
On Tuesday, the French carmaker also announced the appointment of chief financial officer Duncan Minto as the company's interim CEO.
Back in the UK, shares in AstraZeneca dipped more than 1% on Wednesday morning, after the pharma giant share disappointing results from an advanced study for a rare disease drug.
AstraZeneca said that its anselamimab drug for a rare plasma cell disorder failed to meet its primary targets, which were to delay death and the frequency of cardiovascular hospitalisations.
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This latest update comes just a couple of days after AstraZeneca that its experimental drug baxdrostat had been successful in lowering high blood pressure in a late-stage study.
The pharma giant said that baxdrostat at two dose demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in mean seated systolic blood pressure (SBP) compared with placebo at 12 weeks.
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