German Blue-chip DAX Up; Henkel Gains on Q1 Beat

-- German equities retreated on Thursday, as the market assessed developments related to a potential US-Iran peace deal alongside a fresh batch of corporate earnings and trading updates.

At closing, the blue-chip DAX was 1.02% in the red.

Reuters reported that Washington and Tehran are moving toward a temporary arrangement to halt the current conflict, with sources indicating the proposed framework provides a path to end the fighting but leaves core points of contention for future negotiation. However, research firm Rystad Energy cautioned that a deal's impact on the physical oil markets will be "slower and more conditional than futures prices are currently pricing in."

Meanwhile, back home, the German construction sector experienced its steepest contraction in over a year in April, with the decline primarily concentrated in housing amid war-related delivery delays, growing input price pressures, and weaker demand. The S&P Global Germany Construction PMI Total Activity Index plunged to a 13-month low of 42.1 from 48 in March.

In corporate updates, shares of Henkel (HEN.F) climbed to the top spot of the index at 4.20%, after its first-quarter organic sales beat and a reiterated full-year 2026 outlook. The German chemical and consumer goods company's group sales reached 4.95 billion euros, up 1.7% on an organic basis versus 1.1% market forecast. Management still expects organic sales to rise 1% to 3% for the year, while adjusted EPS is forecasted to grow in the low to high single-digit percentage range at constant currency.

"A solid Q1 growth, with both Consumer Brands and Adhesives Technologies growth coming in ahead of expectations. FY26 revenue growth and adj. operating profit margin guidance is reiterated, in line with consensus. Meanwhile, acquisitions/divestment are now guided to have a low-single-digit positive impact (from neutral to slightly positive previously), with three deals already successfully closed," RBC Capital Markets said in a quick-take report.

On the other hand, Siemens Healthineers (SHL.F) lost 4.72% and was one of the trading day's worst performers, after the German medical technology company lowered its fiscal 2026 guidance after a fiscal second-quarter earnings miss. The company now expects full-year revenue growth of 4.5% to 5%, down from its previous forecast of 5% to 6%. It also revised its adjusted basic EPS outlook to 2.20 euros to 2.30 euros, compared with earlier guidance of 2.20 euros to 2.40 euros.

Sector Update: Energy

Energy stocks were lower Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index dropping 2% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) falling 1.8%.The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was decreasing 2.2%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was shedding 1.1%.Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was rising 0.6% to $95.61 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract was decreasing 0.5% to $100.78 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 2.1% to $2.79 per 1 million BTU.In corporate news, Cheniere Energy (LNG) shares fell 5% after the company reported Thursday a Q1 loss of $16.65 per diluted share, swinging from earnings of $1.57 a year earlier.

$LNG

Williams Continues to Layer on Growth Projects, RBC Capital Markets Says

Williams (WMB) continues to layer on growth projects, including its Neo power innovation project, and estimates a compound annual growth rate of 9% for sanctioned projects through 2030 while still targeting 10%, RBC Capital Markets said in a note Wednesday.The company anticipates a 5x build multiple on the $2.3 billion Neo project cost, implying about $460 million of annual EBITDA generation, while Atlas includes a new 13-year agreement to provide a pipeline capacity of 164 million cubic feet per day to a data center in the Northeast which is expected to be in service by year-end, according to the note.Management expects to be in the top half of its 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance range of $8.05 billion to $8.35 billion, supported by a strong Q1 and outlook for the rest of the year, the brokerage said.Analysts now forecast 2026 and 2027 adjusted EBITDA of $8.39 billion and $9.29 billion, respectively, and available funds from operations of $6.36 billion and $7.15 billion, respectively.RBC Capital Markets kept an outperform rating on Williams and raised the price target to $83 from $82.Shares of Williams were down 1.8% in Thursday trading.Price: $72.45, Change: $-1.32, Percent Change: -1.78%

$WMB

Vistra Reports Higher Q1 Generation, Advances 4.5 GW Expansion Pipeline

Vistra (VST) reported Q1 earnings Thursday, showing total ongoing operations generation of 50.5 terawatt-hours, up from 48 TWh a year earlier.Generation in the East region increased to 30 TWh for the quarter ended March 31, up from 27.5 TWh a year earlier, while Texas generation rose to 20.1 TWh from 20 TWh.West region generation declined to 0.4 TWh in the quarter from 0.5 TWh a year earlier.Vistra added that total commercial availability fell to 92.7% for Q1, down from 95% a year earlier.Retail electricity volumes declined to 30.1 TWh in the quarter, down from 33.3 TWh a year earlier, amid milder weather conditions in ERCOT.Vistra is advancing about 4.5 gigawatts of generation capacity additions across gas, renewables, coal-to-gas conversions and nuclear uprates, including projects already completed or under construction.The company expects Permian gas peaker units to enter service by Q2 2028 and plans to begin construction on Oak Hill Phase 2 in 2026.Price: $158.55, Change: $+0.25, Percent Change: +0.16%

$VST

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