Swiss stocks joined a regional retreat in Europe on Thursday, with the Swiss Market Index closing 0.71% in the red, amid a busy day of economic data releases and corporate updates.
Nestlé (NESN.SW) recorded sales of 43.11 billion francs in the first half, down from the year-ago 44.23 billion francs. Net profit also dropped over the period to 3.47 billion francs from 5.07 billion francs, weighed down by higher restructuring costs and the write-down of assets held for sale. The stock fell 7.98% at closing.
"The share price reaction seemed harsh, but is arguably little more than a function of the shares' strong recent performance and punchy valuation in a sector context; (they have performed in line with the MSCI European Consumer Staples Index year to date, after this morning's fall)," said analysts at RBC Capital Markets. "Nestlé is doing a competent job revitalising the business, in our opinion, but we don't see this as marking a major inflection point. We think 4% organic revenue growth, including 2% RIG, is a challenging aspiration and that should be reflected in the shares' valuation."
Meanwhile, the Swiss consumer goods giant agreed to form a 50/50 joint venture with Platinum Equity for Nestlé's waters and premium beverages business, with the JV assigned an enterprise value of 4.9 billion euros.
Roche (RO.SW), on the other hand, saw its shares rise 5.15% as it confirmed its full-year 2026 guidance of mid-single-digit growth in group sales and a high-single-digit increase in core EPS, at constant exchange rates. For the first six months of the year, the pharmaceutical heavyweight's group sales rose 6% on a constant currency basis to 30.36 billion francs on the back of robust demand for pharmaceutical products and diagnostic solutions.
Logistics company Kuehne+Nagel (KNIN.SW), flavors and fragrances group Givaudan (GIVN.SW) and dermatology company Galderma Group (GALD.SW) were also among major Swiss corporates that reported earnings.
Elsewhere and on the regulatory front, the European Central Bank left its three key interest rates unchanged at its July meeting, as widely expected.
"The outlook for energy prices, while highly volatile, currently stands close to the baseline of the June Eurosystem staff projections and well above the levels recorded prior to the conflict in the Middle East," the ECB noted, but cautioned that "uncertainty remains high and the full inflationary impact of the energy shock has yet to play out."