Risers
ARM Holdings, up 5%
The lunch of Apple’s new range of iPhones yesterday has helped shares in ARM this morning as they announced the new 64-bit A7 processor found in the new iPhone 5s carries a higher royalty rate. Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimates that ARM could derive around $1 per iPhone 5s which compares $0.89 in the iPhone 5. They rate the stock as buy with 1372p price target.
UBM, up 3%, Informa, up 2%
JPMorgan Chase upgrade both UBM and Informa Stock ratings to ‘overweight’ from neutral and raises the target prices to 615p from 555p and 830p from 775p. They believe UBM’s next 12 months will likely benefit from the highest biennial events contribution while JPM believe emerging market event growth will be better than feared. On Informa they believe cost savings should help while organic growth is improving
Wessex Exploration, up 4.9%
WSX has filed to renew a permit in Juan de Nova near Madagascar for five years, saying a recent petroleum system review justified holding onto the asset.
Provexis, up 2.4%
The functional food technologies company have raised net proceeds to £286,750 by drawing down on its Equity financing Facility with Darwin Strategic limited.
Fallers
African Barrick Gold, down 5.7%
Tanzania-focused miner have announced the departure of their chief operating officer Marco Zolezzi who has resigned with immediate effect, less than a month after its former chief executive also left. CEO Brad Gordon will take direct responsibility of operations until they find a replacement COO.
Barratt Developments, down 3.4%
The home builder has reported a 4.8 percent increase in pre-tax profit as the number of completed sales and the average selling price rose. They announced they will recommence dividend payments with a 2.5p payment highlighting the recovering housing market, it now expects to meet its goals for the business earlier than previously anticipated.
Whitbread, down 2%
JPMorgan downgrades Whitbread to neutral from overweight and cuts its price target to 3250p from 3400p. Says over the past year, Whitbread has outperformed the UK market by 25% and the European leisure sector by 19%. “Whilst we are confident that Whitbread has significant medium-term growth potential, at a 2014 P/E of 17x and with short-term headwinds we believe the shares are now full valued and would wait for a better entry point,” says JPMorgan.
HSBC, down 1.2%
HSBC Holdings cut to neutral from overweight by JP Morgan, shares down over 1 percent.
British Sky Broadcasting Group, down 1%
JPMorgan downgrades British Sky Broadcasting to neutral from overweight and lowers its target price to 930p from 955p. Says given the market’s competition concerns, it sees potential for the disconnect to persist between the firm’s strong operating and financial performance, and its share price performance