Are the Magnificent Seven now the Fab Four?

Are the Magnificent Seven now the Fab Four? Apple, Tesla, and Alphabet shares have all sputtered in the first three months of the year, but the S&P 500 still turned in its best Q1 since before covid-19 became a household word. Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon have left the other three behind, with some analysts now dubbing them the Fab Four as their share prices keep appreciating, the Wall Street Journal notes.

SIGN OF THE TIMES #1- Everyone from Citadel’s Ken Griffin to Bloomberg Economics is raising flags that US borrowing is “on an unsustainable path.”

SIGN OF THE TIMES #2- Donald Trump’s media company lost 20% of its value yesterday as “the fervor around the company’s debut on public markets last week appeared to subside.” The New York Times goes deeper into why the valuation still — like much of US politics right now — just doesn’t make sense.

(Speaking of Trump: He posted a USD 175 mn bond yesterday in a civil case, narrowly avoiding the seizure of some of his assets.)

MEANWHILE- The bloom is still off the rose for venture capital, where institutional investor interest peaked in 2021, about a year before the US Federal Reserve took the wind out of the asset class’ sails with the first of a series of interest rate hikes. The lastest sign: New York’s Tiger Global raised just USD 2.2 bn for its sixteenth fund. It had aimed to raise USD 6 bn when it started lining up commitments from limited partners in late 2022.

AND- Carmakers and industry analysts are worrying that the global slowdown in demand for electric vehicles could be more than a blip. “If prices do not fall, or legitimate [consumer] concerns over charging infrastructure are not met, motorists may resist indefinitely. The implications of the second are potentially concerning. Meeting long-term decarbonisation targets without removing all petrol and diesel cars from the roads is impossible,” notes the Financial Times ’ Peter Campbell in an Insider Business column. Will politicians look to use other levers to stimulate demand, from higher fuel prices to sharp taxes on petrol-powered cars?

THE MARKET THIS MORNING-

Major Asian benchmarks are in the green in early trading this morning, with the Hang Seng constituent Xiaomi leading gainers. The smartphone maker wowed fans and critics alike with the launch of SU7 EV, selling out its full 2024 production run in less than two days. European stock futures are up slightly this morning and US futures are in the red.

THE CLOSING BELL: TADAWUL-

The TASI rose 0.2% yesterday on turnover of SAR 7 bn. The index is up 3.8% YTD.

In the green: Middle East Paper Company (Mepco) (+10%), National Co for Learning (+10%) and Acwa Power (+7%).

In the red: Saudi German Health (-10%), Zamil Industrial (-10%) and Cenomi Retail (-10%).

THE CLOSING BELL: NOMU-

The NomuC rose 0.6% yesterday on turnover of SAR 37.4 mn. The index is up 6.7% YTD.

In the green: Marble Design (+8%), Burgerizzr (+6.9%) and Intelligent Oud Company for Trading (+6.8%).

In the red: Fad International Company (Fad) (-17.5%), Lana Medical (-9.4%) and Saudi Parts Center (-6.8%).

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

#1- Our friends at Cenomi Centers will begin rolling out their 2H 2023 dividend payout of SAR 356.3 mn at SAR 0.75 per share on Tuesday, 16 April, it said in a filing to Tadawul.

REMEMBER: The lifestyle destinations operator and developer has approved a dividend policy which will see it pay SAR 0.38 per share on a quarterly basis for one year starting 2Q 2024.

#2- Nomu-listed Atlas Elevators’s BoD has recommended a dividend payout of SAR 3 mn at SAR 0.5 per share for 2023, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul.

#3- Nomu-listed Al Modawat Specialized Medical’s BoD has recommended a dividend payout of SAR 16.6 mn at SAR 7 per share for 2023, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul.

#4- BinDawood’s BoD approved a 2 mn share buyback, to be allocated to its employee stock ownership program, according to its extraordinary general assembly meeting agenda (pdf).

#5- The Capital Market Authority (CMA) revoked a license granted to Riyadh-based asset manager Dirham Capital for failure to meet “fit and proper” requirements to run investment management, fund operations, and securities advisory operations, according to a statement by the CMA. The license, which was granted to the firm in 2021, was suspended in August 2022.