FX.co ★ CAC 40 Declines As Meta Announces Higher AI Spending

On Thursday, French stocks experienced a slight decrease due to mixed earnings results and the anticipation of the latest financial results from prominent U.S. companies. The announcement of disappointing Q2 revenue and plans to invest up to $100 billion in AI products from Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms, negatively impacted overall sentiment.

Meanwhile, computational heavyweight IBM reported first-quarter earnings that exceeded expectations, even though sales were marginally beneath projections. Microsoft, Intel, and Google's parent company, Alphabet, are set to reveal their results after market closure, which has generated uncertainty regarding the future landscape shaped by AI.

The benchmark CAC 40 was down by 29 points or 0.4%, standing at 8,062 after a 0.2% decrease from the previous day. Pernod Ricard, a spirits manufacturer, saw a nearly 3% drop following less than satisfactory third-quarter sales.

Despite indicating solid first-quarter results and maintaining its financial outlook, software maker Dassault Systemes saw a 2.4% decline. In contrast, pharmaceutical leader Sanofi experienced a surge of almost 4% after its reaffirmation that its outlook for the 2024 adjusted EPS would see a minor single-digit percentage decrease, excluding currency changes.

BNP Paribas, a major lender, experienced around a 1% increase following their successful surpassing of first-quarter profit forecasts.