Intermonte: “In the past month, central banks, with a new rate hike, dampened the enthusiasm of stock markets that had been seen in the previous month. As a result, some growth stocks, including IT stocks, fell again.”
Performing the worst over the past month are Expert.Ai (-24%), Saras (-16%), Seri Industrial (-15%), Aquafil (-13%), and Servizi Italia (-10%)
Over the past month, the Ftse Italy Mid-Cap index beat the main index crisis by 2.4% while putting in a negative performance of -1.3%. In contrast, the Ftse Italy Small Caps index (-0.4%) outperformed the market by 3.3%. We analyze the “best” and “worst” performers of the last month (and since the beginning of the year) according to the latest Monthly Report on Italian mid-small caps by Intermonte’s research team.
“In the last month, central banks, with a new rate hike, dampened the enthusiasm of stock markets that had been seen in the previous month,” notes Intermonte. “As a result, some growth stocks, including IT stocks, fell again.” In fact, at the top of the “best performer” list is Dea Capital, a company belonging to the De Agostini Group that arrives in private equity investment and alternative asset management, which recorded a performance of +31 percent. Also at the top5 is Brunello Cucinelli, the Italian fashion designer and entrepreneur, with +16%, Somec (specializing in construction projects, with +14%), Sababa security (Italian cyber security solution integrator, with +11%), and Cy4gate (dedicated in turn to cyber security, with +10%).
On the other hand, the worst performers over the past month are Expert. Ai (a leader in the field of artificial intelligence, plummeting -24 percent), Saras (operating in oil refining and power generation, with -16 percent), Seri Industrial (an investment company active in the energy storage sector, with -15 percent), Aquafil (an innovative leader in the production and distribution of polyamide 6, with -13 percent) and Servizi Italia (operating in integrated rental, washing and sterilization services for textile items and surgical instruments, with -10 percent).
As for the stocks that have performed best since the beginning of the year, are Saras with +91%, Tesmec (dedicated to energy transportation infrastructure solutions, with +38%), and Txt E-solutions (an IT company, with +27%). Dea Capital, with +22 percent, appears in fourth place, followed by Brunello Cucinelli, with +17 percent. In contrast, the top five “worst performers” are Expert. Ai (-74%), Media for Europe (a Dutch company active in media and communications, with -57%), Alkemy (operating in the digital transformation market, with -51%), Ilbe (a global production company founded by Andrea Iervolino and Lady Monika Bacardi in 2011 specializing in film and TV content production, with -50%) and Esprinet (active in the wholesale distribution of technology products in Italy, Spain and Portugal, with -49%).
Looking ahead, Intermonte expects that 2023 may start with a new short-term decline in stock prices, but then a more positive period should open up as the expected economic slowdown “should push away the likelihood that new rate hikes will be necessary,” the researchers write. Then they conclude, “Against this backdrop, we believe that the direction of estimates will once again be the discriminating factor in guiding portfolio choices, and we, therefore, confirm our preference for quality stocks exposed to solid sector trends, particularly those in the IT sector.”
