Inditex overcomes gloomy prospect for Europe

In Europe, Grupo Santander kicked off the week

reiterating their ‘buy’ rating on shares of Inditex SA in a research note issued to investors on Monday. The firm currently has a 148.05 dollars (114 euros) target price on the stock. A week earlier, analysts at AlphaValue reiterated a ‘sell’ rating on shares of Inditex SA in a research note to investors on Thursday, October 18th. They now have a 83.70 dollars price target on the stock.

It was a good revulsive if taken into account that an index of executive and consumer sentiment in the euro area dropped to 84.5 from 85.2 in September, the European Commission in Brussels said today. That’s the lowest since August 2009, reported Bloomberg. Economists had forecast a decrease to 84.4, the median of 27 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey showed.

Concern took over Germany, where national sports apparel maker Puma said recently it was looking at more cost-cutting measures after third-quarter results came in below expectations, hit by the slowdown in Europe. The athletic apparel and lifestyle brand posted an 85 percent plunge in quarterly earnings, hit by weak European markets, slowing growth in Asia, and the cost of a revamp aimed at boosting innovation and future profits, reminded ‘Business Week’. The stock closed in red, losing almost 4 percent on Tuesday trading.

Good news was Under Armour's profits rose during the third quarter of 2012. The US-based sports apparel company released its earnings performance showing a 25 percent increase in net income for this quarter, up 11 million dollars in the past twelve months. Net revenues improved by 24 percent during the third quarter to 575 million dollars. The stock was one of the best performers within the FashionUnited Top 100 Index, gaining 1.34 percent by the end of the session.