Air Liquide Shares Drop 2.5% and Fall Below 50-Day Moving Average
The French industrial gases giant significantly declines in late afternoon trading, following a heavily impacted CAC 40 due to new tensions between Washington and Tehran. The stock erases part of its recent rebound as a broker significantly raises its target.
A Decline that Fits into the General Correction of the CAC 40
Air Liquide shares fall 2.32% to €174.04, while the CAC 40 drops nearly 2% to 8,268 points and the SBF 120 declines in similar proportions. The stock ranks 21st in the Paris index, halfway through a list heavily oriented downwards (Société Générale, EssilorLuxottica, and Stellantis all fall by nearly 5%). The session's context is dominated by the military escalation between the United States and Iran, with American strikes followed by a claimed Iranian retaliation against facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain. The VIX jumps nearly 11% to 17.88, indicating a resurgence of nervousness in the markets. Brent crude meanwhile rises by 5.7% to $76.09 a barrel, with no direct effect identified on the stock movement. The day's decline brings the price below its 50-day moving average (€175.29), while it remains above the MM20 (€170.89) and MM200 (€170.66), with a gap of about 2% on the latter. The RSI at 59 remains in the neutral zone, without any tension signal. The weekly performance is almost null (+0.44%), but the stock still shows a gain of nearly 5.5% over three months.
Kepler Cheuvreux Significantly Raises Its Target to €205
Kepler Cheuvreux has revised its price target on Air Liquide from €176.36 to €205 on July 7, while maintaining its buy rating. Based on the current price, the new target offers a theoretical appreciation potential of about 17.8%. This revision follows a series of favorable industrial announcements for the group: an investment of $170 million in Indiana to supply the American SK Hynix plant with ultra-pure gases (announced on July 1), €70 million in Kazakhstan for two nitrogen units destined for Silleno, and a contract for home respiratory care for 90,000 patients in the Valencia region. The stock remains about 5% off its April record high.
