CARREFOUR Stock Falls 3.93% at Close After Lower Than Expected Q3 Growth, Confirming a Weekly Decline of -1.67%
The French retailer's stock ended the day sharply lower, weighed down by disappointing third-quarter results. The reported growth was significantly behind market expectations, revealing persistent tensions across several key geographies for the group.
Market Performance and Stock Liquidity
At the close, the stock traded at €12.94, down 3.93% from the previous day's price of €13.48. This decline followed a particularly difficult start to the session: Carrefour had lost 4.26% at the opening, marking it as the second largest drop in the CAC 40 index, only behind Dassault Systèmes. Over the week, the stock has now accumulated a decline of 1.67%, while the CAC 40 has shown a gain of 0.23% for the day. The share of capital traded remained moderate at 0.65%, suggesting liquidity is contained around these price levels. From a longer-term perspective, the stock's underperformance has intensified: the decline over one year now reaches 12.85%, widening the gap with the CAC 40, which has gained 9.17% over the same period. This divergence illustrates the group's specific difficulties in the current environment. However, over three months, the stock still maintains a gain of 6.50%, indicating that the acceleration of the deterioration has been concentrated in recent weeks.
Q3 Results and Regional Tensions
The release of the third-quarter results on Wednesday evening clearly fell short of consensus expectations. Carrefour posted a revenue of €22.46 billion, up 2.1% on a like-for-like store basis. However, this figure conceals less encouraging realities: excluding Argentina, where inflation rates remain exceptional, growth drops to 0.9% on a comparable basis, well below the 1.8% expected by analysts. Regional tensions are particularly concentrated in Brazil, where growth reached a mere 1.1%, far from the anticipated 4%. The group mentioned the impact of very high interest rates in Brazil, which directly affect consumer purchasing power. In Europe, growth was 1% on a comparable basis. Spain recorded a growth of 1.3% and Belgium 2.1%, but Poland fell by 1.3% due to increased competition. In France, investments aimed at transforming old Cora stores and the ramp-up of the retailer's own brands weighed on business dynamics. Nevertheless, the group confirmed all its objectives for 2025, promising a slight increase in gross operating profit, recurring operating income, and net free cash flow.
Technical Analysis
Technically, the stock is fluctuating between its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, set at €12.67 and €13.03 respectively. The current price of €12.94 is slightly below the 200-day moving average. The RSI index has reached 70, suggesting a potential short-term overaccumulation. The MACD shows a stochastic buy signal, while its histogram remains low at 0.04. Resistance levels are at €13.48 and €13.52 (upper Bollinger), while the key support remains at €11.95.
