Vallourec Shares Tumble Again, Weighed Down by Brent's Fall
The seamless tube specialist sees a sharp decline mid-morning, extending a slide that began several sessions ago. The stock is under pressure as Brent continues its correction and declared short positions remain high. The technical setup has significantly deteriorated since mid-June.
A marked decline pushing the stock below its short moving averages
Vallourec is down 2.83% at €19.91 mid-morning, among the steepest declines in the SBF 120 while the broader index is down 0.26%. The stock's weekly decline is nearly 10.5%, with a monthly loss of 16.8%, in a context where Brent has fallen to $73.34/barrel, down more than 10% since June 21. This movement follows last week's drop below the €22.16 support level, a threshold now clearly breached. The price is 16.1% below the MM20 (€23.73) and 18.1% below the MM50 (€24.32), while the MM200 at €19.10 remains the last medium-term support, only 4.2% below the current price.
The RSI at 36 indicates the selling exhaustion of recent sessions without yet entering an oversold zone. Regarding positioning, declared net short positions reach 6.97% of the capital, distributed among three funds. However, the bearish pressure has eased over thirty days (-1.79 points), indicating that some short sellers are beginning to cover. This cumulative level remains among the highest in the sector and reflects ongoing mistrust, though it should not be viewed in isolation from the oil context.
An Angolan contract and a buy rating fail to halt the stock's slide
Yesterday's announcement of a contract for over 26,000 tonnes of seamless tubes signed with Azule Energy for the Greater PAJ field in deep Angolan waters has not managed to support the price. The joint venture of Eni and BP confirms the group's positioning on offshore projects, one of the opportunities highlighted during the Q1 2026 release (May 13). On this occasion, the management also confirmed its intention to distribute nearly €650 million to shareholders by August, while pointing out uncertainties in the Middle East as a major risk.
CIC Market Solutions also maintained its buy rating yesterday with an unchanged target of €28, representing a gap of more than 40% from the current price. The next key event to watch remains the implementation of the shareholder return program expected by August, while the MM200 at €19.10 is seen as the technical level to watch for the medium-term movement's sustainability.
