{"id":58828,"date":"2026-02-20T03:08:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T07:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/market-wrap-hsbc-shuffles-retail-and-energy-ratings-as-air-liquide-posts-fy-results\/58828\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T03:08:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T07:08:33","slug":"market-wrap-hsbc-shuffles-retail-and-energy-ratings-as-air-liquide-posts-fy-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/market-wrap-hsbc-shuffles-retail-and-energy-ratings-as-air-liquide-posts-fy-results\/58828\/","title":{"rendered":"Market Wrap: HSBC Shuffles Retail and Energy Ratings as Air Liquide Posts FY Results"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Air Liquide (<a href=\"\/stock\/AI\">AI<\/a>)<\/strong> reported full-year revenue of <strong>\u20ac26.94 billion<\/strong>, narrowly missing analyst estimates of <strong>\u20ac27.07 billion<\/strong>, but significantly increased its dividend to <strong>\u20ac3.70 per share<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>HSBC<\/strong> issued a series of high-profile rating changes, downgrading <strong>Walmart (<a href=\"\/stock\/WMT\">WMT<\/a>)<\/strong> to <strong>Hold<\/strong> while raising price targets for <strong>Merck &amp; Co (<a href=\"\/stock\/MRK\">MRK<\/a>)<\/strong> and <strong>Occidental Petroleum (<a href=\"\/stock\/OXY\">OXY<\/a>)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hungary\u2019s MOL (<a href=\"\/stock\/MOL\">MOL<\/a>)<\/strong> has been granted priority access to national strategic crude oil reserves to ensure supply stability following the total halt of deliveries via the <strong>Druzhba pipeline<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Asian markets, led by the <strong>Hang Seng<\/strong>, retreated on their first day of trading following the <strong>Lunar New Year<\/strong> break, pressured by a negative lead from <strong>Wall Street<\/strong> and concerns over <strong>private credit funds<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Air Liquide Posts Steady Earnings and Dividend Hike<\/h2>\n<p>Industrial gas giant <strong>Air Liquide (<a href=\"\/stock\/AI\">AI<\/a>)<\/strong> released its full-year financial results today, showing resilient performance despite slight misses on top-line estimates. The company reported <strong>recurring operating income<\/strong> of <strong>\u20ac5.58 billion<\/strong>, just shy of the <strong>\u20ac5.60 billion<\/strong> anticipated by the market, while its <strong>recurring operating margin<\/strong> settled at <strong>20.7%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In a move to reward shareholders, the company announced a dividend of <strong>\u20ac3.70 per share<\/strong>, up from <strong>\u20ac3.30<\/strong> the previous year. <em>Analysts noted that while the revenue miss was marginal, the robust dividend increase signals management&#39;s confidence in long-term cash flow stability and operational efficiency.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>HSBC Adjusts Outlook for Retail, Pharma, and Energy<\/h2>\n<p><strong>HSBC<\/strong> shook up the retail sector this morning by downgrading <strong>Walmart (<a href=\"\/stock\/WMT\">WMT<\/a>)<\/strong> from <strong>Buy<\/strong> to <strong>Hold<\/strong>. The downgrade follows <strong>Walmart&#39;s<\/strong> recent cautious guidance for the 2026 fiscal year, where the company cited <strong>tariff uncertainty<\/strong> and <strong>moderating inflation<\/strong> as potential headwinds. <em>Despite the rating cut, some analysts pointed to Walmart&#39;s continued dominance in e-commerce as a long-term floor for the stock.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Conversely, <strong>HSBC<\/strong> remains bullish on the healthcare and energy sectors. The bank raised its price target for <strong>Merck &amp; Co (<a href=\"\/stock\/MRK\">MRK<\/a>)<\/strong> to <strong>$135<\/strong> from <strong>$120<\/strong>, citing the company&#39;s credible strategy in oncology and its ability to manage upcoming patent cliffs. Additionally, the target for <strong>Occidental Petroleum (<a href=\"\/stock\/OXY\">OXY<\/a>)<\/strong> was increased to <strong>$59<\/strong> from <strong>$54<\/strong>, reflecting a positive outlook on the company&#39;s <strong>Permian Basin<\/strong> execution and sustained free cash flow.<\/p>\n<h2>MOL Secures Priority Oil Access Amid Pipeline Disruptions<\/h2>\n<p>In a critical move for regional energy security, <strong>MOL (<a href=\"\/stock\/MOL\">MOL<\/a>)<\/strong> has been granted preferential access to Hungary&#39;s strategic crude oil reserves. The decision comes after a complete cessation of Russian crude deliveries through the <strong>Druzhba pipeline<\/strong>, which has been dry since January 27, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>To bridge the supply gap, <strong>MOL<\/strong> is transitioning to maritime imports via the <strong>Adriatic port of Omi\u0161alj<\/strong> in Croatia. <em>However, because sea transport involves significantly longer transit times, the release of approximately 250,000 tons of strategic reserves is deemed essential to maintain uninterrupted refinery operations in Hungary and Slovakia.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>APAC Markets Slide Following Lunar New Year Break<\/h2>\n<p>The <strong>Hang Seng<\/strong> index faced a sharp retreat as it reopened after the <strong>Lunar New Year<\/strong> holidays, tracking a predominantly negative mood from <strong>Wall Street<\/strong>. Risk appetite was further subdued by emerging concerns regarding <strong>private credit funds<\/strong> and persistent <strong>geopolitical risks<\/strong> in the region.<\/p>\n<p>Big tech names led the decline in Hong Kong, as investors recalibrated expectations following the holiday lull. <em>Market participants are now closely watching for potential post-holiday support measures from Beijing to counter ongoing producer deflation and weak consumer sentiment.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Air Liquide (AI) reported full-year revenue of \u20ac26.94 billion, narrowly missing analyst estimates of \u20ac27.07 billion, but significantly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[277,357,1067,1807,3703,4488,5296,15341,15472],"class_list":["post-58828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-wmt","tag-oxy","tag-mrk","tag-earnings","tag-ai","tag-energy-security","tag-analyst-ratings","tag-apac-markets","tag-mol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}