Palantir, Samsung Electronics, Heineken, Volkswagen and AstraZeneca

Data analytics software company Palantir (PLTR) closed at a fresh high of $158.80 (£118.32) per share on Friday and rose another 1% in pre-market trading on Monday.

Shares climbed after Piper Sandler analysts initiated coverage on the stock with an “overweight” rating, putting a price target on the stock of $170 per share.

Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, highlighted that the latest rise saw Palantir (PLTR) enter the top 20 most valuable companies, with its market capitalisation hitting $375bn.

“Shares in the AI-defence play have more than doubled this year,” he said.

Shares in Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) jumped nearly 7% on Monday, after Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the South Korean technology company would produce artificial intelligence (AI) chips for his electric vehicle company, in a deal worth $16.5bn.

“Samsung’s giant new Texas fab will be dedicated to making Tesla’s next-generation AI6 chip,” Musk said in a post on X on Monday. “The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate.”

“Samsung currently makes AI4,” he said. “TSMC (TSM, 2330.TW) will make AI5, which just finished design, initially in Taiwan and then Arizona.”

Samsung (005930.KS) said in a regulatory filing on Monday that it had secured an eight-year semiconductor contract manufacturing agreement, worth approximately $16.5bn, but did not specify the contract counterparty.

Shares in Tesla (TSLA) were trading 1.4% higher in pre-market trading on Monday morning.

Shares in Dutch brewer Heineken (HEIA.AS) fell 4% on Monday morning, after the company reported a fall in beer volumes.

Heineken (HEIA.AS) said beer volumes fell 0.4% on an organic basis in the second quarter, which was slightly worse than 0.3% expected by analysts, according to Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor.

Meanwhile, adjusted net revenue rose by 2.1% to €14.1bn (£12.26bn) in the first half, topping forecasts for growth of 1.1%.

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Scholar said: “Hot weather and the timing of Easter have boosted sales at Heineken. However these factors were partly offset by the weak macroeconomic backdrop and subdued consumer spending. Plus it has been facing protracted price negotiations in European countries like France and Spain along with the US tariff uncertainty.”

“Although this weekend’s EU-US tariff deal alleviates some of those unknowns, Heineken (HEIA.AS) warned that the tariffs could affect profits and the brewer is considering shifting manufacturing elsewhere.”

Shares in Volkswagen (VOW3.DE) dipped 1.3% on Monday, after its premium brand Audi cuts its guidance for the year, as US tariffs and restructuring costs have weighed on the carmaker's performance.

Audi said that revenue had increased by 5% to €32.6bn, in results released on Monday. However, deliveries to customers fell 8.3% to 405,332 vehicles in the second quarter.

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“Tariffs and expenses for Audi's restructuring affect the financial performance in the first half of the year,” said Jürgen Rittersberger, member of the board of management for finance, legal affairs and IT, at Audi AG. “The figures once again underline the need for the transformation that has been initiated.”

Audi said it now expected revenue for the year to come in at between €65bn and €70bn, which is down from a previous forecast of €67.5bn to €72.5bn.

Volkswagen (VOW3.DE) also lowered its guidance for the year in results released on Friday, saying it expected sales revenue to now be in line with last year's figure, down from previous guidance of an increase of up to 5%.

On the London market, shares in AstraZeneca (AZN.L) were up nearly 1% on Monday morning, after the pharma company said its Imfinzi drug had been granted priority review by the US regulator for treatment of certain gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers.

AstraZeneca (AZN.L) said that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had granted the treatment priority review based on phase three trial results which “demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful event-free survival benefit”.

Last week, AstraZeneca (AZN.L) announced plans to invest $50bn in the US by 2030, as the threat of Trump's tariffs loom over the sector. The company said that its investments would collectively help the company deliver its goal of reaching $80bn in total revenue by 2030, of which 50% is expected to be generated in the US.

AstraZeneca (AZN.L) is due to report its first half results on Tuesday, with shares in the company trading 4% in the green year-to-date.

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