The Engie logo on the façade of an office building in Lindau, Bavaria, Germany, February 22, 2026.
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LONDON – European stock markets closed mixed on Thursday with focus on corporate earnings.
Although pan-European, Stocks 600 Although it closed just below the flatline, most major exchanges ended the day in positive territory.
It was a busy day for European earnings. deutsche telekom, schneider electric, allianz, axaMunich Re; EngieEni, saint gobain, London Stock Exchange Group, Stellantis and Covestro Among the companies reporting Thursday.
German sportswear giant puma announced its full-year 2025 results on Thursday morning, reporting a 13.1% decline in sales, which it attributed to a strategic “reset” completed last year. The company also noted currency headwinds. The stock ended the day up more than 9%.
puma stock price
The company reported an operating loss of 357.2 million euros ($421.8 million), down from an operating profit of 548.7 million euros a year earlier. This loss was smaller than the 374.3 million euro loss expected in the analyst consensus provided by Puma.
Puma said sales declined significantly in the second half of the year, with profit margins dropping 260 basis points to 45%. It proposed suspending dividend payments in 2025 and said it expected to report an operating loss of between 50 million euros and 150 million euros this year.
Analysts at Jefferies said in a note Thursday that the earnings report showed Puma had made progress “slightly ahead of its planned path to end 2025,” with “no major surprises from a tough end to 2025.”
“The group has already outlined 2026 as a transition year and today’s guidance feels consistent,” they said.
Britain’s Rolls-Royce on Thursday reported 40% higher-than-expected profits in 2025 and said it expected profits of more than 4 billion pounds ($5.42 billion) in 2026. The company’s London-listed shares ended Thursday up 3.2%.
LSEG rose more than 9% after announcing a £3bn share buyback plan. The financial markets data and infrastructure provider’s annual pre-tax profits rose 56% year-on-year to £1.97bn.
In other corporate earnings, Allianz achieved its highest ever full-year operating profit of 17.4 billion euros, up 8.4% year-on-year. Shares in the German multinational insurance and financial services giant ended the day up more than 0.8%. AXA closed more than 1% higher after the French multinational insurer’s full-year underlying profit rose 6% year-on-year to 8.4 billion euros.
share in Engie Shares rose more than 7% after the French power company announced it would buy UK Power Networks, the electricity grid operator in London and southeast England, in a deal worth 10.5 billion pounds (about $14 billion).
The positive outlook for European stocks comes despite continued uncertainty over global trade following President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements last weekend.
Still, markets were relieved that a flat 10% tariff went into effect, rather than the threatened 15% hike, and all eyes were on the earnings report.
of S&P500 Last seen nearly 1% lower. NvidiaThe company’s stock fell 4% on Thursday after the semiconductor giant reported fourth-quarter earnings and sales rose above Wednesday. On Wall Street, Nasdaq Composite Last seen down almost 1.7%, Dow Jones Industrial Average It fell about 0.4%.
Asia-Pacific markets followed Wall Street’s gains overnight as strong earnings boosted investor sentiment.
