(News Bulletin 247) – The market capitalization of Schneider Electric has just crossed this symbolic threshold of 100 billion euros once again. The energy efficiency equipment specialist joins six other CAC 40 companies.

Small consecration for Schneider Electric. The CAC 40 resident has, as spotted by our colleagues at Invest.fr, once again crossed the 100 billion euros mark in market capitalization, after having already passed it in January 2022. This Tuesday the title is still evolving in increase of 0.4% to 177.24 euros.

Over the year as a whole, the specialist in electrical equipment and energy efficiency technologies posted remarkable growth of 35.6%, the sixth strongest in the CAC 40, and not far from fifth and fourth, Publicis ( +38%) and Saint-Gobain (+38.47%).

This progression has accelerated in recent weeks. Certainly, the market as a whole has progressed well but it would be wrong to omit the company’s own qualities. The share price rose more than 8% on November 9 during a day dedicated to investors and therefore very successful (and organized in the stadium of the Tottenham football team).

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Schneider Electric, almost a tech stock

The group then detailed the megatrends on which it intends to surf, in particular the convergence between automatic electrification and software, the energy transition and climate change. The company estimates that its total addressable market is expected to grow from €400 billion in 2023 to more than €500 billion in 2027.

Schneider Electric above all published growth targets which positively surprised investors, the group counting on an increase in its revenues of between 7% and 10% per year on a comparable basis, as well as on an average improvement in its adjusted operating margin of 50 basis points (0.5%) per year. Which then turned out to be much higher than analysts’ forecasts, which predicted average growth of only 4.9% per year in revenues and an annual improvement in margins of 25 to 30 basis points, according to UBS.

“We believe that the strong structural growth trends in the energy efficiency and digital end markets are transforming Schneider into a faster-growing and more profitable group,” assesses the Swiss bank. Royal Bank of Canada considered these objectives “ambitious” to the extent that the group’s average growth since 2007 is around 3.2%.

“If it achieves its growth ambitions (from 2024), Schneider will become one of the fastest growing companies in Europe, with a new re-rating (improvement in stock market multiples, Editor’s note) in sight” , for its part warned Deutsche Bank in a recent note.

Seven groups worth more than 100 billion euros on the CAC 40

Schneider Electric’s exposure to data centers (19% of its revenues, according to Royal Bank of Canada) should support its ambitions, with growth expected to exceed 10% per year in this segment. According to Deutsche Bank, its product range covers around 60% of data center needs.

“Schneider Electric supports companies in reducing their energy emissions, particularly through monitoring (monitoring that devices consume as little as possible and do not spend energy for nothing, Editor’s note), it is almost a tech value today “, praised Frédéric Rozier, co-head of portfolio management at Mirabaud, on Monday on News Bulletin 247.

We therefore understand that the market capitalization of more than 100 billion euros of Schneider Electric does not owe much to chance.

The group joined a club that was ultimately quite select. On the CAC 40, the values ​​exceeding this bar are only a handful. Seven (Schneider included) in total. The three luxury heavyweights LVMH (370 billion capitalization), L’Oréal (238 billion) and Hermès (213 billion) continue to sit at the top of the index.

Air Liquide next member of the club?

The oil major Totalenergies (148 billion) comes in fourth position, followed by Airbus (112 billion) and the pharmaceutical group Sanofi which, despite its impressive drop over one session (nearly 19%) at the end of October, still displays a market capitalization of 111.5 billion euros.

Outside the CAC 40, Christian Dior SE also exceeds 100 billion euros (128.8 billion euros) via its 41.42% stake in LVMH (and 56.86% of voting rights). This company (Christian Dior) does not appear in the major French indices such as the CAC 40 or the SBF 120, certainly due to its very low free float since 97.5% of its capital belongs to the holding companies of the Arnault family (A end of December 2022).

Who could be the next group to join this club of CAC 40 companies worth more than 100 billion euros? While there is obviously no certainty, the industrial gases specialist Air Liquide has all the makings of an ideal candidate, with a capitalization not so far from this symbolic bar (93 billion euros).

This even if the group is evolving at its historic highs (with a new record at 178.08 euros this Tuesday) and has posted an increase of almost 34% since the start of the year. The majority of analysts (15 out of 22) recommend buying the stock, according to the investing.com consensus.

For example, Deutsche Bank has a target of 194 euros, which gives the stock a potential of almost 10% and would theoretically allow it to cross 100 billion euros. “By 2024 and beyond, it is clear that the group’s growth drivers appear solid,” judges the German bank.