Equity Strategy: A pickup in corporate activity and in shareholder activism in Europe

Research evidence excerpt

Equity Strategy: A pickup in corporate activity and in shareholder activism in Europe

J P M O R G A N Global Markets Strategy

27 July 2026

Equity Strategy

A pickup in corporate activity and in shareholder

activism in Europe

• The latest Iran flare-up notwithstanding, we remain constructive on European Equity Strategy

AC equities, they have earlier this month recorded their fresh all-time high, and we Mislav Matejka, CFA

have last month upgraded the targets further. Earnings are picking up, after 3 (44-20) 7134-9741

subdued years, and we do not believe inflation expectations will get de- mislav.matejka@jpmorgan.com

anchored, which might allow ECB to hike less than is currently priced in the J.P. Morgan Securities plc

markets. Eurozone PMI, credit growth and earnings revisions are all on the Prabhav Bhadani, CFA

uptrend, with CESI hitting a 2-year high. After an outperformance vs the US (44-20) 7742-4404

prabhav.bhadani@jpmorgan.com

last year, of 7% in LC terms, total return, Eurozone equities are just about J.P. Morgan Securities plc

ahead again this year, at 12% vs 9%, respectively. Last Monday we argued that

Nitya Saldanha, CFA

the latest Momentum unwind was becoming mature. Having said that, we (44 20) 7742 9986

continue with the call of rotation and broadening into 2H, with AI unlikely nitya.saldanha@jpmchase.com

to be “the only story in town”. In this report, we look at the shareholder activism J.P. Morgan Securities plc

developments in Europe, and also at M&A, buybacks and IPO trends. Karishma Manpuria, CFA

• 1. Shareholder activism in Europe is likely to pick up. The common activist (91-22)karishma.manpuria@jpmchase.com6157-4115

target profiles are undervalued companies with identifiable governance, capital- J.P. Morgan India Private Limited