Independent Investment Research, The IDEA!

The IDEA!

Independent Investment Research

The Idea-Driven Equities Analyses company (the IDEA!) is an employee-owned boutique providing independent investment research and financial consultancy services with a clear focus on the Benelux countries. The company was founded in the summer of 2007 by Henk Slotboom and Maarten Verbeek, both with more than 35 years of professional experience in the financial sector. The IDEA! differentiates itself by focusing on adding value through self-initiated in-depth, idea-driven investment research, as well as by bespoke research assignments for institutional investors, hedge funds and private equity. In addition, we provide market intelligence, strategic research and – together with our business partners – consultancy services to businesses. In case you are interested in receiving more information, a sample of our products or an introductory meeting, please send a message to info@theidea.nl.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul><li>In this edition: • AkzoNobel | impairment on Russian assets looks inevitable • ASML Holding | strongly raises FY26 net sales and gross margin outlook • ASML Holding / ASM Int’l / Besi | SEMI strongly increases global semiconductor equipment sales forecast • TomTom | reiterates FY26 outlook as well as return to revenue growth from 2027 onwards • Bnode | political deadlock over proposed savings on management contract with bpost • Bnode | bpost launches personal locker rentals via its Bbox network • E-commerce and Logistics | MediaMarkt partners with Wolt for flash delivery in Germany</li></ul>

In this edition: • AkzoNobel | impairment on Russian assets looks inevitable • ASML Holding | strongly raises FY26 net sales and gross margin outlook • ASML Holding / ASM Int’l / Besi | SEMI strongly increases global semiconductor equipment sales forecast • TomTom | reiterates FY26 outlook as well as return to revenue growth from 2027 onwards • Bnode | political deadlock over proposed savings on management contract with bpost • Bnode | bpost launches personal locker rentals via its Bbox network • E-commerce and Logistics | MediaMarkt partners with Wolt for flash delivery in Germany

<ul><li>Summary & Conclusions Is the Market Missing a Hidden Catalyst?</li><li>A renewed strategic proposal has introduced an unexpected dimension to the investment case for AkzoNobel just weeks before shareholders vote on one of the sector's most consequential transactions.</li><li> While market attention remains focused on the proposed combination with Axalta, recent developments raise broader questions around value realisation, capital allocation and the board's strategic flexibility.</li></ul>

Summary & Conclusions Is the Market Missing a Hidden Catalyst?A renewed strategic proposal has introduced an unexpected dimension to the investment case for AkzoNobel just weeks before shareholders vote on one of the sector's most consequential transactions. While market attention remains focused on the proposed combination with Axalta, recent developments raise broader questions around value realisation, capital allocation and the board's strategic flexibility.

AkzoNobel Nippon Paint’s proposed offer just added a fresh coat of value

<ul><li>In this edition: • AkzoNobel | Russian subsidiaries placed under temporary external administration • KPN | ACM joins investigations into data breach at Odido • Shell | divests Sprng Energy to Aditya Birla Renewables for USD 1.8bn • Allegro | strong momentum continued in 2Q26</li></ul>

In this edition: • AkzoNobel | Russian subsidiaries placed under temporary external administration • KPN | ACM joins investigations into data breach at Odido • Shell | divests Sprng Energy to Aditya Birla Renewables for USD 1.8bn • Allegro | strong momentum continued in 2Q26

What's News in Amsterdam - 14 July (AkzoNobel | KPN | Shell | Allegro)

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

<p>Stocks Highlighted: WFC, COF, DFS, GS, JEF, RJF, LIN, ALB, AKZOY, OLN, CC, CDAY, RHI, MAN, TNET, ASGN, NSP, TBI, KELYA, BBSI, DHX, BGSF, AMN, and CCRN.</p><p>Cyclical value areas are starting to play catch-up as interest rates show signs of bottoming -- all kickstarted by Friday's better-than-expected employment report. We see many actionable opportunities, particularly within the Financial and Materials Sectors, and also several retail stocks within Consumer Discretionary. As we noted last week, despite mixed signals from the market, there continues to be an absence of breakdowns at the index and Sector level which supports our overall constructive outlook.</p>

Stocks Highlighted: WFC, COF, DFS, GS, JEF, RJF, LIN, ALB, AKZOY, OLN, CC, CDAY, RHI, MAN, TNET, ASGN, NSP, TBI, KELYA, BBSI, DHX, BGSF, AMN, and CCRN.Cyclical value areas are starting to play catch-up as interest rates show signs of bottoming -- all kickstarted by Friday's better-than-expected employment report. We see many actionable opportunities, particularly within the Financial and Materials Sectors, and also several retail stocks within Consumer Discretionary. As we noted last week, despite mixed signals from the market, there continues to be an absence of breakdowns at the index and Sector level which supports our overall constructive outlook.

Cyclical Value Areas Improving -- Add Exposure To Financials, Materials

<ul><li>In this edition: • Aegon | starts new EUR 200m share buyback today • AkzoNobel | Axalta EGM scheduled for 5 August • InPost / CTT Correos | Colis Privé intends to buy the Iberian and French operations of Paack • Shell | LNG market outlook: resilience amid ST shocks; strong LT fundamentals • Shell | divests Gulf of America assets for USD 1.7bn • Basic-Fit | intends to acquire wellyou • Alfen | appoints Bart Meussen as interim CFO • Dutch retail sales | up 2.9% YoY in value; up 2.3% YoY in volume terms in May • E-commerce & Logistics | France to introduce progressive surcharge on ultrafast fashion</li></ul>

In this edition: • Aegon | starts new EUR 200m share buyback today • AkzoNobel | Axalta EGM scheduled for 5 August • InPost / CTT Correos | Colis Privé intends to buy the Iberian and French operations of Paack • Shell | LNG market outlook: resilience amid ST shocks; strong LT fundamentals • Shell | divests Gulf of America assets for USD 1.7bn • Basic-Fit | intends to acquire wellyou • Alfen | appoints Bart Meussen as interim CFO • Dutch retail sales | up 2.9% YoY in value; up 2.3% YoY in volume terms in May • E-commerce & Logistics | France to introduce progressive surcharge on ultrafast fashion

Sligro Food Group NV - What's News in Amsterdam

Netherlands

Akzo Nobel N.V. manufactures specialty chemicals. The Company offers decorative paints and coatings, surfactants, polymer, pulp and paper, bleaching and oxidizing, salt-chlorine, and other chemical products. Akzo Nobel serves customers worldwide.

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Akzo Nobel NV (AKZA NA)

bpost SA - What's News in Amsterdam

In this edition: • AkzoNobel | impairment on Russian assets looks inevitable • ASML Holding | strongly raises FY26 net sales and gross margin...

The IDEA!

AkzoNobel Nippon Paint’s proposed offer just added a fresh coat of value

Summary & Conclusions Is the Market Missing a Hidden Catalyst? A renewed strategic proposal has introduced an unexpected dimension to the...

The IDEA!

What's News in Amsterdam - 14 July (AkzoNobel | KPN | Shell | Allegro)

In this edition: • AkzoNobel | Russian subsidiaries placed under temporary external administration • KPN | ACM joins investigations into data...

The IDEA!

Cyclical Value Areas Improving -- Add Exposure To Financials, Materials

Cyclical value areas are starting to play catch-up as interest rates show signs of bottoming. We see many actionable opportunities, particularly...

Vermilion Research

Sligro Food Group NV - What's News in Amsterdam

In this edition: • Aegon | starts new EUR 200m share buyback today • AkzoNobel | Axalta EGM scheduled for 5 August • InPost / CTT Correos | Colis...

The IDEA!

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