In today’s briefing:
- Boustead Singapore (SGX: F9D): Initiation Research (21 August 2026)
- Dynamics Between Hynix’s Buyback Pace and Opening up ADR Fungibility
- Aequitas: WuXi XDC Placement – Past Deals Have Been Mixed but Has Strong Momentum
- Uber Technologies: A Tale Of Network Scale, Engagement & Operating Leverage!
- Axon Enterprise’s AI Surge — The AI Era Plan Expands Nearly 700%!
- Some thoughts about incentives of Korean insiders
- nVent Electric’s $1.75 Billion Acquisition Could Reshape Its AI Infrastructure Strategy!
- Thomson Reuters’ $500 Million KKR Deal — Could It Accelerate The AI Pivot?
- Dalrymple Bay’s Strong Yield Growth Outlook
- Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Orders Surge Nearly 50% — Can The Growth Catch Up?
Boustead Singapore (SGX: F9D): Initiation Research (21 August 2026)
- We believe Boustead Singapore has emerged with a much stronger balance sheet with the disposal of 21 properties into UI Boustead REIT, whilst maintaining a significant stake in the REIT.
- We believe this would help smoothen the lumpy, one-off earnings that was seen in its engineering and real estate business units.
- We believe the strong orderbooks that Boustead has secured would help drive its future earnings and cash generation, and hopefully better margins.
Dynamics Between Hynix’s Buyback Pace and Opening up ADR Fungibility
- Hynix has bought back 3.25mn shares, or 13.5%, in six days. At the current 650K daily pace, it should finish October 19, a month ahead of the November 19 deadline.
- The early buyback finish is not unusual, but its timing near the October 8 ADR lockup expiry revives chatter around a potential follow on ADR issuance.
- Square could sell the 68bp stake via a secondary ADR, potentially funding a special dividend for Chey’s ₩1T divorce settlement. Watch September filings for fungibility signals and ADR arb timing.
Aequitas: WuXi XDC Placement – Past Deals Have Been Mixed but Has Strong Momentum
- WuXi AppTec (2359 HK) is looking to raise around US$300m via selling some of its stake in WuXi XDC (2268 HK).
- Wuxi AppTec has sold a number of times before, although all the past secondary deals since 2025 haven’t done much.
- In this note, we will talk about the placement and run the deal through our ECM framework.
Uber Technologies: A Tale Of Network Scale, Engagement & Operating Leverage!
- The company reported a strong second quarter in 2026, highlighted by a 22% year-over-year increase in gross bookings to over $58 billion, exceeding the high end of guidance and marking the fourth consecutive quarter with growth above 20%.
- Non-GAAP earnings per share rose 35% year-over-year, accompanied by trailing twelve-month free cash flow surpassing $10 billion for the first time.
- These financial metrics illustrate an improvement in operating leverage and cash generation.
Axon Enterprise’s AI Surge — The AI Era Plan Expands Nearly 700%!
- Axon Enterprise, Inc. reported a second quarter 2026 performance highlighting continued strong growth across its diverse product and service offerings, driven by both core and emerging sectors.
- Total revenue reached $904 million, marking a 35% increase year-over-year and sustaining over 30% growth for ten consecutive quarters.
- This growth was broad-based, supported by robust demand in Software & Services and Connected Devices segments.
Some thoughts about incentives of Korean insiders
- I had a little bit of a moment when looking at Korean stocks.
- I looked at pros and cons (mostly tax wise) for insiders to actually return more capital and came to the conclusion that a lot of these net nets will likely stay cheap forever.
- Or until some drastic new legislation goes into effect (which I don’t see evidence of).
nVent Electric’s $1.75 Billion Acquisition Could Reshape Its AI Infrastructure Strategy!
- nVent Electric is moving to deepen its exposure to high-growth electrical infrastructure through a definitive agreement to acquire Maverick Power for $1.75 billion, with up to another $550 million of contingent cash consideration tied to performance metrics in 2027 and 2028.
- The transaction, expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, would add a dedicated power distribution platform to nVent’s existing data center portfolio and expand its ability to serve evolving power architectures and system-level requirements.
- The timing is notable because nVent is already experiencing unusually strong demand from AI-related infrastructure spending.
Thomson Reuters’ $500 Million KKR Deal — Could It Accelerate The AI Pivot?
- Thomson Reuters reported second quarter 2026 results showing continued revenue growth and margin stability amid ongoing investments in innovation and portfolio optimization.
- Total company organic revenues increased by 8%, with the company’s primary business segments—the “Big 3” of Legal Professionals, Corporates, and Tax, Audit & Accounting—accelerating organic growth to 10%, driven particularly by strong performance in Legal Professionals and Corporates.
- Thomson Reuters raised its full-year organic revenue growth outlook to approximately 8%, at the high end of previous guidance, and increased the Big 3 revenue growth forecast to a range of 9.5% to 10%.
Dalrymple Bay’s Strong Yield Growth Outlook
- Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure has appeal to investors seeking dependable and growing yield and defensive elements for their portfolio.
- Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure’s first half result in line with consensus Full year dividend guidance suggests 8% growth Approximately $371m of NECAP projects underway The company benefits from attractive risk mitigants
Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Orders Surge Nearly 50% — Can The Growth Catch Up?
- Curtiss-Wright reported second quarter 2026 results characterized by revenue growth, margin expansion, and strong cash flow, reflecting momentum in both defense and commercial markets.
- Sales increased 5% year-over-year to $924 million, with operating income rising 12%, resulting in a 110 basis point improvement in operating margin to 19.4%.
- Diluted earnings per share grew 15%, slightly exceeding expectations, while free cash flow advanced by 37% year-over-year to $160 million, with a conversion rate of 116%.
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