Smartkarma Daily Briefs

Tencent (700 HK) has emerged as a major contender to acquire about 40% stake in Kakao Mobility which operates Korea’ leading ride hailing app Kakao T.
Tencent’s investment stakes in the nine major Korean companies are worth 6.9 trillion won ($5.0 billion). Most of the investments are in the games and entertainment/K-Pop related sectors.
The VIG consortium has reportedly valued Kakao Mobility at about 6 trillion won ($4.4 billion).

NVIDIA CORPORATION Common Stock – June 4, 2025

NVIDIA Corporation is a computing infrastructure company that provides graphics, computing, and networking solutions across the United States, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and other in- ternational markets.
The Company’s shares have been listed in the Nasdaq Composite stock market index since January 22, 1999, and are included among the companies with the highest market capitalization globally.
Additionally, Nvidia’s shares are included in several national indices, such as S&P 500, Dow Jones, NASDAQ-100, and DJ Semiconductors. In May 2024, Nvidia Corporation announced a ten-for-one stock split.

AMD Advancing AI 2025: Key Takeaways

By William Keating

AMD snagged Sam Altman as a guest speaker and advocate for the company’s next generation MI450 accelerator product
Oracle announced their intention to create a zetascale AI cluster based on AMD’s MI355X GPUs
Marvell announced its custom Ultra Accelerator Link (UALink) scale-up offering. Astera Labs will be next in line.

Marvell Expects Hyper-Growth in Data Center Custom Chips (ASIC) With a Higher Earnings Risk

By Nicolas Baratte

Marvell AI event yesterday, good efforts to explain its Data Center / Accelerators roadmap, growth opportunity: ~50% Cagr to 2028, a bit higher than TSMC (45%), lower than AMD (60%).
CEO suggests that data center revenues can increase 4.4x to 2028, total revenue to ~triple to CY28. That’s possible but Marvell’s fragility is margins and lower scalability than AMD, Nvidia.
The nature of custom-designed ASICs is a lot of R&D for a single customer. Marvell GAAP margins are thin and therefore a binary bet on operating leverage.

Asia Strategy: Our Model Portfolio Outperformed. Focus Themes Intact; No Changes for Now

By Manishi Raychaudhuri

From 15th may to 17th June our Asia-ex-Japan Model Portfolio returned 3.37% vs MSCI Asia-ex-Japan’s 2.62%. Overweight on Korea and stock selection in HK/China, Taiwan and Philippines helped.
Top 5 performers were Digiplus (+31.9%), SK Hynix (+27.1%), Hana Financials (+23.8%), Netease (+21%), CCB (+9.8%). The worst 5: Alibaba (-11.4%), BYD (-8.5%), Trip.Com (-7.4%), Titan (-7.2%), M&M (-5.1%).
Our themes – tech investment momentum, Chinese consumption revival, cyclical recovery in India and dividend yield across the region – are working fine. We make no changes to our portfolio.

BlackBerry: QNX’s Growing Role & Backlog In Automotive & Beyond to Up Their Game!

BlackBerry’s fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2025 results demonstrate a combination of positive achievements and areas of uncertainty.
The company posted total revenue of $141.7 million for the quarter, surpassing the upper limit of its guidance range.
Specifically, revenues from the QNX and Secure Communications divisions also exceeded their respective expectations at $65.8 million and $67.3 million.

nCino Inc.: Is The Robust Consumer Lending Momentum Here To Stay?

In the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, nCino, Inc. reported financial results that provide insights into both its strengths and areas for improvement.
Total revenues reached $144.1 million, marking a 13% year-over-year increase.
This growth was primarily driven by robust subscription revenues, which grew by 14% to $125.6 million.

Integral Ad Science (IAS) Is Doubling Down on Innovation: Will Publica & AI Tools Fuel the Next Revenue Surge?

Integral Ad Science (IAS) presented a mixed but notably strong performance in their Q1 2025 financial results.
The company displayed an impressive 17% growth in revenue to $134.1 million, surpassing their prior guidance.
Growth was largely driven by a 24% increase in their optimization segment, buoyed by the financial services and retail verticals.

FS.COM Limited Pre-IPO – Positioned to Capture Structural Demand in Networking

By Troy Wong

FS.COM Limited (FS) is looking to raise at least US$100m in its upcoming Hong Kong IPO.
FS presents a compelling growth story rooted in structural demand for enterprise-grade networking and a differentiated DTC model that delivers both scale and customer proximity.
Its dominant SKU breadth, global Fortune 500 penetration, and aggressive shift toward high-performance solutions support sustained revenue expansion.

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Jun 19

Daily Brief Crypto: Bitcoin & Ethereum – June 10 and more

By Smartkarma Daily Briefs | Crypto, Daily Briefs

In today’s briefing:

Bitcoin & Ethereum – June 10, 2025

Bitcoin & Ethereum – June 10, 2025

Alongside the technological development in our era in almost every aspect of our daily lives, one could argue that it would be inevitable such digital emergence to make also its appearance on financial services as is the case with digital coins.
More specifically, Bitcoin and Ethereum, which both capture on a significant scale the meaning of digitalized finance not only on monetary value but also on a historical perspective through their developmental process since their initial issue, could be considered the epitome of financial-technological innovation.
Both respectively, should be analyzed on a financial basis through the course of their history to achieve a deepest comprehension of their functionality and usage by examining the main factors contributing to Bitcoin and Ethereum’s rise and general fluctuation over the past.

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Jun 19

Daily Brief Event-Driven: Kolmar Group Chairman Yoon: A Rare Case Of “I Want My Shares Back” and more

By Smartkarma Daily Briefs | Daily Briefs, Event-Driven

In today’s briefing:

Kolmar Group Chairman Yoon: A Rare Case Of “I Want My Shares Back”
[Japan Activism] Mitsui Matsushima (1518) Ups Buyback Tender to 35.8%, Murakami-San Group To Sell
Mayne Pharma (MYX AU): Entering Uncharted Territory as the Scheme Vote Passes
Mayne Pharma (MYX AU): The Vote Gets Up. Now What?
Tencent to Acquire Kakao Mobility?
Liquid Universe of European Ordinary and Preferred Shares: June ’25 Report

Kolmar Group Chairman Yoon: A Rare Case Of “I Want My Shares Back”

Chairman Yoon Dong-han, founder of the Kolmar Group, has filed a lawsuit against his eldest son, Vice Chairman Yoon Sang-hyun of Kolmar Holdings, demanding the return of Kolmar Holdings shares.
This is a rare case of a chairman demanding his shares back from his son.
A key question is can there be an M&A fight for Kolmar Holdings even without the father getting his shares back? And the answer would be yes.

[Japan Activism] Mitsui Matsushima (1518) Ups Buyback Tender to 35.8%, Murakami-San Group To Sell

By Travis Lundy

Today after the close, Mitsui Matsushima (1518 JP) announced it would increase its buyback from 3.5mm shares to 4.0mm shares (31.3% to 35.8%). It also announced a Tender Offer Buyback.
The tender offer starts tomorrow and goes til mid-July, paid 8 August. Murakami Group will tender a minimum of 3.3mm shares (more likely 4.2mm).
This is not a huge immediate win, but it’s OK. And it changes the structure of the company’s balance sheet, ROE, effective ROE, and possibly its dividend.

Mayne Pharma (MYX AU): Entering Uncharted Territory as the Scheme Vote Passes

By Arun George

To no one’s surprise, the Mayne Pharma (MYX AU) scheme vote comfortably passed. The scheme remains conditional on FIRB approval and no material adverse change (which Cosette alleges).
The Mayne/Cosette court case wades into uncharted territory as it brings many firsts, such as the first MAC-related dispute to be heard in Australian courts with a qualified MAC threshold.
While Western case law burdens the buyer with establishing a MAC breach, it is unclear whether Mayne will get a favourable ruling, as Cosette could have a case. Tread carefully.

Mayne Pharma (MYX AU): The Vote Gets Up. Now What?

By David Blennerhassett

I have no clue. Given this is unchartered territory, in Australia, I don’t believe anyone has a perfect handle on the situation
What do we know? The Second Court meeting has been pushed out to the 18th September from 20th June initially, to “enable the dispute with Cosette“.
This date may be further delayed as a court hearing will commence on the 9th September to hear the validity of Cosette’s termination notice.

Tencent to Acquire Kakao Mobility?

Tencent (700 HK) has emerged as a major contender to acquire about 40% stake in Kakao Mobility which operates Korea’ leading ride hailing app Kakao T.
Tencent’s investment stakes in the nine major Korean companies are worth 6.9 trillion won ($5.0 billion). Most of the investments are in the games and entertainment/K-Pop related sectors.
The VIG consortium has reportedly valued Kakao Mobility at about 6 trillion won ($4.4 billion).

Liquid Universe of European Ordinary and Preferred Shares: June ’25 Report

By Jesus Rodriguez Aguilar

Since mid-May, share price spreads have generally tightened across the European liquid universe of ordinary and preferred shares, with 10 tightening and 9 widening.
The premium of non-voting, less liquid Handelsbanken B shares vs. A has tightened to 50.8%; the discount of Grifols B has widened (Brookfield’s approach remains tentative and non-committal.).
Recommended trades long preferred/short ords: Atlas Copco, Grifols, MFE Media-for-Europe. Recommended trades long ordinary / short preferred shares: Handelsbanken, Henkel, SSAB Svenska Stal.

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Jun 19

Daily Brief Thailand: SGX Rubber Future TSR20 and more

By Smartkarma Daily Briefs | Daily Briefs, Thailand

In today’s briefing:

Tire Trade At Tipping Point After US Q1 Import Shifts

Tire Trade At Tipping Point After US Q1 Import Shifts

By Vinod Nedumudy

Truck tire imports from Thailand fell 41% YoY in Jan-Feb 2025
Q1 2025 tire imports rise 3–4% year-on-year
Vietnam, Japan, Cambodia gain as China, Thailand falter

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Jun 19

Daily Brief South Korea: Kolmar Korea Holdings , Kakao Mobility, SK Hynix, Samsung Heavy Industries and more

By Smartkarma Daily Briefs | Daily Briefs, South Korea

In today’s briefing:

Kolmar Group Chairman Yoon: A Rare Case Of “I Want My Shares Back”
Tencent to Acquire Kakao Mobility?
Asia Strategy: Our Model Portfolio Outperformed. Focus Themes Intact; No Changes for Now
Samsung Heavy (010140) Ends $3.5B Zvezda Deal; Arbitration On, Order Book Unaffected

Kolmar Group Chairman Yoon: A Rare Case Of “I Want My Shares Back”

Chairman Yoon Dong-han, founder of the Kolmar Group, has filed a lawsuit against his eldest son, Vice Chairman Yoon Sang-hyun of Kolmar Holdings, demanding the return of Kolmar Holdings shares.
This is a rare case of a chairman demanding his shares back from his son.
A key question is can there be an M&A fight for Kolmar Holdings even without the father getting his shares back? And the answer would be yes.

Tencent to Acquire Kakao Mobility?

Tencent (700 HK) has emerged as a major contender to acquire about 40% stake in Kakao Mobility which operates Korea’ leading ride hailing app Kakao T.
Tencent’s investment stakes in the nine major Korean companies are worth 6.9 trillion won ($5.0 billion). Most of the investments are in the games and entertainment/K-Pop related sectors.
The VIG consortium has reportedly valued Kakao Mobility at about 6 trillion won ($4.4 billion).

Asia Strategy: Our Model Portfolio Outperformed. Focus Themes Intact; No Changes for Now

By Manishi Raychaudhuri

From 15th may to 17th June our Asia-ex-Japan Model Portfolio returned 3.37% vs MSCI Asia-ex-Japan’s 2.62%. Overweight on Korea and stock selection in HK/China, Taiwan and Philippines helped.
Top 5 performers were Digiplus (+31.9%), SK Hynix (+27.1%), Hana Financials (+23.8%), Netease (+21%), CCB (+9.8%). The worst 5: Alibaba (-11.4%), BYD (-8.5%), Trip.Com (-7.4%), Titan (-7.2%), M&M (-5.1%).
Our themes – tech investment momentum, Chinese consumption revival, cyclical recovery in India and dividend yield across the region – are working fine. We make no changes to our portfolio.

Samsung Heavy (010140) Ends $3.5B Zvezda Deal; Arbitration On, Order Book Unaffected

By Rahul Jain

SHI officially terminated $3.54B worth of Russian contracts on June 18, citing prolonged non-performance by Zvezda.
The company is pursuing arbitration in Singapore, aiming to retain $800M in advances and seek additional damages. Most such cases have favoured shipbuilders.
With no production initiated and a strong $28–30B backlog, the impact on operations and FY25 guidance is expected to be minimal.

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Jun 19

Daily Brief Equity Bottom-Up: NVIDIA CORPORATION Common Stock – June 4 and more

By Smartkarma Daily Briefs | Daily Briefs, Equity Bottom-Up

In today’s briefing:

NVIDIA CORPORATION Common Stock – June 4, 2025
Nippon Steel (5401) – $14.2B U.S. Steel Bet Targets Growth, Faces U.S. Market Maturity Risks
AMD Advancing AI 2025: Key Takeaways
Marvell Expects Hyper-Growth in Data Center Custom Chips (ASIC) With a Higher Earnings Risk
Under Armour Working On A Bold Restructuring Move; Will It Result In A Retail Rebound?
Asia Strategy: Our Model Portfolio Outperformed. Focus Themes Intact; No Changes for Now
BlackBerry: QNX’s Growing Role & Backlog In Automotive & Beyond to Up Their Game!
Bajaj Finance: Decent FY25, All Set for a Strong FY26
nCino Inc.: Is The Robust Consumer Lending Momentum Here To Stay?
Integral Ad Science (IAS) Is Doubling Down on Innovation: Will Publica & AI Tools Fuel the Next Revenue Surge?

NVIDIA CORPORATION Common Stock – June 4, 2025

NVIDIA Corporation is a computing infrastructure company that provides graphics, computing, and networking solutions across the United States, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and other in- ternational markets.
The Company’s shares have been listed in the Nasdaq Composite stock market index since January 22, 1999, and are included among the companies with the highest market capitalization globally.
Additionally, Nvidia’s shares are included in several national indices, such as S&P 500, Dow Jones, NASDAQ-100, and DJ Semiconductors. In May 2024, Nvidia Corporation announced a ten-for-one stock split.

Nippon Steel (5401) – $14.2B U.S. Steel Bet Targets Growth, Faces U.S. Market Maturity Risks

By Rahul Jain

Nippon Steel has acquired U.S. Steel for $14.2 billion in cash, adding 23 Mt of crude steel capacity and a full U.S. and EU footprint.
The acquisition marks a bold step toward NS’s “100 MT Vision,” diversifying earnings beyond Japan and strengthening presence in a geopolitically stable market.
U.S. Steel remains heavily BF–based and tied to a structurally flat demand market; long-term steel consumption in the U.S. has declined, making returns dependent on aggressive modernization & macro tailwinds.

AMD Advancing AI 2025: Key Takeaways

By William Keating

AMD snagged Sam Altman as a guest speaker and advocate for the company’s next generation MI450 accelerator product
Oracle announced their intention to create a zetascale AI cluster based on AMD’s MI355X GPUs
Marvell announced its custom Ultra Accelerator Link (UALink) scale-up offering. Astera Labs will be next in line.

Marvell Expects Hyper-Growth in Data Center Custom Chips (ASIC) With a Higher Earnings Risk

By Nicolas Baratte

Marvell AI event yesterday, good efforts to explain its Data Center / Accelerators roadmap, growth opportunity: ~50% Cagr to 2028, a bit higher than TSMC (45%), lower than AMD (60%).
CEO suggests that data center revenues can increase 4.4x to 2028, total revenue to ~triple to CY28. That’s possible but Marvell’s fragility is margins and lower scalability than AMD, Nvidia.
The nature of custom-designed ASICs is a lot of R&D for a single customer. Marvell GAAP margins are thin and therefore a binary bet on operating leverage.

Under Armour Working On A Bold Restructuring Move; Will It Result In A Retail Rebound?

Under Armour’s fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings report reveals a complex narrative, reflecting both strides in strategic realignment and significant challenges in market execution and financial performance.
On the positive side, Under Armour demonstrated notable progress in several areas, including gross margin improvement, strategic streamlining, and brand repositioning efforts.
The company increased its gross margin by 170 basis points to 46.7%, driven by reductions in product and freight costs, a decrease in promotional activities, and strategic pricing benefits.

Asia Strategy: Our Model Portfolio Outperformed. Focus Themes Intact; No Changes for Now

By Manishi Raychaudhuri

From 15th may to 17th June our Asia-ex-Japan Model Portfolio returned 3.37% vs MSCI Asia-ex-Japan’s 2.62%. Overweight on Korea and stock selection in HK/China, Taiwan and Philippines helped.
Top 5 performers were Digiplus (+31.9%), SK Hynix (+27.1%), Hana Financials (+23.8%), Netease (+21%), CCB (+9.8%). The worst 5: Alibaba (-11.4%), BYD (-8.5%), Trip.Com (-7.4%), Titan (-7.2%), M&M (-5.1%).
Our themes – tech investment momentum, Chinese consumption revival, cyclical recovery in India and dividend yield across the region – are working fine. We make no changes to our portfolio.

BlackBerry: QNX’s Growing Role & Backlog In Automotive & Beyond to Up Their Game!

BlackBerry’s fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2025 results demonstrate a combination of positive achievements and areas of uncertainty.
The company posted total revenue of $141.7 million for the quarter, surpassing the upper limit of its guidance range.
Specifically, revenues from the QNX and Secure Communications divisions also exceeded their respective expectations at $65.8 million and $67.3 million.

Bajaj Finance: Decent FY25, All Set for a Strong FY26

By Ankit Agrawal, CFA

Bajaj Finance Ltd (“BAF”) reported a healthy Q4FY25, thus closing the full-year FY25 on a strong note. AUM ended FY25 at INR 416,661cr, a growth of 26% YoY.
Customer franchise had crossed 100mm and is now close to 102mm. Notably, Bajaj Finserv App now has 70mm+ customers. FinAI transformation is also progressing well.
While FY25 had some challenges due to higher credit cost and NIM compression, BAF is all set to post a strong FY26 led by stable asset quality and NIM.

nCino Inc.: Is The Robust Consumer Lending Momentum Here To Stay?

In the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, nCino, Inc. reported financial results that provide insights into both its strengths and areas for improvement.
Total revenues reached $144.1 million, marking a 13% year-over-year increase.
This growth was primarily driven by robust subscription revenues, which grew by 14% to $125.6 million.

Integral Ad Science (IAS) Is Doubling Down on Innovation: Will Publica & AI Tools Fuel the Next Revenue Surge?

Integral Ad Science (IAS) presented a mixed but notably strong performance in their Q1 2025 financial results.
The company displayed an impressive 17% growth in revenue to $134.1 million, surpassing their prior guidance.
Growth was largely driven by a 24% increase in their optimization segment, buoyed by the financial services and retail verticals.

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Jun 19

Daily Brief Credit: Lucror Analytics – Morning Views Asia and more

By Smartkarma Daily Briefs | Credit, Daily Briefs

In today’s briefing:

Lucror Analytics – Morning Views Asia

Lucror Analytics – Morning Views Asia

By Leonard Law, CFA

In today’s Morning Views publication we comment on developments of the following high yield issuers: ENN Energy, Vedanta Resources, Jababeka, Softbank Group
Treasuries climbed yesterday, with long-end yields declining amid a risk-off sentiment driven by the escalating Iran-Israel conflict. The yield on the 2Y UST slid 1 bp to 3.95%, while the yield on the 10Y UST fell 6 bps to 4.39%.
Equities retreated, after US President Donald Trump called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and following the release of weak retail sales and industrial production data. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively, to 5,983 and 19,521, respectively.

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Jun 19

Daily Brief Consumer: Kolmar Korea Holdings , Eternal Beauty Holdings Limited, Foshan Haitian Flavouring & Food, Foshan Haitian Flavouring & Food Company, Kilcoy Global Foods, Zhou Liu Fu Jewellery Co., Ltd., CaoCao, Under Armour, Guess? Inc and more

By Smartkarma Daily Briefs | Consumer, Daily Briefs

In today’s briefing:

Kolmar Group Chairman Yoon: A Rare Case Of “I Want My Shares Back”
Eternal Beauty IPO – Not Expensive but Its Not Enticing Either
Foshan Haitian Flavouring A/H Trading – Very Strong Demand, Weak Price Momentum
Foshan Haitian Flavouring H Share Listing (3288 HK): Trading Debut
Kilcoy Global Foods (KGF): China Based Protein Provider Readying for July IPO
Zhou Liu Fu Pre-IPO: Not Blindingly Cheap but Peer Momentum Is Strong
CaoCao IPO: Forecasts and Valuation
Under Armour Working On A Bold Restructuring Move; Will It Result In A Retail Rebound?
Zhou Liu Fu (6168 HK) IPO: Not Our Cup of Tea
Guess? Inc.: Will The Rag & Bone Acquisition Be A Game Changer In The Dynamic Fashion Industry Landscape!

Kolmar Group Chairman Yoon: A Rare Case Of “I Want My Shares Back”

By Shifara Samsudeen, FCMA, CGMA

Chairman Yoon Dong-han, founder of the Kolmar Group, has filed a lawsuit against his eldest son, Vice Chairman Yoon Sang-hyun of Kolmar Holdings, demanding the return of Kolmar Holdings shares.
This is a rare case of a chairman demanding his shares back from his son.
A key question is can there be an M&A fight for Kolmar Holdings even without the father getting his shares back? And the answer would be yes.

Eternal Beauty IPO – Not Expensive but Its Not Enticing Either

By Sumeet Singh

Eternal Beauty Holdings Limited is looking to raise around US$144m in its Hong Kong IPO.
Eternal Beauty is the largest brand management company of perfumes in the combined markets of Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, in terms of retail sales in 2023.
We have looked at the company’s past performance in our previous note. In this note we talk about valuations.

Foshan Haitian Flavouring A/H Trading – Very Strong Demand, Weak Price Momentum

By Sumeet Singh

Foshan Haitian Flavouring & Food (603288 CH) (FHCC), China’s leading condiments company, raised around US$1.5bn (including over-allocation) in its H-share listing.
FHCC is China’s leading condiments company within its main product categories of soy sauce, oyster sauce, flavored sauce, specialty condiment products and other products.
We have looked at the past performance and likely A/H premium in our previous note. In this note, we talk about the trading dynamics.

Foshan Haitian Flavouring H Share Listing (3288 HK): Trading Debut

By Arun George

Foshan Haitian Flavouring & Food Company (3288 HK) priced its H Share at HK$36.30 to raise HK$10,128.9 million (US$1.3 billion) in gross proceeds. The H Share will be listed tomorrow.
I discussed the H Share listing in Foshan Haitian Flavouring H Share Listing: The Investment Case.
Haitian had the highest oversubscription rates among recent large AH listings. The AH discount implied by the offer is attractive.

Kilcoy Global Foods (KGF): China Based Protein Provider Readying for July IPO

By IPO Boutique

They provide tasty, fresh, natural, healthy and convenient food products to customers across over 40 countries worldwide.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, they recorded a total revenue of US$2,195.0 million, increasing by 17.3% from US$1,870.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2023.
The area in which this company operates in is one that is not traditionally attractive to IPO investors as the margins are low and the competition is high.

Zhou Liu Fu Pre-IPO: Not Blindingly Cheap but Peer Momentum Is Strong

By Nicholas Tan

Zhou Liu Fu Jewellery Co., Ltd. (1716396D CH) is looking to raise up to $143m in its upcoming Hong Kong IPO.
It is a leading and fast growing jewellery franchise in China offering a diverse range of products through offline and online sales channels.
In this note, we examine the IPO dynamics, and look at the firm’s valuation.

CaoCao IPO: Forecasts and Valuation

Chinese ride-hailing platform CaoCao plans to issue 44.2m shares at the HKEx IPO at an indicative price of HK$41.9/share, and raise net proceeds of US$219m at a valuation of HK$28.9bn.
CaoCao’s earnings have seen strong growth during the last 2-3 years, however, much of this growth is driven through debt financing which has resulted in a highly geared balance sheet.
Our valuation analysis suggests that CaoCao (2643 HK) ‘s IPO is overvalued at the indicative IPO price and we would recommend staying on the sidelines.

Under Armour Working On A Bold Restructuring Move; Will It Result In A Retail Rebound?

Under Armour’s fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings report reveals a complex narrative, reflecting both strides in strategic realignment and significant challenges in market execution and financial performance.
On the positive side, Under Armour demonstrated notable progress in several areas, including gross margin improvement, strategic streamlining, and brand repositioning efforts.
The company increased its gross margin by 170 basis points to 46.7%, driven by reductions in product and freight costs, a decrease in promotional activities, and strategic pricing benefits.

Zhou Liu Fu (6168 HK) IPO: Not Our Cup of Tea

By Osbert Tang, CFA

Zhou Liu Fu Jewelery Co., Ltd. (6168 HK)‘s IPO does not appeal to us, given deteriorating profitability, smaller size, and inferior financials.
Its IPO price of HK$24.0 appears to be fair relative to the peers’ valuation, leaving limited upside and downside in the secondary market.
We value the stock at HK$22.5-25.7, based on 20-30% discount to Chow Tai Fook Jewellery (1929 HK). It is not another Laopu Gold (6181 HK).

Guess? Inc.: Will The Rag & Bone Acquisition Be A Game Changer In The Dynamic Fashion Industry Landscape!

Guess?, Inc. recently reported its first-quarter results for fiscal 2026, revealing a performance that surpassed initial expectations primarily driven by strategic financial management and beneficial acquisitions.
The company’s revenue grew by 9% in U.S. dollars and 12% in constant currency, largely fueled by the acquisition of rag & bone, which added substantial growth to the topline.
Apart from this, core growth from Guess’s wholesale operations in Europe and the Americas also contributed positively.

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Jun 19

Daily Brief Macro: UK Course-Corrected CPI Stays High and more

By Smartkarma Daily Briefs | Daily Briefs, Macro

In today’s briefing:

UK Course-Corrected CPI Stays High
EA Inflation Predictably Near The Target
[IO Fundamentals 2025/24] Retail Revival Vs. Real Estate Rut: Uneven China Recovery Tempers Outlook
Tire Trade At Tipping Point After US Q1 Import Shifts
Sweden: 25bp Rate Cut To 2% (Consensus 2%) in Jun-25
Luxembourg Economy – June 4, 2025
Indonesia: Policy Rate Held At 5.5% (Consensus 5.5%) in Jun-25
CX Daily: As China Pursues Carbon Goals, Coal Heartland Faces Uphill Struggle
Sideways Trend for BDI

UK Course-Corrected CPI Stays High

By Phil Rush

UK inflation unsurprisingly slowed in May as a correction to vehicle excise duty knocked 0.1pp from the rate, reversing all the upside to our above-consensus April forecast.
Services inflation aligns with the BoE’s forecast from its May forecast, where MPC members were biased towards slowing their easing. Underlying rates remain too high.
Inflation keeps trending above the consensus, cumulating a 1pp error since rate cuts began, but aligning with our forecast from 1yr and 2yrs ago. We remain hawkish.

EA Inflation Predictably Near The Target

By Phil Rush

Disinflationary news from May’s flash inflation release was confirmed in the final print, although a rebound in some underlying inflation measures damped the initial signal.
Resurgent oil prices could rapidly reverse the dovish space expanded by past falls. Our forecast bumps around the target through 2026 and 2027, settling at 2%.
Other forecasts are a little lower and only suffer a slight bias to be exceeded. The ECB can remain reassured by an outlook close to 2% without cuts, and not deliver any more.

[IO Fundamentals 2025/24] Retail Revival Vs. Real Estate Rut: Uneven China Recovery Tempers Outlook

By Umang Agrawal

China’s May retail sales surged 6.4% YoY, driven by holiday spending and trade-in programs, though fading property prices may dampen future consumer sentiment.
China’s new home prices fell 3.5% YoY in May, marking a 23-month decline streak, though policy support shows signs of easing the prolonged property downturn.
Iron ore port inventories rose in mid-June as weaker steel margins cut pig iron output, reducing pick-up volumes and softening near-term demand despite steady arrivals.

Tire Trade At Tipping Point After US Q1 Import Shifts

By Vinod Nedumudy

Truck tire imports from Thailand fell 41% YoY in Jan-Feb 2025
Q1 2025 tire imports rise 3–4% year-on-year
Vietnam, Japan, Cambodia gain as China, Thailand falter

Sweden: 25bp Rate Cut To 2% (Consensus 2%) in Jun-25

By Heteronomics AI

The Riksbank cut its policy rate by 25 basis points to 2%, in line with consensus expectations, citing weaker economic growth and a subdued inflation outlook.
The decision reflects persistent uncertainty in both domestic demand and the global environment, with the central bank signalling a non-trivial probability of further easing should inflation remain below target and recovery falter.
Future policy decisions will be highly data-dependent, with particular attention to inflation dynamics, labour market conditions, and the impact of ongoing geopolitical and trade-related risks.

This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only.

Luxembourg Economy – June 4, 2025

IMF’s projections regarding Luxembourg’s Economy suggest growth rates for the Real GDP of 1.03%, 1.58% and 2.21% in the years 2024-2026, rebounding from the slight contraction of 0.69% in 2023.
In contrast, the Real GDP per Capita is expected to decline and reach approximately 94 thousand Euros in the next years, a noticeable decline from the 100 thousand GDP per Capita recorded in 2021.
Investments are expected to stay relatively stable as a percentage of the GDP, around 14-15%.

Indonesia: Policy Rate Held At 5.5% (Consensus 5.5%) in Jun-25

By Heteronomics AI

Bank Indonesia maintained the BI-Rate at 5.50% in June 2025, in line with consensus expectations, citing stable inflation and a resilient rupiah as key factors.
The decision reflects a cautious approach amid persistent global uncertainties, with BI emphasising the need to preserve macroeconomic stability while supporting growth through accommodative macroprudential and payment system policies.
The interest rate outlook remains data-dependent, with the central bank signalling potential for further easing if inflation and currency stability persist, but maintaining a prudent stance given external risks and the need to attract foreign capital.

This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only.

CX Daily: As China Pursues Carbon Goals, Coal Heartland Faces Uphill Struggle

By Caixin Global

Coal / In Depth: As China pursues carbon goals, coal heartland faces uphill struggle
Data /Analysis: Why China faces growth slowdown despite strong consumption
Ant /: Ant International’s first sustainability report reveals extent of global expansion and fuels IPO speculation

Sideways Trend for BDI