Equity Bottom-Up

• CNMC Goldmine Holdings Limited (“CNMC” or “The Group”) was the first Catalist-listed gold producer on the Singapore Exchange, having commenced trading on 28 October 2011.
• It began as a gold explorer and producer, before diversifying into base metals production, including lead and zinc concentrates, in 2022.
• It has since transferred to the SGX Main Board as of 28 August 2026.

• MCG Strategic Friction & Structural Buyout Barriers: A full buyout of the remaining 49.4% of Nippon Sanso Holdings (NSH) by parent Mitsubishi Chemical Group (MCG) is financially unviable due to MCG’s constrained balance sheet and low ROE of 2.6%, which would require an outlay of over ¥1.5 trillion including control premiums. Conversely, a complete market divestment of MCG’s 50.6% stake is structurally bottlenecked by regional antitrust limits, rendering strategic acquisition by global peers impossible and leaving a complex, discounted private equity carve-out as the only realistic exit scenario.
• Antitrust Consolidation Limits and ESG ASU Capex Drag: Global consolidation in the industrial gas market is effectively capped by the FTC, European Commission, and JFTC, which have historically mandated heavy divestitures. Locally, Air Separation Units (ASUs) are highly vulnerable to localized carbon taxes and Scope 2 penalties, necessitating a strategic pivot toward corporate PPAs and Feed-in Premium (FIP) schemes to protect long-term tonnage profitability.
• Decentralized Regional Autonomy vs. Parent Capital Extraction: Despite MCG’s presence, NSH operates with independent management policies protected by five independent directors who constitute a majority of the nine-member board. Capital allocation tension is high: MCG seeks to maximize cash extraction to fund its basic materials restructuring, while NSH lifers prioritize reinvesting capital in high-purity semiconductor electronic gases and regional M&A, such as the acquisition of Coregas in Australia which drove a 18.1% revenue increase in the Asia & Oceania segment.

• Old Chang Kee Ltd. (OCK) is a Singapore-based food manufacturer, distributor and retailer offering affordable ready-to-eat food products under the “Old Chang Kee” brand.
• Its signature curry puff Curry’O is sold alongside a wide range of seafood, chicken and dessert items.
• Its revenue is mainly derived from retail sales and non-retail channels such as delivery and catering. 

• Asset-Light Compounding Engine: Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. operates an industry-leading, capital-light franchise and management model (>90% fee-based rooms) that generates predictable, high-margin cash flows, minimal maintenance capital expenditure requirements, and exceptional free cash flow conversion exceeding 95%.
• Formidable Brand Architecture and Loyalty Moat: With a global portfolio spanning 24+ differentiated brands from luxury to premium economy and a rapidly growing Hilton Honors loyalty membership of over 180 million members, Hilton captures over 50% of room nights directly, driving superior RevPAR index premiums for hotel owners and reinforcing developer preference.
• Robust Unit Growth and Capital Returns: Net unit growth (NUG) remains disciplined at 5-6% annually, supported by an industry-leading pipeline and rapid-conversion brand rollouts (Spark, LivSmart Studios, Graduate Hotels). Robust balance sheet management enables significant capital return via share repurchases and regular dividend distributions, balanced against premium valuation multiples (EV/EBITDA of 26.5x).

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• The Lyft Company reported strong operational and financial performance in the second quarter of 2026, highlighted by record metrics and continued growth across multiple business segments.
• Active riders reached an all-time high of over 30 million, and the company completed 262 million rides during the quarter, positioning it to exceed 1 billion rides for the full year.
• The growth was driven by a diverse set of factors, including expansion in North America’s large and low-scale markets, significant progress in Canada, and ongoing organic growth in European markets following the integration of the Freenow platform.

• Strategic Portfolio Transformation Toward Regulated & High-Growth Markets: Jabil has systematically de-risked its operating model by divesting high-volatility, lower-margin consumer mobility manufacturing and redeploying capital into secular growth verticals, specifically AI/cloud data center infrastructure, healthcare/medtech, automotive electrification, and renewable energy.
• Structural Free Cash Flow Generation Supporting Capital Returns: The company exhibits strong cash flow conversion, underscored by a 3-year Free Cash Flow CAGR of 68.61% and annual operating cash flows consistently exceeding 9.3 billion (in reporting currency), enabling proactive share repurchases, balance sheet optimization, and a 13.47% 3-year dividend CAGR.
• Resilient Margin Profile Amid Cycle Re-acceleration: Despite top-line portfolio rationalization (-1.06% 3-year revenue CAGR), gross margins have expanded toward the 8.8%–9.3% range, underpinned by design-led manufacturing, advanced thermal and power management solutions for hyperscalers, and sticky, multi-year customer relationships.

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• Advanced packaging, high-power AI servers (like Nvidia’s GB200 platforms), and Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) are driving an inflection in testing-time expansion and complexity, transforming test and metrology equipment from a back-end cost center into a critical yield-enabling constraint.
• Chroma ATE holds a highly defensible moat in System Level Testing (SLT) as Nvidia’s trusted exclusive supplier for GPU testing, effectively bypassing the Advantest-Teradyne duopoly in final test by leveraging proprietary, in-house designed ASICs and high-power thermal control handlers.
• The board’s recent August 25, 2026 approval of a US$850 million GDR offering represents a strategic shift toward aggressive overseas expansion and inventory securing, balancing a generous capital return policy (exemplified by the TWD 19.50 per share dividend in May 2026) against the need to fund massive organic capacity additions like the Linkou Phase II factory.

• Nearly half of BHP’s FY27 capex is directed towards copper, with operating cash flows expected to fully fund its growth ambitions through the mid-2030s.
• BHP commits USD 500 million ahead of FID, moving early to secure equipment for Escondida’s expansion.
• Options lean towards upside, with call interest concentrated at 100, while subdued IV points to limited expectations for near-term volatility.

• Jamieson Wellness Inc. (TSX: JWEL) represents Canada’s preeminent consumer health platform, holding a commanding domestic market share (over 2x the nearest branded competitor) with an accelerating international footprint across the United States and China.
• Financial performance demonstrates robust operational execution, evidenced by a 3-year revenue CAGR of 14.52% and Free Cash Flow CAGR of 23.95%, supported by gross margin expansion from 34.54% in FY2023 to 41.16% in FY2025 as higher-margin branded products scale.
• At an EV/EBITDA of 16.2x and P/E of 24.1x, JWEL trades at a well-justified premium to micro-cap direct-selling peers, reflecting superior organic growth, premium brand equity, robust balance sheet resilience, and an attractive 2.03% dividend yield growing at double digits.

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• Operational Normalisation Post-FY25 Headwinds: Following a challenging FY25 marked by significant non-cash property revaluations and regulatory scrutiny surrounding exit fees, Lifestyle Communities has rebounded in FY26, reporting revenue of A$205.9M, a return to net profitability at A$46.9M, and robust positive free cash flow of A$92.1M.
• Compelling Valuation Discount to Sector Peers: Trading at 0.9x Price-to-Book and a forward P/E of 13.0x, LIC offers a substantial discount relative to pure-play peer Gemlife Communities Group (1.6x P/B and 31.2x P/E), providing institutional investors with a significant margin of safety backed by high-quality underlying real estate assets.
• Secular Demographic Tailwinds Tempered by Capital Allocation Discipline: Long-term demand remains supported by Australia’s aging demographic and downsizer affordability needs; however, near-term capital returns remain paused (FY26 DPS at A$0.00) as management prioritises balance sheet de-leveraging and self-funded project delivery.

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• The post-lock-up liquidity overhang on MiniMax was cleared through a coordinated dual-tranche HKD 16 billion fundraise on July 10, 2026, which provided arbitrageurs the necessary stock borrow to delta-hedge the concurrent HKD 6.5 billion convertible bond, followed by a massive short squeeze driven by the Southbound Stock Connect inclusion.
• MiniMax’s revenue mix has aggressively shifted to B-end enterprise and API services, which accounted for 63.4% of H1 2026 revenue. Despite an ARR reaching US$800 million by late August, gross margins remain constrained at 17.9% due to high GPU compute costs.
• CEO Yan Junjie’s total salary sacrifice and the transfer of 5% of his personal equity stake serve as a crucial governance mechanism to align employee KPIs away from unhedged ARR growth and toward architectural efficiency and path-to-profitability.

• Two viral blog posts by Satya Nadella over the summer suggest a tops-down change in Microsoft’s AI deployment strategy
• Microsoft is investing $2.5 billion & deploying 6,000 engineers into a new division, Microsoft Frontier Company, to help manage its AI deployments to enterprise clients globally
• There are going to be areas where we are very complementary and partner very, very closely with AI frontier labs. Then, there might be areas of overlap competitively.

• Over the past decade, the Japanese sportswear brand Mizuno (8022 JP – US$1.9 billion) has compounded at a 16.5% annual rate

• Of course, past performance does not indicate future performance.

• But it still begs the question: why? And what does the future look like? I’ve been working with recent graduate Meera Kapoor to understand the company from the inside out. 

• 38 companies featured insider acquisitions in August 2026. Aggregate transaction value was approximately INR 2 billion — a material step up from July 2026’s INR 270 million.
• We highlight large and small cap companies that experienced significant insider buying during August 2026, as reported on the stock exchanges.
• We also present key sectors which saw insider buying during the month along with names which have moved significantly above the insider buying price.

• Plover Bay compounded because a specialist technology capability, mission-critical customer problem and capital-light model reinforced one another far beyond the original 5G thesis.
• Its less visible advantage was organizational: long-tenured technical leadership, small independent teams and rapid customer feedback enabled adaptation across successive connectivity technologies.
• The next Plover Bay may emerge from any industry where a small, overlooked company combines niche leadership, superior learning speed, attractive economics and a long reinvestment runway.

• We have to admit that brand acquisitions are a sustainable path forward.
• Domestically, the ANTA brand is placing increasing emphasis on online retail.
• Internationally, Anta plans to open 1,000 stores in Southeast Asia.

• Akamai Technologies, Inc. reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $1.1 billion, up 5% year over year both as reported and in constant currency.
• Cloud Infrastructure Services generated $99 million, rising 39% year over year in line with expectations.
• Security revenue increased 10% to $604 million, supported by demand for web application firewall, API security, and microsegmentation solutions.

• ValueMax is a secured lender that also retails gold.
• Three engines of business: Pawnbroking, property-backed moneylending, retail & trading of jewellery and gold.
• The receivables on its balance sheet are its loan book, not trade debtors, so money lent runs through operating cash flow, and a growing book reports a cash outflow by its design.

• Tat Seng grew revenue for the first time in four years, taking S$117.6m in the six months to 30 June 2026.
• Profit to owners fell 18.9% on higher tax and a larger non-controlling share.
• In June 2026 it paid out S$61.3m, moving from net cash of S$42.9m to net debt of S$3.8m. 

• The rumored “takeunder” scenario for Nikkon Holdings is structurally impossible. Activist investors Farallon Capital Management and Oasis Management collectively control 41.6% of the voting rights (representing 23.45% and 18.15% respectively). This block comfortably exceeds the 33.34% required to veto a squeeze-out resolution at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), giving activists absolute pricing leverage over bidders Bain Capital and Lone Star Funds.
• Nikkon’s real estate portfolio contains immense hidden asset value (fukumi-eki). While the book value of property, plant, and equipment stands at roughly JPY 120 billion to JPY 130 billion, the actual replacement and market value of its specialized logistics yards and warehouses is closer to JPY 250 billion. This latent asset pool is the primary target for private equity monetization.
• Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) capital-efficiency mandates and the “2024 problem” labor regulations are forcing the board’s hand. To comply with TSE directives, Nikkon’s 14th Medium-Term Management Plan targets an increase in ROE to 10.0% by March 2029 (up from 7.3% in March 2026). Meanwhile, driver overtime caps are driving up subcontractor costs, making privatization the most logical path for management to restructure away from public market scrutiny.

• SHEIN’s round-trip debut to flat is a float signal, not a price signal. With 95% of shares locked up, near-term price action reflects flow, not fundamentals.
• Three post-listing developments reset the risk picture: a US$494m earnings reversal, France’s live garment levy, and a US$3.5bn recapitalisation outflow.
• ACCUMULATE, FV HK$70 (US$38bn) on ~0.9× LTM EV/Sales — a H&M-level discount reflecting tariff drag, governance concentration, and a 5% free float.

• Southbound investors accumulated 32.8m shares — 9.4% of the company — in four weeks following Stock Connect inclusion, validating our demand thesis and absorbing the July placing overhang entirely.
• The 1H26 interim result delivered revenue up 3.8 times year on year, with the half-year alone exceeding FY2025 full-year revenue; gross margin cleared our 29.7% pre-committed discipline line.
• We maintain BULLISH with FV HK$340 — 18x FY2028E EV/sales of US$700m plus net cash — trim at spot, reload below HK$300, position ahead of the November global index add.

• In 2Q26, Revenue growth accelerated due to the start of Shanghai testing center and TSMC contract.
• We believe the packaging and testing in Singapore will raise revenue in 2027.
• However, we consider the gross margins in the first two quarters to be unrepresentative.

• Beauty services now exceed 90% of revenue, validating the service-led thesis while recent growth suggests the model is still economically relevant.
• Our concerns around moat, disclosure and management remain partly valid, but the accounting deterioration and value-trap outcomes we feared never materialized.
• The biggest lesson is valuation: Water Oasis did not need to become exceptional; it only needed to remain durable enough at a deeply discounted price.

• Intel 18A progressing past internal yield milestones and 14A defect-density yields tracking at levels unseen since Intel’s 22nm era. Not entirely sure that latter comparison is a good thing!
• Formal commitment to high-volume manufacturing (HVM) for the 14A process node in 2028, backed by the release of the 0.9 Process Design Kit (PDK) in October 2026.
• The EMIB-T Advanced packaging business is on track to generate multi-billion dollars per customer annually by 2028–2029 at 40% gross margins and 30% operating margins.

• Mezoo, which provides wearable medical devices and software, is experiencing exploding sales and profit growth. 
• Mejoo generated sales of 9.6 billion won (up 216% YoY) in 1H 2026. Operating margin improved materially from -47.5% in 1H 2025 to 19.1% in 1H 2026.
• Despite surging sales and profits, valuations are dirt cheap. It is trading at P/E of 5.4x based on 2027 consensus earnings estimates.

• No Fireworks: In this insight we discuss about Haier Smart Home (6690 HK) ‘s H1 FY2026 financial performance and why there were no fireworks.
• Searching for Growth Everywhere : Given the weak demand in its domestic market, the company is searching for growth in every geography globally.
• Finally, we discuss and conclude our view on H2FY2026 performance of the company.

• Toyobo delivered a solid Q1 FY3/27, consistently buoyed by Industrial Films, with particular strength in MLCC mold-release films and SRF.
• Concurrently, OP in the Resins & Chemicals segment (within Environmental & Functional Materials) surged 90.2% YoY.
• While elevated naphtha prices stemming from Middle East tensions have led management to guide for a 17.6% YoY decline in FY OP, robust underlying fundamentals and strategic price pass- throughs should keep operating cash flow resilient.

• Resilient Underlying Profitability Amid Fuel Volatility: Excluding a HK$1 billion one-off gain largely driven by the dilution of its Air China stake, Cathay Group’s underlying H1 2026 net profit of HK$6.24 billion demonstrates robust premium travel and specialized cargo demand. However, a major second-quarter fuel price spike has compressed regional margins, exposing the limits of their 30% fuel hedging strategy.
• The 3RS Capacity Double-Edged Sword: While the Three-Runway System (3RS) expansion raises HKIA’s passenger target to 120 million annually, it threatens to dilute passenger yields over the next 18–36 months if GBA intermodal integration does not scale rapidly enough to absorb the new capacity.
• Optimized Capital Structure and Dividend Resumption: Following the total redemption of the HKSAR government’s HK$19.5 billion preference shares in mid-2024 and the completed HK$6.97 billion Qatar Airways buyback in February 2026, Cathay has shifted focus to shareholder returns. This is evidenced by a HK$0.26 per share interim dividend alongside a HK$7 billion capital reduction designed to restore distributable reserves.

• Aspial Lifestyle delivered a strong set of 1H2026 results, with revenue rising 26.4% YoY to a record S$464.2 million, while net profit surging 88.7% to S$55.0 million, demonstrating that earnings continued to grow materially faster than the top line.
• The earnings improvement was broad-based across pawnbroking, retail and secured lending, with retail delivering the strongest operating leverage.
• Retail emerges as the biggest earnings driver, while pawnbroking remains resilient. 

• We think Marco Polo Marine (“MPM”) stands to benefit from industry tailwinds supporting the company’s ship chartering division, with the deployment of its first Commissioning Service Operation Vessel (“CSOV”), the MP Wind Archer, and additional vessels in a tight demand market for offshore vessels.

• The company’s proposed reverse takeover (“RTO”) to separately list the shipyard business, and the planned listing of indirect subsidiary PKR Offshore (“PKRO”), should unlock value for MPM, and provide these businesses further avenues to raise funding for their respective growth opportunities.

• The strengthening fundamentals appear sustainable whilst not being reflected in the valuations.

• ANYCOLOR is becoming a capital-light character-IP platform: monetisation per VTuber has compounded far faster than roster growth, while commerce now dominates revenue.
• NIJISANJI has a narrow but valuable moat in brand, fan relationships and monetisation capabilities, despite low switching costs and limited structural barriers to competition.
• Founder alignment, exceptional cash generation and planned shareholder returns support the thesis; at roughly 13–15x guided FY04/2027 earnings, expectations already look restrained.

• ISDN Holdings (“ISDN” or “The Group”) is an industrial automation company that offers a full range of advanced automation solutions and services.
• These solutions and services range from precision components and engineering services to full machine and cloud solutions.
• Its components and systems power semiconductor factories, advanced medical devices, clean energy plants, electric vehicles and more across Asia. 

• NVIDIA sees enough customer demand for nearly 100% FY28 growth, but available supply supports roughly 70%. That revenue number also includes richer Rubin system content and higher pricing.
• Supporting that growth is becoming more capital intensive: receivables rose 55% QoQ, inventory doubled YoY, while supply commitments have surged to $279 billion.
• NVIDIA is also supporting deployment downstream through $36 billion of AI-cloud commitments and $108.5 billion of maximum guarantees, making third-party utilisation an increasingly important test of growth quality.

• Intel says EMIB-T packaging could generate multiple billions of dollars per customer annually, with 40% gross and 30% operating margins from a relatively capital-light business.
• SK hynix is reportedly considering Intel for HBM4E base dies, offering a potential first step into AI silicon without displacing TSMC from the entire accelerator.
• Packaging can give Intel external revenue, process learning and customer relationships before 14A is fully proven, lowering the hurdle for its broader foundry ambitions.

• Pitti posted 16% YoY revenue growth to Rs.529 crore in Q1 FY27, with adjusted PAT up 25% to Rs.32 crore, as lamination volumes rose 18% and management raised full-year guidance.
• The company is shifting from a railway-and-power-generation-heavy revenue base toward mining, data centers and special-application motors, broadening its structural growth exposure.
• With Rs.440 crore of capex underway and FY27 EBITDA guided at Rs.370 crore, the execution runway matters as much as the quarter’s headline numbers, explored below.

• Salesforce reported Q2 FY 2027 revenue of $11.345 billion, up 11% YoY in constant currency, at the high end of the previously guided range. 
• Cloudforce, a partnership between Anthropic & Salesforce, integrates Claude into Salesforce and vice versa. Basically, Claude becomes the new user interface for Salesforce, as long as you upgrade to premium
• Benioff is betting big on Cloudforce unlocking previously unheard of value from customers’s underlying Salesforce data and that they will pay handsomely for this privilege. Let’s see… 

• The revenue mix is structurally shifting toward funding income even as FY26 as a whole showed revenue down 11% and PAT down 35%, and cost-to-income stayed near 83%. 
• Q1 FY27 revenue grew 14% YoY to Rs.88.4 crore, driven by 26.5% higher interest income, while MTF book averaged Rs.422 crore and net worth tripled to Rs.1,131 crore.
• The indian discount broking industry is changing and moving towards more stickier business like MTF Funding and digital model is just helping them in making it accessible fast. 

• Lumino Industries opens its Rs.700 crore mainboard IPO , at a Rs.78 to Rs.82 band, listing on 3rd September on the BSE and NSE.
• The Kolkata based conductor, cable and EPC player asking 15.6 times post-issue FY26 earnings against peers trading between 19 and 82 times, while remaining structurally dependent on government power utilities.
• How a declining but still-material government revenue base, a near doubled order book and a Rs.337 crore debt paydown plan net out for prospective allottees.

• House Foods Group’s (2810 JP) potential divestment of its 51% stake in Ichibanya (7630 JP) is structurally viable but highly complex. A full privatization via a private equity sponsor is the most likely route to eliminate the parent-child listing conflict, though Ichibanya’s steep valuation multiples (trailing EV/EBITDA over 15x and P/E over 30x) will severely test traditional leverage buyout (LBO) debt structures in Japan’s rising interest rate environment.
• The company’s unique “Bloom System” apprenticeship franchise model faces severe structural threats from tightening Japanese labor regulations. The Work Style Reform Act’s strict caps on overtime and the surge in prefectural minimum wages (weighted national average of ¥1,121 per hour as of late 2025, with Tokyo at ¥1,226) make the traditional 2-to-5-year store manager training path legally and financially unsustainable for independent franchisees.
• Extreme rice price volatility (“Reiwa rice turmoil”) is crushing near-term profitability despite top-line resilience. In Q1 FY2027 (ended May 31, 2026), consolidated sales rose 7.8% year-on-year to ¥16.97 billion, but operating profit dropped 14.3% to ¥1.08 billion due to lag-effects in raw material contracts, proving that Ichibanya is struggling to pass escalating ingredient costs fully onto value-conscious domestic consumers.

• HDFC Bank (HDFCB IN) ‘s operating engine has decelerated across loan growth, NII, and productivity, while provisioning has turned volatile and ROE/ROA declined faster than ICICI or SBI.
• Over the recent period, governance concerns compounded: whistleblower complaints nearly doubled, the chairman resigned citing unspecified ethics concerns, and the CEO opted not to seek reappointment.
• HDFC Bank (HDFCB IN) remains the sole laggard in a global peer set, with no signs the trend is turning and hence, capital probably is better deployed exploring opportunities globally.

• Cloud-Based users and daily token per user increased rapidly after price raises.
• Overall gross margin will hit the bottom in 2026, but it should recover in 2027.
• GLM-5.3 and GLM-5.3-Flash rank second and fourth globally on the Agentic Index.

• The rumored RM2.35 per share privatization offer by the Lim family, EPF, and MISC is strategically timed to capitalize on Yinson’s operational inflection point, buying out public shareholders just as the high-risk, capital-intensive EPCIC phases of three major FPSO projects are complete and generating steady cash flows.
• Yinson’s RM13.49 billion net debt is highly ring-fenced; of its USD 5.7 billion total debt backlog, only USD 0.6 billion is recourse corporate-level debt, while the remaining project-level debt transitions to non-recourse status post-commissioning, significantly reducing parental balance sheet risk.
• A successful privatization will require navigating complex regulatory clearances—specifically antitrust approvals from Brazil’s CADE due to the overlapping Brazilian portfolios of MISC and Yinson—and will likely trigger a strategic scale-back of Yinson’s capital-draining Renewables and GreenTech divisions.

• We spoke to the management of CiDi, a leading China-based physical player.
• Revenue and gross profit both accelerated sharply in 1H2026, extending several years of triple-digit growth, with management citing an approaching first adjusted-breakeven period.
• Domestic demand is policy-driven while overseas market is still in early stage of development.

• TSMC: +9.9% Premium; Below -1 SD Band; Long the ADR Spread
• UMC: -2.9% Discount; Below -1 SD Band; Long the ADR Spread
• ASE: +2.4% Premium; Within Recent Historical Range; No Active Trade Signal

• Nvidia is reportedly moving to deepen its influence across the artificial intelligence stack through a potential $12.9 billion acquisition of Hugging Face, one of the most widely used platforms for developing, sharing and deploying open-source AI models.
• The reported agreement follows a period of acquisition interest in Hugging Face and comes as Nvidia expands beyond GPUs into networking, CPUs, inference systems, AI software and infrastructure financing.
• The timing is notable.

• Microchip Technology Incorporated reported strong financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2027, driven by broad-based growth across multiple end markets.
• The company’s total net sales reached $1.485 billion for the quarter, reflecting a 13.2% sequential increase and a 38% year-over-year rise compared to the June 2025 quarter.
• Non-GAAP gross margins improved to 63.8%, despite including $38.5 million in capacity underutilization charges, while non-GAAP operating income represented 35.1% of sales.

• Strategic Transformation to Pure-Play Aerostructures: Following the successful divestments of non-core E-Mobility (Alu Menziken in 2024) and Energy (ASTA Group in 2025), Montana Aerospace AG (AERO SW) has established itself as a focused, high-margin Tier-1 supplier of critical aerostructures and complex assemblies, directly aligned with global aircraft production build-rate ramp-ups.
• Margin Inflection and Free Cash Flow Generation: Completion of a multi-year ~€700m capital expenditure cycle alongside portfolio reshaping has driven substantial margin expansion, with gross margins rising from 11.03% in 2023 to 18.43% in Q2 2026 and EBITDA margins expanding from 6.08% to 17.19%, supporting robust positive Free Cash Flow generation (€68.57m in FY2025).
• Compelling Relative Valuation vs. Aerospace Peers: Trading at 9.9x EV/EBITDA and 1.6x EV/Sales, Montana Aerospace trades at a significant valuation discount to international aerospace and defense peers (such as Kratos Defense at 85.4x EV/EBITDA), presenting attractive re-rating potential as balance sheet deleveraging and aerospace single-aisle production volumes compound.

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• Howmet Aerospace reported a strong second quarter in 2026, marked by a 24% year-over-year increase in headline revenues and a 21% organic growth excluding acquisitions.
• This growth was supported by robust demand across several end markets, including commercial aerospace, defense aerospace, industrial gas turbines (IGT), and commercial transportation.
• Notably, commercial aerospace revenue increased 28% driven by both new builds and spare parts demand, while defense aerospace grew 11% year-over-year.

• Net income over the twelve months to June 2026 grew 103.5% and pre-tax income grew 41.5%.
• A single tax entry separates them: A US$19.9m release of a valuation allowance on deferred tax assets, which brought in no cash and cannot arrive twice.
• On reported earnings the shares trade at 41.7x; strip the release and the same price is 57.8x. 

• Despite headwinds from geopolitical events, surging fuel prices and regulatory headwinds in Indonesia, Grab released yet another knockout set of results, after which the company increased FY2026 guidance.
• Grab balanced affordable product growth to expand its ecosystem, with high-value products, combining to improve both volumes and profitability, with Grab Unlimited and Grab Mart continuing to grow in importance.
• Grab’s financial services booked the strongest segmental growth and is forecast to break even in 2H2026. Grab remains a core consumer proxy for ASEAN, booking increasingly profitable and sustainable growth.

• We compile our selection of companies across Japan,China &India based on bottom-up triggers in each company post their recent quarterly/half yearly results and their guidance for remaining of the year.
• In Japan its ROHM Co Ltd (6963 JP),Suzuki Motor (7269 JP) & Mazda Motor (7261 JP). In China its Chow Tai Fook Jewellery (1929 HK) & Midea Group (300 HK).
• In India its a mix of recently listed – Milky Mist Dairy Food (1231D IN), Lalithaa Jewellery (LALITHAA IN) , Holdco – TVS (TVSHLTD IN) and select Auto OEs

• Singapore Telecommunications (ST SP) SOTP valuation is sitting at 13% discount to the current share price.
• Plenty of catalysts, including data center and digital infrastructure catalysts, as well as discussions to further monetize a partial sale in Optus. 
• For investors who require a market neutral idea, shorting Bharti Airtel (BHARTI IN) could provide an alternative given its valuation premium as well as its slower execution. 

• CXMT’s H1-2026 results beat IPO guidance by roughly 25–36%, with R&D up 87% YoY and four DRAM process nodes now in mass production — the growth story remains fully intact.
• Spot at RMB58.60 implies 23x FY26E and 20x FY27E EPS — a scarcity premium the STAR Market’s thin free float can sustain longer than fundamentals justify.
• We maintain our BEARISH stance but raise our fair value to RMB31.40, based on an 12x China-specific multiple band applied to upgraded FY26E/FY27E EPS.

• Positive quarterly subscriber additions, more than 200 5G cities, INR 9,000 crore of orders and INR 6,400 crore of funding mark a shift from defence to deployment.
• Vi’s first post-merger subscriber-growth quarter suggests recent coverage, capacity and service investments are beginning to influence customer behaviour.
• The probability of an operating turnaround has improved, but equity value remains highly sensitive to debt closure, tariff action and capex execution.

• CATL’s BESS revenue surged 87.5% YoY to RMB53.26bn in H1 2026, now 19.23% of sales — the mix shift the market still prices as a battery cyclical.
• RMB17bn deployed into AI data centers, hydropower, and robotics turns CATL into an equity holder in the demand for its own BESS hardware.
• BULLISH, FV HK$770 (3750 HK) — basis: SOTP blending core battery PE re-rating with unpriced AI-grid infrastructure optionality and RMB40bn buyback-cancellation support.

• What he said. At the 27 Aug Indiana groundbreaking, CEO Kwak Noh-jung said the memory shortage runs through end-2030 with no downturn signal visible. He was serious on this. 
• What it is worth. If right, FY2027E OP is ~KRW 295tn vs our KRW 250tn base, and FY2026-30 after-tax earnings exceeds its current MCAP. 
• What to do. BULLISH, FV KRW 3,500,000 unchanged — it needs him right on 2027 only as the market is treating the stock as if earnings have peaked already. 

• The $11.7 billion Vifor acquisition has undergone a massive structural revaluation, culminating in US$7.1 billion in pre-tax asset impairments in FY26. This write-down reflects a realistic reassessment of Ferinject generic erosion, R&D pipeline adjustments, and high capital-intensity manufacturing facilities like Lengnau, establishing a clean operational baseline under interim leadership.
• Regulatory and transfer pricing headwinds represent a systemic threat to CSL’s low-tax offshore IP structure. The ATO and IRS are aggressively leveraging precedent from the SingTel and Chevron cases to target cross-border royalty agreements, while Medicare Part D changes shift 20% of catastrophic phase liabilities onto manufacturers, squeezing specialty therapy margins.
• Executive compensation and capital allocation frameworks are undergoing a forced transition toward ROIC. Following the departure of CEO Paul McKenzie and the appointment of CFO Ken Lim, CSL is focusing on structural cost discipline over volume growth. This includes closing underperforming collection centers and utilizing the Rika/iNomi platforms to reduce donor cost-per-liter by up to 14%.

• Automation is Paycom’s next moat: Beti, GONE, iWant and Project Arc could deepen customer ROI, retention and internal productivity.
• Growth is becoming harder: Client growth has slowed, increasing reliance on cross-sell, larger customers and higher revenue per client.
• Capital intensity is the key debate: R&D and CapEx are rising sharply; Paycom must prove automation can drive growth without permanently eroding its capital-light economics.

• CXMT Corporation (688825 CH) beats its prospectus forecast in 1H26 earnings, posting net profit of Rmb77.6bn. In 2Q26, it made Rmb52.8bn. 
• Demand outlook will stay encouraging in 2H26, and the market consensus appears conservative now. This means upside potential for earnings forecasts.
• While at 22x FY26 PER, CXMT looks expensive, its high 3-year EPS CAGR justifies it. Moreover, its 0.05x PEG is below the sector average.  

• Memory revenue re-accelerated well ahead of its seasonal pace: the six memory names grew revenue +32% MoM after about +4% in June, roughly twice their pace in July last year.
• Taiwan’s assemblers look weaker than they are: nine of thirteen ODM, EMS and PC-brand names saw revenue fall sequentially, yet the group beat its own July 2025 decline.
• Alchip Technologies (3661 TT)‘s revenue nearly quadrupled in two months and its filing reversed: after three months reporting mass-production declines, it reported growth, the only commentary change in our universe.

• The semiconductor pipeline has expanded to 15+ products and 10+ customers; Jubilant has also agreed to acquire 40% of Zettaone for INR 189.2 crore.
• Electronic chemicals can offer higher purity-led value addition, stickier qualifications and lower exposure to commodity chemical cycles.
• The semiconductor optionality is more tangible, but remains too early to underwrite as a major earnings driver without disclosed revenue or commercial volumes.

• Context: This Insight follows up on previously highlighted relative value opportunities, using a statistical methodology based on mean-reversion to identify opportunities in paired securities.
• Highlights: Currently six pair trade opportunities persist across four markets and four sectors.
• Why read: Statistical analysis offers a unique perspective on relative value. Gain insights into actionable statistical pair trade opportunities and monitor performance of previously highlighted pairs.

• Market Position and High-Throughput Value Model: Lalithaa Jewellery Mart Limited (LALITHAA IN) is a prominent South Indian jewellery retailer operating 61 large-format showrooms across 51 cities. Its disruptive, ultra-low value-addition pricing strategy (making/wastage charges starting at 1-2%) drives an industry-leading store throughput of INR 410.23 Cr per showroom, propelling FY26 revenue to INR 250,239.27M (+48.1% YoY) and net income to INR 10,098.17M (+177.4% YoY).
• Working Capital Intensity and Cash Flow Dynamics: Despite strong top-line scaling and elevated FY26 return metrics (ROE of ~34.5% and ROCE of ~48.2%), the business model remains highly working capital intensive due to substantial gold inventory requirements (~INR 40-50 Cr per large-format store). Rapid network expansion resulted in negative operating cash flow of -INR 5,247.76M and free cash flow (FCFE) of -INR 5,923.44M in FY26.
• Valuation and Institutional Risk-Reward: At the current price of INR 265.24, Lalithaa trades at a P/E multiple of 12.2x and a P/B of 4.2x, presenting an attractive relative discount to regional peers such as P N Gadgil Jewellers (18.1x P/E). This valuation discount reflects thin core operating margins (4.04% net margin), high geographic concentration in South India, high promoter ownership (>80%), and ongoing tax/GST litigation contingencies.

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• Chinese domestic and outbound air travel activity rebounded sharply in July – why?
• If we’re right about the reasons for July’s recovery in traffic, bounce likely to be short-lived
• We expect platform Trip.com to confirm a weak outlook when it reports Q226 results

• Succession Tax Optimization Drives Yesterday’s Stake Gift: Chairman Lee Jang-han’s sudden gift of his entire 9.55% stake in Chong Kun Dang (CKD) Pharmaceutical to his three children on August 28, 2026, replicates the family’s September 2025 Kyongbo Pharmaceutical equity transfer. This is a strategic move to lock in succession tax liabilities while the “Korea Discount” keeps the company’s valuation depressed, bypassing the government’s newly tightened August 2026 price-suppression tax valuation rules.
• MOHW Pricing Reforms and Tactical Deferrals: The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s (MOHW) landmark decision on August 27, 2026, to delay generic drug price cuts (lowering the reimbursement ceiling from 53.55% to 45%) to April 2027 provides a critical six-month cash flow buffer. However, forward operating margins will inevitably compress toward 4.5% as CKD’s top-line is increasingly cannibalized by low-margin in-licensed co-promotions like Wegovy and Fexuclue.
• Severely Misaligned Capital Allocation vs. Value-Up: Despite government pressure to improve corporate governance, management has acted against minority shareholder interests, slashing the dividend per share from 1,100 won to 500 won in March 2026. Cash is being aggressively diverted to fund a massive 2.2 trillion won biopharmaceutical complex in Siheung, designed to build long-term legacy assets for the succession heirs rather than returning capital to public investors.

• Defensive Capital Structure Strategy: Samsung Biologics’ decision to fund the CHF 1.46 billion (KRW 2.71 trillion) PolyPeptide Group acquisition via a KRW 3.0 trillion rights offering protects its fortress balance sheet (debt-to-equity of 44% as of Q2 2026) and safeguards its AAA-equivalent domestic credit rating, neutralizing high-interest-rate borrowing risks while entering the high-margin peptide modality.
• M&A Integration Complexity: Integrating PolyPeptide AG represents a major operational departure from the Songdo “mega-plant” playbook. Moving from highly automated, centralized large-scale mammalian cell cultures to multi-site solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) across Europe, the US, and India introduces cultural, labor, and process differences that cannot easily be standardized under the company’s proprietary ExellenS framework.
• Biosecure Act Windfall Execution: While the US Biosecure Act represents a massive tailwind, capturing this pipeline requires proactive tech transfers and commercial-scale validations, especially as major clients require dual-sourcing architectures. The acquisition of the 60,000-liter Rockville, Maryland facility for USD 280 million from GSK serves as a crucial onshore asset to satisfy domestic manufacturing requirements and secure late-stage clinical pipelines ahead of the 2032 grandfathering cliff.

• Context: This Insight follows up on previously highlighted relative value opportunities, using a statistical methodology based on mean-reversion to identify opportunities in paired securities.
• Highlights: In Japan, currently two pair trade opportunities persist across two sectors.
• Why read: Statistical analysis offers a unique perspective on relative value. Gain insights into actionable statistical pair trade opportunities and monitor performance of previously highlighted pairs.

• Frontline PLC (NYSE: FRO) is capitalizing on structural tanker market tightness driven by global ton-mile expansion, sustained trade route realignments, and disciplined vessel supply growth, achieving its strongest operating profitability since 2004 with daily VLCC spot time charter equivalent (TCE) rates exceeding $100,000/day.
• The company maintains a high-specification, scrubber-fitted fleet across Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), Suezmax, and LR2/Aframax segments, combining low cash breakeven operating leverage with a balanced commercial posture that secures ~30% of VLCC capacity under 1-year time charters while exposing 70% to spot freight super-spikes.
• Frontline offers compelling equity upside trading at 6.6x P/E and 7.2x EV/EBITDA, supported by robust balance sheet refinancing at reduced margins, accretive fleet renewal, and an active variable dividend policy that has delivered $2.58 per share in distributions across the first half of 2026.

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• STAR Market IPO and Financial Peak: YMTC’s historic RMB 33 billion STAR Market IPO application comes at a cyclical peak, with 1Q26 net profit reaching RMB 33.38 billion and gross margins surging to 76.77% on the back of rising NAND contract prices and high capacity utilization.
• Xtacking 4.0 and Density-Cost Trade-off: Mass production of 267-layer NAND under the Xtacking 4.0 architecture delivers industry-leading bit density by separating logic and memory array. However, this process requires bonding two separate wafers, resulting in a structurally higher baseline manufacturing cost that requires high yield rates to remain competitive.
• The Domestic Substitution Penalty: While YMTC’s Phase III fab has cleared a 50% domestic equipment threshold, reliance on localized etching and lithography workarounds imposes a persistent yield and throughput penalty of 5% to 10% compared to Western tool baselines.

• NVIDIA guided FY28 revenue growth near 70% and Huang said demand is much greater than that. The ceiling is memory supply, not demand.
• The limit is physical. HBM needs roughly 3x the wafer area of DDR5 per gigabyte, and is about 90% of the silicon area in a two-GPU package.
• What lifts NVIDIA’s ceiling is how they allocate wafers between HBM and commodity parts, not the price print.

• The “Invisible Elephant” on the Balance Sheet: While Jio’s DRHP showcases a pristine bank net debt of ₹27,579 crore and a net leverage ratio of 0.36x, this metric completely excludes ₹1.04 lakh crore (₹1,045,137 million) in deferred spectrum payment liabilities owed to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Factoring these in, Jio’s true reconciled net leverage sits at approximately 1.41x EBITDA.
• Divergent Tariff Strategies and Hidden Hikes: In August 2026, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio took opposing operational paths. Airtel discontinued its entry-level daily data plans (removing the ₹299 plan to push users to ₹349), representing a direct 17% increase. Jio countered by reintroducing its “Jio Prime” price-lock membership for a one-time fee of ₹300, which acts as a disguised 8% tariff increase (roughly ₹25 a month over the next year) while securing customer loyalty and preventing churn ahead of the IPO.
• Capex Peak and Free Cash Flow Inflection: Jio has crossed its peak capital intensity phase. Between March 2025 and March 2026, Jio capitalized over ₹1 lakh crore of network assets, shifting capitalized interest and high depreciation directly onto the P&L. This pivot signals that future network capex will fall below annual depreciation, positioning the company to triple its free cash flow and hit an estimated Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) of 21.4% by FY28.

• Premium Segment Defensibility vs. Offline Margin Dilution: Atomberg’s 46.08% market share in the premium ceiling fan segment (ASP above ₹3,500) remains highly defensible due to vertical integration in motor controllers. However, as offline sales grow to dominate the mix (₹820.11 crore in FY26), gross margin advantages are diluted by traditional multi-tiered channel structures and aggressive retail discounting.
• Operating Turnaround Masked by Capacity Underutilization: While adjusted EBITDA turned positive to ₹37.12 crore in FY26 (improving from a negative ₹51.35 crore in FY25), the business is heavily weighed down by a ₹148.88 crore restated net loss. This is driven by massive marketing outlays (₹135.35 crore) and severe operational deleverage from its Chakan facility running at just 15% of its 6.60 million unit capacity.
• High-Risk Diversification into Kitchen & Water Tech: The strategic pivots to mixer grinders and water purifiers (which expanded kitchen revenue to ₹124 crore in FY26) face intense customer acquisition costs and significant legal friction, exemplified by active, consolidated patent cross-litigation with Eureka Forbes.

• Record H1 revenue of HK$2,032m, up 10.8%, with Europe now 53.8% of group sales and gross margin at 58.1%, the highest in the model’s semi-annual history.
• Margin gain looks structural, not currency-driven: net FX swung HK$38m against the group, yet net margin still rose to 18.4% due to digital mix and automation.
• Trading at 10.1x FY26e P/E, 6.3x EV/EBITDA, 3.0% yield, 21.5% ROE. Upside from debt repayment, further buybacks, and more acquisitions. 

• Transocean Holdings plc reported its second quarter 2026 results reflecting strong operational execution amid a tightening deepwater drilling market.
• The company surpassed its guidance for both revenue and costs, delivering an adjusted EBITDA margin of 32% and a fleet uptime of 98%, underscoring effective operational management.
• Revenue for the quarter reached $966 million, with operating and maintenance expenses below guidance, mainly due to the timing and deferral of maintenance activities.

• Management believes Data Center revenue could exceed 20% of total company revenue in 2027.
• The discussion around Smart Power Stage (SPS) products was one of the most encouraging aspects of the call.
• Automotive Business Entering a New Growth Phase: Growth is being supported by a combination of new customers, new product categories, and geographic expansion.

• Context: The Nucor Corp (NUE US) vs. Steel Dynamics (STLD US) price ratio has deviated more than two standard deviations from its one-year average, presenting a potential relative value opportunity.
• Highlight: Going long Steel Dynamics (STLD US) and short Nucor Corp (NUE US) targets a 4% return.
• Why Read: Essential for quantitative traders seeking mean-reversion opportunities, with detailed execution framework, risk management protocols, and historical simulation showing the statistical basis for this relative value play.

• Palo Alto Networks has spent years telling investors that cybersecurity is moving toward consolidation, but recent reports suggest CEO Nikesh Arora may have considered taking that strategy much further.
• According to The Information, Arora held meetings with Okta CEO Todd McKinnon between late 2024 and early 2025 about a potential acquisition, with discussions ultimately breaking down over price.
• He also reportedly approached Datadog CEO Olivier Pomel in spring 2025, although Pomel was not interested and no formal offer followed.

• Apple is heading into one of its most consequential September events in years.
• The company has scheduled its next product showcase for September 9, when it is expected to introduce its latest premium iPhones and potentially its first foldable device.
• Yet the hardware itself is only part of the story.

• HubSpot Inc. reported its second quarter of fiscal 2026 results with revenue growth of 17.5% year-over-year in constant currency, reaching a total customer base exceeding 306,000, although net additions of 7,000 were below expectations due to cautious buying behavior.
• Subscription revenue increased 20% year-over-year, with international markets growing notably faster than domestic.
• Operating margins improved significantly, with non-GAAP operating margin expanding by 3 percentage points to 20.3%, driven by disciplined spending partly offset by increased AI investment costs.

• NVIDIA reported second-quarter fiscal 2027 results, details here. Revenue was $96.2 billion, up 18% sequentially and up 106% year over year, also blowing past the $91.0 billion guided midpoint.
• Q327 revenue forecast  $108.0 billion, plus or minus 2%,  +12% QoQ, +89% YoY. The company also threw in forecast for fiscal 2028 growth of 70% YoY.
• Recent announcements by NVIDIA, built around guaranteeing and backstopping investment in data centres that exclusively use their compute, suggest that much of their future demand is actually being self funded. 

In this installment of engageIR’s corporate insights, we join the management team of Geo Energy Resources at its 1HFY2026 earnings call held on 26 August 2026, 10am.

View the transcript here – https://on.skr.ma/4zCKy1X 
Passcode: 1H72N1&3

• Dream International 1st Half Results confirm our positive stance. Demand for the product is growing driven by the “kidult” market.
• Revenue grew 12%, growing across all 3 products: Stuffed Toys was the main growth driver, with both Plastic Figures and Tarapulin registering growth though lower.
• Margins weakened across all 3 products, leading to 24% decline in net profit.

• Halfords’ FY27 upgrade offers a supportive, if incomplete, UK read-through on bicycle sell-through, reinforcing early signs of channel stabilisation.
• Shimano’s normalising inventory-to-sales ratio suggests 2H restocking is increasingly likely, positioning consensus (¥51bn OP) to converge toward our ¥57bn estimate.
• Buyback pace is running ahead of schedule, and Dalton’s activist presence should keep capital discipline intact despite March’s rejected ¥200bn proposal.

• In this insight we discuss about Yadea (1585 HK) ‘s acquisition of Jinjian Technology.
• We further discuss about the contours of the transaction and the implied valuation.
• Finally, we present our view on this transaction and why it is beneficial for Yadea.

• The power- (electricity-) hungry AI leaves us to dig deeper in the value chain and enter Harbin Electric (1133 HK) , 1 of 3 largest heavy power makers in China.
• Harbin benefits from Chinese government decarbonization policies from the high-margin equipment and EPC contacts. 
• Despite the run-up in the share price, it is mostly caused by earnings growth rather than purely multiple expansion—now trades at 13x PER vs 20x PER before. 

• The proposed HK$1.223 per share privatization of Changhong Jiahua (3991.HK) by Hongtu Investment has effectively collapsed. While Mianyang City SASAC approved the transaction, the Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission (DRC) and Department of Commerce have stalled the process with queries regarding valuation and state-asset preservation. With the September 20, 2026 Long Stop Date rapidly approaching, satisfying the remaining State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) pre-conditions is mathematically impossible.
• Working capital is severely constrained by a massive, unresolved legal dispute with Suning Procurement Center. Although Changhong Jiahua won a first-instance judgment ordering Suning to pay RMB 720.47 million in product costs and RMB 124.61 million in capital occupancy losses, Suning’s appeal to the Jiangsu Higher People’s Court has locked up over RMB 845 million in legal limbo. This frozen capital is nearly equivalent to the company’s entire market capitalization of HK$900 million.
• Capital allocation remains heavily subservient to the parent company, Sichuan Changhong Electric (600839.SH). Despite generating HK$43.83 billion in FY2025 revenue and adding HK$1.4 billion in net cash since the privatization offer was announced, the board recommended paying zero dividends for FY2025. This cash is functionally trapped onshore within the parent company’s cash-pooling framework to support parent liquidity, offering no protection or return to minority offshore shareholders.

• Blinkit’s spinoff and independent IPO is highly plausible but structurally delayed. While the quick-commerce business is now self-sustaining and adjusted EBITDA positive (₹102 crore in Q1 FY27), any near-term transaction is gated by Indian tax neutral demerger rules and the transfer of ₹1,800 crore in IND AS 116 lease liabilities rather than traditional debt covenants, as the parent holds ₹18,288 crore in cash and zero long-term debt.
• The ongoing CCI antitrust investigation on price parity and exclusivity represents the single largest threat to Eternal’s margins. If price-parity restrictions are fully dismantled, a projected 10% volume diversion to direct-to-consumer restaurant channels would directly hit the high-margin food delivery segment, threatening ₹150 crore to ₹180 crore in annualized adjusted EBITDA.
• Management incentives remain structurally detached from traditional return on capital metrics (ROIC), focusing almost exclusively on Net Order Value (NOV) scale and market capitalization milestones. This volume-first mindset is financially disciplined by a highly centralized finance bench under CFO Akshant Goyal, which has a proven track record of rapidly cutting non-performing experiments and reallocating underutilized physical infrastructure to asset-light initiatives.

• Revenue fell 28.5% and profit for the period fell 22.4%, to US$15.6m, which on that statement alone is an ordinary down period.
• But total assets rose US$240.6m, cash fell US$46.1m and operating cash flow went negative, each moving several times harder than profit did.
• The period’s event was the balance sheet growing on issued shares and vendor credit, and the cash going out to build it.

• KRT posted 15% YoY revenue and NOI growth in Q1 FY27, with a record INR7,516mn distribution (DPU INR1.70), up 5% QOQ, and committed occupancy rising to 93%.
• Beneath a headline 93% committed occupancy sits 87-88% economic occupancy, a 5% gap management expects to narrow to a normalized 3% by Q4 FY27.
• A 25% mark-to-market opportunity, sub-18% LTV, and multiple organic and inorganic growth levers support a credible multi-year compounding story.

• 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.

• Seers (458870 KS) is a digital healthcare firm in Korea that specializes in wearable medical biosensors, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven clinical data analysis, and remote patient monitoring (RPM) platforms.
• Given the company’s surging sales and profit growth, I believe it deserves to trade at 20x P/E. 
• Assuming consensus net profit estimate of 86.8 billion won, a 20X P/E suggests market cap of 1.7 trillion won, representing 110% upside from current levels (about 44,000 won per share). 

• MiniMax’s 1H26 total revenue is 4X its 1H25 revenue, lower than 5X we expected.
• The company actively expanded its B2B business outside mainland China.
• MiniMax overcame all costs except for research and development expense.

• 1H26 represents another strong set of results (robust topline growth + operating leverage). Innovent unveiled a new 2030 revenue target RMB35-40bn, implying 16-20% 4-year CAGR (using our 2026E revenue estimates).
• 2H26/Early 2027 catalysts: 1) IBI363: pivotal data (melanoma) and PoC data (1L NSCLC, 1L GC) in ESMO; 2) IBI354: ovarian cancer data and NDA filing; 3) mazdutide: Glory-3 readout…
• 1H26 results call focus on: 1) growth drivers for 2030 revenue target, 2) 2H26 outlook, 3) key data readouts for 2H26/early 2027. See inside for P&L analysis and pipeline updates.

• As Singapore’s largest sports event management company, we think Kin Global could benefit from Singapore’s standing as a destination for sports events and broader events-related tourism.

• The recent 1H2026 net loss, attributed to one-off listing costs and delays on project awards and commencements, hide potentially interesting opportunity in its operational margins.

• The ~25% retreat from the IPO offer price may present a longer-term opportunity should their margins prove sustainable.

• Alibaba Group is making one of the largest AI financing bets in China, raising roughly $10.2 billion through a new share placement just as its artificial intelligence business begins showing meaningful commercial traction.
• The deal involves 710 million new shares, representing roughly 3.7% of Alibaba’s existing issued share capital, and comes after a quarter in which heavy technology investment pushed GAAP net income down about 75% and free cash flow deeply negative.
• Yet the story is far from uniformly bearish.

• Honda Motor Company Limited reported record operating profit of JPY 530.7 billion for the first quarter of fiscal year ending March 31, 2027, driven largely by strong performance in the motorcycle business and North American automobile sales.
• The motorcycle segment achieved its highest-ever quarterly operating profit, fueled by robust sales in India and Brazil.
• Despite challenges in the Chinese automobile market, unit sales increased overall, mainly supported by North America, delivering an automobile operating profit of JPY 192.1 billion with an operating margin of 5.0%.

• AppLovin reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of approximately $1.92 billion, representing a 53% increase year-over-year but slightly below the midpoint of its guidance range.
• Adjusted EBITDA grew 58% year-over-year to about $1.61 billion, with margins expanding by roughly 300 basis points compared to the prior year, although just below guidance expectations.
• Free cash flow for the quarter was $863 million, below the company’s typical cadence due to timing of international tax and interest payments; the company expects conversion to normalize near 75% of adjusted EBITDA for the full year.

• Corpay’s second quarter 2026 results reflected a combination of solid operating performance and favorable macroeconomic conditions.
• The company reported revenue of $1.34 billion, representing a 21% year-over-year increase and outperforming expectations by $45 million, driven partially by a $30 million macroeconomic tailwind.
• Cash earnings per share (EPS) reached a record $7, up 36% year-over-year, with the Alpha acquisition and Avid investment contributing $0.39 in EPS accretion, in line with management’s targets.

• Shattered Margin Model: The termination of the US de minimis exemption in May 2025 and the EU’s July 2026 low-value customs fee have structurally altered SHEIN’s unit economics. Fulfillment costs escalated to 47.7% of net revenue in Q1 2026, a compression that triggered a $99 million net loss and exposed the limits of direct-from-China air-freight logistics.
• Aggressive Tax Siphoning & Structural Risks: Transfer pricing mechanisms routing up to 84% of local revenues (such as £1.72 billion of SHEIN UK’s £2.05 billion sales) back to the Singapore parent Roadget Business Pte. Ltd. as “purchasing costs” have drawn heavy audit exposure. While reducing the effective tax rate to an average of 9.4% from 2021 to 2023, this aggressive structure restricts cash fungibility and creates massive back-tax liabilities as Western jurisdictions clamp down.
• Plan C Governance Restructuring: The sudden step-down of Executive Chairman Donald Tang in July 2026 and the consolidation of power under founder Sky Xu signals a retreat to a defensive, Beijing-aligned stance. By settling for a Hong Kong IPO at a $27 billion valuation—70% below its 2022 peak—SHEIN is being priced as a low-margin, politically exposed retailer rather than a high-flying tech platform.