
In today’s briefing:
- Okamura (7994): Why Management Incentives Are So Important
- Samsung 2Q25 Official Leaks: Sharp Decline in Operating Profits, but It’s the Bottom. Really?
- InterContinental Exchange (ICE): Its $14 Billion Mortgage Opportunity Can Power Platform Expansion!
- Samsung SDI (006400): Still a No
- PostNL NV – What’s News in Amsterdam
- Ampol (ALD AU) Vs. Woodside Energy (WDS AU): Mean Reversion Delivers Profit, Trade Exit
- OUG Holdings (TYO 8041) – A 0.5x P/TBV Vertically Integrated Seafood Wholesaler in Osaka…
- HMC Capital – The Overnight Report: Winners Out, Laggards In
- Nanosonics Ltd (NAN AU): Two Upcoming Catalysts to Set Future Direction
- Abercrombie & Fitch Co Cl A – AKA: Remain Bullish After Management Meetings; Reiterate Buy, $30 PT

Okamura (7994): Why Management Incentives Are So Important
- Okamura trades at a PBR of 1.0 and a PER of 8.6 despite earning more than 12% return on equity.
- Okamura’s new AI-driven warehouse automation system is a potential game-changer as it reduces costs and improves decision making for mid-sized enterprises.
- Management’s incentives are still poorly aligned with the interests of shareholders, and their performance is well below potential.
Samsung 2Q25 Official Leaks: Sharp Decline in Operating Profits, but It’s the Bottom. Really?
- Samsung doesn’t provide guidance when it reports, but gives revenue an operating profit guidance ~2 weeks before reporting. But we have an officially non-official preview in Korean media.
- 2Q25 operating profit will be “weaker than expected”, declining “by more than 15% from the first quarter” to KRW mid-5 trillion range. Consensus expects +1% QoQ.
- Some positive news to counter balance this large disappointment – smartphone, HBM3E – I am skeptical any of these can lift profits in 2H25, revisit early 2026.
InterContinental Exchange (ICE): Its $14 Billion Mortgage Opportunity Can Power Platform Expansion!
- Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. reported a record-breaking performance for the first quarter of 2025, demonstrating significant growth across its diverse business segments even amidst fluctuating macroeconomic conditions.
- The company achieved an adjusted earnings per share of $1.72, marking a 16% increase year-over-year.
- Net revenue rose by 8%, reaching a new high of $2.5 billion.
Samsung SDI (006400): Still a No
- The EU ended the direct purchase subsidies for EVs; that is a negative for Samsung SDI (006400 KS).
- Management is quite bullish, but the last two quarters result were quite informative on the level of margin and contribution from the battery business.
- It trades around 112x PER while historically around 25-35x PER and its competitor Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) (3750 HK) is only trading at 20x.
PostNL NV – What’s News in Amsterdam
- In this edition: • ABN Amro | completes the acquisition of Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe • ING | cutting 230 senior roles globally within its Wholesale Banking • InPost | EVRi intends to deploy 10,000 APMs by 2030 • PostNL | proposed changes in postal legislation do not go down well at PostNL • Dutch retail sales | up 2.2% YoY in May; sales volume down 2.2% • Dutch inflation | continued to trend down in June
Ampol (ALD AU) Vs. Woodside Energy (WDS AU): Mean Reversion Delivers Profit, Trade Exit
- Context: This article provides an update on a previously identified pair trading opportunity between Ampol (ALD AU) and Woodside Energy Group Ltd (WDS AU), based on statistical mean reversion analysis.
- Key Insights: The trade has now reached its exit signal as the price ratio reverted to its one-standard deviation band, yielding a positive return.
- Why Read It: For investors interested in quantitative trading strategies, this article demonstrates how statistical arbitrage can generate short-term alpha and highlights actionable similar opportunities in the current market.
OUG Holdings (TYO 8041) – A 0.5x P/TBV Vertically Integrated Seafood Wholesaler in Osaka…
- OUG Holdings (TYO 8041) is a vertically integrated seafood group that auctions fresh fish at major markets, runs a nationwide cold-chain for trading, processing, and delivering seafood to stores and restaurants, and farms premium buri and bluefin tuna.
- Because it controls aquaculture, logistics hubs, and its own truck fleet, it moves product from port to plate faster and fresher than rivals that outsource storage and transport.
- They currently have dominant market share in Osaka and are slowly expanding to Tokyo.
HMC Capital – The Overnight Report: Winners Out, Laggards In
- A global perspective on what happened overnight
Nanosonics Ltd (NAN AU): Two Upcoming Catalysts to Set Future Direction
- Nanosonics Ltd (NAN AU) is on track to launch its newly approved endoscope cleaning device, Coris in the U.S. in Q1FY26.
- FY25 performance is expected to beat revised guidance. Consensus is expecting revenue growth of 14% for FY25, matching the higher end of the revised guidance.
- Nanosonics shares have a high short interest (6.65%) in ASX. We may see some short squeeze as the company entering eventful Q1FY26 (new launch, FY25 result announcement, FY26 guidance).
Abercrombie & Fitch Co Cl A – AKA: Remain Bullish After Management Meetings; Reiterate Buy, $30 PT
- We are reiterating our Buy rating, $30 price target and projections for A.K.A. Brands after meeting with management in their San Francisco headquarters.
- We believe the company has continued to make material progress on multiple fronts, from adding new Princess Polly stores (and upgrading the current fleet), increasing the wholesale presence for both Petal & Pup and Princess Polly, leveraging the “test and repeat” model to return Culture Kings to higher margins and top line growth, and shifting the Australian market to top line expansion.
- When combined with the potential for debt refinancing and continued strong online results (helped by new store expansion), we believe there remains top and bottom line upside, and we are reiterating our Buy rating and $30 price target for AKA.