In today’s briefing:
- Nikkei 225 Sep25 Rebal: One ADD, One DELETE Still Probable Unless Kokusai Elec (6525) Offering/Split
- Korea Short Selling: What Happened on Day 1?
- Intel Vision Conf: New CEO Mr. TAN Does Not Hide that It Will Be Tough to Fix Intel
- Initiating Coverage Of “New” Vivendi, Latest Portfolio Disposals
- Advanced Energy Industries: The 5 Major Challenges That Can Hinder Growth In 2025! Major Drivers
- Capgemini (CAP FP): Back to BPO?
- Maximus Doubles Down on AI With A Bold New Accelerator — Is This The Buy Signal Investors Have Been Waiting For?
- PagSeguro Digital: Expanding Collateralized Loan Portfolio & Major Growth Drivers!
- Q2 Holdings: Expanding Commercial Banking Solutions & Digital Banking To Up Their Game!
- SiTime Corporation Strikes Gold With Game-Changing Aura Deal—$100M Revenue Boost Incoming!
Nikkei 225 Sep25 Rebal: One ADD, One DELETE Still Probable Unless Kokusai Elec (6525) Offering/Split
- The March 2025 Nikkei 225 review came out with a sparse set of changes. That gives us hints for the September 2025 review.
- Kokusai did NOT get added, waiting for a split, an offering, or time to pass. Only one sector change was made. So we see One ADD and One DELETE.
- The lack of effort to address sector imbalances within the rules suggests the rules are not as hard as people thought. Intra-review changes could be more interesting in years ahead.
Korea Short Selling: What Happened on Day 1?
- Short notional ticked higher on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets and is expected to continue increasing over the next few months.
- Since the resumption of short selling, foreign holdings of Korean equities have increased from 29.26% to 29.3%.
- The Korea Stock Exchange KOSPI 200 (KOSPI2 INDEX) to KOSDAQ 150 Index (KOSDQ150 INDEX) ratio has stayed stable over the last 3 trading days.
Intel Vision Conf: New CEO Mr. TAN Does Not Hide that It Will Be Tough to Fix Intel
- CEO Mr TAN confronts what’s wrong: Intel needs better product performance, to listen to the market needs. Intel needs Foundry processes that support customers’ designs. Not the other way around.
- Product presentation very off-base: robotaxi, AI-PC, Gaudi 3 is back as Intel’s AI strategy. Foundry non-announcement: 18A risk production is starting – of course it is, otherwise 18A is flawed.
- Consensus is expecting a swift turnaround in 2026-27. There is currently no reason to believe this. On these rosy expectations, the stock trades at 19x 2026 EPS.
Initiating Coverage Of “New” Vivendi, Latest Portfolio Disposals
- Vivendi executed a landmark three-way spin-off in December 2024, aiming (but not succeeding) to eliminate its conglomerate discount and unlock shareholder value by listing Canal+, Havas, and Louis Hachette separately.
- Following Telecom Italia’s strategic unwinding, Vivendi incurred over €2 billion in losses but recovered nearly €1 billion in cash through divestments, highlighting its shift toward portfolio streamlining and deleveraging.
- Vivendi now operates as a focused investment holding with UMG comprising over 60% of its asset base, but high concentration and equity beta expose the group to significant portfolio risk.
Advanced Energy Industries: The 5 Major Challenges That Can Hinder Growth In 2025! Major Drivers
- Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. reported its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 financial results, demonstrating a strong finish to the year after a rocky start.
- The company achieved notable highlights, with Q4 revenue reaching $450 million, an 11% increase sequentially and 3% year-over-year, driven by strong performance in semiconductor and data center computing markets.
- Advanced Energy’s semiconductor revenue, at $227 million, marked a 15% sequential increase and 19% year-over-year growth.
Capgemini (CAP FP): Back to BPO?
- BPO provider WNS is reported exploring a potential sale after attracting acquisition interest. The company has a market capitalisation of USD 2.89bn and operates across various sectors.
- We deem Capgemini could afford to acquire WNS, but such a move may not align with its strategic focus, despite the diversification benefits that a hypothetical acquisition would offer.
- The rise of generative AI could transform BPO, but it remains unclear whether Capgemini will pursue acquisitions in BPO, given its past strategy of focusing on cloud, digital and engineering.
Maximus Doubles Down on AI With A Bold New Accelerator — Is This The Buy Signal Investors Have Been Waiting For?
- The recent earnings results for Maximus Inc. portray a complex but promising landscape for the company, revealing both opportunities and challenges.
- Financially, Maximus reported revenue of $1.40 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2025, reflecting a 5.7% year-over-year growth, with an organic growth rate of 6.3%.
- The U.S. Federal Services segment was a primary growth driver with a 15.3% increase in revenues, suggesting strong performance in areas like clinical assessments and customer service programs.
PagSeguro Digital: Expanding Collateralized Loan Portfolio & Major Growth Drivers!
- PagSeguro Digital presented its fourth quarter 2024 results, showcasing notable growth in both its banking and payment segments.
- The company continued to expand its customer base, now at 33.2 million clients, with significant progress in both its revenue and earnings per share (EPS).
- However, the discussion of these results reveals a mixture of strengths and potential challenges for the company.
Q2 Holdings: Expanding Commercial Banking Solutions & Digital Banking To Up Their Game!
- Q2 Holdings, Inc., a provider of secure cloud-based digital banking solutions, reported strong financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2024.
- The company achieved non-GAAP revenue of $183 million for the fourth quarter, marking a 13% increase year-over-year and a 5% sequential growth.
- Full year revenue totaled $696.5 million, up 11% compared to the previous year.
SiTime Corporation Strikes Gold With Game-Changing Aura Deal—$100M Revenue Boost Incoming!
- SiTime Corporation reported a robust performance in its fourth quarter of 2024, signaling significant progress in financial outcomes and market traction.
- Revenue experienced a substantial 61% year-over-year growth, reaching $68.1 million, supported by non-GAAP gross margins of 58.8%.
- For the full fiscal year, SiTime’s revenue grew by 41% compared to the previous year, totaling $202.7 million.
💡 Before it’s here, it’s on Smartkarma
Sign Up for Free
The Smartkarma Preview Pass is your entry to the Independent Investment Research Network
- ✓ Unlimited Research Summaries
- ✓ Personalised Alerts
- ✓ Custom Watchlists
- ✓ Company Data and News
- ✓ Events & Webinars
