Daily Brief United States: Samsonite, Alphabet , USD Coin, James Hardie Industries , Agilent Technologies, Apple , Crude Oil, Shoulder Innovations, Zephyr Energy and more

• Samsonite (1910 HK), the world’s leading travel luggage manufacturer/retailer, is trading well below its historical metrics. 
• The share price is up ~30% from its recent low, but down ~22% YTD following a ~31% fall over a 10-day period in early-April, shortly after Trump’s “Liberation Day” speech. 
• Management initiated a US$200mn buyback program last August. Overhangs include tariff and weak retail market in Asia and North America. Plus short selling has touched an all-time high.

• GOOGL is set to release Q2 earnings on Wednesday, July 23 after the close, having rallied 15.39% since Q1 results.
• Q2 has historically delivered strong average returns and the largest average absolute 1-day move.
• We explore how volatility and past earnings reactions frame expectations for the upcoming release.

• Singapore has emerged as one of the earliest jurisdictions to establish a comprehensive regulatory regime for fiat-referenced stablecoins.
• The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has adopted the Single-Currency Stablecoin (SCS) Framework.
• The adoption is mainly in institutional trials and crypto-native payment flows, but the potential is immense.

• James Hardie Industries Plc demonstrated a mixed performance in its fiscal fourth quarter of 2025, underpinned by its strategic growth initiatives amidst challenging market conditions.
• Despite facing a softer demand environment and macroeconomic uncertainties, the company managed to achieve its financial targets, indicative of its strategic agility and operational discipline.
• On the positive side, James Hardie’s focus on strategic investments and scaling the organization has borne fruit.

• Agilent is a leading provider of instruments, services, and consumables for labs in the life sciences, diagnostics, applied chemical markets, and R&D sectors
• With a market cap of $30 billion, Agilent was born within Hewlett Packard and spun off more than 25 years ago
• Agilent has a total addressable market of $160 billion and has a history dating back to 1938, starting as a testing instrument for audio equipment used by Disney in the production of Fantasia

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• IDC and Counterpoint released their 2Q25 smartphone estimates. Smartphone units increased 1-2% YoY. Best performer: Samsung +8% YoY, but this didn’t help 2Q operating profits. Vivo +5%, Apple +2%.
• The smartphone market is desperately flat – or in slow decline. Smartphone is 76% of revenues for Qualcomm, 57% for Mediatek, 50% Apple and Xiaomi, 35% Samsung, 31% TSMC. Problem?
• For Semiconductor firms (QCOM, MTK, TSM), chips ASP increases 10-15% at each generation, between node migration (N3, N2) and increasing AI functionalities. For hardware vendors (Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi), it’s worse.

• Chevron’s arbitration win over ExxonMobil unlocks Guyana’s Stabroek Block, a key asset underpinning its USD 53 billion Hess acquisition.
• SLB outperformed Q2 estimates despite YoY declines and also completed its ChampionX acquisition amid regulatory challenges.
• WTI crude found support late-week after better-than-expected economic data tempered demand fears, despite early pressure from inventory and macro concerns.

• They are a commercial stage medical technology company that currently offers advanced implant systems for shoulder arthroplasty.
• They generated net revenue of $31.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to net revenue of $19.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 (64% growth).
• This IPO could set terms as early as next week for a late July or early August debut. 

• • The Paradox initial processing capacity is envisaged to be able to handle 5-10 mmcf/d.
• Our base case assumes a conservative 5 mmcf/d, although throughput capacity is expected to increase with the tie-in of additional wells, including 16-2LN-CC and 28-11.
• Notably, the plant’s initial capacity is below the production potential of the 36-2R well.