For a city on the cusp of ending its longest run of budget deficits in two decades, Hong Kong isn’t brimming with confidence just yet. As a trade war with the US raged around it, Asia’s financial hub surprised with its fastest economic growth since 2021 and stamp duty revenue swollen by a resurgent stock market. The windfall probably narrowed last year’s budget deficit to a fraction of the HK$67 b...
For a city on the cusp of ending its longest run of budget deficits in two decades, Hong Kong isn’t brimming with confidence just yet. As a trade war with the US raged around it, Asia’s financial hub surprised with its fastest economic growth since 2021 and stamp duty revenue swollen by a resurgent stock market. The windfall probably narrowed last year’s budget deficit to a fraction of the HK$67 billion ($8.6 billion) previously projected by the government, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg, with Deloitte anticipating a small surplus. But when Financial Secretary Paul Chan delivers the annual budget on Wednesday, the prospect of the city’s first fiscal surplus in four years will still leave room for worry, given uncertainty over US tariffs and a likely economic slowdown in mainland China. Chan has been wary of calling a turnaround, voicing only cautious optimism for the year ahead. “In the face of a volatile external environment and the uncertainties inherent in our economic transformation, we must exercise prudent financial management,” he said Sunday in a brief blog post . “We must account for the community’s short, medium, and long-term needs and maintain an adequate level of reserves to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.” All indications so far point toward another bumper year for Hong Kong’s coffers. Coming off a four-year high in 2025, first-time share sales had their busiest-ever January on record, fueling heavy trading volumes that lifted the government’s stamp-duty revenue. Average daily turnover has already exceeded last year’s levels by reaching HK$272 billion in January, according to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It already saw 24 new listings this year and nearly 500 more companies have lined up for initial public offerings — about quadruple the total completed in 2025, the chairman of the HKEX said last week. The Hang Seng Index, the city’s benchmark, rose nearly 28% in 2025 in its best yearly performance since 2017. Chinese investors...
krblokhin/iStock Editorial via Getty Images In 2026, what has been incredibly surprising is the speed with which investors are dumping growth stocks that are running into snags. The stock market has essentially lost all patience for anything less than perfect fundamental execution, but the selloffs that have accompanied slip-ups are, in many cases, massive overcorrections. Sprouts Farmers Market (...
krblokhin/iStock Editorial via Getty Images In 2026, what has been incredibly surprising is the speed with which investors are dumping growth stocks that are running into snags. The stock market has essentially lost all patience for anything less than perfect fundamental execution, but the selloffs that have accompanied slip-ups are, in many cases, massive overcorrections. Sprouts Farmers Market ( SFM ), the upscale grocery chain that focuses on natural foods and not everyday packaged goods, is one of these stocks. As its comp sales growth has slowed dramatically over the past year, investors have dumped this name en masse: shares are down ~50% over the past year, and a recent Q4 earnings print and shaky FY26 outlook have not helped either. Data by YCharts I last wrote a buy article on Sprouts in December, when the stock was trading at $85 per share. Note that my bullishness on Sprouts is value-oriented; back when Sprouts was peaking above $150 last year, I had rated the stock at a sell. But now, with Sprouts falling a further ~20% since the start of January alone, I see an incredible opportunity to buy a company with a strong footprint for expansion and a consistently rising margin profile, even if it's running into near-term growth headwinds. I'm reiterating my buy rating here. One of the first things that investors should know about Sprouts is that the company still has plenty of white space for expansion. The company is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona and its largest markets are on the West Coast, particularly in California. However, the company's long-term operating model calls for ~10% annual unit expansion. The company ended 2025 with 477 total stores, opening 37 last year. Its FY26 plan calls for 40+ store openings (recall as well that the company is experimenting with smaller store formats that require less capex upfront and are higher-margin overall), with a focus on growing in expansion markets like the Midwest and Northeast: Sprouts footprint (Sprouts ...