Jonathan Kitchen/DigitalVision via Getty Images As Q1 2026 comes to a close, we follow up on an article we published last week on buybacks by analyzing corporations' other favorite way to return value to shareholders. The percentage of companies increasing dividends in Q1 was the highest level since Q1 2019 (45%). With 41% of dividend announcements denoting an increase, Q1 2026 tied with levels se...
Jonathan Kitchen/DigitalVision via Getty Images As Q1 2026 comes to a close, we follow up on an article we published last week on buybacks by analyzing corporations' other favorite way to return value to shareholders. The percentage of companies increasing dividends in Q1 was the highest level since Q1 2019 (45%). With 41% of dividend announcements denoting an increase, Q1 2026 tied with levels seen in Q1 2025 and Q1 2022. This suggests boardrooms are still optimistic about cash flows in 2026, as they enter the year with stronger balance sheets and positive earnings forecasts. Global Dividend Changes: A High Hike-Percentage in Q1 2026 Source: Wall Street Horizon More dividend payouts mean investment teams need to adjust stock prices to reflect these corporate actions properly in order to conduct time-series analysis. TMX’s Price Adjustment Curve (PAC) provides price adjustments applicable down to tick-level prices or even orders, and below you can see the number of recorded adjustments for North American dividends have been steadily increasing. Q4 2025 recorded 17,229 such price adjustments, the largest quarterly tally in our five years of data. Q1 2026 ended with 13,137 price adjustments, the third largest amount. Source: TMX Datalinx, Price Adjustment Curve A Dividend Divide: Large-Cap Confidence vs. Small-Cap Restraint? Large Caps While corporate confidence appears resilient among the world's largest giants, a deeper look at the data reveals a growing divide between the mega-cap leaders and smaller, more cautious firms. The start of 2026 has been marked by a show of strength from global heavyweights. The most notable hikes this year have been from industry titans such as Taiwan Semiconductor ( TSM ), AstraZeneca ( AZN ), HSBC Holdings ( HSBC ), and Verizon ( VZ ). For these companies, the message seems to be, "We have more cash than we know what to do with, and we are confident in the year ahead." Companies with market capitalizations over $10B (large cap) and $2...
Two people in police custody after a fatal incident in Cudworth area on Friday evening Two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man died after a collision in the Cudworth area of Barnsley. Emergency services responded to reports of a collision between a Volkswagen Touareg and a pedestrian on Rose Tree Avenue about 4.55pm on Friday, South Yorkshire police said in a statement. Co...
Two people in police custody after a fatal incident in Cudworth area on Friday evening Two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man died after a collision in the Cudworth area of Barnsley. Emergency services responded to reports of a collision between a Volkswagen Touareg and a pedestrian on Rose Tree Avenue about 4.55pm on Friday, South Yorkshire police said in a statement. Continue reading...
Iran on Saturday executed two men convicted of membership in a banned opposition group and carrying out disruptive actions aimed at overthrowing the Islamic Republic, the judiciary said. The executions were the latest in a series targeting members of the banned People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK), after four other convicted members of the group were put to death earlier in the week. They...
Iran on Saturday executed two men convicted of membership in a banned opposition group and carrying out disruptive actions aimed at overthrowing the Islamic Republic, the judiciary said. The executions were the latest in a series targeting members of the banned People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK), after four other convicted members of the group were put to death earlier in the week. They also come against the backdrop of Iran’s war with the United States and Israel, sparked by...
Jonathan Kitchen/DigitalVision via Getty Images Investment summary My previous investment thought on Kuaishou Technology ( KUASF ) was a buy rating because revenue growth remains robust across key segments, even in live streaming. The AI growth driver was also becoming meaningful. However, as much as the Q4 quarter itself was solid, the near-term setup has clearly worsened. Management’s 2026 guida...
Jonathan Kitchen/DigitalVision via Getty Images Investment summary My previous investment thought on Kuaishou Technology ( KUASF ) was a buy rating because revenue growth remains robust across key segments, even in live streaming. The AI growth driver was also becoming meaningful. However, as much as the Q4 quarter itself was solid, the near-term setup has clearly worsened. Management’s 2026 guidance now points to slower growth, lower margins, and a meaningful decline in adj. earnings as AI capex rises sharply. I still think the long-term story is intact, but the near-term setup is poor here. 4Q25 earnings review The quarter itself was solid . Total revenue grew 12% y/y, with all segments contributing. In online marketing services [OMS], revenue grew 15% y/y, while other services, which are mainly e-commerce-related, grew 28% y/y. For e-commerce, GMV grew 13% y/y. Unlike Q3, live streaming was the weak spot, with revenue down 2% y/y. Nonetheless, topline growth did flow through to profits. Gross profit grew almost in line with revenue growth, at 14% y/y, but on an adjusted basis, net income was up 16% y/y to RMB5.46 billion. The quarter was fine, but the near-term setup isn’t great The reason why I downgrade KUASF to hold is because the near-term setup has gotten worse. Management guided 2026 revenue growth of 4% to 4.5%. Within that, OMS is expected to grow just 6% to 6.5%, live broadcasting to decline 6.5%, and other services to grow 15%, with e-commerce up in the high single digits. Adj. earnings is guided to RMB17 billion to RMB17.5 billion, which implies an 11% to 11.5% net margin and a 15% to 18% y/y decline. Importantly, capex is expected to swell from RMB14.9 billion in 2025 to RMB26 billion in 2026. This changes the equity narrative in a huge way. Back in my Q3 update, the narrative was bullish because revenue growth was improving, live streaming had stabilized, and AI was mostly being framed as a monetization and margin support story. While I did flag high...
Getty Images Introduction A quick look at CMB.TECH’s ( CMBT ) recent earnings data may confuse investors because, on the one hand, revenue has gone up and EBITDA is strong, while on the other hand, EPS has fallen sharply. CMBT may appear under pressure if you only go by that data, but that will be a wrong assessment. It will be wrong because the weak earnings largely came from one-off costs relate...
Getty Images Introduction A quick look at CMB.TECH’s ( CMBT ) recent earnings data may confuse investors because, on the one hand, revenue has gone up and EBITDA is strong, while on the other hand, EPS has fallen sharply. CMBT may appear under pressure if you only go by that data, but that will be a wrong assessment. It will be wrong because the weak earnings largely came from one-off costs related to the Golden Ocean deal. That involved refinancing and integration expenses, but more importantly, only focusing on EPS misses the point that CMBT is no longer a business whose earnings are determined by accounting but by freight rates. Once we get that shift, the apparent contradiction goes away. CMBT’s earnings power is actually much higher than the reported EPS suggests. But it is also more sensitive to certain market conditions. Why Reported EPS Is Misleading CMBT’s full-year net income was around $140 million. Their revenue was around $1.67 billion, and EBITDA was $943 million. This shows a disconnect between revenue and income. The latter declined over 80% YoY, while EPS declined over 84%. However, this decline is not what we see in the underlying business. In their earnings call , management clearly identifies a few non-recurring items that caused this decline. These include items listed in the section below, and they should not be used to extrapolate future earnings. These distort the correct view of current profitability. CMBT is in a rapid restructuring phase, so these are not reflective of its steady-state earnings capacity. Rebuilding Normalized Earnings We need to adjust for these one-offs in order to get an idea of underlying performance. Based on the company’s February 2026 6-K disclosures: Author Some items were not explicitly disclosed, so I would round that to $50 million, so we get an adjusted figure of roughly: $140M + ~$50M ≈ ~$190M This is a more reasonable estimate of normalized earnings for the period. However, even this is conservative, because t...