Record foreign outflows and surging energy costs are battering India’s economy and the rupee. While geopolitical tensions drive crude prices higher, some sectors show resilience amid the volatility. Lakshmi Iyer of Bajaj Finserv joined Haslinda Amin on Insight to discuss why market corrections offer opportunities and where she sees value in alternatives. (Source: Bloomberg)
Record foreign outflows and surging energy costs are battering India’s economy and the rupee. While geopolitical tensions drive crude prices higher, some sectors show resilience amid the volatility. Lakshmi Iyer of Bajaj Finserv joined Haslinda Amin on Insight to discuss why market corrections offer opportunities and where she sees value in alternatives. (Source: Bloomberg)
Yusuke Ide/iStock via Getty Images By Min Joo Kang , Senior Economist, South Korea and Japan Labour cash earnings rose in March, yet weaker than expected Japan’s labour cash earnings rose 2.7% year-on-year in March (vs a revised 3.4% in February, 3.2% market consensus). Regular wages rose 3.0%, while bonuses declined 1.5%. Real earnings rose 1.0% in March (vs 2.0% in February, 1.8% market consensu...
Yusuke Ide/iStock via Getty Images By Min Joo Kang , Senior Economist, South Korea and Japan Labour cash earnings rose in March, yet weaker than expected Japan’s labour cash earnings rose 2.7% year-on-year in March (vs a revised 3.4% in February, 3.2% market consensus). Regular wages rose 3.0%, while bonuses declined 1.5%. Real earnings rose 1.0% in March (vs 2.0% in February, 1.8% market consensus) Although March wage growth was below expectations, it’s noteworthy that real wages have now increased for three consecutive months. We expect wages to improve in coming months based on this year’s strong Spring wage negotiation (Shunto) results. Government actions limited increasing inflationary pressures The April Tokyo CPI rose a surprisingly modest 1.5% YoY. But this was mainly due to the government's actions, including price caps on gasoline and the waiving of nursery services fees. If these measures were removed, underlying inflation would remain well above 2%. Government efforts indeed reduced consumers’ burden, but these steps are unlikely to be sustainable. With the real interest rate deeply negative and wage growth expected above 5%, the BoJ may be at risk of falling behind. Tokyo inflation rose only 1.5% but mostly due to government measures Source: CEIC USDJPY climbed to near 157 level During the Golden Week holiday in Japan, FX authorities were believed to intervene in the market to stabilise the JPY. The market estimates that the amount was at least 5 trillion JPY. But it seems like the impact didn’t last long. The USDJPY briefly touched 155 on 6 May and traded near 157 this morning. This was already argued by our FX strategists. Even if the Bank of Japan raises rates in June, as we expect, the effect on the yen will be minimal, as market expectations regarding the Fed shift as well. Therefore, a rate hike in June likely won’t be enough to alter the trajectory of the yen. We believe a joint intervention with the US is possible, especially as US Treasury Secr...
Legacy Housing press release ( LEGH ): Q1 GAAP EPS of $0.46 beats by $0.01 . Revenue of $34.4M (-3.6% Y/Y) misses by $5.04M . Book value per share on March 31, 2026, was $22.66, an increase of 2.1% from December 31, 2025. More on Legacy Housing Legacy Housing Corporation: Low Multiples, High Earnings Yield, Growth Priced At Zero Legacy Housing Corporation (LEGH) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Qu...
Legacy Housing press release ( LEGH ): Q1 GAAP EPS of $0.46 beats by $0.01 . Revenue of $34.4M (-3.6% Y/Y) misses by $5.04M . Book value per share on March 31, 2026, was $22.66, an increase of 2.1% from December 31, 2025. More on Legacy Housing Legacy Housing Corporation: Low Multiples, High Earnings Yield, Growth Priced At Zero Legacy Housing Corporation (LEGH) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Quant Rating Check: How top homebuilders rank after QXO’s $17B TopBuild deal Builder confidence hits 7-month low: Here's how small cap homebuilding stocks stack up on Quant ratings Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Legacy Housing
Earnings Call Insights: AvePoint (AVPT) Q1 2026 Management View "Q1 was a strong start to the year" and the company "again exceed[ed] our guidance on both the top and bottom line," with "our 12th straight quarter of double-digit growth in organic net new ARR" and "more than 730 basis points of GAAP operating margin expansion" (Co-Founder, CEO & Director Tianyi Jiang). Management centered its strat...
Earnings Call Insights: AvePoint (AVPT) Q1 2026 Management View "Q1 was a strong start to the year" and the company "again exceed[ed] our guidance on both the top and bottom line," with "our 12th straight quarter of double-digit growth in organic net new ARR" and "more than 730 basis points of GAAP operating margin expansion" (Co-Founder, CEO & Director Tianyi Jiang). Management centered its strategy on what it called a market shift as "AI... evolves from assistance to autonomous agents" and "data governance becomes top of mind," adding: "We're building the trust layer for AI" across "data, governance, risk and operations" so customers can "deploy AI securely responsibly and with confidence" (CEO Jiang). AvePoint tied product direction to three priorities for enterprise AI: "precisely control what AI can access," "govern and audit every action AI takes" and "recover instantly when something goes wrong" (CEO Jiang). New and expanded capabilities called out included: "organizations can now see across their entire agent stack... all within one screen in Agent Plus," a "new risk definition for AI agents," and "significant investments into Google Cloud Protection" plus added backup sources including "Okta, Confluence, Jira, DocuSign, monday.com, GitHub and Smartsheet" (CEO Jiang). The CFO highlighted Q1 financial execution and mix, stating: "Total revenues in Q1 were $117.2 million," "SaaS revenues were $93.4 million... representing 80% of total Q1 revenues," and "as a result, 88% of our Q1 revenues were recurring" (Chief Financial Officer James Caci). Capital return escalated, with the CFO saying, "we repurchased 5.4 million shares for approximately $60.8 million," noted an additional "1.8 million shares for approximately $17.7 million" after quarter-end, and added that the board "authorized the replenishment... back to $150 million" (CFO Caci). Outlook "For the second quarter, we expect total revenues of $120.3 million to $122.3 million" and "non-GAAP operating income ...
The US and Iran clashed near the Strait of Hormuz, an escalation that threatens to further fracture a fragile ceasefire as the two sides discuss a permanent end to the war. US forces targeted missile and drone launch sites and other military assets in Iran that they said were responsible for attacking three US warships transiting the strait. No vessels were hit, US Central Command said . A monthlo...
The US and Iran clashed near the Strait of Hormuz, an escalation that threatens to further fracture a fragile ceasefire as the two sides discuss a permanent end to the war. US forces targeted missile and drone launch sites and other military assets in Iran that they said were responsible for attacking three US warships transiting the strait. No vessels were hit, US Central Command said . A monthlong ceasefire remains in effect, President Donald Trump said. The clashes risk undermining talks over a US-proposed deal to end the war that began in February. Iran is expected to send a response via Pakistan, acting as a mediator, in the next two days, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Trump threatened more intense strikes if Iran refuses his terms, raising the risk of a longer war that has already killed thousands and sparked a global energy crisis. “Just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST,” Trump said in a social media post . “It might not happen, but it could happen any day,” Trump told reporters later, referring to a possible agreement. Brent crude-oil futures rose 1.3% to $101.38 a barrel. Asian equities fell 1.1%, pulling back from a record close after Wall Street benchmarks also retreated from their peaks. European natural gas also advanced during thin trading in Asia, with front-month futures climbing 3.8%. The war, which began when the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically flows. Before the clashes near Hormuz were announced, Iran said that the US had targeted two of its oil tankers in the area, according to a Press TV report citing the country’s joint military command. It also accused the US of striking civilian areas along its southern coast and on Qeshm Island “with the cooperation of some regional coun...
Earnings Call Insights: DXC Technology (DXC) Q4 FY 2026 Management View "In Q4, we delivered a strong quarter on profitability with adjusted EBIT margin and free cash flow ahead of guidance." (President, CEO & Director Raul Fernandez) "On revenue, we delivered just over $3.1 billion missing our organic guide by approximately $75 million or 2 points." (President, CEO & Director Raul Fernandez) "Acr...
Earnings Call Insights: DXC Technology (DXC) Q4 FY 2026 Management View "In Q4, we delivered a strong quarter on profitability with adjusted EBIT margin and free cash flow ahead of guidance." (President, CEO & Director Raul Fernandez) "On revenue, we delivered just over $3.1 billion missing our organic guide by approximately $75 million or 2 points." (President, CEO & Director Raul Fernandez) "Across the globe, we pursued 13 large opportunities in this quarter... more than $2 billion of potential total contract value... DXC won 32%... we lost 40% and roughly 28% remains outstanding." (President, CEO & Director Raul Fernandez) "OASIS is our agentic orchestration platform that is rewriting how we deliver managed services... creating a recurring, scalable revenue stream with structurally higher margins." (President, CEO & Director Raul Fernandez) "We launched OASIS with 10 customers on April 28, and the early traction is real." (President, CEO & Director Raul Fernandez) "Total revenue was $3.1 billion, declining 6.6% year-to-year." (Chief Financial Officer Robert Del Bene) "Adjusted EBIT margin was 7.6%, slightly above our guidance range... Non-GAAP EPS was $0.77 at the high end of our guidance range." (Chief Financial Officer Del Bene) Outlook "We expect total organic revenue to decline 3% to 5% year-over-year with a 3- to 4-point improvement in the rate of decline in the second half of the year." (Chief Financial Officer Del Bene) "We anticipate adjusted EBIT margin in the range of 6% to 7%... We expect non-GAAP diluted EPS to be between $2.40 to $2.90... We expect free cash flow for fiscal 2027 to be about $600 million." (Chief Financial Officer Del Bene) "For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, we expect total organic revenue to decline between 6.5% to 7.5%... We expect adjusted EBIT margin to be approximately 5%... We expect non-GAAP diluted EPS to be approximately $0.40." (Chief Financial Officer Del Bene) "The Fast Track initiatives that we've been building for ov...
Earnings Call Insights: Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) Q1 2026 Management View "We delivered revenue of $199 million and earnings per diluted share of $0.72, slightly above our expectations." (CEO, President & Director Russell Low) "This includes a onetime impact associated with a $5 million customer settlement." (CEO, President & Director Low) "In the quarter, while our CS&I revenue moderated on a s...
Earnings Call Insights: Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) Q1 2026 Management View "We delivered revenue of $199 million and earnings per diluted share of $0.72, slightly above our expectations." (CEO, President & Director Russell Low) "This includes a onetime impact associated with a $5 million customer settlement." (CEO, President & Director Low) "In the quarter, while our CS&I revenue moderated on a sequential basis, it came in better than we expected and grew more than 30% on a year-over-year basis." (CEO, President & Director Low) "We also saw a strong sequential increase in system shipments to the memory market, which reached the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2023." (CEO, President & Director Low) "We remain excited about the opportunity to bring our 2 companies together" and "we continue to anticipate our pending merger of Veeco to close in the second half of 2026." (CEO, President & Director Low) "We are working closely with the state administration for market regulation in China to obtain regulatory approval, which is the only approval remaining to close the transaction." (CEO, President & Director Low) "First quarter revenue was $199 million, with system revenue at approximately $126 million and CS&I revenue at $73 million." (Interim CFO & Senior VP of Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy David Ryzhik) "By geography, revenue in China increased sequentially to 40%, up from 32% in the prior quarter." (Interim CFO & Senior VP Ryzhik) Outlook "We expect revenue in the second quarter of approximately $205 million." (Interim CFO & Senior VP Ryzhik) "We expect gross margins of approximately 43%." (Interim CFO & Senior VP Ryzhik) "And finally, we estimate net earnings per diluted share in the second quarter of approximately $0.90." (Interim CFO & Senior VP Ryzhik) "We continue to expect full year 2026 revenues to be approximately flat compared to 2025 levels." (Interim CFO & Senior VP Ryzhik) "We expect revenue to be second half weighted driven by an imp...