abadonian/iStock via Getty Images Investment thesis. Equinor ( EQNR ) continues to show a great deal of resilience in the face of what was until recently an environment of weak oil prices, as well as European natural gas prices seemingly no longer responding to the usual price signals, such as low storage levels. The latter is a particularly important fundamental factor for the company, since Equi...
abadonian/iStock via Getty Images Investment thesis. Equinor ( EQNR ) continues to show a great deal of resilience in the face of what was until recently an environment of weak oil prices, as well as European natural gas prices seemingly no longer responding to the usual price signals, such as low storage levels. The latter is a particularly important fundamental factor for the company, since Equinor is by far Europe's largest natural gas supplier. The Iran conflict-induced oil & gas price rally, which will likely endure for the duration of the conflict, is a classic investment opportunity to sell high on a non-fundamentals-related event and then buy back shares at a significantly lower price once the event subsides. While I do intend to take profits on my Equinor position, because it is better-positioned to outperform its peers during this crisis, I intend to take profits on my other oil-related positions first, before I start reducing my Equinor position. When the crisis subsides, assuming that it will, leading to Equinor's share price to decline, I intend to replenish my position. Maintaining a buy position on surging energy prices. The last time I covered Equinor was in late December, and its share price was $23, versus about $31/share as I write this. Equinor stock price & other metrics. (Seeking Alpha.) The rise in its share price since the last time I covered this stock did not come with a proportional rise in its dividend, it is therefore less attractive in this regard, especially once Norway's dividend tax law is accounted for. It is also trading at a significantly higher P/E ratio, since the rise in its stock price was not driven by higher earnings. At the same time, my outlook for the European natural gas market, which has a high impact on Equinor's financial performance prospects has become more bullish. Inventory levels are low and with the Iran crisis disrupting LNG exports from Qatar, and oil prices also rising, Equinor's share price should rise going...
兩會｜「十五五」規劃綱要草案 李慧琼：對香港發展有指導意義 To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 【有線新聞】有港區全國人大代表說「十五五」規劃綱要草案內容對香港發展有指導意義。 沈豪杰：「加入北部都會區的發展，用的...
兩會｜「十五五」規劃綱要草案 李慧琼：對香港發展有指導意義 To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 【有線新聞】有港區全國人大代表說「十五五」規劃綱要草案內容對香港發展有指導意義。 沈豪杰：「加入北部都會區的發展，用的字眼是『加快』，體現到中央兩方面的看法，北部都會區的發展已經不單純是香港一個政策，而是提升至國家的戰略國家戰略，不單止要香港努力去做，而且要加快去做。 陳仲尼：「離岸人民幣點心債券有強化的空間，要有更多優質、信貸好的發行者，以及我們要做好二級市場交易。現在大家看到可能有些地方比較不穩定，香港正正可以讓國際投資者看到，如果將一部份資金投入香港，其實香港都是一個安全的避風港。」 李慧琼：「對於未來香港制定五年規劃，具有參考、很重要的指導意義，相信我們各界會深入學習，政府工作報告及規劃綱要的內容，我們都會做好調研工作，收集市民意見。」
Earnings Call Insights: Veeva Systems Inc. (VEEV) Q4 2026 Management View CEO Peter Gassner stated, "We had a strong finish to the year, delivering results ahead of our guidance. Total revenue in the quarter was $836 million with non-GAAP operating income of $366 million. For the year, total revenue was $3.195 billion and non-GAAP operating income was $1.434 billion. 2025 was an outstanding year f...
Earnings Call Insights: Veeva Systems Inc. (VEEV) Q4 2026 Management View CEO Peter Gassner stated, "We had a strong finish to the year, delivering results ahead of our guidance. Total revenue in the quarter was $836 million with non-GAAP operating income of $366 million. For the year, total revenue was $3.195 billion and non-GAAP operating income was $1.434 billion. 2025 was an outstanding year for Veeva. We surpassed our $3 billion revenue run rate goal and deepened our strategic partnerships across the life sciences industry through innovation and customer success." Paul Shawah, EVP of Strategy, discussed the future of CRM, stating, "We did talk about CRM being roughly 20% of our total revenue today, going to about 10% by the 2030 time frame. And that's primarily driven by a lot of the growth that you're going to see. We have a broad, diverse business that's growing along multiple dimensions. So -- and CRM is relatively stable, so we project CRM will be a nice stable business for us over the long term." CFO Brian Van Wagener addressed Crossix performance: "Crossix had an outstanding year last year, and it certainly exceeded our expectations. We're starting to lap some of those in Q4 and certainly into Q1... but that is a business that's executing really well with a long runway for growth." Outlook The company reaffirmed its expectation to have roughly 14 of the top 20 customers on Vault CRM and anticipates these decisions will play out in the coming year, with some decisions potentially extending later due to customer-specific launches. Guidance for fiscal 2027 assumes no significant changes in the macro environment, with management expressing "cautious optimism about what's happening" and noting that guidance is based more on anticipated customer projects than on short-term macro shifts. Management highlighted ongoing healthy growth expectations for Crossix and the continued ramp-up of new R&D products like RTSM and EDC as drivers for future growth. Financial Re...
Beijing laid out a list of priorities for the economy, innovation and the military for this year at the opening session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People on Thursday. Here are the major takeaways from this year’s government work report and budget report: Major targets for 2026 Gross domestic product growth of 4.5-5 per cent Advertisement A consumer price index...
Beijing laid out a list of priorities for the economy, innovation and the military for this year at the opening session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People on Thursday. Here are the major takeaways from this year’s government work report and budget report: Major targets for 2026 Gross domestic product growth of 4.5-5 per cent Advertisement A consumer price index increase of around 2 per cent A fiscal budget deficit of around 4 per cent of GDP Advertisement Addition of 12 million new urban jobs
Shares of Adobe (ADBE +0.82%) tumbled immediately following the company's fourth-quarter earnings release in December, contributing to a massive 38% decline over the past 12 months. Yet the company is actually doing quite well. Its fiscal fourth-quarter update featured 10.5% year-over-year revenue growth and record cash flow from operations. Even more, the company continued repurchasing its shares...
Shares of Adobe (ADBE +0.82%) tumbled immediately following the company's fourth-quarter earnings release in December, contributing to a massive 38% decline over the past 12 months. Yet the company is actually doing quite well. Its fiscal fourth-quarter update featured 10.5% year-over-year revenue growth and record cash flow from operations. Even more, the company continued repurchasing its shares in droves, suggesting management thinks its shares are undervalued. Still, investors are increasingly concerned that the proliferation of generative artificial intelligence (AI) will cannibalize the company's legacy design tools. Ahead of Adobe's earnings report next week, it's a good time to take a look at the stock. With shares down sharply over the last 12 months, is now a good time to buy? Adobe's underlying business remains strong Overall, Adobe's fourth quarter was exceptional. The company reported a 10.5% year-over-year increase in revenue, putting its top line at $6.2 billion. This capped off a robust fiscal 2025, with total revenue expanding 11% to $23.8 billion. Key to the company's business, of course, is its subscription revenue from creative software, including photo- and video-editing, document design, and more. Adobe exited the fiscal year with its digital media annualized recurring revenue (ARR) -- the annualized value of active subscription contracts -- near $19.2 billion, up 11.5% year over year. Contrary to investor fears, generative AI is currently acting as a catalyst rather than a constraint. Adobe is aggressively integrating its proprietary AI model, Firefly, directly into its flagship applications. And customers are upgrading to higher-tier subscriptions to access these generative capabilities. To this end, Adobe provided an upbeat outlook in its last quarterly update. Management forecast first-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue of about $6.3 billion at the midpoint of its guidance range, translating to about 9.9% year-over-year growth. Shares look cheap P...
The momentum in China’s venture-capital industry, which is recovering after years of decline, is likely to continue this year, mainly bolstered by government financing, but an expert warned that the lack of funding diversity poses a hidden risk. Fundraising picked up in 2025, with most of the gains coming from government sources, as central policymakers loosened rules to allow local governments to...
The momentum in China’s venture-capital industry, which is recovering after years of decline, is likely to continue this year, mainly bolstered by government financing, but an expert warned that the lack of funding diversity poses a hidden risk. Fundraising picked up in 2025, with most of the gains coming from government sources, as central policymakers loosened rules to allow local governments to issue more bonds to finance government guidance funds, according to a report released on Tuesday by Gavekal Dragonomics, a Hong Kong-based research firm. The report said government funding was likely to rise further in the coming months following the formation of four funds. Advertisement In late December, the National Development and Reform Commission launched a 100 billion yuan (US$14.5 billion) national venture capital guidance fund, financed by ultra-long special treasury bonds. Three regional funds have also been established, each with more than 50 billion yuan, alongside 49 sub-funds and 27 direct investment projects. The three regional funds are for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. In the first 11 months of 2025, 4,871 new venture capital funds were established in China, up 16.7 per cent from a year earlier. Photo: Shutterstock “The funding structure is fundamentally different from previous cycles, with government and state-owned capital as the absolute driving force,” said Jin Zhao, assistant professor of finance at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. “The national fund’s significance lies not only in its size but also in its [impact], conveying the central government’s clear support for the venture capital industry.”
Solskin/DigitalVision via Getty Images In November of last year, one company that I made the decision to revisit was Superior Group of Companies ( SGC ). Operationally, this is an interesting business. For those not familiar, it provides customers with customized merchandising products, promotional offerings, and branded uniforms. It has a special focus on the healthcare apparel market as well. Bu...
Solskin/DigitalVision via Getty Images In November of last year, one company that I made the decision to revisit was Superior Group of Companies ( SGC ). Operationally, this is an interesting business. For those not familiar, it provides customers with customized merchandising products, promotional offerings, and branded uniforms. It has a special focus on the healthcare apparel market as well. But on top of this, the company operates multiple call centers under its Contact Centers segment, with locations throughout El Salvador, Belize, the Dominican Republic, and the US, dedicated to providing inbound and outbound support for customers on a contract basis. I find this kind of business to be fascinating. And, over the last several months, I have been bullish about it. In fact, I reaffirmed it as a ‘buy’ candidate last November. Since that time, the stock has outperformed the market, rising 7.6% while the S&P 500 is up only 1%. The latest data provided by management came out on March 3rd, covering the final quarter of the 2025 fiscal year. To be clear, the company is a slow growth prospect at the moment. But even with that being the case, revenue and earnings per share came in above what analysts were hoping to see. What's more, management forecasted further growth in 2026. And when you add on top of this how cheap the stock is compared to other companies that have similarities to it, I believe that maintaining it as a ‘buy’ candidate is the right choice. Not a call to downgrade yet Author - SEC EDGAR Data On March 3rd, the management team at Superior Group of Companies reported financial results for the final quarter of the company's 2025 fiscal year. During that time, revenue amounted to $146.6 million. In addition to being above the $145.4 million the company reported a year earlier, it exceeded what analysts anticipated to the tune of $1.3 million. Bottom line results also surprised. Earnings per share, for instance, grew from $0.13 to $0.23, exceeding what analy...
Key Points Booking Holdings is one of the first notable stock splits of 2026. D-Wave Quantum stock has soared since its debut on public markets. With D-Wave Quantum stock falling more than 27% since the start of the year, investors have a chance to pick up shares at a much more attractive purchase price. 10 stocks we like better than D-Wave Quantum › From the spike in gold prices to fears that an ...
Key Points Booking Holdings is one of the first notable stock splits of 2026. D-Wave Quantum stock has soared since its debut on public markets. With D-Wave Quantum stock falling more than 27% since the start of the year, investors have a chance to pick up shares at a much more attractive purchase price. 10 stocks we like better than D-Wave Quantum › From the spike in gold prices to fears that an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble has formed, there are a variety of topics on investors' minds right now. And if stock splits hadn't been something that they've been contemplating, perhaps the recent news from Booking Holdings that it's planning a 25-for-1 stock split brought the topic back to mind and motivated them to look for other potential stock split candidates. D-Wave Quantum (NYSE: QBTS) stock, for example, has risen 2,690% over the past three years as of this writing. Between the quantum computing stock's exceptional performance and the continued attention investors are paying to it, many are wondering whether D-Wave Quantum stock will be included in an upcoming stock split. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » What are the catalysts for D-Wave Quantum stock's rise? Debuting on public markets after the completion of a business combination with a special purpose acquisition company in August 2022, shares of D-Wave Quantum stock plunged over the subsequent two-year period. However, in December 2024, D-Wave Quantum reversed its downward trajectory when investors gained greater insight into the company. Its CEO, Dr. Alan Baratz, appeared on a Yahoo! Finance show. On the show, Baratz lauded the company's novel approach to quantum computing that is helping customers achieve better returns on their investments. Another major catalyst for the stock's rise occurred in March 2025, when the co...
Under Beijing's Wing: Iran's Arsenal Authored by Zineb Riboua via Beyond the Ideological , In 2015, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was sold to the American public and to the world as the definitive answer to Iran’s nuclear threat. The agreement placed extensive restrictions on uranium enrichment, centrifuge capacity, and stockpile levels, but said almost nothing about the one thing...
Under Beijing's Wing: Iran's Arsenal Authored by Zineb Riboua via Beyond the Ideological , In 2015, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was sold to the American public and to the world as the definitive answer to Iran’s nuclear threat. The agreement placed extensive restrictions on uranium enrichment, centrifuge capacity, and stockpile levels, but said almost nothing about the one thing that would actually deliver a nuclear warhead to its target: ballistic missiles. Nothing about cruise missiles either. No limits on the development, testing, production, or deployment of the very weapons systems that transform a nuclear device from a dangerous secret in a bunker into a weapon that can destroy a city. A bomb is only as threatening as your ability to deliver it, and the JCPOA left Iran’s ability to deliver it completely unconstrained. For Iran, this distinction matters more than it does for almost any other country on earth. Decades of international sanctions have left Tehran with one of the weakest air forces in the region, an aging fleet incapable of penetrating the air defenses of Israel or any major Gulf state. Iran cannot deliver a nuclear weapon by aircraft. It cannot do so by sea with any reliability. The ballistic missile is the only component that gives the rest of the nuclear program strategic value. What makes this failure even more consequential is who stepped in to exploit it. Over the past two years, China has emerged as the principal external supplier of Iran’s ballistic missile program, providing everything from chemical precursors for solid rocket fuel to satellite guidance through its BeiDou-3 navigation network, which replaced American GPS across Iran’s entire military architecture. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned several Chinese entities for supplying the IRGC with chemicals used in missile fuel production. Intelligence revealed Iranian cargo ships unloading shipments of sodium perchlorate at Bandar Abbas, a substance that bypasse...
China’s government has told the country’s largest oil refiners to suspend exports of diesel and gasoline as an escalating conflict in the Persian Gulf disrupts the arrival of crude from one of the world’s largest producing regions. Officials from the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planner, met refinery executives and verbally called for a temporary suspensio...
China’s government has told the country’s largest oil refiners to suspend exports of diesel and gasoline as an escalating conflict in the Persian Gulf disrupts the arrival of crude from one of the world’s largest producing regions. Officials from the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planner, met refinery executives and verbally called for a temporary suspension of refined product shipments that would begin immediately, according to people familiar with the matter. They asked not to be named as the discussions are not public. The refiners were asked to stop signing new contracts and to negotiate the cancellation of already-agreed shipments, the people said. An exception was made for jet and bunker fuel held in bonded storage and supplies to Hong Kong and Macau, they added. PetroChina Co. , Sinopec , CNOOC Ltd. , Sinochem Group and private refiner Zhejiang Petrochemical Co. regularly obtain fuel export quotas from the government. None of the five responded to Bloomberg requests for comment. The NDRC also did not immediately respond to Bloomberg queries. China has a vast refining sector, but much of its production is funneled to serve domestic demand, meaning it is not a critical supplier to Asia. However, the curbs reflect efforts across the import-dependent region to prioritize domestic needs as a crisis in the Middle East deepens. With virtually no oil or fuel making its way out of the Persian Gulf since US and Israeli attacks began at the weekend, refiners from Japan to Indonesia and India have begun cutting back run rates and suspending exports.