microgen/iStock via Getty Images Short-cycle industrial markets are recovering and companies are once again investing in automation. That’s good news for Yaskawa Electric ( YASKY ) ( YASKF ) (6506.T), but recent results have been choppy and there are ongoing concerns about the company’s long-term competitive position. Yaskawa’s local shares are up about 25% since my last update , and that’s a litt...
microgen/iStock via Getty Images Short-cycle industrial markets are recovering and companies are once again investing in automation. That’s good news for Yaskawa Electric ( YASKY ) ( YASKF ) (6506.T), but recent results have been choppy and there are ongoing concerns about the company’s long-term competitive position. Yaskawa’s local shares are up about 25% since my last update , and that’s a little weaker than the broader industrial sector. It’s also weaker than Fanuc ( FANUY ) ( FANUF ) (6954.T), Rockwell ( ROK ), and Siemens ( SIEGY ) over that time, and I believe at least some of that underperformance stems from disappointing margin development through this choppy period ahead of a more sustained demand recovery. I’m ambivalent about Yaskawa shares at this point. I don’t love the valuation, and I think the market is already giving credit for the recovery to come (which is normal relative to past cycles). I’m also concerned about long-term competitiveness in evolving automation markets. The “but” is that Yaskawa is a straightforward play on recovering automation demand (and spending in particular markets like semiconductors) and I’m reluctant to get too negative on a name with attractive near-term cyclical exposure. A Disappointing Fiscal Third Quarter Yaskawa’s recent quarters have seen a lot of volatility in operating income performance relative to company guidance and sell-side expectations. This is not entirely new for Yaskawa (or Japanese industrials more broadly), but it’s still not a positive development. Revenue rose 2% year over year in the fiscal third quarter , with Motion Control down 2% and Robotics up 9%. Management unfortunately does not provide consistent information about the servo and inverter businesses within Motion Control, but using the available data it looks as though servers may have been up around mid-single-digits, while inverters were weaker. Gross margin declined 310bp yoy and 160bp qoq to 34.2%, with mix playing a meaningful role, as...
BakiBG/iStock via Getty Images After years of Buy and Strong Buy ratings, my latest article on British American Tobacco p.l.c. (Oct. 17, 2025), was a sell. The reasons behind my pessimism were multiple: from the low growth of the New Category and Philip Morris ( PM ) competition, to the short-sightedness of capital allocation choices. I bought BTI when it was traded at $30 per share, and I sold it...
BakiBG/iStock via Getty Images After years of Buy and Strong Buy ratings, my latest article on British American Tobacco p.l.c. (Oct. 17, 2025), was a sell. The reasons behind my pessimism were multiple: from the low growth of the New Category and Philip Morris ( PM ) competition, to the short-sightedness of capital allocation choices. I bought BTI when it was traded at $30 per share, and I sold it at $50 per share, a very profitable investment, but in hindsight I have some regrets. I still believe that Philip Morris is a better company overall, but I admit that my concerns about the growth prospects were too pessimistic. In H2 2025, BTI compensated for an underwhelming H1 2025, and the overall results of FY2025 were solid. Furthermore, the economic context seems more favorable as BTI performance is totally disconnected from the AI disruption trend. At most, it can only benefit from it. Highlights FY2025 Total revenue in GBP (adjusted for Canada) increased by 2.10% compared to FY2024, driven by a solid combustible portfolio (revenue growth of 1%; adjusted gross profit up 2.50%) and a growth revival of New Category revenue, a 7% improvement over the last year. BTI FY2025 The New Category is the future of this company, and at first glance, growing by just 7% might seem too little. However, the guidance of FY2026 states a growth in low double digits, and I believe it is totally feasible since H2 2025 has been a turning point. BTI will never be a growth company, but I think the management goal of growing EPS by 5-8% per year is totally within reach, and this is what investors want. We know that combustible tobacco products are bound for decline, and Philip Morris understood this way before BTI. However, after the release of FY2025, data show that the latter is not in such a weak position as I previously thought. The Next Category experienced a revenue growth of 19% in the U.S., which is a very positive sign. In my latest article, I highlighted that Vuse, the brand that d...
China's smartphone sales fell 23% in January compared with a year ago due to a high base in 2025 and a shift in the timing of Chinese New Year promotions, Counterpoint Research said on Thursday. Its sales in China were up 8% Y/Y in January, with the iPhone 17 series sustaining strong momentum.
China's smartphone sales fell 23% in January compared with a year ago due to a high base in 2025 and a shift in the timing of Chinese New Year promotions, Counterpoint Research said on Thursday. Its sales in China were up 8% Y/Y in January, with the iPhone 17 series sustaining strong momentum.
American Business Bank ( AMBZ ) declares $0.30/share quarterly dividend , 20% increase from prior dividend of $0.25. Forward yield 1.7% Payable March 18; for shareholders of record Feb. 26; ex-div Feb. 26. See AMBZ Dividend Scorecard, Yield Chart, & Dividend Growth. More on American Business Bank American Business Bank Non-GAAP EPS of $1.87, revenue of $41.49M Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Ameri...
American Business Bank ( AMBZ ) declares $0.30/share quarterly dividend , 20% increase from prior dividend of $0.25. Forward yield 1.7% Payable March 18; for shareholders of record Feb. 26; ex-div Feb. 26. See AMBZ Dividend Scorecard, Yield Chart, & Dividend Growth. More on American Business Bank American Business Bank Non-GAAP EPS of $1.87, revenue of $41.49M Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on American Business Bank Dividend scorecard for American Business Bank Financial information for American Business Bank
Ethan Miller/Getty Images Entertainment Sphere Entertainment (NYSE: SPHR ) surged more than 15% in premarket trading on Thursday after the company posted a results beat for the fourth quarter, benefitting from multiple sponsorships, advertising partnerships, and the continued success of The Wizard of Oz . Revenue related to "The Sphere Experience" rose 62% to $274.2M, helped by 245 performances of...
Ethan Miller/Getty Images Entertainment Sphere Entertainment (NYSE: SPHR ) surged more than 15% in premarket trading on Thursday after the company posted a results beat for the fourth quarter, benefitting from multiple sponsorships, advertising partnerships, and the continued success of The Wizard of Oz . Revenue related to "The Sphere Experience" rose 62% to $274.2M, helped by 245 performances of The Wizard of Oz during the quarter and higher per-show revenue. The segment's operating loss narrowed to $6.5M from $107.9M last year. Revenue at MSG Networks fell 14% to $120.1M. The segment had an operating income of $35.4M, compared to a loss of $35M last year. "As we begin 2026, we remain focused on expanding Sphere’s global footprint, including advancing our plans to bring Sphere to Abu Dhabi and National Harbor, and believe the company is well-positioned for long-term growth," said CEO James Dolan. The company swung to a net profit of $57.6M for the three months ended December 31, compared with a loss of nearly $126M last year. On a per-share basis, it earned $1.42, while analysts on average were expecting a loss of $0.19 per share. The owner of the Las Vegas Sphere saw total revenue rise nearly 28% to $394.3M, which was above the consensus estimate of $378.85M. More on Sphere Entertainment Sphere Entertainment: High Short Interest And A Promising Outlook Sphere Entertainment GAAP EPS of $1.23 beats by $1.49, revenue of $394.3M beats by $16.7M Sphere Entertainment Q4 2025 Earnings Preview Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Sphere Entertainment Historical earnings data for Sphere Entertainment
A view shows model BYD SEAL U of BYD, a Chinese automobile manufacturer, displayed during an event a day ahead of the official opening of the 2023 Munich Auto Show IAA Mobility, in Munich, Germany, September 4, 2023. Leonhard Simon | Reuters Two of China's leading automakers, BYD and Geely , are among the finalists vying to purchase a Nissan–Mercedes-Benz plant in Mexico, according to a person fam...
A view shows model BYD SEAL U of BYD, a Chinese automobile manufacturer, displayed during an event a day ahead of the official opening of the 2023 Munich Auto Show IAA Mobility, in Munich, Germany, September 4, 2023. Leonhard Simon | Reuters Two of China's leading automakers, BYD and Geely , are among the finalists vying to purchase a Nissan–Mercedes-Benz plant in Mexico, according to a person familiar with the matter, as China seeks a manufacturing foothold in a country where U.S. tariffs are fueling factory closures and layoffs. The finalists emerged from nine companies expressing interest in acquiring the factory, including at least two other major Chinese manufacturers: Chery and Great Wall Motor, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Vietnamese electric-vehicle maker VinFast is the third finalist, one of the people said. The interest from Chinese automakers, which has not been previously reported, heralds a potentially major shift in Mexico's car industry. For decades, U.S., European and Japanese automakers have dominated, mostly building U.S.-bound vehicles. Now, Mexican officials face a balancing act. Trump administration tariffs are battering Mexico's auto sector, and Chinese investment could generate much-needed jobs. But Mexican officials also fear that Chinese production in Mexico could inflame Washington and jeopardize this year's North American trade-agreement negotiations. The United States has effectively banned Chinese-brand vehicle sales, and President Donald Trump has accused Mexico of providing a back door for Chinese goods to enter the U.S. market. BYD, Geely, Chery, Great Wall and VinFast did not comment for this story. The Mexico-manufacturing ambitions of BYD and Geely underscore the explosive global growth of China's auto industry. BYD's vehicle sales have jumped ten-fold since 2020 and Geely's have doubled. Both sold more than 4 million vehicles last year - about as many as Ford. Mexico is a major export market for BYD, Geely an...
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images The business development company, or BDC, market ( BIZD ) has already for some time fallen out of investors' favor, at least from the marginal buyer perspective. The first repricing started to happen in early 2025, when the market realized that lower base rates will eventually erode BDC earrings power, which in turn would lead to dividend reductions. Anothe...
J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images The business development company, or BDC, market ( BIZD ) has already for some time fallen out of investors' favor, at least from the marginal buyer perspective. The first repricing started to happen in early 2025, when the market realized that lower base rates will eventually erode BDC earrings power, which in turn would lead to dividend reductions. Another element that supported BDC deratings was the notable spread compression as the M&A markets were effectively idle due to interest rate and policy uncertainty. Then in Q3, 2025, Jamie Dimon came out with the famous comment around additional cockroaches emerging in the seemingly risk-loaded private credit space. This was triggered by the Tricolor and First Brands bankruptcies, which in combination with Jamie's comment caused notable shockwaves in the sector. However, after some period of structural repricing, in late 2025 BDCs finally started to exhibit signs of a reversal, which, in my view, was fully warranted as the BDC portfolio qualities still remained robust and the dividend yields (even after some cuts considered) were extremely competitive in relation to other high-yield alternatives. Now, because of the increased chatter around SaaS companies ( IGV ) and how they could get impaired due to the AI technologies, the market has once again switched on the "BDC punishment" mode. All of this just shows that BDC prices are mostly (at least currently) dictated by the credit risk dynamics and not what takes place at the interest rate (and thus dividend) department. Having said that, it does not mean that we should ignore the dividend component. For many BDC investors the expectation that gets assigned to the deployed capital here is twofold: Accessing high dividends that are not fed by the underlying NAV. Getting that income in steady and reliable fashion. And in this context, I have to say that the overall picture has become quite complex. It is not that black of white. Whil...
Jonathan Kitchen/DigitalVision via Getty Images I previously covered Arm Holdings plc ( ARM ) in August 2025, discussing how its renewed growth efforts were likely to be rather expensive, arising from the likely to be impacted profit margins/adj EPS arising from the intensified R&D investments and the speculative M&A activities. Combined with the decelerating growth profile, I had believed that th...
Jonathan Kitchen/DigitalVision via Getty Images I previously covered Arm Holdings plc ( ARM ) in August 2025, discussing how its renewed growth efforts were likely to be rather expensive, arising from the likely to be impacted profit margins/adj EPS arising from the intensified R&D investments and the speculative M&A activities. Combined with the decelerating growth profile, I had believed that the stock might continue trading sideways, resulting in my Hold rating then. In this article, I shall discuss why I am reiterating my Hold rating for the ARM stock, given the mixed return prospects arising from the still expensive valuations despite the recent correction, the mixed technical indicators, and the potential volatility arising from the elevated beta coefficient of 2.46x. This is despite the robust licensing/royalty growth prospects, the increased adoption of v9 architecture at higher royalty revenue per chip, the custom ASIC tailwinds from the multi-year cloud super-cycle, and the management's promising FQ4'26/FY2027 guidance. ARM Boasts Robust, Diversified Growth Prospects ARM 1Y Stock Price ( TradingView) Since my last Hold rating, ARM has remained volatile, as posited in my last article, with the stock's sideways trading between the established resistance/support levels lending credence to my prior swing trade investment thesis. This development is unsurprising indeed, as observed in the cooling market sentiments for AI-related stocks despite numerous market leaders reiterating the durability of data center-related spending trends in the ongoing Q4'25 earnings season. The same has been reported by ARM in the recent FQ3'26 earnings call, with licensing revenue growth of +25% YoY and royalty revenue growth of +27% YoY, thanks to the growing adoption of its Arm Total Access licenses to 50 (+10 YoY) and Arm Flexible Access licenses to 318 (+23 YoY). Much of their tailwinds are attributed to their incremental share gains by chip value against x86 incumbents across ...
TheKaran/iStock via Getty Images Occidental Petroleum Overview In this day and age of clicking on the computer and other forms of instant satisfaction, long-term seems to have become a long-lost skill set when it comes to investing. Many saw Warren Buffett purchase shares of Occidental Petroleum ( OXY ) repeatedly and then had all kinds of qualms about the fact that he stopped. But Warren Buffett ...
TheKaran/iStock via Getty Images Occidental Petroleum Overview In this day and age of clicking on the computer and other forms of instant satisfaction, long-term seems to have become a long-lost skill set when it comes to investing. Many saw Warren Buffett purchase shares of Occidental Petroleum ( OXY ) repeatedly and then had all kinds of qualms about the fact that he stopped. But Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK.A )( BRK.B ) have their own goals, objectives, and a strategy to execute all of that. They do not have to tell anyone about it. Furthermore, Mr. Buffett seems to understand long-term better than a lot of us that seem to want things to happen by lunchtime because that is long-term enough. Many of us think the long-term is the time between breakfast and lunch. Out of the remainder, a whole lot think that long-term is possibly six months. But there is a basic business school theme covered by David Dreman in his " Contrarian Investment Strategy " series of books that goes into one business cycle, which is five to seven years. In this day and age, when a business cycle is talked about, one sees a lot of eye rolls because no one waits that long. "Everybody" knows that. Yet Occidental is a very large company. Large companies often show improvement over time. It took Vicki Holub, CEO , about 4 years to be able to prove to the doubters that the Anadarko acquisition was a huge positive for Occidental Petroleum. Back in 2023, I covered the record earnings reported that she claimed were made possible by that acquisition. Before that I noted about 8 million acres that were part of the deal at no value on the Anadarko balance sheet. Investors could also see the work done with publicly traded Western Midstream Partners ( WES ) which Occidental has turned around nicely. Now the company has made still more deals. The doubters want results right away. To some extent there have been some benefits to the deals, as they were by and large immediately accretive. But w...
Although the stock market has sold off a bit, it's really not as bad as some people think. A few negative days in a row may be worrisome, but the S&P 500 is only down a couple of percentage points from its all-time high, so to call this a full-blown market sell-off isn't accurate. Now, if you want to rebrand it to a tech stock sell-off, that's more like it. Many tech stocks are down significantly ...
Although the stock market has sold off a bit, it's really not as bad as some people think. A few negative days in a row may be worrisome, but the S&P 500 is only down a couple of percentage points from its all-time high, so to call this a full-blown market sell-off isn't accurate. Now, if you want to rebrand it to a tech stock sell-off, that's more like it. Many tech stocks are down significantly from their recent highs, but most don't have a great reason to be there. I think these are the best stocks to buy now, and I've got three on my shopping list. I think each of these stocks will deliver excellent returns over the next few years, and should be bought hand over fist right now. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
jpgfactory Clear Street Group ( CLRS ) cut the number of shares it's offering by more than half and lowered its expected price range by ~36% after investors pushed back on its previous IPO expectations that could have valued the entire company at ~$12B. The brokerage would get gross proceeds of ~$354M from the offering of 13M shares if it prices at the high end of the revised expected price range ...
jpgfactory Clear Street Group ( CLRS ) cut the number of shares it's offering by more than half and lowered its expected price range by ~36% after investors pushed back on its previous IPO expectations that could have valued the entire company at ~$12B. The brokerage would get gross proceeds of ~$354M from the offering of 13M shares if it prices at the high end of the revised expected price range of $26-$28 per share. That's down from up to $1.05B that it might have received if the 23.8M shares it had expected to sell were priced at the high end of $40-$44 per share. The slimmed-down IPO puts a total valuation of the company at $7.2B. Bloomberg News reported the expectation of a reduced IPO late Wednesday. Clear Street ( CLRS ) calls itself a financial infrastructure technology company that has built a cloud-native, end-to-end capital markets platform powered by a single real-time ledger. Its expected IPO date is Friday, Feb. 13, according to the Nasdaq IPO calendar. More on Clear Street Group Inc. Clear Street Group Seeks IPO On High Growth, Profitability Clear Street files for IPO, seeks to raise ~$1.05B Financial information for Clear Street Group Inc.