Industrials

Quanta Services raised its full-year 2026 free cash flow outlook to $2-$2.5 billion, alongside operating cash flow expectations of $2.9-$3.4 billion, after a strong first half. In the second quarter, Quanta generated operating cash flow of $1.10 billion and free cash flow of $886 million, bringing first-half free cash flow to $1.07 billion, sharply higher than $288 million in the comparable 2025 period. Management attributed the second-quarter strength partly to favorable working-capital dynamics, particularly from large-load and renewable projects, while days sales outstanding improved to 57 days. The outlook is underpinned by a record $53.4 billion backlog, expanding project activity and rising investment in electric grids, power generation, data centers and other mission-critical infrastructure. Quanta still expects roughly $900 million of net capital expenditures in 2026, and cash generation could fluctuate with project timing, working-capital requirements, acquisitions, weather, permitting, supply-chain issues, inflation and project execution. Quanta competes with MasTec and EMCOR Group across power, electrical and mission-critical infrastructure markets; MasTec reported negative $59 million of free cash flow in the second quarter, while EMCOR posted record remaining performance obligations of $17.14 billion.

Schneider Electric agreed to buy PTC for about $22.6 billion in an all-cash deal aimed at tapping into the artificial-intelligence boom, sending PTC shares rallying. Qualcomm shares moved higher after the company agreed to license patents underpinning Huawei Technologies Co.'s novel LogicFolding chipmaking technique. Taiwan Semiconductor shares gained as sentiment was boosted by discussions between the Taiwanese chip giant and Elon Musk's Terafab on potential collaboration.

GE Aerospace is leaning on its Commercial Engines & Services segment as its key growth driver, with second-quarter 2026 segment revenues up 27% and orders up 18% year over year as engine deliveries rose 26%. In the first half of 2026, the company booked GEnx orders from United Airlines and Delta Air Lines for Boeing 787 Dreamliners, LEAP orders from American Airlines and Copa Airlines, an order from Copa Airlines for up to 120 LEAP-1B engines for its Boeing 737 MAX fleet, and a long-term materials agreement supporting Ryanair's fleet of approximately 2,000 CFM56 and LEAP engines. During 2025, GE Aerospace secured more than 500 engine wins at the Dubai Airshow, including flydubai GEnx deals and Riyadh Air LEAP-1A orders, plus a Cathay Pacific order for GE9X engines on its Boeing 777 9 aircraft and a Qatar Airways deal for more than 400 GE9X and GEnx engines that stands as the largest widebody engine deal in the company's history. The company is also advancing its FLIGHT DECK lean model, with supplier improvements supporting revenue growth. Among peers, RTX reported 16% organic sales growth in the second quarter, while Howmet Aerospace's commercial aerospace revenues rose 28% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, constituting 53% of its business.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City set new September and third-quarter records for grain transportation, moving 2.94 million metric tons in Canada and 2.51 million metric tons in the United States during September. Both countries set new third-quarter records, surpassing the previous records set in 2020. Through Week 8 of the 2026-2027 crop year, CP has moved more than 4.99 million metric tons and 51,268 carloads of Canadian grain. CP's shares have gained 16.8% year to date, compared with 20.3% growth for the Transportation - Rail industry, and the stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

AMTD Group, AMTD IDEA Group, AMTD Digital and The Generation Essentials Group, a subsidiary of AMTD Digital, announced they are in negotiations as a final stage bidder to acquire a second hotel in New York City, located in the Times Square area. The parties are in the final negotiation stage and are working toward a definitive purchase agreement with a target closing date before the end of 2026, though AMTD cautioned there is no certainty the transaction will be consummated. The move follows AMTD's March 2026 acquisition of a hotel at 39 6th Ave, New York, NY 10013, for a cash consideration of USD69 million, now rebranded as the AMTD IDEA Tribeca Hotel. AMTD currently holds a portfolio of six hotel properties across four continents, including Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, New York, London, Perth and Kuala Lumpur, totaling 919 rooms, and said completing this second New York City hotel acquisition would fulfil its commitment to grow the global portfolio to over 1,000 rooms and a global network of an independent hotels group under the AMTD brand. AMTD described the opportunity as a significant strategic move and said it believes the new hotel will become another profit catalyst for the Group.

DLH Holdings announced on Monday that it has been awarded a task order to design, develop, and pilot a data governance framework for secure access to controlled biomedical research data by the National Institutes of Health. Under the task order, DLH will serve as a technical advisor to harmonize NIH and federal data policies and integrate governance workflows across biomedical data platforms, piloting a data management approach within the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and at least one other NIH Institute or Center, which could serve as a roadmap for NIH-wide adoption. The company said it will incorporate security, privacy, data rights, and artificial intelligence governance requirements where applicable and collect performance metrics related to usability, compliance, interoperability, and stakeholder satisfaction. DLH said the task order represents new work and carries a total value of $2 million over an eighteen-month period of performance.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions announced on Monday that it won multiple contracts worth more than $100 million to develop space intelligence and cyber capabilities for joint military operations. The work will support RF signal collection, intelligence gathering, electronic warfare, and offensive cyber operations. The contracts will leverage the company's KnownSpace network of more than 190 RF sensors across more than 20 locations, along with its software and analytics capabilities. Following the announcement, KTOS stock traded about 1.58% higher at roughly $43.75 in pre-market trading.

Leidos and investment firm Altaris have completed their previously announced transaction to form a scaled U.S.-based joint venture for advancing security screening at airports, borders and critical infrastructure worldwide. Operating under the Analogic brand, the new company combines complementary security screening technologies, engineering expertise and advanced manufacturing capabilities, and Leidos will retain a significant minority ownership stake in it, maintaining its interests in a critical national security market. Leidos Chief Executive Officer Tom Bell said the joint venture creates an American innovator with the technology, talent and scale to address rapidly evolving global security screening needs, and that its launch sharpens the company's focus on the growth engines driving its NorthStar 2030 strategy. In parallel with the mission of the Analogic joint venture, Leidos will continue its work across the broader aviation ecosystem, including modernizing airports and air traffic systems. Leidos, headquartered in Reston, Virginia, reported annual revenues of approximately $17.2 billion for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026, while Analogic is headquartered in Salem, New Hampshire, and Altaris manages $9+ billion of equity capital.

Hapag-Lloyd lifted its earnings outlook for 2026 after reporting stronger market demand and firmer spot freight rates. The upgraded guidance follows a 90-day share price return of 21.62% and a 1-year total shareholder return of 25.22%, though the 3-year total shareholder return declined 8.55%. Against a last close of €141.20, the most followed analyst narrative puts Hapag-Lloyd's fair value at €106.30, framing the shares as 33% overvalued. Management said volume growth is likely to moderate in the second half and beyond, with the company expecting only moderate increases above a roughly 3% industry trend, and flagged persistent downward pressure on freight rates and normalization of spot rates. The company's push into more efficient, lower emission vessels could still support higher volumes and margins than consensus expects.

PTC agreed to be acquired by Schneider Electric for $205 per share, valuing the software company's equity at more than $22 billion, with the transaction expected to close by the third quarter of 2027. PTC shares surged 36% premarket on the news. Brazilian stocks rallied after right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro edged out incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva by around 2 percentage points in Sunday's election, sending the iShares MSCI Brazil ETF up 12% and U.S.-listed shares of Itau Unibanco and Banco Bradesco up more than 13% each. Wells Fargo gained 1% after a Morgan Stanley upgrade to overweight from equal weight, while DraftKings popped over 5% on a Bank of America upgrade to buy from neutral, with analyst Julie Hoover expecting prediction markets to generate $400 million in fees for 2027 and between $200 to $400 million in market making. Estee Lauder rose 2.8% after Barclays upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight, citing its growth and earnings profile over the next several years.

GEO Group said it completed the sale of three immigration detention facilities in Adelanto, California, to the U.S. government for an aggregate gross price of $950M. The facilities comprise the 1,280-bed Adelanto West ICE Processing Center, the 660-bed Adelanto East ICE Processing Center, and the 704-bed Desert View Annex. After taxes, transaction fees, and expenses, GEO expects to receive approximately $705M in net proceeds. GEO will continue providing support services at all three facilities under its existing contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which runs through Dec. 19, 2034, including a five-year option period. The company plans to use the proceeds, along with operating cash flow, to reduce debt, repurchase shares, and for other general corporate purposes, and its board increased its share repurchase authorization by $750M to $1.25B, effective through Dec. 31, 2029. GEO shares rose 4.7% premarket.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide announced on Monday that it struck a stock-and-cash deal to acquire RXO Inc. for an implied value of $5.8B, creating a combined company with an enterprise value of over $25B. Under the merger agreement, RXO stockholders may elect to receive either $17.25 in cash and 0.0856 shares of C.H. Robinson common stock, an all-cash consideration of $30.25 per share, or an all-stock consideration of 0.1992 shares of C.H. Robinson common stock, and are expected to own 11% of the combined company upon close. C.H. Robinson expects to realize approximately $300M of net run-rate cost synergies within two years post-close by applying its Lean AI operating model across RXO's business, and will integrate RXO primarily into its NAST division. CEO Dave Bozeman called the transaction a natural next step in the company's transformation toward a more scaled, resilient North American third-party logistics provider. Shares of RXO shot up 17.7% in premarket trading, while C.H. Robinson traded flat.

Tutor Perini said its subsidiary, Perini Management Services, has been awarded a contract worth about $315M by the U.S. Coast Guard to build a new fuel pier at USCG Base Kodiak in Alaska. The accelerated design-build-to-budget project will expand dock capacity to accommodate up to two major cutter berths. It also includes unexploded ordnance removal, waterfront improvements, a new fueling utility building, utilities, cutter shore ties, and other site improvements. Design work began in late September, with substantial completion expected in September 2030. The contract will be included in Tutor Perini's third-quarter 2026 backlog.

The Air Cargo Subcommittee, the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trade of Thailand met Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn to discuss ways to improve the efficiency of air cargo management, after Thailand's air cargo volumes continued to grow and caused congestion at some stages of the shipping process. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, or CAAT, the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning, and Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited, or AOT, joined the discussion on 5 October 2026. For urgent measures, the Board of Trade of Thailand proposed bringing in explosive detection dogs, or EDD, to support the cargo screening process in order to increase capacity to handle rising cargo volumes while maintaining aviation safety standards. For long-term measures, it proposed developing a security system for air cargo in line with international standards by promoting Known Consignor, or KC, and Regulated Agent, or RA, systems so that cargo inspection and security begin at the point of origin, helping reduce the burden and congestion at downstream stages. It also proposed setting up a joint working group among the relevant agencies to monitor and drive the various measures so they produce concrete practical results. CAAT and AOT explained that they are currently preparing to bring explosive detection dogs into use to support cargo screening, and that in the first phase they may seek support from AOT first, while discussing with relevant agencies how to increase the number of dogs to meet future demand. AOT, meanwhile, is developing an air cargo management system and will coordinate closely with the Thai Chamber of Commerce. The Minister of Transport has assigned the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport to chair the working group in order to monitor and drive joint operations continuously, aiming to fix the system's limitations in the urgent term alongside laying out a long-term system to support the growth of air cargo and concretely raise the efficiency of Thailand's air cargo transport system.

The Ministry of Transport reported progress in resolving the crisis at Suvarnabhumi Airport involving Thai Airways International Public Company Limited. As of about 8:00 this morning, Thai Airways inbound and outbound flights were operating according to plan at 100%, with 122 inbound flights and 123 outbound flights. Leftover outbound and transit baggage fell to 150 pieces, down from a peak backlog of 7,175 pieces. Inbound baggage continued its downward trend, with 712 pieces remaining, down from a peak of 5,423 pieces. Passengers have already collected 300 pieces, leaving 412 still to be handled. On staffing, 105.48% of the planned workforce reported for duty, or 1,348 people against a plan of 1,278. As for cargo services, there is no longer any cargo left in the warehouse, though demand remains for warehouse space to accommodate shippers arriving to collect goods that have already been sorted.

Schneider Electric has agreed an all-cash offer of $22.6 billion for U.S. industrial software firm PTC, a 42.3% premium to PTC's last closing price, sending European engineering software stocks broadly higher on Monday. Dassault Systèmes rose 2.3% in Paris morning trade, Nemetschek climbed 1.9% and TeamViewer gained 3.2%, while PTC shares surged roughly 34% in pre-market trading on bets the $205-per-share cash offer closes without a rival bid. Autodesk, the closest U.S.-listed peer in engineering and product-lifecycle software, was up around 1.6% to approximately $215.50 in pre-market trade. Schneider expects to fund the deal through a combination of equity issuance and new debt, with the transaction targeted to close in the third quarter of 2027 pending regulatory and shareholder approvals, and projects €250 million in annual run-rate cost synergies by year three plus roughly €800 million in revenue synergies, compressing the effective EBITA acquisition multiple from 21x to 13x on 2027 estimates. The enterprise value implied by the deal is $23.7 billion.

Schneider Electric agreed to acquire engineering software developer PTC for $22.6B in an all-cash deal at $205 per share, sending PTC shares up 34%. The transaction implies an enterprise value of $23.7B, or 21x 2027E EV/adjusted EBITA and 13x including full run-rate synergies, represents a 42.3% premium to PTC's last closing price, and is expected to close by Q3 2027. Qualcomm shares rose 3% after the company and Huawei agreed to a multi-year patent licensing deal covering 5G, computing, AI, and networking technologies, including cross-licenses to their respective patent portfolios, with Qualcomm also set to acquire certain Huawei U.S. patents subject to regulatory approvals. Huawei said its intellectual property licensing business has generated positive revenue since 2021, with more than 165,000 active granted patents as of the end of 2025; the companies previously settled a patent dispute in 2020, when Huawei agreed to pay Qualcomm $1.8B in back licensing fees. Redwire shares rose 2% after it was awarded a follow-on contract by Axiom Space to develop and deliver two Roll-Out Solar Array wings for the second module of Axiom Station, building on its work on ROSA wings for the station's first module, which is expected to launch in 2028.

Several brokers have issued research notes recommending a buy on Gunkul Engineering, or GUNKUL, after it signed a partnership agreement with Gulf Development, or GULF, to set up a joint venture for renewable energy projects. Bualuang Securities said GUNKUL signed power purchase agreements, or PPAs, for an additional 261.8 megawatts in phase 2 renewable energy projects, and sold a 50 percent stake in seven project companies, or SPVs, with total capacity of 673.4 megawatts to GULF for 467 million baht. The deal helps keep 26 billion baht of project debt off GUNKUL's balance sheet and opens the door to EPC backlog not yet included in estimates. It maintained its buy rating with a target price of 6.50 baht. Krungsri Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral with a 2027 target price of 6.30 baht per share based on a sum-of-the-parts method, split into 4.05 baht per share for the power business and 2.24 baht per share for the EPC and trading business. It also raised its 2026 to 2028 profit forecasts by an average of 8 percent, putting profit at 2.1 billion, 2.1 billion and 3.3 billion baht, an average growth rate of about 25 percent a year, with clear growth expected in 2028 after commercial operation, or COD, of large renewable energy projects in the Philippines. Asia Plus Securities kept its estimates and 2027 fair value at 6.40 baht per share, saying the restructuring does not significantly affect long-term project returns, and recommended gradually accumulating the stock for the long term. GUNKUL shares closed the morning session at 5.15 baht, up 0.10 baht or 1.98 percent.

Thai Airways International Public Company Limited, or THAI, summarised its service situation as of 08:00 on 5 October 2026, saying overall operations have recovered to almost completely normal conditions, with only some remaining backlogged baggage still to be managed. Both inbound and outbound flights were able to operate according to plan at 100%, comprising 122 inbound flights and 123 outbound flights, for a total of 245 flights. On the baggage backlog, the outbound and connecting side fell to 150 items from a peak backlog of 7,175 items, while the inbound side was down to 712 items from a peak of 5,423 items. Passengers have come forward to collect 300 items, leaving 412 bags still requiring handling. On staffing, actual attendance came to 105.48% of plan, or 1,348 people against a planned 1,278. On cargo operations, there is currently no cargo left in the warehouse, but there is still demand for warehouse space to accommodate shippers arriving to collect goods that have already been broken down.

Honda and Taisei announced on the 5th that they have developed the foundational technology for a magnetic-field-coupling wireless power supply road system that delivers power contactlessly to electric vehicles while they are driving. Three companies took part in the development: Honda R&D, Honda's research and development subsidiary, and Taisei together with its subsidiary Taisei Rotec, which handles road and paving work. The system supplies power from transmission equipment buried in the road to receiving devices on the vehicle side, and is designed to handle up to the typical maximum speed of expressways. With an eye toward large commercial vehicles, the companies aim first for practical application in the logistics and transport sectors, where adoption benefits are expected, and plan to conduct demonstration tests on expressways from fiscal 2027 onward. Honda began work on the technology in 2021, and the three-company joint research started in 2025. East Nippon Expressway plans to begin demonstrations of in-motion power supply over roughly 300 meters on the main line near the Kimitsu parking area of the Tateyama Expressway from fiscal 2027 onward, with teams from Honda R&D and Taisei as well as teams from Toyota, Denso, and Obayashi taking part.

Galliford Try Holdings PLC has landed a spot on the latest £3 billion Constructing West Midlands Framework, selected for the major works lot covering projects over £10 million. Connecting Excellence Group Plc has completed its first acquisition, buying James Gray Recruitment, and has grown its Bitcoin holding to over 81 coins, worth around £5.25 million. Bradda Head Lithium Ltd has intersected visible spodumene mineralisation in all three of its first Whistlejacket holes in Arizona, with lab assays now the next key test. Tower Resources PLC has secured a one-year extension to its exploration licence at Thali in Cameroon and is now working towards a drilling campaign targeted for Q2 2027. Premier African Minerals Ltd has raised around £1.2 million to restart operations at its Zulu Lithium project in Zimbabwe, with the plan now focused on processing ore already sitting on the stockpile.

Redwire has been awarded a follow-on contract by Axiom Space to develop and deliver two Roll-Out Solar Array wings for Axiom Station's second space station module. The company is also developing the ROSA wings for Axiom Space's first space station module, which is undergoing final assembly at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. That first module will then be transferred to Houston for integration and testing before launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the launch planned for 2028. The second module is preparing for final assembly at Thales Alenia Space and is expected to launch less than a year after the first module, and once in orbit it can remain there until it is ready to dock with the first module. Together, the two modules are expected to form a four-crew-capable, operational free-flying space station.

Redwire Corporation has been awarded a follow-on contract by Axiom Space to develop and deliver two Roll-Out Solar Array wings for Axiom Station's second space station module. The award follows Redwire's previously announced work building the ROSA wings for Axiom Space's first space station module. Mike Gold, President of Redwire Space, said ROSA's track record supporting the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit makes it the ideal system to power Axiom Station, citing its 100-percent success rate across environments from LEO to GEO and beyond. Axiom Space CEO and President Dr. Jonathan Cirtain said Redwire's Roll-Out Solar Array hardware is a crucial component for building a sustainable commercial presence in LEO. Axiom Station's first module is undergoing final assembly at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, before transfer to Houston for integration and testing and then to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with launch planned for 2028; the second module is preparing for final assembly at Thales Alenia Space and is planned to launch less than a year after the first, with the two modules together forming a four crew-capable, operational free-flying space station.

Siemens plans to invest more than €1 billion in industrial AI over the next three years, according to Peter Koerte, CEO of Siemens's Smart Infrastructure division, the most profitable of Siemens's four core businesses. Koerte said Siemens's Industrial Foundation Model, still in development, has the potential to shorten engineering cycles by up to 40%, with use cases foreseen in the automotive and aerospace industries. He argued Europe's advantage lies in industrial data, noting that more than half of the companies on the Fortune 500 Europe are over 100 years old, and that Siemens's decades-old relationships help persuade manufacturers to share data in return for access to its AI model, with ownership retained by the company that created it. On talent, Koerte said Siemens poached Amazon's vice president of generative AI, Vasi Philomin, to be its head of data and AI, and that former Amazon Web Services director Manu Parbhakar joined to lead its Silicon Valley–based strategy and partnerships team, adding that you have to write a bigger check than you usually would in Europe. Siemens is also working with Nvidia to build an industrial AI operating system, even as the European Commission pushes its tech sovereignty package; Koerte said complete sovereignty remains a pipe dream, and Siemens CEO Roland Busch has warned that a digital iron curtain risks slowing technological progress.

NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS, INC. has launched "US 5-Day Cross," a delivery option that expands its "NX Ocean Fast Track" high-speed ocean freight service from Asia to North America. The new option enables delivery from the Port of Los Angeles to destinations across the United States within five days, while also providing advanced cargo visibility and security management. It builds on NX Ocean Fast Track, launched this past June, which guarantees container delivery from the Port of Los Angeles within 24 hours. The service combines priority transshipment at NX Group warehouses near the port with a two-driver team system for non-stop long-haul transport, and uses multifunctional security devices to track transport status and quality. The company said the expansion responds to market needs for dependable North American supply chains and business continuity planning amid Panama Canal navigation restrictions, longer ocean freight lead times from geopolitical risks, and delays in U.S. rail transport.

Alfa Laval is initiating the full integration of Desmet, bringing the two organizations together as one global partner in process engineering solutions for the oils, fats and biofuel industries. Alfa Laval acquired Desmet in 2022, including the operational units and brands of RoseDowns and Stolz, and Desmet has since operated as a separate entity. When fully integrated, the combined company will span the technology value chain from seed to end product, with Desmet's upstream extraction and processing expertise joined to Alfa Laval's separation, heat transfer and downstream processing technologies. The Desmet brand will become a product and process technology brand within Alfa Laval, and Desmet will be integrated into the Business Unit Process Engineering Solutions in the Food & Pharma Division. The integration will proceed in phases to ensure continuity for customers, partners and ongoing projects, and is expected to be completed by July 2027, with the joint global sales, service and supply network extended by local teams in more than 150 countries.

Paychex reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 results with revenue of US$1,630.5 million and net income of US$429.7 million, updated full-year guidance to 5%–6% total revenue growth, completed a 3,500,000-share buyback for US$322 million, and launched its AI-native WISE Hire recruiting solution. The AI-native WISE Hire tool is being embedded across Paychex's HCM platforms, including SurePayroll, Paychex Flex and Paycor, as the company pushes toward higher-value, technology-enabled services. The company's narrative projects US$7.7 billion revenue and US$2.4 billion earnings by 2029, requiring 5.2% yearly revenue growth and about a US$0.6 billion earnings increase from US$1.8 billion today. Some of the lowest analyst estimates already assumed only about 5.3 percent annual revenue growth and earnings near US$2.3 billion by 2029, leaving the more cautious view on margins and growth potentially more reasonable if the AI rollout does not translate into clear productivity gains. The completed buyback is seen as helpful but not a major catalyst by itself.

Land and Houses Securities Public Company Limited has issued an analysis focusing on investment trends in CK and KKP shares, expecting CK's third-quarter 2026 earnings to recover from the previous quarter. Although the construction contracting business may slow seasonally and gross margins return to normal levels, support is expected from its share of profit at CKP, which is entering the high season for hydropower plants, as well as from BEM, which is trending better on passenger numbers. In the medium term, support comes from the government infrastructure investment cycle, which is becoming clearer, especially Phase 2 of the double-track railway project, where three routes worth a combined 106 billion baht have already been approved. Meanwhile, high-speed rail, expressways, motorways, and airports are still awaiting progress. CK currently has a backlog of about 146 billion baht, supporting revenue for several years. The analyst team gives a buy recommendation on CK with a target price of 23.1 baht, support at 17.8 and 18.1 baht, and resistance at 19.6 and 20.1 baht. For KKP, third-quarter 2026 profit is expected at 2.0 billion baht, still growing a strong 21% year on year despite a slight 4.8% decline quarter on quarter. The main drivers are a return to loan growth, especially business loans and Lombard loans, a NIM that holds steady at a good level, and fee income from wealth management, the capital markets business, and Dime!, which is growing strongly. Meanwhile, lower losses from repossessed vehicles help ease cost pressure. Asset quality remains manageable, with the NPL ratio expected to hold steady at around 3.5% and the coverage ratio near 150%. Full-year 2026 profit is likely to grow more than 30% year on year, with ROE returning to around 12%, while a dividend yield of about 6% helps limit the downside for the share price. The analyst team gives a buy recommendation on KKP with a target price of 128 baht, support at 108.5 and 113 baht, and resistance at 118.5 and 120 baht.

Hitachi announced on October 5 that it began offering its Digital Asset AML Platform, a service that monitors money laundering risks in transactions involving crypto assets and stablecoins, on October 1. The service is intended for use by financial institutions and crypto asset-related businesses. In July, Hitachi published the results of a proof of concept conducted with 17 companies, including financial institutions and crypto asset-related businesses, and announced plans to offer the service starting in October. The new service combines information suspected of links to crime or sanctions targets with analysis powered by AI and machine learning to identify signs of suspicious transactions. It evaluates the counterparty's wallet before a transaction, continuously monitors after the transaction for newly emerging risks, and can also check the circulation status of stablecoins and other assets after issuance. Because crypto assets can be transferred across multiple wallets and exchanges, information held by a single company alone may make it difficult to grasp suspicious fund movements. The new service also uses risk information gathered by each business to help detect signs that would be hard for any one company to find on its own.

New York's Department of Environmental Conservation approved a permit allowing Casella Waste Systems to expand the Hakes Construction and Demolition landfill in Campbell by about 43.3 acres, adding an estimated 5.8 million cubic yards of disposal capacity. The approval also covers 21.7 acres of soil borrow area and upgraded leachate and gas systems, materially increasing Casella's permitted footprint for construction and demolition waste. The expansion sits alongside Casella's 6 August 2026 guidance update, in which management raised 2026 revenue expectations to US$2.090 billion to US$2.110 billion while cutting net income guidance to US$0 to US$6 million on higher acquisition activity and fuel cost recovery dynamics. Casella's narrative projects $2.5 billion revenue and $92.3 million earnings by 2029, requiring 9.2% yearly revenue growth and about a $86.6 million earnings increase from $5.7 million today, with forecasts yielding a $111.00 fair value, a 34% upside to its current price.