Office Services & Supplies

Seagate and Western Digital shares fell 7% and 5%, respectively, in premarket trading on Friday after Nikkei Asia reported that Toshiba could double the amount of hard disk drive supply available. The Japanese company is set to invest roughly $380M in the Philippines to expand facilities and create a more stable supply of components needed for AI infrastructure, the outlet added. The expansion would be Toshiba's first major investment in hard disk drives in roughly five years, and the company is also working on new products aimed at increasing per-unit memory capacity. Toshiba holds roughly 10% of the storage market, behind Seagate and Western Digital. Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha.

MillerKnoll reported its first quarter results on September 22, with consolidated orders climbing 3.2% to $913.9 million even as net sales fell 3.4% year over year to $923.4 million. International contract orders jumped 17.3% to $181.2 million on a large project win in South Korea, and North America retail orders rose 7.5% for an eighth straight quarter of growth, while North America contract revenue, the company's largest segment, fell 5.3% to $505.6 million and consolidated backlog slipped 3.1% to $669.2 million. Adjusted gross margin rose 330 basis points to 41.8%, operating cash flow jumped to $49.1 million from $9.4 million a year earlier, and net debt to EBITDA eased to 2.75 times from 2.8 times, with liquidity at $580.4 million. New U.S.-Canada trade friction is expected to cost $0.07 per share for the rest of the fiscal year, helping push full-year revenue guidance down to a range of $3.88 billion to $4.03 billion, and the quarter carried $13.4 million in special charges including $6.0 million tied to restructuring as the company closes its third manufacturing facility in West Michigan. The stock trades at a forward P/E of 10.09 as of September 24, with short interest at 8.12% of float and hedge fund ownership up from 19 funds to 21.

MillerKnoll lowered its full-year sales guidance to $3.88 billion to $4.03 billion to reflect first-quarter softness, while maintaining its EPS range on expected cost-saving realizations. The company attributed its 3.4% revenue decline to softer-than-anticipated demand in North America Contract and Global Retail, partially offset by strong international order growth, with North America Contract hurt by a difficult comparison to a $55 million to $60 million order pull-forward in the prior year tied to tariff pricing actions. Guidance includes an estimated $0.07 per share headwind from recent U.S.-Canada tariff actions, which MillerKnoll is mitigating through dual-sourcing and inventory pre-stocking, and management expects price-cost dynamics to become a slight headwind of 20 to 30 basis points in the second quarter as steel and diesel inflation ramps up. A $16.5 million refund related to previously expensed IEPA tariffs provided a $0.11 per share net benefit, helping offset volume deleverage in the quarter, while the company implemented a workforce reduction and reorganization within the Holly Hunt brand and closed a third plant in West Michigan. Management said orders for the first three weeks of September were up 9% year-over-year, with growth across all three reporting segments, and the retail strategy assumes 14 to 18 new store openings in fiscal 2027.

MillerKnoll reported mixed first-quarter fiscal 2027 results and lowered its full-year sales outlook, even as consolidated orders rose 3.2% to $914 million. For the quarter ended Aug. 29, 2026, net sales fell 3.4% year over year to $923 million, while adjusted diluted earnings per share came in at $0.53, or $0.42 excluding an approximately $0.11-per-share net benefit from refunds of previously expensed IEPA tariffs, according to Interim Chief Executive Officer Jeff Stutz. The company now expects fiscal 2027 sales of $3.88 billion to $4.03 billion, down from its prior view and representing roughly 3% growth at the midpoint, while maintaining adjusted EPS guidance of $1.85 to $2.15; for the second quarter it forecast sales of $972 million to $1.012 billion and adjusted EPS of $0.43 to $0.49. By segment, North America Contract sales fell 5.3% to $506 million and orders declined 1.7% to $484 million, International Contract revenue declined 6.4% to $157 million though orders surged 17.3% to $181 million, and Global Retail sales rose 2.6% to $261 million with orders up 4.3% to $249 million. The board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.1875 per share, payable Oct. 15 to shareholders of record as of Aug. 29, and the company ended the quarter with $580 million in available liquidity and net debt to EBITDA of 2.75 times.

Planet Image International reported a first-half GAAP loss of $0.02 per share, with revenue of $69.28 million, a decline of 7.0% year over year. The results were disclosed in a press release from the company. No further financial details were provided in the release.

Lecang Share disclosed its 2026 semi-annual report on the evening of August 28. During the reporting period, it achieved operating revenue of 3.179 billion yuan, up 1.11% year on year, but net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was only 21.38 million yuan, a sharp year-on-year decline of 83.43%, while non-GAAP net profit fell 96.23%. The profit decline mainly stemmed from violent fluctuations in foreign exchange gains and losses. In the first half of the year, the company recorded a foreign exchange loss of 77.8415 million yuan, compared with a foreign exchange gain of 46.0303 million yuan in the same period last year. This item alone created a profit gap of about 124 million yuan. After excluding the impact of foreign exchange gains and losses, the company's core business operating profit actually maintained positive growth, and its operating fundamentals remained solid. This phenomenon is not an isolated case. As of August 26, 677 listed companies had mentioned foreign exchange losses in their semi-annual reports. Among them, Chery Automobile had a net foreign exchange loss of 2.092 billion yuan in the first half of the year, while Hikvision swung from a foreign exchange gain of 607 million yuan in the same period last year to a loss of 595 million yuan. Both of Lecang Share's core business segments maintained growth. Smart home business revenue was 1.607 billion yuan, up 3.6% year on year, of which cross-border e-commerce sales revenue was 1.141 billion yuan, up 13.69%, and independent website sales revenue was 495 million yuan, up 20.48%. Overseas warehouse business revenue was 1.549 billion yuan, with gross margin up 1.75 percentage points year on year. The company also further acquired a 32% stake in Yisibeisi, bringing its total shareholding to 52%, and entered the esports sector.

Ousheng Electric released its 2026 interim report on August 27. During the reporting period, the company achieved operating revenue of 1.355 billion yuan, up 54.28% year on year, but net profit attributable to shareholders was only 29.1093 million yuan, down 74.70% year on year, showing a clear pattern of rising revenue without rising profit. The company's operating cash flow turned from positive to negative, with a net outflow of 161 million yuan, compared with a net inflow of 60.8366 million yuan in the same period last year, mainly due to increases in accounts receivable and inventory. By business segment, vacuum cleaner revenue was 567 million yuan, up 41.80% year on year; air compressor revenue was 428 million yuan, up 40.93% year on year; and industrial fan revenue was 131 million yuan, more than doubling with growth of 104.87%. The main reasons for the performance change include operating costs rising 61.78% year on year, selling expenses and administrative expenses rising 55.91% and 80.42% respectively, and financial expenses swinging from a negative 14.6827 million yuan in the same period last year to an expense of 53.2789 million yuan, affected by higher exchange gains and losses and interest expenses. The company said that deepening cooperation with major customers at its Suzhou base and the release of production capacity at its Malaysia base drove sales expansion, but it needs to guard against exchange rate fluctuations and working capital risks.

Alton Electrical released its 2026 interim report. First-half operating revenue was 1.355 billion yuan, up 54.3% year on year, but net profit attributable to the parent was 29.11 million yuan, down 74.7% year on year. Net profit attributable to the parent after deducting non-recurring items was 24.91 million yuan, down 77.2% year on year, and net operating cash flow was negative 161 million yuan, down 365.2% year on year. In the second quarter, operating revenue was 681 million yuan, up 93.2% year on year, and net profit attributable to the parent was 17.99 million yuan, down 66.4% year on year. As of the end of the second quarter, total assets were 4.237 billion yuan, up 7.03% from the end of the previous year, and net assets attributable to the parent were 1.449 billion yuan, down 3.4% from the end of the previous year. The company mainly produces air-powered equipment and cleaning equipment. Its newly established strategic partnership business group has developed new products including garden tools, outdoor tools, work lights and energy storage power supplies. It has 10 customers at the million-dollar level, and its top 10 customers contribute nearly 80% of sales. Since the Malaysia base began production in July 2025, on-time delivery has improved from 79% to over 99%, and finished product shipment volume has grown more than 90% year on year.

Henglin Chair released its 2026 interim report. Total operating revenue was 6.668 billion yuan, and net profit attributable to the parent company was 121 million yuan, down 33.07% from the same period last year. Net cash inflow from operating activities was 204 million yuan, down 45.85% year-on-year. The company's asset-liability ratio was 63.64%, gross margin was 18.41%, ROE was 3.24%, and diluted earnings per share was 0.87 yuan, down 34.09% year-on-year. The number of shareholders was 13,100, and the top ten shareholders held 77.34% of the total share capital.

Gu'ao Technology released its 2026 interim report. During the reporting period, the company's total operating revenue was 38.1037 million yuan, down 47.23% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to the parent company was 317 million yuan. Net cash outflow from operating activities was 67.4437 million yuan, a decrease of 19.4801 million yuan year-on-year. The company's asset-liability ratio was 15.22%, gross margin was 0.73%, return on equity was 49.38%, and diluted earnings per share was 0.93 yuan. The number of shareholders was 19,300, and the top ten shareholders held a combined 107 million shares, accounting for 31.51% of total share capital.

Guangbo Group released its 2026 interim report, with net profit attributable to the parent company of 49.81 million yuan, a decrease of 34.57% compared with the same period last year. The company's total operating revenue was 1.338 billion yuan, and net cash outflow from operating activities was 39.34 million yuan. The latest asset-liability ratio was 39.70%, gross margin was 17.53%, ROE was 3.84%, and diluted earnings per share was 0.09 yuan.

Guangbo Group disclosed its semi-annual report for 2026. In the first half of the year, it achieved total operating revenue of 1.338 billion yuan, up 14.20% year on year. Net profit attributable to the parent company was 49.81 million yuan, down 34.57% year on year. Net profit after deducting non-recurring items was 40.31 million yuan, down 33.78% year on year. Net cash flow from operating activities was negative 39.34 million yuan, compared with negative 68.75 million yuan in the same period last year. During the reporting period, basic earnings per share were 0.0934 yuan, and the weighted average return on equity was 3.97%, down 3.02 percentage points year on year. The company is mainly engaged in the research, development, production and sales of stationery and office supplies, while also expanding into cultural and creative designer toy derivatives and cross-border e-commerce business.

Comix Group released its 2026 interim report, with net profit attributable to the parent company of 76.7739 million yuan, a decrease of 12.25% compared with the same period last year. The company's total operating revenue was 4.812 billion yuan, up 0.81% year-on-year; net cash inflow from operating activities was 167 million yuan, up 40.50% year-on-year. The company's latest asset-liability ratio was 64.97%, gross margin was 9.02%, ROE was 2.45%, and diluted earnings per share was 0.11 yuan.

Hairong Cold Chain released its 2026 interim report, with net profit attributable to the parent company of 157 million yuan, a decrease of 28.91% compared with the same period last year. The company's total operating revenue was 1.837 billion yuan, an increase of 2.57% year-on-year, achieving growth for two consecutive years. Net cash flow from operating activities was negative 37.7927 million yuan, a decrease of 117.10% compared with the same period last year. The company's latest asset-liability ratio was 31.76%, gross margin was 26.72%, and diluted earnings per share was 0.41 yuan.

Loctek Ergonomic Technology announced it will not exercise the downward revision right on the conversion price of its convertible bonds, defying widespread market expectations. The conversion price stands at 32.61 yuan, while the underlying stock trades near 10 yuan, implying a premium of 216 percent and making conversion almost impossible. First-quarter net profit attributable to the parent fell 98.44 percent year on year to just 800,000 yuan, with a loss of 10.4 million yuan after excluding non-recurring items. The company attributed the decline mainly to foreign exchange losses of about 40 million yuan and increased losses of about 12 million yuan in its US offline distribution channel. However, warehousing and logistics services revenue rose to 49.29 percent of total revenue in 2025, with a gross margin of only 11.79 percent, far below the roughly 42.3 percent for its smart home business. The shift in business mix has boosted revenue without boosting profit. As of the end of 2025, the company had interest-bearing debt of 5.059 billion yuan and cash of 2.17 billion yuan, showing a pattern of high deposits alongside high debt. Its interest coverage ratio fell to 0.3 times in the first quarter of 2026. In addition, the company plans to acquire a 32 percent stake in Suzhou Yisibesi Technology for 18.656 million yuan. The target's appraisal premium rate is as high as 506.28 percent, with no performance commitment, and the deal will create tens of millions of yuan in goodwill.

Hairong Cold Chain disclosed its 2026 semi-annual report. In the first half, total operating revenue reached 1.837 billion yuan, up 2.57% year on year. Net profit attributable to the parent company was 157 million yuan, down 28.91% year on year. Net profit after deducting non-recurring items was 147 million yuan, down 30.55% year on year. Net cash flow from operating activities was negative 37.7927 million yuan, compared with 221 million yuan in the same period last year. Basic earnings per share were 0.41 yuan, and the weighted average return on net assets was 3.66%.