Business
Old West Investment Management Q2 2026 Manager Commentary
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Portfolio Performance
For Q2 2026, Old West All Cap Opportunity returned -0.94% (net).
Old West All Cap Opportunity (12/01/2008 inception through 06/30/2026)
Q2 2026 Performance Highlights
Top Contributors
Navitas Semiconductor Corporation (NVTS): Navitas makes advanced power chips using gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC). These chips convert and deliver electricity with less energy lost as heat. The company started out making phone charger chips, but management has shifted its focus to high-power markets like AI data centers, the power grid, and electrification. ¹
NVTS was one of the best performing semiconductor stocks in Q2. Revenue returned to growth, guidance came in above Wall Street estimates, and Baird more than doubled its price target. ² The biggest catalyst came in June, when Nvidia (NVDA) featured Navitas’ power technology atits Computex showcase. ³ In our view, the real constraint on AI is not intelligence, it is electricity, and Navitas’ chips help deliver it.
Bruker Biosciences Corp. (BRKR): Bruker makes high-end scientific instruments that let scientists study life and materials at the molecular level. Its products include mass spectrometry, magnetic resonance, X-ray, and microscopy systems used in life sciences, biopharma, diagnostics, and semiconductor manufacturing. ⁴
Bruker was a detractor last quarter, but that reversed in Q2 after the company introduced new instrument platforms and pointed to growing semiconductor demand. ⁵ Bank of America raised its price target from $49 to $65, ⁶ and by late June the shares were near their 52-week high. ⁷ In our view, Bruker’s instruments are the tools that turn the physical world into data that AI can use, and the market is starting to see it that way too.
Nokia Corporation (NOK): Nokia is one of the last major Western suppliers of telecom and networking equipment. Its business spans mobile networks, IP routing, and, after its acquisition of Infinera, the optical networks that connect data centers. ⁸
The market began to see Nokia less as an old telecom company and more as critical AI infrastructure. Revenue from AI and cloud customers rose 49% in the first quarter, with roughly €1 billion of orders from those customers. ⁹ AI data centers need to move huge amounts of data, and Nokia provides the networks that carry it. JPMorgan raised its price target from $14 to $21, ¹⁰ and the stock had roughly doubled year-to-date by early July. ¹¹ The AI buildout is bringing new attention to businesses like this.
Top Detractors
Tidewater Inc. (TDW): Tidewater has the largest fleet of offshore support vessels in the industry and is the oldest and most experienced provider of marine support services to the offshore oil and gas sector, operating across more than 60 countries. ¹²
Tidewater was a top contributor last quarter, and in Q2 it gave some of that back for one reason: the price of oil. The U.S.–Iran agreement took the war premium out of oil, and Brentfell from a high of $126 back below $80. ¹³ Offshore stocks trade with oil, so TDW fell from its April highs even though it remained up nicely for the year. ¹⁴ The fundamentals have not changed: vessel supply is tight, the global fleet is old, and oil is still well above where the year began.
Core Natural Resources Inc. (CNR): Core Natural Resources was formed in January 2025 through the merger of Arch Resources and CONSOL Energy. It is one of the world’s leading producers of metallurgical coal used in steelmaking and high-quality thermal coal used in power generation, and it owns marine export terminals on the East Coast. ¹⁵
CNR declined along with most coal stocks, even though the business performed well: it beat earnings estimates and kept buying back stock. ¹⁶¹⁷ The Department of Energy also selected a CNR subsidiary to build a pilot facility that extracts rare earth elements from coal waste. ¹⁸ Electricity demand is rising for the first time in a decade, driven by AI data centers. In our view, coal stocks are priced as if their end markets are dying, and the demand picture suggests otherwise.
Antero Resources Corporation (AR): Antero is one of the largest natural gas and natural gas liquids producers in the United States. Its operations are in the Appalachian Basin, and its midstream and liquids infrastructure gives it strong access to LNG export markets. ¹⁹
AR declined in Q2 for a simple reason: natural gas prices fell back toward $3 as the war premium came out of the market. ²⁰ The business itself performed well, with record production and growing volumes expected through 2026. ²¹ In our view, natural gas is still priced as if the electricity shortage were not happening: turbines are sold out for years, data center power needs keep growing, and the fuel trades near cyclical lows.
Portfolio Positioning
Q2 delivered much of the same volatility and unpredictability as the first. We saw investors who charged into oil, chemical and fertilizer stocks on the breakout of war ended up surrendering on talks of a ceasefire. Oil roundtripped to $70 as a combination of higher US exports, lower Chinese imports, “dark transits” through the Strait of Hormuz, and a severe drawdown of inventories made it appear as though nothing ever happened. ²² It is unusual to see such opposite extremes of sentiment occur in rapid succession. We continue to find value in the production of basic materials and think the risk of disruption has not been eliminated.
Some have compared this period to the 1970s, when oil, inflation, and war in the Middle East were often in the news. We think there may be a stronger parallel to the 1870s, when a handful of industries grew to dominate the economy. The steam engine, railroads, telegraph, and electric grid all transformed how work was done and economic activity organized. We believe the United States is heading into a similar period of industrialization, with artificial intelligence increasingly being used to determine what should be built and how.
The development of that infrastructure is the main narrative today, with hyperscalers estimated to spend $700 billion this year alone and trillions more over the next few years. ²³ That amount of capital flowing through a relatively small number of industries has placed acute stress on various points of the supply chain. Focus has shifted outward from the chips themselves to the surrounding infrastructure. Power has become the defining constraint as our ability to produce chips exceeds our ability to actually turn them on. Power semiconductors, the devices that regulate voltage and current, have seen demand inflect sharply higher as new generations of chips require increasingly more power.
Outside the datacenter wall, companies face a shortage of heavy electrical equipment and grid interconnection has become a logjam. Multi-year tie-in times are pushing companies to build their own power, and even that has become subject to delays. Heavy duty gas turbines are sold out for years with manufacturers reluctant to expand capacity after getting burned in past cycles. ²⁴ Customers have started trading performance for speed of access, using less efficient but readily available gas engines instead. Meta (META) is proposing to string together over 800 reciprocating engines for a data center in El Paso ²⁵ and xAI took a similar approach in Memphis, opting to deploy dozens of mobile gas turbines. ²⁶
We think nearly all of these solutions highlight the importance of natural gas. It is the largest source of electricity in the United States, providing roughly 40% of supply. ²⁷ We are blessed with an abundance of it, over 500 Tcf of reserves versus 40 Tcf of annual production. The majority is concentrated in two regions, Texas and Appalachia, and can be produced for less than $4/mcf. But gas is not easy to transport and needs dedicated pipelines or to be converted to a liquid and shipped. Prices are thus dictated by local availability and can vary widely by region. In Europe or Japan, where production is low and they depend on foreign imports, prices can be quite high by global standards. In the US or Canada, where supplies are plentiful, production in one region can often exceed not only local demand, but also the ability to export the surplus, creating pockets of very cheap supply. Prices even went negative in parts of Texas this year as associated gas from increased oil drilling overwhelmed takeaway capacity. ²⁸
Moving gas from where it is cheap to where it is expensive can be a profitable business, and the companies that build and operate these pipelines have a portfolio of attractive expansion opportunities. But even those take time, and rather than wait for pipes some buyers are simply moving the datacenter. Chevron (CVX) signed an MOU with Microsoft (MSFT) for a multi-gigawatt facility directly in the Permian basin. ²⁹ Meta announced a $10 billion datacenter in Alberta, looking to take advantage of low Canadian gas prices. ³⁰
We like to think of natural gas reserves as crude electricity that’s still in the ground. The spread between what it costs to produce and what it can ultimately be sold for in fully refined form is immense. Mark Zuckerberg recently offered his company’s AI model 75% cheaper than competitors, explicitly calling out their excessive profit margins. ³¹ We believe AI companies will be able to charge much less for their services (and pay much more for power) and still be very profitable. Large, low-cost reserves of this “electricity juice” strike us as strategically valuable, and today’s low prices may prove a temporary phenomenon as inadequate infrastructure gets solved with time and money. Many natural gas producers are trading at valuations that appear reasonable even at current gas prices.
The desperation to access power even leads us to see additional value in much-maligned coal. While its metallurgical uses are the most widely appreciated, we think a shortage of power may force a rethink of the aging and retiring workhorses that still provide nearly 20% of our electricity. Asia continues to build coal-fired generation, unburdened by Western environmental concerns, and we think the reports of thermal coal’s death are greatly exaggerated. This focus on power at all costs also strengthens our enthusiasm for uranium. We have written about the case for nuclear in these letters for the better part of a decade. Those investments are longer duration and more capital intensive than other forms of generation, but from a pure energy density standpoint uranium is hard to beat. Large, low-cost sources of current and potential uranium supply appear well positioned in that environment.
For the last few quarters we have discussed our belief in an impending scientific revolution as AI gets applied to challenges in the physical world. Frontier models are already solving longstanding problems in mathematics and conducting cutting edge research in physics and biology. We highlighted Bruker last year as an out of favor scientific equipment maker well positioned for this transition. Companies with large installed bases of scientific tools should also benefit as AI gets paired with their existing equipment.
We have seen a reimagining and repurposing of capacity is taking place across a wide variety of industries, especially those involved in manufacturing. Automakers are looking outside of autos to increase their returns on assets. After taking a bath on electric vehicles, Ford (F) decided that its battery facilities could instead be used to serve stationary storage markets for data centers and the grid. Stellantis (STLA), the struggling European automaker, struck a deal with a Chinese manufacturer to utilize excess capacity, and GM is in talks with Lockheed Martin (LMT) about manufacturing parts for weapons systems. Hyundai (HYMTF) owns Boston Dynamics, a leading US robot developer. Humanoid robots are large, complex machines with thousands of precision parts, exactly what an auto plant knows how to manufacture at scale. Legacy technology firms are also getting a second look. Nokia, until recently an unloved telecom play, saw a dramatic revaluation as investors looked past its historical end markets toward its ability to satisfy future optical networking needs. We are finding many interesting opportunities in companies where investors are overly focused on the past.
The big corporate news this quarter was the SpaceX (SPCX) IPO raising $85 billion and hitting a $2 trillion valuation, making Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire. ³²³³ The burgeoning space economy is one we have touched on in past letters and the large aerospace and defense companies remain an area of interest, especially after their recent weakness. If this really is the dawn of the space age, the handful of companies that have been operating there for decades may be well positioned. More broadly, we see enduring value in physical infrastructure: hard assets with high replacement costs that benefit from grandfathered rights-of-way, difficult permitting requirements, or control of scarce resources. This is a fascinating moment in history where entire industrial supply chains are being repriced.
We continue to see tremendous value in metals and mining companies, some of which sold off during the quarter on fears of higher interest rates. We believe central banks will find it increasingly difficult to address inflation with higher rates, because much of that inflation is not being driven by broad-based economic activity. Demand is coming from a concentrated segment of the economy and the shortages emerging across energy, materials and industrial infrastructure are supply problems meeting this new source of demand. If higher rates don’t affect that demand, inflationary pressure will continue until the necessary investments to increase supply are made.
It is hard not to be amazed at the pace of technological progress we are seeing. At Old West we follow these developments closely. Our AI “interns” are hard at work building models and reviewing company earnings reports and conference calls. Tasks that used to take hours or days can now be done in seconds or minutes, and for hundreds of companies at a time. It may still be a few years before these robotic assistants are bringing us coffee, but automating much of the mechanical work allows us to spend more time on higher value activities.
We are pleased with our performance in the first half and think we are well positioned for the next few years. We welcome the opportunity to discuss our ideas in more detail with prospective investors. Please reach out if you would like to set up a call.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Old West Investment Management, LLC
References
1 https: //finance. yahoo. com/quote/NVTS/
2 https: //stockstotrade. com/news/navitas-semiconductor-corporation-nvts-news-2026_05_14/
3 https: //www. fool. com/investing/2026/06/03/why-navitas-semiconductor-stock-is-skyrocketing-to/
4 https: //www. bruker. com/en/about. html
5 https: //www. quiverquant. com/news/Bruker+shares+jump+as+new+ASMS+launches+spotlight+proteomics, +energy, +and+semiconductor+demand
6 https: //www. timothyshykes. com/news/brker-corporation-brkr-news-2026_06_03/
7 https: //stockstory. org/us/stocks/nasdaq/brkr/news/why-up-down/brker-brkr-stock-trades-up-here-is-why-4
8 https: //www. kavout. com/market-lens/nokia-s-ai-driven-optical-surge-can-july-23-earnings-break-the-legacy-valuation-trap
9 https: //www. kavout. com/market-lens/nokia-s-ai-driven-optical-surge-can-july-23-earnings-break-the-legacy-valuation-trap
10 https: //ts2. tech/en/nokia-shares-rise-on-wall-street-push-for-ai-optical-network-plan/
11 https: //www. kavout. com/market-lens/nokia-s-ai-driven-optical-surge-can-july-23-earnings-break-the-legacy-valuation-trap
12 Tidewater Marine – Tidewater
13 Noble Corporation and Tidewater Shares Plummet, What You Need To Know – StockStory
14 Tidewater, Calumet, and Golar LNG Shares Are Falling, What You Need To Know – StockStory
15 https: //seekingalpha. com/symbol/CNR
16 CNR Stock Price and Chart – NYSE: CNR – TradingView
17 CNR: Buybacks And Cash Generation Will Drive Future Upside Potential
18 Core Natural Resources (CNR) Lands DOE Grant, Is The Stock Still 28% Undervalued?
19 Antero Resources (NYSE: AR) – Stock Analysis – Simply Wall St
20 Antero Resources (AR)
21 Antero Resources (NYSE: AR) – Stock Analysis – Simply Wall St
22 Short-Term Energy Outlook
23 AI Capex 2026: The $690B Infrastructure Sprint
24 GE Vernova expects to end 2025 with an 80-GW gas turbine backlog that stretches into 2029
25 Meta to deploy 366MW of modular gas units to power 1GW data center in El Paso, Texas
26 Musk’s xAI is running nearly 50 gas turbines unchecked at its Mississippi data center | TechCrunch
27 Electricity in the U.S. – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
28 Permian Natural Gas Prices Surpass 2024’s Negative Run
29 https: //www. chevron. com/newsroom/2026/q2/chevron-signs-20-year-power-agreement-with-microsoft-for-west-texas-data-center
30 https: //www. cnbc. com/2026/07/08/meta-is-building-its-first-big-data-center-in-canada-amid-ai-push. html
31 Mark Zuckerberg Is Spending Hundreds of Billions on AI. His New Strategy in the Race Against OpenAI Is Surprisingly Simple.
32 SpaceX IPO Officially Raised $85 Billion
33 https: //www. cnbc. com/2026/06/12/spacex-stock-jumps-2-trillion. html
Editor’s Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.
Business
KOSPI Plunges 3% as Samsung Shares Crash 8% Following Underwhelming Shareholder Return Plan Investors Wanted
SEOUL — South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index tumbled 215.99 points, or 3.12%, to 6,696.96 as of 3:32 p.m. local time Monday, as Samsung Electronics shares plunged more than 8% following investor disappointment over the technology giant’s newly unveiled shareholder return plan.
The KOSPI’s decline extended a weaker session that began even before Samsung’s results reaction took hold. According to TradingKey, Japanese and South Korean stocks opened lower across the board Monday, weighed down by consolidation in U.S. technology stocks and broadly cautious market sentiment following overnight trading in the United States. The index initially fell 1.17% to 6,832.23 points at the open, with Samsung Electronics down 4.26% in early trading while SK Hynix bucked the broader trend, surging 3.58%.
The selloff deepened sharply as the session progressed. According to India.com’s coverage of Monday’s trading, Samsung Electronics plunged 8.35% after investors reacted negatively to the company’s latest shareholder return announcement, dragging the broader KOSPI down more than 3% for the day. SK Hynix, notably, continued to buck the broader semiconductor selloff, closing the session up 2.4%, even as the KOSDAQ, South Korea’s smaller technology-focused exchange, moved higher as investors rotated capital toward smaller technology, healthcare and growth stocks away from the large-cap chip sector.
The core driver of Monday’s decline traced directly back to Samsung’s own corporate announcement. According to India.com, the KOSPI came under heavy selling pressure as investors booked profits following the recent rally in South Korean chip stocks, with Samsung Electronics becoming the single largest source of pressure after its newly disclosed shareholder-return plan failed to meet expectations that had built up among investors in the days leading up to the announcement.
That reaction stands in sharp contrast to the anticipation that had built around Samsung’s expected capital return plan in the preceding days. Samsung had been widely expected to unveil a historic shareholder return package potentially exceeding 100 trillion won, following a similarly record-setting 40 trillion won buyback and cancellation program announced by rival chipmaker SK Hynix earlier in the month. The scale of that anticipation appears to have set a bar that Samsung’s actual announcement ultimately failed to clear in the eyes of many investors, prompting the sharp sell-the-news reaction that dragged the stock down more than 8% Monday.
Monday’s decline adds to what has already been an extraordinarily volatile year for the KOSPI, a market that has repeatedly whipsawed between record highs and sharp, sudden reversals throughout 2026. According to Yahoo Finance, the KOSPI’s volatility this year has already surpassed the level seen during the 2008 global financial crisis, when the index set its prior annual record of 26 sell-side sidecar trading halts. By late June alone, the exchange had already logged close to 30 sidecar activations and five circuit breakers for the year, with both figures already exceeding the full-year 2008 tally.
Much of that volatility has been concentrated in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix specifically, given that the two chipmakers together account for roughly half of the KOSPI’s total market capitalization. That concentration means company-specific news from either firm, such as Monday’s shareholder return disappointment from Samsung, has an outsized ability to move the entire benchmark index in a single session, a dynamic that has played out repeatedly throughout the year.
The KOSPI’s broader trajectory in 2026 has been defined by dramatic swings tied to shifting sentiment around the durability of artificial intelligence-driven chip demand. According to Al Jazeera, the index suffered a steep selloff in late July, losing about $2.18 trillion in market value over a two-day span as investor enthusiasm for chipmakers cooled sharply amid reduced confidence in the sustainability of AI-related capital spending. Frank Benzimra, head of Asia equity strategy at Societe Generale in Hong Kong, described the difficulty of calling a bottom during that earlier episode. “If you look at what is falling in the market, it has been the stocks in which you have the most leverage,” Benzimra said at the time. “It’s very difficult to say when will this selloff end, but at the moment, it’s definitely not the trade where we want to be.” Despite that steep pullback, the KOSPI remained up 41.5% in U.S. dollar terms year-to-date at that point, making it the best-performing major global market for the year even after the correction.
The index’s volatility has been punctuated by several historically significant single-session moves throughout 2026, including a plunge that saw the KOSPI fall below the 6,000 level in late July, dropping nearly 6% in a single session after SK Hynix’s second-quarter earnings missed consensus estimates and weakened broader expectations for shareholder returns across the chip sector, according to prior reporting from SBS. That earlier decline triggered both a sell sidecar and a circuit breaker on the same trading day, marking the first time in the Korea Exchange’s history that circuit breakers had been activated in both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets on consecutive days.
Despite Monday’s sharp pullback, the KOSPI remains up substantially over the trailing 12-month period, having posted extraordinary gains throughout 2025 and into 2026 driven by South Korea’s central role in the global AI and semiconductor supply chain. That longer-term rally has continued to attract both institutional and retail investor interest even as the index has repeatedly demonstrated its capacity for sudden, sharp reversals tied to company-specific catalysts, particularly those involving Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
With Samsung’s shareholder return announcement now fully digested by the market and having triggered Monday’s sharp selloff, investors are likely to continue closely watching whether the stock stabilizes in the coming sessions or whether the disappointment continues to weigh on both Samsung shares and the broader KOSPI index heading into the final stretch of August trading, particularly given the index’s well-documented pattern of extreme volatility throughout the year.
Business
Serko Limited (SERKF) Shareholder/Analyst Call Transcript
Claudia Batten
[Foreign Language] Good morning. My name is Claudia Batten, and I’m the Chair of Serko. Thank you for joining us this morning. I’ll start with some important points.
Shareholders will be able to vote and ask questions during the meeting. You can send through your questions at any time through the online portal by using the Ask a Question button, and I would encourage you to do so as early as possible. This will allow us to answer these questions at the appropriate time of the meeting. I’ll provide you with further instructions as we progress. If you encounter any issues, please refer to the online portal guide or you can phone the help line on 0800-200-220. We will be using some slides during the meeting. You’ll be able to see these and follow along. They are also available on Serko’s website.
My fellow directors are either joining me here in person or are attending online. Relevant members of Serko’s executive team, management and staff are also in attendance, either online or physically. In particular, Shane Sampson, the Chief Financial Officer, is in attendance and will assist me in answering any shareholder questions. Finally, I’d like to welcome our external auditors, Deloitte; our lawyers, Russell McVeagh; and also the team from our share registrar, MUFG Pension & Market Services. They will help conduct the voting on the formal business later in the meeting and also act as scrutineer. The Company Secretary has confirmed to me that the Notice of Meeting has been sent to shareholders and other persons entitled to receive it on 27 July 2026. I confirm that the requirement for a quorum for this meeting of 3 shareholders has been met, and I declare the meeting open.
Business
Hexaware Technologies shares rally 5%; Motilal Oswal reiterates buy with target price of Rs 720
The brokerage’s positive stance follows Hexaware’s Investor Day, where the IT services company outlined its artificial intelligence strategy centred around two key themes — ‘Zero Friction Enterprise’ and ‘AI for Business’.
According to Motilal Oswal, more than 50% of Hexaware’s revenue is now AI-infused. However, the brokerage remains more focused on how the company can create deeper, bottom-up differentiation within its AI-led business.
‘Zero License’ and Tokenomics Emerge as Key Themes
Among Hexaware’s six ‘Zero’ pillars, Zero License and tokenomics emerged as particularly interesting and differentiated areas, according to the brokerage.
The Zero License strategy aims to replace clients’ traditional SaaS spending with AI-native capabilities owned by Hexaware. Meanwhile, the company is experimenting with eight commercial models linked to AI token costs, including fixed-cost and gain-sharing structures.
Motilal Oswal noted that every new proposal from Hexaware now includes a token-based pricing option, highlighting the company’s efforts to develop new monetisation models around AI.
Growth Seen as Delayed, Not Lost
While Hexaware has lowered its CY26 revenue growth guidance, Motilal Oswal believes the weakness is largely a matter of timing rather than lost growth.The brokerage expects delayed deal ramp-ups, continued momentum in modernisation programmes, and healthy demand from the banking, healthcare, and manufacturing sectors to support a stronger exit from CY26 and provide a better base for CY27.
Motilal Oswal estimates constant-currency revenue growth of 6.4% in CY26 and 9.7% in CY27, driven by improving execution, large-account mining and expanding AI-led opportunities.
The company has also maintained its margin guidance despite continued investments in AI and talent.
With Motilal Oswal retaining its Rs 720 target, the brokerage sees significant room for further upside as Hexaware’s AI strategy, deal execution, and growth momentum gain traction.
Technical Indicators
From a technical perspective, Hexaware Technologies is trading above 7 out of 8 key simple moving averages (SMAs), indicating a broadly positive trend. The stock’s 14-day RSI stands at 40.6. While this remains below the neutral 50 mark, it is well above the oversold zone of 30, suggesting the stock is not currently in technically oversold territory.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
Business
Urban Company shares surge 7% to 11-month high, rally 16% in 2 sessions. Here are 2 reasons why
Kent RO agreed to remove advertisements and social media content that allegedly made false and misleading claims about the company’s Native water purifiers.
Urban Company shares jumped to Rs 169.47 apiece, the highest level seen by the stock since early October, 2025. Shares of the company have now gained over 16% in just two sessions, after a sharp 9% rally on Friday.
Kent RO to pull down content about Urban Company’s water purifiers
Urban Company filed a defamation suit before the Delhi High Court against Kent RO Systems over advertisements and social media content that allegedly made false and misleading claims about its Native water purifiers.
In an exchange filing released on Sunday, Urban Company said that it filed the suit on August 11, alleging that Kent RO’s advertising campaign targeted the two-year filter life and two-year service life features offered on its Native M0, M1, M2, M1 Pro and M2 Pro water purifiers. “Kent RO’s advertisements falsely stated that the 2-year filter life and 2-year service life feature of Native water purifiers, amongst other things, is a “marketing gimmick” and that using Native water purifiers is “unsafe” and “risky” for consumers,” it added.
Kent RO told the court that it would pull down the advertisements that were the subject of the suit and would not run other advertisements or promotional content making the same or similar claims about water purifiers offering a two-year filter life or two-year no-servicing feature that would disparage Urban Company.
Also read | Urban Company sues Kent RO over ‘unsafe’, ‘risky’ water purifier ads; company to pull down ‘offending’ content
Emkay Research initiates Buy call on Urban Company share price
Emkay Research initiated coverage on Urban Company shares with a ‘Buy’ call and a target price of Rs 190 apiece, implying nearly 20% upside potential from the stock’s previous closing price of Rs 158.60 apiece on NSE.
The brokerage noted that the company is the leader of India’s online home services market, whose large total addressable market (TAM) and highly unorganized nature provide the company with a long growth runway. Increasing demand density in micromarkets is driving consumer satisfaction as well as partner wages, thereby reinforcing the flywheel, it added.
While analysts remain concerned about Urban Company’s InstaHelp foray, given the upfront cash burn, Emkay Research believes this is the right playbook to improve platform stickiness and drive cross-sell. The company has the opportunity to capture a large TAM and increase frequency of platform use, which should create a sticky business, it added.
“Considering the company is incubating InstaHelp and Native, and international business profitability is suboptimal, we expect UC to turn profitable only in FY30,” the brokerage concluded.
Urban Company share price
After hitting a record high of Rs 201.18 apiece in September last year, Urban Company shares more than halved to hit a record low of Rs 100.70 apiece in March this year. The stock has however sharply recovered more than 68% since then to trade at Rs 169.47 apiece today.
Urban Company shares have gained over 16% in one week and around 30% in a month, overall gaining more than 28% in 2026 so far. Its market capitalisation currently stands at around Rs 25,952 crore.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
Business
Aussie shares advance as mining stocks hit record highs
Australia’s share market has started the new week higher, as BHP and the materials sector hit record highs, while banks and insurers sold off.
Business
Arada Sukuk extends consent fee deadline to August 31

Arada Sukuk extends consent fee deadline to August 31
Business
Fascinate Textiles shares list at 20% discount to issue price of Rs 151 on NSE SME platform
The muted debut came despite the company’s IPO receiving a positive response during the subscription period.
The IPO was open for subscription from August 11 to August 19, 2026, and was subscribed 1.48 times overall. The retail portion was subscribed 1.37 times, while the Non-Institutional Investors (NII) category was subscribed 1.06 times. The Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB) portion saw significantly stronger demand, with the issue subscribed 22.74 times.
Despite the subscription interest, the stock made a weak debut, opening well below its issue price.
The Rs 64.83 crore IPO comprised a fresh issue of 35 lakh shares worth Rs 52.21 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 8 lakh shares worth Rs 12.62 crore.
The company had fixed the IPO price band at Rs 142–151 per share
Objects of the issue
Fascinate Textiles plans to deploy the net IPO proceeds primarily towards expanding its manufacturing capacity, funding working capital requirements and reducing its debt burden.The company has allocated Rs 12.40 crore towards capital expenditure for setting up an additional manufacturing facility, Rs 19.03 crore for working capital requirements and Rs 2.68 crore for the prepayment or repayment, either partially or fully, of certain secured and unsecured borrowings.
The balance proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and issue-related expenses. Overall, the proposed fund utilisation is aimed at supporting the company’s capacity expansion plans, strengthening its operational requirements and improving its financial position.
Financial performance: Strong growth in FY26
Fascinate Textiles reported a strong improvement in its financial performance during FY26. Total income surged 94%, nearly doubling from Rs 60.28 crore in FY25 to Rs 117.23 crore in FY26.
The company’s profitability witnessed even stronger growth, with Profit After Tax (PAT) jumping 159% from Rs 5.81 crore in FY25 to Rs 15.07 crore in FY26. The sharp rise in both revenue and profit highlights the company’s strong growth momentum during the year.
About Fascinate Textiles Ltd.
Established in February 2017, Fascinate Textiles Limited is engaged in the manufacturing of ready-made garments for men, women and children, with a particular focus on children’s apparel.
Its product portfolio includes T-shirts, joggers, vests, leggings, shorts, infant wear and other garments catering to various age groups and market segments. The company is ISO 9001:2015 certified, reflecting its focus on quality standards and efficient manufacturing processes.
Fascinate Textiles operates its own manufacturing facility in Barasat, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, where its key production activities are carried out.
As of March 31, 2026, the company had a total workforce of 254 employees, comprising 106 permanent employees and 148 contractual employees.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times.)
Business
Sugar stocks Balrampur Chini, Dhampur Sugar, Uttam Sugar Mills rally up to 11%. Here are 2 triggers
In today’s session, Balrampur Chini Mills gained over 3% to Rs 752 on the BSE, while Dhampur Sugar Mills gained 8% to Rs 200 per share. Uttam Sugar gained 11% to Rs 359 per share. Triveni Engineering shares rose 4% to Rs 306, while Eid Parry gained over 4% to Rs 831.
What’s behind the sharp rise?
1.) Festive period – India’s sugar demand usually surges from August to November as the country celebrates festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Dussehra and Diwali, which leads to heightened demand for sweets, biscuits and other confectionery items.
Also read: Sugar production hit by Red Rot disease, El Nino; govt taking measures: Pralhad Joshi
Last month, the government ordered dealers to hold sugar stocks for no more than 30 days in a bid to bolster supplies. However, sugar prices have risen 10% over the past month to record highs, with analysts expecting them to remain elevated for at least the next three months. Meanwhile, patchy rains and dry weather have hit sugarcane output, further supporting prices.
2.) Supply worries – A key trigger behind the sugar price spike is the worsening supply outlook in Brazil, the world’s largest sugar producer. The country has warned of a delay in the harvest amid adverse weather conditions. Adding to uncertainty, Brazil has suspended its bi-weekly harvest and production reports, leaving investors with limited visibility on the supply situation.
The shift towards ethanol is further intensifying concerns over a potential sugar supply crunch.In June, 58% of Brazil’s cane juice was diverted towards ethanol, given that it is likely to be more profitable than sugar. Brazil has also raised its mandatory ethanol blending target to 32% in July from 30% in June, significantly higher than the 25-27% mix seen just months earlier.
Supply concerns are not limited to Brazil. Intense heatwaves and El Nino conditions across the EU and the UK have added to fears of tighter supplies, with sugar output from the region trimmed to 14.98 million tonnes. In Asia, Thailand, the world’s third-largest sugar producer, has cut its projected output by 15.6% to 9.5 million tonnes. India, the world’s second-largest sugar producer after Brazil, is also projecting lower sugar production. Authorities are physically verifying mill volumes to enforce strict hoarding limits.
Global deficit estimates are also pointing towards a tighter market. Green Pool has projected a global sugar deficit of 3.3 million tonnes, while StoneX has estimated the shortfall at 1.7 million tonnes. The International Sugar Organisation has forecast a deficit of 0.26 million tonnes.
Read more: No ethanol link, decline in sugarcane production and stockpiling driving up sugar price: Experts
With production concerns mounting across major sugar-producing regions and global benchmark prices continuing to climb, the supply outlook has emerged as the key factor driving the sharp move in sugar prices.
Government tightens sugar curbs
The government halved the stockholding limit for bulk sugar consumers to 15 days, intensifying efforts to contain record prices just as festive demand begins to build. The move announced late Wednesday was followed by an order requiring sugar mills to report sales, buyers, and price levels during August 17 to 19, as ex-mill prices surged about ₹10 a kg, or 20%, in the past four to five days.
New Delhi is tightening market scrutiny amid concerns over hoarding and an acute squeeze in supplies ahead of the August-November festive season, while assessing whether imports are needed to ease the shortage, industry executives told ET.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
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Northern Funds Active M International Equity Fund Q2 2026 Commentary (NMIEX)
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5 Reputation-Building Strategies Every Australian Lawyer Should Know to Build Trust and Win More Clients
For lawyers across Australia, a strong reputation is often the deciding factor between a firm that thrives and one that struggles to stand out in an increasingly crowded legal market. Clients rarely choose a lawyer based on legal knowledge alone — they choose based on trust, visibility and how confident they feel that a particular practitioner understands their situation. Building that kind of trust doesn’t happen by accident. It takes a deliberate, consistent approach to how a lawyer or firm communicates, both online and within their professional community.
Here are five practical strategies Australian lawyers can use to strengthen their standing, build credibility and attract more of the right clients.
1. Establish Thought Leadership Through Consistent Commentary
One of the most effective ways for a lawyer to build credibility is to become a reliable, recognizable voice on topics relevant to their practice area. This doesn’t require constant media appearances — it means consistently offering clear, useful commentary on legal developments that matter to current and prospective clients.
This can take the form of a regular blog on a firm’s website, contributed articles for legal or industry publications, or short-form commentary on LinkedIn breaking down recent court decisions, legislative changes or regulatory updates. Family lawyers, for instance, might comment on changes to the Family Law Act, while employment lawyers might weigh in on updates to the Fair Work Act or recent Fair Work Commission decisions.
The goal isn’t self-promotion for its own sake — it’s demonstrating, through substance, that a lawyer genuinely understands the issues their clients are facing. Over time, this kind of visible expertise becomes a powerful differentiator, particularly for solicitors and barristers competing in specialized or niche practice areas where prospective clients are actively searching for someone who clearly knows the terrain.
2. Build Relationships With Legal and Business Journalists
Australian legal and business media — including outlets like the Australian Financial Review, Lawyers Weekly and various state-based legal publications — regularly seek expert commentary for stories involving legal disputes, regulatory changes or high-profile cases. Lawyers who take the time to build genuine relationships with journalists covering their practice area put themselves in a strong position to be a trusted source when relevant stories break.
This doesn’t require a formal media strategy or outside agency involvement, especially for smaller firms or sole practitioners. It can start simply: following journalists who cover relevant beats, engaging thoughtfully with their reporting, and reaching out with a concise, well-informed comment when a story intersects with a lawyer’s specific expertise. Being quoted in credible media coverage does more than raise visibility — it signals third-party validation of a lawyer’s expertise, which carries more weight with prospective clients than self-published content alone.
Importantly, these relationships should be built on genuine value rather than opportunism. Journalists remember which sources give them clear, quotable, accurate information under deadline pressure — and they tend to return to those same sources repeatedly.
3. Get Involved in Professional and Community Organizations
Visibility within professional networks remains one of the most underrated ways lawyers build long-term credibility. Active involvement in state law society committees, industry associations, alumni networks or community legal initiatives puts lawyers in regular contact with peers, referral sources and potential clients — often in settings where trust is built more naturally than through direct marketing.
Speaking at industry conferences, sitting on panels, volunteering for pro bono initiatives, or contributing to continuing professional development sessions for colleagues all reinforce a lawyer’s standing as a genuine, active contributor to their field rather than someone simply seeking new business. For many Australian lawyers, some of their most valuable client relationships and referral partnerships originate not from advertising, but from these kinds of ongoing professional connections built over months or years.
This kind of community presence also matters for firms trying to establish themselves in a particular region or niche. A lawyer known and respected within their local business community, or within a specific industry vertical, often finds that referrals and new client inquiries follow naturally from that reputation.
4. Maintain a Clear, Consistent Online Presence
A lawyer’s digital footprint is frequently the first impression a prospective client forms — often well before any direct conversation takes place. This makes a clear, professional and up-to-date online presence essential, starting with a firm website that clearly communicates areas of practice, relevant experience and how to get in touch.
LinkedIn, in particular, has become a critical platform for Australian lawyers, both for sharing commentary and for maintaining visibility within professional networks. A well-maintained profile, combined with regular, thoughtful posts about relevant legal developments, helps reinforce credibility over time. Consistency matters more than volume — a lawyer who posts occasionally but substantively tends to build more trust than one who posts frequently but without much depth.
Equally important is managing how a lawyer or firm is represented across review platforms, legal directories such as Doyle’s Guide or Best Lawyers, and any coverage that may already exist online. Actively monitoring and, where appropriate, engaging with this presence helps ensure that a prospective client’s first impression accurately reflects the lawyer’s actual expertise and track record.
5. Communicate Clearly During High-Stakes or Sensitive Matters
How a lawyer communicates during difficult, high-profile or sensitive matters can shape their professional reputation for years. Clients — and often the broader public, in cases that attract media attention — pay close attention not just to legal outcomes, but to how clearly and professionally a lawyer manages communication throughout a matter.
This includes being deliberate and careful with any public statements, managing client expectations transparently from the outset, and ensuring that communication remains measured and professional even under pressure. Lawyers who handle high-stakes situations with composure and clarity tend to earn stronger long-term trust from clients, referral sources and peers alike — reputational capital that often proves more valuable than any single case outcome.
For sole practitioners and small firms without dedicated communications support, developing a simple internal protocol for handling sensitive matters — including who speaks to media, what can and cannot be disclosed, and how client confidentiality is protected throughout — can prevent costly missteps during moments when a firm’s reputation is most exposed.
Building Reputation as an Ongoing Practice
None of these strategies function as a one-off fix. Reputation-building for lawyers, much like the practice of law itself, is a long-term discipline built through consistency, substance and genuine engagement with clients, peers and the broader legal community. Firms and individual practitioners who treat these efforts as an ongoing part of their practice — rather than a occasional marketing exercise — tend to see the most durable results: stronger referral networks, greater visibility within their practice area, and a client base that chooses them specifically because of the trust they’ve built over time.
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