HONOLULU — Hurricane Lowell tracked close to Hawaii’s western islands this week, prompting hurricane warnings for Kauai and Niihau and a tropical storm warning for Oahu, with Australia’s Smartraveller agency urging Australians heading to the popular tourist destination to exercise caution as the storm brought heavy rain, dangerous surf and the risk of flash flooding across the state.

The National Weather Service issued the hurricane warnings for Kauai and Niihau as Lowell, a major hurricane, passed just west of the main Hawaiian Islands overnight Monday into Tuesday. Australia’s Smartraveller advisory pointed to the storm’s potential to disrupt transport networks and essential services across the islands, urging travelers to monitor local media and follow directions from emergency authorities.

“Hurricane Lowell is expected to impact the Hawaiian Islands, particularly Kauai, bringing heavy rain, flash flooding, strong winds, and storm surges,” the Smartraveller advisory said.

The warning followed Hawaii’s emergency declaration Monday as state officials prepared for what forecasters described as potentially life-threatening conditions across the western islands.

Lowell had an unusually volatile trajectory in the days before nearing Hawaii. According to weather.com, the storm rapidly intensified from a tropical storm to only the second Category 5 hurricane of the 2026 Pacific season between early Tuesday and Wednesday of the previous week, before subsequently weakening. By the time it neared Hawaii, Lowell had eased to a Category 3 storm, with maximum sustained winds recorded at 115 to 120 mph at various points as it approached the islands.

Kauai County Mayor Derek Kawakami urged residents to stay off the roads as the storm closed in, crediting the county’s emergency management team for its preparation ahead of the hurricane’s arrival.

“In a good position to be able to weather this storm as one community,” Kawakami said, describing the county’s readiness heading into the storm.

The National Weather Service issued a stark warning to residents in the storm’s path as conditions deteriorated.

“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” the National Weather Service said.

Forecasters warned of significant rainfall totals across the islands, with Kauai expected to see 6 to 10 inches of rain, with a possible maximum total as high as 16 inches, according to figures cited by ABC News and NBC News. The Big Island was forecast to receive 4 to 8 inches of rain, with isolated totals of up to 12 inches possible. That level of rainfall raised significant concerns about flash flooding and mudslides, particularly across Kauai County and portions of the Big Island’s hilly and mountainous terrain.

Wind gusts of up to 74 mph were forecast for Kauai County, with gusts up to 40 mph possible on Oahu, according to Hawaii Emergency Management Agency officials, who warned of the potential for power outages tied to both high winds and flash flooding. Forecasters also flagged the possibility that tornadoes could form near Kauai and Niihau amid the storm’s high winds, with a few additional tornadoes possible elsewhere across the Hawaiian Islands.

Storm surge added a further hazard along the coastlines of the affected islands, with forecasts calling for surges of 1 to 4 feet across Kauai County and up to a foot on Oahu, according to multiple forecasting sources. Combined with the storm’s powerful winds, forecasters warned that waves could reach as high as 30 feet across parts of the island chain, with dangerous surf and rip currents expected statewide regardless of the storm’s exact final track.

The Hawaii Department of Transportation warned that airlines could cancel flights in the days surrounding the storm’s closest approach, adding a further complication for both residents and visitors, including Australian tourists, attempting to travel to or from the islands during the period of greatest risk.

Lowell’s approach to Hawaii came amid an unusually active stretch of Pacific storm activity, with the hurricane representing one of three cyclones swirling in the Pacific over the same week, alongside Hurricane Karina, which weakened into a post-tropical cyclone while still producing gale-force winds well to the east of Hilo, and Hurricane Marie, which brought rain and elevated surf to Southern California.

Central Pacific Hurricane Center forecasters said Lowell was expected to weaken further as it moved past Kauai and Niihau, citing increasing wind shear and cooler sea-surface temperatures along the storm’s projected path. Forecasters projected the storm would decline to a minimal Category 1 hurricane, with winds around 75 mph, within roughly 24 hours of passing northwest of Kauai, before continuing to weaken as it moved further from the islands.

The Hawaiian Islands have faced a difficult stretch of storm-related disruption in recent months, with local officials in the town of Naʻālehu noting that a community hub had been established to provide food, water and supplies to residents in the two weeks following an earlier storm, Hurricane Lala, underscoring the cumulative strain repeated storm events have placed on some island communities this season.

With Lowell’s closest approach to the islands now largely behind it, forecasters said conditions were expected to gradually improve through the remainder of the week as the storm continued moving away from Hawaii on a north-northwest track. Even so, officials continued urging residents and visitors, including the Australian tourists specifically flagged in the Smartraveller advisory, to remain cautious given the lingering risk of dangerous surf, rip currents and the potential for continued flooding in low-lying and hilly areas across the state in the storm’s immediate aftermath.

For Australians with upcoming travel plans to Hawaii, Smartraveller continued advising travelers to monitor official local media channels and follow any additional directions issued by Hawaiian emergency management authorities in the days following Lowell’s passage, given the potential for continued disruptions to transport networks and essential services even after the storm’s most severe conditions had passed.

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NEW YORK — Sandisk shares jumped again as investors treated a former flash-drive name like an artificial-intelligence infrastructure stock, leaving a simple question after a violent rally: whether the tape still offers a buy, or only a bet that memory prices stay scarce.

Sandisk closed Sept. 4 at $1,740, up $185.01, or 11.90%, from the prior session. Overnight trading printed about $1,767. The session’s range ran from $1,581 to $1,740. The 52-week span, from about $68 to more than $2,350, shows how fast the story changed after the company was spun out of Western Digital in early 2025.

The move follows fiscal fourth-quarter results for the period ended July 3. Revenue was $8.97 billion, up 51% from the prior quarter and 372% from a year earlier. Data-center sales were $2.98 billion, about a third of the quarter and more than double the prior period. A year earlier that line was about $213 million. Non-GAAP gross margin reached 84.6%, compared with 26.2% a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were reported well above year-ago losses. Management said about two-thirds of the sequential revenue increase came from higher prices and one-third from more bits shipped.

Guidance kept the heat on. For fiscal first-quarter 2027, Sandisk forecast revenue of $10.3 billion to $10.80 billion and non-GAAP profit of $44 to $46 a share, with gross margin 83% to 85%. Reuters noted the revenue midpoint sat above one consensus set even as the stock sold off after the print when other estimate services had wanted more.

Chief Executive David Goeckeler has framed the boom as structural, not seasonal. “AI is fundamentally a memory-centric storage-intensive problem,” he said on the August earnings call. At the company’s investor day he said, “Our strong performance today is the direct result of disciplined execution against the strategy we outlined 18 months ago.” He has also said Sandisk grows supply “primarily through nodal transitions rather than wafer additions.”

That last point is why bulls call the stock a buy on a pullback and why skeptics wait. Memory cycles have historically ended when suppliers add wafers and prices collapse. Sandisk is arguing it can lift bits in the mid-to-high teens by moving to denser technology such as BiCS8 without a classic capacity binge. Capital spending is described as modest relative to sales. The long-term model for fiscal 2028 through 2030 targets mid-to-high-teens revenue growth, about 80% non-GAAP gross margin, about 75% operating margin and adjusted free cash flow near 50% of revenue. Those figures are below the 84.6% gross margin just printed, which is management’s way of telling the market the peak print may not be the mid-cycle print.

Contracts are the other half of the bull case. Chief Financial Officer Luis Visoso said Sandisk had 10 multiyear “new business model” agreements with eight customers, five signed since April, running as long as five years with a weighted average duration of more than four years. “The total expected revenue from all our NBMs we have signed is a minimum of $93.9 billion, assuming floor pricing,” Visoso said. Management has said the deals should cover about half of bits in fiscal 2027 and about two-thirds in fiscal 2028, backed by customer deposits and other financial support. That is closer to a contracted industrial book than to the spot NAND market Sandisk used to live in.

The company also authorized large buybacks as cash piled up. It repaid remaining term-loan debt, moved to a net cash position and later expanded repurchase authority into the tens of billions. Full-year free cash flow swung from an outflow in fiscal 2025 to more than $11 billion in fiscal 2026 on company figures. S&P Global Ratings raised Sandisk to BB+ with a positive outlook after the deleveraging, citing constrained NAND supply through fiscal 2027 in its base case.

None of that answers “buy now” as a binary. At $1,740 the stock is no longer the neglected spinoff that traded in the double digits. It has already discounted a multiyear AI storage cycle. Trailing earnings multiples compressed as profits exploded; forward estimates imply a lower multiple if guidance holds. That can look cheap if $10 billion-plus quarters continue. It looks expensive if NAND prices normalize the way they have after every prior shortage.

The risks are familiar. Edge products — phones, PCs, cards — still supply more than half of quarterly revenue even as data center grows faster. Consumer units can drop just as data-center contracts lock in. Competitors in NAND and SSDs can still add supply. Customer concentration in a handful of AI builders means a pause in GPU cluster builds would hit Sandisk with a lag, not instantly, but it would hit. Gross margins in the mid-80s have little room to surprise to the upside and a long way to fall if floor prices in the new contracts sit well below spot.

Goeckeler has said customers returned after a single quarter asking to raise three-to-five-year demand. He estimated the NAND market would exceed $300 billion in calendar 2026, triple the prior year, and approach $500 billion in 2027, with data center taking a larger share of the total. Those are company forecasts, not booked sales.

For a newsroom ledger, the buy case is this: constrained bits, contracted floors, high cash conversion, and a CEO who says the shortage is an AI architecture problem rather than a one-year restock. The hold-or-wait case is this: the stock already ran from spinoff leftovers to a triple-digit handle, August’s 29% bounce recovered a prior slide, and Sept. 4’s 12% pop prices in another quarter of $10 billion sales before that quarter is delivered.

Sandisk is no longer asking investors to believe flash cards will matter. It is asking them to believe memory stays scarce long enough for $94 billion of minimum contract value to turn into cash at margins the old Sandisk never earned. Whether that is a buy at $1,740 depends less on the closing print than on whether the next shortage ends on schedule — or, this time, does not.

TUCSON, Ariz. — More than seven months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Arizona home, a retired FBI agent is theorizing that the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie was taken in a kidnapping-for-ransom scheme that spiraled out of the captors’ control, potentially ending in her death from a medical emergency shortly after she was seized.

Frank Storey, a retired FBI agent, laid out the theory during an appearance on the YouTube channel of fellow former FBI officer Jennifer Coffindaffer. Storey said he believes Guthrie was abducted as part of a ransom plot, but that something unexpected happened after the abduction that the captors had not anticipated. He suggested Guthrie may have experienced a medical emergency that ultimately led to her death, though he was careful to characterize the theory as speculation rather than a confirmed finding.

Guthrie has remained missing since vanishing from her Catalina Foothills home near Tucson in the early hours of Feb. 1, 2026. Investigators have continued searching for her from multiple angles, including the working theory that she was kidnapped, though no suspect has been publicly identified or arrested seven months into the case.

The prolonged lack of an arrest, combined with the sheriff’s department’s limited public updates, has led some observers and critics to question whether the investigation has effectively gone cold. Scott Augenbaum, another retired FBI agent, has pushed back firmly against that characterization in comments to Tucson television station KOLD.

“This is by no means a cold case,” Augenbaum said. “A cold case is something that has been closed; it’s been put away. So in my opinion, this case is not closed at all. It’s still being held very tightly guarded by law enforcement, which I would expect at this point in time.”

Augenbaum said the absence of regular public announcements from investigators should not be interpreted as a sign that law enforcement has abandoned the case. Drawing on his own experience working investigations during his time with the bureau, he described two very different scenarios that could explain a prolonged period without an arrest.

“There were cases where we didn’t really have any leads or anything like that, and we just played that close,” Augenbaum said. He added that other investigations unfold quite differently: “There were situations where we kind of had a really amazing idea. We knew who did it, but we had to build the case against that person.”

Augenbaum said Guthrie’s case could realistically fall anywhere between those two possibilities, or somewhere in between, given the limited information investigators have made public so far.

Guthrie’s disappearance has drawn sustained national attention throughout the year, driven in significant part by her daughter’s prominent role as a co-anchor on NBC’s “Today” show. Guthrie was last seen at her home on the evening of Jan. 31, 2026, after being dropped off by family members, and was reported missing the following morning after failing to arrive for a scheduled church service with friends.

Investigators have pursued a range of leads over the course of the investigation, including doorbell camera footage showing a masked, armed individual near Guthrie’s home around the time of her disappearance, along with two ransom notes the Pima County Sheriff’s Department later released publicly in an effort to generate additional tips. Forensic evidence recovered from the scene, including DNA samples and hair evidence, has so far failed to produce a confirmed match to any suspect, according to prior statements from investigators.

Despite the absence of a named suspect, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has repeatedly reiterated that the investigation remains active, characterizing ongoing forensic analysis and continued review of incoming tips as evidence the case continues to move forward even without regular public updates.

Storey’s latest theory adds to a growing list of competing explanations that have circulated publicly throughout the investigation, none of which have been confirmed by law enforcement. Various retired agents and commentators have offered their own readings of the limited evidence made public so far, reflecting the intense ongoing interest in a case that has remained unresolved despite extensive media coverage and a substantial reward for information leading to Guthrie’s recovery.

As the investigation moves further past the seven-month mark, authorities have continued declining to provide detailed public updates on specific leads or the current status of forensic testing, a practice Augenbaum and other former investigators have said is consistent with standard law enforcement procedure in an active case involving a potential ongoing criminal investigation. For now, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department has indicated it will continue withholding a formal press conference on the case until investigators have a significant development to share, leaving both Guthrie’s family and the broader public following the case to continue awaiting answers about what ultimately happened to her.

The Prasol Chemicals IPO has opened for subscription today, September 8, 2026, giving investors a three-day window to bid until September 10. In the grey market, the IPO is commanding a modest 8% premium, hinting at limited listing gains for now.

The IPO is a Rs 500 crore book-built issue, comprising a fresh issue of 11.83 lakh shares worth Rs 80 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 62.13 lakh shares worth Rs 420 crore. The price band has been fixed at Rs 643-Rs 676 per share, with a lot size of 22 shares. At the upper price band, retail investors will need a minimum investment of Rs 14,872.

The IPO will close on September 10, with allotment expected to be finalised on September 11. Shares are proposed to list on both the NSE and BSE, with the tentative listing date set for September 16, 2026.

DAM Capital Advisors Ltd. is the book-running lead manager, while KFin Technologies Ltd. is the registrar to the issue.

Prasol Chemicals IPO GMP today

Prasol Chemicals IPO is currently commanding a GMP of Rs 55 per share, or around 8%, over its upper price band of Rs 676. Based on the prevailing GMP, the estimated listing price is around Rs 731 per share.

GMP Note: The Grey Market Premium (GMP) is an unofficial market indicator and is not regulated or guaranteed. Actual listing gains may differ significantly from the estimated price based on market conditions and investor sentiment.

Use of IPO proceeds

The company plans to use the IPO proceeds primarily to repay/pre-pay certain borrowings, either fully or partially, amounting to approximately Rs 60 crore. Any remaining proceeds will be utilised for general corporate purposes, with the total issue proceeds estimated at Rs 60 crore.

Financial performance

Prasol Chemicals Ltd. reported a 22% increase in total income, rising from Rs 1,015.54 crore in FY25 to Rs 1,237.85 crore in FY26. Profit after tax (PAT) grew strongly by 91%, from Rs 43.57 crore in FY25 to Rs 83.12 crore in FY26, reflecting a significant improvement in profitability.

About Prasol Chemicals Ltd.

Prasol Chemicals Ltd., incorporated in 1992, is a speciality chemicals manufacturer with a portfolio of 150+ products, including acetone-based, phosphorus-based, and other speciality chemicals. Its products cater to key industries such as performance chemicals, paints & inks, construction & adhesives, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and home & personal care.

The company operates manufacturing facilities at Khopoli and Mahad, with a combined annual capacity of 98,644 MT. As of July 31, 2026, Prasol served 1,600 customers and exported to 69 countries. Its key customers include Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Lubrizol India, Rossari Biotech, Clean Science, Gharda Chemicals, Croda India, Supriya Lifescience, and Yasho Industries.

Prasol is a 3-Star Export House recognised by the Government of India and has a strong global distribution network across APAC, North and South America, and Europe.

Should you subscribe?

According to an Anand Rathi research report, Prasol Chemicals is seeking a valuation of around 48x FY26 earnings, with a post-issue market capitalisation of approximately Rs 40,008 million. This suggests that the IPO is fully priced at the current valuation.

The company’s operations are dependent on manufacturing facilities, where unplanned shutdowns can disrupt production and overall business activities. However, its strong product portfolio, R&D-driven innovation, and diversified global customer base provide a solid foundation for long-term growth in the speciality chemicals sector.

Given these factors, Anand Rathi has assigned a “Subscribe for Long Term” rating to the issue.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Shares of GE Vernova T&D India rallied as much as 8% to the day’s high of Rs 4,708 on the BSE on Tuesday after emerging as the lowest bidder for a project from Power Grid Corporation of India to design and establish a 6,000 MW, ±800 kV high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission system. The project will evacuate renewable power from Barmer II in Rajasthan to South Kalamb.

The company said it received a letter from Power Grid on September 7 informing it that it had emerged as the L1 bidder for the project. L1 status means GE Vernova T&D India’s bid was the lowest among those submitted for the project. The company, however, did not disclose the value of the contract in its filing.

The project involves setting up two 3,000 MW HVDC terminal stations using line-commutated converter (LCC) technology. GE Vernova T&D India will undertake the design, supply and execution of the project.

The Barmer II-South Kalamb corridor is part of India’s planned expansion of high-capacity transmission infrastructure aimed at moving renewable power from generation-heavy regions to major consumption centres. The 6 GW, 800 kV project was approved by the National Committee on Transmission in May 2025.

Buy, sell or hold GE Vernova stock?

Nomura raised the target price to Rs 6,000, implying an upside of 37.5% from current levels. “We remain constructive on GVTD’s long-term earnings growth, driven by its robust order book position and increased adoption of grid automation technologies,” the brokerage said in a note.

It said the company’s order win came as a positive surprise, as it had not factored in an HVDC order win for GE Vernova in FY27.
“While our FY27 and FY28 EBITDA margin estimates are largely unchanged, we cut our FY29F EBITDA margin estimate by 56 bp to factor in the likely execution mix, thereby partly offsetting the upward revisions to revenue estimates.”Emkay has maintained a Buy rating on GE Vernova T&D India with a target price of Rs 5,300, citing strong prospects in the power transmission sector across both domestic and export markets.

The brokerage said the company is well positioned to benefit from structural growth in the transmission sector, supported by around Rs 1,000 crore of capacity expansion planned through FY28, which should improve its ability to meet rising demand. It also highlighted strong support from parent GE, which provides access to new technologies and helps accelerate localisation for the Indian market.

Emkay also pointed to the company’s robust balance sheet, with a net cash position of Rs 2,930 crore as of the end of Q1FY27, along with healthy three-year cash-flow generation averaging around Rs 1,000 crore annually. Favourable working-capital dynamics, with net working capital maintained at around 50 days over the past three years, are another positive. The brokerage expects these factors to support a 25% earnings CAGR over FY26-29E.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

News that Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) was to cut 4,000 jobs was a cause for uncertainty and stress for company workers and those in the wider supply chain, experts have said.

Prof David Bailey from the Birmingham Business School said he worried it could limit the company’s ability to innovate in the future while David Roberts, chairman of Coventry-based Evtec Group, said up to 200,000 jobs could be tied to JLR.

The cuts will happen over the next two years and will mostly affect the head office in Whitley, Coventry.

But there are concerns about the impact the job cuts will have on the West Midlands’ skill base.

“The danger there is, in part, if they cut for example too many workers in research and development that could affect their future ability to develop new cars,” Bailey said.

“So it’s a really critical phase for the company and there’s going to be real concern at the firm about what’s happening.”

He said he understood JLR was facing a range of issues, but cutting the workforce was risky.

“When margins are squeezed, companies cut costs and investment; when investment is delayed, the UK becomes less competitive; and when competitiveness falls, future investment increasingly goes elsewhere,” he said.

Bailey said the British motor industry needed government help to compete in the electric car market and it was crucial to more than jobs on the factory floor.

He said: “It anchors research and development, engineering capability, component suppliers and regional economies.

“Once those capabilities disappear, they are extremely difficult to recreate.”