Mumbai: Lenders are witnessing higher utilisation of working capital limits by MSMEs and other industries as input cost pressures rise due to the ongoing US-Israel conflict. Bankers told ET as cash flows slow across the economy, MSMEs are increasingly relying on working capital to manage operations.

“As input costs rise, margins come under pressure, which can lead to higher working capital utilisation as cash flows get stretched,” said Prashanth TS, head – mid corporate group, Axis Bank. “MSMEs typically operate at utilisation levels of 70-75%, and in periods of heightened volatility, these levels tend to move higher.”

He added that, from a banking standpoint, this is not a solvency challenge but an input-cost inflation issue for MSMEs. For lenders, the leadership focus is on anticipating these pressures early and ensuring adequate, well-calibrated liquidity support without compromising credit discipline.

Sectors such as hospitality, ceramics, chemicals, steel and fertilisers are expected to see higher drawdowns of existing limits, as well as fresh working capital sanctions, as firms navigate rising costs and tighter liquidity conditions.

“Different pockets will have different impacts. In general, when cash flow movement in the economy slows down, working capital will go up,” the MSME head of another leading private sector bank said. “Because faster the cash flow cycles move, lower is the utilisation because you churn your money.”

For domestic basmati rice exporters, Iran is the third-largest destination, accounting for about 13% of total exports in fiscal 2025. According to Crisil Ratings, rising prices of raw materials and imported fertilisers are likely to increase working capital requirements for industry players, while also raising the government’s subsidy bill by an estimated ₹20,000-25,000 crore.
“We anticipate an increase in working capital loans, worsening corporate credit metrics, worsening metrics for SMEs and households and an increase in credit costs,” CreditSights – a Fitch Group company, said in a report. According to Crisil Ratings, sectors such as oil refining, aviation and crude-linked industries – including specialty chemicals, paints, petrochemicals and synthetic textiles – may be affected by rising crude oil prices. Additionally, companies involved in basmati rice, fruits and nuts trade may see heightened impact.

“The extent of the impact will depend on each sector’s ability to pass on the incremental costs,” the rating agency said in a report.

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Ascentage Pharma Group International (AAPG) Q4 2025 Earnings Call March 26, 2026 8:00 AM EDT

Company Participants

Yuly Chen
Dajun Yang – Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO
Veet Misra – Chief Financial Officer
Zhichao Si – Head of Commercial

Conference Call Participants

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Lut Ming Cheng – JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division
Biren Amin – Piper Sandler & Co., Research Division
Supawat Thongthip – Truist Securities, Inc., Research Division
Jeet Mukherjee – BTIG, LLC, Research Division
Matthew Biegler – Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division
Christopher Liu – Lucid Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division
Michael King – Rodman & Renshaw Research

Presentation

Operator

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Good day, everyone, and welcome to Ascentage Pharma’s 2025 Annual Results Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, today’s call is being recorded.

Thank you for joining us. I will now turn the call over to Yuly Chen, Senior Director of Investor Relations for the safe harbor statement. Yuly, please go ahead.

Yuly Chen

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Thank you, operator. Please note that today’s discussion will include forward-looking statements based on our current expectations and assumptions. These statements involve risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially. For a full discussion of these risks, please refer to our filings and disclosures.

On today’s call, I am joined by Dr. Dajun Yang, Chairman and CEO, who will provide an overview of recent developments and 2025 annual performance. As well as Dr. Veet Misra, CFO, who will go through the financial highlights. The presentation will then be followed by a Q&A session. During the Q&A session, the team will be joined by Dr. Yifan Zhai, Chief Medical Officer; Dr. Shaomeng Wang, Cofounder, Chief Scientific Adviser, Dr. Zhichao Si, Head of Commercial, I will now turn the call over to Dr. Yang.

Dajun Yang
Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO

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Thank you. Good morning. I’m Dajun Yang, Chairman and CEO of the company. Today, I’m very

Several U.S. cities could soon see major underground transportation upgrades led by billionaire Elon Musk’s The Boring Company (TBC).

In a Tuesday post on X, the construction company named the winners of its nationwide “Tunnel Vision Challenge,” naming New Orleans, Louisiana, and Dallas, Texas, as candidates for new transportation systems.

“Thanks again to all of the participants — your enthusiasm and positivity has been inspiring for the TBC team,” the company wrote.

Baltimore, Maryland, was initially named as a winner, but TBC later announced Wednesday that the project will not move forward following early discussions.

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The next phase will involve collaboration with local officials and regulators, along with geotechnical borings to determine feasibility.

In a Wednesday update, TBC provided additional details on its early discussions with local leaders in both Dallas and New Orleans, saying both proposed projects had “great initial meetings.”

Two additional cities — Hendersonville, Tennessee, and San Antonio, Texas — remain under consideration as discussions continue.

ELON MUSK MISLED TWITTER INVESTORS AHEAD OF ACQUISITION, JURY SAYS

The challenge, which launched in January, invited proposals for a one-mile tunnel concept, with the winning concept promised a free build.

Separately, TBC was recently selected to begin negotiations on a proposed underground transit system connecting Universal Orlando’s parks.

The company’s most notable project is the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) Loop, which opened in 2021 after about a year of construction. 

ALTMAN CALLS MUSK’S SPACE DATA CENTER PLANS ‘RIDICULOUS’ FOR CURRENT AI COMPUTING NEEDS

The system reduced a 45-minute walk across the convention campus to roughly two minutes, according to its website.

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The Vegas Loop was later expanded in 2024 to 2.1 miles and five stations.

TBC could not be immediately reached by FOX Business for comment.

FOX Business’ Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.

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Argan, Inc. (AGX) Q4 2026 Earnings Call March 26, 2026 5:00 PM EDT

Company Participants

David Watson – CEO, President & Director
Joshua Baugher – Senior VP, CFO & Treasurer

Conference Call Participants

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Jennifer Belodeau – Institutional Marketing Services, Inc.
Robert Brown – Lake Street Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division
Christopher Moore – CJS Securities, Inc.
Ati Modak – Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division
Michael Fairbanks – JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division

Presentation

Operator

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Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Argan, Inc. earnings release conference call for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended January 31, 2026. This call is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] There is a slide presentation that accompanies today’s remarks, which can be accessed via the webcast.

At this time, it’s my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host for today, John Nesbett and Jennifer Belodeau of IMS Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Jennifer Belodeau
Institutional Marketing Services, Inc.

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Thank you. Good evening, and welcome to our conference call to discuss Argan’s results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended January 31, 2026. On the call today, we have David Watson, Chief Executive Officer; and Josh Baugher, Chief Financial Officer.

I’ll take a moment to read the safe harbor statement. Statements made during this conference call and presented in the presentation that are not based on historical facts are forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, projections or statements of future goals and targets regarding the company’s revenues and profits. These statements are subject to known and unknown factors and risks. The company’s actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, and some of the factors and risks that could cause or contribute to such material differences have been described in this afternoon’s press release and in Argan’s

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The impact of the Iran war on global oil prices could push the rate of inflation facing U.S. consumers higher, which would leave Federal Reserve policymakers in a difficult spot as they weigh possible interest rate cuts.

An analysis by economists at Goldman Sachs projected that Brent crude oil prices, a common benchmark for the global oil market, are expected to remain elevated, averaging $105 a barrel in March and $115 in April before falling to $80 a barrel in the fourth quarter of 2026. That’s based on oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz remaining very low for six weeks.

In an adverse scenario where oil flows are disrupted for 10 weeks, the firm estimates Brent oil would peak at $140 a barrel and decline to $100 a barrel in the fourth quarter of 2026. A severely adverse scenario that includes disruptions for 10 weeks and infrastructure damage is a persistent hit to oil production would yield a peak at $160 a barrel and put oil at $115 a barrel in the fourth quarter of 2026.

“Most of the impact of the war on U.S. inflation will come from higher oil prices,” the Goldman economists said, noting that their “rule of thumb is that a 10% increase in oil prices raises headline PCE inflation by 0.2pp and core inflation by 0.04pp,” with much of the rise coming from transportation costs.

IRAN WAR FUELS ASIA ENERGY CRUNCH AS INDIA, JAPAN, OTHERS FEEL STRAIN

Goldman Sachs’ analysis also included a look at other commodities like fertilizer that could have higher costs due to limits on exports from the Gulf. It estimated that higher fertilizer prices could boost food prices by about 1.5% this year, raising headline inflation by 0.1 percentage point. 

Additionally, second-round effects stemming from higher inflation expectations could boost inflation by 0.1 of a percentage point by the end of 2026 under the baseline scenario, or 0.4 of a percentage point under the severely adverse scenario.

Those factors could push the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge higher. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index was up 2.8% on a headline basis in January, while core PCE, which excludes volatile measures of food and energy, was up 3.1% in January. Both figures were well above the Fed’s long-run target of 2% inflation, and policymakers opted against cutting rates at their last two meetings given the elevated readings.

MARKETS HANGING ON ‘EVERY WORD’ AS US-IRAN CONFLICT NEARS ONE MONTH, FORMER NEC DIRECTOR WARNS

The Goldman Sachs economists’ analysis finds that, given higher oil prices, the impact on food prices and the more mild impact of other commodities and inflation expectations, they raised their December 2026 PCE inflation estimate by 0.2pp to 3.1% in the baseline scenario.

In the adverse scenario, PCE inflation would be 3.6% in December after peaking at 4.6% this spring, while the severely adverse scenario would leave PCE inflation at 4% at the end of the year after peaking at 4.9%.

The firm also raised its core PCE inflation forecast to 2.5% at the end of the year in the baseline scenario, while it would be 2.6% in December under the adverse and severely adverse scenarios.

IRAN WAR UNLIKELY TO TRIGGER GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN CRISIS, GOLDMAN SACHS SAYS

Goldman Sachs also lowered its forecast for economic growth, reducing 2026 gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 2.1% in the fourth quarter compared to the same period the prior year or 2.4% on a full-year basis under the baseline scenario. The GDP growth forecast would fall to 1.9% fourth quarter-to-fourth quarter in the adverse scenario and 1.8% in the severely adverse scenario.

The firm also raised its 12-month recession probability by 5 percentage points to 30%.

The economists didn’t alter their baseline forecast for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, which featured two 25 basis point rate cuts in September and December. They explained that they expect the unemployment rate to rise to 4.6%, above the 4.4% median projection of Fed policymakers at their latest meeting.

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However, they did raise the probability of the Fed staying on hold this year from 20% to 25%, while lowering the probability of insurance cuts from 15% to 10%, due to the relatively higher inflation readings they anticipate.

Five Guys is rewarding employees after an unexpectedly overwhelming promotion put heavy pressure on store crews.

The burger chain said it was distributing about $1.5 million in bonuses to workers after a buy-one-get-one (BOGO) deal on Feb. 17, which was launched to celebrate its 40th anniversary but quickly exceeded expectations.

“The promotion spread far beyond what we anticipated, and our hardworking crews were placed in a difficult situation,” Five Guys said in a Feb. 18 statement. 

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The company noted some locations ran out of food, closed early and experienced online ordering issues.

“We also want to recognize the incredible men and women working in our restaurants,” the statement continued. “They handled it with the same grit and dedication that has defined Five Guys for four decades.”

FAST-FOOD GIANT MAINTAINS IRON GRIP ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AMID RESTAURANT INDUSTRY CHANGES

CEO Jerry Murrell told Fortune he wrote 1,500 bonus checks, acknowledging the company underestimated demand and wanting to recognize employees for handling the surge.

“I didn’t want anybody shooting me in the back or anything after the first day, because we really screwed it up. We had no idea that we were going to get that kind of response,” Murrell told the outlet.

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Five Guys brought back the BOGO offer from March 9-12.

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Five Guys did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.

“There is no more powerful way to recognize the historic achievements of our great country and President Donald J. Trump than US dollar bills bearing his name,” Bessent said. US banknotes have traditionally carried the signatures of Treasury officials.