Vi e w p o i n t | 28 Jul 2026 02:49:39 ET │ 27 pages US Application Software Sentiment on HR software has started to improve in the past couple of months with short interest declining as both PAYC and PCTY have outperformed the IGV. We believe fundamentals are generally stable, setting up more favorably for PCTY with stronger web traffic trends and levers to pull to drive growth, with most focus on recent AI investments impact to the upcoming FY27 guide, where we believe buyside expectations have reset. We ...

Flash | 28 Jul 2026 02:54:29 ET │ 12 pages Croda International PLC (CRDA.L) 2Q/1H26: solid growth beat led by Consumer, FY guidance unchanged CITI'S TAKE A better-quality 1H result, with 2Q LFL growth 230bp ahead of VA consensus, led by strong Beauty growth and continued costs savings supporting confidence in Croda's earnings recovery. Consumer Care materially outperformed, led by Beauty Actives, while the group's adjusted operating profit of £156m beat consensus by 0.8% and PBT by 2.8%. Life Sciences remai ...

Action | 28 Jul 2026 02:52:24 ET │ 10 pages Zhejiang Supor (002032.SZ) Adding Downside 30-Day Short-Term View | Category: Sustained A&P intensity weighing on 3Q26E margins | | --- | | We expect A&P intensity to stay elevated in 3Q26 and remain the key drag | | on Supor's margins. Amid soft small appliance demand in China, we | | expect Supor to sustain brand, promotional and new-product spend to | | defend domestic share and support sell-through, keeping the selling | | expense ratio pressured YoY, rather t ...

Flash | 28 Jul 2026 02:51:31 ET │ 10 pages Unite Group (UTG.L) Headwinds continue to persist, accelerated disposals CITI'S TAKE EPS down -8% YoY and NAV down -9% in H1. Management note a portfolio refocus to c20 cities and c55,000-60,000 beds compared to c72,000 beds as at H1 2026. Identified disposal pipeline of between 15,000-20,000 beds and majority assets expected to be marketed in 2026. Management expect a +3-4% increase in demand for student accommodation over 2026/27 concentrated in cities with stron ...

Flash | 28 Jul 2026 02:49:12 ET │ 11 pages SSP Group (SSPG.L) 3Q ex-FX revenue growth +4% with broad growth outside the Middle East CITI'S TAKE SSPG's 3Q revenue grew +4% YoY (ex-FX) incl LFL sales growth of 3% and net gains of 1%, +1ppt above the 6-weeks trading update LfL growth at 1H26 results. SSP reiterated its FY26 guidance including EPS in 13.6-14.8p range (VA cons/Citi at 14.2p/14.3p). The company has completed £76m share buyback of the £100m guided for FY26. Regional trends — N. America sales grew ...

Flash | 28 Jul 2026 02:44:03 ET │ 10 pages Inchcape PLC (INCH.L) c.4% behind consensus at 1H26, but buyback up £75m: expect small share price decline CITI'S TAKE Inchcape has delivered 1H26 adj. PBT of £188m vs £200m in 1H25 - below Visible Alpha consensus at £196m. At the operating profit level, it grew from £247m to £248m (cons. £258m). Adj. basic EPS of 35.5p was below consensus at 37p. Organic growth in 1H was 5% (6% in 1Q). Organic growth in Americas was 13%, 7% in Europe and Africa, and-7% in APAC. Th ...

Flash | HD Hyundai Electric ('HDE') just released its 2Q26 results. In this quarter, revenue was +26.0% yoy to W1.14trn, operating profit was +37.3% yoy to W287.0bn and net profit was +45.2% yoy to W206.6bn. Consensus (Bloomberg) is forecasting 2Q26E revenue of W1.12trn, operating profit of W294.97bn and net profit of W224.46bn. In other words, for 2Q26 results, (i) revenue was 1.8% above consensus with expanded sales of power equipment and distribution equipment across domestic and overseas markets, (ii) o ...

Flash | 28 Jul 2026 02:13:05 ET │ 11 pages Mercedes-Benz Group AG (MBGn.DE) Very solid MB Cars during a tough time CITI'S TAKE MBG reported Q2 Adj EBIT at €2,299m (48%/40% beat vs Citi/Cons), RoS at 7.2% vs 4.7%/5.2% Citi/Cons. MB Cars RoS was at 4.0% vs. 3.1%/3.5% Citi/Cons; MB Vans RoS at 10.2% vs. 9.7%/9.5% Citi/Cons; while Mobility at 8.0% ahead of Citi/Cons at 5.6%/5.8%. While all divisions exceeded expectations, the majority of the beat was driven by the Finco and higher "Reconciliation" - but the hig ...

Flash | 28 Jul 2026 02:10:15 ET │ 13 pages Sika Group (SIKA.S) 1H'26 Sales & EBITDA beat consensus; FY26 top-line guidance raised, Margins guidance in line with consensus CITI'S TAKE 1H'26 sales at CHF5.59bn was ahead of (VA Cons CHF5.44bn, CitiE CHF5.40bn) while EBITDA of CHF1.06bn was c.4% ahead of (VA cons CHF1.02bn, CitiE CHF1.02bn). Topline growth came in at +4% YoY in local currency (vs. Cons 1.4%, CitiE 1.1%) of which 1.1% was contributed by bolt- on with organic growth at +2.9%. Material margin grew ...

Flash | 28 Jul 2026 02:11:17 ET │ 11 pages Barclays PLC (BARC.L) 2Q26 – Disappointing Divisional Mix & Incremental Investment Spend CITI'S TAKE 2Q26 PBT of £3.25bn is 3% above consensus (incl. £225m gain on AA), with revenues 3% ahead, opex 4% heavier and impairments 7% better. Our concern is that the mix is likely to disappoint with the three UK businesses showing a combined -2% PBT miss (on slightly weaker NII) and USCB an - 8% PBT miss (again on weaker NII). Meanwhile, the IB is 8% above consensus PBT, b ...