Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) and Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) have entered into reciprocal contract manufacturing arrangements designed to improve manufacturing efficiency and expand their operational flexibility. The first shipments are expected in 2027, while both companies said the agreements are not expected to have a material impact on their 2026 results.
The deal is particularly relevant for Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) because it is looking to increase cigarette imports and exports and capitalize on the U.S. "double duty drawback" system. The tax mechanism allows tobacco companies to recover certain federal excise taxes previously paid on products that are later exported, potentially improving the economics of international tobacco trade.
For Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM), the agreement provides access to Altria's manufacturing capabilities while allowing PMI to maintain its existing international-focused cigarette strategy. PMI has emphasized that the arrangement does not mean it plans to sell cigarettes in the U.S.
Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock.com
The biggest positive for Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) is the potential to generate additional economic value from its existing manufacturing infrastructure. Rather than relying entirely on the declining U.S. cigarette market, Altria can use manufacturing relationships and international trade flows to create additional opportunities.

#altria #philip #Companies

The clues to the run sat in dated interconnect milestones, not in the custom-silicon question that dominated the argument surrounding the stock.
Marvell Technology (MRVL) stock returned 233.5% over the past year, against 21.0% for the S&P 500. The argument that filled those months was custom silicon, and whether the company would keep its lead accelerator program. Its own disclosures before the run pointed somewhere quieter, and that is where the payoff came from.
The Earliest Sign Was A Chip, Not A Forecast
In December 2024, Marvell reported that it had begun shipping the industry's first 1.6T PAM DSP, the part inside the optical modules that carry traffic between AI accelerators, and announced a three-nanometer successor designed to cut optical module power by more than 20%. Those PAM parts sit inside the interconnect portfolio, and connectivity had by then become just as critical as the processors themselves, by the company's own account. At its fiscal Q1 2026 results in May 2025, the last quarterly report filed before the run began, management said shipments were underway at five nanometers and the bigger ramp was still ahead.
The Numbers Filed Just Before The Run Cut Both Ways

#Stock #inside

Philip Morris International (PM) shares closed higher on Aug. 24 after announcing a contract manufacturing agreement with Altria Group (MO). Under the arrangement, PM's non-U.S. affiliates will work with Philip Morris USA on combustible-cigarette manufacturing, with initial shipments expected to begin in early 2027.
Following today's rally, Philip Morris stock is up nearly 25% versus its year-to-date low.
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QQQ is Still in a Negative Gamma Regime. Here's How a 'Put Wall' and Fibonacci Support Could Come Into Play.

#morris #Stock #international

Descartes Systems Group announced Monday that it has acquired Tai, a TMS provider for freight brokers, for $100 million. The deal was funded with cash on hand.
California-based Tai's AI-powered platform oversees the entire shipment lifecycle, including quoting, sourcing, execution and invoicing. The TMS primarily executes truckload, less-than-truckload, drayage and cross-border shipments.
"The acquisition expands our transportation management capabilities for freight brokers and adds valuable transaction, carrier and shipment execution data to the Descartes Global Logistics NetworkTM," said Andrew Wimer, ******* ociate general manager of transportation management at Descartes.
The Canadian company continues to expand its offering through acquisitions. It has executed 34 deals since 2017.
Descartes (NASDAQ: DSGX) acquired Latin American last-mile logistics tech provider Drivin for $30 million last month. It acquired Pittsburgh-based fleet safety solutions provider Idelic for $28 million in April.

#descartes #provider #Logistics #shipment

Yangtze Memory Technologies filed for an initial public offering on the Shanghai Stock Exchange to raise $4.9 billion, in what would rank among China's largest semiconductor share sales in years, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The company, known as YMTC and based in Wuhan, China, said in its listing prospectus on Friday that it plans to issue between roughly 2.0 billion and 2.4 billion new shares, representing 10% to 12% of its post-offering share capital, with an overallotment option of up to 15%. The funds will be used to upgrade production lines and develop next-generation storage products. The company expects to list in 2027, according to the Wall Street Journal.
YMTC's parent company, CCSH Corporation, plans to list on Shanghai's STAR Market, according to the Nikkei Asia. The IPO comes as explosive demand from artificial intelligence has driven a surge in NAND flash chip prices, allowing YMTC's factories to run near full capacity.
The company's first-quarter results underscore that momentum. The company posted first-quarter revenue of 47.04 billion yuan, or $7.0 billion, a figure that surpassed what it had earned across all of 2024. Revenue from core NAND flash products rose nearly fivefold compared with the same period a year earlier, while quarterly net profit reached 33.38 billion yuan — more than twice what the company earned across all of 2025. The company said gross margin expanded to 77% in the quarter, up from 35% a year prior.
Counterpoint Research placed YMTC third in global NAND shipments, putting it ahead of Kioxia by volume, even as it continues to lag behind both Kioxia and Micron Technology when measured by revenue.

#according #street #journal

Download the Complete Report Here
Key Takeaways:
Best-in-class execution supported 3.7% revenue growth and stable adj. EBITDA despite an FSM shipment decline during the Hormuz disruption.
Americas led regional earnings growth, with adj. EBITDA up 17.2% and margin expanding to 46.3%, while MEAA remained resilient and Europe remained pressured.
2H26 expected to pivot to more volume-led growth as channel inventories normalize, with 2026 revenue guided +4-6% and adj. EBITDA growth of low-to-mid single digits.

#revenue #complete

Aug 23 (Reuters) - - Vietnam's National ******* embly on Sunday approved amendments to the customs law that strengthen customs powers to intercept ‌counterfeit and intellectual property-infringing goods, a move that could address some ‌concerns raised in a U.S. trade investigation into the country's protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
• The changes come after the U.S. Trade Representative in May launched a Section 301 investigation into Vietnam's intellectual property regime after designating the country a "priority foreign country" in its annual Special 301 review.
• Among ‌the concerns cited by ⁠USTR were widespread counterfeiting, weak border enforcement, limited use of customs' authority to seize suspected counterfeit goods on its ⁠own initiative, and the absence of similar powers over goods transiting Vietnam.
• The revised law, which takes effect in March 2027, expands customs enforcement provisions to cover not only imported and exported goods but also goods transiting ‌through Vietnam, broadening the range of shipments that may be subject to intervention by customs authorities.
• Under the amendments, customs authorities retain the power to suspend clearance when rights holders provide evidence of possible infringement and a financial guarantee. Customs officers may also proactively halt the clearance of ‌imported, exported or transit goods if they identify clear signs of counterfeiting or other intellectual property violations.

#vietnam

Insider Monkey's investor database shows several prominent growth investors converging on a relatively obscure AI infrastructure name. Stephen Mandel's Lone Pine Capital disclosed a 2.74 million-share position in TTM Technologies in Q2, worth about $512 million as of June 30. Alex Sacerdote's Whale Rock Capital increased its TTMI stake by about 20% during Q2 to 4.23 million shares, worth roughly $791 million at quarter-end, making TTMI its fourth-largest disclosed U.S. equity position.
TTM Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTMI) is a manufacturer of printed circuit boards, RF components and other advanced electronic systems.
TTM Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTMI) is seeing AI demand translate into actual revenue growth. On August 5, the company said second-quarter sales reached a record $1 billion, up 37% YoY. Its Data Center and Networking business generated 40% of revenue and grew 91%, driven by continued AI infrastructure demand. Management expects the segment to account for 49% of third-quarter sales and more than double for full-year 2026.
Portogas D Ace/Shutterstock.com
Demand indicators remain strong as well. TTM reported a Q2 book-to-bill ratio of 1.49, suggesting orders are still running comfortably ahead of shipments.

#ttmi #million #demand #NASDAQ

By Robert Harvey
LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped more than $1 a barrel on Monday as investors took profits after recent gains and awaited details of expected new U.S. sanctions on Iran, which could ‌further disrupt supplies from the Middle East.
Brent crude futures were down $1.01, or 1.1%, to $93.38 at 1316 GMT, while ‌U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $85.64 a barrel, down $1.42, or 1.6%.
Both contracts posted a second consecutive weekly gain last week, rising more than 5%, as peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran stalled, constraining oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a route that once carried a fifth of global supplies.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is set to hold a press conference at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) on Monday, has threatened to impose "the toughest sanctions in history" on Iran. President Donald Trump has also threatened to ‌impose sanctions on Iran's trading partners.

#barrel #supplies #robert

Ives argues NVDA ****** yst models sit somewhere between 15% and 20% below what the company will actually deliver over the next 12 to 18 months.
Ives says markets give NVIDIA minimal credit for physical AI, which already generated $9 billion in revenue and could expand the addressable market.
Wednesday's earnings must deliver a strong Q3 guide, Vera Rubin shipment confirmation, and demand color supporting $1 trillion in Blackwell revenue visibility through 2027.
Don't wait: the ****** yst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just revealed his top 10 AI stocks. See the full list FREE now.
Dan Ives is back in front of a CNBC camera, making the same argument he has made for most of this year: that investors continue to underrate the scale and scope of what NVIDIA is doing. The pitch matters this week because NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) reports fiscal second-quarter results after the market close on Wednesday, August 26, 2026.

#NVIDIA #ives #market #blackwell

By Robert Harvey
LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped more than $1 a barrel on Monday as investors took profits after recent gains and awaited details of expected new U.S. sanctions ‌on Iran, which could further disrupt supplies from the Middle East.
Brent crude futures were down $1.55, ‌or 1.64%, to $92.84 at 0911 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $85.02 a barrel, down $2.04, or 2.34%.
Both contracts posted a second consecutive weekly gain last week, rising more than 5%, as peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran stalled, constraining oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a route that once carried a fifth of global supplies.
"Oil slipped after a two-week rally as traders awaited the U.S. plan to economically isolate Iran due later Monday," said ‌Saxo Bank **** ysts in a note.

#Monday #slipped #awaited #supplies

By Makiko Yamazaki
TOKYO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - ***** an's imports hit a monthly record in July as elevated oil prices drove up energy costs and inflationary pressures, while exports also climbed to an all-time ‌high on a weaker yen and robust semiconductor-related demand.
Total imports by value grew 27.8% from a year ‌earlier to 12.1 trillion yen ($76.39 billion), data showed on Thursday, hitting a fresh record for the second straight month and exceeding market forecasts for a 26.5% increase.
Japan's crude oil import volumes have rebounded as alternative supplies, mainly from the United States, replace Middle Eastern shipments disrupted by the conflict in the Middle East.
The persistence of wholesale inflation, together with resilient exports, is likely to support the case for the Bank of ***** an to continue to normalise monetary policy, as the central bank is ‌set to raise rates as soon as ⁠September.

#exports #tokyo

By Siyi Liu and Chen Aizhu
SINGAPORE, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Offers of Iranian crude to Chinese buyers have declined and prices have jumped this week as the U.S. blockade has cut Tehran's shipments, according to trade sources, with the threat of more sanctions from Washington looming.
The U.S. re-imposed its blockade of Iran's shipping ‌and ports on July 13 as a deal to halt the war between them broke down in an attempt to cut off oil sales — Tehran's primary source ‌of hard currency — compounding earlier losses from wartime strikes on its energy infrastructure.
The number of offers for Iranian oil cargoes to China for September and October delivery has declined from July and August cargoes, four trade sources familiar with the matter said. The offers have declined as barrels already in ships on the water have been sold, they said.
Iran's oil exports have fallen since mid-July, with no visible crossings of the Strait of Hormuz by supertankers carrying Iranian crude since then, according to data from ship-tracking company Kpler, although many vessels turn off their location transponders, making them difficult to track.

#iranian #blockade #according #trade

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is heading into its August 26 earnings report with expectations already elevated. Wall Street firm Stifel believes it can clear this high bar, with its bull case built around independent checkpoints scattered across the supply chain.
On August 19, Stifel ******* yst Ruben Roy reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $282.00 price target, implying roughly 30% upside from current levels. Stifel anticipates Nvidia to beat estimates and raise guidance, noting how its broader coverage preview reinforces the demand case for the stock.
One company behind Stifel's bullish call is Foxconn, legally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. Foxconn is the world's largest electronics contract manufacturer and a key Nvidia partner in its artificial intelligence buildout. The company reported second-quarter revenue of NT $2.53 trillion, jumping 41% year-over-year. Operating profit increased 68%, while net profit increased 35% backed by continued strong demand for AI.
Roy cited how Foxconn had its cloud and networking segment cross 50% of revenue for the first time with full-year AI rack shipments guided to more than double. CEO Michael Chiang reinforced this by noting that AI-related business performance will continue to grow in the third quarter and that the company expects significant quarter-on-quarter growth and strong year-on-year growth.
Another company supporting Stifel's bullish case is Super Micro Computer Inc (NASDAQ:SMCI). Super Micro is a global technology leader that designs and builds servers, storage systems, and complete rack-scale hardware for data centers. These AI servers and hardware sit at the core of data centers running Nvidia accelerators.

#NASDAQ

On August 11, Venture Global (NYSE:VG) reported its Q2 2026 earnings. While the text implies an established corporate history, Venture Global completed its IPO in January 2025, making this only its second Q2 report as a publicly traded company. The company posted its largest quarterly EBITDA ever, raised its full-year guidance for the second time this year, and lifted its dividend by triple digits. But the stock still carries one of the most lopsided sentiment profiles on the market, and that gap between the fundamentals and the trading floor is the real story here.
The headline number was $2.5 billion in consolidated adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2026, a 79% jump from the $1.4 billion posted in the same quarter of 2025. Revenue followed the same trajectory, climbing 48% year over year to $4.6 billion, with $1.3 billion of that increase coming from higher sales volumes and the rest from better pricing. Venture Global shipped 466 TBtu of LNG in the quarter, up from 329 TBtu a year earlier, and net income attributable to common stockholders came in at $1.3 billion, up 266% from $368 million.
That kind of operating leverage let management raise 2026 EBITDA guidance to a range of $8.7 billion to $9.1 billion, up from the $8.2 billion to $8.5 billion range given back in May. The company also exported its 1,000th cargo, just four years after its first shipment in March 2022, while keeping 91% of its 2026 volumes contracted, up from 84% at the start of the year. On the balance sheet side, Venture Global refinanced $5.3 billion of debt and preferred equity during the quarter, part of more than $103 billion raised or refinanced since the company's founding, a move management says will cut annual interest and coupon costs by more than $100 million. The board followed that up by raising the quarterly dividend 122% to $0.04 per share.
Not everything in the release points in one direction. Management kept its EBITDA guidance range wider than usual, citing LNG price volatility tied to events in the Middle East, and said it would only narrow that range after the third quarter. The current guidance ****** umes a liquefaction fee of $12.50 to $13.50 per MMBtu for uncontracted 2026 cargoes, and every $1 swing in that fee moves EBITDA by $180 million to $210 million, a reminder of how exposed results still are to global gas prices.
Much of the company's future growth also sits years out. A final investment decision on the 10 MTPA CP2 expansion isn't expected until early 2027, with first production not until late 2028, while the Plaquemines expansion is targeting an FID in the first half of 2027 and Phase 1 output only starting in 2029. Of the roughly 85 MTPA of run-rate production expected once all three projects and their bolt-ons are online, only about 53 MTPA is currently committed under long- and medium-term contracts, leaving 32 MTPA still to be marketed. And despite the dividend increase, the payout remains modest at $0.04 per share, even as t

FR8 Solutions and 22 independent drivers have reached a settlement in a federal civil RICO lawsuit. The drivers accused the company of altering rate sheets and hiding revenue from hauled loads. On July 28, a Florida court dismissed the case with prejudice. The court filings do not disclose the settlement's financial terms.
Plaintiffs and defendants filed a joint notice of settlement on July 27. They told the court they had resolved the matter and were finalizing their agreement. Judge Wendy Berger closed the case the following day. Her order allows either side 60 days to request a final order or reopen proceedings.
FR8 and the drivers worked under agreements that promised drivers 88% of each load's linehaul rate. The complaint claims company records showed smaller rates than FR8 actually received. Drivers claimed FR8 supplied settlement statements and dispatch documents that understated the company's revenue. The lawsuit says those documents reduced their percentage-based payment on individual loads.
One disputed shipment ran from Wood Dale, Illinois, to Gaffney, South Carolina. FR8's system showed a $2,400 rate, while the complaint claims FR8 received $2,500. Another shipment ran from Del Rio, Texas, to Kansas City, Kansas. For that move, the drivers claim FR8 showed $8,000 but received $15,000.
The $7,000 difference represented $6,160 under the drivers claimed 88% formula. Drivers also identified Ascent On-Demand, Active On-Demand and Landstar in disputed transactions. They claimed another company operator revealed different rates during June 2023. FR8 then ended their contracts and locked them out of its mobile application, the lawsuit states.

#settlement #claimed

Nike (NYSE:NKE) shares recently fell to new lows in about 12 years amid rising competition and falling sales. Despite the plunge, the stock's forward P/E still sits at 23.38, a 46% premium to the sector median of 15.99. There is another, smaller competitor that is gaining attention.
On Holding (NYSE:ONON) insiders are piling into the stock. The stock is down about 33% so far this year. The athletic footwear and apparel company's CEO Caspar Coppetti and co-founder Olivier Bernhard each purchased 65,000 shares on August 14.
The buying came just a few days after the company missed Q2 revenue estimates and cut full-year sales guidance.
What Happened
On Holdings' revenue in Q2 grew 22% at constant currency, a deceleration of about 480 basis points from the quarter prior. Wholesale grew just 12.7%. Management said the wholesale slowdown was largely deliberate and concentrated in the Americas, where the company held back shipments to retailers to avoid discounting rather than protect volume.

#year

Shares in Unitree, one of China's largest manufacturers of humanoid robots, closed their first day of trading by more than 460%, showing strong investor appetite for China's robotics sector.

Unitree raised around $900 million in its IPO on Shanghai's STAR Market, the city's board for technology startups, at a valuation of $9 billion. After today's surge, Unitree is now worth around $66 billion, ahead of larger Chinese tech firms like Baidu and JD.com. It's also worth more than the most valuable U.S. robotics company, Figure AI, which got a $39 billion valuation in a September 2025 funding round.
Investors piling into Unitree represents the hype around China's robotics sector, which is responsible for almost all shipments of humanoid robots in the first half of the year. But ******* ysts views are mixed on how much potential companies like Unitree have: While the startup continues to push what their robots can do—recently, beyond human performance—continued struggles on the software side, as well as a recent U.S. ban on foreign-made robots, could weigh on the company's future.
Unitree reported 1.7 billion yuan ($252 million) in revenue in 2025, with almost 45% of that coming from overseas sales. It also generated 600 million yuan ($89 million) in profit last year. Most of Unitree's sales go towards research purposes, though some Chinese tech companies and state-owned enterprises are starting to explore using humanoid robots in their operations.
Unitree has been backed by fellow Hangzhou startup DeepSeek, as well as big tech firms like Alibaba, Ant Group and Tencent, as well as several state-backed investment funds.
Nomura, which gave a "buy" rating to Unitree shares on Wednesday, credited Unitree's "rapid product iteration and continuous innovation" as the foundation of a "first-mover advantage."

#billion #like

FR8 Solutions and 22 independent drivers have reached a settlement in a federal civil RICO lawsuit. The drivers accused the company of altering rate sheets and hiding revenue from hauled loads. On July 28, a Florida court dismissed the case with prejudice. The court filings do not disclose the settlement's financial terms.
Plaintiffs and defendants filed a joint notice of settlement on July 27. They told the court they had resolved the matter and were finalizing their agreement. Judge Wendy Berger closed the case the following day. Her order allows either side 60 days to request a final order or reopen proceedings.
FR8 and the drivers worked under agreements that promised drivers 88% of each load's linehaul rate. The complaint claims company records showed smaller rates than FR8 actually received. Drivers claimed FR8 supplied settlement statements and dispatch documents that understated the company's revenue. The lawsuit says those documents reduced their percentage-based payment on individual loads.
One disputed shipment ran from Wood Dale, Illinois, to Gaffney, South Carolina. FR8's system showed a $2,400 rate, while the complaint claims FR8 received $2,500. Another shipment ran from Del Rio, Texas, to Kansas City, Kansas. For that move, the drivers claim FR8 showed $8,000 but received $15,000.
The $7,000 difference represented $6,160 under the drivers claimed 88% formula. Drivers also identified Ascent On-Demand, Active On-Demand and Landstar in disputed transactions. They claimed another company operator revealed different rates during June 2023. FR8 then ended their contracts and locked them out of its mobile application, the lawsuit states.

#lawsuit #company #court

Corn futures are trading with Monday gains of 4 to 5 ½ cents so far. The CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price is up 5 cents at $4.35.
This morning's Export Inspections report showed corn shipments of 1.91 MMT (75.23 mbu) in the week of August 13. That was up 8.55% from the week prior and 81.71% larger than the same week last year. Mexico was the largest destination of 699,695 MT, with 499,733 MT shipped to ***** an and 141,496 MT to Colombia. The marketing year total is now 80.95 MMT (3.186 bbu) of corn exports, which is now 26.05% ahead of the same period last year with just over two weeks left in the marketing year.
Corn and Soybean Prices Have a Major Catalyst This Week as the Pro Farmer Crop Tour Kicks Off
Coffee Prices Soar on Supply Concerns
Why Is This Monday Morning Different in the Commodity Complex?

#same

Exxon and Chevron more than doubled year-ago profits, combining for $26.6 billion in Q2 as the Strait of Hormuz closure spiked crude prices.
Gas prices surged from under $3 to $4.06 a gallon since the Iran war began, and Trump threatening to bomb mediator Oman risks driving them higher.
Exxon and Chevron's integrated models capture profits from well to pump, but a Hormuz peace deal could collapse the windfall almost overnight.
Act now: the ****** yst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Exxon Mobil didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Oil has become one of the clearest financial beneficiaries of the Iran war -- and one of the biggest headaches for American drivers. The Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global energy shipments, remains effectively closed, with little tanker traffic moving through the waterway.

#hormuz #prices #chevron

Soybeans with contracts 19 to 20 cents higher across most contracts at midday. The cmdtyView national average Cash Bean price was is 19 1/2 cents at $11.71 1/2. Soymeal futures are trading with $2 to $3 gains, as Soy Oil is rallying 190 to 195 points.
USDA's FGIS tallied soybean export shipments at 270,201 MT (9.93 mbu) during the week ending on August 13. That was 34% below the week prior and 46.3% shy of the same week last year. **** an was the top destination of 76,179 MT, with 57,710 MT headed to Egypt and 52,390 MT to Mexico. Marketing year exports for 2025/26 are 40.04 MMT (1.47 bbu), which is now 18.2% below the same period last year.
Corn and Soybean Prices Have a Major Catalyst This Week as the Pro Farmer Crop Tour Kicks Off
Coffee Prices Soar on Supply Concerns
Why Is This Monday Morning Different in the Commodity Complex?

#week

On August 6, 10x Genomics (NASDAQ:TXG) reported second-quarter revenue of $151 million, boosted by a $1.6 million settlement payment from Takara. Strip that out and revenue grew just 3% year-over-year to $149.4 million, a modest number next to the real headline of the quarter: a brand-new instrument platform called Atera, where booked orders have exceeded full-year planned shipments.
By the end of the second quarter, booked orders for Atera already exceeded the roughly 40 units 10x had planned to ship for all of 2026. Demand also showed up in Catalyst Research Services, the program that lets customers run samples on Atera in 10x's own lab before committing to buy a unit. Away from Atera, the existing consumables business kept growing, up 7% overall, with spatial consumables climbing 16% on continued strength in the Xenium platform. During the quarter, 10x acquired Proteintech Genomics, adding single-cell protein panels that management says will let Atera measure proteins alongside gene expression from the same cell.
The balance sheet backed up the story. Cash and marketable securities rose to $552 million, up $105 million from a year earlier, and gross margin expanded to 74% from 72%. Management raised full-year revenue guidance to a range of $610 million to $630 million. New research partnerships with Cleveland Clinic and Lausanne University Hospital, aimed at finding biomarkers of treatment response in oncology, point to where 10x hopes this technology eventually leads: clinical diagnostics.
The flip side of Atera's launch showed up in the instrument line. Total instrument revenue fell 47% year over year, with Chromium instruments down 46% and spatial instruments down 48%, as customers held off on buying older spatial systems while waiting for the new platform. Management expects that pause to continue, guiding for a sequential revenue step down in the third quarter before a bigger jump in the fourth. Even though booked Atera orders already exceed the year's full production plan, 10x kept its shipment target at about 40 units, weighted mostly toward the fourth quarter, a sign the company is still constrained on how fast it can build the machine.
Regionally, APAC revenue fell 19%, partly because customers in China had pulled purchases forward a year earlier ahead of anticipated tariffs. Operating expenses rose to $132.1 million from $95 million, though the comparison is skewed by a $40.7 million patent settlement gain booked in the prior year versus $3.4 million this year.

#year #quarter

On August 7, Sylvamo (NYSE:SLVM) reported its second-quarter 2026 financial results. Sequential adjusted EBITDA jumped to $60 million, more than double the prior quarter's total, but margin stayed thin at 7%. Free cash flow stayed negative at $23 million, though that marked a real improvement from the quarter before. CEO John Sims called 2026 a transition year, shaped by the end of a supply agreement and an extended mill outage. The real question is whether the back half delivers the turnaround management is promising.
Price and mix gains added $32 million to EBITDA in the quarter, as Sylvamo pushed through uncoated freesheet price increases across every region it serves. Europe got a fresh increase in mid-June, with realization continuing through the third quarter, while Latin America should benefit from seasonally stronger second-half demand plus ongoing price hikes to export customers there and in the Middle East and Africa. North America's backdrop has shifted too: International Paper's Riverdale mill conversion pulled 7% of annual uncoated freesheet industry capacity offline, giving Sylvamo more room to raise prices at home.
Altogether, management expects $75 million to $85 million of price and mix benefit in the second half versus the first. The Eastover mill investments add another lever: a paper machine speed-up will add 60,000 tons of annual capacity once it wraps during the fourth-quarter outage, and a new sheeter has already cleared acceptance testing and arrived in the U.S. Those projects, plus a warehouse sale-leaseback deal, are projected to generate $55 million a year in benefits, with $30 million to $40 million landing as soon as 2027.
While sequential operating metrics moved higher, earnings remained constrained. Adjusted operating earnings came in at $0.03 per share, weighed down by $24 million in planned maintenance outage costs as scheduled downtime ran across all regions. Sylvamo expects roughly $5 million more of unfavorable maintenance impact in the second half while it takes extended downtime at Eastover to finish the paper machine work. Input and transportation costs were also a $2 million drag, with fiber costs climbing in Latin America and freight costs rising in North America, partly offset by the non-repeat of a one-time $10 million charge tied to International Paper's Riverdale mill.
Management also flagged the Middle East conflict as an ongoing drag on energy, chemicals and transportation costs in every region. Imports into North America ticked up in the quarter too, a response to a new 10% tariff threshold on global shipments, which could complicate the pricing gains tied to reduced domestic supply. Second-half volume will also be trimmed by lost Riverdale-related tons and the extended Eastover outage in the fourth quarter.

#million #sylvamo #costs

(Corrects "war" to "conflict" in translation in paragraph 6 quote after clarification from company)
By Sam Li and Lewis Jackson
BEIJING, Aug 14 (Reuters) - China's exports of electric trucks to other Asian countries have spiked, adding to a surge in domestic sales as higher fuel costs as a result of the Iran ‌war accelerate regional electrification.
China's rapid adoption of e-trucks — from lighter vehicles to tractor-trailers — has partially shielded the world's biggest auto market from the impact of ‌the conflict. Now other countries are scrambling to follow.
In the four months after the U.S. and Israel launched the war on February 28, China's exports of heavy e-trucks more than doubled from the same period last year to 16,823 vehicles. Half went to South and Southeast Asia, with shipments to South Asia up more than fivefold and to Southeast Asia nearly tripling.

#corrects

DHL Express has completed the $204 million expansion of its "super gateway" at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport in South China's Guangdong province, tripling shipping capacity to 992 tons per day and enabling more direct cargo flights.
The project represents the company's largest investment in mainland China to date, supporting cross-border trade and time-definite international express services in one of China's most important manufacturing and export regions.
A gateway in the DHL network is a regional connection point that links local service centers to the global network. Some shipments from producers in Shenzhen and trucked to DHL's main terminal at Hong Kong International Airport if they need to reach other intercontinental hubs.
Once at full capacity, annual throughput is expected to exceed 286,000 tons, about 10 times the volume handled by the previous Shenzhen gateway, according to the China Daily News. Construction of the facility began in 2022. The heavily automated facility features high-speed sorting systems, automated storage, robotic arms and automated guided vehicles designed to efficiently and safely unload, store, handle, inspect and monitor parcels and larger shipments.
Complementing the expansion of shipment processing capacity, DHL has introduced a new dedicated air route with a widebody Boeing 767 cargo jet linking Shanghai; Bangkok, Thailand; Bahrain and Brussels, Belgium, to meet demand for air cargo transport between China and key markets across Asia, the Middle East and Europe, DHL announced this week.

#shenzhen #international #airport #express

Cotton futures are in rally back mode on Friday, with contracts 96 to 133 points higher across most months. Crude oil is trading 66 cents per barrel higher, with the US dollar index $0.335 lower.
Export Sales data has 2025/26 accumulated export business at 11.977 million RB, which is 107% of the USDA export projection. Accumulated shipments were 11.198 million RB to round out the marketing year. New crop business at 4.026 million RB is 25% above the same period last year.
Coffee Prices Decline as Colombian Coffee Exports Partially Resume
Coffee Prices Decline as Colombian Coffee Exports Partially Resume
Bulls Are Back in Charge of Corn Prices as a New Rally Forms

#prices #export

Crude oil imports from Russia accounted for over 50% of India's total import volumes last month. This was the highest share of Russian oil in India's import mix, Reuters noted in a report that cited unnamed trade sources.
Russia exported crude at a rate of some 2.47 million barrels daily to India last month, which was a 62.4% surge from a year ago and represented a 50.83% share of total oil imports into the world's third-largest oil buyer. However, July volumes were a decline on June's average, which stood at 2.6 million barrels daily and was the highest monthly average for Russian oil shipments to India.
Earlier, Kpler estimated that Russian oil flows to India in July averaged 2.45 million barrels daily, despite the expiration of a U.S. sanction waiver on these flows. Per the Kpler data, Russia remained India's largest oil supplier, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Both, however, shipped much lower volumes, at 617,000 barrels daily for the UAE and 586,000 bpd for Saudi Arabia.
Russian oil has been flowing at all-time high rates to India since the start of the latter's new fiscal year on April 1. Volumes have averaged over 2 million barrels daily, making up over 42% of India's total oil imports in the period. This compares to a share of 37% for Russian oil volumes for India a year earlier.
This, however, may change after the latest U.S. sanctions, Reuters noted, recalling that those sanctions involve slapping 100% tariffs on imports from countries that buy Russian crude. The bill passed the Senate but is yet to be approved by the House of Representatives. Choking India's oil imports from Russia could be tricky because, with the war in the Middle East ongoing, there are limited alternative sources for the volumes that Indian refiners need, even accounting for record U.S. exports.

#russian #Russia #imports #crude

Yang Ming Marine Transport's first-half 2026 results show a substantial recovery in earnings as tariff-driven front-loading, a stronger early peak season and higher freight rates lifted second-quarter performance.
The Taiwan company (2609.TW) nevertheless expects the balance of the year to be shaped by trade-policy uncertainty, geopolitical disruption and the continuing risk of excess vessel supply.
For the first half of 2026, the ninth-largest liner reported consolidated revenue of US$2.62 billion, while the second quarter outperformed both the first quarter and the year-earlier period. The carrier attributed the improvement principally to an early peak season, stronger cargo demand and firmer freight rates, with tariff uncertainty prompting cargo owners to advance shipments.
The result represents a marked improvement from the company's first-quarter baseline. In Q1, Yang Ming recorded revenue of $1.2 billion, after-tax profit of $44.7 million and earnings per share of $0.013. At that point, the company cited softer freight rates than a year earlier and vessel-deployment effects linked to Middle East geopolitics.
The first-half rebound also follows a more difficult 2025, when Yang Ming's full-year revenue fell to $5.07 billion, and after-tax profit declined to $530.3 million, or $0.15 per share. Still, 2025 marked its sixth consecutive profitable year, underlining the carrier's ability to remain profitable despite a less favorable rate environment and substantial network disruption.

#quarter #half #ming

Hurlston said two AI data center links could double a hyperscaler's entire decade of backbone capacity, with Lumentum pump laser shipments set to quadruple.
Hyperscalers are pre-funding Lumentum's buildout through long-term agreements, with CIEN and AAOI up 85% and 296% YTD on the same scale-across demand wave.
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Shares of Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) are trading at $936.95 in Thursday's session, hovering near flat after opening at $925.02. The broader optical complex is mixed as the group digests a heavy earnings week. Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) is up 6.04%, while Coherent (NYSE:COHR) is down 3.66% and Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) is off 8.27%.
Despite choppiness in earnings season, optics stocks have generally rallied across the past year. A quote from Lumentum CEO delivered during the company's Q4 earnings call on Monday provides context into why so many stocks that have been flat for a decade are now seeing their share charts inflect up at a record rate.

#stocks #decade #across