Industry & Themes

Jakkraipaisan Estate Public Company Limited, or JAK, is preparing to officially launch its luxury detached-housing project under the name SEQUOIA on 10 October 2026, with starting prices of roughly 20 million baht and up. Ms. Sunisa Jakkraipaisan, Deputy Managing Director for Sales and Marketing, told Thanhoon that this move into the upper-end residential market is part of a diversification strategy, after the 1-3 million baht housing segment continued to face constraints from financial institutions' stricter lending approvals. The company has set a 2026 revenue target of 378 million baht and is confident it will meet that goal, after first-quarter and second-quarter 2026 operating results came in ahead of plan. For 2027, it targets revenue of 435 million baht, or growth of about 15% from 2026, by gradually launching new projects and expanding its customer base into a wider range of price levels. JAK currently has projects spread across Bangkok, Pathum Thani and Chonburi. In the Bangkok-Pathum Thani area it has the Sequoia project, the Canna project, Talad Thai Khlong 2 and the Pine Condo Rangsit project, while in Chonburi it has the Fern Bang Saen Motorway project, the Keela project and the Canna Roopoh project. The company sees continued potential there from economic activity, employment and infrastructure development in the Eastern Economic Corridor, or EEC. At the same time, the company is placing greater emphasis on ESG concepts, both in designing homes that use energy efficiently and in increasing green space within its projects.

Boutique Corporation Public Company Limited, or BC, disclosed that its hotel business has entered the final stretch of 2026 with positive signals from High Season tourism demand, particularly in the Chiang Mai market where demand for accommodation has improved. Chief Executive Officer Pradchasingh Takral stated that Novotel Chiang Mai Nimman Journeyhub and ibis Chiang Mai Nimman Journeyhub have seen higher occupancy rates, in line with forward bookings that continue to trend well, while average room rates remain at a good level, reflecting strong booking momentum. The company is preparing to open two new hotels: Mövenpick Resort Kamala Beach Phuket in Phuket province, which will enter a soft opening phase in late 2026 before a full launch in early 2027, and a project under the Handwritten Collection brand on Sukhumvit 5 in Bangkok, aimed at increasing the group's room count and revenue base while expanding its portfolio to cover both key tourist cities and the Bangkok market. In addition, in 2027 BC is watching the "Thai Tiew Thai Plus" measure to stimulate travel during the Low Season and is pressing ahead with business expansion under an Asset-Light Model through its status as a Third-Party Operator, aiming to increase revenue from management fees and raise the share of recurring income over the long term.

Tesla's third-quarter deliveries beat company-compiled analyst expectations by 5.3%, though they declined 2.1% from a year earlier, a drop partly cushioned by Q3 2025's tax credit boost. Seeking Alpha analyst Oliver Rodzianko said the biggest takeaway is that traditional EV demand remains resilient as Tesla pivots toward autonomous taxi services and humanoid robotics as its dominant operating models, while energy storage deployment numbers missed expectations. Rodzianko noted that Chinese rival BYD saw its battery-electric passenger-car sales rise 30.9% year-over-year in the third quarter, underscoring fierce competition in China. Analyst Alexander Grover argued the delivery number is a distraction, since Tesla's valuation assumes unsupervised self-driving at scale, and flagged that Alphabet's Waymo is running more than 500,000 paid driverless rides a week across 15 U.S. metros with LiDAR in its stack, while Tesla still does not disclose how many of its robotaxis run without a safety monitor.

Aris Mining has completed the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for its Soto Norte gold-copper project in Santander, Colombia, and in 2026 began formal community engagement across three municipalities ahead of submitting the ESIA and environmental license application. The company said Soto Norte lies outside the Santurbán Páramo and its buffer zone, and it aligned the ESIA and consultation process with Colombia's regulatory framework and the Escazú Agreement. The milestone follows the ANM's July 29, 2026 approval of the modified technical mine plan for Soto Norte, which confirmed regulators have reviewed the project's geology, reserves and mine design but does not replace the need for an environmental license before construction or mining can begin. Aris Mining's narrative projects $2.2 billion revenue and $688.8 million earnings by 2029, requiring 19.9% yearly revenue growth and a $404.1 million earnings increase from $284.7 million today, with a CA$41.53 fair value implying 66% upside. Some of the lowest estimate analysts had assumed about US$2.0 billion of revenue and US$797.7 million of earnings by 2029 while still citing Soto Norte's lengthy permitting and heavy ESG commitments as reasons for caution.

American Airlines said eligible AAdvantage members will be able to combine cash and miles when buying tickets through its website and mobile app, a feature rolling out in the coming weeks. Members will first select flights priced in cash, then at checkout American will display combinations of cash and AAdvantage miles that can be adjusted with a slider, with the total price updating based on the mix selected. The change gives customers another way to use mileage balances without accumulating enough points to cover an entire award ticket, and American characterized it as part of a broader effort to give AAdvantage members more flexibility in how they use the program. The move comes as competition for lucrative frequent flyers intensifies: United Airlines recently launched a status-match campaign aimed directly at elite members of American and Delta Air Lines, offering qualifying American and Delta customers comparable MileagePlus status for 90 days, extendable through Jan. 31, 2028 by meeting flight and spending requirements ranging from $1,500 in eligible United spending for entry-level Premier Silver status to $7,000 for Premier 1K. American has its own status-match offers for qualifying customers of United, Delta, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways. American has also been expanding AAdvantage benefits, with members reaching 15,000 Loyalty Points able to choose two eligible inflight food and beverage coupons, rewards at various levels now including subscriptions to The New York Times, Games, Cooking and The Athletic, and additional gift choices planned for customers reaching Million Miler milestones.

Goldman Sachs expects the S&P 500 to deliver another strong earnings season, with artificial intelligence investment driving an increasingly large share of corporate profit growth, according to an Oct. 2 report led by strategist Ben Snider. Consensus forecasts call for S&P 500 earnings per share to rise 27% from a year earlier in the third quarter, a slowdown from the 33% growth recorded in the second quarter after excluding accounting distortions, and Goldman expects most companies to beat consensus estimates again. The headline growth rate masks an unusually concentrated picture: information technology and energy are expected to generate nearly 80% of the index's earnings growth, AI infrastructure companies alone are expected to account for more than half of S&P 500 EPS growth, and the 10 biggest contributors are forecast to generate 68% of that growth, with Micron Technology and Nvidia together accounting for more than one-third. Micron has already reported, posting year-over-year earnings growth of 1,003% and beating consensus estimates. For the median S&P 500 company the outlook is considerably less spectacular, with consensus forecasts calling for EPS growth of 9%, down from 14% in the second quarter, revenue growth slowing to 6% from 7%, and a third-quarter net margin of 14.7% versus 15.1% in the previous quarter. The coming reports could also test whether enormous AI investments are translating into revenue, with consensus forecasts calling for hyperscaler capital spending to jump 116% from a year earlier in the third quarter, accelerating from 87% growth in the second, and Goldman expecting hyperscaler capex to grow more than 50% in 2027 and exceed the roughly $1.1 trillion currently embedded in consensus forecasts. Goldman forecasts S&P 500 EPS of $375 for 2026, up 36% from 2025, followed by $415 in 2027, with a year-end 2026 S&P 500 target of 8,000 and a 12-month target of 8,700.

Halliburton confirmed to Argentine authorities in early October 2026 that it and its subsidiaries will not work on the Malvinas Islands' Sea Lion project or conduct any hydrocarbon activities in the surrounding area, while separately signing memoranda of understanding with Eneva S.A. and WESCA to support oil and gas development opportunities in Venezuela. The two moves together reframe Halliburton's regional exposure, regulatory risk profile and future contract pipeline across Latin America, with the Venezuela agreements offsetting some perceived lost optionality around Malvinas through a different Latin American pathway for international revenue, offshore and unconventional exposure. Those agreements sit alongside recent multi-year wins in Suriname, Brazil and Cyprus, reinforcing that the key short-term catalyst remains Halliburton's ability to execute on higher-complexity international contracts at acceptable margins and with controlled start-up costs. Halliburton's narrative projects $25.1 billion in revenue and $2.7 billion in earnings by 2029, requiring 3.9% yearly revenue growth and an earnings increase of about $1.1 billion from $1.6 billion today, and yields a $43.44 fair value, a 36% upside to its current price. More optimistic analysts had already assumed revenues of about US$26.8 billion and earnings near US$3.4 billion before the Venezuela and Malvinas news, while other fair value estimates put the stock as low as $34.03.

Canadian Natural Resources and four other oil sands producers, together with the federal and Alberta governments, committed in late September 2026 via a trilateral MOU to advance the Pathways CCS project, targeting up to 16 million tonnes of CO2 capture annually by 2045, with final binding terms still pending. The conditional framework directly links potential future oil sands expansion to large-scale emissions management, which could reshape long-term cost structures, policy risk and capital allocation for Canadian Natural Resources. The company's key short-term catalyst remains operational and cash flow delivery against 2026 guidance, while the biggest current risk centers on future carbon costs and long-term policy exposure should the framework move from conditional to binding terms. Recent announcements also include substantial share buybacks alongside a CAD 0.625 quarterly dividend, highlighting a tension between returning cash today and preserving flexibility for potentially large CCS and growth commitments. The company's narrative projects CA$40.8 billion in revenue and CA$8.9 billion in earnings by 2029, with a CA$72.71 fair value estimate, while the lowest-estimate analysts assume revenues could fall to about CA$38.0 billion and earnings to CA$5.5 billion.

A Delaware federal judge on Monday rejected requests from Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna to dismiss lawsuits filed by Bayer's Monsanto unit over their use of US Patent No. 7,741,118, a patent related to mRNA technology, with Judge William Bryson saying the companies failed to prove the patent was invalid or not infringed by their COVID-19 vaccines. Sanofi agreed to a deal worth up to $8B, including $1B upfront, with Regeneron to jointly develop four long-acting immunology therapies, led by the clinical-stage IL-13 monoclonal antibody REGN20423. China's Abogen Biosciences signed a licensing and option agreement with Novartis worth up to $7.8B, comprising a $575 million upfront payment and up to approximately $7.2 billion in potential milestone payments if all options on all programs are exercised, covering an exclusive worldwide license to Abogen's lead asset ABO2203. Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals agreed to license global rights to its experimental obesity drug HRS-1596 to Novo Nordisk in a deal worth up to $2.6B, with $300M upfront and the transaction expected to close in Q4 2026. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Health Care Sector Index slipped 2.66% for the week, with Incyte down 6.93% and Regeneron down 6.71% among the top decliners, while McKesson rose 4.11% and Cardinal Health gained 3.67%.

Harmonic Inc. introduced Recon, a Comcast co-developed network monitoring and measurement family that pairs in-network hardware, handheld tools and cloud software to give broadband operators real-time visibility into fiber performance and fault locations. In parallel, Harmonic's cOS virtualized broadband platform is enabling operators like Lightcurve to deliver multi-gigabit speeds over existing coax. The Recon announcement ties most directly to Harmonic's push around cOS SensAI, since Recon's field data feeds SensAI's intelligence layer for proactive fault detection and remediation. Harmonic's narrative projects $609.8 million revenue and $92.1 million earnings by 2029, requiring 15.3% yearly revenue growth and about an $83.6 million earnings increase from $8.5 million today, while some of the lowest estimate analysts assume revenue of about US$571,000,000 and earnings of roughly US$80,000,000 by 2029.

Yeap Su Chuan, Chief Executive Officer of Aapico Hitech Public Company Limited, or AH, told the Hoons Vision news team that the group's factories were unaffected by the flooding situation and continue to run their production lines as normal. He noted that flooding in several areas may create additional demand for replacement parts from damaged vehicles, which represents an opportunity for the auto parts business. Although Thai vehicle production capacity has yet to return to the level of 2 to 4 million units per year, the company sees the growth of electric vehicles, or EVs, together with the government's push to increase the proportion of local production, or localization, as factors opening new opportunities for domestic parts makers. On overseas markets, exports remain at normal levels, with AH having a base of major customers spread across the United States, China and Malaysia, and producing and delivering parts for the Proton brand, which helps support its overseas revenue base. As for the operating outlook for 2026, Yeap expects revenue to improve slightly from the previous year. Although the overall economy and global situation remain uncertain, the company has a strong order backlog and therefore remains confident in its medium- to long-term growth.

ALT Telecom Public Company Limited, or ALT, disclosed that it is in negotiations for additional deals with global-tier customers, the Global Hyperscalers, in the fourth quarter of 2026, after signing network and digital infrastructure lease contracts worth a total of approximately 2 billion baht in the third quarter of 2026, with a contract term of 20 years. Preeyaporn Tangpaosak, Managing Director, told the Stock Vision news team that the company targets double-digit growth in revenue in the second half of 2026, driven by recurring revenue recognition from its existing network. The expansion of its large-customer base has raised the value of work awaiting revenue recognition, or backlog, for the group from 5.115 billion baht as of the second quarter of 2026 to approximately 6.9 billion baht in September 2026. The company is also proceeding with bids for smart grid power network systems and AMI smart meter installation work for the Provincial Electricity Authority and the Metropolitan Electricity Authority, as well as government work in security and digital fields, with a combined value of several billion baht. It is also pushing to connect networks in the Eastern Economic Corridor, or EEC, with data centers in Bangkok and overseas, setting a target internal rate of return, or IRR, for new projects of no less than 10 to 15 percent. The company sees three key drivers supporting revenue and profit growth over the next 12 to 18 months: the data center and AI trend, growth in smart meter and smart grid work, and margin expansion from operating leverage.

TQR Public Company Limited, or TQR, disclosed that it is still gathering detailed information on the national catastrophe insurance programme, after the government began providing coverage from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027. It views the government's support and establishment of a risk-distribution mechanism as an important development for the country, and one that may help raise its capacity to absorb catastrophe risk closer to international standards. Under the programme, the government purchases insurance on behalf of the public, covering 30 million households nationwide, with protection against floods, windstorms and earthquakes. A total of 11 insurance companies are participating, five of which are listed on the Thai stock exchange: TIPH, BKIH, MTI, TVH, THRE and TQR. Meanwhile, ASL Securities views the programme as positive for the insurance sector in terms of premium growth and expanding insurance penetration, and recommends gradually accumulating TIPH, KTB and BBL. TIPH is the standout stock, benefiting directly through Thip Insurance, which has the opportunity to take on new premiums and build them into recurring premium income if the government renews the programme next year. KTB and BBL, meanwhile, gain indirect positive sentiment.

US e-commerce growth has run at about 10% year-on-year through the first three quarters of 2026, beating Bernstein's 8% forecast made at the start of the year, the broker said. Bernstein estimates third-quarter growth at about 8.4%, with second and third quarter growth combined at about 10.4% after adjusting for the timing of Prime Day, while first-quarter growth was 9.7%. The broker pointed to better digital advertising, resilient consumer spending and less aggressive competition from online retailers such as Temu and Shein, and sees the advertising improvement as a potentially lasting tailwind. The top 14 US e-commerce platforms accounted for about 82% of gross merchandise value in the second quarter, up roughly 3 percentage points from a year earlier, with Shopify's share rising to 14.2% from 13.2%, Walmart's to 8.7% from 7.8% and Amazon's to 42.9% from 42.3%. Bernstein estimates second-quarter growth of 52% for Carvana, 25% for Walmart, 24% for eBay and 21% for Shopify, against 14% for Amazon and 12% for the overall market, and rates Amazon, Shopify and Wayfair outperform while eBay and Etsy are rated market perform.

Blackfuel announced in late September 2026 that it has chosen Digital Realty's BCN1 data center in Barcelona to host and scale its liquid-cooled, AMD GPU-powered AI inference platform, tightly integrated with the ServiceFabric interconnection network for low-latency, private connectivity. The move comes shortly after Digital Realty's plan to add a new cable landing station at its LAX12 facility, which is slated to support subsea cables from 2028, tying subsea routes into the company's interconnection fabric. Together, the two projects support Digital Realty's near-term interconnection and AI demand catalyst, including the conversion of a US$1.9b lease backlog and US$410m of recent hyperscale signings into revenue. The company's narrative projects $9.7 billion in revenue and $1.4 billion in earnings by 2029, requiring 12.7% yearly revenue growth and an earnings increase of about $0.6 billion from $758.3 million today. The central debate remains Digital Realty's enlarged 1.4 GW, US$4.25b to US$4.75b 2026 CapEx plan and whether demand will match that build out, with three fair value estimates from the Simply Wall St Community spanning roughly US$223 to US$303 per share.

CoinDesk reported on October 3 that CryptoJobsList, a recruitment site specializing in crypto assets, saw 1,241 job postings in September, more than tripling from 382 in July. Postings rose from 382 in July to 886 in August and reached 1,241 in September, far exceeding the 573 in January, the highest of the first half of the year. The number of companies that posted jobs in September reached 125. Meanwhile, applications have declined since July, totaling only about 20,000 in September, and the site points to the possibility that competition among companies to secure specialized talent is intensifying. In a report released on October 2, CryptoJobsList cited growing interest from institutional investors, partnerships with existing financial institutions, and new venture investment as reasons behind the hiring recovery. Over the past three months, finance was the most common category for job postings, followed by technology development and trading, while stablecoins, artificial intelligence, security, and regulatory compliance also ranked in the top 10.

Amprius Technologies announced in late September 2026 that it entered into a US$75 million fixed-price Other Transaction Agreement with the U.S. Government for Project acCELLerate, alongside a separate U.S. Department of War IBAS grant, to build secure domestic high-energy density battery production for small unmanned aerial systems. The awards position Amprius to retrofit an existing South Korea-linked EV battery line into a U.S.-compliant facility capable of producing 12 million silicon-anode cells annually for NDAA-compliant defense customers. The company had already lifted its August 2026 guidance to at least US$140 million in full-year revenue with a narrower net loss. Amprius' narrative projects US$415.0 million in revenue and US$53.6 million in earnings by 2029, yielding a US$22.12 fair value, while the most cautious analysts assume about US$362 million of revenue and roughly US$40 million of earnings by 2029. The growing dependence on government-backed drone programs also concentrates risk should procurement cycles shift.

B2Gold Corp. reported positive results from its 2026 Back River Gold District exploration program in Nunavut, Canada, backed by a US$51 million budget and more than 35,000 m of drilling focused on infill, resource definition, and regional target generation. The program confirmed high-grade mineralization at the Llama deposit and yielded the new Tattuk discovery at Goose, which the company says underscores the district's potential to contribute materially to future mine planning and resource growth options. The update mainly reinforces the Goose Mine resource story rather than changing the key near-term catalyst, which remains Goose ramp-up, or the biggest current risk, which is still cost and execution pressure at Goose and in higher-risk jurisdictions like Mali. The quality and convertibility of new ounces at Llama, Nuvuyak and Tattuk will influence whether Goose can offset permitting and cost risks tied to projects such as Fekola regional and Gramalote. B2Gold's narrative projects $3.7 billion revenue and $1.8 billion earnings by 2028, with a CA$8.60 fair value implying 16% upside to its current price, while some of the lowest analysts assume revenue growth of only about 5.4 percent a year and US$1.4 billion of earnings by 2029.

EquipmentShare.com Inc. announced a multi-year fleet agreement with Cummins Inc. to deploy up to 1 gigawatt of natural gas power generation capacity across major U.S. energy projects, centered on Cummins' C1400N6C lean-burn gas generator sets. The arrangement gives Cummins a rental and distribution partner focused on temporary power, microgrids, and battery storage solutions that can offer contractors energy cost reductions of 50% to 80% versus traditional mobile power. The deal adds another outlet for Cummins' natural gas generation and microgrid solutions, though the company's near-term swing factor remains whether it can avoid repeat EPS and EBITDA misses as incentives, tariffs and Accelera losses weigh on company-wide margins. Cummins' Q2 2026 update paired record Power Systems revenue of US$2.3b with a lower year-on-year EBITDA margin and trimmed Distribution guidance. Cummins' narrative projects $45.3 billion revenue and $5.7 billion earnings by 2029, requiring 9.2% yearly revenue growth and about a $3.0 billion earnings increase from $2.7 billion today, while some optimistic analysts had penciled in around US$50.5b of revenue and US$6.4b of earnings by 2029.

Schneider Electric, alongside partners Wärtsilä and Stanley Consultants, introduced a "Generator-to-Chip" power approach and unveiled software-defined medium-voltage switchgear and advanced cooling solutions for AI-driven data centers in late September 2026. The company also launched cybersecurity-focused automation for water utilities and a new decarbonization allyship with Lenovo's 360 Circle community. The software-defined medium-voltage switchgear is being deployed in AI-oriented data centers, including an Equinix pilot. Schneider Electric's narrative projects €56.4 billion revenue and €8.3 billion earnings by 2029, requiring 10.3% yearly revenue growth and a €3.6 billion earnings increase from €4.7 billion today. The forecasts yield a €325.04 fair value, a 7% upside to its current price.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation announced the DTCC tokenization service on May 4, 2026, a platform designed to bring Russell 1000 components, ETFs, and US Treasuries onto distributed ledgers. With over 50 firms including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Circle, Ondo, and Nasdaq participating, the service moved into limited production in July 2026 following a December 2025 SEC No-Action Letter. DTCC CEO Frank La Salla said tokenization will significantly change how markets operate by bringing new levels of liquidity, transparency, and efficiency to investors, while Brian Steele of the DTCC added that the service is designed to provide systemic scale where deep liquidity already lives. The infrastructure shift extends beyond the DTCC: Nasdaq secured SEC approval on March 18, 2026, under Release 34-105047, to facilitate tokenized settlement on the same order book, ticker, and CUSIP as traditional assets, NYSE Arca followed with rule change SR-NYSEARCA-2026-45 effective April 29, 2026, and the broader NYSE received approval for its own related filings on April 17, 2026. The SEC issued a five-year conditional innovation exemption on September 17, 2026, specifically for tokenized NMS stocks, while the CFTC clarified through Staff Letter 25-39 and an updated FAQ on September 24, 2026, that tokenized collateral may be used for derivatives margin. The tokenized asset market tracked by rwa.xyz stood at approximately $38.6 billion as of late September 2026, up from $2 billion in 2022, with tokenized Treasuries accounting for $14.7 billion to $15.65 billion of that total, led by BlackRock's BUIDL at $2.70 billion, Circle's USYC at $2.60 billion, and Ondo's USDY at $2.23 billion. A June 1, 2026, Citi report estimates a base case of $5.5 trillion in tokenized assets and $1.9 trillion in stablecoins by 2030, though it warns of a messy period in which tokenized and legacy systems operate side by side.

Oracle and We Energies announced a nuclear power subscription deal on October 2, 2026, under which Oracle will take 10-20% of the output from the Point Beach Nuclear Plant, or 125-250 megawatts, for the $15 billion Lighthouse Campus AI data center in Port Washington, Wisconsin. The campus, co-developed by Oracle, OpenAI, and Vantage Data Centers as part of the broader Stargate initiative, is designed to house close to 1 gigawatt of AI capacity within a 1.3 gigawatt total electrical footprint, with completion targeted for 2028. Oracle has committed to fully funding the energy costs for its portion, and the deal is the primary driver of a proposed $176 million electric rate hike for We Energies customers in 2027, accounting for roughly 20% of that increase, while the utility projects the arrangement will save customers approximately $300 million in fuel costs between 2027 and 2033. The subscription, a first-of-its-kind model in Wisconsin, requires approval from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, which is weighing whether to require tech companies to cover 100% of new power plant costs. The deal is part of an industry-wide pivot in which Big Tech has contracted over 10 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity in the United States over the past year, including Microsoft's 20-year power purchase agreement for the 835-megawatt restart of Three Mile Island, Amazon's acquisition of a nuclear-adjacent Pennsylvania campus for over $650 million and its $500 million investment in X-energy small modular reactors, and Google's order of 500 megawatts from Kairos Power. Data center power demand reached 29.6 gigawatts by late 2025, equivalent to the peak demand of New York state, and the International Energy Agency projects it will rise by 130% by 2030, even as U.S. nuclear output stayed largely flat between 2020 and 2025 and no small modular reactors are under construction in the country.

Chayut Krailatrattanasiri, Assistant Director of the Research Department at Land and Houses Securities, told the Vision team that the overall outlook for tourism stocks in the fourth quarter of 2026 is clearly quite positive. Although early in the quarter there was pressure from flooding, this is assessed as only a short-term impact. The main supporting factors come from China's Golden Week, a long holiday early in the fourth quarter that has helped drive Chinese tourist arrivals into Thailand higher, with a clear acceleration, as well as Thailand hosting the IMF and World Bank meetings in mid-October, a positive factor in terms of policy and economic activity that directly supports tourism stocks. The research team views hotels as the biggest beneficiaries of the recovery in tourist numbers, expecting fourth-quarter operating results and profits to grow outstandingly. Airlines also benefit, but their upside is limited by still-high oil costs. The three standout hotel stocks named as Top Picks are AWC, with a target price of 20 baht, which the research team is in the process of reviewing upward on structural positives from the establishment of AWR that will help unlock asset value and increase liquidity; ERW, with a target price of 80 baht, which is assessed as still offering upside for investment; and CENTEL, with a consensus target price of 50 baht.

Hong Kong share sales raised a record $47.5 billion in the third quarter as Chinese technology companies tapped investors for capital to fund artificial intelligence expansion, Bloomberg reported. Initial public offerings, placements and block trades during the July-to-September period produced the largest fundraising haul ever for those months, pushing the city's total for 2026 above $92 billion and putting Hong Kong within reach of the $112.5 billion annual record set in 2021. Alibaba Group's $10.2 billion follow-on offering was the quarter's largest transaction, while Zhongji Innolight raised almost $8 billion in Hong Kong's biggest listing in nearly seven years. AI model developer Z.AI has raised $9.6 billion this year through its IPO, placements and convertible bonds, and MiniMax, Shanghai Iluvatar CoreX Semiconductor and Shanghai Biren Technology also returned to investors shortly after their IPO lockups expired. The boom spread across Asia-Pacific, where third-quarter share sales exceeded $120 billion, the highest for the period in six years, with India raising a record $26 billion since July on domestic liquidity. Investor appetite is becoming more selective as markets weaken: the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index fell as much as 7% in July amid questions about returns from heavy AI spending, and only two of Hong Kong's 10 largest deals since July are currently trading above their offer prices.

President Donald Trump's aggressive trade policy has produced a mixed bag for American auto manufacturing, with analysts describing the gains as incremental rather than decisive. Since Trump returned to the White House, General Motors, Toyota, Ford and other carmakers have announced plans to expand US plants or shift production from overseas, navigating measures such as a 25-percent levy on imported autos. Toyota announced a $3.6 billion expansion of a San Antonio plant as it moves Tacoma pickup production from Mexico to San Antonio, while GM's $4 billion investments in Michigan, Kansas and Tennessee are not expected to lift US auto production until around 2030. Stephanie Brinley, an automotive analyst at Mobility Global, called the lift from Trump's tariffs a partial win, and industry experts view the unsettled nature of the trade measures as a hindrance to bigger wins, most recently in the dust-up between the United States and Canada that has clouded the prospects of the USMCA. Investment by auto suppliers plunged from more than $8 billion in the first quarter of 2025 to around $600 million in the two subsequent quarters before recovering somewhat, according to data from the Center for Automotive Research, whose industry economist Tyler Harp said suppliers are more exposed to tariffs and less able to absorb them than automakers. US auto employment stood at just under 1.8 million workers in September, almost one percent more than in January 2025 but more than two percent below the July 2024 peak, and Global Mobility projects US car production will be 10 million vehicles in 2026, rising to around 11.3 million in 2030.

Alphabet is removing the cost barrier to Google Vids, letting anyone with a Google account use its AI video generator for free through the Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash model. Every video created, stored, and delivered adds to the growing volume of data that Western Digital and Seagate are positioned to handle, and all AI-generated videos carry a SynthID watermark. Western Digital's cloud revenue represented 89% of its latest quarter, with total exabytes shipped up 22% year-over-year on nearline products, and its CEO says the company is sold out for calendar year 2026; Seagate has nearly all nearline capacity committed into calendar 2028 and targets long-term revenue growth of at least 20%. Investors have already driven Western Digital up roughly 330% and Seagate about 305% over the past year, well ahead of the industry's 45% revenue growth, and Google trades at a forward P/E of 21.8x versus the S&P 500's 19.2x, with consensus projecting about 9.3% earnings growth in 2026 and roughly 27.6% in 2027. Hedge fund holdings in Google rose from 265 at the end of Q1 2026 to 275 at the end of Q2 2026.

The FY2026 defense appropriations agreement includes more than $6.3 billion for 13 critical munitions and grants conditional multiyear procurement authority for eight of those programs, a tailwind for RTX Corp. as it scales production of AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, Standard Missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles. RTX's order backlog reached a record $289 billion by the end of second quarter fiscal 2026. The company will spend $25 million to expand its Niepołomice site in Poland, which delivers tubular assemblies for commercial and military engines, following a $100 million capital outlay announced in April for its Rzeszów facility. RTX closed at $185.01 on October 1 with a market capitalization of about $249.3 billion, trading at a trailing P/E of 33.62x and a forward P/E of 24.57. Hedge fund ownership slipped from 95 funds in Q1 2026 to 92 funds in the following quarter, while BlackRock remains the largest institutional stakeholder with 110.53 million shares, or 8.20% ownership.

L3Harris Technologies has secured an undefinitized contract from Lockheed Martin worth more than US$6b over seven years to expand propulsion output for the THAAD missile defense system. The arrangement follows a prior framework with the Department of War to quadruple THAAD propulsion production and includes both a new Solid Rocket Boost Motor facility and added Liquid Divert and Attitude Control capacity. The contract lands as L3Harris shares have fallen about 9% over the past month and 22% year to date on a share price basis, though the 3 year total shareholder return is up roughly 53%. The company closed at $236.60, while the most followed narrative estimates fair value at about $342 per share using an 8.4% discount rate, framing the win as one more contract feeding into a broader backlog and earnings story. The story could break if U.S. budget pressure trims space spending or if prime contractor delays slow conversion of the reported US$42b backlog.

Four brokerages assess that the flood situation in Bangkok and its vicinity in 2026 will cause limited economic damage, as the waters have not yet spread into industrial estates or key production bases, unlike the great flood of 2011 that disrupted production chains on a wide scale. Finansia Syrus Securities estimates preliminary damage at around 20–40 billion baht, or roughly 0.1–0.2% of GDP, and views pressure on the stock market as reflecting short-term concerns rather than affecting earnings. Kasikorn Securities estimates damage at about 3,000–4,000 million baht per day, or roughly 20–30 billion baht per week; if severe conditions persist for one week, it could drag on GDP by about 0.1%. As of 27 September 2026, 25 provinces and 128 districts have been affected, with about 545,000 people impacted, compared with 2011 when floods hit 66 provinces, affected about 13.6 million people and caused damage of approximately 1.4 trillion baht. CGS International notes that Bangkok and its vicinity account for about 47.3% of the country's economy, and divides the situation into two scenarios: if water can be drained within 4–5 days, the impact will be limited, but if it drags on beyond 5 days, it could weigh more on purchasing power and consumption. For stocks that benefit after the waters recede, Finansia Syrus favours HMPRO, GLOBAL, DOHOME, TOA, SCGD, DCC and DRT, while Kasikorn favours retail and food groups as well as the ICT group. Pi Securities estimates a SET range of 1,590–1,620 points and picks BDMS, BCH, CPALL, PTT, PTTEP, PTTGC, TOP, ITC and TU, while CGS International says to watch DELTA, HANA and KCE if the SET falls below 1,600 points, on the theme of investment in artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure.

Zhejiang Publishing Media announced on September 30 that it plans to invest 100 million yuan to establish a wholly owned subsidiary, Zhejiang Wending Digital Intelligence Technology, to promote deep integration between its core publishing business and digital intelligence technologies. The new subsidiary has registered capital of 100 million yuan, with the company holding 60 percent directly, wholly owned subsidiary Zhejiang Xinhua Bookstore Group holding 20 percent, Zhejiang Education Publishing Group holding 10 percent, and Zhejiang Electronic Audio and Video Publishing House holding 10 percent. Funding comes from its own resources, and the subsidiary will be consolidated into the company's financial statements upon completion. On the same day, the company also announced a partnership with Dunhong Asset to launch the Zhejiang Publishing Future Venture Capital Fund Partnership. The fund has a planned size of 126 million yuan, and the company, as a limited partner, will subscribe 125 million yuan from its own funds, accounting for 99.21 percent of the fund's total committed capital. The fund will focus mainly on core technology research and development and industrial application in frontier technologies. Dunhong Asset was founded in 2015, with directly managed and co-managed funds totaling over 14 billion yuan in paid-in capital. Its core management includes CEO Yuan Guoliang and partners Xiong Jia and Yu Wenchao. In terms of performance, in the first half of 2026, Zhejiang Publishing Media achieved revenue of 4.607 billion yuan, down 9.5 percent year on year, and net profit attributable to the parent of 646 million yuan, down 4.4 percent year on year.