Trading Companies & Distributors

Zangge Mining announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Zangge Mining Development plans to establish a holding company, United Resources Company, through Zangge Mining International, and acquire a 92% stake in KP Company for $171,046,592, equivalent to approximately 1.157 billion yuan. Upon completion of the transaction, Zangge Mining will indirectly hold a 69% stake in KP Company, and United Resources Company and KP Company will be included in the consolidated financial statements. KP Company's core assets are the mining rights for the Kanga potash mine and the exploration rights for the Loango potash mine in the Republic of the Congo.

Wesco International has been upgraded to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), a rating reserved for the top 5% of the more than 4,000 stocks covered by the Zacks system. The upgrade reflects a rising trend in earnings estimates, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company climbing 5.2% over the past three months. For the fiscal year ending December 2026, the maker of electrical and industrial maintenance supplies and construction materials is expected to earn $16.77 per share, unchanged from the year-ago reported figure. Zacks said the rating change signals an improving earnings outlook that could lift the stock in the near term, noting that its Rank #1 stocks have generated an average annual return of 25% since 1988.

Chord Energy said Wednesday it agreed to sell its entire non-operated Marcellus natural gas position to POSCO International for $550M, saying the assets became non-core following the Enerplus transaction. The Marcellus assets include 32K net acres and trailing 12-month production of 121M cf/day of 100% residue gas, and the sale price represents roughly 6x adjusted EBITDA based on gross proceeds of $550M and $3.50/MMBtu Henry Hub pricing. Chord said its portfolio will be concentrated exclusively in the Williston Basin following the sale's completion. The company expects the divestiture to reduce annual capital expenditures by $25M, increase oil weighting by 4-5 percentage points, and result in a further decline in net leverage to remain well below peer levels.

Intel shares rose 5% and SK Hynix gained 3% following a report that South Korea's SK Hynix is in talks with Intel about potentially manufacturing memory chips in the U.S. for the first time. One scenario would involve SK Hynix leasing part of Intel's planned Ohio chipmaking facility, while another could involve a joint venture with Intel and major cloud companies seeking to secure memory supplies. The discussions remain exploratory, with no decisions made, and potential opposition from Seoul could pose a hurdle, particularly if advanced memory technologies such as HBM or DRAM are involved; SK Hynix said it is reviewing measures, including additional production bases, but that no matters have been determined at this stage. FTAI Aviation gained 2% after authorizing a new $500M share repurchase program, funded with cash on its balance sheet and running through September 30, 2029 unless completed earlier. Vodafone fell 2% after reports indicated the British telecom giant could face up to €1.1B ($1.27B) in potential earnings losses from the sale of Patrick Drahi's 50% stake in the German broadband joint venture OXG Glasfaser, with Société Générale agreeing earlier this month to acquire Drahi's stake but not assume his deferred payment commitments.

Sinochem International plans to acquire 100% equity of Nantong Xingchen for 2.11 billion yuan, entering the PPE resin track, a key upstream material for AI computing power. After the market opened in the afternoon on September 16, Sinochem International's share price quickly hit the daily limit at 6.03 yuan per share, with over 600,000 lots sealed. Boosted by this, the chemical sector strengthened in the afternoon, with Ruifeng High Materials hitting the daily limit, and Dongyue Silicone Materials and Lingwei Technology surging in the afternoon.

In its first-quarter results for the fiscal year ending March 2027, Mitsubishi Corp reported net profit of 298.5 billion yen, up 47.0% from a year earlier, on revenue of 5.1809 trillion yen, up 22.8%. According to company disclosures, gross profit rose by 128.7 billion yen, from 368.5 billion yen to 497.2 billion yen, mainly on higher market prices; financial income increased by 34.8 billion yen, from 60.1 billion yen to 95 billion yen; and profit from investments accounted for using the equity method grew by 12.2 billion yen, from 138.7 billion yen to 150.9 billion yen. On the other hand, selling, general and administrative expenses rose by 56.4 billion yen due to the impact of foreign exchange translation from the weaker yen and an increase in the allowance for doubtful accounts, but pretax profit increased by 135.1 billion yen, from 252.9 billion yen to 388 billion yen. The full-year net profit forecast is 1.1 trillion yen, up 37.4% from the previous fiscal year, and the first-quarter result represents 27% of that, slightly above the even quarterly pace of 25%. The annual dividend forecast is 125 yen per share, raised from 110 yen a year earlier, which would mark an 11th consecutive year of dividend increases. For the previous fiscal year ended March 2026, net profit fell 15.8% to 800.4 billion yen, reflecting a reversal from the revaluation gain booked when Lawson became an equity-method affiliate.

FTAI Aviation has authorized a new $500M share repurchase program covering its outstanding ordinary shares. The company said it plans to fund the buybacks with cash on its balance sheet, and the program will run through September 30, 2029, unless completed earlier. Repurchases may be made through the open market or private transactions depending on market conditions, and the program does not obligate the company to buy back any specific amount, with timing and size tied to its share price and market conditions. FTAI stock traded nearly 4% higher at ~$182.99 in the after-hours session.

Core & Main Inc. reported second-quarter fiscal 2026 results on September 9, with revenue up 2.5% year over year to $2.145 billion. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $274 million, a 12.8% margin and a 3% increase over Q2 FY25, while adjusted diluted EPS rose 8% to $0.94 on higher net income and a lower Class A share count following buybacks. Gross profit was $573 million, a 26.7% margin and 2.3% growth, and SG&A expenses slipped 0.3% to $301 million on lower variable compensation and cost-cutting. The company repurchased 3.7 million shares for $169 million in the quarter and another 0.3 million shares for $11 million after it closed, and management reiterated full-year fiscal 2026 guidance of $7.8 billion to $7.9 billion in net sales, $950 million to $980 million in adjusted EBITDA, and operating cash flow at 60% to 70% of adjusted EBITDA. For the first half, net sales rose just 1.3% over H1 FY25, most of it from recent acquisitions, and storm drainage sales declined on softer volumes.

EVI Industries reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings per share of 17 cents, up from 14 cents a year earlier, with revenues climbing 11% year over year to a record $121.9 million. Net income rose 31% to $2.7 million from $2.1 million, gross profit advanced 13% to $38.5 million, and gross margin expanded 80 basis points to 31.6%. Operating income climbed 37% to $5.6 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased 26% to a record $9.1 million and the adjusted EBITDA margin improved 100 basis points to 7.5%. For the full fiscal year, revenues rose 15% to a record $446.6 million, though earnings per share slipped to 48 cents from 49 cents and net income edged up 3% to $7.7 million. Chairman and CEO Henry Nahmad called fiscal 2026 EVI's strongest year, and management reiterated its longer-term objective of a double-digit consolidated operating margin. The company also announced an agreement on July 20, 2026, to acquire Sudsies, closing the transaction on Sept. 1 and establishing a consumer garment care services division, its first dedicated expansion beyond commercial laundry distribution and service since beginning its current growth strategy in 2016.

Watsco has agreed to acquire The Granite Group, a plumbing and HVAC distributor with approximately $500M in annual sales across seven Northeast states. The Granite Group serves about 11,000 customers through 82 locations, offering roughly 29,000 SKUs from more than 450 vendors. Following the deal, Granite will operate independently under its existing management team, led by CEO Bill Condron, while gaining access to Watsco's scale, capital and technology.

J.P. Morgan reshuffled its ratings on major equipment-rental companies on Thursday, upgrading Herc Holdings to Overweight from Neutral with a December 2027 price target of $175 while downgrading United Rentals to Neutral from Overweight with a $1,170 target. Analyst Tami Zakaria also maintained an Underweight rating on Sunbelt Rentals but raised its December 2027 price target to $79 from a previous December 2026 target of $71, as the bank introduced its 2028 earnings forecasts. J.P. Morgan expects the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates once before the end of 2026, which could further postpone a recovery in smaller, locally driven construction markets, though elevated financing costs above 6% may push contractors to rent rather than buy equipment. The bank sees Herc Holdings as offering the most upside, citing improving fleet utilization after its acquisition of H&E Equipment Services, with projected 2026 adjusted EBITDA still about 10% below the combined companies' pre-transaction earnings, and forecasts Herc revenue rising from $5 billion in 2026 to $5.8 billion in 2028 with adjusted earnings reaching $15.11 a share in 2028. United Rentals remains the industry's best operator, but J.P. Morgan cited valuation and a shrinking acquisition pipeline, forecasting revenue of $17.8 billion in 2026, $19.4 billion in 2027 and $21.1 billion in 2028, with earnings projected at $63.35 a share in 2028. Sunbelt Rentals reported fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.18 a share, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04, on revenue that rose 11% to $3.12 billion, and raised its adjusted EBITDA outlook to between $4.92 billion and $5.12 billion from a previous range of $4.85 billion to $5.05 billion.

Core & Main, Inc. reported second-quarter fiscal 2027 results, with performance anchored by stable municipal demand and data center development nearly doubling year-over-year. Treatment plant projects grew to a mid-single-digit percentage of total sales mix, delivering double-digit growth, while fire protection strength came from market share gains and favorable steel pricing. Residential lot development declined high single digits, but management expects comparisons to become more favorable in the second half. The company achieved 40 basis points of SG&A leverage, and full-year guidance assumes EBITDA margin expansion in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter. Management noted an accelerated M&A pipeline with several opportunities in LOI and diligence stages, and executed record open market share buybacks for the second consecutive quarter, bringing total repurchases to approximately 25% of shares outstanding since the IPO. The acquisition of Walker Industries in Hawaii post-quarter end serves as a template for expansion, and refinancing extended debt maturities to support M&A and buybacks. In Q&A, management highlighted that the Miami-Dade project, the largest in the sector's history, is in pilot stages with only 5% to 10% of volume expected to ship by year-end before hitting full run rate in 2027.

Core & Main reported higher fiscal 2026 second-quarter sales, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted earnings per share, supported by municipal infrastructure, treatment plant projects, fire protection demand, and growing data center-related work. Net sales rose 2.5% year over year to approximately $2.1 billion, adjusted EBITDA increased about 3% to $274 million, and adjusted diluted EPS climbed 8% to $0.94. Data center-related activity nearly doubled from the prior-year quarter, now representing a mid-single-digit percentage of overall business, while fire protection sales rose 14%. The company reaffirmed its fiscal 2026 outlook for sales of $7.8 billion to $7.9 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $950 million to $980 million. Core & Main also repurchased $169 million of shares during the quarter and acquired Walker Industries, a Hawaii-based storm drainage provider.

Core & Main reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $0.94, beating the analyst consensus of $0.92, while revenue rose 2.5% year over year to $2.14 billion, matching expectations. Net income increased 6.4% to $150 million, and adjusted EBITDA grew 3% to $274 million, with a margin of 12.8%. The company repurchased 3.7 million shares for $169 million during the quarter. For fiscal 2026, Core & Main maintained its net sales guidance of $7.8 billion to $7.9 billion and adjusted EBITDA forecast of $950 million to $980 million. Shares rose 1.04% in premarket trading following the announcement.

EVI Industries reported record results for fiscal 2026, with net income rising 3% year-over-year to $7.7 million. Revenue increased 15% to a record $446.6 million, while gross profit grew 19% to a record $140.7 million, with gross margin expanding to a record 31.5%. Operating income rose 14% to a record $15.7 million, and adjusted EBITDA increased 16% to a record $29.1 million, representing a 6.5% margin. Operating cash flow was $20.6 million, and net debt stood at $44.2 million as of June 30, 2026, substantially unchanged.

On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, individual material stocks were active, with Forside, Howa Machinery, and Tomita Electric surging. Forside announced that it will acquire all shares of Macalou Digital, a company engaged in website production and hosting services, on October 1, making it a subsidiary, and the stock rose 27.9% to 110 yen. Howa Machinery announced strengthening its partnership with Prodrone, a startup in industrial drones, and was bought up to the limit-up price of 1,912 yen. Tomita Electric was favored for its upward revision of its first-half consolidated earnings forecast, and updated its year-high at the limit-up price of 4,855 yen. Other stocks such as Eyes, Nippon Ichi Software, Blue Innovation, Asahi Concrete Industry, and Will Smart also rose on individual factors. Limit-up stocks reached five, including Sei Construction Industry, Copa Corporation, and J Pharma.

QXO Inc. finalized its cash-and-stock acquisition of TopBuild Corp. for $17 billion on July 1, making it North America's largest distributor and installer of insulation, the largest distributor of waterproofing products, and the second-largest distributor of roofing products. The company expects at least $300 million in annual synergies by 2030, and Chairman and CEO Brad Jacobs said the deal will help QXO explore rapidly expanding end markets such as data centers. This acquisition follows QXO's $2.25 billion purchase of Kodiak Building Partners in April and its $11 billion acquisition of Beacon Roofing Supply in 2025, positioning QXO among the top names in roofing, insulation, waterproofing, and building materials in North America. In its second quarter results announced on August 13, QXO posted $3.25 billion in revenue, up from $1.91 billion in the prior-year period, with adjusted EBITDA of $272 million, up 33% year over year, and adjusted net income of $130 million, up over 19%. However, adjusted diluted EPS fell to $0.08 from $0.11 due to a larger share base and preferred-stock dividends, and the company used $146 million in cash from operations in the first half of 2026. Jacobs reiterated the goal to more than double EBITDA by 2030 and reach $50 billion in revenue within the decade, but integration risks and dilution remain concerns for investors.

Rush Enterprises and MCT Companies have completed the formation of a strategic joint venture, effective August 31, 2026, with each owning 50 percent of MCT Holdco, LLC, which will continue to operate as MCT Companies. The joint venture operates MCT's network of 17 Carrier Transicold full-service dealerships and three mobile service locations across six states, and will be led by Bill Willett as CEO and President. Rush Enterprises will account for its ownership as an equity method investment and will not consolidate the joint venture. This marks Rush's first investment in a dealership group not focused on commercial vehicle sales, expanding its portfolio to include Carrier Transicold's transport refrigeration products and services.

Grafton Group PLC reported first-half revenue of GBP1.34 billion, up 6.7% year-on-year, with adjusted operating profit rising 8.2% to GBP98.5 million and adjusted EPS up 10.8% to 39.4p. The company reaffirmed its full-year operating profit guidance of GBP190 million to GBP200 million and increased its interim dividend by 2.3% to 11p per share. Growth was driven by strong performances in the island of Ireland and Iberia, where like-for-like revenue grew 3.4% and 6.6% respectively, offsetting a 5.1% decline in Great Britain, where adjusted operating profit fell almost 30% due to weak market conditions. Acquisitions Signum and Mercaluth contributed GBP56 million of incremental revenue, with Mercaluth adding GBP6.5 million in operating profit. Net debt stood at GBP315 million, representing adjusted net debt to EBITDA of just under one times, and the company returned GBP75.5 million to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.

Bunzl reported first-half adjusted operating profit up 8% to £441 million, with revenue growing 4.1% at constant exchange rates, and raised its full-year outlook while announcing a £500 million share buyback and a 3% interim dividend increase. The company's North American distribution business rebounded with 8% underlying revenue growth, driven by volume gains and customer wins, although operating profit remained flat due to lower-margin grocery activity and higher variable costs. Bunzl expects modest full-year revenue and adjusted operating profit growth, with group operating margin broadly flat compared to 2025's 7.6%, excluding an £8 million share-based payment credit. Management cautioned that second-half margins will be lower year over year as inflation-related inventory gains unwind and Nisbets synergies annualize. The company also plans to accelerate bolt-on acquisitions, having identified over 1,300 potential targets.

NICE reported that Bluecrest Health Intelligence has adopted its CXone platform to overhaul contact center operations using AI, marking a high-profile healthcare reference client for the company. The healthcare provider is using CXone to support a broad shift toward AI-driven customer interactions and contact center processes, with NICE highlighting operational efficiency, customer access, analytical insight, and resilience as key outcomes. This deployment sits squarely in NICE's core customer contact offering, and the company noted that rapid growth in demand for AI-driven customer experience solutions, manifested by 42% year-over-year growth in AI and self-service ARR and the upcoming integration of Cognigy's conversational AI capabilities, provides visibility into sustained increases in high-margin, recurring cloud revenue and expanded ARPU. However, complex international rollouts can be capital and resource intensive with slower revenue realization, and analysts have flagged execution and integration challenges, so investors may want to see similar wins repeated across regions before assuming broad-based traction.

C&D Inc. released its 2026 interim report. Total operating revenue was 303.784 billion yuan, and net profit attributable to the parent company was 989 million yuan, up 17.62% from the same period last year. Net cash inflow from operating activities was 6.641 billion yuan. The asset-liability ratio was 78.83%, gross margin was 4.22%, and return on equity was 1.68%. Diluted earnings per share were 0.25 yuan, up 25.00% year on year. Total asset turnover was 0.38 times, and inventory turnover was 0.91 times. The company had 55,400 shareholders, and the top ten shareholders held 58.60% of total share capital.

Shanxi Coal International disclosed its 2026 semi-annual report on August 29. In the first half, total operating revenue reached 10.355 billion yuan, up 21.63% year on year. Net profit attributable to the parent company was 1.01 billion yuan, up 54.13% year on year. Net profit after deducting non-recurring items was 1.045 billion yuan, up 53.19% year on year. Net cash flow from operating activities was 2.561 billion yuan, compared with negative 469 million yuan in the same period last year. Basic earnings per share were 0.51 yuan, and the weighted average return on equity was 6.06%, up 2.14 percentage points year on year. As of the end of the first half of 2026, the company's inventory book value was 795 million yuan, accounting for 4.58% of net assets, a decrease of 67.1598 million yuan from the end of the previous year.

Shanxi Coal International Energy released its 2026 interim report. Total operating revenue was 10.355 billion yuan, up 21.63% year-on-year. Net profit attributable to the parent company was 1.01 billion yuan, up 54.13% year-on-year. Net cash inflow from operating activities was 2.561 billion yuan, an increase of 3.03 billion yuan year-on-year. The company's asset-liability ratio was 49.20%, down 2.75 percentage points from the same period last year. Gross margin was 41.97%, rising for two consecutive quarters and up 6.24 percentage points year-on-year. Diluted earnings per share were 0.51 yuan, up 54.55% year-on-year. The number of shareholders was 40,100, and the top ten shareholders held 69.79% of total share capital.