Market Overview - International equities showed mixed results in Q3 2025, with the MSCI EAFE Index rising 4.8%, driven by Asian markets and Canada, while Europe Ex U.K. underperformed [3] - The MSCI Emerging Markets Index advanced 10.6%, supported by a 20.7% rally in China, which constitutes 30% of that benchmark [3] - European markets experienced a slowdown in momentum due to inflation remaining above the European Central Bank's target, with a September reading of 2.2% [4] Economic Conditions - Japan's GDP grew modestly in Q2, aided by tourism, while manufacturing activity remained restrained [5] - The People's Bank of China cut key lending rates in July to address weaknesses in the real estate sector and sluggish consumer demand, with Q2 GDP growth at 5.2% year over year [5] Investment Strategy - The MSCI EAFE Value Index outperformed the MSCI EAFE Growth Index by over 500 basis points in Q3, with value stocks leading growth by more than 1,300 basis points year to date [6] - The ClearBridge International Growth Strategy maintained pace with its core MSCI EAFE benchmark, with sector positioning in IT and financials creating headwinds [12] Company Performance - London Stock Exchange faced a decline due to AI concerns impacting its desktop and data business, while Adyen's revenue missed expectations [13] - Banco Santander was acquired for its streamlined operations and cost-cutting measures, expected to improve profitability [14] - HSBC is well-positioned for growth in Asian wealth management, benefiting from inflows of mainland Chinese money [15] - KBC Group's strong capital position allows for capital distributions or acquisitions, with growing assets under management [16] Sector Contributions - Health care sector saw solid contributions, particularly from European biotechs Argenx and UCB, driven by strong sales and positive clinical trial results [20] - The strategy expanded into the Chinese biotechnology sector with the purchase of WuXi AppTec, known for efficient drug development [21] Portfolio Adjustments - The strategy added 10 positions while exiting 13, with significant purchases in financials and health care, including Prysmian, which is poised for growth in the power cables industry [22] - Softbank trades at a discount to its NAV, holding stakes in key technology companies [23] - Celestica is positioned for growth in AI infrastructure, with expected annual revenue growth of over 20% [24] Outlook - The regions of investment are making progress on growth and equity-friendly policies, with forecasts for double-digit EPS growth in the pan-European Stoxx 600 [27] - Emerging markets are outperforming developed markets, with a focus on China’s growth potential in AI and biotechnology [28][32]

Core Insights - Strada has achieved three significant SAP certifications, reinforcing its global capabilities in delivering HR transformation services [1][3][6] - The certifications validate Strada's operational excellence and alignment with SAP's best practices, enabling the company to provide end-to-end SAP services [3][4][7] Certification Details - Strada has secured re-certification for SAP SuccessFactors solutions operations and SAP BPO operations, along with a new local certification for SAP's Business Technology Platform in Spain [1][5] - The certifications recognize Strada's ability to deliver secure and high-performing managed services across the full SAP HCM suite, supporting over 1.7 million employees worldwide [3][5] Service Offerings - Strada's managed services are designed to simplify complexity in HR, payroll, and talent management, turning them into strategic advantages for clients [5][7] - The company offers global payroll delivery services across 180+ countries, integrated with SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud edition and SAP SuccessFactors [5][7] Innovation and Technology - Strada provides preconfigured solutions like Strada Elevate for SuccessFactors, which include best practices and standardized toolkits to reduce risk and accelerate ROI [5] - The company is investing in AI-powered productivity features and embedded analytics to enhance user experiences and decision-making [5][7] Strategic Positioning - The SAP certification positions Strada as a best-in-class service provider, enhancing its visibility and ability to deliver superior outcomes for clients [6] - Strada's commitment to operational excellence and transformative HR experiences is emphasized by its ongoing investments in SAP capabilities [7]

Core Point - The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear SAP's request to avoid a lawsuit from Teradata, which accuses SAP of violating U.S. antitrust laws [1] Group 1: Company Overview - SAP is identified as Europe's largest software maker [1] - Teradata is a U.S. data technology company that has initiated the lawsuit against SAP [1] Group 2: Legal Context - The lawsuit involves allegations of antitrust violations against SAP by Teradata [1] - The Supreme Court's decision means that the lawsuit will proceed in lower courts [1]

Core Insights - SAP SE showcases the integration of AI, data, and applications at the SAP Connect event, emphasizing the creation of business value through innovative solutions [1][2] - The introduction of role-based assistants in Joule aims to enhance human productivity by coordinating various agents across business functions [2][4] Group 1: AI Integration - SAP introduces a new generation of role-aware assistants in Joule, designed to partner with individuals in specific business roles, enhancing productivity and insight [2] - Specialized Joule Agents support these assistants, enabling them to execute complex workflows tailored to specific functions, such as financial planning and people management [2] Group 2: Data Connectivity - SAP Business Data Cloud Connect is launched to eliminate data silos by securely linking SAP BDC with partner platforms, facilitating a bidirectional flow of business-ready data [3] - The partnership with Databricks and Google Cloud allows for faster access to data products, enhancing analytics and AI capabilities for customers [3] Group 3: Application Development - New AI-native solutions like SAP Supply Chain Orchestration and SAP Engagement Cloud are introduced, leveraging AI to improve risk detection and customer interactions [4] - The next-generation SAP Ariba procurement suite is highlighted as an AI-driven solution that enhances spend management processes [4]

Core Insights - Coveo has been awarded the SAP Global SAP Customer Experience Award for Partner Excellence 2025 for Partner Solution Success, recognizing its contributions to SAP Customer Experience solutions [1][2] - The partnership between Coveo and SAP aims to enhance AI-driven digital experiences for global enterprises, focusing on growth, efficiency, and customer loyalty [2] Company Achievements - Coveo's solution for SAP Commerce Cloud achieved SAP Endorsed App status in March 2023, with further integration into SAP Service Cloud in November 2024 [2] - Customers utilizing Coveo's solutions have reported significant improvements, such as Blackwoods experiencing a 45% increase in Net Promoter Score (NPS) and a 44% reduction in null searches [2] Technology and Innovation - Coveo's AI-Relevance Platform enables hyper-personalization across various digital experiences, unifying data with high contextual and prescriptive accuracy [5] - The platform is designed to address the complexity of tailoring experiences for diverse audiences and large volumes of content [4][5] Industry Positioning - Coveo is recognized as a leader in AI-Relevance, transforming how enterprises engage with customers and employees to maximize business outcomes [3][5] - The company holds various certifications and partnerships, including being a Salesforce ISV Partner and a member of the MACH Alliance, which underscores its commitment to security and compliance [6]

Core Insights - Palantir Technologies specializes in data integration, decision-making, and operations scaling, initially focusing on the intelligence community and later expanding to commercial enterprises [2][3] - The company's primary products include Gotham, Foundry, Apollo, and its AI platform, AIP, which utilizes machine learning and large language models [4] Financial Performance - For Q2, Palantir reported adjusted earnings of 16 cents per share, beating estimates by 2 cents and reflecting a 77% increase from 9 cents in the same quarter last year [6] - Revenue exceeded $1 billion, marking a 47.5% year-over-year increase, driven by a 93% growth in the US commercial segment and a 49% increase in government contracts [7][10] - The total contract value for the US commercial segment rose 222% to $843 million, with new customer sales increasing by 141% year-over-year [8] Competitive Landscape - Palantir faces competition from major players like IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP in the software and data analytics market [5] - The company's unique value proposition lies in its ability to integrate data and operations at scale, providing actionable insights for real-time decision-making [6] Growth Potential - Palantir's forward revenue growth estimate stands at 36%, significantly higher than the sector average of 7%, indicating strong expansion potential [11] - The company has a net income margin of 22%, well above the sector average of around 4%, showcasing its profitability [12] Strategic Partnerships - Boeing has partnered with Palantir to integrate AI into its defense and security business, utilizing Palantir's Foundry platform for data analytics across its factories [8][9] Valuation Concerns - Palantir's stock is considered overvalued, trading at 125 times trailing sales and 284 times forward earnings, compared to sector medians of 25 times [14][15] - The high valuation multiples suggest that any executional missteps could lead to significant price corrections [16] Technical Analysis - The stock has shown strong performance with over 400% return in the past year and over 150% year-to-date, but recent momentum indicators suggest potential weakening [17] - Key support levels include the 50-day and 100-day moving averages, with additional support at the 200-day moving average if prices decline [18] Summary - Palantir is positioned as a leader in enterprise defense AI, benefiting from strong government ties and rapid growth in its AI platforms, which offer high margins and cash flow potential [19]

Core Insights - The global venture capital (VC) investment in AI startups has reached approximately $192.7 billion in 2023, setting a new record and indicating a strong trend towards AI investment, with expectations that over half of VC funds will flow into AI-related sectors by 2025 [1][4][5] - The majority of VC funding is concentrated in large, established AI companies like Anthropic and xAI, while lesser-known startups, particularly those not focused on AI, are struggling to secure funding [2][4] - The AI infrastructure investment led by major tech giants is accelerating, contributing to a bullish market for AI-related stocks, as evidenced by record-high stock prices for companies like NVIDIA, TSMC, and Broadcom [2][3][7] Investment Trends - In the most recent quarter, AI startups received 62.7% of VC funding in the U.S. and 53.2% globally, highlighting a significant preference for AI investments [4][5] - Despite the overall VC investment totaling $366.8 billion in 2023, the number of companies receiving funding is on track to hit a multi-year low, indicating a challenging environment for non-AI startups [5][6] - The AI investment landscape is characterized by a stark divide, with a clear preference for leading AI companies over others, as noted by PitchBook's research [4][6] Market Dynamics - The demand for AI computing power is expected to grow exponentially, driven by the needs of generative AI applications and AI agents, which will support a long-term bullish narrative for AI infrastructure [3][7] - Major tech companies are planning substantial investments in AI infrastructure, with OpenAI's CEO indicating plans to invest trillions in core AI resources, and Meta's CEO announcing a commitment of at least $600 billion by 2028 [6][7] - Analysts predict that the ongoing AI infrastructure investment wave could reach between $2 trillion to $3 trillion, with NVIDIA's CEO forecasting that AI infrastructure spending could hit $3 trillion to $4 trillion by 2030 [7][8] Future Projections - Citigroup has raised its forecasts for AI infrastructure spending by major tech companies, projecting an increase from $420 billion in 2026 to $490 billion, and from $2.3 trillion to $2.8 trillion by 2029 [8] - The global demand for AI computing power is expected to add 55 gigawatts of power capacity by 2030, translating to an estimated $2.8 trillion in AI-related spending, with the U.S. market accounting for $1.4 trillion [8]

Core Insights - Spotify's founder and CEO Daniel Ek announced his resignation, with Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström appointed as co-CEOs [1] - This trend of co-CEO appointments is emerging among major companies, with Comcast and Oracle also making similar announcements recently [2][3] - The predominance of male co-CEOs highlights ongoing gender disparities in corporate leadership roles [4][5] Gender Representation in Leadership - Only 11% of Fortune 500 companies are led by women, indicating slow progress in gender diversity [6] - Historical data shows that only three instances of co-CEO setups with women have been recorded since 1998, with no examples of two women sharing the role at Fortune 500 firms [7] - The lack of women in powerful C-suite roles, such as CFO and COO, contributes to the gender leadership gap [9] Recent Trends in IPOs - A recent analysis found that women represented only 11% of executives in leadership roles among companies going public in 2025, a decline from previous years [10][11] - The trend of male dominance in executive roles during IPOs suggests a systemic issue in promoting gender diversity [11] - The co-CEO arrangements often reflect a power struggle among male executives, with founders retaining significant control [11][12]

Core Insights - Management Controls Inc. (MCi) announced that its myTrack Connect for SAP S/4HANA has received certification from SAP for clean core with SAP S/4HANA Cloud [1] - The certification enables organizations to integrate contractor data management into their SAP environment while ensuring system integrity, auditability, and extensibility [1] - Michael Lewis, CTO of MCi, emphasized the need for solutions that securely integrate and comply with clean core principles for SAP customers [1]

Group 1: Granolas Sector Analysis - The Granolas sector, which includes major European companies, has underperformed the European market index by approximately 25% since early 2024, with its market capitalization dropping from 27% to 20% of the overall European market [2] - Despite weak stock performance, Granolas' earnings have not deteriorated, with an expected earnings growth rate of 8% for 2025, while overall European market earnings are projected to remain flat [2] - The valuation issues of Granolas have been corrected, with the current price-to-earnings ratio at a 6% discount compared to the median of the past 10 years, indicating a return to reasonable levels [2] - Granolas' free cash flow yield has improved, and cash reserves on the balance sheet increased from €91 billion in 2023 to €106 billion in 2024, with stock buybacks projected to rise from €23 billion in 2023 to an annualized €36 billion in 2025 [2] Group 2: French Stock Market Outlook - The French stock market has underperformed the market by about 15% over the past two years, with bank stocks lagging behind Eurozone peers by as much as 30% [4] - Currently, the French stock market is trading at a significant discount compared to the STOXX 50 index, a situation historically seen only during major crises [4] - Morgan Stanley believes that the long-term bond yields in France are unlikely to continue rising, and the negative impact from the government's failure to pass a confidence vote may temporarily dissipate, presenting attractive investment opportunities [4] - Despite high uncertainty, including potential future confidence votes, there is a possibility of reaching a budget plan acceptable to the market, and any negative impact from re-elections on risk assets may be short-lived [4]