Summary of Key Points from the Conference Call Industry Insights - **US Exceptionalism and Asset Performance**: The theme of US exceptionalism, USD strength, and US asset performance has garnered significant attention. Since 2012, the MSCI World Index in USD has increased by over 3 times, while a leading Norwegian asset manager's Global Equity Fund (FX-unhedged) has seen a 7x increase, indicating a greater propensity for non-USD investors to diversify their portfolios [1][1][1] - **Decline in US Student Visa Applications**: There has been a steep decline in US student visa applications, with the rejection rate doubling. Conversely, UK student visa applications have increased by 20% year-over-year, and applications for UK citizenship from US citizens have surged by 26% year-over-year, with record applications in March and April [3][3][3] - **Investor Interest in Large-Cap Tech and AI Stocks**: Investor appetite for large-cap technology stocks has risen again, with notable outperformance of the Magnificent Seven (Mag7) compared to the S&P 500. There is also increased interest in perceived AI winners, with strategies focusing on long positions in AI winners and short positions in AI-at-risk stocks approaching new highs [5][6][6] - **Strong Q1 EPS Growth and Seasonal Patterns**: The first quarter has shown standout EPS growth, with continuous news on increased use cases and adoption of technology. There is no slowdown in spending or investment, as evidenced by recent news regarding Softbank and TSMC. July is historically the strongest month for Nasdaq returns, which has been frequently cited by analysts [8][9][9] - **Impact of Fiscal Concerns on Mega-Cap Tech**: There is speculation that mega-cap tech companies may benefit from an increasingly precarious fiscal situation. Higher interest rates typically imply a higher cost of capital, but companies with strong balance sheets and cash flows may become more attractive in uncertain economic conditions [5][10][10] Economic Activity and Market Performance - **Uneven Economic Activity**: The current trajectory of economic activity is described as unusually uneven, with a notable slowdown in German weekly activity and no rebound in US retailer imports following a collapse in April and May. The European economic surprise index has outperformed the US index, highlighting the complexity of the current economic landscape [11][11][11] - **European Equity Performance**: Despite the uneven macro data and the upcoming tariff deadline on July 9th, European equities have performed well year-to-date. However, the top five largest stocks in Europe have not contributed to this performance, with both LVMH and Novo Nordisk down over 20% year-to-date [15][18][18] - **Revisiting LVMH Investment Thesis**: The investment thesis for LVMH is being revisited, with a recommendation to buy despite being below consensus for the rest of the year. The diverging outlooks for brands in the luxury sector present a compelling alpha opportunity, contrasting with the performance of European big oils [20][20][20] Conclusion - The conference call highlighted significant trends in US and European markets, particularly in technology and luxury sectors. The ongoing geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainties are influencing investor behavior and market dynamics, with a focus on diversification and sector-specific opportunities.

Release Webinar Date: August 14, 2025 Time: 3 PM – 4 PM Link: https://bit.ly/xSuite-eDNA-Outbound Participation is free of charge for both customers and interested parties. About xSuite Group xSuite is a software manufacturer of applications for document-based processes and provides standardized, digital solutions worldwide that enable simple, secure, and fast work. We focus mainly on the automation of important work processes in conjunction with end-to-end document management. Our core competence lies in a ...

Investment Rating - The report maintains a high-conviction Overweight rating for Oracle and related companies within the Office of the CFO coverage group, including BlackLine, OneStream, and Vertex [1][4]. Core Insights - The accelerating growth of Oracle Fusion and NetSuite, driven by AI, indicates a potential Back-Office Supercycle extending beyond the SAP ecosystem, enhancing confidence in investment calls [1][4]. - Oracle's F4Q25 results exceeded expectations, with Fusion's growth accelerating to 22% YoY and NetSuite to 18% YoY, with further growth anticipated in FY26 [2][11]. - The need for organizations to adopt AI is prompting upgrades from on-premises to cloud solutions, as AI capabilities are exclusively available in the cloud [2][4]. Summary by Sections Oracle's Performance - Oracle's recent results suggest a significant inflection point for ERP upgrades to the cloud, indicating increased demand for services associated with ERP cloud migrations [4]. - The report highlights that Oracle's strategic SaaS products are gaining popularity as they enable advanced AI capabilities, which are unavailable in on-premise systems [5][8]. Market Dynamics - SAP has been leading the Back-Office Supercycle with a more aggressive cloud migration strategy, which has positively impacted their cloud backlog growth [3]. - The report notes that the ability to leverage AI is a primary driver for CIOs upgrading their ERP platforms, as indicated by a recent survey [12]. Future Outlook - The anticipated ERP upgrades are expected to drive additional demand for services related to Oracle's cloud offerings, reinforcing the Overweight calls on BlackLine, OneStream, and Vertex [4]. - The report emphasizes that Vertex stands to benefit significantly due to its close relationship with Oracle [4].

Group 1: Core Insights - Coinbase Global Inc made headlines by becoming the first cryptocurrency exchange included in the S&P 500 index, marking a significant milestone for the crypto industry [1] - The inclusion reflects Coinbase's operational maturity, liquidity, and profitability, attracting institutional investors and leading to significant passive inflows, with shares jumping 24% post-announcement [2] - However, Coinbase faces challenges from tariff-induced market turbulence and a rocky crypto environment that threaten to stall its momentum [3] Group 2: Market Challenges - The rollout of President Trump's tariff policies has disrupted global trade and shaken investor sentiment, indirectly impacting crypto markets and curbing risk appetite [4] - Coinbase's stock fell more than 6% year-to-date and faced double-digit declines amid tariff uncertainty [5] - With Coinbase commanding about 66% of the U.S. crypto trading market, a 10% decline in trading volume in Q1 has led to lower revenues, raising concerns about the company's core business under tariff-driven economic slowdowns [6] Group 3: Strategic Initiatives - Coinbase unveiled new products at the 2025 State of Crypto Summit aimed at expanding revenue streams, including a partnership with Shopify for crypto payments and an expansion of its payments infrastructure to over 200 businesses [7] - Retail innovations include a new subscription tier and a Bitcoin rewards credit card in partnership with American Express, targeting steady revenue [7] - The integration of decentralized exchange trading with the Coinbase app and business-focused treasury management tools are also part of Coinbase's strategy to broaden its total addressable market [8] Group 4: Analyst Perspective - JPMorgan analyst Kenneth B. Worthington maintains a Neutral rating on Coinbase with a December 2025 price target of $215, indicating that while the crypto ecosystem is still developing, Coinbase is well-positioned for industry growth [9] - The company's S&P 500 debut is being tested by external economic pressures, and investors are closely watching if new product launches can offset these challenges and support sustainable growth [10]

Group 1 - The article highlights that in the current software-dominated landscape, only a few companies have achieved significant scale and are considered top choices by investors [1] - It emphasizes the abundance of software options available, yet points out that only a handful stand out due to their growth and market presence [1]

Artificial intelligence (AI) software stocks have been a favorite among growth investors over the last couple of years. As of closing bell on June 6, shares of enterprise software darling Palantir Technologies have gained 69% on the year, making it the top-performing stock in the Nasdaq-100 index. While Palantir appears to be on an unstoppable run, smart investors understand that there are other opportunities at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and software. One AI software company that has ...

Core Insights - Lucasys has launched its suite of tax applications on the SAP® Store, enhancing its offerings for rate-regulated utilities [1][2] - The integration with SAP S/4HANA® aims to provide a seamless experience for customers managing complex tax and regulatory requirements [2][3] - The tax applications are designed to streamline and automate critical tax processes, improving compliance and delivering actionable insights [3] Company Overview - Lucasys specializes in software and technology-enabled services for finance, accounting, and tax professionals in asset-intensive industries [5] - The company focuses on optimizing the financial performance of fixed assets while meeting changing regulatory and compliance requirements [5] Product Features - The Lucasys Income Tax Suite offers an integrated experience across tax applications for tax accounting, compliance, and forecasting [6] - Enhanced usability is achieved through simplified workflows, reducing the data maintenance burden for end users [6] - The solutions provide flexible reporting and data-driven insights, facilitating strategic tax planning for large enterprises [6]

Group 1: Valuation and Market Position - Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) is currently trading at an attractive valuation, with a forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 23.2, lower than the Zacks Computer – Software industry average of 32.8 [2] - Compared to major competitors like Microsoft (MSFT), Oracle (ORCL), and SAP, Salesforce's stock is cheaper on a P/E basis, with MSFT at 31.92X, ORCL at 26.53X, and SAP at 41.78X [4][6] - Despite a decline in stock price of 18.5% year to date, Salesforce remains the leader in the global customer relationship management (CRM) software market, holding the largest market share according to Gartner [9][12] Group 2: Growth Challenges - Salesforce is facing slowing sales growth, with revenues rising only 7.7% in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, a significant drop from previous double-digit growth rates [4][5] - Analysts expect mid-to-high single-digit growth for fiscal 2026 and 2027, with EPS growth projected at a CAGR of 12.9% over the next five years, down from 27.8% in the previous five years [5][6] Group 3: Strategic Focus and Future Outlook - Salesforce's strategy includes a strong focus on AI, with the launch of its Einstein GPT product in 2023, which powers generative AI features across its platform [14] - The enterprise software segment, crucial for Salesforce, is projected to grow significantly, with a 93.9% increase expected, indicating steady demand for Salesforce's solutions despite short-term economic challenges [15] - Strategic acquisitions, such as Slack and Own Company, reflect Salesforce's long-term growth strategy in collaboration tools, cybersecurity, and AI automation [13]

Group 1: Global AI Outlook - The report highlights a new paradigm in AI development characterized by new scaling, new architecture, and new total addressable market (TAM) opportunities [1] - The demand for computing power is expected to rise due to advancements in both training and inference processes, potentially unlocking new TAMs [1][3] - The report maintains a positive outlook on AI industry investments, anticipating that global AI applications will enter a performance harvesting phase [1] Group 2: Model Development - The pre-training scaling law is anticipated to open a new starting point for model development, with significant innovations in architecture being explored [2][23] - The report notes that the classic transformer architecture has reached a parameter scale bottleneck, with existing public data nearly exhausted [2][20] - Major tech companies are experimenting with new architectures, such as Tencent's Hunyuan TurboS and Google's Gemini Diffusion, which may accelerate scaling law advancements [23][24] Group 3: Computing Power Demand - The report identifies a clear long-term upward trend in computing power demand, driven by both training and inference needs [3][32] - New scaling paths are emerging in the post-training phase, with ongoing exploration of new architectures that may reignite pre-training demand narratives [3][33] - The deployment of large-scale computing clusters, such as OpenAI's StarGate, is expected to support the exploration of pre-training [38] Group 4: Application Development - The report indicates that the rapid advancement of agent applications is leading to a performance harvesting phase for global AI applications [4][67] - The commercialization of agent products is accelerating, with domestic AI applications quickly iterating and entering the market [4][67] - The report emphasizes that agent applications are evolving from simple tools to complex solutions, with significant growth expected in various sectors [5][68] Group 5: Business Model Transformation - The shift from traditional software delivery to outcome-based delivery is highlighted as a key trend, with quantifiable ROI accelerating the adoption of agent applications [5] - Specific sectors such as consumer-facing scenarios (advertising, e-commerce) and AI in marketing/sales are expected to lead in commercialization due to their inherent advantages [5][67] - The report notes that AI applications in HR are transitioning from efficiency tools to strategic hubs, indicating a broader transformation in business models [5][67]

Core Insights - Saputo Inc. released its 2025 Saputo Promise Report, highlighting key ESG achievements and completing its three-year corporate responsibility strategic cycle [1][3] - The Saputo Promise consists of seven pillars aimed at nourishing, protecting, and supporting communities [2] ESG Achievements - In FY25, Saputo was recognized as one of the World's Best Companies of 2024 by TIME magazine, reflecting the strength of its workforce and community support [7] - The company reduced its overall employee turnover rate to 18%, down from 23% in FY23, and invested CDN$11.2 million in employee training and development [7] - Over the past three years, Saputo invested more than CDN$4 million in projects to support sustainable farming practices among dairy farmers in Canada, the UK, Australia, and the US [7] - The company's carbon intensity decreased by 22% compared to its FY20 baseline, surpassing its initial target of 20% [7] - Saputo expanded its Legacy Program to 88 projects globally, investing over CDN$4 million and covering 67% of the communities where it operates [7] - The company donated more than 1.4 million kilos of products to local food banks, enough to feed over 4 million people [7] Future Plans - Saputo's new three-year cycle (FY26-FY28) will focus on key global priorities while advancing all aspects of the Saputo Promise [4] - The company introduced new 2030 Environment Pledges, including science-based emissions reduction targets validated by SBTi, improved water use, and streamlined waste and packaging targets [4]