not necessary benefitting natgate, 杰. it pretty much depends on where do they want to produce their optical transceiver. Lumentum has a big plant in Thailand and Coherent too. Coherent has presence in Malaysia; mainly in Perak. X-ray inspection equipment plays a big part in silicon photonics inspection and QES needs the capability/distribution rights to complete its inspection equipment portfolio.

good performance indeed :) just one little note - QES disposed off the 30% stake in the JV with Applied Engineering. Cannot recalled how much was the total investment in that JV. Can be good or bad decision; good as it stops the losses from the JV and if it is unlikely for the JV to grow further, bad as its part of manufacturing segment (low revenue high margin) which is key to maintain higher profitability for QES compared to distribution segment (main revenue low margin).

give it a week or two. qes depending on (1) market sentiments and we have seen it in the past to the extent some were commenting on the bankers :) (2) the margin depends heavily on manufacturing segment and fy26 mfg segment is on the positive side of it. hopefully, RTS/Unicomp mfg agreement in the pipeline post pp.

as for sentiment, we will know within a week or two - US Fed interest rate decision by mid of Sep. its been volatile recently and market is responding to changes in the probability of a rate increase versus unchanged if you will.

volatility incoming - (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he is not worried that Chinese President Xi Jinping will cancel a highly anticipated visit later this month."No, I'm not worried about that," Trump told reporters as he attended the Irish Open in Doonbeg on Sunday. "We have a great relationship. He wants to get along, and we want it. We're going to get along." Trump's comments follow a recent report that China had warned the US that it would scrap Xi's upcoming visit if the US approved new arms sales to Taiwan, a major point of contention for Beijing. Trump has said he is weighing a $14 billion arms deal with Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island, that China sees as part of its country. Xi has warned the US president in the past that there is a potential for conflict if the issue of Taiwan is mismanaged.

Trump has previously said he talked to Xi "a lot" about Taiwan during their summit in May, and said in an interview at the time with Fox News that he wanted Beijing to "cool down" about the issue. The leaders of the world's two largest economies are slated to meet face-to-face later this month in Washington, as they seek to manage tensions over Taiwan as well as trade, artificial intelligence and the Middle East. While the May summit was marked by displays of warmth between the two leaders, there have been fresh strains between the countries, in particular over the Iran war. China is the main buyer of Iranian oil and Beijing has resisted Trump's calls to cut off economic ties with Tehran. The US president has sought to ramp up economic pressure on the Islamic Republic in a bid to force it to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical energy waterway largely shuttered since the war's launch, and to strike a deal to end the conflict.

Xi, for his part, has appeared in no rush to help Trump end a war the US launched alongside Israel and which is now in its seventh month. Taking stronger action against Chinese firms that support Iran's economy would also risk bigger blowback for the US. Both nations appear eager to keep relations on track following a tit-for-tat tariff war last year that unnerved financial markets and raised worries about a global economic downturn. A subsequent trade truce has largely held despite persistent tensions over export controls for rare earth minerals and cutting-edge technologies. That truce, though, is set to expire Nov. 10.

AI bubble in the making with AI related IPOs across the globe - IPO markets have spent the past several years caught between tides, with activity levels trailing historical averages. A new cycle is emerging in global IPO markets, driven by broadening sector momentum and the increasing influence of AI and related infrastructure themes. After years of subdued IPO issuance, investor appetite for IPOs has returned and companies are eager to catch the wave. In the US, where several trillion-dollar candidates could tap the public markets by year-end, overall IPO market sentiment is running particularly high. https://www.ey.com/en_gl/insights/ipo/trends#27579638?38625-item-24383ca8a6-tab

the meeting between Trump and Xi at the end of Sep. That will set the stage until earnings season in Oct. For now, safe to assume market repricing AI, DCs and chip stocks given the movement in photonics and recent semiconductor etfs trends.

SHANGHAI, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Chinese investors are piling into foreign assets, especially U.S. stock funds, after regulators lifted outbound quotas, unlocking pent-up demand as domestic yields are at rock bottom and Beijing ‌tightens unofficial routes for moving money abroad. While China has cracked down on what it deems illegal overseas ‌investing through online brokerages, it has simultaneously broadened authorised channels to foreign markets.Late last month China's foreign exchange regulator raised the outstanding Qualified ​Domestic Institutional Investor quota by $6.8 billion to a record $183 billion. The speed with which U.S.-focused funds moved to curb inflows just days later underscores investors' scramble for exposure to Wall Street.

The daily inflow cap on a QDII fund tracking the Nasdaq 100 was raised from 10 yuan to 5,000 yuan on September 9. Just a day later, its fund manager ‌Wanjia Asset Management sharply limited inflows again ⁠to 100 yuan daily for an individual investor. "It means there was explosive inflows so the fund manager needed to limit the subscriptions," said Ivan Shi, head of research at ⁠fund consultancy Z-Ben Advisors. "There remains huge appetite in China for U.S. tech stocks." The rush overseas highlights Beijing's growing challenge in stemming capital outflows. Confidence in the domestic economy remains fragile, China's 10-year government bond yield sits more than three percentage points below ​U.S. ​Treasury yields, and the local stock market has broadly lagged ​the double-digit gains delivered by U.S. equities this ‌year.

there could be spillover to KLSE though US, HK and Europe maybe the primary targets for China's investors. After all, Malaysia is approved in the list of countries of QDII destinations previously - The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) confirmed Malaysia’s approval under a previous memorandum of understanding with the Malaysian Securities Commission. The country joins Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, Singapore, South Korea, the UK and the US as an approved jurisdiction. The agreement permits approved Chinese fund management and securities companies to invest in Malaysian equities, fixed-income products and other securities.

boss's integrity on the line - the MoU with RTS/Unicomp. RTS/Unicomp became substantial shareholder of QES now. We should expect boss to announce the closure of the MoU. Anything less than a mfg agreement will be a disappointment.

rts has indeed became substantial shareholder after subscribing to the pp and qes received the funding accordingly. there was an earlier MoU before the pp plan announcement; collabs with RTS/Unicomp. The outcome of the MoU will determine whether QES can move higher above the 7th floor.

this pp for qes is different as in it is specifically for RTS/Unicomp. The earnings projection and orderbook prior to the pp / for 1HFY2026 have been promising particularly the contribution from mfg segment versus 8mil hit in FY25. Personally, I think it should be at mid of sixth floor. With the pp, there could be some dilution but the strong contract liabilities for q1fy26 and q2fy26 should provide the tailwind to offset the dilution. So, it will be really nice if QES can secure mfg agreement for Unicomp's X-ray inspection equipment which will complete the inspection equipment portfolio for QES (optical to x-ray) and giving it a booster to move higher to 7th floor. Photonics industry requires x-ray equipment and will be nice to have such offering. Just my personal opinions, could be wrong.

“We will extend what we call the ‘Busan Agreement’ — the economic détente between the two countries that was scheduled to end on Nov. 10 — that is going to be extended until Jan. 10,” Bessent said in an interview on Fox News Channel.

Bessent said it’s possible a larger economic package will be agreed upon by January. But it’s also possible to “just roll the current deal” and extend it further.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/us-china-extend-trade-truce-trump-rcna599525