US companies plan share buybacks on a historic scalewhich is a sign of the American economy's confidence in the economy. Nvidia Corp is the latest company to join the long list of buyback plans.

The announced buybacks exceeded the 1 trillion US dollars reaching this level in a very short time, according to data from Birinyi Associates. The previous record was set in October last year.

In recent months, corporate giants - particularly in the areas of finance and technology - have given the green light for extensive share buyback programs.

$AAPL (-0,25 %)

$GOOGL (+1,23 %)

$NVDA (+3,5 %)

$JPM (+0,64 %)

$GS (+1,62 %)

$WFC (+1,39 %)

$BAC (+1,54 %)

$V (-1,8 %)

$C (+0,74 %)

$BKNG (-2,13 %)

Source: https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/markets/us-firms-racing-through-1trn-buyback-spree-in-record-time/

$MS (+1,61 %)

After my first post on humanoid robots received a lot of positive feedback, I went into more detail. I have subsequently added my favorites in each sector.

Extended analysis of the value chain including shovel manufacturers and potential hidden champions

New categorySecondary key sectors (sales, marketing, financing)

AdditionallyTop 25 companies worldwide, as well as Top 10 Europe and Top 10 Asia

I have also added a video link for beginners. This will give you an idea of how far the development of humanoid robotics has already progressed.

https://www.stern.de/panorama/wissen/humanoider-roboter---wie-reagiert-er-auf-beleidigungen--35996156.html

Thank you for your attention and your support 🙏

🌐 1. value chain of humanoid robots (with hidden champions)

1. research & chip design

$ARM (-4,23 %) ARM (UK) - CPU-IP, energy-efficient processors

$SNPS (+12,87 %) Synopsys (US) - EDA software, chip design

$CDNS (+5,29 %) Cadence (US) - EDA & Simulation

$PTC PTC (US) - Engineering Software, CAD/PLM

$DSY (+2,87 %) Dassault Systèmes (FR) - 3D Design & Digital Twin

$SIE (+1,23 %) Siemens (DE) - Industrial Software & Lifecycle Mgmt

$ADBE (+1,51 %) Adobe (US) - Design, AR/UX

ANSYS (US) - multiphysical simulation - acquisition by Synopsis

Altair (US) - CAE, simulation, digital twin - acquisition by Siemens

$HXGBY (+2,24 %)
Hexagon (SE) - Metrology & Simulation

$AWE (+2,36 %) Alphawave IP Group (UK) - High-speed chip IP for AI/robotics

1.Synopsis, 2.Siemens and 3.Adobe are my top 3 in this sector

2. manufacturing technology & equipment

$ASML (+6,23 %) ASML (NL) - Lithography (EUV)

$AMAT (+6,64 %) Applied Materials (US) - Semiconductor equipment

$8035 (+7,27 %) Tokyo Electron (JP) - wafer fabrication

$KEYS (+2,72 %) Keysight Technologies (US) - Metrology

$6857 (+9,95 %) Advantest (JP) - Chip test systems

$TER (+4,6 %) Teradyne (US) - test systems + cobots

$6954 (+2,02 %) Fanuc (JP) - Industrial robots, CNC

$CAT (+3,87 %) Caterpillar (US) - autonomous machines

$KU2G KUKA (DE) - industrial robots

Comau (IT) - automation - not listed on the stock exchange

$ROK Rockwell Automation (US) - industrial automation

$JBL (+6,33 %) Jabil (US) - contract manufacturing (EMS/ODM)

$KIT (+1,05 %) Kitron (NO) - European EMS/ODM manufacturer

$AIXA (+8,67 %) Aixtron (DE) - deposition equipment for compound semiconductors

$LRCX (+3,88 %)
Lam Research (US) - Etch/deposition systems

$MKSI (+9,02 %)
MKS Instruments (US) - Plasma/vacuum technology

$ASM (+8,4 %)
ASM International (NL) - Deposition systems

1.ASML, 2.Keysight Technologies, 3.Fanuc are my top 3 in this sector

3. chip manufacturing (foundries)

$TSM (+2,59 %) TSMC (TW) - leading foundry

$005930 Samsung Electronics (KR) - foundry + memory

$GFS (+3,92 %) GlobalFoundries (US) - specialty chips

$INTC (+22,7 %)
Intel Foundry Services (US) - new western foundry player

$981
SMIC (CN) - largest Chinese foundry

$UMC
UMC (TW) - Power/RF/Embedded chips

1.TSMC, 2.Intel, 3.Samsung Electronics are my top 3 in this sector

4. computing & control unit ("brain")

$NVDA (+3,5 %) Nvidia (US) - GPUs, AI chips

$INTC (+22,7 %) Intel (US) - CPUs, FPGAs

$AMD (-0,67 %) AMD (US) - CPUs, GPUs

$MRVL (+4,49 %) Marvell (US) - network chips

$MU (+5,83 %) Micron (US) - Memory

$DELL (+1,53 %) Dell Technologies (US) - Edge & Infrastructure

Graphcore (UK) - AI chips (IPU) - not a listed company

Cerebras (US) - Wafer-scale engine - not a listed company

SiPearl (FR) - European HPC chip - not a listed company

1.Nvidia, 2.Marvell, 3.Micron are my top 3 in this sector

5. sensors ("senses")

$6758 (+3,78 %) Sony (JP) - image sensors

$6861 (+1,86 %) Keyence (JP) - Industrial sensors

$STM (+4,78 %) STMicroelectronics (FR/IT) - Sensors, MCUs

$TDY Teledyne (US) - optical/infrared sensors

$CGNX (+5,01 %) Cognex (US) - Machine Vision

$HON (-0,02 %) Honeywell (US) - sensor technology, security

ANYbotics (CH) - autonomous sensor fusion - not a listed company

$AMBA (+4,4 %) Ambarella (US) - video & computer vision SoCs for real-time image recognition

$OUST
Velodyne Lidar (US) - Lidar sensors - acquisition by Ouster

$AMS (+4,76 %)
-OSRAM (AT/DE) - optical sensors

1.Teledyne, 2.Keyence, 3.Ouster are my top 3 in this sector

6. actuators & power electronics ("muscles")

$IFX (+3,06 %) Infineon (DE) - Power Electronics

$ON (+4,36 %) onsemi (US) - Power & Sensors

$TXN (+1,21 %) Texas Instruments (US) - Mixed-Signal Chips

$ADI (+1,52 %) Analog Devices (US) - Signal Processing

$PH Parker-Hannifin (US) - Hydraulics/Pneumatics

$MP (+7,21 %) MP Materials (US) - Magnets

$APH (+3,06 %) Amphenol (US) - Connectors

$6481 (+0 %) THK (JP) - Linear guides & actuators

$6324 (+15,87 %)
Harmonic Drive (JP) - Precision gears & servo drives for robotics

$6594 (+0,6 %)
Nidec (JP) - Electric motors

$6506 (+2,96 %)
Yaskawa (JP) - Drives & Robotics

$SU (+2,48 %)
Schneider Electric (FR) - Energy & control solutions

$ZIL2 (-0,38 %)
ElringKlinger (DE) - Battery & fuel cell technology, lightweight construction

1.Parker-Hannifin, 2.MP Materials, 3.Infinion are my top 3 in this sector

7. communication & networking ("nerves")

$QCOM (+2,37 %) Qualcomm (US) - mobile communications, edge AI

$ANET (+3,17 %) Arista Networks (US) - Networks

$CSCO (+1,52 %) Cisco (US) - Networks, Security

$EQIX (+1,06 %) Equinix (US) - Data centers

NTT Docomo (JP) - 5G/6G carrier - not a listed company

$VZ Verizon (US) - Telecommunications

$SFTBY SoftBank (JP) - Carrier + Robotics

$ERIC B (+1,68 %)
Ericsson (SE) - 5G/IoT infrastructure

$NOKIA (+2,29 %)
Nokia (FI) - 5G/6G for industry

$HPE (+2,39 %)
Juniper Networks (US) - Network technology - acquisition by HP

1.Arista Networks, 2.SoftBank, 3.Cisco are my top 3 in this sector

8. energy supply

$3750 (+2,38 %) CATL (CN) - Batteries

$6752 (+2,36 %) Panasonic (JP) - Batteries

$373220 LG Energy (KR) - Batteries

$ALB (+1,73 %) Albemarle (US) - Lithium

$LYC (+1,58 %) Lynas (AU) - Rare earths

$UMICY (+0,64 %) Umicore (BE) - recycling

WiTricity (US) - inductive charging - not a listed company

$ABBN (+0,76 %) Charging (CH) - charging infrastructure

$SLDP
Solid Power (US) - Solid state batteries

Northvolt (SE) - European batteries - not a listed company

$PLUG
Plug Power (US) - fuel cells

$KULR (+3,87 %)
KULR Technology (US) - Thermal management & battery safety for mobile systems

1.Albemarle, 2.CATL, 3.Panasonic are my top 3 in this sector

9. cloud & infrastructure

$AMZN (+0,24 %) Amazon AWS (US) - Cloud, AI

$MSFT (+0,15 %) Microsoft Azure (US) - Cloud, AI

$GOOG (+1,29 %) Alphabet Google Cloud (US) - Cloud, ML

$VRT
Vertiv Holdings (US) - Data center infrastructure (UPS, cooling, edge)

$ORCL (-1,23 %)
Oracle Cloud (US) - ERP + Cloud

$IBM (+2,52 %)
IBM Cloud (US) - Hybrid cloud + AI

$OVH (+4,23 %)
OVHcloud (FR) - European cloud

1.Alphabet, 2.Microsoft, 3.Oracle are my top 3 in this sector

10. software & data platforms

$PLTR (+5,5 %) Palantir (US) - Data integration

$DDOG (+2,56 %) Datadog (US) - Monitoring

$SNOW (+1,73 %) Snowflake (US) - Data Cloud

$ORCL (-1,23 %) Oracle (US) - Databases, ERP

$SAP (+4,01 %) SAP (DE) - ERP systems

$SPGI S&P Global (US) - financial/market data

ROS2 Foundation - robotics middleware - not listed on the stock exchange

$NVDA (+3,5 %) NVIDIA Isaac (US) - robotics development - part of Nvidia

$INOD (+5,27 %) Innodata (US) - data annotation & AI training data

$PATH (+3,1 %)
UiPath (RO/US) - Robotic process automation

$AI (+4,37 %)
C3.ai (US) - AI platform

$ESTC (+2,51 %)
(NL/US) - Search & data analysis

1.S&P Global, 2.Palantir, 3.Datadog are my top 3 in this sector

11. end applications / robots

$ABBN (+0,76 %) ABB (CH/SE) - Industrial Robots

$6954 (+2,02 %) Fanuc (JP) - Industrial robots

$TSLA (-1,58 %) Tesla Optimus (US) - humanoid robot

$9618 (+1,26 %) JD.com (CN) - logistics robot

$AAPL (-0,25 %) Apple (US) - Platform & UX

$700 (-2,64 %) Tencent (CN) - Platform & AI

$9988 (-1,56 %) Alibaba (CN) - logistics & platform

PAL Robotics (ES) - humanoid robots - not a listed company

Neura Robotics (DE) - cognitive humanoid robots - not a listed company

$TER (+4,6 %) Universal Robots (DK) - cobots - belongs to the Teradyne Corporation

Engineered Arts (UK) - humanoid robots - not a listed company

$ISRG (+0,39 %) Intuitive Surgical (US) - surgical robotics

$GMED (+1,26 %)
Globus Medical (US) - surgical robotics (ExcelsiusGPS platform)

$7012 (+0,69 %) Kawasaki Heavy Industries (JP) - industrial robots, automation

$CPNG (-0,05 %) Coupang (KR) - Logistics end user

$IRBT (+8,72 %)
iRobot (US) - consumer robotics (e.g. Roomba), non-humanoid, but navigation/sensor fusion

Boston Dynamics (US) - humanoid & mobile robots-no listed company

Hanson Robotics (HK) - humanoid robots (Sophia) - not a listed company

Agility Robotics (US) - humanoid robot "Digit" - not a listed company

1.Apple, 2.Tencent, 3.Alibaba are my top 3 in this sector

🛠 2. cross enablers (shovel manufacturers) - with hidden champions

Raw materials & battery materials

Albemarle - Lynas - Umicore

$SQM
SQM (CL) - Lithium

$ILU (+1,43 %)
Iluka Resources (AU) - Rare earths

$ARR (-1 %)
American Rare Earths (US/AU) - New supply chains

my number 1 in the sector is Albemarle

manufacturing technology

ASML - Applied Materials - Tokyo Electron

$LRCX (+3,88 %)
Lam Research (US) - Plasma/etching processes

$ASM (+8,4 %)
ASM International (NL) - ALD equipment

$MKSI (+9,02 %)
MKS Instruments (US) - Plasma/vacuum technology

my number 1 in the sector is ASML

Quality assurance

Keysight - Advantest - Teradyne

$EMR (+1,63 %)
National Instruments (US) - Measurement technology - from Emerson Electric adopted

$300567
ATE Test Systems (CN) - test systems

$FORM (+13,01 %)
FormFactor (US) - Wafer probing

my number 1 in the sector is Keysight

Motion & Drive

Parker-Hannifin

Festo (DE) - Pneumatics, Soft Robotics - not a listed company

Bosch Rexroth (DE) - Drives, Controls - not a listed company

$6481 (+0 %)
THK (JP) - Linear guides

my number 1 in the sector is Parker-Hannifin

Sensors/Imaging

$TDY Teledyne

$BSL (-1,65 %) Basler (DE) - Industrial cameras

FLIR (US) - Thermal imaging sensors - acquisition by Teledyne

ISRA Vision (DE) - Machine Vision - not a listed company

my number 1 in the sector is Teledyne

Magnets & Materials

MP Materials

$6501 (-0,57 %)
Hitachi Metals (JP) - Magnetic materials

VacuumSchmelze (DE) - Magnetic materials - not a listed company

$4063 (-0,13 %)
Shin-Etsu Chemical (JP) - Specialty materials

my number 1 in the sector is MP Materials

Chip Design & Simulation

Synopsys - Cadence - ARM

$SIE (+1,23 %)
Siemens EDA (DE/US)-Mentor Graphics-strategic business unit of Siemens AG

Imagination Tech (UK) - GPU-IP - not a listed company

$CEVA (+6,19 %)
CEVA (IL) - Signal Processor IP

my number 1 in the sector is Synopsys

Engineering & Lifecycle

PTC - Dassault - Siemens

Altair (US) - Simulation - no longer a listed company

$HXGBY (+2,24 %)
Hexagon (SE) - Metrology

$SNPS (+12,87 %)
ANSYS (US) - Simulation - takeover by Synopsys

my number 1 in the sector is Siemens

Networks & Data Centers

Arista - Cisco - Equinix

$HPE (+2,39 %)
Juniper (US) - Networks - Acquisition of HPE

$DTE (-0,22 %)
T-Systems (DE) - Industry cloud

$OVH (+4,23 %)
OVHcloud (FR) - European cloud

my number 1 in the sector is Arista

Cloud infrastructure

AWS - Azure - Google Cloud

$ORCL (-1,23 %)
Oracle Cloud (US) - ERP & databases

$IBM (+2,52 %)
IBM Cloud (US) - Hybrid Cloud

$9988 (-1,56 %)
Alibaba Cloud (CN) - Asian Cloud

$VRT
Vertiv Holdings (US) - Cloud/Infra

my number 1 in the sector is Alphabet (Google)

finance/information infra

S&P Global

$MCO
Moody's (US) - Ratings

$MSCI (-3,31 %)
MSCI (US) - Indices

$MORN
Morningstar (US) - Investment Research

my number 1 in the sector is S&P Global

Creative/Experience Infra

Adobe

$ADSK (+1,39 %)
Autodesk (US) - CAD & Design

$U
Unity (US) - 3D/AR simulation

Epic Games (US) - Unreal Engine - not a listed company

my number 1 in the sector is Adobe

Platform & Ecosystem

Apple - Tencent - Alibaba

$META (+0,85 %)
Meta (US) - AR/VR, Social Robotics

ByteDance (CN) - AI & platforms - not a listed company

$9888 (-1,34 %)
Baidu (CN) - AI & Cloud

my number 1 in the sector is Tencent

Infrastructure/Edge

Dell

$HPE (+2,39 %)
HPE (US) - Edge Computing

$SMCI
Supermicro (US) - AI servers

$6702 (+0,57 %)
Fujitsu (JP) - Edge & HPC

my number 1 in the sector is Dell

storage solutions

Micron

$000660
SK Hynix (KR) - Memory

$285A (+3,57 %)
Kioxia (JP) - NAND

$WDC
Western Digital (US) - Storage solutions

my number 1 in the sector is Micron

🏛 3. secondary key sectors with hidden champions

Financing & Capital

$GS (+1,62 %) Goldman Sachs (US) - investment bank; ECM/DCM, M&A, growth financing

$MS (+1,61 %) Morgan Stanley (US) - investment bank; tech banking, capital markets

$BLK (+0,69 %) BlackRock (US) - asset manager; capital allocation, ETFs/index funds

$9984 (+0,99 %) SoftBank Vision Fund (JP) - mega VC; growth equity in robotics/AI

Sequoia Capital (US) - venture capital; early/growth in AI/robotics - this is a classic venture capital fund

DARPA (US) - government R&D funding (robotics/defense) - independent research and development agency

EU Horizon (EU) - research funding/grants for DeepTech - Innovative Europe pillar

China State Funds (CN) - state industry/technology fund

Lux Capital (US) - VC for DeepTech - Uptake (US) - AI-based predictive maintenance

DCVC (US) - Robotics & AI focus - investing exclusively via VC fund investments

Speedinvest (AT) - EU VC for robotics - access to investment only via fund investments

my number 1 in the sector is Softbank

Maintenance & Service

$SIE (+1,23 %) Siemens (DE) - Industrial Service, Lifecycle & Retrofit

$ABBN (+0,76 %) ABB (CH/SE) - Robotics Service, Spare Parts, Field Support

$GEHC (-3,39 %) GE Healthcare (US) - Medtech service incl. robotic systems

Uptake (US) - AI-based predictive maintenance - not a listed company

Augury (US/IL) - condition monitoring, condition diagnostics - not a listed company

$KU2 KUKA Service (DE) - Robotics maintenance

$6954 (+2,02 %) Fanuc Service (JP) - global service network

Boston Dynamics AI Institute (US) - Robotics longevity - funded by Hyundai Motor Group

my number 1 in the sector is Siemens

Marketing & Advertising

$WPP (-1,79 %) WPP (UK) - global advertising group; branding/communications

$OMC Omnicom (US) - marketing/PR network

$PUB (-1,57 %) Publicis (FR) - communications/advertising group

$META (+0,85 %) Meta (US) - Digital Ads (Facebook/Instagram)

$GOOG (+1,29 %) Google Ads (US) - search & display advertising

TikTok / ByteDance (CN) - social ads & distribution - not a listed company

$AAPL (-0,25 %) Apple (US) - Branding/UX; Acceptance & Platform Marketing

$WPP (-1,79 %)
AKQA (UK/US) - Tech branding - Since 2012 majority owned by the WPP Groupbut continues to operate as an autonomous operating unit

R/GA (US) - Innovation marketing - not a listed company

Serviceplan (DE) - largest independent EU agency - not a listed company

my number 1 in the sector is Meta

Law, Regulation & Ethics

ISO (CH) - international standards, robotics standards

TÜV (DE) - certification & safety tests

UL (US) - safety/conformity testing

EU AI Act (EU) - legal framework for AI & robotics

UNESCO AI Ethics (UN) - global ethics guidelines

Fraunhofer IPA (DE) - Robotics safety standards

ANSI (US) - standards

IEC (CH) - Electrical engineering standards

Training & Talent

MIT (US) - Robotics/AI Research & Education

ETH Zurich (CH) - autonomous systems & robotics

Stanford (US) - AI/Robotics labs & spin-offs

Tsinghua University (CN) - Robotics/AI in Asia

CMU (US) - Robotics Institute

EPFL (CH) - Robotics research

TU Munich (DE) - humanoid robot "Roboy"

🌍 Top 25 companies for humanoid robotics

These companies are central to the development & production of humanoid robotsbecause without them, crucial parts of the chain would be missing:

Chips & computing power (brain of the robots)

$NVDA (+3,5 %) Nvidia (US) - AI GPUs & Isaac platform, foundation for robotic AI

$2330 TSMC (TW) - world's most important foundry, produces the AI chips

$ASML (+6,23 %) ASML (NL) - EUV lithography, indispensable for chip production

$005930 Samsung Electronics (KR) - memory, logic, foundry

$000660 SK Hynix (KR) - DRAM & NAND memory for AI

$MU (+5,83 %) Micron (US) - Memory solutions for AI workloads

my number 1 in the sector is ASML

Sensors & perception (senses of robots)

$SONY Sony (JP) - image sensors, market leader

$6861 (+1,86 %) Keyence (JP) - Industrial sensors & vision systems

$CGNX (+5,01 %) Cognex (US) - Machine Vision, precise image processing

my number 1 in the sector is Keyence

Actuators & motion (muscles of robots)

$IFX (+3,06 %) Infineon (DE) - power electronics, motor control

$6594 (+0,6 %) Nidec (JP) - World market leader for electric motors

$PH Parker-Hannifin (US) - hydraulics/pneumatics, motion technology

$6481 (+0 %) THK (JP) - Linear guides & actuators

my number 1 in the sector is Parker-Hannifin

Communication, cloud & infrastructure (nerves & data flow)

$QCOM (+2,37 %) Qualcomm (US) - Mobile & Edge Chips

$AMZN (+0,24 %) Amazon AWS (US) - Cloud & AI infrastructure

$MSFT (+0,15 %) Microsoft Azure (US) - Cloud, AI services

$CSCO (+1,52 %) Cisco (US) - Networks & Security

$VRT Vertiv Holdings (US) - Data Center Infrastructure

my number 1 in the sector is Microsoft

End Applications & Platforms (robots themselves)

$TSLA (-1,58 %) Tesla (US) - humanoid robot Optimus

$ABBN (+0,76 %) ABB (CH/SE) - Robotics & Automation

$6954 (+2,02 %) Fanuc (JP) - industrial robots & CNC systems

$7012 (+0,69 %) Kawasaki Heavy Industries (JP) - industrial robots

PAL Robotics (ES) - humanoid robots (TALOS, ARI, TIAGo) - not a listed company

Neura Robotics (DE) - cognitive humanoid robots - not a listed company

Universal Robots (DK) - cobots

my number 1 in the sector is Tesla

🇪🇺 Top 10 European key companies for humanoid robotics

$ASML (+6,23 %)
ASML (NL)

World market leader in EUV lithography - no modern chips for AI & robotics without ASML.

$IFX (+3,06 %) Infineon (DE)

Leading in power electronics & motor control - crucial for actuators of humanoid robots.

$STM (+4,78 %)
STMicroelectronics (FR/IT)

Sensors, microcontrollers & power chips - the basis for control & perception.

$SAP (+4,01 %)
SAP (DE)

ERP & data platforms, important for integrating humanoid robots into industrial processes.

$SIE (+1,23 %)
Siemens (DE)

Industrial software, automation, digital twin - key for engineering & lifecycle management.

$KU2 KUKA (EN)

Robotics pioneer, industrial robots & automation - know-how for humanoid motion mechanics.

PAL Robotics (ES) - not a listed company

Specialist for humanoid robots (TALOS, ARI, TIAGo), internationally used in research & service.

Neura Robotics (DE) - Not a listed company

Young high-tech company, develops cognitive humanoid robots with advanced AI (4NE-1).

Universal Robots (DK) - Not a listed company

Market leader for cobots - platform for safe human-robot collaboration.

Engineered Arts (UK) - not a listed company

Develops humanoid robots such as Amecaknown for realistic facial expressions & gestures - important for HRI (Human-Robot Interaction)

🌏 Top 10 Asian key companies for humanoid robotics

$2330
TSMC (Taiwan)

World's largest semiconductor foundry, produces high-end chips (e.g. Nvidia, AMD, Apple) - no AI hardware without TSMC.

$005930
Samsung Electronics (South Korea)

Foundry, memory, logic chips, image sensors - extremely broadly positioned in robotics components.

$000660
SK Hynix (KR) - Memory

$SONY
Sony (Japan)

Market leader in CMOS image sensors, essential for robotic vision & perception.

$6861 (+1,86 %)
Keyence (Japan)

Sensor technology & machine vision for industrial automation, widely used in robotics.

$6954 (+2,02 %)
Fanuc (Japan)

Industrial robots & CNC systems, one of the most important manufacturers of robotics hardware worldwide.

$6506 (+2,96 %)
Yaskawa Electric (Japan)

Drives, motion control & robot arms - relevant for humanoid motion control.

$6594 (+0,6 %)
Nidec (Japan)

World market leader for electric motors (from mini motors to high-performance drives).

$7012 (+0,69 %)
Kawasaki Heavy Industries (JP) - Industrial robots

$9618 (+1,26 %)
JD.com (China)

Driver for robotics in e-commerce & logistics, invests in humanoid robotics applications

• $MS (+1,61 %) reported earnings per share (EPS) of 2.13 US dollars, beating the consensus estimate of 1.98 US dollars. Turnover rose to USD 16.8 billion, exceeding the expected USD 16.01 billion.

• The Institutional Securities achieved sales of USD 7.6 billion, driven by increased client activity and particularly strong results in equity trading.

• Wealth Management generated net sales of USD 7.8 billion with a pre-tax margin of 28.3%, supported by robust asset management revenues and increased client retention.

• Investment Management generated net sales of USD 1.6 billion, mainly driven by management fees on higher average assets under management (AUM).
• The division also recorded USD 11 billion in positive long-term net inflows.

• In trading, turnover in the equities increased by 23 %, while the fixed income recorded an increase of 9 %.

• The return on tangible equity (ROTCE) amounted to was 18.2 % in the quarter and 20.6 % in the first half of the year. The efficiency ratio of the company amounted to 70%, supported by economies of scale and disciplined cost control.

• The company also announced an increase in the quarterly dividend to USD 1.00 per share.

• Youtube channel for stock analysis: www.youtube.com/@Verstehdieaktie

The regulatory hurdles can be overcome. The market assessment should focus more on the operational execution of the integration. This offers opportunities for investors.

Article from FuW, supplemented by own commentary at the end.

The price targets for $UBSG (+0,8 %) drift far apart. The Analysten kommen auf keinen gemeinsamen Nennerhow the major Swiss bank can be reasonably valued. The pessimists see lows of close to CHF 20, while the optimists expect almost double that. This is mainly due to the differing expectations regarding the bank's future capital requirements.

Also im Aktienkurs spiegelt sich diese Unsicherheit. And this has been the case for April des letzten Jahres. The Federal Council then presented its regulatory plans to the public for the first time. A concrete figure followed in June of this year: 26 Mrd. $, so viel Kapital soll UBS aufbauen, to become crisis-proof. The proposal still has to go through parliament. There will be no final clarity until 2028.

Convincing implementation strength

The market is currently pricing in a high probability of a negative outcome on the regulatory front. This is indicated by the current valuation with a price-to-book ratio (P/B) of around 1.1. Compared to the closest comparable value, the valuation discount is more than 50%: The major US bank Morgan Stanley ($MS (+1,61 %) ) is trading at a P/B ratio of over 2.3. In Europe, the most profitable major banks such as Nordea ($NDA FI (-0,38 %) ), UniCredit ($UCG (-0,09 %) ) and Intesa Sanpaolo ($ISP (+0,75 %) ) are trading at 1.5, 1.4 and 1.3 respectively.

The uncertainty discount for UBS is too large. The integration of Credit Suisse is on track and value is being released on an ongoing basis. The progress already made is still not being sufficiently rewarded by the market. So far, management has been able to keep or exceed its promises. The strength of implementation is convincing. Cost synergies are being realized faster than planned, the Non-Core and Legacy unit is being efficiently wound down and the core businesses, such as Global Wealth Management, are flourishing.

For the courageous investor, the undervaluation is an opportunity. It opens up an attractive entry point, especially if you put the current share price in relation to the expected earnings per share for the future, before a Neubewertung nach Abschluss der Integration follows. This should be achieved by the end of 2026.

Titan is in the making

The UBS share now offers investors an asymmetrical risk/reward profile: the upside potential if the integration succeeds appears to be significantly greater than the downside risk. In terms of regulation, the worst-case scenario is known. Things can only get better for the big bank in the political process.

While waiting for clarification on the regulatory issue, the market should focus on the operational execution of the integration. UBS is forging a global champion - a titan is in the making. The bank's next quarterly reports will provide important clues on profitability and net new money. How it weiterhin Aktionärswert schaffen wants, UBS could communicate.

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Own opinion:

I hold $UBSG (+0,8 %) mainly because of the solid dividend policy, which is targeted in the medium term, and the general confidence in the Swiss financial center. There is enough time until 2028 not only to digest the regulatory requirements, but also to support them politically. In my opinion, the market is currently underestimating how much scope there is for strategic fine-tuning and targeted lobbying during this period.

As long as the integration continues as before in operational terms, I believe the potential for setbacks is limited - and investors' patience could pay off. In addition, I am in personal contact with a person who is involved in the integration and reports more success than failure. If the spin-off of the small loan business (consumer credit) is also successful, this will also free up short-term capital.

I hold - 674 shares at an average price of CHF 14.01.

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HSBC Holdings plc $HSBA (+0,85 %) has announced the commencement of a share buyback program starting on Sunday, May 7, 2025, for a maximum outlay of $3 billion to reduce the number of ordinary shares outstanding. The global banking giant, which operates in 58 countries and territories, has entered into agreements with Morgan Stanley & Co $MS (+1,61 %) to facilitate the buyback, which is expected to be completed by July 25, 2025, subject to continued regulatory approval.

The share buyback will be conducted on several trading venues, including the London Stock Exchange (LON:LSEG), Aquis Exchange, Cboe Europe Limited, Turquoise and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. The buyback will be conducted pursuant to the authority granted by HSBC shareholders at the Annual General Meeting on 2 May 2025, known as the "2025 Authority", and in compliance with relevant regulatory requirements, including the listing rules of the Financial Conduct Authority and applicable US federal securities laws.

Under the parameters established by the 2025 Authority, up to 1,780,490,250 shares of common stock may be repurchased under this program. All shares purchased under this repurchase will be canceled, thereby reducing the total number of shares.

Morgan Stanley will make the trading decisions in relation to the buyback independently of HSBC and will ensure that all transactions are executed in accordance with the specified parameters. These transactions will be classified as "on-exchange transactions" and "market purchases" under the Companies Act 2006 on UK trading venues, while the buybacks on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will be considered off-exchange under the same Act, but will still comply with the Hong Kong Listing Rules and the Hong Kong Buyback Code.

Dear friends of Getquin,

I'm usually a silent reader, but if everyone just reads, eventually there's no more reading material, is there? So today I want to share my story with you.

The beginnings:

It's hard for me to say exactly when my journey began, but I do know that I developed a fascination with money as a child. My first "investment" was when I was about 7 or 8 years old, when I bought an ounce of gold with my own pocket money. At that time, no one in my family had anything to do with investments, but I had seen it in my mother's bank when I often accompanied her there. I was fascinated by the shiny coins and wanted to know how I could have a piece myself.

Then, around the turn of the millennium, I saw my father, together with a "great" bank advisor, invest the entire family savings in the middle of the dotcom bubble. The result: a massive loss within a few months. But my mother, who was at home at the time, fought hard and was miraculously able to recoup the losses. I was about 9 or 10 years old at the time and watched her sit in front of the PC every day and look at the figures. From that moment on, I was hooked! I started using an Excel spreadsheet to track which shares I would have bought at what price and watched the performance of my fictitious investments with great interest every day after school.

The first few years:

My mother stopped day trading after about a year and went back to work. However, shares were no longer an issue for me until I was 26.

Getting into real shares:

In 2018, in the summer, as a die-hard Juventus fan, I read about an article on the transfer of CR7 and how Juventus shares went through the roof. I was there again! At that time, however, I only had a small income as a working student. My father, who had failed with his investments in the past, gave me €2,000 - and I bought Juventus shares. However, he made me promise him that I would never invest in shares again. How did the story end? The "trade" with Juventus was a success, but I had to pay taxes for the first time - and I still hate that to this day.

The first losses:

After my Juventus adventure, I began to delve deeper into the matter. I tried out recommendations from "Aktionär" and repeatedly bet on individual shares for smaller trades. It was more of a game, but I generally remained profitable - sometimes a few percent profit, sometimes a few percent loss. Thanks to the profits and additional deposits, I built up my portfolio to €18,000 until I was hit by Wirecard. In the end, I had to accept a loss of around €6,000. It was painful, but not life-threatening - and I learned a lot from this mistake. In particular, I made the mistake of constantly buying more. If I had left it at the original position of € 1,500, the loss would probably not have been so dramatic.

Don't give up:

After the Wirecard debacle, I radically rethought my strategy. I increasingly focused on conservative companies, regular dividend payers and low growth. But here, too, I realized that I was underperforming the market. So I adapted my strategy further and took a long-term approach. I have since been able to slowly recoup my losses.

The clean cut - a new start:

In the summer of 2023, I needed all my assets for a private housing project and decided to make a real "fresh start". I sold all the positions in my portfolio and only kept my ETF savings plans with TradeRepublic.

The new era:

When the housing project was completed, I wanted to build up a new portfolio with the money I had left over - and here you can see the result. My aim is to find companies that are growing strongly and have a solid moat. Dividends are nice, but not a must. My portfolio also contains defensive, boring stocks as a healthy addition. At the same time, I try to further expand my ETF positions through one-off purchases - I stopped my regular ETF savings plans at the end of January 2025. I have also invested a little in crypto and gold on the side. I have made further investments in Lego (€500), Pokémon (€1,000) and Counterstrike cases (€3,000), but these are not part of the public list - that would be too costly for me.

Fun fact:

My cash ratio has never been higher than €3,000 since I first entered the stock market (2018). This is currently an exception because I want to build up a cash reserve for the next generation.

Goal:

I don't have a specific, set goal when it comes to my investments. It's more of a hobby for me. I just enjoy seeing how my portfolio grows and how I can accompany exciting companies and be a small part of them as they develop. For me, it feels a bit like collecting: I enjoy discovering interesting companies, investing in them and watching them develop over the long term.

Thank you:

A big thank you goes to Goldesel Investing and Markus Koch, who have been with me since my first stock market steps. Without you, the share culture in German-speaking countries would certainly not be as strong! And of course a big thank you to Getquin - I've always dreamed of a platform like this! 0% bullshit, 100% investments.

Please let me know if you liked my story!

A small note: My Bitpanda portfolio has a longer history, but I was too lazy to enter everything manually. I also didn't want to take over the history because, as I said, I wanted to start a new chapter in my investment history in November 2023. Overall, however, my crypto track is up €3000-4000.

$CSPX (+0,86 %)
$ETH (+1,63 %)
$BLK (+0,69 %)
$GS (+1,62 %)
$XDWD (+0,75 %)
$V (-1,8 %)
$MC (+1,57 %)
$MS (+1,61 %)
$QCOM (+2,37 %)
$JNJ (-1,15 %)
$ASML (+6,23 %)
$RBOT (+3,1 %)
$LOCK (+2,23 %)
$MRK (+0,73 %)
$UNP (+1,39 %)
$NKE (-0,26 %)
$QDV5 (+0,07 %)
$MA (-0,61 %)
$TGT (+0,66 %)
$PEP (+0,03 %)
$NU (+0,44 %)
$AAPL (-0,25 %)
$TSLA (-1,58 %)
$DOGE (+2,68 %)
$BTC (+1,73 %)
$BRK.B (+0,02 %)
$PEPE (+4,23 %)

$BTC (+1,73 %)
$SOFI (+3,49 %)
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$SOFI (+3,49 %)
$JPM (+0,64 %)
$MS (+1,61 %)
$WFC (+1,39 %)
$HOOD (+2,45 %)
$COIN (+7,79 %)
$ETH (+1,63 %)
$C (+0,74 %)
$DBK (-1,18 %)
$BAC (+1,54 %)