What is driving the improvement in WuXi AppTec’s orders?

  • Management said new orders rose approximately 60% year on year in the first three quarters of 2026, driven mainly by an acceleration in small-molecule projects in Phase III clinical trials and commercialization. A recovery in biotech funding and opportunities in AI drug discovery also supported a rebound in early-stage R&D demand.
  • The company plans to accelerate capacity expansion in 2027 to meet demand and expects operational efficiency, scale and a high-quality project portfolio to help maintain margin resilience during the expansion. Goldman Sachs accordingly raised its 2026–2028 non-IFRS net profit forecasts by 1%–4% and maintained its Buy rating.

Why might memory-chip price increases persist?

  • A TrendForce expert expects tight DRAM supply and strong server demand to drive continued price increases through the first half of 2028. Cleanroom constraints and long equipment lead times make significant new capacity unlikely before 2028.
  • The expert expects the blended average selling price of HBM to rise 122% year on year in 2027, pushing industry revenue above 200 billion US dollars. A rising share of TPUs will also broaden demand for memory products across different generations. Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy ratings on Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

What does Goldman Sachs see after the Japanese bank pullback?

  • Japanese bank stocks have recently fallen 13%. Goldman Sachs believes the decline was driven mainly by market-wide position reductions rather than deteriorating fundamentals. Major banks’ price-to-book ratios fell to 1.4–1.5 times, while total shareholder return yields reached 4%.
  • Assuming improved return on equity and a Bank of Japan policy rate of 2.0%, Goldman Sachs believes price-to-book ratios could rise to 2.2–2.3 times. The bank estimates that the effect on book value of lower unrealized gains on cross-shareholdings is broadly offset by an improvement in foreign bond portfolios resulting from lower interest rates.

Why did HSBC’s earnings fall short of Goldman Sachs’ expectations?

  • HSBC’s underlying pre-tax profit for the third quarter of 2026 was 10 billion US dollars, 4% below Goldman Sachs’ forecast, owing to weaker net interest income and a greater-than-expected response of Hong Kong deposit costs to changes in interest rates.
  • With more deposits moving into term accounts and deposit competition intensifying, Goldman Sachs lowered its 2026–2029 forecasts for banking net interest income by up to 3.2%, including a 2026 forecast of 46.4 billion US dollars. However, 41 billion US dollars in net new money and the performance of the wealth business supported its decision to maintain a Buy rating.

How much growth can Singapore Technologies Engineering’s orders support?

  • The company secured 5.6 billion Singapore dollars in new contracts in the third quarter of 2026, a quarterly record and an increase of 14% year on year and 93% quarter on quarter. New orders in the first three quarters totaled 13.2 billion Singapore dollars, in line with the pace implied by Goldman Sachs’ full-year forecast.
  • Quarter-on-quarter growth came from a rebound across businesses, including two large rail projects in Taiwan and international defense and commercial aviation orders. Goldman Sachs believes the diversified orders support its forecast of 12% compound annual growth in both the order book and revenue over 2025–2029.