Prepared for now

Global food delivery companies face slowing growth and rising rates. Over the past few years, the food delivery space has grown significantly by becoming habitual to consumers. The sector’s growth has been driven by the advent of appealing, user-friendly apps and tech-enabled driver networks, coupled with changing consumer expectations and further boosted by the COVID pandemic.

Weak earnings and outlooks from the mega-cap technology companies have led to comparisons being made to the dotcom 1.0 bust of March 2000. The mega caps are important, not just for sentiment. The scale of these businesses and their market caps and enterprise values have been mesmerising.

Après le secteur pétrolier et gazier, c’est au tour de l’industrie du ciment d’être sous le feu des projecteurs. Des ONG notamment interpellent des entreprises comme Holcim au sujet de leur responsabilité quant à l’aggravation de la situation climatique. L’urgence de décarboner le ciment est aujourd’hui une nécessité reconnue par les grands noms de l’industrie. Des efforts sont constatés mais les mesures qu’il reste à prendre pour que l’industrie devienne neutre en carbone d’ici 2050, selon ses propres engagements, sont proportionnelles aux impacts causés sur le climat et l’environnement : gigantesques.

The wave of C-Suite executives who seem to have decided that the (economic) heat in the (macro) kitchen is too hot and are jumping ship continues to explode higher. On the other hand, Board members are also looking to replace top management with those more skilled in handling downturns. This has several consequences for investors who need to be even more forensic when assessing a company’s management.