HOLT APAC Finding CFROI improvements outside of Tech and AI: Focus on Metals & Mining, Machinery and Banks

Research evidence excerpt

HOLT APAC Finding CFROI improvements outside of Tech and AI: Focus on Metals & Mining, Machinery and Banks

Global Research

22 June 2026ab

HOLT APAC Equities

Asia PacificFinding CFROI improvements outside of Tech

and AI: Focus on Metals & Mining, Machinery Hock Leng Ng

HOLT Sector Specialist

hockleng.ng@ubs.comand Banks

+65-6212 3009

APxJ forecast CFROI is expected to reach 7.7% in 2026 and rise further to a new 20-year

high of 8.4% in 2027 (click here to view in HOLT Lens). However, a look beneath the

aggregate trend shows that consistent CFROI improvers are less broad-based than the

headline suggests. Only around one in three APxJ companies with market capitalisation

above US$5bn exhibit a similar improvement profile across both 2026 and 2027, with

the cohort largely dominated by Tech, AI-related companies and select cyclical

industries.

In Figure 1APxJCFROIimproversacrosindustries-LinktoHOLTLensforthefullist, HOLT reviews the 280 large-cap companies in the region with consistent

CFROI improvement and highlights the 10 industries with the highest representation.

Nearly one-third of CFROI improvers are concentrated in Semiconductors, Electronic &

Electric Equipment and Tech Hardware, clear beneficiaries of the AI investment cycle.

Beyond this group, the number of companies with strong CFROI improvement drops off

quickly, with Machinery, Metals & Mining and Banks showing a relatively higher number

of improvers. Real Estate, Industrial Conglomerates and Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure

complete the top 10 industries. With AI investment capturing a significant share of

investor focus in recent quarters, HOLT benchmarks and screens for opportunities with

strong CFROI improvement trends outside these industries. In addition, given that few