The Point for Europe

Research evidence excerpt

The Point for Europe

positioning continuing to reflect uncertainty in the outlook. In our view, the market

is still underestimating the resilience of the industry. The recent rally has been

driven by easing demand concerns, improved company commentary, and de-

escalation in the Middle East. However, we see further upside as growth

accelerates into 2H26, supported by the annualisation of prior headwinds,

contract ramp-ups, and pricing actions. This disconnect between improving

fundamentals and cautious positioning is most evident in Symrise. We see a

compelling set-up into 2Q results and therefore open a positive catalyst watch. We

remain constructive across the space, with a preference for Novonesis, Symrise,

and DSM-Firmenich.

Ranulf Orr, CFA | Sebastian Satz, CFA

Company

Schneider Electric (SCHN.PA) - Schneider to buy Cognite for US$3.1bn

Schneider has announced that it will acquire Cognite, a provider of industrial data

and AI software for an EV of US$3.1bn, ~18x trailing revenue. Cognite's roots are in

the oil & gas / process industry, and we'd expect the fit to Schneider's Aveva

applications and customer base to have been a key attraction. We had met

Cognite alongside other players at the Hannover Fair in April (see here), where we

had concluded that a number of blue-chip industrial customers were using smaller

software vendors for the data contextualization of their plant assets, with Cognite

also adding a layer on top of these contextualized datasets for AI decision making.

We had concluded at that time that incumbents would both compete with, and in

select cases acquire, these emerging AI players; we see Schneider's move for

Cognite as consistent with that view, and a move that strengthens Schneider's

position in Physical...

Martin Wilkie