INTERNATIONAL FIRST TO MARKET

Research evidence excerpt

INTERNATIONAL FIRST TO MARKET

Global Equity Research

International First to Market 27 July 2026

Top Stories

Equity Strategy (Mislav Matejka, CFA)

A pickup in corporate activity and in shareholder activism in Europe

The latest Iran flare-up notwithstanding, we remain constructive on European equities, they have earlier this month

recorded their fresh all-time high, and we have last month upgraded the targets further. Earnings are picking up, after 3

subdued years, and we do not believe inflation expectations will get de-anchored, which might allow ECB to hike less than is

currently priced in the markets. Eurozone PMI, credit growth and earnings revisions are all on the uptrend, with CESI

hitting a 2-year high. After an outperformance vs the US last year, of 7% in LC terms, total return, Eurozone equities are just

about ahead again this year, at 12% vs 9%, respectively. Last Monday we argued that the latest Momentum unwind was

becoming mature. Having said that, we continue with the call of rotation and broadening into 2H, with AI unlikely to be “the

only story in town”. In this report, we look at the shareholder activism developments in Europe, and also at M&A, buybacks and

IPO trends.

From Autonomous Cars to Humanoids (Jose M Asumendi/Nick Lai/Rajat Gupta/Akira Kishimoto/Sonny Lee/

Marcelo Motta/Amyn Pirani), France, Germany, Sweden, United States, Hong Kong, China, Japan, South

Korea

Automotive industry embraces Humanoids

The Global Auto sector embraces the Humanoid space globally through the entire value chain ranging from part suppliers, to

manufacturing of Humanoids as well as integrating Humanoids in the manufacturing process. In this note, we identify by region

within our coverage some of the companies most likely to benefit from the Humanoid megatrend.