Late August 2026 Random Ramblings
Higher rates could compress equity multiples and raise AI data center lease costs, while UWMC and Cogent raise questions about CEO-driven capital allocation.
Thursday, August 27, 2026
From X
catechwilliams on X
$PRIM $500M new project broke ground. Not deep on the name but this is a pretty massive program for $PRIM and does not appear anyone noticed. "430-megawatt development from Arevon Energy, an offshoot of utility and energy contractor Primoris Services Corp" https://t.co/1egNflZ1X8
catechwilliams on X
$PLUS Accelerating decline: Networking -37% (largest category), Product sales -18%, zero margin/ low quality Professional services now 15% of sales. Cut FY2026 top and bottom-line guide by 7% w further cuts almost certain to come. Trading at 14x 2026 guidance vs peers at 6-8x.
catechwilliams on X
$ACA Levered roll-up (4x levered) hodgepodge of low-quality cap intensive commodity businesses w struggling end-markets (sub-scale aggregates, building products, ag). Negative organic growth w unrealistic guidance. Forced to sell an asset to avoid covenant breach. 30x P/E
catechwilliams on X
$FTDR Vol declining (existing home sales=driver). Pricing lagging inflation, massively over-earning. Problematic given 25% churn w aggressive new entrants. Dubious company overall. Investor day yesterday was comical, compared themselves to $NFLX. Earnings misses coming.
catechwilliams on X
$AVO $CVGW 1) Retailers $CMG, etc sourcing elsewhere given MX tariff risk. 2) Avocado price spike during last year’s peak harvest season enabled distributors to realize outsized margins. 1-time benefit has reversed, significant earnings misses ahead for these commodity businesses
catechwilliams on X
$NX Outlandishly guiding to flat 2025 sales, customers and channel -DD. Commodity window and door components facing pricing pressure from larger customers ($JELD, $OC). Now levered 4x, trading at a premium to higher value-add building products peers. Guide cut inevitable.
catechwilliams on X
$J Beat earnings yesterday. Holding back detailed guidance for Investor Day (2/18)—likely raise ’25 #s, 4-year financial targets w significant upside on margins ($ACM and other peers +15% EBITDA margins). Record backlog and multi-year growth runway.
Investor Letters
All letters- Protean Funds July 2026 DVYSR $105M
- Royce Investment Partners Year-to-Date Through 6/30/26 AAP $2.6B
- Intrepid Capital 2Q26 GOOGL $4.2T
- Polaris Capital Management Second Quarter 2026 ENI $80B
- First Eagle Investments second quarter 2026 032830 $45B
- Oakmark Funds 2Q 2026 META $1.5T
- Greenhaven Road Capital second quarter ANAB $1.7B
- RGA Investment Advisors Q2 2026 ADBE $114B
ACIW 2026-08-27 ACI Worldwide: An Undercovered Payments Compounder Getting Better
SiliconBytes Insights 5 clicks
Domo (Arigato), for this potential multi-bagger options trade
Domo’s $400 million sale to Progress would leave a cash-rich public shell with $900 million of NOLs; January 2028 $5 calls cost 22 cents.
MT 2026-08-27 ArcelorMittal: Regionalization Is Creating A Structurally Better Steel Company
Capital Connoisseur 3 clicks
Nvidia’s Long-Term Margin Question
Nvidia faces questions over the durability of its long-term profit margins ahead of earnings.
[scuttleslops] AI Data Center Economics, ADI, INTU, IDXX
AWS AI campuses cost $40–$45 billion per gigawatt, with Trainium 3 expected to lift compute per megawatt and improve infrastructure returns.
Big Tech Off-Balance Sheet Concerns
Big Tech’s $3 trillion AI commitments are disclosed and largely long-dated, with nearly 60% of Amazon’s $650 billion commitments falling…
$ELAL: El Al is a wartime monopoly at 2x EBITDA. Is that a trap? | ASB Partners
El Al trades near 2x EBITDA after wartime near-monopoly profits, with $1.3 billion of net cash and owned aircraft weighed against…
CCC Is in the Middle of the Wreckage
CCC, the dominant auto physical-damage claims estimator, connects 27 of the top 30 insurers with 31,000 repair shops as takeout rumors…
NCLH or her grandma Saga?
Norwegian Cruise Line’s $15 billion debt and 2026-27 capex delay deleveraging, despite fuel-efficient new ships and stronger projected 2028…
Shitcos, Griftcos, and alignment versus enrichment at $IREN
IREN awarded each co-CEO roughly 9 million RSUs, about 2.5% of shares and $400 million, in exchange for no further equity grants until…
Late August 2026 Random Ramblings
Higher rates threaten equity multiples and AI data-center economics, while UWMC and Cogent raise questions about CEO-driven capital…
VRT 2026-08-27 Vertiv: AI's Physical Bottleneck Is Expanding Its Value Per Megawatt
LL Insights 3 clicks GM 2026-08-27 General Motors: The Billion Mile Moat
Muhammad Cheema 3 clicks KGC 2026-08-27 Kinross Gold: The Buy Case Is Margin, Not Growth
The Bullionaire 4 clicks TPC 2026-08-27 Tutor Perini: Q2 2026 Made My Strong Buy Case Stronger
The Curious Analyst 4 clicksRoyal Gold INC
Royal Gold, a $19 billion precious-metals royalty and streaming company, benefits from mine production without operating mines directly.
the chemours inc.
Chemours (CC) is presented as a long investment in its three-segment specialty chemicals business.
Hilton Grand Vacations
Hilton Grand Vacations faces an inflection point in profitability growth and free cash flow generation.
Nexi SpA
Nexi, continental Europe’s largest merchant acquirer, is presented as a long investment using normalized EPS and EBIT that exclude…
RKLB 2026-08-26 Rocket Lab Is Becoming Much Bigger Than Neutron
Pythia Research 6 clicksPublications we follow
Every publication on this site, hand-picked.
- Seeking Alpha
- MBI Deep Dives
- Bearhold Research
- Bristlemoon Capital
- The Oak Bloke
- Yet Another Value Blog
- Yet Another Value Podcast
- Triple S Special Situations Investing
- scuttleblurb
- The Monetary Matters Network
- Steve Eisman
- 310 Value’s Newsletter
- The Value Road
- Capital Employed
- Speedwell Memos
- The Mikro Kap
- Treasure Hunting
- Clark Street Value
- Cluseau Research
- Value Investors Club
- John Hempton's Newsletter
- Undervalued Shares
- smallvalue.
- Maius Partners
- Multibagger Monitor
- Altay Capital - Mostly Value Investing
- Nat Stewart - Stock Picking Newsletter
- Citrini Research
- Hunterbrook
- Odds on Open
- Sunday's Idea Brunch
X accounts we follow
Every account on this site, hand-picked.
- SG
- Ian Bezek
- Lee Roach
- Timyan Bank Alert
- marginofdanger
- David Orr
- Chris Camillo
- Maj Soueidan
- Prepared Remarks
- Raging Capital Ventures
- Clark Square Capital
- PAA Research
- BDC
- ⚽️📡
- JabroniCoin.USD
- Farmer
- Broken Moats
- mavix
- Charles Frischer
- Connor Haley
- AltayCap
- Nat Stewart
- Mike
- junkbondinvestor
- Little Owl Research
- Tim Eriksen
- ToffCap
- Fierce_beast
- Psyop Capital
- Laughing Water Capital
- catechwilliams
- Porter Collins
- Rusholme Capital
- Sahil Khetpal
Topics
Ordered by how often our editor reaches for them.
