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It didn't go to waste Cong (14:51)...

: ) )

I don't think management can be oblivious to all of the M & A activity currently, also would have thought major holders keen to extract value after such a long time.

Each new M & A deal means the available pot gets smaller too, less companies higher valuations ?

Eli Lilly said it has agreed to acquire biotech company Kelonia Therapeutics.

Lilly will pay $3.25 billion upfront and up to $7 billion in total, the company said.

Kelonia is developing technology to reprogram patients’ T-cells inside the body so those cells can attack cancer, called in vivo CAR-T.

CNBC

'But Wall Street now has become more bullish with the stocks at lower levels.

Brent Thill, Jefferies tech analyst, said last week that the worst may be over for software stocks. “I think that this concept that software is dead, and then Anthropic and OpenAI are going to kill the entire industry, is just over-exaggerated,” he said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday.'

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/19/software-tech-stocks-market-rally-microsoft.html

Edit, meant to read:

'Historically, trying to time markets has never worked with long term performance suffering, just look at S4 almost a three bagger with many claiming at the start of 26 no change until 2027'

One area which maybe overlooked is THG's home market, the UK - mood music seems to indicate a 'stay at home summer' + 'wfh' unofficial mandate, that is while oil supply remains elevated - all good news of online companies delivering to your door..

On top of this central banks are likely to go on the easing route to keep the plates spinning, last week saw two major mortgage lenders drop their rates in anticipation..

Historically, trying to time markets has never worked with long term performance suffering, just look at S4 almost a three bagger this year..

Asia now accounts for 24 per cent of all US investors’ foreign holdings – the highest share in over a decade

https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3350332/us-investors-pour-hong-kong-china-equities-largest-quarterly-inflow-3-years?

Companies that were thrown out with the bath water (see earlier post) are now responding to the roll back of Ai, or at least that's one way of seeing it, RELX, Softcat and others all posting strong gains..

Me neither, although they do have quite a few risky positions in their portfolio and have under performed the market by a fair margin, some funds have been forced sellers due to redemptions perhaps something similar here ?

More interested in who has picked them up though, Third Avenue are favourites especially now their thesis from last year is playing out with commoditization of Ai platforms..

Patient Capital updated again for March, these guys as mentioned are almost certainly the big seller although no sign of who the buyer is.

Has to be an unregistered fund or private fund, perhaps an existing share holder..?

Ex-divi next week

Tech

OpenAI pulls back from Stargate Norway data center deal as Microsoft takes over

CNBC

From the pits of despair to unbridled euphoria, all within a week..

: )

No worries, fairly comprehensive article with a few CEO quotes, the last one I thought was insightful as it shows a sound approach to using a new tool:

CEOs are betting AI will augment work rather than displace all workers

Published Tue, Apr 14 202611:17 AM EDT Updated 4 Hours Ago

Salil Parekh, managing director and CEO of Infosys, said he’s focused on ensuring his workers learn new skills using AI:

“The approach we’ve chosen is to re-skill all our 300,000 employees on AI tools,” he said. “So first we do a lot of work, where, in the first few months of training, we encourage the sort of recent graduate to not use any AI tools and learn how software development is done. And then bring in, after two or three months, the usage of tools and see how things are enhanced.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/14/ceos-are-betting-ai-will-augment-work-rather-than-displace-all-workers.html

Knowhow, it seems like we are over the hump or at least past Ai peak, from Sadouns comments below companies are also rejecting the notion of doing everything in-house instead preferring the more traditional route of outside agencies, good news for businesses like S4.

If this trend continues then there is no reason why S4 cannot continue up the ranks as more and more customers return to this model of advertising, 12-18 months ago this wasn't the case as Ai hype engulfed all companies driving down valuations (even ones that were set to benefit), case of throwing out the baby with the bath water in a great many instances me thinks..

Its still early days yet but feels like the start of normalisation, if there is pent up demand from those putting off decision making we could be in for a pleasant surprise..

I am leaning more towards the JP note this morning as being the catalyst, reason being is we already know about the ruling against HMRC from the call transcript in March:

'well-documented ruling in the Global By Nature case has now been closed without successful appeal.'

The only thing that's really changed is the web site to reflect above, or at least that's my interpretation..?

I was wondering the same thing once I got over the giddy euphoria that swept over me : ) )

My thoughts turned to JPM note this morning which included THG, reiteration but more likely the catalyst as everyone would have seen that..

I'm not going to blow my own trumpet (well maybe a bit : /

..but this is what I have been rambling on about for the last 12-18 months, the big giveaway was when Sora launched and used and outside agency to produce their own launch video : )

'The CEO was also asked about the surprise shutdown of OpenAI’s Sora, an AI video-generation app that delivered a blow to Publicis’ stock price when it launched. Some skepticism has risen over whether agency-led AI platforms can compete with hyperscalers, but Sadoun described Sora’s shuttering as “quite symbolic.”

Maybe investors are realising too, the fear is unfounded and companies like Publicis and S4 could be huge beneficiaries in the long run..

I wouldn't raise hopes of it being tomorrow as THG are waiting for a response back, this is what they said on 26th March:

''THG has consistently applied prudence by paying UK VAT against its powdered protein and collagen products and certain supplements in line with HMRC guidance, while a number of competitors instead took a different interpretation and chose to zero rate some products for VAT purposes. Consequently, retrospective claims have been submitted to HMRC, who have stated they will provide a substantive update in relation to protein powders by the end of Spring 2026.''

I would assume it would be on a product by product basis rather than say the ATTC platform, that said all the pharmas seem to be hungry to acquire pipeline so who knows, existing partners like Takeda or Astra might be favourites..