Versigent PLC (VGNT)

Earnings season is almost over, with about 97% of S&P 500 companies having reported as of Friday. Many knocked it out of the park, delivering earnings and revenue numbers that were well ahead of expectations. We always look at trends and, as usual, there are companies increasing guidance. Raising guidance is one of our Investing Themes for the second half of 2026. We view management's ability to raise guidance consistently as a catalyst for possible market-beating returns in the quarters ahead. It's even harder for companies to lift guidance during uncertain economic times, as vision is murky. This is true now, as the war in the Middle East drags on. As well, Wall Street has a new chairman of the Federal Reserve, one with a different view about forward-looking guidance (or in this case, a lack thereof). As many companies increased guidance during this earnings cycle, we put out two lists. The first was back on August 3 -- and now we offer up our second list, made up of companies in Argus' fundamental Universe of Coverage. Many of the names in this latest list are in the consumer space, as these companies tend to report at the end of earnings season.

Versigent plc designs, manufactures, and distributes low- and high-voltage power electrical architectures. The company offers signal and data connectivity solutions, power distribution systems, high-voltage electrical distribution systems, and electric vehicle charging solutions. It serves the automotive, commercial vehicle, energy, electrical grid, and other end markets. The company has approximately 138,000 employees and is based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. It is a component of the S&P SmallCap 600.

Stocks weathered another inflation report on Wednesday, as investors gobbled up certain AI names that recently have been smacked. Some of the stocks that ripped Wednesday are very well known among the momentum crowd, as NBIS rocketed 34%, LITE 14%, BE 12%, CIEN 11%, DELL 10%, HPE and COHR 8%, STX 7%, and TER, SNDK, and FORM 6%. Despite the massive ongoing dispersion among individual stocks and the constant worries about geopolitics, energy prices, inflation, future FOMC action, the entire yield curve lifting, etc., the overall market has been eerily quiet over the past six days. Since the July 29 hedge fund blowup, when the Volatility Index (VIX) shot up 13.5% to about 21, the so-called options fear gauge has declined in eight of the past 10 days. The VIX fell almost 5% yesterday to 14.6%, its lowest close since late 2025. The VIX measures the implied volatility of out-of-the-money put and call options on the S&P 500. Its aim is to measure the expected 30-day volatility of the SPX. Going back to 2021, the VIX has averaged about 19. The index generally has been between 12 to 25, with some spikes in 2022, 2023, April 2025, and March 2026. It stayed elevated for months only during the 2022 bear market. The weekly Bollinger Band width is near the lowest level going back to 2021. A low VIX generally occurs during a period when the S&P 500 is crawling higher -- and can stay depressed for months, if not longer. The Nasdaq 100 Volatility Index (VXN) has dropped from 31 on July 29 to 21 -- but remains above the lows from 2024 (between 15 and 16).

Versigent PLC designs, manufactures, and distributes low- and high-voltage power electrical architectures. The company offers signal and data connectivity solutions, power distribution systems, high-voltage electrical distribution systems, and electric vehicle charging solutions. It serves the automotive, commercial vehicle, energy, electrical grid, and other end markets. The company has approximately 140,000 employees and is based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. It is a component of the S&P SmallCap 600.