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Mideast Oil Giants Bring Their Billions in Search of LNG Riches

Mideast Oil Giants Bring Their Billions in Search of LNG Riches

Bloomberg3 days ago

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A new breed of investors is expanding into liquefied natural gas, one of the world's hottest commodities, offering billions of dollars for new projects and squeezing out established players.
With billions of dollars at their disposal and strong government backing, national oil companies — primarily from the Middle East — have been splurging on global LNG production, with capacity set to nearly double in the next ten years.

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Undervalued and Profitable: 2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks for Long-Term Portfolios
Undervalued and Profitable: 2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks for Long-Term Portfolios

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Undervalued and Profitable: 2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks for Long-Term Portfolios

These companies supply critical components required in AI data centers and chips. These chipmakers are growing fast, and their remarkably cheap valuations make them worth buying right now. Both companies should keep growing at healthy rates long term, thanks to the AI-focused markets they serve. 10 stocks we like better than Micron Technology › A tried and tested way of making money in the stock market is by buying great companies that are tapping into a growing trend that also trade at attractive valuations and holding them for the long run. This strategy allows investors to benefit from secular growth opportunities and disruptive trends, as well as take advantage of the power of compounding. Artificial intelligence (AI) is turning out to be one such secular and disruptive trend that has the ability to supercharge the growth of many companies in the long run because of its ability to contribute trillions of dollars to the global economy. There are two companies benefiting big-time from the proliferation of AI. They also happen to be profitable and undervalued when we consider their impressive growth rates. They are Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) and Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU). Let's see why buying and holding these two names for the long run could turn out to be a smart move. AI has brought about a major turnaround in Marvell Technology's fortunes. The company, which manufactures application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and networking chips, finished fiscal 2025 (which ended on Feb. 1) with revenue growth of just 5% to $5.77 billion. Its generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) net loss for the year stood at $1.02 per share. The company's tepid performance last year was the result of weakness in multiple end markets such as enterprise networking, carrier infrastructure, and consumer devices. However, the story has changed remarkably in the first quarter of fiscal 2026. Marvell's revenue for fiscal Q1 (which ended on May 3) shot up a remarkable 63% year over year to $1.89 billion. The company reported a GAAP net income of $0.20 per share as compared to a loss of $0.25 per share in the year-ago period. AI played a central role in driving this terrific turnaround as the demand for Marvell's custom AI processors increased dramatically, leading to a 76% year-over-year increase in its data center revenue to $1.44 billion. CEO Matt Murphy remarked on Marvell's May earnings conference call, "These strong results, along with our second-quarter guidance, are being driven by the rapid scaling of our custom AI silicon programs to high-volume production, along with robust shipments of our electro-optics products for AI and cloud applications." Importantly, Marvell expects its robust data center momentum to continue in the current and the next fiscal year, as well as in the long run. The company points out that it is deeply engaged with its AI customers for developing custom chips, and the good part is that they are working with Marvell to develop the next generation of custom AI processors as well. This explains why the company is confident it can sustain its AI-powered growth in the long run. Moreover, Marvell's focus on pushing the envelope on the product development front is expected to help it land a bigger share of the fast-growing custom AI processor market. The company pointed out last year that its AI-focused addressable market could grow to $75 billion in 2028 from $21 billion in 2023. It controlled 10% of this market at the end of 2023, according to its own estimates. However, third-party estimates suggest that Marvell's share of custom AI chips increased to 15% last year. Looking ahead, the company is aiming to capture more than 20% of this market. 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The high-bandwidth memory (HBM) manufactured by Micron plays a key role in AI accelerators such as graphics processing units (GPUs) and custom processors as it can transfer data at high speeds while keeping power consumption in check when compared to traditional memory. HBM ensures that a lot of data can be transferred quickly at low latency so that AI workloads can run smoothly. Not surprisingly, the size of the HBM that's being packed by AI chip designers into their accelerators is increasing. AMD, for instance, has increased the HBM capacity of its latest MI350 series of AI accelerators to 288 gigabytes (GB) from 256 GB on the previous MI325 series processors. The company plans to equip its next generation of MI400 accelerators with a whopping 432 GB of HBM next year. Even custom AI chip manufacturers such as Marvell and Broadcom are equipping their chips with HBM to speed up AI workloads and improve power efficiency. 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India's Dhunseri Group to expand packaging films business
India's Dhunseri Group to expand packaging films business

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India's Dhunseri Group to expand packaging films business

India-based Dhunseri Group is set to invest over Rs22bn ($254.4m) by the financial year 2028-29 to enhance its flexible packaging films business through both greenfield and brownfield projects, says Business Standard. The investment aims to expand production capacity and cater to the growing market demand. For the greenfield project in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir, the group has earmarked an investment of about Rs12.4bn. Additionally, approximately Rs10bn will be allocated for the brownfield project at Panagarh in West Bengal. These expansions are expected to be carried out by Dhunseri Poly Films (DPFPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dhunseri Ventures. Dhunseri Poly Films will expand its operations at Panagarh by installing at least two new production lines, one for biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate and another for biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP). The company already operates a unit at Panagarh. The capital expenditure for the new lines at the Panagarh facility is expected to be financed with a debt-equity ratio of 70:30. These lines are expected to be operational by 2029. The Panagarh plant, which commenced commercial production in December 2023, is now poised for further growth. The company will add two BOPP plants at Kathua. The commercial production from the greenfield plant at Kathua is expected to commence in 2027. Dhunseri Poly Films serves the domestic market while also exporting to Europe, Bangladesh, and Nepal, with these regions being the major overseas markets. For the financial year 2025, Dhunseri Ventures reported a net profit of Rs142.9bn and a revenue of Rs480.4bn, indicating a strong financial position to support the planned investments. "India's Dhunseri Group to expand packaging films business" was originally created and published by Packaging Gateway, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.

The Weekend: Markets on edge as Trump ponders US involvement in Israel-Iran war
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The Weekend: Markets on edge as Trump ponders US involvement in Israel-Iran war

The fighting continued to rage in the Middle East this week as Israel intensified its attack on Iran's nuclear capabilities. As European foreign ministers met with their Iranian counterpart in Geneva in an attempt to end hostilities, investors were on tenterhooks about the possibility of the US becoming directly involved. The threat of American intervention was met with outrage in Tehran, with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying such a move would cause "irreparable damage" President Donald Trump has promised a decision on whether to join the assault on Iran within the next two weeks. On Friday he cast doubt over the European diplomacy effort, declaring: "Europe is not going to be able to help on this one." Oil prices continued to climb as traders weighed the likelihood of Iran attacking its Gulf neighbours' production and export facilities or even closing the critical Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of global supply flows. Motorists are likely to feel the pinch at the petrol pump in the coming weeks. Away from the Middle East bloodshed, investors were focused on two crucial central bank rates decisions. Both held no surprises in the end, with the Bank of England holding its key rate at 4.25% and the Federal Reserve standing pat too. BoE governor Andrew Bailey said the world had become 'highly unpredictable' after a decision that was also heavily influenced by stubbornly high inflation. Finally, Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu sketched out his case for "Remaking Liberalism" – also the working title of his forthcoming book – in a speech on Wednesday at the London School of Economics. Acemoglu, the joint winner of of 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences, told a packed auditorium that the old version of liberalism was "dead" as the ideas space was being won by those on the right. 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Bank of England holds interest rates at 4.25% amid inflation fears Members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted by 6-3 to keep borrowing costs on hold after cutting them a month ago. The decision had been widely anticipated by markets, particularly following inflation data for May showing prices rising 3.4% — well above the Bank's 2% target. Investors and economists saw little chance of a rate cut, especially with tensions in the Middle East escalating and pushing oil prices higher. Traders are betting there is an 84% chance that policymakers will cut to 4% at the next meeting. Why the UK's AIM is struggling 30 years on Launched on 19 June 1995, AIM was set up to help smaller and high-growth companies get more access to capital. While it has produced a number of successes, it has also had its fair share of failures. These included "cash shell" Langbar International, which claimed to have £370m in bank deposits but collapsed in 2005 after discovering these funds were non-existent. 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Pension credit is a benefit that aims to boost the incomes of the poorest pensioners. The problem is that, despite government efforts to raise awareness, hundreds of thousands of people who could be claiming it aren't. It not only tops up your income but acts as a valuable bridge to further support, including help with council tax and NHS costs. Pensions columnist Helen Morrissey explained: This under-claimed benefit could help boost your pension Before opening a junior ISA for their child, many parents find themselves wondering – perhaps understandably – how they can be sure they will use the money wisely when they turn 18 and assume control of the funds. The good news is a survey by Hargreaves Lansdown strongly suggests such worries are unfounded. Personal finance columnist Sarah Coles has the details: Why you can trust an 18-year old with their junior ISA Find more personal finance gems here The week will start with the focus on S&P's global manufacturing and services PMI. 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