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SM Investments: When the Market Finally Starts to “Bite”

We’ve been blogging for free. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us! Disclaimer: This is for informational purposes and is not investment advice. Figures are taken from company disclosures and exchange data; valuation ratios include the author’s calculations based on cited inputs. After spending much of the year grinding sideways, SM Investments Corp. (SM) is beginning to show signs that investors are leaning into the story again.The price is edging higher and the RSI is also turning up —a small but meaningful pairing that often reflects improving conviction rather than a one‑day bounce. This time, though, the uptick isn’t happening in a vacuum. SMIC’s ongoing share buyback adds a second tailwind to the tape : as the company steadily repurchases shares, it can tighten effective supply and reinforce the market’s sense that management is willing to support value during periods of mispricing. In its 17‑Q, SMIC disclosed a board‑approved buyback program ...

Nickel Asia’s Big-Year Paradox: Strong Results, Bigger Cash — and a Quiet “War Chest” for What Comes Next

We’ve been blogging for free. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us! Disclaimer: This is for informational purposes and is not investment advice. Figures are taken from company disclosures and exchange data; valuation ratios include the author’s calculations based on cited inputs. Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) delivered a year that reads like a bull case in headline form—strong earnings, swelling cash, and a balance sheet that still looks comfortably geared. Yet the company also leaned on borrowings while cash piled higher, a combination that typically invites two questions from the market: what is management preparing for—and how aggressive can it get? The first part of the answer is clear from NAC’s own disclosures: the cash build-up is largely a war chest for a pipeline of capital-hungry projects , especially in renewable energy, where spending is front-loaded and returns arrive only once projects are commissioned. The second part—the optionality—requires more ...

PLDT trims final dividend to ₱46 as cost and leverage pressures linger

We’ve been blogging for free. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us! Disclaimer: This is for informational purposes and is not investment advice. Figures are taken from company disclosures and exchange data; valuation ratios include the author’s calculations based on cited inputs. PLDT’s board has approved a final cash dividend of ₱46 per share , bringing total dividends for 2025 to ₱94 per share and framing the payout as 60% of Telco Core EPS —a clear signal that management is prioritizing policy discipline over headline yield. The adjustment comes as the telco’s operating story remains broadly stable, but the earnings quality underneath shows strain. For full-year 2025, PLDT reported net service revenues of ₱196.2 billion (+1%) and EBITDA of ₱111.2 billion (+3%) with a 52% EBITDA margin , reflecting resilience in data and broadband that now account for 85% of service revenues . Yet reported net income fell 7% to ₱30.0 billion , reflecting ...

MERALCO turns a record year into a bigger check — and tests the limits of a record-high stock

We’ve been blogging for free. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us! Disclaimer: This is for informational purposes and is not investment advice. Figures are taken from company disclosures and exchange data; valuation ratios include the author’s calculations based on cited inputs. Meralco is doing what mature, cash-generative franchises are supposed to do after a strong year: share more of the spoils . In a board decision dated February 25, 2026 , Manila Electric Co. approved a final cash dividend of ₱16.672 per share , payable on April 20, 2026 to shareholders on record as of March 26, 2026 . That final payout brings total dividends declared out of 2025 core consolidated net income (CCNI) to ₱28.00 per share —a level Meralco itself frames as roughly 62.5% of core earnings per share . In other words, the board is telling investors: 2025 was strong enough not only to fund expansion, but also to raise the income stream that has long anchored the stock’...

$FEU’s Dividend Trim: When Enrollment Growth Isn’t Enough to Protect the Payout

We’ve been blogging for free. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us! Disclaimer: This is for informational purposes and is not investment advice. Figures are taken from company disclosures and exchange data; valuation ratios include the author’s calculations based on cited inputs. Far Eastern University, Incorporated (FEU) has nudged its cash dividend lower, to ₱14.00 per share from the prior ₱16.00 per share, as shown in its dividend history. While a ₱2 cut may look modest, dividend adjustments are rarely cosmetic. In FEU’s case, the latest interim financials suggest a clear rationale: profitability is softening as costs rise faster than revenues, cash is being pulled into capital spending, and operating cash conversion is pressured by seasonality and receivables growth . This is not a distress story. It is, however, a capital-allocation story —a board choosing to preserve flexibility in a year when the underlying earnings en...

$PX Philex Mining’s dividend doubles as 2025 “price windfall” meets a pivotal project inflection

We’ve been blogging for free. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us! Disclaimer: This is for informational purposes and is not investment advice. Figures are taken from company disclosures and exchange data; valuation ratios include the author’s calculations based on cited inputs. Philex Mining Corp. (PX) is heading into 2026 with a rare combination of near‑term optimism and familiar operational caution —and the market’s first clear signal of that balancing act came via its latest cash payout. The company declared a ₱ 0.04-per-share cash dividend (about ₱231 million in total), double the ₱ 0.02-per-share cash dividend it declared a year earlier—an upgrade that underscores both earnings momentum and management’s confidence heading into Silangan’s long-awaited start-up window. A higher dividend, but still a “measured” payout The headline number is the doubling itself: PX’s board approved a ₱0.04/share dividend payable March 25, 2026 to sh...