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38/100
71Buffett
Carlisle Companies: Second-Quarter Sales Rose 8.3% While Adjusted EBITDA Margin Fell 70 Basis Points, and Full-Year Guidance Went Up on Revenue and Down on Margin
Carlisle Companies is a North American building-envelope manufacturer whose earnings are led by Carlisle Construction Materials, which supplies complete low-slope commercial roof systems and produced 74% of 2025 revenue. Second-quarter 2026 sales rose 8.3% to 1.570 billion USD with both segments growing organically, yet consolidated adjusted EBITDA margin fell 70 basis points to 26.2% as petroleum-derived raw materials and freight outran realized price, and management raised full-year revenue guidance while cutting margin guidance from roughly 50 basis points of expansion to flat. Rating Hold: at the August 5 close of 385.32 USD the shares sit inside the 365 to 455 USD acceptable-hold band but far above the 260 to 280 USD ideal buy range, at about 18.1 times 2026 consensus earnings and with no margin of safety against the conservative case.
44/100
78Buffett
Crane Company: Aerospace Compounds on Its Own, but Four-Fifths of the Headline Growth Was Bought and 32 Times Earnings Leaves No Cushion
Crane Company is a focused aerospace-and-process-equipment manufacturer created by the 2023 separation of the old Crane Holdings, running two franchises on one operating system. Second-quarter 2026 sales rose 25.6% to 724.7 million USD at a 21.3% adjusted operating margin, but 19.8 of those 25.6 points came from acquisitions while process-flow core sales fell 1.4%, and the three sensing businesses bought from Baker Hughes in January cost 1.179 billion USD against roughly 60 million USD of pre-deal EBITDA. Rating Hold: at about 32 times forward adjusted earnings and a free-cash-flow yield below the Treasury, the price already pays for acquisition returns that are six months proven and five years promised.
48/100
40Buffett
Vertiv Holdings Co: Deferred Revenue Doubled to 3.63 Billion USD After a 110 Million USD Second-Quarter Revenue Miss, While Full-Year Guidance Implies 4.33 Billion USD of Fourth-Quarter Sales
Vertiv Holdings Co supplies power, thermal-management, prefabricated-module and lifecycle-service systems for data centres, and supports the installed base through more than 300 service centres and around 5,000 field engineers. Revenue grew 27.7% to 10.23 billion USD in 2025 and 26.7% to 5.92 billion USD in the first half of 2026, but second-quarter sales landed about 110 million USD short while deferred revenue doubled to 3.63 billion USD and inventory rose to 2.52 billion USD, so the full-year guide now implies roughly 4.33 billion USD of fourth-quarter sales. Rating Hold: at the August 5 close of 277.94 USD the shares sit inside the 245 to 325 USD acceptable-hold range and far above the 165 to 190 USD ideal-buy range, at about 41.5 times guided earnings with no margin of safety.
46/100
69Buffett
Eaton: Record Orders and a Cleaner Post-Mobility Portfolio, but 42 Times Free Cash Flow Leaves No Conservative-Case Margin of Safety
Eaton is an intelligent power management company selling electrical distribution, power quality and aerospace systems into utility, data-centre, commercial and aircraft markets, with Electrical Americas alone supplying about 59% of 2025 segment profit. Record second-quarter sales of 8.53 billion USD on 14% organic growth, rolling Electrical Americas order growth of 41% and an agreement to separate the 13%-margin Mobility business into Dana all strengthened the operating case, but group segment margin still fell 80 basis points year on year and net debt reached about 19.9 billion USD after the 9.55 billion USD Boyd purchase. Rating Hold: at roughly 42 times guided free cash flow the price sits inside the 390-505 USD base fair-value range and about 31% above the 340 USD conservative value, leaving no conservative-case margin of safety.
45/100
NIO Inc.: Vehicle Margin Reached 18.8% and Adjusted Operating Profit Turned Positive in the First Quarter of 2026 While GAAP Operating Income Stayed Negative
NIO Inc. is a Chinese smart-electric-vehicle maker spanning the premium NIO marque, the family-oriented ONVO and the compact FIREFLY, supported by a proprietary battery-swap and user-service network. Vehicle sales produced RMB 76.9 billion of the RMB 87.5 billion of 2025 revenue, and the first quarter of 2026 lifted vehicle margin to 18.8% and adjusted operating profit to RMB 66.8 million, although GAAP operating income stayed negative at a RMB 309 million loss on 83,465 deliveries. Rating Watch: at the August 4 close of $4.76 the shares sit above the $2.4 to $2.8 conservative range and below the $5.6 to $7.6 base range, leaving no margin of safety and no owner-earnings support.
46/100
88Buffett
L’Oréal: Record First-Half Margins and a Broad-Based Recovery, but 30 Times Earnings Already Prices In the China and Gucci Upside
L’Oréal is the world’s largest beauty pure-play, turning cosmetic science and marketing spend into brands sold across mass, luxury, professional and dermatological channels. First-half 2026 sales reached a record €23.776 billion at a record 21.3% operating margin with every division and region growing, but more than €8 billion committed to Kering Beauté and Galderma lifted net debt including leases to €12.664 billion while the acquired earnings remain undisclosed. Rating Hold: at about 30 times adjusted earnings, with an owner-earnings yield below the French ten-year bond, the price already pays for a China recovery and Gucci economics that have not yet been established.
46/100
71Buffett
Merck & Co.: KEYTRUDA and QLEX Generated 50.4% of Second-Quarter Revenue While Subcutaneous Sales Rose to 463 Million Dollars Before the 2028 Patent Cliff
Merck & Co., known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, is a global innovative-pharmaceutical company whose earnings are dominated by the KEYTRUDA oncology franchise, supported by vaccines, specialty medicines and animal health. KEYTRUDA and its subcutaneous companion QLEX produced $8.366 billion of the $16.607 billion of second-quarter 2026 revenue, or 50.4%, and that concentration must be replaced before U.S. exclusivity begins eroding after 2028, with about $16 billion already spent on Cidara and Terns for assets that still carry substantial clinical risk. Rating Hold: at the August 4 close of $128 the shares sit close to the $130 base value and 16% above the $110 conservative value, leaving little margin of safety.
45/100
Phancy Group: Revenue Rose 35.6% to 7.135 Billion Yuan While Gross Margin Fell to 34.8% and Operating Cash Flow Stayed Negative for a Sixth Straight Year
Phancy Group, formerly 4Paradigm, is a Chinese enterprise-AI vendor whose Sage platform combines model deployment, computing infrastructure, token-based APIs and industry agents for large regulated organisations. FY2025 revenue rose 35.6% to RMB7.135 billion, but gross margin fell from 47.1% in 2023 to 34.8%, 99.8% of revenue was recognised at a point in time, and operating cash flow was an outflow of RMB681 million against adjusted net profit of just RMB6.3 million. Rating Watch: at HK$29.28 the shares sit outside all three valuation bands, above the ideal buy zone of HK$21 to 24 and below the acceptable hold band of HK$31 to 44, and the margin-of-safety verdict is recorded as none.
37/100
Boeing: Second-Quarter Free Cash Flow Turned Positive, but 45–50 Times Owner Earnings Already Prices the Recovery
Boeing builds commercial aircraft, defence and space systems and sells parts, maintenance and training around a large installed fleet, supported by a 715 billion USD backlog. Second-quarter free cash flow turned positive at 631 million USD on 171 deliveries, the most since 2018, but first-half free cash flow was still negative by 823 million USD and commercial margins sat at negative 2.7%. Rating Hold: at 45–50 times transitional owner earnings, roughly 35% above the 160 USD conservative value, the price already pays for a multi-year production and margin recovery.
48/100
46Buffett
BYD: Exports Reached 43.8% of First-Half Volume While Group Sales Fell 15.7% and First-Quarter Free Cash Flow Ran 19.3 Billion Yuan Negative
BYD is a vertically integrated Chinese new-energy vehicle group that builds its own batteries, motors, power semiconductors and vehicles, with automotive and related products supplying 80.7% of 2025 revenue alongside a large handset-assembly business. First-half 2026 group sales fell 15.7% to 1,808,511 vehicles while exports reached 792,256, or 43.8% of volume, but 2025 profit had already fallen 19.0% to RMB 32.62 billion and first-quarter 2026 free cash flow ran RMB 19.27 billion negative. Rating Hold: at HKD 94.90 the H share trades near 22.8 times 2025 earnings inside the acceptable hold band of HKD 92 to 124, well above the ideal buy range of HKD 62 to 66, and the margin-of-safety verdict is recorded as none.
44/100
HANMI Semiconductor: Q2 Operating Margin Hit a Record 51.9%, but 95.5 Times Earnings Prices a Single-Generation Moat
HANMI Semiconductor builds the thermal-compression bonders that stack memory dies into HBM, a narrow but yield-critical step it has dominated through the AI packaging boom. The second quarter of 2026 set records at KRW 251.1 billion of revenue and a 51.9% operating margin, yet the largest customer still supplies 43.96% of sales and SK hynix has already qualified ASMPT and Hanwha. Rating Hold: at 95.5 times audited earnings the price pays in advance for TC bonding lasting through HBM5 and for a hybrid-bonding qualification that does not yet exist.
43/100
83Buffett
Unilever: Q2 Volume Grew 5.5%, the Strongest Quarter in More Than a Decade, but 47.43 Pounds Leaves No Margin of Safety
Unilever is the global branded consumer-goods group remaking itself into a beauty, personal care and home care pure play, with 78% of first-half turnover generated by 30 Power Brands. First-half 2026 underlying sales grew 4.8% on 4.2% volume and second-quarter volume of 5.5% was the strongest in more than a decade, but gross margin fell 70 basis points to 46.8%, underlying EPS rose only 2.4%, and the Foods combination with McCormick carries 400 to 500 million euros of stranded cost. Rating Hold: volume-led Power Brand growth is credible, yet 47.43 pounds already assumes a clean Foods separation and stable margins.
41/100
76Buffett
Lockheed Martin: Backlog Rose 36.8 Billion Dollars in Six Months, Mostly on a Single THAAD Action, While 19.2 Times Guided Earnings Leaves No Margin of Safety
Lockheed Martin is the largest U.S. defense prime by revenue, anchored by F-35 production and sustainment, PAC-3 and THAAD missile defense, Sikorsky helicopters and classified space work, with the U.S. government supplying about 70% of first-half 2026 sales. Second-quarter sales rose 11% to 20.063 billion USD and backlog reached 230.4 billion USD, but 35 billion USD of the 36.8 billion USD first-half increase came from one undefinitized THAAD action, and the classified Aeronautics contract still carried about 1.8 billion USD of cumulative losses. Rating Hold: at 582.74 USD the shares trade at 19.2 times guided 2026 earnings on a 5.3% free-cash-flow yield, barely above the 4.75% ten-year Treasury, and the margin-of-safety verdict is recorded as none.
51/100
72Buffett
Sungrow Power Supply: After the FCC Covered-List Ruling, the Price Sits 0.6% Below a CNY 104 Conservative Value While Q1 Storage Margin Has Already Slipped to About 30%
Sungrow is a founder-led power-electronics maker whose energy-storage systems overtook inverters in 2025 at 41.9% of revenue and about half of group gross profit, with overseas markets supplying 60.5% of sales. The A share fell 32% since the prior report as the FCC added foreign-produced connected inverters to its Covered List on July 28, and management has already disclosed a first-quarter storage gross margin of about 30%, recovering from about 24% in the fourth quarter of 2025 but well below the 36.5% booked for 2025 as a whole. Rating Watch: at CNY 103.37 the price sits only 0.6% below the CNY 104 conservative central value, so the margin of safety is effectively zero and the ideal buy zone falls to CNY 78-84.
48/100
Alibaba: March-Quarter Cloud Revenue Rose 38% While Consolidated Adjusted EBITA Fell 84%, Free Cash Flow Turned to a RMB 17.3 Billion Outflow, and USD 122.25 Sits Above Conservative Value
Alibaba is China's broadest merchant and consumer platform, now spending marketplace profits to become a capital-intensive combination of commerce, instant delivery and AI computing. Cloud Intelligence revenue rose 38% in the March 2026 quarter while consolidated adjusted EBITA fell 84% to RMB 5.1 billion and quarterly free cash flow turned to a RMB 17.3 billion outflow, with quick-commerce unit economics and cloud invested capital both undisclosed. Rating Hold: the second engine is real, but at USD 122.25 the price sits above conservative value and the margin of safety is recorded as none.
48/100
47Buffett
TransUnion: Strip Out the Zero-Margin FICO Royalty and the 12% to 13% Reported Growth Outlook Becomes 5% to 6%, While 78.62 Dollars Sits Above the Conservative Range
A global consumer-credit bureau that monetizes proprietary files, decision analytics, fraud tools and identity products, with 4.576 billion USD of 2025 revenue and an India franchise built from the 2001 founding of CIBIL. Second-quarter revenue rose 15% to 1.310 billion USD and adjusted EBITDA 12% to 456 million USD, but roughly three points of organic growth came from FICO mortgage royalties that carry no EBITDA at all, so management guides full-year organic constant-currency growth excluding that pass-through to 5%-6% against a 12%-13% reported outlook. Rating Hold: at 78.62 dollars the shares trade above the 59-66 conservative fair-value range on a 16.4-times forward adjusted multiple, leaving no margin of safety while 4.75 billion USD of net debt and the Mexico acquisition remain unproven.
38/100
Korea Aerospace Industries: Second-Quarter Revenue Rose 41% While Operating Profit Fell 43%, the 27.35 Trillion Won Backlog Converts at 13.5% a Year, and 127,300 Won Leaves No Margin of Safety
Korea Aerospace Industries is South Korea's sovereign aircraft prime, earning from the T-50 and FA-50 family, the KF-21 fighter, helicopters, sustainment and commercial aerostructures behind an order book of KRW 27.35 trillion, equal to 7.4 times 2025 revenue. That backlog converted into revenue at only 13.5% during 2025, operating cash flow has been negative for three consecutive years with a cumulative free-cash outflow of about KRW 2.70 trillion, and the second quarter of 2026 produced 41.0% revenue growth alongside a 43.1% fall in operating profit. Rating Hold: a strategically important aircraft prime entering its most consequential production ramp, priced at about 37 times forward earnings with the margin-of-safety verdict recorded as none.
39/100
Intel: A Real Product Recovery, Priced as If the Foundry Turnaround Had Already Worked
Intel pairs an x86 processor franchise that is still genuinely profitable with a capital-intensive manufacturing network it is trying to rebuild as an external contract foundry. Q2 2026 showed a real product recovery, with Intel Products earning a 32% segment operating margin, but the 59% jump in Data Center and AI revenue came mostly from a 48% rise in selling prices against only 9% more server units, while Intel Foundry lost 2.09 billion USD and drew just 5.1% of its revenue from outside customers. Rating Avoid: the operating recovery is real, but at 90.20 USD the market already capitalizes most of a successful three-to-five-year turnaround, leaving expected three-year annualized returns of -28.5% to +3.2%.
39/100
61Buffett
Haleon: Oral Health Supplied Over 90% of First-Half Organic Growth While the Rest of the Portfolio Grew 0.3%, and 3.633 Pounds Leaves No Margin of Safety
Haleon is the global pure-play consumer-health company demerged from GSK in 2022, selling therapeutic self-care brands such as Sensodyne, parodontax, Panadol, Voltaren and Centrum across roughly 170 markets. First-half 2026 revenue of 5.602 billion pounds grew 2.6% organically, but Oral Health alone supplied more than 90% of that growth while the other two-thirds of the portfolio advanced about 0.3%, and the top of full-year guidance would require 7.4% second-half growth against the second quarter's 3.1%. Rating Hold: an excellent oral-health franchise and a real margin programme, priced at 17.6 times forward earnings with no discount to the conservative fair-value range.
43/100
83Buffett
Apple Inc.: Strip Out the Tariff Refunds and the 50.1% Margin Becomes 48.1%, While 308.91 Dollars Earns Less Than the Ten-Year Treasury
A premium-device maker that monetizes an installed base above 2.5 billion units through integrated hardware, silicon and high-margin services, with a reported Products gross margin of 40.1%, which includes the tariff refunds, and Services at 75.6% in the June quarter. Reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of 2.02 dollars and a 50.1% gross margin included about 0.11 dollars and roughly two percentage points from nonrecurring tariff refunds, leaving underlying figures of 1.91 dollars and 48.1%, and the shares fell 7.35% on July 31 to 308.91 dollars on weaker September guidance. Rating Hold: at 35.9 times underlying trailing earnings the 2.79% earnings yield sits 1.95 points below the 4.74% ten-year Treasury, so new capital gets no conservative margin of safety.
37/100
76Buffett
Booz Allen Hamilton: The 130 Basis Point Margin Jump and the 39.48 Billion Dollar Backlog Are Both Smaller Than They Look, and 69.72 Dollars Sits Above Conservative Value
A federal mission-services contractor that supplies the United States government with people, security clearances and mission technology, earning about 98% of revenue from government customers, with National Security at roughly 72% of fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue while Civil and Commercial fell 16.4%. Adjusted EBITDA margin rose 130 basis points to 11.9% in that quarter, but full-year guidance implies about 10.75% across the remaining three quarters, and of the 39.48 billion dollar backlog only 4.66 billion, or 11.8%, is funded. Rating Hold: at 69.72 dollars the shares trade above the 54 to 65 conservative range and below the base midpoint, so the margin of safety is not obvious.
51/100
64Buffett
Salesforce: Agentforce ARR Grew 205% to 1.2 Billion Dollars, but Growth Excluding Informatica Was 8.75% and 184.02 Dollars Leaves No Margin of Safety
Salesforce is the largest CRM vendor, monetizing customer workflows through subscriptions while shifting toward AI consumption, data services and outcome-based pricing. Agentforce ARR reached 1.2 billion dollars and grew 205%, but fiscal Q1 growth excluding Informatica was only 8.75% and owner earnings stay flat near 10.9 billion dollars. Rating Hold: a dominant franchise at an adequate price, with seat cannibalization unresolved because Salesforce does not disclose net seats.
56/100
63Buffett
Broadcom: AI Revenue Grew 143% to 10.8 Billion Dollars, but 389.28 Dollars Buys the Base Case at a 1.30% Owner-Earnings Yield Against 4.74% Treasuries
Broadcom sells three businesses behind one ticker: custom AI accelerators designed for a handful of hyperscalers, the Ethernet networking that connects them, and an infrastructure-software franchise built from CA Technologies, Symantec and VMware; FY2025 revenue was 63.89 billion USD. Fiscal Q2 2026 revenue grew 48% to 22.187 billion USD and AI semiconductor revenue grew 143% to 10.8 billion USD, yet trailing owner earnings of 23.977 billion USD yield only 1.30% against a 4.74% ten-year Treasury, and the five largest end customers supply about 45% of revenue. Rating Hold: Q2 answered the operational doubt behind the prior Avoid, but at 389.28 USD the shares sit 33% to 43% above the 272 to 293 USD conservative value and inside the 340 to 420 USD hold zone, so the margin of safety is absent.
38/100
45Buffett
AECOM: A 16.5% Segment Margin and 12.1x Earnings Are Genuinely Cheap, but First-Half Free Cash Flow of 15 Million Dollars Means 72.39 Dollars Only Buys the Base Case
A global infrastructure-consulting firm whose engineers, planners and program managers design and oversee transportation, water, energy and environmental projects, with government clients supplying about half of revenue and fiscal second-quarter 2026 net service revenue of 1.95 billion dollars. Segment adjusted operating margin has risen from 12.3% in fiscal 2020 to 16.5%, but adjusted EPS growth of 27% rested largely on an adjusted tax rate that fell to 13.9% from 25.0%, while first-half free cash flow was only about 15 million dollars against 685 million for the whole of fiscal 2025. Rating Hold: a genuine 12.1 times discount to peers that the cash-conversion evidence does not yet justify closing.