DAILY MORNING NOTE | 22 May 2026
Recent Podcasts:
Sea Ltd.-2026 an investment year
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Wall Street’s three main indexes closed slightly higher after Thursday’s (May 21) choppy session as oil prices lost ground, with some officials citing progress in US-Iran peace talks even as both sides took opposing stances over Teheran’s uranium stockpile and control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Singapore stocks were flattish on Thursday (May 21) amid a mixed performance in regional markets. Stocks gained 0.02 per cent or 0.8 point to finish at 5,045.71. Venture Corporation led the gainers on Singapore’s blue-chip index, rising 2.5 per cent or S$0.43 to end at S$17.65. The worst performer among the constituents was Singtel, which fell 6.4 per cent or S$0.32 to close at S$4.70. The telco earlier on Thursday posted a net profit of S$2.2 billion for the six months ended Mar 31, down 20.9 per cent from the year-ago period. The three local banks ended Thursday higher. DBS gained 0.7 per cent or S$0.45 to S$61.75, OCBC rose 0.4 per cent or S$0.09 to S$23.33, and UOB was up 0.3 per cent or S$0.10 at S$37.69.
Singapore Technical Highlights
TOP 5 GAINERS & LOSERS
EVENTS OF THE WEEK
SG
Singtel on Thursday (May 21) posted a net profit of S$2.2 billion for its second half ended Mar 31, down 20.9 per cent from S$2.8 billion for the year-ago period. This translated to earnings per share (EPS) of S$0.1335, down from S$0.1688 a year earlier.
Toyota has given a preview of two of its new electric vehicle models in Singapore, including its first fully electric model for the mainstream car Certificate of Entitlement (COE) category. They are expected to go on sale in the third quarter of the year.
City Developments Ltd (CDL) posted a decline in its first-quarter Singapore property sales, while its global hotel operations recorded higher revenue per available room.
Sri Trang Gloves posted a 9.5 per cent decline in net profit for its first quarter ended Mar 31, to 384.1 million baht (S$15.1 million) from 424.2 million baht a year earlier. This came as lower revenue and margins weighed on the group’s performance.
Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio posted a net loss of 332.1 million yuan (S$62.5 million) for its first quarter ended Mar 31, narrowing from a net loss of 6.75 billion yuan a year earlier. Nio is listed in the US, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Aims Apac Real Estate Investment Trust on Thursday (May 21) said that it has entered into a second unsecured sustainability-linked loan. This comprises S$450 million and A$160 million (S$146 million) in revolving credit facilities.
US
Oil prices were volatile on Thursday (May 21), ultimately settling about 2 per cent lower as uncertainty over prospects for resolving the US-Israeli conflict with Iran weighed on the market. Brent crude futures settled at US$102.58 a barrel, down US$2.44, or 2.3 per cent on Thursday.
The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, pointing to labour market resilience and giving the Federal Reserve room to focus on rising inflation. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 209,000 for the week ended May 16.
OpenAI is preparing to file for an initial public offering in the coming weeks and is targeting a public debut sometime in the fall, according to a source familiar with the plan. The ChatGPT creator is working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to make a confidential IPO filing as soon as Friday (May 22).
Airbnb will let guests arrange luggage storage, airport pickups and car and equipment rentals, its latest effort to expand beyond short-term rentals. During its annual product event on Wednesday (May 20), the company announced a partnership with luggage storage platform Bounce, which works with retail stores, hotels and locker rentals in 175 cities to let people stow their bags before check-in or after checkout for a small fee. Airbnb is also expanding private car pickups in major markets outside the United States with airport transfer firm Welcome Pickups.
US government is awarding grants to a handful of companies, including IBM, that are focused on quantum computing in exchange for stakes in some of them. The investments deepen the Trump administration’s push into taking equity stakes in companies considered critical to the domestic supply chain as well as to counter China’s dominance in certain sectors, including chipmaking. The government has already taken big stakes in companies such as Intel and MP Materials, a rare earth mining company.
Alphabet’s Google, Meta Platforms and TikTok were hit with complaints from EU consumer groups on Thursday (May 21) for allegedly failing to protect users from financial scams on their platforms. The move highlights growing pressure worldwide on Big Tech to do more to address the negative impacts of social media, particularly for children and vulnerable users.
The co-founders of Manus are exploring options to fulfill Beijing’s demand to unwind a controversial takeover by Meta Platforms, including raising about US$1 billion from external investors to buy back the Chinese-founded AI operation.
Microsoft and consulting firm EY are partnering to spend more than US$1 billion to encourage their clients to launch major artificial intelligence projects. The initiative is designed to help companies grow AI projects from the pilot stage into large-scale efforts.
Source: SGX Masnet, Bloomberg, Channel NewsAsia, Reuters, CNBC, WSJ, The Business Times, The Edge Singapore, PSR
RESEARCH REPORTS
Frencken Group Ltd – Consolidation before 2H26e recovery
Recommendation: ACCUMULATE; TP S$3.3; Last close: S$3.11; Analyst Yik Ban Chong (Ben)
- Frencken released 1Q26 update with limited financials. 1Q26 revenue was within our expectations at 21% of our FY26e forecasts, due to a stronger 2H26e expected. 1Q26 PATMI was below expectations, at 18% of our FY26e forecasts. PATMI declined 20% YoY, driven by a 7% YoY fall in semiconductor revenue due to lower EUV component volumes from Europe, and S$1.1mn foreign exchange loss.
- The decline in 1Q26 semiconductor revenue was within our expectations, as Frencken prepares to gradually ramp EUV component production in 2H26e. We believe memory players will drive demand for high-NA EUV equipment in 2H26e and 2027e to address the memory chip shortage. Memory players are expected to contribute ~44% of 2026e revenue to Frencken’s key semiconductor equipment customer (2025: 34%).
- We downgrade to ACCUMULATE (prev. BUY) with a higher TP of S$3.30 (prev. S$2.50). The downgrade is due to recent share price rally. We lowered FY26e revenue and PATMI by 4%, due to the soft semiconductor demand in 1H26e. We roll forward our model to FY27e, increasing our P/E assumptions to 29x FY27e P/E (prev. 24x), a 20% discount to peers’ average of 37x.
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