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Research Alert: CFRA Upgrades Intel To Buy From Hold; Cpus Revive, Foundry Prospects Improving

-- CFRA, an independent research provider, has providedwith the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We raise our 12-month target to $75 from $50, based on ~28x our 2028 EPS estimate ($2.64), above peer and historical P/E averages. Although valuation for INTC is outside our comfort zone, we see considerable upside to revenue and margin expectations (gross margin now has line of sight over 50% by 2027/2028 vs low 40s from the Street), as the CPU market has tightened in recent months. We believe the shift toward greater AI inferencing/AI Agents creates a new growth opportunity for CPUs, and while INTC had some execution issues last quarter, we expect improved results in 2H and 2027. Lead times for CPUs have extended considerably in recent months, which has also led to an upward bias to pricing that we expect to finally drive healthy gross margin expansion. Also, we expect INTC to capture more foundry orders in 2H as it demonstrates success for its internal products at leading-edge nodes, which will serve as an additional catalyst and bode well for long-term prospects of the company.

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Hitachi Construction Machinery's Net Income Falls 10% in Fiscal Year 2025

Hitachi Construction Machinery's (TYO:6305) net income attributable to owners of the parent fell over 10% to 73.2 billion yen for the fiscal year 2025 from 81.4 billion yen a year earlier.The construction equipment supplier's net income per share declined to 344.06 yen from 382.83 yen a year ago, according to a Tokyo bourse filing on Friday.Revenue gained 2.5% to 1.405 trillion yen for the full year ended March 31 from 1.371 trillion yen in the prior year.It declared a final dividend of 110 yen per share, payable from May 29.For the fiscal year 2026, the company expects attributable net income of 80 billion yen, net income per share of 376.06 yen, and revenue of 1.430 trillion yen.Hitachi Construction Machinery plans to pay interim and year-end dividends of 90 yen and 100 yen per share, respectively, for the year, which is higher than the amount paid in the year-ago period.

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Treasury

Canada's Food Prices Seen Steady or Cooler Ahead, Says BMO

The jump in March industrial product prices (IPPI) was no surprise, given higher energy prices in the month, but food was another story, said Bank of Montreal (BMO) after Thursday's IPPI data."Curiously," prices for food manufacturing slid month-over-month by a record amount, dragging down year-over-year growth to just over 3%, noted the bank.BMO recalls that readings through late-2025 and into early 2026 were getting "worrisome," pushing above 7% year over year. The bank says "worrisome" because these industrial prices are a pretty good leading indicator of prices faced by consumers at the grocery store.And those grocery prices can be tough psychologically -- in other words, reinforcing inflation expectations.For now, this points to "steady/cooler" grocery price inflation ahead, but the bank will see if there's not a snap back in the coming months.

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Mining & Metals

Hydro One to Construct Red Lake Transmission Line in Northwest Ontario

Hydro One (H.TO) will develop and construct the Red Lake transmission line in northwest Ontario, the company said on Friday.The proposed project consists of a new double-circuit 230-kilovolt transmission line that will run from Dryden Transformer Station (TS) north to Ear Falls TS, including associated station facilities and will continue on to connect to Red Lake Switching Station. It is expected to be in service by the early 2030s.The Red Lake Transmission Line is expected to add about 400 megawatts of electricity in northwest Ontario, nearly quadrupling existing capacity. It is also expected to strengthen regional reliability and reinforce the grid for newly connected northern remote communities and the broader region, a statement said.Proximate First Nations can invest in a 50% equity stake in the transmission line component of the project.Hydro One shares closed up $1.23 to $58.11 on Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

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