The alpha Brief: Insights on Quant Investing and the alpha Brief Portfolio (aBP)

I’m rating Dana a STRONG BUY because the company has already completed a structural reset, simplifying its portfolio, embedding cost savings, and materially improving balance‑sheet flexibility—while the market continues to price it on legacy assumptions

I rate PG&E Corporation(PCG) a Buy because the company is transitioning from a legacy restructuring story into a regulated utility with improving balance‑sheet strength, restored regulatory credibility and visible earnings growth.

I rate NVIDIA a Strong Buy. NVDA is the key platform for global AI infrastructure, with unmatched control over compute, networking, systems and software, making it the default architecture for large scale AI workloads.

By Thursday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq had both closed at record levels, helped by stronger-than-expected earnings, renewed interest in AI and large-cap technology, and a growing sense that the latest geopolitical stress might remain contained.

Kodiak is leveraging a tight compression market to achieve higher margins, stronger cash flow, and clear growth by 2026.

I’m rating KARO a BUY because the company has entered a clear growth inflection, with four consecutive quarters of ARR acceleration and record subscriber additions.

I am rating Ituran Location and Control a Strong Buy because it is being priced like a hardware manufacturer but performs like a high margin SaaS style telematics platform.

GE Vernova started 2026 with a stronger backlog, improved backlog quality, and higher expectations for free cash flow.

Texas Instruments is entering a powerful multi year expansion phase, driven by its dominant analog franchise, internally owned 300mm manufacturing capacity and consistent FY2025 performance that delivered 13% revenue growth and 40%+ operating cash flow margins.

Wednesday was the inflection point. Equities staged a broad relief rally after a two-week ceasefire was announced, with the S&P 500 jumping 2.5% and the Nasdaq gaining 2.8%. Oil fell sharply on hopes that supply disruptions would ease.

We rate this company a Strong Buy because the earnings setup has improved quickly, helped by stronger aluminium prices, firmer regional premiums, and visible operational recovery

SSR Mining ended 2025 with $471Mn in operating cash flow and $241.6Mn in free cash flow. All this while its most scrutinised asset isn’t fully operational. And I think the market hasn’t caught up to that yet.

On Wednesday, hopes that the Iran conflict could wind down sent stocks higher and oil sharply lower. By Thursday, that move had partly reversed as crude surged again and global equities lost momentum.

PBF is rated a strong buy for three main reasons: the Martinez refinery is restarting, the West Coast oil product market is tightening, and the company is significantly cutting costs through its Refinery Business Improvement (RBI) program.

Centerra Gold is given a strong buy rating. It trades at a significant discount on forward P/E and EV/EBITDA compared to sector medians. Backed by a strong balance sheet, the company is driving growth through self-funded cash flows and active share buybacks. While geopolitical and operational risks remain, Centerra’s deep value and disciplined capital allocation make it a compelling investment opportunity in the mining sector.

VICR is riding the AI power delivery bottleneck, supplying high density, high efficiency power architectures essential for next‑generation AI processors. This is an area where rack power, thermal constraints and board space are becoming critical limits.

Newmont is a strong buy due to its record 2025 financials. Despite a planned production dip, the company is effectively managing costs and leveraging growth from projects. Currently mispriced with a high ROE relative to peers, Newmont is prioritizing shareholder value through a $6 billion share repurchase program and increased dividends. Its diversified global operations and robust balance sheet make it a wise investment, even without further gold price increases.

Elevated crude prices kept inflation concerns alive, pressured sentiment, and reinforced a more cautious outlook for equities, rates, and portfolio positioning as investors weighed geopolitical and macro uncertainty.

We rate Shell as a strong buy because the company's leaders are making some structural improvements, cutting costs, and giving back a lot of cash to shareholders something that the market has not appreciated.

AI Memory Demand Is Reshaping the Industry and Micron Technology [MU] is experiencing unprecedented demand for high value AI memory products especially HBM, advanced DRAM and data center grade NAND driving tight supply conditions expected to persist through 2026 and beyond.