Tech counters Venture, CSE Global up over 10% after strong Q1 updates,

[SINGAPORE] Shares of technology companies Venture Corporation and CSE Global soared after positive first-quarter updates the previous evening, reaching three and 19-year highs, respectively.

Shares of high-tech manufacturing and R&D player Venture rose as much as 10.3 per cent on Wednesday (May 6), reaching a high of S$18.32 as at 10.15 am.

The jump made the counter Wednesday morning’s top gainer on the Straits Times Index, as it hit its highest mark since February 2023.

Systems integrator CSE’s shares went up as much as 14.7 per cent to S$1.56 as at 11.03 am, with the counter last this high in April 2007.

The gains followed both S&P 500 and Nasdaq notching record-high closes on Tuesday, lifted by Intel and other artificial intelligence-related stocks.

Venture upgrade

The rally in Venture’s stock came after its Tuesday announcement of a turnaround in its Q1 financial performance, despite headwinds such as US tariffs, geopolitical conflicts and a weak US dollar.

It posted S$56.3 million in net profit, a 0.7 per cent increase from the year-ago period. Revenue for the quarter rose 1.9 per cent to S$628.5 million, attributed to heightened demand across technology domains that support AI-related infrastructure.

DBS Group Research on Wednesday upgraded the counter to “buy”, with a target price of S$21.80. It cited a “materially stronger underlying recovery” considering constant-currency revenue growth was 8.2 per cent, and said momentum was “expected to build through 2026”.

“The quarter marked an important turnaround, as Venture delivered its first year-on-year quarterly revenue and net profit growth after three years of negative year-on-year comparisons,” added the research house.

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Citi analyst Arthur Pineda was less positive in his Tuesday note, stating that Venture’s pace of recovery remained “slow” and the improvements were not uniform. He pointed to a “meaningful decline” in the company’s Portfolio A, which comprises the life sciences, medtech and lifestyle consumer segments.

He stated that unfavourable Singdollar-ringgit trends throughout the rest of 2026, as forecast by Citi Economics, would continue to exert pressure when including currency fluctuations in revenue calculation.

“While the improved guidance tone is encouraging, it remains qualitative in nature with no specific revenue or earnings targets provided,” said Pineda, noting a contrast with peers such as Flex, Jabil and Celestica.

“We see the improved outlook as a positive directional signal, but await more concrete evidence of broad-based and sustained revenue acceleration before taking a more constructive view on earnings,” he added, maintaining a “neutral” rating and S$16.30 target price.

CSE orders surge

CSE’s share price jump came on the back of a surge in new orders, largely driven by the booming tech sector. It reported 74.6 per cent year-on-year growth in new orders, securing S$271.2 million in Q1 2026 compared with S$155.3 million a year ago.

This intake was primarily driven by its electrification business segment, which skyrocketed 393 per cent year on year to S$177.8 million. The segment accounted for roughly 65.6 per cent of total order intake and was fuelled by stronger demand from the data centre market in the US.

The communications segment also performed well, logging a 20.8 per cent increase in orders to S$76.9 million. This growth was attributed to contributions from recent acquisitions that expanded the segment’s US market presence and strengthened Asia-Pacific order flows.