Quarterly letter 30/06/2026
Between two heatwaves, we are taking a moment to report on the first half of the year and look ahead to what 2026 may still have in store. We wish you a pleasant summer, hopefully with some time for family and friends, and a chance to unwind and enjoy nature, a good book, and fresh, inspiring experiences.
Turbulent seas
Our month-end returns since the beginning of this year tell the story of particularly turbulent times. By the end of February, we were already seeing very strong returns in equities. A month later, these gains had completely evaporated due to the American and Israeli strikes on Iran. Three months after that, the March dip was already forgotten following a ceasefire in the Gulf region.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, Russian aggression unfortunately continues unabated, resulting in great human suffering on both sides.
Energy and AI
As we navigate these choppy waters, we keep our eyes on the hazards and beacons of energy supply and oil and gas prices on one hand, and the opportunities of artificial intelligence—along with the risks of potential overinvestment in this sector—on the other. Even for the highly profitable American tech giants, the massive expenditures for new data centers are a drain on their cash flows. Some of them will even be tapping the capital markets in the coming weeks and months to raise fresh funds.
The impact of AI on the rest of the economy is now the proverbial elephant in the room. The jobs of tens of millions of people worldwide could already be replaced by generative AI and AI agents. This could be highly disruptive to social cohesion. At the same time, technological innovations in the past have always created entirely new jobs. The coming years will certainly be fascinating!
How to invest today
Value Square keeps the ship firmly on course by, as always, investing in companies that provide services and make products that people will always need. And by not paying high prices for these companies. Thorough financial analysis leads us to undervalued businesses with acceptable price-to-earnings, price-to-book, and price-to-cash-flow ratios, as well as relatively low debt levels. The latter can be very important if interest rates rise. Anyone with too much debt will be strangled if they suddenly have to pay much higher interest.
In any case, stocks offer good protection against inflation over the longer term. So, put your cash to work in time.
KBC Securities Services digital portal
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Investor call
Our quarterly webinar for the second quarter took place on Tuesday, July 7th. If you missed it, you can this link to watch the recording.
Autumn schedule
We have a series of information sessions and seminars planned for the autumn, and we will share more details about these soon.
We look forward to seeing you at one of these events or in a personal meeting.
In the meantime, stay up to date by following our LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/value-square/.
Pascal Cornelis – Yves Van Laecke - Kris Hermie – Patrick Millecam – Cynthia Peeters – Tibo Dewispelaere - Astrid Verlot – Pauline Verhelst – Dieter Engels - Thomas Maes - Jens De Maeseneire - Koen Van de Vyver - Jens Verbrugge – Petrick Step - Wouter Verlinden - Wim Descamps - Emiel Beirens - Koen Hoffman
