Jay Smith @jaynemesis: "𝗖𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗤𝟭 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 //𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝟣..."

United Kingdom

𝗖𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗤𝟭 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 //𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝟣 𝘰𝘧 𝟤 - 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝟤 𝘰𝘧 𝟤 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤 Cable companies have become a core sub-theme of my Portfolio, tying into the broader themes of Electrification, AI, and Renewable Energy. My first investments into the theme were $PRY.MI (Prysmian Group) - the global leader in cable manufacturing, and Encore Wire a smaller US cable company that was acquired by Prysmian in 2024, driving shares higher for both companies - a great win for my portfolio at the time. It’s been a while since I’ve really talked about them or the industry more broadly, so I wanted to give an update now that Prysmian Group alongside the two newer positions ( $NEX.PA (Nexans SA) and $NKT.CO (Nkt A/S)) have all reported their Q1 2026 Earnings. 𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝘾𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙨? I’ve written at length about the thesis, and you’re welcome to read through some of my older posts like this one: etoro.tw/3ze5MIz for more depth, but here’s the short version. Cables are one of the best picks and shovels investments for exposure to the three themes I mentioned in the introduction - Electrification, AI and Renewable Energy. Electrification is a very broad trend, but essentially comes down to reducing fossil fuel consumption and shifting to new electric alternatives. Heat pumps instead of gas boilers, electric vehicles instead of internal combustion engines. It’s not just about reducing emissions, it’s about efficiency - electricity is faster and more efficient to get to where you need it, it’s more flexible in its applications, and because of renewables, it’s now cheaper than fossil fuels in most cases. AI is a massive growth industry, and as explained in this post: etoro.tw/4nuQzbn it’s incredibly energy intensive and is driving demand for electricity. That power not only needs to get to the data centers, but also needs to be distributed to the thousands of server racks within each data center. Renewables are the final puzzle piece - More relevant than ever now that Oil and Gas from the middle east is facing disruption, they are still trending down in pricing. Their more decentralized nature means that not only are large cables needed to connect wind and solar farms, but grids are being upgraded to handle growing residential solar alongside electrification demands. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙃𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙌𝟭: 𝙋𝙧𝙮𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙖𝙣 • Revenue: €5.2bn (+9.4% YoY) • Net Profit: €253m (+63% YoY) • Order Backlog: ~€17bn (+0% YoY) • Stock Reaction: +10% Prysmian had strong earnings again, reaffirming their 2026 guidance and maintaining their strong order backlog. Unlike Nexans and NKT, Prysmian also holds a leading market share in fibre-optic cables, which plays an increasingly large role in the company’s growth. • Digital Solutions (Fibre-optics & submarine telcom) EBITDA margins grew from 13.2% to 20.6% YoY, driven by demand from Data Centers & the boost from their recent $950m Channell acquisition in 2025. • In March, Prysmian unveiled their new (world’s first) carbon-negative cable, which uses new patent pending engineering with recycled and low-carbon materials in a cable that doesn’t compromise on performance for its green credentials. As more companies focus on scope 3 emissions targets, this product could find a sizable market if the price premium isn’t too high. • The massive +63% YoY net profit growth was largely driven by improved financing costs and the lower than normal 2025 numbers, but the growth in fibre-optic demand should not be underestimated. • The company is starting to benefit from their ability to offer both power and data solutions to huge data center projects, benefitting directly from AI by offering something their competitors can’t. • They have also continued slowly paying down debt from the Encore Wire acquisition, which is further boosting margins for the long-term. //𝘌𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝟣 𝘰𝘧 𝟤 - 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝟤 𝘰𝘧 𝟤

Not investment advice. The author may have financial interests in the mentioned instruments.