Cintas announces acquisition of UniFirst in a $5.5 billion deal, significantly expanding the service coverage of both parties.

Barclays analyst Christopher Pasquale on Tuesday initiated coverage on 26 US-listed medtech companies for the first time, and included Stryker (SYK.US) and Abbott (ABT.US) on the recommended list of large-cap medtech stocks.

On Thursday, shares of Australian Securities Exchange operator ASX Ltd (ASX.AX) surged to nearly a two-month high after Citi raised its annual profit outlook for the company, citing a strong first-quarter performance and predicting robust market activity to continue into the first half of the year. Details are as follows: The exchange operator's average daily trading volume in the spot market rose 16% year-on-year in September. Citi analysts noted that daily futures trading volumes climbed 44% during the month, approaching historical highs, possibly reflecting structural and cyclical factors, including interest rate prospects and changes in the bond market. Citi added that strong market activity is expected to last at least through the first half, and consequently raised ASX's annual earnings-per-share forecast by 2%. Citi pointed out, however, that corporate market activity remained subdued in September. Short-term market activity is expected to be boosted with Glencore's GLEN.L company planning a secondary listing in October and Firmus company planning an initial public offering (IPO) in October. Both Citi and UBS raised their target price for ASX from AU$60.10 and AU$64.20 to AU$61.00 and AU$65.50, respectively. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs remains cautious about the strategy of the new CEO, Anthony Attia, and the company's potential future financial situation. Goldman Sachs is also alert to execution risks in the exchange operator's CHESS system replacement and technology modernization plans. This comes after the central bank stated in September that the company's clearing and settlement facilities had not met the bank's expectations. ASX shares closed up 3.8%, reaching their highest level in nearly two months and ranking among the top performers on the S&P/ASX 200 index.

Code for media reports has been modified; analyst comments have been added in points 4 and 5, and the closing share price has been updated. Kumar Tanishk/Aamir Khalid, Reuters, October 8 – On Thursday, Maas Group (MGH.AX), an Australian construction services provider, saw its share price plunge 30%, marking the biggest intraday drop on record. This followed reports that Firmus, an AI company backed by Nvidia (NVDA.O), was considering changing the terms of its highly anticipated 5.0 billions USD initial public offering (IPO). The stock at one point fell to a low of AUD 4.47, its lowest level since May 6, and ended the session down 22.4%. The company’s market capitalization evaporated by about AUD 517 millions (359.52 millions USD). More details: - Maas holds a 3.2% stake in this data center operator, after injecting an additional AUD 300 millions by subscribing for ordinary and preferred shares at AUD 230 per share in early August (link). - Maas stated in exchange filings that speculation on whether the IPO would proceed as scheduled had put pressure on market sentiment, adding that the company was unaware of any undisclosed information that could explain the transaction. - Firmus counts OpenAI as a key customer and is preparing for what would be the second-largest IPO in Australian history (link). Earlier this week, reports emerged that Firmus might cut its offering price from AUD 11 per share. - “This sell-off reflects a rational downward adjustment of the intrinsic value of Maas’ holding in Firmus, but the scale of the drop seems overdone,” said Emanuel Ajay Datt, Managing Director at Datt Group. - Datt said if Firmus reduced its offering price from AUD 11 to AUD 9 per share, the value of Maas’ holding would fall by about AUD 75 millions, but he added that this loss was limited compared with the day’s drop in the company’s market capitalization. - If the listing succeeds, it will mark the largest IPO in Australia in nearly thirty years, second only to the almost 10 billions AUD public offering of Telstra’s TLS.AX unit in 1997, Australia’s top telecom operator. - Prior to Thursday’s share crash, Maas Group’s share price had risen about 44% over the past 12 months, as investors were optimistic about its links to AI-driven data center construction projects. - Firmus has not yet responded to Reuters’ request for comment. (1 USD = 1.4380 AUD) (For the convenience of non-native English speakers, Reuters automatically translates its articles into several other languages. Due to possible errors or missing context in automated translations, Reuters does not guarantee the accuracy of the translated text and provides them solely for readers' convenience. Reuters assumes no responsibility for any damages or losses arising from the use of automated translations.)

Compared to August 2026, revenue declined slightly by 0.6%. Taking a longer-term view, TSMC's overall revenue performance in the first three quarters of 2026 has been impressive. From January to September 2026, the company’s accumulated revenue reached TWD 3,898.727 billions, achieving a significant increase of over 40% compared to the same period last year.