Previously writing on industrial energy and water efficiency products company Eneraqua Technologies (ETP), at the end of August with the shares down to 77.5p I concluded that I continued to lack confidence in the forecasts and wondered how “solid” even the 11th October-expected half-year results would be. The company states that it is now “pleased to announce” those results… so what of the shares, and from a most recent close 92.5p, currently down below 40p?!

Previously writing on company describing itself as “a leading provider of test and measurement solutions for the global telecommunications and cloud computing markets” Calnex Solutions (CLX), in August with the shares at 135.5p I questioned how confident to be of results in line with market expectations. Now a “trading update” intra-day (uh oh), though it includes that the company’s “sales pipeline remains strong… longer-term, the underlying market drivers continue to build, such as the need to upgrade telecoms infrastructure to deliver the promise of 5G, and to enhance data centre operations to support the demand for cloud computing and advancements in AI and Virtual Reality technologies”. However, what of a current circa 70p share price?

Previously writing on company describing itself as “a leading mixed signal chipmaker” EnSilica (ENSI), in April with the shares at 70.5p I wrote including noting EBITDA is bullshit earnings having previously questioned “remaining sufficiently funded” and also noted a lack of ongoing support from its shareholders. So, with the shares still around 70p, what of results for the company’s year ended 31st May 2023?

Pink Floyd (one of the better parts of music in the 1970s in my opinion) once observed that if you “get a good job with more pay and you're okay”. On that basis, recruitment sector names such as Robert Walters (RWA) should be laughing but - as I have already observed a few times this year so far - the stock is down 30% year-to-date, and anyone who purchased the shares a couple of years ago is down about 50%. And I know the company is currently offering over a 5% dividend yield, but you would have made better total returns since October 2018 holding cash in the lowest remunerative NatWest (NWG) account wacked by inflation. I read in today’s third quarter update from Robert Walters that its 13% year-on-year fall in gross profit is a “resilient performance”.