G'day Morganp,
Fluence not mentioned in the article, only at the side referencing the share price up 10% 10th Sep to 10th Oct, (so that's gone now )

US water soars to pre-election high

October 2020

Bets on a Biden election victory precipitating a broad-based infrastructure boom helped drive the Americas segment of our stocks index to a new high this month.

Double-digit gains for many North American water equipment stocks helped the Americas segment of the GWI Global Water Index to soar to a new all-time high this month, offsetting losses in Asia to keep the global index in positive territory – and marginally ahead of the MSCI World Index.

How did water stocks perform this month?

The Americas segment of the GWI Global Water Index outstripped the rest of the world, although Brazil ended the month in negative territory. Suez has yet to rise to the level at which Veolia intends to acquire it.

1st January 2008=100. Calculated on 10 Oct. Index has 67 stocks, weighted by market capitalisation and water exposure.

The stand-out performer was Canada’s H2O Innovation, which rose by more than 50% over the period, bolstered by a record set of full-year results, and a stunning victory over much bigger rivals to scoop the Water Company of the Year accolade at the Global Water Awards.

Meanwhile, a distinctly average performance from our weighted portfolio of European water stocks saw Suez fail to replicate last month’s meteoric rise, and with the shares trading at €15.80 as GWI went to press, it seems not everyone in the market believes that Veolia’s €18.00-per-share takeover offer is a done deal.

Veolia has so far fought shy of issuing equity to fund the merger with its greatest rival, instead electing to raise €2 billion of hybrid perpetual securities to help pay for the initial 29.9% stake it succeeded in acquiring from Engie this month.

One of the more surprising share price jumps this month – at least when compared to its peers – was American Water, which rose more than 10%, further emphasising its positive performance year-to-date (up 30% at one point this month) versus that of its peers (which are all down between 10% and 15% since January).

An impressive $770 million military win and a pair of chunky acquisitions in Pennsylvania and Illinois over the last month have clearly served to reassure most investors that its growth engine is firing on all cylinders under new CEO Walter Lynch.

The quarterly results season got off to surprising start when Kemira gave the market an early flavour of its Q3 numbers on 9th October.

Companies usually only pre-announce their quarterly results when they are very good or very bad, and Kemira’s revelation that its full-year operative EBITDA for 2020 is expected to be higher than 2019’s figure provided sufficient reassurance to the market so that the shares were immediately marked up by 6.5%.

Kemira’s full set of results are due out on 27 Oct – the same day as Ecolab and Rexnord – with Suez, Aegion and Forterra, Inc. due out the next day, and Xylem on 29th. Essential Utilities’ Q3 numbers are due on 3rd Nov, with Veolia, Acciona, Stantec and Sanepar set to follow on 5th Nov.

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10 Best performers

Company	Monthly change (10 Sep-10 Oct)
H2O Innovation		51.79%
Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc.		22.72%
Evoqua		20.97%
Salcon Berhad		18.92%
Tetra Tech Inc.		15.08%
Pentair		14.13%
Fluence Corporation		12.82%
Danaher		11.31%
American Water		10.64%
Xylem Inc.		10.45%

10 Worst performers

Company	Monthly change (10 Sep-10 Oct)
Beijing Capital		-11.75%
Kangda Int’l Environmental Co.		-8.57%
TTW PCL		-7.58%
Poten Environment Group		-5.85%
Sanepar		-5.84%
Sabesp		-5.82%
Eastern Water Resources		-4.64%
VA Tech Wabag		-4.49%
SIIC Environment		-4.15%
Veolia		-3.94%

** I can only access a limited few articles per quarter so you're on ya own now for a bit mate - happy to help again when renewed.

L