Your Money with Michelle Martin (MONEY FM 89.3)
Market View: Grab’s Profit Pivot, Budget 2026 Bets & The AI Crosscurrents
Your Money with Michelle Martin (MONEY FM 89.3)
•February 12, 2026•21 min
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Your Money with Michelle Martin (MONEY FM 89.3)•Feb 12, 2026
Why It Matters
Understanding Grab’s profit pivot and the budget’s AI focus reveals how Southeast Asian tech firms and policymakers are navigating growth amid rapid digital transformation. These insights help investors and professionals gauge the risks and opportunities in the region’s evolving market landscape.
Key Takeaways
- •Grab posts first full-year profit, $270M net, 20% revenue growth.
- •Grab launches $425M Stash acquisition to expand digital finance services.
- •Singapore budget emphasizes AI upskilling, targeted vouchers, smaller CDC payouts.
- •Real estate service stocks tumble on AI disruption fears.
- •Cloudflare shares surge as AI-driven cloud demand boosts revenue.
Pulse Analysis
Grab announced its first full‑year profit, delivering a net $270 million and a 20 % jump in revenue to $3.37 billion. The Southeast Asian tech giant also unveiled a $425 million purchase of U.S. fintech Stash, signaling a strategic shift toward digital wealth management and a broader financial ecosystem. Management’s confidence was underscored by a $500 million share‑buyback, yet the market reacted cautiously, with shares slipping modestly as investors weigh the sustainability of the new profit model across all business units.
The Singapore 2026 budget placed artificial intelligence at the centre of its policy agenda, promising expanded AI upskilling programmes and more targeted vouchers, while scaling back the traditional CDC payouts. Policymakers highlighted productivity and long‑term economic resilience, linking AI adoption to future growth. Parallel discussions on carbon tax trajectories and housing affordability suggest a broader shift toward sustainable, technology‑driven development, though the exact path for carbon pricing beyond 2027 remains uncertain.
Across the regional markets, AI‑related sentiment drove a mixed performance. Real‑estate service stocks plunged as investors feared AI could erode traditional brokerage margins, whereas Cloudflare rallied nearly 12 % after forecasting AI‑fuelled cloud demand. Conversely, Apple faced a dip due to Siri testing setbacks, while McDonald’s benefited from value‑oriented promotions amid tighter consumer budgets. Together, these moves illustrate how AI is reshaping risk assessments, creating winners in infrastructure and cloud services while challenging sectors reliant on legacy models.
Episode Description
From red ink to record profits - but how are Grab investors reacting?
Grab posts its first full-year profit of US$268 million - and launches a US$500 million buyback - even as shares slide on concerns over growth and its US$425 million acquisition of Stash Financial.
On Budget Day, we unpack what Singapore’s AI push, tighter CDC payouts and upskilling drive could mean for markets and households.
In UP or DOWN: Apple’s Siri stumbles, McDonald’s value strategy delivers, Cloudflare rides the AI agent wave, and real estate services stocks wobble in the latest AI scare trade.
Back home, the STI edges closer to 5,000, with SGX and Singtel leading while CapitaLand Investment slips.
And in The Last Word - Avicii’s Wake Me Up crosses 3 billion streams, proving disruption often sounds risky before it sounds iconic.
Hosted by Michelle Martin with Ryan Huang.
In focus today : Grab, Stash Financial, Apple, McDonald’s, Cloudflare, Singapore Exchange (SGX), Singtel, CapitaLand Investment, Spotify.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Show Notes
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