Taiwan's Gourmet Master, the company behind the 85°C coffee and cake chain, is making much more money after closing hundreds of losing stores in China — good news for shareholders.

• Second-quarter earnings per share hit the highest level since 2021, and first-half earnings jumped more than 70% from a year ago.
• The turnaround came from shutting unprofitable China stores, leaving fewer than 300 there, which cut total sales by 11% but lifted profits.
• The remaining China stores are each selling more per day than last year, so the trimmed-down business is healthier.
• The United States is now the main growth engine, making up 58% of sales, with the store count expected to reach 100 by year-end.
• Separately, chip packaging equipment maker Wanrun reported July profit more than doubling from a year ago as it pushes into silicon photonics and co-packaged optics gear.

Outlook: The US business should keep driving growth toward 60% of sales, while the slimmed-down China operation is expected to show clearly better profits this year.