Daily Point
_ Dow Jones 52,637.01 (-0.5%)
_ S&P 500 7,575.39 (+1.23%)
_ Nasdaq 26,281.61 (+1.74%)
_ Bitcoin 63,015.02 (-0.28%)
Topline Signals
- SK Hynix: The semiconductor manufacturer raised $26.5 billion in its Nasdaq debut, pricing 177.9 million American depositary shares at $149 each.
- Nvidia: Q1 FY2027 revenue reached $81.62 billion, representing an 85.2% year-over-year increase, with total supply-related commitments reaching $119.0 billion.
- Amazon: Projected capital expenditures for 2026 are guided at $200.0 billion, primarily allocated to artificial intelligence infrastructure and data centers.
Good day.
The current market exhibits a familiar divergence, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 marching higher on the back of semiconductor strength while the Dow Jones slips. As long-term practitioners, we must dismiss this daily noise. The upcoming week brings critical macro checkpoints, including the Core CPI and PPI releases, alongside second-quarter earnings from banking giants like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. While Wall Street will undoubtedly obsess over these short-term prints, our focus remains anchored on the massive, multi-year capital cycles reshaping global liquidity.
The structural mega-trend of AI infrastructure is unfolding with unprecedented velocity. The historic $26.5 billion Nasdaq debut of SK Hynix, coupled with Micron’s staggering 345.7% year-over-year revenue surge, confirms that the demand for high-bandwidth memory and advanced silicon is not speculative—it is already contracted. Hyperscalers are writing massive checks, with Amazon alone guiding its 2026 capital expenditures toward $200 billion. This represents a generational transfer of free cash flow into the semiconductor and hardware stack, where suppliers command software-like margins due to severe physical supply constraints.
Simultaneously, we are witnessing a pivotal stabilization in the digital asset landscape. Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs have flipped positive, ending an eight-week outflow streak by pulling in a combined $281.8 million. As the United States navigates a $39 trillion federal debt burden and a trailing inflation rate of 4.2%, the long-term case for scarce, decentralized assets remains highly compelling. Corporate treasury shifts, such as MicroStrategy utilizing its Bitcoin reserves to support preferred dividends, highlight the evolving financial engineering of this cycle.
True financial freedom is built by ignoring the crowd and positioning capital where it cannot be inflated away. Whether you are accumulating high-margin technology leaders or securing hard, limited-supply assets, the objective is to own the means of production. Do not let short-term volatility distract you from the compounding power of structural trends. Focus on the horizon, manage your risk, and let the capital cycles do the heavy lifting.
Weekly Schedule
13 Jul (Monday)
FOMC Member Bowman Speaks
OPEC Meeting
Fed Waller Speaks
Federal Budget Balance
14 Jul (Tuesday)
ADP Employment Change Weekly
Core CPI
CPI
Core CPI
CPI
Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Barr Speaks
FOMC Member Bowman Speaks
TIC Net Long-Term Transactions
API Weekly Crude Oil Stock
GDP
Bank of America Earnings Call
Citigroup Earnings Call
Goldman Sachs Earnings Call
JPMorgan Chase Earnings Call
Wells Fargo Earnings Call
15 Jul (Wednesday)
PPI
Core PPI
NY Empire State Manufacturing Index
FOMC Member Williams Speaks
Crude Oil Inventories
Cushing Crude Oil Inventories
Beige Book
BlackRock Earnings Call
Johnson & Johnson Earnings Call
Morgan Stanley Earnings Call
16 Jul (Thursday)
GDP
Retail Sales
Core Retail Sales
Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index
Philly Fed Employment
Retail Control
Initial Jobless Claims
Continuing Jobless Claims
Pending Home Sales
Retail Inventories Ex Auto
Business Inventories
Atlanta Fed GDPNow
GE Aerospace Earnings Call
Intuitive Surgical Earnings Call
Netflix Earnings Call
Prologis Earnings Call
UnitedHealth Group Earnings Call
17 Jul (Friday)
CPI
Export Price Index
Import Price Index
Housing Starts
Building Permits
Housing Starts
Industrial Production
Industrial Production
Michigan Consumer Sentiment
Michigan 1-Year Inflation Expectations
Michigan 5-Year Inflation Expectations
Michigan Consumer Expectations
Atlanta Fed GDPNow
U.S. Baker Hughes Oil Rig Count
U.S. Baker Hughes Total Rig Count
CFTC S&P 500 speculative net positions
CFTC Nasdaq 100 speculative net positions
CFTC Gold speculative net positions
CFTC Crude Oil speculative net positions
18 Jul (Saturday)
19 Jul (Sunday)
General
Mortgage and refinance interest rates today, Friday, July 10: Rates are mixed today, mostly higher
According to the Zillow lender marketplace, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose by 12 basis points to 6.47% today, Friday, July 10, 2026. The average 15-year fixed rate fell by 3 basis points to 5.86%. The average 5/1 ARM rose by 11 basis points to 6.46%. According to Freddie Mac, the average 30-year mortgage rate was 6.49% through Wednesday, up from 6.43% a week earlier. A year ago, the average 30-year mortgage rate was 6.72%. The MBA expects the 30-year mortgage rate to be between 6.4% and 6.5% through 2026. Fannie Mae predicts a 30-year rate of 6.4% through the end of the year. Mortgage rates are likely to remain little changed in 2027. The MBA forecasts 30-year fixed rates of 6.5% for all of 2027. However, Fannie Mae is more optimistic, predicting average rates will be between 6.3% and 6.4% throughout 2027.
Gold prices today, Friday, July 10, 2026: Gold finally opens higher this morning
Gold (GC=F) August futures opened at $4,135.40 per troy ounce on Friday, July 10, 2026, up 1.2% from Thursday's opening price. Despite these renewed inflation worries, there is just a 25.1% chance the Fed will raise rates following their two-day meeting at the end of July. That percentage jumps to nearly 50% following their September meeting, according to the latest percentages in the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
Why the stock market and economy may seem out of sync
The S&P 500 U.S. stock index rose nearly 10% in the first half of 2026. Meanwhile, "real" U.S. gross domestic product — a measure of economic output, after inflation — has decelerated from about 3.3% in 2023 to roughly 1.9% so far in 2026, Seydl said. Federal Reserve officials in June estimated the economy would grow at a 2.2% pace in 2026.
How the Average Retiree’s $330,186 Quietly Pushes Their Social Security Into Taxable Territory
CPI-W rose from 316.349 in July 2025 to 328.829 in May 2026. Core PCE climbed from 126.43 to 130.082 over roughly the same window. Aggregate Social Security transfers rose from $1,427.6 billion in the first quarter of 2024 to $1,630.3 billion in the first quarter of 2026, a climb driven partly by the 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment that took effect in 2026. The average worker between ages 65 and 69 holds roughly $330,186 in a 401(k), and Baby Boomers as a group carry an average IRA balance of $257,002. Those balances look reassuring on paper. They also happen to be the reason a growing share of retirees now hand a portion of their Social Security benefits back to the IRS every April. The combined income formula that decides how much of a benefit is taxable was written in 1983 and has never been indexed to inflation, so a nest egg that once looked ordinary is now large enough to trigger the rule on its own. Single filers cross into taxable territory at $25,000 and married joint filers at $32,000. Above those lines, up to 50% of benefits become taxable, and above the upper tier, up to 85% is taxable. A typical single retiree receiving around $23,000 a year in benefits already counts roughly $11,500 toward combined income before touching a dime of savings. That leaves little distance to the single-filer threshold, and a typical 401(k) balance is fully capable of covering that gap without any withdrawal at all. Interest income does most of the work. The 10-year Treasury yield sat at 4.48% on July 1, 2026. A $330,186 balance parked in intermediate Treasuries generates enough annual interest to push a single filer past the first tax threshold. Required minimum distributions, on top of that, push most retirees comfortably into the upper bracket, where the majority of their benefits become taxable ordinary income. The thresholds have not moved, but almost everything else has.
Leveraged loan default rate dips below 1% in June, though distress ratio rises
The leveraged loan default rate by amount declined sharply in June, falling to 0.97%, from 1.35% in May, as there were no defaults during the month to impact the rolling 12-month calculation. By issuer count, the default rate ticked down to 1.34% for the month, from 1.42% in May. Bucking the trend, the distress ratio rose 34 bps to 6.87% in June, from 6.53% in May. Current payment default rate levels track within the running five-year and 10-year average monthly default rates, which edged down to 0.96% and 1.51%, respectively, on a month-over-month basis. Dual-track default rate by issuer count: 2.77%, down from 3.11% in May. Based on the PitchBook LCD Default Predictor, we estimate a six-month forward default rate of 1.69% by issuer count on legacy defaults.
TLT vs. IEF: How Much Treasury Rate Risk Should You Actually Take?
TLT's 17-year duration drove a 31% loss since 2022, while IEF's 8-year duration cushioned holders to a mere 6% decline. TLT pays only 50 extra basis points over IEF despite carrying roughly double the rate risk, making its yield pickup negligible. That math cuts both ways. TLT needs falling long yields to pay off. IEF wins in a broader range of outcomes: it earns a decent coupon, benefits from mild rate declines, and does not get destroyed if the long end reprices higher. The 2022 rate shock is the clearest case study. As the Fed hiked aggressively, TLT collapsed while IEF took a comparatively minor bruise. The five-year picture underscores it. TLT is down 31.7% over five years versus 7.13% for IEF. Over ten years, IEF eked out a 3.45% total price return while TLT lost 22.22%.
Bernstein revamps gold price target on Fed-rate shift
According to GoldPrice.org, gold is trading in the early $4,100s per ounce, still up an impressive 23% over the past year, while its 30-day performance is down roughly 1%. Bernstein's new gold price target is a lot more interesting because it effectively carries a Fed-rate twist. According to Investing.com's reporting, Bernstein adjusted its 2026 gold price target to $4,533 an ounce and set a second-half 2026 target of $4,375 an ounce. The firm's economists do not expect a higher Fed funds rate over the next 12 months, with the central bank potentially limited to no hikes or to only one or two. According to AP, half of the 18 policymakers who submitted projections supported raising rates by year-end, while the other half favored holding steady or cutting.
Oil Is Spiking and the Iran Ceasefire Is Cracking: What It Means for Your Stocks
The US-Iran ceasefire is starting to look like a pause between rounds. For a market that had spent the spring pricing in a return to normal after Brent touched $138.21/bbl on April 7, the message is clear. The risk premium is not going anywhere. The EIA’s May Short-Term Energy Outlook already flagged this scenario, warning that even after flows resume, it will take until late 2026 or early 2027 for most pre-conflict production and trade patterns to resume. Camille de Courcel of BNP Paribas argued there is “no return to pre-war levels” for oil, and that is precisely why central banks remain cautious. The energy component of PCE ran 24.26% year-over-year in May 2026, a stunning swing from the -3.77% deflation posted in May 2025.
Mortgage and refinance interest rates today, Saturday, July 11: Rates moving lower today
According to Zillow, the national average 30-year mortgage rate is 6.44% right now. Are interest rates expected to go down? According to the latest available forecasts, the MBA expects the 30-year mortgage rate to be between 6.4% and 6.5% through 2026. Fannie Mae predicts a 30-year rate of 6.4% through the end of the year. Are mortgage rates dropping? Yes, they are, compared to yesterday. According to average rates from the Zillow lender marketplace, the current 30-year fixed rate fell by 3 basis points to 6.44%, the 15-year fixed rate fell by 9 basis points to 5.82%, and the 5/1 ARM fell by 3 basis points to 6.43%.
Analysis-Trump makes the stock market his scoreboard, but many Americans aren't even in the game
The U.S. stock market has gained $15 trillion since Trump returned to office, about a 25% increase, and stocks account for roughly a third of household wealth. Roughly 40% of the country owns no stock at all, according to Gallup polling, and the wealthiest 1% own more than half of U.S. capital market investments. The division underscores what economists have described as a "K-shaped" economy where spending by wealthy households props up the market while middle- and low-income households cut back. For the bottom half of households, wealth is more likely tied to real estate and durable goods, leaving their short-term personal finances largely unaffected by stock market growth. The U.S. economy is largely on steady footing with healthy growth and low unemployment, but recent inflation - in part caused by the Iran war - has led some consumers to sour on their economic outlook. U.S. GDP grew by a reasonable 2.1% in 2025, and average hourly wages increased by 3.5%, giving workers a raise but not enough to outpace recent inflation.
Here’s the minimum net worth you need to be considered ‘upper class’ in your 60s — and the magic step to get you there
With a jaw-dropping $85 to $93 trillion in aggregate assets, America's Baby Boomers are the wealthiest generation in history, according to the Washington Post (1). In fact, about 53% of "peak boomers" — those who turn 65 between 2024 and 2030 — have less than $250,000 in assets, according to a study from the ALI Retirement Income Institute, a non-profit focused on retirement education, cited by CBS News (2). The average net worth of households led by someone this age is roughly $1.7 to $1.8 million. You'll need at least $3 million to be part of this exclusive "upper class" of seniors. Simply put, if you're trying to break into the top tier of the wealthiest generation in history, you'll need to be a millionaire at least three times over. Each property undergoes a vetting process that requires a minimum 12% return, even in downside scenarios.
Why a fully paid-off home in retirement is extremely valuable — especially in Trump’s economy
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 6.5%, according to the Federal Reserve (4).
Dave Ramsey says grab Social Security ASAP — but NBER data shows early claiming costs a median $182,370
A 2022 paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (3) found that waiting was usually the best approach to optimize Social Security payouts over the course of retirement. "We find that virtually all American workers age 45 to 62 should wait beyond age 65 to collect," says the report. "More than 90 percent should wait till age 70." For people in this age group, an early claim had a clear and measurable cost, as the median reduction in lifetime discretionary spending is $182,370, according to NBER's analysis.
The 2027 COLA Is Coming. For This Retiree, Medicare’s Premium Hike Could Swallow Most of the Raise Before It Hits the Bank.
A projected 2.8% COLA adds roughly $56/month to a $2,000 benefit, but a Medicare Part B premium hike similar to 2026's $18 increase could erase a third or more of that gain. The second is Medicare Part B. The standard premium jumped from $185 in 2025 to $202.90 in 2026, an increase of $17.90 a month. If the 2027 Part B premium rises by an amount similar to this year's $17.90 jump, close to a third of the raise is gone before it hits the bank. If the premium increase is larger, the entire raise can be swallowed and then some. For higher earners, IRMAA turns a headache into a bigger bite. Individuals with modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) above $109,000, or joint filers above $218,000, already pay a surcharge on top of the $202.90 standard premium in 2026, with the top tier reaching $689.90 monthly. A Roth conversion, a large capital gain, or an inherited IRA distribution from two years earlier can push a retiree into a higher IRMAA bracket and consume next year's COLA entirely. The practical response is to manage the inputs feeding into IRMAA and to plan withdrawals with an eye on the two-year lookback Social Security uses to set premiums. For retirees drawing from a mix of taxable, tax-deferred, and Roth accounts, timing large distributions in years where a bracket jump is unlikely, or spreading Roth conversions across several years, keeps Medicare surcharges predictable.
The 5 key levels of income in retirement for US boomers — where do you sit versus other seniors?
1. Roughly 9.9% of seniors over the age of 65 were living below the official poverty line, according to the Federal Reserve (1). 2. Nearly 27% of American seniors relied on benefits from this program for 100% of their monthly income, according to a 2024 survey by The Senior Citizens League (2). 3. The average benefit check was $2,084.40 a month in June, according to the Social Security Administration (3).
Why More Retirees Are Replacing 40% Bond Allocations With Dividend Stocks
Fixed bond yields cannot keep pace as healthcare (5.1%), housing (4%), and food (3.2%) inflation steadily erode a retiree's purchasing power. Food inflation has been running around 3.2%, housing closer to 4%, and medical costs at roughly 5.1% annually, according to recent data. A bond portfolio generating a fixed 4% yield in year one generates the same nominal dollars in year 20, while the bills it is supposed to cover have doubled. At 6% annual dividend growth, income doubles in roughly 12 years. A retiree who retires at 65 and lives to 85 sees their dividend income nearly quadruple over the course of retirement, which is precisely the kind of trajectory needed to keep pace with rising food, housing, and healthcare costs. The yields on many high-quality dividend equities frequently match or exceed what broad investment-grade bond indices offer, with the added benefit of capital appreciation potential that bonds simply do not provide.
The Retirement Budget Most People Build Is Backward
The Bureau of Labor Statistics put average annual household expenditures at $78,535 in 2024, the latest full-year reading. Round to $80,000 and you have a workable example for a comfortable retirement budget. That gap is the entire game. At a 3.5% yield, $80,000 divided by 0.035 equals roughly $2.29 million. This is the dividend-growth zone: dividend aristocrats, regulated utilities, broad market index funds. At a 7% yield, $80,000 divided by 0.07 equals about $1.14 million. Net-lease REITs, preferred shares, high-dividend equity funds, covered-call strategies. Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) yields 10.7%. Long-duration Treasuries through long-duration Treasury ETFs sit nearby on yield but have lost 28% over five years, a reminder that distribution yield can mask capital losses. At 4.1% inflation, a flat $80,000 income stream would buy roughly $53,500 of today’s goods after 10 years. An $80,000 dividend stream growing 8% a year would rise to about $172,700 nominally after 10 years, or roughly $115,500 in today’s dollars if inflation stayed at 4.1%. The aggressive tier requires the least capital and produces the most income on day one. But if the payout does not grow, it can produce the weakest purchasing power by day 3,650. A blended approach — some monthly cash flow, some dividend growth, and some high-quality bonds for ballast — is closer to how many real retirements function. The replacement target may be smaller than you think, which lowers the capital requirement at every tier.
The Average 70-Year-Old Has $250,000. Their First RMD Triggers a $1,132 Tax Bill.
The average 70-year-old's $250,000 balance produces a modest first RMD and a modest first tax bill. The larger reality is that the withdrawal schedule is now set, the calculation is not optional, and the retiree's job for the next two decades is managing the tax character of money accumulated tax-deferred over the previous four. The RMD formula is mechanical. The IRS divides the December 31 account balance by a life-expectancy factor from the Uniform Lifetime Table. At age 73, that factor is 26.5. A $250,000 balance produces a first-year RMD of $9,434. Most 73-year-olds drawing an average Social Security check of $2,071 per month, or about $24,852 annually, land squarely in the 12% tax bracket once RMDs are added. The picture changes for households with pensions, part-time wages, or a working spouse. Adding the $9,434 RMD to income already in the 22% bracket results in federal tax of about $2,075 on the same withdrawal. Up to 85% of Social Security becomes taxable once combined income crosses modest thresholds, the RMD can pull additional benefit dollars into taxable territory. The 2026 Social Security COLA came in at 2.8%. Headline inflation is running at 1.6% year over year.
$400 a Month Starting at 30 Beats $900 a Month Starting at 45. Most People Wait.
Headline PCE inflation hit 4.1% and consumer sentiment collapsed to 44.8, a level well below the 60-point recessionary threshold, pushing long-term saving decisions further out. Personal savings totaled $915.6 billion out of $23,429.6 billion in disposable personal income, meaning 92.3% of after-tax income went to consumption. Headline PCE inflation ran at 4.1% year over year in May 2026, up from 2.5% a year earlier. Core PCE, the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge, ran at 3.4%. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index fell to 44.8 in May 2026, the final reading for that month, and well below the 60-point recessionary threshold. Average annual consumer expenditures reached $78,535 in 2024, with housing, transportation, and food accounting for most of that spending before any discretionary savings decisions.
Most Workers Could Save $23,000 a Year. The Average One Saves $2,667. Here’s the Gap.
The average American saves just $2,667 a year, which is roughly one-ninth of the $23,500 the IRS allows workers to shelter in a 401(k). The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts the personal savings rate at 3.9% in the first quarter of 2026, down from 6.2% two years earlier. Applied to the per capita disposable income of $68,391, that works out to about $2,667 saved per person per year. The contribution limit was written for high earners; the median worker was never going to reach it. Vanguard's income-tiered guidance suggests 9% for workers earning under $50,000 and 12% to 15% higher up the income scale. At 10% of median full-time pay, the typical worker would save around $6,400 a year, more than twice the current average and still less than a third of the legal cap. The BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shows average annual household outlays of $78,535 in 2024, up from $72,973 two years earlier. Services account for roughly 68% to 69% of total personal consumption, with housing at $3,950.3 billion and healthcare at $3,716 billion on an annualized basis in May 2026. Those two categories alone consume more than a third of every consumer dollar. The Federal Reserve reports the average credit card APR at 21% as of February 2026, near the top of a range holding between 20.97% and 21.39% for a year. Credit card delinquencies sit at 2.92%, inside the Fed's "normalizing" band but well above the pandemic-era low of 1.5%. The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index sits at 48.2 in May 2026, down from 61.7 in July 2025, and below levels typically associated with a recession. FINRA's National Financial Capability Study found 46% of adults have three months of emergency savings, down from 53% in 2021, and 26% now spend more than their income, an all-time high in the survey's history. The FDIC national average yield on a 12-month CD is 1.65%, meaning small amounts households set aside earn well below inflation at typical banks. For a median full-time earner, moving from a 3.9% personal savings rate to a 10% 401(k) deferral would add roughly $4,000 in annual retirement contributions and unlock the employer match.
'Just crying' for lower rates: Homebuying and selling have picked up this year — barely
Home sales so far this year are up less than 1 percentage point from 2025 levels, according to National Association of Realtors data, a particularly meager improvement considering that sales last year tied for a three-decade low. Mortgage rates are likely to blame. A brief dip below 6% in late February was quickly undone when the US attacked Iran and oil prices and inflation spiked. Rates spent most of the spring around 6.5%, a number that, while lower than last year's 6.7% to 6.8% average, discouraged buyers and sellers alike. "I think a lot of the market is just crying for a 5%-ish interest rate," said Sean Zanganeh, a real estate agent in San Diego. "An extra $500 [a month] to a $1 million buyer in San Diego — which is roughly our average price point — that's a pretty big delta on their carrying cost," he said. Sales staying in positive territory even as higher rates eroded affordability is "a testament to some of the resiliency in the housing market, but also some of the pent-up demand," said Odeta Kushi, deputy chief economist at First American Financial Corporation.
Can Colombia’s New Government Reverse the Nation’s Oil and Gas Decline?
By April 2026, oil output of 724,910 barrels per day is well below the 915,087 barrels per day lifted for the same month 10 years earlier. Growing dependence on costly natural gas imports is fueling inflation, which rose to an annualized rate of 5.84% in May 2026, its highest level since 2024. Estimates vary, but Colombia's oil regulator, the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), says the country holds 3 billion recoverable barrels of shale oil and 34 trillion cubic feet of shale gas.
Oil Shock Revives Rate-Hike Fears as Gold Tests $4,000 Support
Gold ended the week just north of $4,100/oz after falling to a weekly low near $4,030/oz and testing the stability of the key $4,000 support level. The primary pressure came from the collapse of the US-Iran ceasefire, which sent crude oil prices sharply higher and revived concerns that energy costs could reignite global inflation. Rising inflation expectations lifted 10-year US Treasury yields to two-week highs and pushed the US Dollar Index above 101, while the June FOMC minutes added to speculation that the Fed's next move could be a rate hike.
Only 14% of Workers Max Out 401(k) Contributions—Steps to Help You Hit the Limit
Only 14% of participants max out their defined contribution retirement plans (such as 401(k)s), a Vanguard study shows. Among participants with defined contribution (DC) plans with Vanguard as the recordkeeper, an estimated 14% contributed the annual maximum for employee elective deferrals, according to Vanguard's 2026 report. Defined contribution plans include 401(k)s and 403(b)s. The annual maximum, which doesn't include contributions your employer makes, is $24,500 for 2026. But if you're 50 or above, it's $32,500, and it can be as much as $35,750 for workers ages 60 to 63 based on changes resulting from the SECURE 2.0 Act. Why You Should Aim for the Max As you would expect, higher earners can typically more easily contribute the maximum amount to their retirement savings plans. That's exactly what Vanguard found: just over half (51%) of plan participants in the study who made more than $150,000 annually hit the max, versus just 2% of those earning $75,000 to $99,999. Still, even if you have a modest income, you can strive to max out your 401(k) account contributions to take advantage of benefits such as matching employer funds and compounding.
The Biggest Risk From Delaying Social Security Reform Has Nothing to Do With Benefit Cuts— It’s What Happens to Bond Markets
The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund is projected to be depleted in the fourth quarter of 2032. If Congress takes no action, incoming payroll tax revenue would be sufficient to pay only about 78% of scheduled retirement benefits. The study estimates Social Security's annual funding shortfall could grow from roughly $600 billion in 2033 to about $700 billion by 2036. That could push Treasury yields higher as investors demand greater compensation to finance larger government deficits.
What’s the AI hit to U.S. inflation?
The current investment boom estimated to contribute roughly 0.4 percentage points to annual inflation in 2026, according to CIBC Capital Markets. As of May, those components alone were estimated to add about 0.3 percentage points to U.S. PCE inflation, with additional technology price increases yet to fully appear in official data. The report estimates AI has widened the output gap sufficiently to add another 0.13 percentage points to annual inflation this year, bringing AI's combined direct and indirect contribution to around 0.4 percentage points. Until then, policymakers face a difficult balancing act as a resilient labor market and above-target inflation leave the Federal Reserve with limited room to lower interest rates.
AI Making Life More Expensive for You? Federal Reserve Says 'Upward Pressure' Likely to Sustain for Now
The Federal Reserve said that artificial intelligence was a contributing factor to inflation in its June meeting minutes and cited "AI-related price pressures" as a driver of core goods inflation. Fed Points to AI-Related Price Pressures Minutes from the June FOMC meeting showed that Fed staff attributed higher core goods inflation to "the effects of tariffs and AI-related price pressures," while also citing higher energy and input costs linked to conflict in the Middle East and stronger demand from the AI buildout. "The Fed added that while AI could eventually boost productivity and help ease inflationary pressures, 'this effect would likely take time to materialize.'" "Ongoing strong demand for AI infrastructure would likely sustain upward pressure on prices for technology products and electricity," the Fed said. "In the June 16-17 FOMC minutes, the Fed's staff directly cited AI-related price pressures as a driver of core goods inflation, alongside tariffs." "The Fed's Desk survey showed that interest rates were expected to remain unchanged through early 2027, while market pricing expected one rate hike by mid-2027."
Mortgage and refinance interest rates today, Sunday, July 12, 2026: Mostly down from last week
According to daily average rates from the Zillow lender marketplace, the current 30-year fixed rate fell by 3 basis points to 6.44%, the 15-year fixed rate fell by 9 basis points to 5.82%, and the 5/1 ARM fell by 3 basis points to 6.43%. The average 30-year mortgage rate today is 6.44%. A 30-year term is the most popular type of mortgage because by spreading out your payments over 360 months, your monthly payment is lower than with a shorter-term loan. If you get that same $300,000 mortgage with a 15-year term and a 5.80% rate, for example, your monthly payment would jump to $2,499.27. But you'd only pay $149,869 in interest over the years. The best mortgage lenders typically offer the lowest mortgage rates to borrowers with larger down payments, excellent credit scores, and low debt-to-income ratios. So, if you want a lower rate, try saving more, improving your credit score, or paying down some debt before you start shopping for homes. According to the latest forecasts, the MBA expects the 30-year mortgage rate to be between 6.4% and 6.5% through 2026. Fannie Mae predicts a 30-year rate of 6.4% through the end of the year.
Oil Prices Are Plunging, but Trumpflation Is Getting Worse -- Here's Why
The U.S. trailing 12-month (TTM) inflation rate reached a three-year high of 4.2% in May. Although crude oil prices have plunged significantly from recent highs, Trumpflation continues to worsen -- and there are a few valid reasons behind this trend. According to estimates from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland's Inflation Nowcasting tool, Trumpflation is projected to worsen. Although the Cleveland Fed's proprietary inflation forecasting tool expects TTM inflation to soften from 4.2% to 3.49% between May and July, Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), which excludes volatile food and energy costs, is forecast to rise from 3.4% in May to 3.47% in July. The Summary of Economic Projections, released on June 17, showed that half of the 18 participating Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members believe one or more rate hikes will be needed before the end of 2026. Six FOMC members expect two or three rate hikes.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh Sends a Blunt Warning to Wall Street. What Should Investors Do?
The Committee will deliver price stability. The graph showed that the vast majority of members predicted rates to be steady or higher this year, with about half expecting at least one rate increase and a third expecting two or more hikes. Fed rate cuts have generally been good for stocks, with the market typically generating positive returns over the year following an initial rate cut.
How Much of a $100,000 Retirement Income Do You Actually Get to Spend?
The CPI-U reached 335.123 in May 2026, up 4.2% from a year earlier. A $100,000 ordinary-income BDC payout in a taxable account would not automatically surrender $18,000 to $22,000 to federal tax for a single filer. If it were the retiree’s only income, the $16,100 standard deduction would leave $83,900 of taxable income and about $13,170 of federal tax before state tax. The average U.S. household spent $78,535 in 2024, according to the latest full-year BLS data.
Why WD-40 Is Proving Great Businesses Never Go Out of Style
WD-40 Company reported robust fiscal Q3 results, with revenue rising 24% and net income growing 44%, driven by strength across most regions and product lines. WD-40 Company had a robust fiscal Q3, with revenue growing 24% to over $195 million, nearly 1,300 basis points (bps) above MarketBeat's reported consensus.
Goldman Sachs flags Fed rate outlook as key risk for U.S. stocks ahead of CPI
The investment bank expects June core inflation to rise 0.17% month-on-month, below consensus, with headline inflation declining 0.11% as lower energy prices offset price pressures. Goldman forecasts the Fed will keep rates unchanged this year, markets are pricing in nearly 50 basis points of tightening through mid-2027, creating a key risk for equities ahead of next week's CPI release and the July 28-29 policy meeting. Options markets imply the S&P 500 could move about 0.8% following Tuesday's CPI release and roughly 1.1% through the end of the week. Within the market, Goldman expects companies with weak balance sheets and high floating-rate debt to remain particularly sensitive to shifts in interest-rate expectations
Retirees Get an 11-Year Window to Convert to a Roth at Low Rates. The Average One Converts $0.
The average IRA balance for Baby Boomers at $257,002 and for Gen X at $103,952. Personal savings have fallen to 3.9% of disposable income as of Q1 2026, down from a peak of 6.2% in Q1 2024. Average annual expenditures reached $78,535 in 2024, up from $72,973 in 2022. The LSEG/Ipsos Primary Consumer Sentiment Index printed 49.6 in May 2026, reflecting ongoing stability but caution. Inflation is not offering much cover either. CPI is running at 1.6% year over year as of May 2026, below the Fed's 2% target, which means bracket indexing will move slowly, and the current bracket structure is roughly the one retirees will face for the next several years. The effective Federal Funds Rate at 3.63%.
Procter & Gamble (PG) Plans 7,000 Job Cuts To Help Offset Tariff Costs
Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) plans to cut up to 7,000 non-manufacturing roles by FY2027. The planned reduction of up to 7,000 non manufacturing roles signals that Procter & Gamble is leaning harder on cost productivity to offset tariff related pressure rather than relying solely on higher prices.
Gold Declines Amid Renewed Strikes in U.S.-Iran Conflict
The renewed strikes in the Middle East likely raise the prospect of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates higher for longer to combat stubbornly high inflation, ANZ said.
There’s no escape from inflation as a perfect storm of the ‘Godzilla’ El Niño, AI boom, Trump tariffs, fuel crunch, and Ukraine war keep prices high
That will keep Wall Street on high alert for rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, with policymakers growing impatient after five years of inflation exceeding their 2% target. By the end of the year, investors see 85% odds that the central bank will raise rates at least once, with a nearly 50% chance that two hikes or more are likely.
China June exports growth set to cool, but AI demand underpins overall strength
Exports from the world's second-largest economy are forecast to have risen 18.2% year-on-year in dollar terms, according to 20 economists in a Reuters poll, cooling from 19.4% in May. Global AI investment is providing a critical buffer for China's $20 trillion economy, helping manufacturers withstand mounting pressures from Middle East conflict-related disruptions and a prolonged property downturn. Imports are expected to have risen 24% year-on-year, slowing from 27.4%, with South Korea's export figures - a proxy for Chinese imports - suggesting demand was driven by purchases of semiconductors and other components for technology products rather than a wider recovery in domestic demand. Exports helped China outperform expectations in the first quarter, but the economy has since lost steam, reinforcing concerns that sluggish domestic demand leaves growth increasingly exposed to any softening in external markets and bolstering the argument for further policy support. China will publish its GDP figure for the second quarter on Wednesday. The government has set a growth target of between 4.5% and 5%.
It's Been Over 7 Weeks, and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh Has Failed to Make Any Headway on a Key Central Bank Reform
Between August 2008 and March 2022, the Fed's balance sheet, comprised primarily of long-term U.S. Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, ballooned from nearly $900 billion to almost $9 trillion. Though a period of quantitative tightening reduced the balance sheet to approximately $6.54 trillion in late 2025, it's been expanding since the start of 2026. As of May 27, the Federal Reserve's banks collectively held $6.704 trillion in assets. By July 1, this figure has grown by roughly $20 billion to $6.725 trillion.
Bitcoin
Strategy Just Sold $216 Million of Bitcoin to Pay Its Dividends. Is Its Business Breaking?
Strategy accumulated Bitcoin for several years, becoming one of its largest holders and issuing preferred shares that pay investors generous dividends with fixed yields. Shockingly, Michael Saylor recently confirmed that Strategy sold 3,588 BTC for approximately $216 million to fund dividends on its preferred stock and to top off the company's cash reserve.
Japan's 'invest locally' plan likely to spur demand for assets like bitcoin, gold
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said something early Friday that strengthened the long-term bullish case for perceived store-of-value, limited-supply assets like bitcoin Katayama said the government is actively steering the $2 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world’s largest pension fund, to substantially increase its investments in domestic financial assets, including government bonds. The GPIF holds $931 billion in foreign assets, including $232.1 billion in U.S. Treasuries.
Japanese lender launches Bitcoin-backed loans of up to $6.2M
Japanese lender CRYL has launched Bitcoin-backed loans of up to 1 billion yen ($6.2 million), allowing individuals and businesses to raise fiat currency without selling their BTC. On Thursday, the company announced that borrowers can access between 1 million yen ($6,200) and 1 billion yen ($6.2 million) at annual rates of 3.5% to 7%. The loans carry collateral ratios of 40% to 60%. They run for one year and can be used for expenses, including taxes, business funding and property purchases. Fintertech’s product shows that Bitcoin-backed lending has been available in Japan for several years. The company’s website currently lists loans for individuals and businesses with annual rates of 4% to 8%, a 50% collateral ratio and a minimum borrowing amount of 5 million yen ($31,000).
Circle secures U.S. trust bank approval in crypto expansion
Circle (CRCL), the issuer of the world's second largest stablecoin USDC, received approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank. National trust banks are authorized to provide users with custody and fiduciary services but do not accept consumer deposits or make loans like traditional commercial banks. Circle’s USDC is the second-largest U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin with about $73.2 billion in circulation. Tether’s USDT is the largest with $184.1 billion. Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch.
OKX, MetaMask, Matter Labs back dispute resolution court for AI agents
Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch.
Here’s what happened in crypto today
The amount of Ether bridged to Robinhood’s new layer-2 blockchain exceeded $70 million in just the first week, according to Token Terminal. If adoption continues, the chain could become a meaningful new source of demand for ETH, said Token Terminal on Thursday.
TeraWulf Eyes $3.5B Debt Raise for Anthropic AI Data Center Buildout
The initial term is expected to generate about $19 billion in contracted lease revenue. Capacity is scheduled to begin coming online in the second half of 2027, with the site expected to reach its full 401 MW deployment by early 2028. TeraWulf has already leaned heavily on debt markets to finance that transition. The company raised $3.2 billion in October 2025 and another $1.3 billion in December as its data center strategy expanded. The latest financing plan puts another large capital commitment behind that shift.
Hyundai becomes first major South Korean company to introduce internal stablecoin transfers
$20,000 from its U.S. unit to its Mexico unit using USDT, cutting transfer times to about seven minutes from the usual three to four hours via traditional banking. The companies plan to expand the project to additional cross-border payment corridors and currencies, the blockchain company told CoinDesk in an email interview. Project leader Hyundai Card, the manufacturer's credit card unit, said the process took an average of seven minutes, compared with the three to four hours typically required through traditional banking networks. Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch.
Crypto Biz: How stablecoins found their niche
Strategy sold 3,588 Bitcoin worth $216 million to fund preferred stock dividends, marking its largest sale since adopting BTC as its treasury asset. The combined value of eight actively traded euro stablecoins climbed to nearly $674 million, while trading volume increased 43% over the same period.
Real estate mogul sees a way out of rising U.S. home prices
Fidelity Digital Assets reports that home prices in the United States in dollars have risen by more than $100,000 since 2020. But their cost in Bitcoin (BTC) has dropped to roughly one-tenth of what it was. As per Fidelity's analysis, a typical U.S. house has fallen from costing more than 50 BTC to about 5 BTC over that stretch. Bitcoin, as of press time, was trading at $64,435, which means in terms of Bitcoin value, the cost has dropped from $3,221,750 to $322,175. Fidelity's Zack Wainwright argues the shift reflects currency debasement rather than genuine asset appreciation, since the issue lies with the unit of account rather than the asset itself.
COIN Vs. MSTR: Coinbase Has the Structurally Superior Approach to Bitcoin Over MicroStrategy
COIN maintained 13 straight positive EBITDA quarters while MSTR absorbed a $14 billion unrealized bitcoin loss and $230 million in fixed quarterly preferred dividends. Coinbase posted Q1 revenue of $1.41 billion, down 30.54% YoY, with an EPS loss of -$1.49 driven by a $482.4 million markdown on crypto held for investment. The bright spot: subscription and services delivered $583.5 million, or 44% of net revenue, including $305 million in stablecoin revenue. MicroStrategy reported revenue of just $124.30 million and an EPS of -$38.25, missing the -$18.98 consensus by 101.5%. The quarter included a $14.46 billion unrealized loss on bitcoin under fair value accounting.
Strategy (MSTR) Sells 3,588 Bitcoin And Rewrites Its Treasury Playbook
Strategy, listed as NasdaqGS:MSTR, sold 3,588 Bitcoins to fund preferred stock dividends and support liquidity. The company introduced a Bitcoin Monetization Program authorizing up to $1.25 billion in potential Bitcoin sales. This move marks a shift from a strict buy and hold Bitcoin approach to an active treasury management policy. Strategy enters this policy shift with its share price at $93.89 and a mixed return profile that includes a decline of 40.3% year to date and 77.7% over the past year, alongside a gain of 103.3% over three years and 73.5% over five years. For investors, the new Bitcoin Monetization Program changes how the company may use its large Bitcoin position relative to shareholder payouts and liquidity needs. Looking ahead, the key issue for shareholders is how consistently Strategy uses Bitcoin sales to support dividends and other capital needs, and how that interacts with future market conditions for both the stock and the cryptocurrency.
Why the Pure Bitcoin-Miner Fund Crushed the Blockchain Basket, Up 184%
Over the trailing 12 months, WGMI returned 111.45%, with year-to-date performance of 37.52%. That is a wide gap versus BLOK over the same window. The June 2026 distribution was $0.0799 per share, down sharply from $0.40756 in December 2025 and $2.5903 in December 2024.
Weekly Wrap: Bitcoin Has A Winning Week
Strategy Sells $216 Million Worth Of Bitcoin: Strategy (NASDAQ: $MSTR ) increased its Bitcoin sales, offloading $216 million U.S. worth of the largest cryptocurrency. Strategy, led by Chairman Michael Saylor, sold 3,588 Bitcoin for net proceeds of $216 million U.S., reducing its holdings to 843,775 BTC, according to a U.S. regulatory filing. The company said proceeds from the Bitcoin sales will be used to fund dividend payments on its preferred stock (NASDAQ: $STRC ). Strategy now owns 843,775 BTC acquired for $63.69 billion U.S. Losses From Crypto Hacks Fall Below $1 Billion: A new report says that financial losses stemming from cryptocurrency hacks were below $1 billion U.S. in this year’s first half. The report from Immunefi says that cryptocurrency projects lost $972 million U.S. from 207 hacks in the first half of 2026. The total losses were less than half of what the industry lost in the first six months of 2025, says the report. Anthropic Leases TeraWulf Data Centre: Artificial intelligence (A.I.) startup company Anthropic has signed a 20-year lease to use a TeraWulf (NASDAQ: $WULF ) data centre located in Kentucky. The data center will have capacity for 400 megawatts of power when it comes online in 2027. The lease is expected to generate around $19 billion U.S. of revenue for TeraWulf, a cryptocurrency mining company that has pivoted to A.I. data centres. Ethereum Network Prepares For Rebuild: Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has announced a new multi-year plan to rebuild nearly every major part of the cryptocurrency’s network. Buterin is calling the rebuild “Lean Ethereum” and says it will be the biggest update and change to the ETH network since the 2022 “Merge.” The ambitious new plan is a technical framework for the network's next decade, built around superior cryptography and security. Binance Offers Yield To Bitcoin Owners: Crypto exchange Binance has introduced a new product that offers yield to owners of Bitcoin. Holders of BTC looking to earn yield on their investment without selling any of it can maximize their returns through Binance’s new “BTC Yield” product. Users deposit their Bitcoin into BTC Yield and receive an internal position called “BTCY.” Binance holds the deposited Bitcoin as collateral while systematically selling BTC call options. Gemini Offers Zero-Commission Stock Trading: Crypto exchange Gemini (NASDAQ: $GEMI ) is offering zero-commission stock trading in the U.S. Gemini, run by twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, is offering 0% commission on stock trading in most U.S. states. The move comes as crypto exchanges such as Gemini look to expand their offerings beyond Bitcoin to stocks, bonds, and commodities trading. Polymarket Launches U.S. Campaign: Leading prediction market Polymarket is launching a marketing campaign in the U.S. as it re-enters America after a four-year ban. The company has started a campaign to persuade policymakers, regulators, and users that it is a trustworthy organization. Kraken Relaunches Mobile App With Agentic Trading: Crypto exchange Kraken is relaunching its mobile app with new agentic trading features. In a blog post, Kraken said, “Unlike other trading platforms, this won't be an AI assistant or a copilot bolted onto the old version of the app.”
Bitcoin analysts predict $300,000–$500,000 price in 2029. The math says no
Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch.
New Memecoin CASHCAT Put Robinhood Chain Ahead of Hyperliquid in DEX Volume
$492.7 billion in quarterly volume and a record ~$161 million in net revenue in Q1 2026, the highest single-quarter figure ever recorded by a DeFi protocol, making it the benchmark every new chain was being measured against. The token's price action generated approximately $98 million in 24-hour volume on its own, about 17% of Robinhood Chain's entire daily DEX figure.
Circle wins final regulatory approval to establish US trust bank, shares rise
Circle said the approval places its trust bank under direct federal oversight by the OCC, the primary regulator for lenders and national trust banks. USDC has a market value of about $73.2 billion, according to CoinGecko. Circle shares have fallen 20.5% so far this year, through last close, giving it a market capitalization of about $15.7 billion, according to LSEG data.
Bitcoin treasury company Empery Digital sold about half of BTC stack
Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch.
Ethereum climbs 3% on tokenization boom: Can bulls push ETH price past $1,800?
Ethereum dominates the RWA (real-world assets) market with a 47% market share, according to Rwa.xyz data. Excluding stablecoins, notable highlights include SKY’s Tether Gold (XAUT), Ondo US Dollar Yield (USDY), and Franklin Templeton’s government bonds (iBENJI). Leaders among tokenized stocks include Strategy’s PP variable (STRCx) from xStocks and Circle Group (CRCLon) from Ondo. Leon Waidmann, head of Research at Lisk, noted that for the first time in history, the Total Value Locked (TVL) on Ethereum at $260 billion surpassed the market cap of Ether, currently at $210 billion. According to Waidmann, this distortion signals that “ETH is underpriced,” as the current relative valuation is lower than in the 2022 bear market. Decentralized applications (DApps) on Ethereum generated $11 million in weekly revenue, down from $20 million in the first quarter of 2026. Notable mentions include Sky at $3.1 million, Titan Builder with $2.4 million, and Chalink’s $1.1 million. Arkham Intelligence flagged an ETH 20,500 withdrawal on Thursday worth $36 million from Galaxy Digital to a new wallet, a pattern that matches previous Tom Lee’s BitMine Immersion (BMNR US) purchases. BitMine added ETH 198,370 in the past 30 days alone, while the treasury company now holds $10.3 billion in reserves.
Bitcoin nearing late stages of bear market: Jamie Coutts, Real Vision
Bitcoin ETFs end 'most overwhelming' $2.7B sell-off amid new $85M net outflow
The UK has finally shown it’s serious about crypto
Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch.
Bitcoin Dips Below $60,000 and History Points to What Comes Next
Bitcoin had good years in 2019, 2020, and 2021 before collapsing entirely in 2022. Bitcoin had good years in 2015, 2016, and 2017, before collapsing entirely in 2018. That's why the current period of significant price decline doesn't worry me as much as it does other crypto investors. In simple terms, Bitcoin was "due" for a year-long collapse, and now we're seeing it play out in real time. Standard Chartered, for example, is now convinced that Bitcoin will hit $100,000 by year-end.
Crypto IPO market stalls as capital rotates to AI and macro uncertainty weighs
Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch. Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch.
COPX vs. CPER: Do Copper Miners or Copper Futures Best Play the Electrification Squeeze?
COPX delivered 449% over 10 years versus CPER's 160%, as mining equity's operating leverage amplified copper's electrification-driven price gains. CPER's K-1 tax form, 1.06% fees, and contango roll drag make it better suited for real-asset hedgers than electrification-thesis investors. Over the past decade, that distinction produced a return gap of nearly 300 points. CPER is a purer instrument. It holds copper futures contracts tracking the SummerHaven Copper Index and issues a K-1 tax form rather than a 1099 because it is structured as a commodity pool.
Bitcoin treasury company sells 48% of holdings to repay debt
Empery disclosed the sale in a July 10 filing and said it sold the Bitcoin from May 7 to July 10 at an average price of $62,200 per BTC. Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, sold 3,588 BTC for $216 million between June 29 and July 5. The company said it used the proceeds to fund distributions on preferred stock and replenish its U.S. dollar reserve. As of July 10, Strategy held 843,775 BTC.
Bitcoin’s BIP 110 fork deadline nears with miner support at zero
Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch.
Ripple once weighed shutting down and handing XRP to shareholders, CEO says
Ripple's legal costs at $150 million over the four-year fight. Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch.
Bitcoin, ether little changed as U.S. launches fresh Iran strikes
Bitcoin held near $63,800 on Saturday after the U.S. launched its third round of strikes on Iran this week and Tehran declared the Strait of Hormuz closed "until further notice." The largest cryptocurrency was down 0.3% over 24 hours and up 2% on the week. Ether was similarly quiet at about $1,800, up 2% on the week. Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch.
Circle Receives New Regulatory Approval for National Trust Bank. Here's What It Could Mean For CRCL Stock
Circle earns interest on those reserves -- $652.5 million last quarter. This makes up the vast majority of Circle's total revenue. By owning a federally chartered trust bank, Circle will be able to manage its own reserves, something it currently pays others to do for it. Those fees would no longer be flowing out, boosting Circle's bottom line.
Is Bitcoin a Good Crypto for Long-Term Investors?
In 2025, $3.6 trillion in value was moved across the Bitcoin blockchain. This represents a deeply liquid system working as intended. Bitcoin's most compelling characteristic is its scarcity. There will only ever be 21 million units in circulation. This is a hard supply cap that's etched in its software and enforced by the network's participants. It has not changed and won't unless these stakeholders want to undermine the integrity of Bitcoin. The U.S. operates with nearly $40 trillion in federal debt (and counting).
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Has a New Solution to America's $39 Trillion Debt Problem. (Hint: It Involves Bitcoin.)
The U.S., the world's most dominant economy, has $39 trillion in federal debt. This figure, which doesn't include the $120 trillion in unfunded liabilities (related mainly to Social Security and Medicare) that the Congressional Budget Office estimates the U.S. will have in about 30 years, has more than doubled in the past decade. It now represents 123% of gross domestic product (GDP). The government's massive balance sheet introduces buying power, which can expand the Bitcoin strategic reserve. At the end of the day, the only viable solutions to the almost $40 trillion federal debt burden are two wildly unpopular courses of action: budget cuts and higher taxes.
Is this Bitcoin's worst bear market ever? The numbers tell a surprising story
Spot Bitcoin ETFs, which attracted $35 billion in inflows through 2024 and early 2025, have since recorded consecutive weeks of net outflows. $48,300-that is Bitcoin's Investor Price, the level where every major bear market bottom has historically formed over the past 15 years, calculated by stripping out permanently lost coins to find the market's true cost basis.
Signs of life?: State of Crypto
Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch.
Strategy's Saylor needs clarity in BTC pivot message to convince investors: StanChart
The STRC preferred shares were formulated to hold a price of $100 apiece. Standard Charter’s global head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, believes recent Strategy’s actions — and Saylor's manner of communicating them — “are muddying the waters for BTC near-term.” “We think effective communication of MSTR’s new strategy (using BTC to back STRC) is key to reassuring markets that wholesale selling is unlikely; this should in turn support BTC prices,” Kendrick wrote in a note to clients on Friday. “Indeed, if this signalling proves effective, it should remove the need for MSTR to actually sell any BTC by supporting STRC’s price,” he said. The company is slated to report second-quarter earnings on July 30, with analysts consensus of $4.28 per share, according to Yahoo Finance data.
iShares Ethereum Trust ETF vs Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF: Is Diversification a Winning Crypto Strategy?
The iShares fund provides a targeted bet on the Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) ecosystem, while the Hashdex fund tracks a market-cap-weighted index of Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) and other prominent digital assets. Both funds are competitively priced with an expense ratio of 0.25%, which is at the lower end for crypto ETFs. They differ considerably in scale as the iShares fund manages $4.9 billion in assets under management (AUM), offering significantly higher liquidity than the Hashdex fund. The fund has quickly gained scale, currently managing approximately $4.9 billion in AUM. Launched in 2025, the fund's largest positions include Bitcoin at 78.5%, Ethereum at 11.4%, and Ripple's XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) at 5.3%.
Peter Schiff Says the Biggest Market Crash Will Not Start With Bitcoin, But Here
The 10-year Treasury yield sits near 4.5%, while the 30-year has climbed toward 5%, according to Treasury figures. Rising yields lift borrowing costs everywhere. Schiff argues that this would pressure stocks, deepen a housing affordability problem, and slow growth. The average 30-year mortgage already sits at 6.49%, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey, a level that keeps many buyers away. Bitcoin has held up better than many of Schiff's critics expected. The token trades near $64,200, with a market cap around $1.29 trillion. Even so, it sits roughly 49% below its record of $126,080 from October 2025. It has started selling Bitcoin to fund dividends on those securities.
Is the "Solana Summer" Finally Here?
That massive influx of users and activity is spurring some investors to wonder whether the chain's explosive "Solana Summer" of 2021 might return in 2026. One big driver of this new flurry of activity on Solana is its quickly expanding base of tokenized assets, which currently totals around $3.3 billion. As of early June, Solana accounted for roughly 97% of on-chain tokenized stock trading volume.
Top Value Investor Bill Miller IV Says Bitcoin Is Undervalued. So How Much Higher Can Bitcoin Go This Year?
With Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) down 50% from its all-time highs, the decision to invest in cryptocurrency has become tremendously polarizing. Some investors have already thrown in the towel, convinced that higher returns are able to be found in sectors such as AI. The problem, quite frankly, is that it's getting harder and harder to make the case that Bitcoin has any intrinsic value. If it's a "store of value," then why is its price collapsing? If it's a "means of exchange," then why is almost nobody using Bitcoin to make everyday purchases? If it's a long-term investment asset, then why does it produce no cash flows? The value of Bitcoin seems to be based on nothing more than investor sentiment, meaning that its value could theoretically fall all the way to zero. However, as Miller points out, there is one objective reason why Bitcoin has tremendous value. As a non-inflationary digital currency, Bitcoin is arguably a sounder form of money than fiat currencies, which tend to lose their purchasing power over time. Add in the fact that the U.S. government continues to grow its $36 trillion debt load at a prodigious rate, and it's obvious why many investors are losing faith in the U.S. dollar. That was, quite frankly, the reason Bitcoin and gold became focal points of Wall Street's "debasement trade" last year. Spooked by the prospect of higher tariffs and rampant inflation, investors started moving their money out of fiat currencies and into Bitcoin, gold, and precious metals. So, as Miller suggests, various forms of this "debasement trade" should continue to propel Bitcoin higher for the foreseeable future. On the Kalshi prediction platform, for example, traders currently give Bitcoin a 14% chance of hitting $100,000 this year.
Robinhood L2 sparks ETH optimism, Saylor 'muddies waters.' Hodler's Digest, July 5-12, 2026
Ethereum is also getting a boost from its 47% market share of Real World Assets, according to Rwa.xyz data. Leon Waidmann, head of Research at Lisk, noted the Total Value Locked (TVL) on Ethereum of $260 billion has surpassed the $210 billion market cap of Ether.
Why Strategy Stock Collapsed In The First Half of 2026
Shares of Strategy (MSTR +0.80%) -- formerly MicroStrategy -- have fallen by 42.8% in the first half of 2026, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The stated value of its Bitcoin assets is over $50 billion at the current Bitcoin price of $64,000, but Strategy has $22.2 billion in liabilities, including a massive amount of preferred stock with double-digit annual interest payments, resulting in over $1 billion in funding requirements each year.
Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs Flip Positive After 8 Weeks: Will Price React?
Spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) both turned positive in the week ending July 10, ending eight straight weeks of net outflows. According to SoSoValue data, Bitcoin funds pulled $197.40 million, and Ethereum funds added $84.42 million. The twin reversal followed a stretch that had drained billions from the products since mid-May. The turn capped a punishing run for both products. Bitcoin ETFs had shed money every week since May 15, with redemptions peaking at $1.79 billion in the week ending June 26. Ethereum funds followed the same path. Their heaviest week also fell on June 26, when $273.34 million exited the funds. With the latest recovery, Bitcoin net assets climbed to $77.42 billion by July 10, while Ethereum assets recovered to $9.59 billion. Momentum had already been building at the start of the month. Spot Bitcoin ETFs drew $221.72 million on July 2, ending a 10-day redemption run before the weekly figures turned green.
Bitcoin ETFs draw $197M, snap 8-week outflow streak
US-listed spot Ether ETFs also broke their eight-week losing streak, with $84.42 million in net inflows for the week ended Friday, led by BlackRock and Fidelity’s Ether funds. The inflows paled in comparison with the $1.2 billion in net outflows since May 11.
Bitcoin holds near $63,800 as war-driven selloff hits everything but crypto
Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch.
AI microbusinesses could drive $262B in stablecoin volume by 2033: Swyftx
In a second-quarter industry report, Swyftx estimated the global gig and freelance payments market could reach $2.1 trillion by 2033, with AI-native workers accounting for $775 billion. Stablecoin transfers using Ethereum layer-2 networks can cut those fees by 80% to 90%, saving the average freelancer about 86% per year in transfer fees, Swyftx said in an example. The institutional settlement layer beneath this — over-the-counter liquidity, custody and yield services for the platforms routing these payments — could capture a significant new revenue stream.
Michael Saylor Hints at More Bitcoin Purchases With 'Orange Dots' — Analyst Sees 'Great Opportunity' in MSTR Despite the 'Mocking'
Market Net Asset Value is calculated by dividing the Strategy's Enterprise Value by the total market value of the Bitcoin it holds. The indicator tracks whether investors are paying a premium or a discount for the Michael Saylor-led firm's Bitcoin treasury. The previous bear market, the mNAV was way worse than current conditions and he [Saylor] has even strengthened his entire position. As of this writing, Strategy sits on unrealized losses worth over $10 billion on its BTC holdings.
Live markets: Bitcoin slips below $63,000 in an Asian-session leverage flush
Bitcoin fell to about $62,800 on Monday, down 1.4% over 24 hours, after sliding from roughly $64,300 during Asian morning hours, per CoinDesk data. Nothing new drove it. Bitcoin has traded between roughly $59,000 and $66,000 for a month, and the Asian-session drop was a leverage flush inside that range. The liquidations were minor, running at about a sixth of what the market recorded at its worst over the past 30 days, per CoinGlass. Bitcoin has traded as crypto's highest-beta risk asset while the AI and chip trade set the tone for global risk appetite, and analysts at Anchorage Digital attribute roughly 30% of the pressure on bitcoin to capital rotating into AI.
Bitcoin Spot Demand Hits -100K BTC, Signaling Weak Market Recovery: Analyst
Spot demand hit negative 273,000 BTC in mid-June; recovery to negative 100,000 BTC reflects stabilization, not reversal. Bitcoin's spot demand, measured by comparing new BTC issuance against the change in supply held for more than one year, has remained in negative territory since December 2025. In mid-June it hit a negative extreme of negative 273,000 BTC, its worst reading of the current cycle, according to CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost. As of this week the figure has recovered to approximately negative 100,000 BTC, still reflecting a meaningful absence of genuine buyer interest in the underlying asset. Bitcoin's cumulative volume delta (CVD) shifted from buyer dominance early in the week to net selling of $612 million on July 7 and $714 million on July 8 as macro headwinds reasserted themselves.
U.S. inflation, second-quarter earnings reports: Crypto Week Ahead
Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch.
Semiconductor
AMD Just Out-Earned Intel in the Data Center. Here's What That Means for Both Stocks.
AMD's first-quarter data-center revenue rose 57% year over year to $5.8 billion. That was the standout line in a strong quarter. Total revenue climbed 38% to $10.3 billion, and data center is now the company's largest and fastest-growing business. Intel's data center and AI group is still sizable, generating $5.1 billion in first-quarter revenue, up 22% year over year.
Historic U.S. Debut For Another AI Winner
Shares of South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix (SKHY) are set to start trading on the Nasdaq today, and the debut is making some serious waves. Priced at $149 per share, or raising a total of $26.5B, the American Depositary Receipt offering marks the largest-ever listing by a foreign company in the U.S. The issuance was even seven times oversubscribed, as the firm's high-bandwidth memory chips continue to power the infrastructure of the AI revolution. SA commentary: "SKHY is about 32% of the DRAM market (57% of HBM) and counts Nvidia (NVDA) as an anchor customer, providing it with 70% of its HBM supply. Its HBM revenue as a percent of total is about 14% vs. Micron (MU) at 11%, which may explain the slightly higher margins," noted analyst Ricardo Fernandez. "Once SKHY is ADR listed, I believe it should close the valuation gap with Micron (MU) and perhaps earn a premium due to its larger market share."
Memory Market Expert: “SK Hynix Is Bigger, Cheaper and Closer to NVIDIA.” Inside Its $26.5 Billion Nasdaq Debut
NVIDIA's $82B quarterly revenue and Micron's 346% year-over-year sales surge confirm AI chips are driving an unprecedented memory demand cycle. SK Hynix controls 58% of the HBM market, and its $26.5B Nasdaq debut finally gives U.S. investors direct access to NVIDIA's most critical chip supplier. Partsinevelos noted revenue is expected to triple to $235 billion this year, with the company committing over $720 billion in capital investment over the coming years, primarily in South Korea. Micron posted Q3 FY2026 revenue of $41.456 billion, up 345.7% year over year, with non-GAAP diluted EPS of $25.11 and GAAP gross margin of 84.6%. NVIDIA reported Q1 FY2027 revenue of $81.62 billion, up 85.2% year over year, with Data Center revenue of $75.25 billion and total supply-related commitments of $119.0 billion.
Chief Investment Strategist: “We Are Spending Almost 3% of GDP on AI” as Stocks Tune Out Global Conflict on “Astronomical Investment”
NVIDIA's Data Center revenue surged 92% to $75 billion while Micron shares soared 248% year to date, both validating Pride's AI spending thesis. PSEG disclosed 11,800 MW in data center load inquiries yet trades near its 52-week low, while Honeywell's Building Automation grew 8% on data center demand. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) reported Q1 FY2027 revenue of $81.61 billion, up 85.2% year over year, with Data Center revenue of $75.25 billion, up 92%, and networking up 199% year over year.
Jim Cramer Says SK Hynix Analysts Must Raise Numbers: What It Means for the Biggest Nasdaq IPO in Years
Cramer wants SK Hynix analysts to raise estimates Monday, as Micron beat consensus by 18% and NVIDIA guides $91 billion for Q2 revenue. Scattered syndicate allocations risk choppy day-one trading, but SK Hynix targets 30% HBM CAGR as AI memory demand surges 96% this year.
Intel’s $200 Billion Turnaround Plan Is Under the Microscope
Intel's management team flagged this past quarter as the sixth consecutive session of revenue above expectations. The segment mix is where the $200 billion bet earns its keep. Data Center and AI revenue reached $5.052 billion (up 22% year over year), Intel Foundry revenue hit $5.421 billion (up 16%), and Client Computing came in at $7.727 billion, up 1%. With a strong balance sheet supported by cash and equivalents climbed to $17.247 billion, up 92.77% year over year, and shareholders' equity rising 25.29% to $124.989 billion, I think Intel's CFO David Zinsner is on to something big when he told analysts the company's "collective AI-driven businesses now represent 60% of revenue and grew 40% year-over-year."
Nvidia Is the Cheapest It's Been Since 2019. Why Investors Should Load Up Now.
Nvidia maintains market-share dominance, holding 97% of the server graphics processing unit (GPU) market for artificial intelligence chips as of the end of 2025, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. The company reported record revenue of $81.6 billion just this past quarter, an 85% increase from the prior-year period. Data center revenue jumped 92%. This is not a company on the decline.
SanDisk Vs. Micron: Why One of These Memory Stocks is Much More Dangerous Than the Other
SanDisk's Q3 FY2026 revenue hit $5.95 billion, up 251% YoY, with non-GAAP EPS of $23.41 crushing the $14.66 consensus. Micron ran bigger and broader. Q3 FY2026 revenue reached $41.46 billion, up 345.7% YoY, with GAAP gross margin of 84.6% and seven consecutive EPS beats. Micron, by contrast, is the only U.S.-based memory manufacturer, spent $7.83 billion on capex last quarter, and has billions locked in Strategic Customer Agreements.
Bloomberg’s Daybreak Desk Says SK Hynix’s Record $26.5 Billion Nasdaq Debut Proves the AI Chip Boom Isn’t Cooling
Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) is the direct US-listed proxy for what SK Hynix does. In fiscal Q3 2026, Micron reported revenue of $41.456 billion, a 345.72% jump from the prior year, with non-GAAP EPS of $25.11 against a $20.2843 consensus. Cloud Memory contributed $13.769 billion and Core Data Center added another $11.524 billion. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) sits at the other end of the HBM supply chain as SK Hynix’s largest customer. Fiscal Q1 2027 revenue reached $81.62 billion, with the Data Center segment delivering $75.2 billion, up 20.7% quarter-over-quarter. Networking inside that number, driven by NVLink, InfiniBand, and Spectrum-X, hit $14.8 billion. KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) supplies the process control tools that make HBM stacking and advanced-node lithography commercially viable. Fiscal Q3 2026 revenue came in at $3.42 billion with non-GAAP EPS of $9.40, and the Semiconductor Process Control segment drove $3.08 billion of the total.
Analysts Think AI Demand Has No Ceiling And Raised AMD’s Price Target Again
Quick Read - Ruben Roy raised AMD's price target to $635 from $450, citing 57% YoY Data Center revenue growth to $5.8 billion in Q1 2026. Meta and OpenAI each committed 6 gigawatts of AMD Instinct GPU deployments, creating multi-year revenue visibility that anchors the $635 bull case. Q1 free cash flow hit $2.566 billion, up 252.96% YoY, funding buybacks and product reinvestment without dilution. Non-GAAP gross margin climbed to 55% with Q2 guided to 56%, letting earnings compound faster than revenue.
SK Hynix Nasdaq debut: ADR opens at $170 after $26.5B offering
Proceeds from the offering will fund the purchase of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines and the construction of new production facilities, according to the company's filings.
XSD vs. SMH: Should Your Semiconductor ETF Be Equal-Weight or Cap-Weight?
SMH's edge includes direct exposure to TSM and ASML, foreign foundry and lithography names that XSD's U.S.-only mandate completely excludes. SMH is a concentrated wager that the mega-cap winners keep winning. Its top five holdings are AMD at 10.33%, Broadcom at 9.57%, Micron at 9.39%, Taiwan Semiconductor at 8.75%, and NVIDIA at 8.40%. Add ASML and Intel and roughly 55% of the portfolio sits in seven names tied to AI training, advanced packaging, and leading-edge lithography. If hyperscaler capex stays elevated and the biggest fabs keep pricing power, SMH captures nearly all of that upside. XSD is the opposite thesis: breadth wins when the AI trade broadens. Its modified equal-weight index caps positions near parity, so the top names, Marvell Technology at 3.06%, Power Integrations at 3.05%, and Cirrus Logic at 2.98%, sit next to analog, power, RFID, and FPGA suppliers like Silicon Labs, Lattice, and Impinj. That construction bets on small and mid-cap semis catching up as edge AI, automotive silicon, and industrial chip cycles recover.
SK hynix Surges to Open at $170, Topping SpaceX’s Debut
The $26.5 billion print puts SK hynix in a category shared with only a handful of megadeals. For a Korean memory maker already flagged in filings as a trillion-dollar memory company, the size of the raise reflects both scarcity value in high-bandwidth memory supply and the depth of U.S. institutional demand for AI-adjacent hardware exposure. A book covered seven times over signals that underwriters had room to price higher, and the pricing at $149 leaves that unmet demand visible in the aftermarket. It also gives SK hynix a dollar-denominated equity currency it can deploy against a global capital expenditure cycle that has been running in tens of billions annually across the memory industry. Shares opened at $170, a better than 14% gain from the $149 offer price. That opening gap topped the debut of SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX), which priced at $135 and opened at $150 for an 11% gap.
Nasdaq Composite Treads Water While SK Hynix Makes a $26 Billion Splash
Meta apparently expects to build out AI computing capacity at roughly half the cost Wall Street had modeled. In-house hardware is an important part of the cost-saving program. Meta is ramping up the production of its own custom AI chips with design assistance from Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) and manufacturing services by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) later this year. SK Hynix supplies high-bandwidth memory chips to Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and other AI hardware makers, positioning it as a direct competitor to all-American rival Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU).
SK Hynix raises $26.5B in the biggest foreign IPO in US history, is urged to build new US fabs
SK Hynix sold 177.9 million American depositary shares (ADRs) at $149 each, structured so US investors can buy in at roughly a tenth of what a full share costs in Seoul. Per its filing, the money raised from eager US investors will go to three places: a new fab in South Korea (being built now to address the worldwide shortage of memory cause by AI); a new packaging facility in that country; and EUV scanners, the machines that make next-generation chips possible.
Does AI Rebound and China Chip Access Shift Change The Bull Case For Lam Research (LRCX)?
Lam Research Investment Narrative Recap To be a Lam Research shareholder today, you need to believe that AI-driven wafer fab spending and government-backed onshoring will keep supporting demand for its etch and deposition tools, while the company manages heavy R&D needs and intense competition. The latest swing in the stock on China AI chip headlines and hyperscaler chip plans mainly affects sentiment around near term WFE orders rather than fundamentally changing the key near term catalyst or the core risk of customer and regional concentration. Lam Research's narrative projects $37.5 billion revenue and $12.4 billion earnings by 2029. This requires 20.0% yearly revenue growth and a roughly $5.7 billion earnings increase from $6.7 billion today.
Billionaire Tech CEO: Our $25 Billion Backlog Shows “The Demand Is Booked” as “We’ve Never Seen a Buildout Like This Since the Great Wall of China”
NVIDIA Has Committed $119 Billion to Meeting Future Demand NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction) posted Q1 FY2027 revenue of $81.615 billion, up 85.23% year over year, with Data Center revenue of $75.246 billion and Data Center Networking growth of 199%. Guidance for Q2 calls for $91.0 billion in revenue, and total supply-related commitments have reached $119.0 billion to serve demand “beyond the next several quarters.” CEO Jensen Huang called the buildout “the largest infrastructure expansion in human history” in the company’s Q1 FY2027 release. Shares trade around $202.78, up 24.66% over the past year. AMD’s Data Center Revenue Is Growing 57% AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) reported Q1 2026 revenue of $10.25B, with Data Center revenue up 57% to $5.78B. CEO Lisa Su said “leading customer forecasts exceeding our initial expectations” on the MI450 Series and Helios platforms, and the company disclosed a Meta partnership to deploy up to 6 gigawatts of AMD Instinct GPUs. AMD shares have run 155.29% year-to-date to $546.72, the clearest market vote that Feldman’s supply-tightness thesis is real. AI Demand Is Driving 60% of Equinix’s Largest Deals Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) closed 2025 with record annualized gross bookings of $474M (+42% YoY), and roughly 60% of the largest Q4 deals were driven by AI workloads. Management flagged 52 major expansion projects and roughly 1 GW added to powered land-under-control. CEO Adaire Fox-Martin: “Demand for our solutions has never been higher.” The stock is up 36.46% year to date. Digital Realty Just Signed the Biggest Hyperscale Lease in Its History Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) signed a 200-megawatt AI inference lease in Q1 2026, the largest hyperscale lease in company history, contributing to $707 million in annualized GAAP base rent bookings. It has roughly 1.2 GW under construction and 6.3 GW of buildable capacity in the pipeline, per its Q1 2026 release. The AI Buildout Is Being Compared to the Great Wall of China With Orders Already Booked
Missed MU’s Monster Rally? SOXX Holders Cashed In Too
Micron rose 247.66%. Over that exact same stretch, SOXX climbed 93.36%. The company just reported Q3 FY2026 revenue of $41.456 billion, a 345.72% year-over-year jump off a prior-year base of $9.30 billion. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra summed up the driver on the earnings call: “The memory industry has been structurally transformed by the proliferation of AI. We are only in the early innings.” He added that “DRAM and NAND industry demand continues to significantly exceed industry supply” and that tightness should persist beyond calendar 2027. For a wider view of how the same buildout is reshaping the market, our 7 Stocks Powering the AI Boom report walks through the businesses riding this wave.
Micron Jumps as Chip Sentiment Improves
Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) led a broad semiconductor and optical stock rally Thursday as rising U.S. factory investment helped investors look past the sector's recent sell-off. Micron jumped 8% after raising its planned U.S. manufacturing and technology investment to more than $250 billion through 2035, up from $200 billion. Sandisk surged 11% after Wedbush lifted its quarterly revenue estimate to $8.89 billion from $8 billion and adjusted EPS forecast to $37.64 from $32.01.
SK hynix surges on first day of trading on Wall Street
The Asian semiconductor giant's American depositary shares (ADSs) ended its first session at $168 after being priced at $149, with the listing on the tech-heavy Nasdaq index raising $26.5 billion. SK hynix listed through ADSs, which allow slices of foreign companies to be traded on US public markets. Samsung, SK hynix and Micron dominate the global market for the advanced components known as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), used in AI servers alongside other data-crunching semiconductors.
Micron–GM U.S. Chip Supply Pact Could Be A Game Changer For General Motors (GM)
General Motors' narrative projects $195.5 billion revenue and $10.8 billion earnings by 2029. This requires 1.9% yearly revenue growth and a $8.4 billion earnings increase from $2.4 billion today.
Advanced Micro Devices vs. Texas Instruments: Which Technology Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?
In FY 2025, revenue reached nearly $34.6 billion, representing a significant 34.3% increase over the previous year. During FY 2025, the company reported revenue of roughly $17.7 billion, which is a 13.0% increase from the prior year. The net margin was a robust 28.3%, reflecting the long-term profitability of its specialized chip portfolio. Free cash flow for the year was nearly $2.6 billion, helping support its long-term manufacturing investments. AMD faces volatility from export controls, particularly U.S. government regulations on shipping high-end AI chips to China. Texas Instruments faces intense pricing pressure from global competitors that may receive government incentives in Asia. Its business is highly sensitive to the economic cycles of the industrial and automotive markets, where demand can fluctuate suddenly. Furthermore, its heavy investment in internal manufacturing leads to high depreciation costs and financial sensitivity if factories are not fully utilized.
SK Hynix Just Raised $26.5 Billion in the Biggest U.S. IPO Ever by a Foreign Company. Here's What It Signals for the AI Memory Boom.
SK Hynix makes memory chips, including the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) that feeds data to the processors training and running AI models. And it is the leader in that market, holding 58% of HBM revenue in the first quarter of 2026, according to Counterpoint Research. Micron's revenue for its fiscal third quarter (the period ended May 28, 2026) was $41.5 billion -- up about 350% year over year, and up from $23.9 billion just one quarter earlier.
Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra Announces $250 Billion Investment for Expanded Artificial Intelligence (AI) Memory Chip Development
Secular AI demand is mitigating cyclicality in the memory market Micron's decision to increase investment in manufacturing may seem counterintuitive because memory markets have historically moved in tandem with PC and smartphone cycles. However, hyperscalers like Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta Platforms have demonstrated an insatiable appetite for AI infrastructure, including advanced memory chips. In particular, HBM stacks require large quantities of advanced DRAM wafers and sophisticated packaging. These are the areas that Micron's investments are targeting. Scaling output supports Micron's long-term goal of producing 40% of total DRAM domestically. The vision is to create a more durable growth trajectory, enabling the company to close the market-share gap with overseas rivals. Micron has been investing in U.S. manufacturing already In New York, the company is building a complex with up to four fabs focused on high-volume DRAM production. Meanwhile, in Idaho and Virginia, Micron is investing in further R&D to accelerate product development and modernize existing operations. By doubling down on existing infrastructure with this new multiyear build-out, Micron is quietly creating an end-to-end domestic ecosystem spanning wafer fabrication through advanced packaging. This playbook rivals the integrated operations long enjoyed by SK Hynix and Samsung in Asia. Micron's progression over the next several years should transform earlier piecemeal investments into a more cohesive platform purpose-built for sustained leadership in both DRAM and AI-optimized HBM, directly fueling the company's ongoing ascent throughout the AI infrastructure era.
Shares of Intel and AMD Have Plummeted in the Last Few Days. Is It Time to Panic?
During the first quarter, AMD's data center division grew 57% year over year to $5.8 billion in revenue. Once again, it was outperformed by TSMC, which saw revenue of $35.9 billion, rising 41% year over year. AMD trades for 70 times forward earnings, while its rival Nvidia trades for 22.8. The same goes for Intel, which trades for 100 times forward earnings compared to TSMC's 27.5.
Micron's Biggest Long-Term Growth Catalyst Has Nothing to Do With AI Data Centers
During the company's fiscal 2026 third-quarter call on June 24, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra told investors that humanoid robots are a much more promising opportunity for Micron than AI data centers. The supply shortages in the memory market will get worse if demand continues to accelerate. Barclays expects the market for humanoid robots to reach $200 billion in less than 10 years, while well-known tech bull Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities anticipates the industry will be worth trillions of dollars over the course of the next decade.
Apple CEO Tim Cook Announces $30 Billion Broadcom Deal to Produce 15 Billion Chips
Apple's deal with Broadcom exceeds $30 billion and is expected to produce more than 15 billion chips in the U.S. through 2031. Broadcom has a competitive edge in the ASIC market due to the company's design expertise and advanced manufacturing capabilities -- particularly in high-speed networking silicon that connects massive clusters of AI accelerators. Wall Street analysts estimate that Apple accounts for 20% of Broadcom's revenue.
Morning Bid: Lather, rinse, retaliate
Shares in Samsung Electronics slumped despite flagging a 19-fold jump in second-quarter operating profit on Tuesday.
5 Under the Radar AI Chip Stocks Powering the Data Center Boom
MRVL and ALAB have surged 187% and 151% YTD as hyperscaler capex floods into custom silicon and PCIe connectivity beyond GPUs. Cerebras locked a $20B OpenAI inference contract and a $1B working capital loan, making its 36% post-IPO pullback look like an entry point. ARM's royalty model now spans every major AI CPU, including NVIDIA Vera, Google Axion, and Microsoft Cobalt, with data center royalties more than doubling year over year. Q1 FY2027, reported May 27 put numbers behind the thesis. Revenue reached $2.418 billion, up 27.6% year over year, with the data center segment contributing $1.83 billion, or 76% of revenue, up 27% year over year. Management guided Q2 to $2.70 billion. Q4 FY2026, reported May 6 delivered revenue of $1.49 billion, up 20.1% year over year, with licensing revenue of $819 million, up 29% and data center royalty more than doubling year over year. The company launched the Scorpio X-Series 320-lane Smart Fabric Switch targeting a $20B merchant scale-up market by 2030. Q1 2026 was a statement quarter. Revenue reached $308.36 million, up 93.4% year over year and 14% sequentially, non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.61 versus $0.54 expected, and operating income jumped to $61.8M, up 447.9% year over year. Q1 2026 revenue printed at $193.4M, up 94% year over year, with Cloud and Other Services up 178% to $82.8M. The full-year 2026 guide sits at $855M to $865M, roughly 69% growth at the midpoint. The window on the "under the radar" framing is closing quickly as sell-side targets catch up to shipment reality.
The S&P 500 Could Jump 18% Over the Next 1 Year. Here Are My Top Growth Stocks to Buy Before That Happens
Micron's earnings are forecasted to jump by 784% in the current fiscal year and 104% in the next one. AMD, meanwhile, is estimated to clock a 77% increase in earnings in 2026, followed by a 78% jump next year. The S&P 500 index, for comparison, could see earnings increase by 23.6% in 2026 and by 18% in 2027. Tech stocks have outperformed the S&P 500 this year, as evidenced by the 38% jump in the Nasdaq-100 Technology Sector index in 2026. That trend is likely to continue, as FactSet notes that the information technology sector's earnings could jump by an impressive 63.3% this quarter, well above the projected growth in the S&P 500 index's earnings. Micron stock has jumped by 210% this year, while AMD has also delivered terrific gains of 149%.
3 Stocks That Crushed Nvidia With 300% or More Gains Over the Past Year
Up over 3,990% in the past year, Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) has been the hottest stock in the market, even after a recent 19% pullback. Last quarter, its revenue surged 251%, while its gross margin climbed from 22.5% to 78.4%. The DRAM market is benefiting from surging demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which is used to optimize the performance of GPUs and other AI chips. This dynamic is becoming even more pronounced with the rise of inference, which tends to be more memory-bound than compute-constrained. The supply shortage has helped the company lock in long-term contracts for the first time, now covering 40% of its revenue, which should help reduce some of the cyclicality of its business. It's a huge opportunity, and the company is already designing high-performance CPUs specifically for agentic AI.
Got $10,000? Broadcom vs Marvell: Only One Will Match The AI Hype
AVGO generated $10.8 billion in AI silicon revenue, up 143% year over year, while MRVL converted 76% of its $2.4 billion quarter from data centers. Broadcom's Q2 FY2026 landed with $22.19 billion in revenue, up 47.87% year over year, with non-GAAP EPS of $2.44. The real story sits inside semiconductors. AI silicon revenue reached $10.8 billion, growing 143%, driven by custom AI accelerators (XPUs) and Ethernet networking silicon sold to a small group of hyperscalers. CEO Hock Tan told investors "the momentum continues and in Q3 we expect semiconductor revenue from AI to grow over 200% year-over-year to $16.0 billion." That is a bold call for one quarter. Marvell's Q1 FY2027 came in at $2.418 billion, up 27.57%, with the data center segment now 76% of revenue at $1.83 billion. CEO Matt Murphy pointed to "exceptional AI-related bookings" across 800G and 1.6T scale-out optics, 51.2T Ethernet scale-out switches, scale-up optical solutions for NPO and CPO applications, scale-across datacenter interconnect modules, and custom XPU and XPU-attach solutions. Broadcom's 46% free cash flow margin funds buybacks and dividends; Marvell's acquisition spree cut GAAP net income by 81% last quarter.
Prediction: Taiwan Semiconductor's Stock Will Soar on July 17
TSMC is the world's largest chip foundry by revenue. It has built its business on its best-in-class manufacturing and technology, and has become the go-to partner for fabricating chip designs. It has become so popular that TSMC often handles production of components for what some might consider rivals, such as making chips for Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia.
Qualcomm's datacenter ambitions win over Goldman Sachs
Roughly $15 billion of that figure is expected to come from data centers alone. Goldman now models $5 billion in Qualcomm datacenter revenue for fiscal 2027, rising to $8.2 billion by fiscal 2028, according to the note. Qualcomm has said handsets, which made up 72% of chip revenue in fiscal 2025, are expected to fall to roughly a third of the total by fiscal 2029, according to Quartz.
Micron Is In Its Most Profitable Era Ever — And the Numbers Keep Getting Bigger
Micron's Q4 could nearly match its entire 20-year cumulative profit of $59 billion, a milestone made possible as AI demand doubles while supply grows just 20 to 30 percent annually. Three companies controlling 90% of DRAM and virtually all HBM production handed Micron's data center unit an 83% operating margin last quarter. Analysts project between $90 billion and $100 billion in operating income this fiscal year, yet supply shortages expected through 2028 could make even those records look conservative. Micron expects fourth-quarter revenue of $50 billion, plus or minus $1 billion, while forecasting GAAP operating expenses of approximately $1.86 billion. That implies operating income approaching $49 billion if revenue lands near the midpoint. Those numbers sound almost surreal until you look at what has happened over the past year. Micron has consistently exceeded both Wall Street's estimates and its own guidance by a wide margin as demand for AI memory has continued outpacing expectations. Even more remarkable, Micron generated roughly $59 billion in cumulative profits over the past 20 years. One quarter could nearly match two decades of earnings. And if it crushes earnings yet again, it could equal the output of the past two decades. The reason is simple: supply remains constrained while demand keeps climbing. Industry research firms, including SemiAnalysis, have argued that memory capacity is expanding by only about 20% to 30% annually, while AI demand is doubling. Many industry participants now expect the supply shortage to persist until 2028 at the earliest. Margins That Look More Like Software Than Hardware Memory has historically been viewed as a commodity business where prices swing sharply with supply and demand. That isn't today's market. Micron, SK hynix, and Samsung control about 90% of global DRAM production and account for virtually 100% of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production -- the specialized memory powering Nvidia's (NASDAQ:NVDA) AI accelerators and other advanced AI chips. That limited competition has produced pricing power rarely seen in hardware. According to Micron's earnings release, its data center business generated an operating margin of 83% last quarter. Those are numbers investors normally associate with software companies -- not manufacturers building physical chips. Current analyst forecasts suggest Micron could produce $90 billion to $100 billion in operating income this fiscal year, while expecting roughly $133 billion in 2027. Those projections already represent a dramatic leap from anything in Micron's history. Granted, there is a ceiling. Rising memory prices eventually reach levels where customers either delay purchases or look for alternatives. Every pricing cycle has limits. That said, the supply-demand imbalance still favors suppliers. If capacity continues expanding more slowly than AI infrastructure spending, pricing could remain elevated for years, even if it eases from today's peak levels. In other words, margins don't have to remain at 83% forever for Micron to generate profits unlike anything investors have seen before. Key Takeaway In short, Micron is benefiting from one of the strongest supply-demand imbalances the semiconductor industry has ever experienced. The memory chip maker could generate operating income approaching the total it accumulated over the past 20 years. That transformation stems from AI-driven demand, constrained memory supply, and an industry structure where just three companies control nearly all of the critical DRAM and HBM markets. Regardless of whether pricing eventually moderates, today's economics suggest Micron has entered a different phase of its business. For investors, the key question is no longer whether AI is boosting memory demand. It is how long this shortage -- and Micron's newfound pricing power -- can last. If supply remains tight through 2028 as many industry observers expect, Wall Street's current forecasts may prove to be only the starting point.
Nvidia and Apple may solve AI investors’ biggest worry
Nvidia's official statistics show data center revenue was $75.2 billion, up 92% from a year ago. For example, consider Micron Technology (MU). Capital expenditures, net, were $7.1 billion in the business's fiscal third quarter, the company said. Adjusted free cash flow was $18.3 billion.
Skip ARKK’s Moonshots: This Fund Owns the AI Software Winners for 0.45%
Micron posted Q3 FY26 revenue of $41.46 billion, up 345.7% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $25.11, driven by HBM4 shipments to lead AI customers.
5-star analyst sends AMD stock investors a warning
AMD has dramatically outperformed the broader market, surging 5.6% over the past week, 15% over the past month, and 169% over the past six months. AMD's latest quarterly results impressed, with Q1 2026 revenue up 38% to $10.3 billion, non-GAAP EPS up 43% to $1.37, and Data Center revenue up 57% to $5.8 billion. The company guided Q2 revenue to about $11.2 billion, plus or minus $300 million, implying 46% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. AMD solidified its AI narrative through a Meta partnership in deploying up to 6 gigawatts of Instinct GPUs, with first-gigawatt shipments slated for release in the second half of 2026. AMD has also started ramping its next-generation "Venice" EPYC processor on TSMC's 2nm process and confirmed more than $10 billion in Taiwan ecosystem investments linked to AI infrastructure, advanced packaging, and Helios deployments.
Broadcom Lands $30 Billion Chip Deal With Apple. Why It’s a Win-Win for AAPL and AVGO.
Broadcom announced an expanded long-term partnership with Apple (AAPL) under which it will develop and supply custom ASIC chips through 2031. While Broadcom did not disclose the financial terms, Apple later revealed that it expects to spend more than $30 billion under the agreement. Analysts estimate that Apple accounts for roughly 20% of Broadcom's annual revenue, making the extension with one of its largest customers through 2031 a major positive for the chipmaker, as it provides long-term revenue visibility from one of Broadcom's most important customers.
AI Sent AMD Soaring — But This Stock May Be the Better Value Play
AMD (AMD) has been one of the top-performing stocks in the S&P 500 ($SPX). Shares have surged more than 150% this year, driven by robust financial results. Notably, strong artificial intelligence (AI)-led demand for the company's CPUs and GPUs — supported by a broad customer base and sustained AI infrastructure investments — has been a key catalyst behind the rally. While AMD stock has gained significantly in value, its growth story is far from over. As AI development shifts from training large language models (LLMs) to inference and next-generation agentic AI applications, demand for high-performance computing is expected to remain strong. That trend should benefit not only AMD's Instinct GPUs but also its EPYC server processors, positioning the company to capture growth across multiple segments of the AI infrastructure market. However, although AMD is still a solid long-term AI investment, Nvidia (NVDA) offers a more compelling valuation relative to its growth prospects. That makes NVDA stock an attractive alternative for investors seeking a better value play. Solid Growth, Low Valuation Make Nvidia Stock a Buy Despite concerns over margin pressure and increasing competition from custom AI chips, Nvidia continues to strengthen its leadership in the AI infrastructure space. It is delivering exceptional revenue growth, expanding into new opportunities, and trading at a valuation that remains attractive relative to its long-term earnings potential and peers. The AI investment boom is still in its early stages. Hyperscalers, AI model developers, cloud providers, and governments are all increasing spending on AI infrastructure, and Nvidia remains the biggest beneficiary. Its leadership in GPUs, networking hardware, and AI software has helped it capture the largest share of this rapidly growing market. Nvidia's latest results highlight that strength. The company generated $81.6 billion in revenue, up 85% year-over-year (YOY), with $13.5 billion in sequential revenue growth. That is more than the total quarterly sales of many major competitors. Data Center revenue hit $75.2 billion, increasing 92% YOY and 21% sequentially, driven largely by strong adoption of the company's Blackwell architecture. Within the segment, computing revenue reached $60 billion and networking revenue climbed to $15 billion, recording significant YOY growth.
Micron now targets 40% of its DRAM output from U.S. soil
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) said it will raise its planned U.S. investment to more than $250 billion through 2035, according to a Seeking Alpha report on the company's Thursday, July 9, announcement. That figure is $50 billion more than the roughly $200 billion the company committed to just over a year ago, based on a Micron SEC filing. Micron doesn't operate in isolation, and the same tightness fueling its investment plans is squeezing its customers. Apple raised prices on iPads, Macs, and other hardware by roughly $100 to $200 per device in late June, citing what it called an unprecedented jump in memory and storage costs.
$1,000 in Nvidia vs. $1,000 in Broadcom: Which AI Chip Bet Paid Off More?
Nvidia is still the center of the AI build-out. In its most recent fiscal quarter (ended in late April), revenue hit a record $81.6 billion, up 85% year over year and 20% from the prior quarter. Data center revenue of $75.2 billion climbed 92%.
The 3 Top Chip Stocks Investors Own on Robinhood
$253 billion in revenue over the past year alone, and growth isn't stopping. Huang anticipates a staggering $1 trillion in orders through 2027 as Vera Rubin, its latest chip architecture, begins shipping later this year. Shares trade at less than 23 times 2025 earnings estimates, and analysts are calling for annual earnings growth of 51% to 52% over the next three to five years. Alphabet is using AI technology across its entire company, giving it multiple ways to monetize the massive data center investments it continues to pour billions of dollars into. The stock still trades at a reasonable valuation, approximately 25 times 2026 earnings estimates.
Broadcom Just Gave Investors Another $30 Billion Reason to Buy the Stock
While the stock has pulled back this summer, the company recently gave investors something to cheer about when Apple pledged it would spend more than $30 billion on custom Broadcom-based chips and wireless connectivity technologies in the coming years. Broadcom's role in helping Alphabet design TPUs also led to other hyperscalers (owners of large data centers) enlisting Broadcom to help them create their own custom AI chips. The company has said it will see its custom chip revenue exceed $100 billion in fiscal 2027, which is a huge jump from the $64 billion in total revenue and $20 billion in AI revenue it produced in fiscal 2025. Analysts at Citigroup, meanwhile, have projected that the company's AI revenue could surge to $180 billion in 2028.
Goldman Sachs Says Optical Networking Is AI’s Next Trillion-Dollar Opportunity. Lumentum May Be the Biggest Winner
Goldman Sachs projects the AI networking addressable market will surge from $15 billion to $154 billion by 2028 as optics replace copper connections. Lumentum's near-total focus on optical communications gives it greater revenue sensitivity to rising AI networking demand than diversified peers like Broadcom or Marvell. Goldman expects co-packaged optics to capture 59% of AI networking spend by 2028, though slower CPO adoption timelines remain the primary investor risk. That represents a nearly 29-fold increase in networking value per computing unit. Even more striking, Goldman estimates the overall addressable market for AI networking will grow from roughly $15 billion during the GB300 cycle to approximately $154 billion by 2028.
Micron Stock’s Sell-Off Won't Last. Here’s the Simple Reason Why.
Over the last 12 months, Micron Technology's stock has surged 727.6%, vastly outperforming even the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX), which gained 130.8% during the same period. The SOX Index has had a remarkable increase due to the AI infrastructure boom as it is dominated by hardware stocks. Micron surpassing it so comfortably reflects the extraordinary investor confidence in the firm, along with the importance of memory as a bottleneck. Micron's valuation remains debated, being cheap on earnings and expensive on revenue. The forward GAAP price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05 times remains well below the sector median of 33.19 times. The stock remains inexpensive on an earnings basis despite a monumental 723% stock price increase in the past year. The forward price-to-sales ratio of 8.27 times is considerably different, sitting over twice the company's own 5-year average of 3.93 times. Micron has a net cash position of $3.79 billion, which makes for a strong balance sheet for a company that has exceeded the trillion-dollar market cap. The EPS growth trajectory is now at an extraordinary 791% in 2026 compared to 635% before the Q3 results. The decline expected in 2029 has also reduced from -72% to -32%, suggesting that analysts' confidence in the longevity of the AI memory cycle is gradually improving. For the fourth quarter, the guided revenue is approximately $50 billion, well over any quarter in the firm's history. The CFO stated that the HBM total addressable market is expected to surpass $100 billion in 2027, a full year ahead of the previous estimate of 2028.
Nvidia Vs. AMD: Perplexity Choosing Nvidia Over AMD Tells a Deeper Story About Chip Dominance
NVIDIA’s Q1 FY27 showed revenue of $81.61B, up 85.2% YoY, with Data Center at $75.25B (+92%) and Networking at $14.8B (+199%). AMD’s Q1 FY26 was solid but smaller. Revenue hit $10.25B (+37.9% YoY), Data Center reached $5.78B (+57%), and non-GAAP EPS came in at $1.37. NVIDIA guided Q2 revenue to $91.0B, and analysts carry a target of $301.62.
Nvidia signals broadening AI demand, keeps next-generation roadmap unchanged
Nvidia told investors that its AI infrastructure roadmap remains on track, demand across customer segments remains strong, and future generations of its data-center products will offer significant gains in energy efficiency. The update comes as investors closely monitor Nvidia for signs that soaring AI spending by hyperscale cloud providers is broadening to enterprises, sovereign customers and AI startups, while also watching for any disruptions to its product roadmap, supply chain or profitability amid intensifying competition. Nvidia estimates current systems generate roughly $30 billion to $40 billion of compute revenue per gigawatt, while newer GPU generations such as Blackwell are significantly more power-efficient than Hopper.
Goldman Sachs’ Insane SpaceX AI Forecast Has One Clear Winner: Micron Technology
High-bandwidth memory (HBM), advanced packaging, and leading-edge chip manufacturing remain bottlenecks even after chipmakers spent hundreds of billions of dollars expanding capacity. Micron has already revealed long-term HBM supply agreements extending well into future production cycles, reflecting how constrained supply remains. Some observers have even suggested that such deployment would ultimately consume every advanced wafer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) could produce.
Wall Street Is Bullish on 1 of These Chip Stocks and Bearish on the Other
Marvell's addition to the S&P 500 in June only underlined how far it has traveled from a sleepy niche supplier. Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), by contrast, is a turnaround story that the big banks are watching with arms folded. The company is trying to do two hard things at once: fix its own product lineup and reinvent itself as a foundry, meaning a contract manufacturer that builds chips for other companies the way Taiwan's giants do. There's been real operational progress here worth acknowledging -- Intel's next-generation 18A-P manufacturing process entered risk production this summer on the timeline it promised, and the company says it has resolved the yield problems that dogged the earlier version.
Howard Lutnick Tells Samsung and SK Hynix They Have 'No Choice' but to Build US AI Memory Fabs— and Micron's CEO May Not Be Happy
Reports state that Samsung and SK Hynix collectively plan to invest $880 billion over the coming years to meet skyrocketing AI memory demands.
Intel Future Price Hikes Send Huge Demand Signal to Wall Street
At the Bank of America Global Technology Conference on June 2, Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner said the company's server CPU revenue grew in the 20% to 25% range last quarter, driven primarily by average selling price increases rather than unit growth. He explained that as core counts per chip increase, prices naturally rise too. Notably, Intel is also seeing like-for-like price gains on a per-core basis, something that had been sliding for years.
TSMC to add 2 advanced chip packaging plants in Chiayi, Taiwan minister says
TSMC's first advanced chip packaging plant at the Chiayi Science Park has already entered mass production and its second plant is expected to begin mass production soon, National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen said at a groundbreaking ceremony. "Today's groundbreaking marks the start of the second phase, which will include a third and fourth plant," Wu said, adding that the park is expected to generate more than 300 billion Taiwan dollars ($9.35 billion) in annual production value and create more than 9,000 jobs once all four plants are up and running. TSMC is rapidly expanding its advanced chip-packaging capacity, including its chip-on-wafer-on-substrate technology, as demand from artificial intelligence chip designers like Nvidia continues to outstrip supply.
TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, reports 68% surge in June revenue
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported a 67.9% year-on-year rise in its June sales on Monday, ahead of its second-quarter earnings release later this week. For the first half of 2026, TSMC's total revenue reached 2.4 trillion new Taiwan dollars ($74.99 billion), representing a 35.6% increase compared to the same period in 2025. TSMC reported June revenue of NT$ 442.68 billion — a 6.2% increase from the previous month. TSMC, which commands a 73% share of the global pure-foundry market — chips manufactured for clients — in the first quarter of 2026, according to data from Counterpoint Research, is set to report its second-quarter earnings on Thursday, July 16.
AI / Robotics / EV
WeRide (WRD), Geely Farizon, and Kwoon Chung Bus Partner for Right-Hand-Drive Robotaxis
WeRide Inc. (NASDAQ:WRD) is a global leader in autonomous driving technology that develops and deploys L2-L4 self-driving solutions, focusing on robotaxis, intelligent driving, and smart mobility. It provides driverless services for mobility, logistics, and sanitation industries, including Robotaxis, Robobuses, Robovans, and Robosweepers.
Rivian Is Getting a Boost From California. Could Other States Follow Suit?
Several states offer benefits for EV and hybrid car purchases, but California could start a trend of states increasing tax credits or even matching the previously available federal credit. Any move in this direction would be welcome news for Rivian and other EV manufacturers looking to reignite demand. Rivian's investors have patiently waited for the stock to rebound after losing over 80% of its value since going public in 2021. While the company's software and services segment is profitable, its automotive division is not. The R2's efforts to appeal to a mass market could benefit from state tax credits. Investors will need to remain patient as legislative efforts to boost EVs take time. The new Rivian R2 fleet, designed to be more affordable, starts at around $45,000.
Prediction: Tesla Stock Will Surprise Investors Over the Next 5 Years
Tesla (TSLA) grew free cash flow 117% and revenue 16% in Q1 2026, yet shares have dropped 12% year to date to $394. FSD subscriptions surged 51% to 1.28 million and Optimus targets 1 million robots annually, potentially driving EPS toward $10 by 2030. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) just posted one of its cleanest quarters in years, and the market shrugged. Tesla grew Q1 2026 revenue 15.78% year over year to $22.387 billion, expanded automotive gross margin by 490 basis points to 21.1%, and grew free cash flow 117%. Analyst consensus sits at $424.01, with 5 Strong Buy, 18 Buy, 18 Hold, 4 Sell, and 2 Strong Sell ratings. My pushback: analysts are modeling Tesla as an automaker with a robotaxi option. If AI5, Optimus, and unsupervised FSD scale as planned, the earnings base in 2031 looks nothing like the annualized $1.64 run rate today.
Media Industry Veterans: Netflix May Add Live TV as Top Shows Reportedly Lose 30-70% of Viewers
NFLX shares have fallen 41% over the past year while top shows bleed up to 70% of viewers between seasons, signaling a content problem distribution cannot fix. Netflix may be preparing to make its biggest strategic departure from traditional streaming yet. A July 10 CNBC Executive Edge segment zeroed in on a Wall Street Journal report that Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) is exploring a deeper push into live television and third-party streaming distribution that could eventually allow subscribers to purchase competing services through its platform. The business, meanwhile, has kept growing. Q1 2026 revenue came in at $12.3 billion, up 16% year over year, with a 32.3% operating margin.
Elon Musk Has Mojo Back, As Tesla Quarterly Deliveries Skyrocket
Tesla's Q2 delivery print reset the narrative. After two straight years of sales declines, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) reported 480,126 deliveries and 451,758 vehicles produced in Q2 2026, blowing past Wall Street expectations. A Tesla-compiled consensus had targeted 406,024 deliveries, while StreetAccount's average was 406,600. Bloomberg called it a 25% jump from the year-earlier period and the best Q2 performance in company history. Tesla plans $25 billion in capex this year on Optimus robots and autonomous Cybercabs ahead of July 22 earnings, a figure that is triple last year's outlay.
Volkswagen to scrap half of product lineup as China, EV pressures mount
Volkswagen Group (VWAGY) is preparing to cut half its global product lineup as it fights a crumbling position in China, rising costs, and lagging EV sales. VW, behind brands like its namesake passenger cars and Audi, Skoda, Bentley, and even Lamborghini, delivered 2.08 million vehicles worldwide in Q2, down 8.6% from a year ago. In China, deliveries plunged 36.6%, to 424,300, as the local market contracted and Chinese rivals kept gaining ground. Global all-electric deliveries slid 4.2% in the quarter, to 238,400 vehicles. VW says capacity will come down to 9 million vehicles a year from 10 million, which once stood at 12 million before the pandemic.
Elon Musk pulls no punches with AI rivals as Grok 4.5 debuts
Every automated coding agent and research assistant runs on tokens, the units of text AI models read and write, and monthly bills have grown so fast that some companies now treat AI spending like a second cloud budget. Grok 4.5 costs $2 for input and $6 for output, SpaceXAI noted. Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.8 costs $5 for input and $25 for output, according to Reuters. OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Luna costs $1 for input and $6 for output, Reuters added. A company generating one billion output tokens a month, a realistic volume for a mid-sized engineering team running coding agents, would pay about $6,000 on Grok 4.5 versus roughly $25,000 on Opus 4.8.
Kraken Reportedly Targets Retail Traders With Agentic Trading Ahead Of Highly Anticipated IPO
Kraken's version is centered around addressing the gap between retail traders that buy cryptocurrencies at peaks and selling at troughs out of fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) and professional traders who stay engaged through every cycle. It's important for customers who are more everyday people to have that same capability and be as well informed as the professional traders, he said.
Why SYM Beats A Bond At Its Own Game
An investor today faces a simple choice. You can lend money to the U.S. government for ten years and receive a 4.6% annual yield. Or you can own a piece of Symbotic, which currently generates a free-cash-flow yield of 13.8%. That is a 9.3% premium over the risk-free rate, paid to you not by a government promise, but by the cash this business throws off. The company’s three-year average free-cash-flow yield is 9.8%, still more than double the Treasury, and it carries over $2 billion in cash with no debt. Revenue grew 22% over the last twelve months, supported by a large $22.7 billion backlog of future work. Management is focused on execution, recently bringing a new site online for a customer in under 10 months, which it noted was “ahead of our historical performance for installation time lines.” The growth is profitable, with the company reporting $9 million in net income in its most recent quarter. The test is whether they can deliver on that cadence. The most immediate proof point will be next quarter’s revenue, which management has guided to be between $700 million and $720 million.
The AI race is shifting from bigger models to cheaper, smarter systems
The model alone is no longer the product. It is the harness, the orchestration system that puts the model inside a very capable harness and pairs the model with a lot of tools. Benchmark general partner Peter Fenton said the shift could be dramatic. "A maybe contrarian view that is becoming consensus is our belief that 90-plus percent of the tokens created will come out of open-weight models over the next 18 to 24 months, possibly even by the end of the year," Fenton told CNBC. Tokens are the units of data AI models process and generate.
Tesla Tears Down Model S/X Line In Just 46 Days For Optimus Production
Tesla posted a video on X capturing heavy machinery tearing out concrete trenches, removing robotic equipment, and workers installing rebar for new flooring to pave the way toward humanoid robotics. Later frames reveal a partially cleared floor being prepped for new infrastructure. The Model S, introduced in 2012, and the Model X, launched in 2015, played pivotal roles in establishing Tesla as a serious contender in the automotive industry. Together, the two nameplates sold around 750,000 units over their lifetimes, though production slowed in recent years in favor of the lower-priced Model Y and Model 3 vehicles. The final vehicles rolled off the line in early May 2026. Tesla plans to begin limited Optimus production at the converted Fremont facility in late July or August 2026. The initial line is designed with long-term capacity for up to 1 million robots per year, though Musk has cautioned that early output will be “quite slow” due to the complexity of a new manufacturing process involving roughly 10,000 unique parts and the absence of an established humanoid robot supply chain. Musk has repeatedly described Optimus as potentially “the biggest product of all time,” envisioning applications in manufacturing, domestic assistance, and other sectors.
Tesla Reportedly Pushes Staff Toward Grok 4.5 As AI Spending Cap Takes Effect
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reportedly directed staff at the electric vehicle company to shift toward using Grok, the AI model from his artificial intelligence company xAI. Musk told staff to adopt Grok 4.5 wherever possible, citing its significantly lower token costs compared to competing models, The Information reported, citing a memo sent to staff.
Palantir CEO: “Something Has Gone Completely Wrong” With OpenAI and Anthropic
The basic view among enterprises in this country is I'm going to chillax and waste my time with tokens. According to CNBC's Samantha Subin, Karp took aim at the token model used by OpenAI and Anthropic as AI costs skyrocket. He further argued customers are shifting away from “tokenmaxxing” toward ROI and open-weight models that deliver similar work at a fraction of the cost. Palantir’s Q1 FY2026 report showed record revenue of $1.63 billion, up 84.7% year over year, the highest growth rate in company history. U.S. commercial revenue jumped 133% to $595 million, and adjusted operating margin expanded to 60% from 44%. Karp put it this way on the call: “Palantir’s Rule of 40 score has soared to 145%. We have shattered the metric, a feat matched only by other fellow AI infrastructure companies: NVIDIA, Micron and SK hynix.” Management raised annual revenue guidance to 71% growth, 10 points ahead of the prior quarter’s forecast. What to watch: whether the “own the means of production” pitch keeps pulling U.S. commercial customers. Palantir's U.S. commercial remaining deal value (RDV), a measure of contracted business still left to recognize, reached $4.92 billion in the latest quarter, up 112% from a year earlier.
If You Have $1,000 to Invest in EV Stocks, Should It Go to Tesla or Rivian?
Tesla recently reported its second-quarter delivery numbers, which were pretty impressive. The company's deliveries during the period totaled 480,126. Not only was that a 25% year-over-year increase, but it also came in well ahead of the consensus analyst estimates. The company still has a long way to go before this business contributes meaningfully to its financial results, but every new city provides Tesla with more real-world data to train and improve its self-driving system. Tesla is investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) to power its robotaxi and humanoid robot projects. Although that may shrink margins in the short run, the investment could pay for itself several times over, provided Tesla's vision materializes. Rivian recently posted Q2 delivery numbers that blew past analyst expectations. The company delivered 12,194 EVs during the period, exceeding its 9,000-11,000 projections. The company said that the introduction of the R2 helped drive the quarterly beat. Uber will invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian as part of this deal. Rivian isn't profitable yet, but its first-quarter revenue grew 11% year over year to $1.4 billion, while its net loss of $416 million was slightly better than the $541 million loss in the year-ago period.
Rackspace Technology (RXT) Is Down 6.6% After Revenue Cut And Dilutive AI Pivot Announcement – Has The Bull Case Changed?
Earlier this week, Rackspace Technology cut its 2026 revenue guidance to US$2.45–2.55 billion, reduced expected adjusted EBITDA, and outlined exits from low-margin public cloud resale and legacy hosting while launching a US$250 million at-the-market equity program to fund an enterprise AI push. Rackspace Technology's narrative projects $2.8 billion revenue and $218.6 million earnings by 2029. Before this news, the most optimistic analysts were banking on US$2.9 billion of revenue and US$224.7 million of earnings by 2029
Palantir Stock Is Down 36% From Its All-Time High. Time to Buy?
Few software companies at this scale grow this fast while throwing off this much cash. Management raised its outlook, too, guiding for full-year 2026 revenue of about $7.65 billion, roughly 71% growth over 2025. Put simply, this is one of the fastest-growing large software companies around, and it's already highly profitable, which is a rare combination. The earnings picture is just as stretched. The stock trades at about 85 times its expected earnings over the next year.
OpenAI bets on families as ChatGPT goes deeper into households
While 27% of U.S. parents said their child had used generative AI in the past week, 38% of children reported doing so themselves, according to the survey of more than 4,000 families in the United States and Australia. Sensor Tower estimates that users aged 25 to 34 account for 40% of the global app audiences for Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini, matching ChatGPT, compared with 33% for Microsoft’s Copilot.
Rivian Just Did What Investors Despised Lucid for. How Bad Is It?
Rivian achieved its first full-year gross profit in 2025. A little Investing 101: Shareholder dilution is simply the decrease in a shareholder's existing ownership percentage due to a company issuing new shares of stock for raising capital and employee compensation, among other factors. You can argue that investors are OK with some dilution because in theory, the company now has more capital to pursue growth, which in turn improves its investment potential. The drawbacks are lower earnings per share and reduced voting power. That's primarily because of its large initial public offering's cash cushion, and later capital injections from joint ventures such as one with Volkswagen – also a driving force behind Rivian's full-year gross profit – and a $6.6 billion loan facility from the U.S. Department of Energy. In comparison, Rivian's lifetime share-count increase sits at about 58%, including the recent July offering.
Forget AI Hyperscalers: Tesla May Own the Most Valuable AI Application
Tesla Controls More of the AI Stack Most AI application companies operate as tenants. They rent computing power from cloud providers, pay for inference every time an AI model runs, and accept lower margins as usage expands. That investment cycle isn’t over, but the market’s attention is beginning to shift toward the businesses turning that computing power into products consumers actually use. Few companies are better positioned for that transition than Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction), which combines an AI application with something few competitors can match — its own computing infrastructure. Tesla has taken a different path. It has invested billions of dollars building its own AI training infrastructure, including its Cortex supercomputer and custom Dojo hardware. It also designs its own Full Self-Driving chips that power vehicles already on the road. That gives Tesla unusual vertical integration. That combination makes Tesla resemble a scaled-down hyperscaler rather than a traditional software company. The market still values Tesla largely on vehicle deliveries, automotive gross margins, and electric vehicle demand. Those remain important metrics, but they may not capture the economics of a software-driven transportation network. Software businesses often generate higher margins because every additional customer requires little incremental cost. If robotaxi adoption accelerates, Tesla could begin layering recurring software revenue on top of vehicles already rolling off its production lines. Manufacturing Gives Tesla an Edge Tesla’s biggest advantage over rivals like Waymo and Uber isn’t just artificial intelligence. It’s manufacturing. Waymo must partner with automakers and retrofit existing vehicles with autonomous hardware. Uber depends on outside fleets and third-party drivers. Scaling either model requires coordinating multiple companies. Tesla starts with millions of vehicles already designed around its technology. New vehicles leave the factory prepared for autonomous capability as the software improves. That production scale lowers deployment friction and could allow Tesla to expand faster than competitors that must build or modify vehicles one fleet at a time. Granted, regulatory approval remains uneven outside Texas, and fully autonomous driving still faces technical and legal hurdles. Those risks deserve investors’ attention. Key Takeaway In short, Tesla is becoming more than an automaker. It is building an AI ecosystem that combines proprietary chips, dedicated computing infrastructure, massive real-world driving data, and a consumer application with global reach. Few companies outside the hyperscalers control that much of the value chain. The market still focuses heavily on quarterly vehicle deliveries. Ultimately, if robotaxis evolve into the first truly mass-market AI application, investors may begin valuing Tesla less like a car company and more like an AI platform with manufacturing capabilities — a combination that remains rare in today’s market.
NVIDA Vs. Tesla: Tesla Jumps as It Finally Fulfills Decade-Old Promise So Buy Nvidia Instead
NVDA delivers 85% revenue growth and a 65.6% operating margin while TSLA's first unsupervised robotaxi rides still carry a 382x trailing P/E. NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) just delivered earnings that put two very different AI stories side by side. Tesla finally began fulfilling its decade-old autonomy pitch with unsupervised Robotaxi rides in Dallas and Houston. NVIDIA, meanwhile, kept printing money from AI factories. The stocks are moving in opposite directions, and the businesses behind them look nothing alike. NVIDIA's Q1 FY2027 print was extraordinary. Revenue hit $81.6 billion, up 85.2% year over year, with Data Center alone at $75.25 billion and networking growing 199% YoY. Non-GAAP gross margin held at 75.0%. Jensen Huang framed the moment plainly: "The buildout of AI factories, the largest infrastructure expansion in human history, is accelerating at extraordinary speed." The board answered with an $80 billion buyback authorization and a dividend hike to $0.25 per share. Prediction markets assign only 11.5% odds to Tesla launching a California robotaxi by year-end, revealing deep skepticism about its autonomy timeline. Jensen Huang's AI factory buildout faces its toughest test when NVIDIA must deliver $91 billion in Q2 revenue with zero China compute contribution.
AAOI Soared 251%, But PSI Quietly Doubled Your Money Too
A $10,000 stake at the start of the year sat at roughly $20,220 on July 9. That is a serious return. A chip basket that more than doubled in a little over six months while you slept, worked, and refreshed your brokerage app in peace. PSI is a basket of U.S.-listed semiconductor names, an index-tracking fund from Invesco that spreads exposure across the sector for an expense ratio of roughly 0.56%. You paid a rounding error to own the theme. AAOI's Q1 2026 datacenter revenue more than doubled year over year to $81.4 million, and CEO Thompson Lin said the company "completed our first volume shipment of our 800G products to one of our large hyperscale customers in Q1." That same demand is why global semiconductor revenue hit $298.5 billion in Q1 2026, up 79.2% year over year, and why U.S. chip sales jumped 83.1% versus the prior year. The rising tide is real, and it lifted the whole sector, not just one Texas transceiver shop. PSI's job is to own that tide as a basket. You don't have to know which company wins the 800G qualification race or which fab lands the next hyperscale contract.
Gary Black Says Tesla's Valuation Is So 'Stretched' That Most Institutional Investors Won't Touch the Stock— and FSD Isn't Helping
$TSLA's stretched valuation (2026 P/E of 205x vs 2026-2030 eps growth of +35%, PEG 6.0x) and declining forward earnings estimates (2027 EPS est -17% YTD) are why most institutional investors avoid the stock,
Why Figma Stock Lost 52% in the First Half of 2026
Shares of Figma (NYSE: FIG) fell 51.6% in the first half of 2026, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Figma's Q1 2026 report in mid-May was impressive by most measures. Revenue rose 46% year over year to $333.4 million. Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $0.10, nearly doubling the $0.06 consensus estimate. Net dollar retention hit 139%, the highest level in over two years. Management raised full-year revenue guidance by $55 million. Figma started charging for AI credits in mid-March. Early signs were positive: over 75% of enterprise users who hit their limits kept paying for more. Teams buying AI add-ons spend more than three times as much annually as those who don't.
‘Almost unlimited’: Execs says AI demand remains strong even as enterprises move to ‘valuemaxxing’
I somewhat think of AI demand as almost unlimited. Because how much economic value do you get for increased intelligence? Almost infinite across every industry imaginable. What we're experiencing in terms of demand is extraordinary. There's much more demand than we're able to fulfil, and that's been our experience for some time now. For the industry as a whole, the demand for compute far outstrips available capacity, and we're short on data centers. I think we're short on, as an industry, many of the inputs to compute. AI infrastructure momentum [is] still huge. We're trying to build up our capacity as much as we possibly can to fulfil a demand that we see out five years at this point. The CFO bringing the hammer down and slowing spend should actually be looking for value or valuemaxxing.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) Says Its AI Agents Beat 60 40 Portfolios In Backtests
JPMorgan Chase reports that its AI investment agents have consistently outperformed traditional asset allocation models in 20 years of historical backtests. The AI agents exceeded the classic 60/40 stock bond portfolio on both returns and volatility, according to the bank's internal research.
Should You Buy Tesla, Inc. (TSLA)’s Shares?
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) could deliver 418,000 vehicles in its second quarter to beat analyst estimates. While vehicle deliveries remain a key portion of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)'s income statement, its CEO, Elon Musk, has asserted on multiple occasions that he plans to establish his company as a leader in humanoid robot production.
Tesla And The Emperor's New Clothes
Summary - Tesla (TSLA) trades at a $1.5T valuation, yet its core auto business remains low-margin and capital-intensive, with free cash flow multiples exceeding 200x. - TSLA's growth narrative is undermined by declining revenue, shrinking profit estimates, and surging capex, with 2026 capex guided above $20B—nearly double EBIT forecasts.
Sam Altman Is Waiting for a $1 Trillion OpenAI Valuation. SoftBank Has a $40 Billion Loan Due March 2027.
It was the largest IPO in stock market history, with the company receiving an initial valuation of $1.77 trillion. OpenAI's operations are very costly, to say the least. It requires tons of data, expensive hardware for its data centers (that consistently need updating), and loads of electricity to keep the operations running. And although OpenAI's revenue tripled from 2024 to 2025, its losses grew even more rapidly. Last year, it booked an operating loss of nearly $21 billion. SoftBank took out a $40 billion "bridge loan" to support its investment in OpenAI, and it's required to repay it by March 25, 2027.
Palantir CEO has a blunt verdict on OpenAI and Anthropic
Palantir's Q1 FY2026 revenue came in at $1.63 billion, up 85% year over year, the highest growth rate in company history. U.S. commercial revenue hit $595 million, up 133%. Adjusted operating margin expanded to 60% from 44% a year earlier. On the earnings call, Karp said Palantir's Rule of 40 score had hit 145%, which he called a feat matched only by Nvidia, Micron, and SK Hynix.
Power Struggle: Wolfspeed Sues Navitas Over AI Chips
Wolfspeed operates a highly capital-intensive, vertically integrated manufacturing model. Building and scaling silicon carbide fabrication facilities requires billions of dollars in upfront capital. Wolfspeed reported fiscal Q3 2026 revenue of $150 million, representing a 19% year-over-year contraction. GAAP gross margins dropped to a concerning-27%. Carrying more than $1.7 billion in debt and operating with negative operating cash flow, Wolfspeed faces severe profitability headwinds. Navitas utilizes an asset-light fabless design model. While this structure offers engineering agility, Navitas is navigating its own extreme profitability challenges. Trailing 12-month revenue fell about 45% year-over-year to $45.92 million. This drop drove Navitas net margins deeply into negative territory at negative 330.67%. The underlying corporate warfare underscores the high-growth trajectory of the wide-bandgap space. Both Wolfspeed and Navitas operate with heavily compressed valuations relative to their 50-day highs. Investors looking to capitalize on the global megatrends of electrification and AI data centers might consider adding both equities to their watchlists. Monitoring the federal court docket for preliminary injunction rulings will provide the clearest signal for near-term revenue visibility and market share dominance. This transition serves as the critical bottleneck for next-generation technologies. With the total addressable market for wide-bandgap applications projected to exceed $20 billion by 2030, the battle to control the underlying intellectual property is rapidly escalating.
TSLA Stock Slips Overnight: Tesla Has A New Plan To Fight BYD And Chinese Rivals — And It Starts With Its Best-Selling SUV
The Model Y delivered 38,654 units in China in June, accounting for about 73% of Tesla’s local deliveries. Tesla currently prices the Model Y in China from 263,500 yuan, or about $38,870, while the six-seat Model Y L costs 339,000 yuan. BYD reported 397,292 passenger new-energy vehicle wholesale sales in June, while Leapmotor overtook Tesla China with 93,376 units.
India's Tata Consultancy Services plans up to 8,900 AI deployment engineers, seeks AI acquisitions
TCS is India's largest software services firm. Krithivasan's figures would translate to roughly 5,900 to 8,900 employees based on TCS's end-June headcount. Companies increasingly use multiple AI models and require partners such as TCS to connect those models with existing systems and manage data flows, he said. Even so, TCS's annualised AI revenue growth slowed to 13% in the first quarter from 28% in the previous quarter.
South Korean vehicle import sales surge 37% in June
Sales of imported light passenger vehicles in South Korea jumped by 37% to 38,059 units in June 2026, up from 29,860 units in the same month last year, according to registration data released by the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA). In the first six months of 2026, import sales surged by 33% to 184,032 units, up from 138,120 units in the same period last year, strongly outperforming sales by the country's five main automakers, which reported a 3% drop in combined domestic sales to 663,491 units year-to-date. Tesla has been behind most of the import segment's strong growth this year, with deliveries surging almost threefold to 56,139 units, to become the leading import brand with a 30% share of segment sales.
Power / Grid
Beyond Bloom Energy: This Fuel Cell Company Landed a Huge Data Center Deal
FuelCell Energy recently entered an agreement with Fit Energy, marking a huge milestone for the fuel cell developer. As part of the agreement, Fit Energy will purchase up to 380 megawatts of carbonate fuel cell systems for data centers across four phases. One thing to bear in mind is that only the initial 30 MW phase is committed, with deliveries expected by the end of this year.
Avantus raises over $525m financing for Aratina 2 project in US
Once operational, Aratina 2 is set to provide 150MW alternating current (MWac) of solar power generation and 452MW-hours (MWh) of battery storage to the California energy grid. The project is currently under construction and has entered into 15-year power purchase agreements (PPA) with Southern California Edison. Aratina 2 represents the second phase of the Aratina Solar Center, which will have a combined capacity of 350MW of solar and 952MWh of storage across both phases. With a pipeline totalling 13GW of solar and 44GWh of storage across California, Arizona and Nevada, Avantus plans to bring 5GW of system capacity online by 2030.
Nobody Is Talking About This Dividend King Stock. Here's Why It's a Screaming Buy Right Now.
Between 2005 and 2025, electricity demand rose 10%. Between 2025 and 2045, demand is expected to rise by 60%. That's a step change in the demand that is likely to power years of growth for the utility industry. The big story today is NextEra Energy's planned acquisition of Dominion Energy (NYSE: D).
Earnings Preview: What to Expect From Ameren's Report
Valued at $31.3 billion by market cap, the company generates a net capacity of nearly 10,200 megawatts of electricity and owns more than 7,500 circuit miles of transmission lines. Ahead of the event, analysts expect AEE to report a profit of $1.04 per share on a diluted basis, up 3% from $1.01 per share in the year-ago quarter. For the full year, analysts expect AEE to report EPS of $5.38, up 7% from $5.03 in fiscal 2025. Its EPS is expected to rise 7.3% year over year to $5.77 in fiscal 2027. AEE expects full-year EPS to be $5.25 to $5.45.
Nuclear Energy Stock SMR Is Trading Under $10: Bargain Buy or Value Trap?
Each individual module is a self-contained reactor capable of generating 77 megawatts electric of carbon-free electricity. Several NPMs can be grouped together to build a power plant that can then be installed virtually anywhere that requires round-the-clock, reliable energy, such as data centers.
Constellation Energy Is Helping Solve the AI Power Crunch. Here's Why You Shouldn't Hesitate to Buy It Right Now.
Constellation Energy gets better and cheaper The big story with Constellation Energy is that it sells power outside of the regulated framework. That means it can ink deals directly with customers at market rates. Notably, it recently agreed to sell nuclear power to Meta (NASDAQ: META) under a 20-year contract, helping to support that technology giant's AI ambitions. Only the Walmart deal shows that AI isn't the only growth driver, a fact further supported by the company's purchase of Calpine, which expanded its footprint in the natural gas power space. This isn't an industry-specific event, and Constellation Energy has created a business that can benefit from the big picture changes taking shape, not just artificial intelligence.
Your Solar Tax Credit Expires December 31, 2025, but Here’s How to Claim 30% Back
The Residential Clean Energy Credit gives you a 30% federal tax credit on qualifying solar installations. A law signed last summer, though, gutted the timeline. If you install in 2026, you get nothing at the federal level. The solar tax credit is essentially ending, not merely shrinking. Section 25D of the Internal Revenue Code lets you knock 30% of your solar system cost directly off your federal tax bill. This is a credit, not a deduction, so it comes off dollar for dollar. A $24,000 rooftop system produces a $7,200 credit. There is no cap on the dollar amount, and if the credit is larger than your tax liability in one year, the unused portion carries forward to future years while the credit still exists on the books. Homeowners who paid for a solar system on a home they use as a residence in the United States are eligible. Both primary and secondary homes qualify. Pure rental properties you do not live in do not. You must own the system outright or finance it. Leased panels and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) are excluded, because the credit goes to the owner of the equipment, which in those cases is the solar company, not you.
Nat-Gas Prices Fall on Cooler Weather and Ample Supplies
US (lower-48) dry gas production on Friday was 112.6 bcf/day (+5.2% y/y), according to BNEF. Estimated LNG net flows to US LNG export terminals on Friday were 18.2 bcf/day (-5.2% w/w), according to BNEF. On Tuesday, the EIA raised its forecast for 2026 US dry nat-gas production to 111.2 bcf/day from a June estimate of 111.0 bcf/day. The Ras Laffan plant accounts for about 20% of global liquefied natural gas supply, and a reduction in its capacity could boost US nat-gas exports. As a positive factor for gas prices, the Edison Electric Institute on Wednesday reported that US (lower-48) electricity output in the week ended July 4 rose +7.73% y/y to 100,996 GWh (gigawatt hours). Also, US electricity output in the 52 weeks ending July 4 rose +2.33% y/y to 4,345,875 GWh. Thursday's weekly EIA report was bearish for nat-gas prices, as nat-gas inventories for the week ended July 3 rose by +61 bcf, right on expectations and above the 5-year weekly average of +51 bcf.
360 Energy Pulse: What mattered this week in energy
Global nuclear generating capacity is projected to increase 44% by 2036. Energy security remained at the center of policy discussions this week. The exchange of airstrikes between the U.S. and Iran renewed concerns over Hormuz shipping, while the IEA called on Europe to reconsider restrictions on Arctic oil and gas development as governments reassess long-term supply security. Marubeni's acquisition of EagleRidge Energy and BP's continued portfolio restructuring highlight two very different approaches to capital allocation. While some companies are expanding resource positions in North America, others are investing aggressively in the infrastructure needed to serve future global demand. ADNOC's $900 million order for new LNG carriers highlights the continued race to expand LNG export capability, while Chevron's investment in advanced shale recovery technology demonstrates that innovation remains an important source of future production growth. The broader theme is becoming increasingly clear: geopolitical uncertainty is accelerating conversations about where future energy supply will come from.
Leading energy company files for bankruptcy
What brought GoldenPeaks Poland to bankruptcy court What brought the company down started with a subsidiary. Spectris Energy was a wholly owned affiliate that handled engineering, construction, and day-to-day operations across GoldenPeaks' entire Polish solar portfolio. The grid made things worse. Poland's transmission system operator had been restricting how much solar power could feed into the grid, a problem that had been cutting into GoldenPeaks' revenue for months. The company was generating electricity that the grid couldn't always absorb, which meant the cash flow the debt structure depended on kept coming up short. The 664 megawatts of operational solar capacity is still running. The power purchase agreements with Nestle, Cargill, Mars, Mondelez, Auchan, and Hankook Tire are still in place. GoldenPeaks has a further 592 megawatts in construction or development.
A $225 Million Reason to Sell FuelCell Energy Stock Now
The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion. A key catalyst was a recent agreement with Fit Energy USA LP to supply up to 380 MW of clean, baseload on-site power for data centers, starting with an immediate 30 MW deployment. For the second quarter of fiscal 2026 (quarter ended April 30), FuelCell reported a 5% year-over-year (YOY) decrease in revenue to $35.59 million, below the $41.10 million expected by Wall Street analysts.
2 Top Power Stocks That Could Outperform the Market Through 2030
Vertiv's revenue increase has accelerated during the AI boom over the past three years. The consulting firm McKinsey estimates that global data centers could require over $6 trillion of investment by 2030, which could lead to a substantial increase in orders for Vertiv. Goldman Sachs projects global power demand from data centers to rise 165% from 2023 levels by 2030.
European Natural Gas Prices Jump on Hormuz Escalation
The August 2026 contract of the Dutch TTF Natural Gas Futures jumped by 3.35% to $59.51 (50.43 euros) per megawatt-hour (MWh) as of 6:15 a.m. Amsterdam time, rebounding to above the 50-euro threshold from a decline on Friday.
Software
The Tech Download: Teen social media bans are missing one big piece — AI chatbots
Roughly half of U.S. teens now use chatbots like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Character.AI for schoolwork, information, or just for fun, according to Pew Research Center. It appears that although AI safety and protecting children are topics dominating headlines, the government is again missing the mark on where the real dangers lie. News Elon Musk's SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index on Tuesday, less than a month after its stock market debut on June 12.
Why Salesforce Plunged Over 40% in the First Half of 2026
Shares of enterprise software giant Salesforce (CRM 2.35%) fell 40.9% in the first half of 2026, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. That's about 37% above this year's revenue outlook of $46 billion, and would amount to roughly an 11% annualized growth rate over three years. However, that total still only accounts for about 7.5% of this year's revenue guidance. So while Agentforce's growth is positive, it's still relatively small, and wouldn't necessarily offset deterioration in the rest of the business. If agents begin replacing more humans in corporate environments, one way software companies can continue to grow will be through consumption-based pricing, rather than "seat" based subscription pricing.
Alphabet (GOOG) Surged as Investors’ Confidence Boosted Amid Durable Execution
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), the parent company of Google, offers various platforms and services, including online search and advertising, cloud solutions, and artificial intelligence. On July 9, 2026, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) closed at $356.24 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of 4.35 trillion. "Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) outperformed during the second quarter of 2026 as investor confidence improved following another quarter of durable execution across its core businesses and continued evidence that its significant AI investments are translating into stronger financial performance."
Gas Prices Bite Into Pepsi's Snack Sales
Sales rose 6.4% to $24.18 billion, better than expected, with organic sales rising 2.4%. But growth stemmed primarily from global markets. In North America, beverages eked out a 1% gain, while sales in North American foods slipped 2%. While he believes the U.S. foods division could currently grow at 3%, it's currently at 1%. "The consumer is worse than what we had anticipated, and it's driven mainly by gas prices," he said. Pepsi still dominates the snack food universe: it now holds five of the 10 largest "permissible snack" brands, including better-for-you lines like Doritos' Simply NKD and SunChips.
Peter Lynch’s Favorite Indicator Is Flashing Green for Tech Stocks Again
28 XLK insiders bought company stock over 6 months, a record doubling from year-start that surpasses the prior 2011 peak of 25. According to data compiled by SentimenTrader and highlighted in a recent Seeking Alpha article, corporate insiders across the technology sector are purchasing shares of their own companies on the open market at the fastest pace in roughly 15 years.
Buy, Hold, or Sell: Why Everyone Is Wrong About Amazon’s Secret Bet
The stock trades at trailing P/E of 32 and forward P/E of 31, with an EV/EBITDA of 15. The $312.91 consensus target across 66 analysts implies roughly 25% upside. AWS reported a $364 billion revenue backlog in Q1, excluding the $100 billion+ Anthropic deal and $225 billion in Trainium revenue commitments already booked.
Why I Can’t Stop Buying Microsoft Even As Fears Of An AI Bubble Resurface
Our AI business surpassed $37 billion ARR, up 123%. That is booked revenue running at that pace right now. Commercial remaining performance obligations reached $627 billion, up 99% YoY. That is contracted future revenue, nearly doubled in twelve months. Operating margin last quarter was 46.3%, return on equity is 34%, debt to equity sits at 0.176, and interest coverage runs at 53.89x. Microsoft guided to roughly $190 billion in calendar 2026 capex and still generated $71.61 billion of free cash flow in FY25. Paid Copilot seats crossed 20 million, up 250% YoY, with Accenture alone at 740,000 seats. CFO Amy Hood addressed it directly: “We remain confident in the return on these investments given higher demand signals and increasing product usage.”
AI Disruption Concerns Dampen Wix.com (WIX)
Small and mid-cap (SMID) growth equities experienced the strongest quarter in recent memory, with the Russell 2500 Growth Index rising 24.0%, driven by enthusiasm for AI infrastructure and higher-beta momentum stocks. Wix.com Ltd. (NASDAQ:WIX) is an Israel-based cloud-based web development platform for registered users and creators. On July 9, 2026, Wix.com Ltd. (NASDAQ:WIX) closed at $49.24 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of 2.09 billion. Shares remain caught up in concerns around AI-driven disruption, the investment required to develop its own AI capabilities and decelerating growth in the core business.
Carasent AB (publ) (APXZF) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
In second quarter, we also had very strong sales, both in new customers and add-on services. As Svein Martin will show a bit later, our sign-up implemented went from SEK 4 million in Q1 to SEK 6 million in Q2. And then most of those sales are Webdoc. And as you can see, we have highly recurring revenues with more than 90%, a 15% organic ARR growth and 110% net revenue retention in the quarter.
Meta Is a Buy at $630 Despite 2026 Chop and Here’s Why
Q1 2026 revenue hit $56.31 billion, growing 33.1% YoY, with EPS of $10.44 beating consensus by 56.79%.
Microsoft Stock Price Prediction: Another All-Time High Ahead
Commercial remaining performance obligations reached $627 billion, up 99%, a demand signal that dwarfs current market cap concerns. Azure grew 40%, and CEO Satya Nadella noted "Our AI business surpassed an annual revenue run rate of $37 billion, up 123% year-over-year."
Meta Vs. Coreweave: How Meta is Looking to Bury Coreweave With ‘Meta Compute’ Sovereign Scale
Meta generated $12 billion in free cash flow while CoreWeave burned $5 billion, as Zuckerberg builds sovereign compute infrastructure to replace rented GPUs. CoreWeave's 58% implied upside to its $142 price target collapses if Meta shifts inference workloads to its own data centers. Meta printed $56.31 billion in revenue, up 33.08% year over year, with advertising alone contributing $55.024 billion. CEO Michael Intrator leaned on scale, citing a $99.4 billion backlog and a path to more than 8 GW by 2030.
Alphabet Stock Looks Undervalued After a 100% Rally in a Year. Analysts See More Upside
GOOG carries a BUY rating with a $442 price target representing 21% upside, supported by 89% bullish analyst consensus and zero sell ratings. Google Cloud's $460 billion backlog and Gemini's 16 billion tokens-per-minute usage signal AI monetization scaling across every part of the business. Alphabet guided $175 billion in 2026 CapEx while free cash flow dropped 47% YoY, with the bear scenario landing at $356.
HubSpot vs. CS Disco: Which Technology Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?
In FY 2025, revenue reached nearly $3.1 billion, representing an increase of approximately 19.2% over the prior year. For FY 2025, the company reported revenue of approximately $156.8 million, which represents growth of close to 8.3% compared to the previous fiscal year. The stock has pulled back sharply from its highs, which makes this one of the more attractive entry points for HubSpot in years.
Meta stock turns positive on the year on data center plans, new AI model pricing
Shares of the social media giant rose more than 5% as of midday, turning the stock positive year to date. Meta says it will charge developers $1.25 per million input tokens and $4.25 per million output tokens.
INTU Stock: Where Compounding Could Take The Price
Customers spend at least 7x more on accounting and tax experts than on software alone. This reality reframes the company’s core mission away from just selling code. The fastest growth is coming from services like TurboTax Live, which is expected to grow revenue 36% this year. This segment now represents 53% of total TurboTax revenue. Revenue compounds at 13.6% annually over three years, a light haircut to the LTM 15.1% pace. Net margin eases from 22% to 21% as today’s LTM gives back to the longer-run average. The multiple holds near today’s 16.5x. Put those three together and earnings move from $4.6B to roughly $6.5B, a 41% jump. Apply the projected multiple and the stock lands near $385.24, roughly 41% above today. Management plans to introduce a consumption-based model for its AI and human intelligence services. This move could unlock new revenue from customers as they scale their usage. The company concedes it lost on price in this segment, raising questions about competitive pressure. You are paying for steady compounding, not a re-rating and not a margin miracle. The bet is that revenue keeps moving at roughly the projected pace; if it doesn’t, the math has nowhere else to turn.
Analyst Reveals How $200 Billion in Leveraged ETFs Could Amplify the Next Market Selloff
TQQQ surged 81% over the past year and UPRO 55%, helping push U.S. leveraged ETF assets from $120B to over $200B. A 10% index drop triggers over $10B in mechanical selling, as leveraged ETFs now overwhelm the stabilizing gamma of covered-call products. VIX sits at 16.90, below its trailing 12-month average of 18, while the leveraged ETF pool that amplifies selloffs keeps expanding. The composition of that growth differs by region. In the U.S., the expansion has been driven largely by price performance rather than a flood of new shares. ProShares UltraPro S&P 500 (NYSEARCA:UPRO), the 3x leveraged S&P 500 fund, is up 25.29% year to date and 55.23% over the past year. The analyst noted that Korean AUM growth has come from huge share creation on top of meteoric share price rises, meaning retail buyers are actively piling in, not just riding markups.
Jim Cramer Says Google Could Win the Entire AI War: The 2.5 Billion Apple Devices Behind It Are Why
Inside Alphabet’s Numbers Alphabet’s Q1 2026 revenue came in at $109.9 billion, up 22% year over year (YoY), with EPS of $5.11 versus a $2.63 consensus. Google Cloud grew 63% to $20.03 billion, with backlog nearly doubling quarter over quarter to over $460 billion. Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated on the earnings call, “Our AI investments and full stack approach are lighting up every part of the business. Google Search had a strong quarter with AI experiences driving usage, queries at an all time high, and 19% revenue growth.”
Microsoft pushed Copilot everywhere, but barely anyone bought it, and even fewer use it: Report
Microsoft has spent the past few years making Copilot extraordinarily difficult to avoid. It appeared in Windows 11, and soon found its way to Edge, Word, and almost everywhere else in Microsoft’s software suite. New laptops even received a dedicated Copilot key. Microsoft wanted AI to become a daily habit, and it had hundreds of millions of existing customers to leverage. But the latest adoption figures suggest that the distribution was quite disappointing. Microsoft revealed that Copilot 365 has more than 20 million paid seats. While that does sound impressive at a glance, this number is dwarfed when you compare the company’s more than 450 million paid commercial Microsoft 365 seats. So fewer than 4.5% of those customers pay for the full Copilot experience. Most paid seats still gather digital dust More interestingly, paying for Copilot does not necessarily mean employees are regularly using it. According to a new report, enterprise surveys place weekly usage among licensed Copilot seats at only 20% to 30%. Applied to Microsoft’s disclosed numbers, that leaves somewhere around 4 million to 6 million weekly users, or roughly 1% of Microsoft 365’s broader commercial customer base. This is basically just the tiniest piece of the whole pie. Keep in mind that these figures are for the paid Microsoft 365 Copilot product, which can work across company emails, meetings, and other related systems. Meaning, they do not account for everyone using the free consumer chatbot or Copilot Chat. This is something eligible Microsoft 365 customers receive without purchasing the full license. It shows that companies may buy thousands of seats during an AI rollout, yet only a minority of employees appear to make Copilot part of their weekly routine. Microsoft isn’t unaware of this gap and has acknowledged this. Office users are gaining the option to hide their floating Copilot button, while qualifying organizations will be able to uninstall the Windows app. The company has also scaled back Copilot branding in some inbox apps following the wider Microslop backlash. Microsoft 365 prices went up anyway Alongside the lukewarm adoption, the company also treated users to higher Microsoft 365 prices. At the start of this month, Microsoft increased the US monthly price of Business Basic from $6 to $7 and Business Standard from $12.50 to $14. Several enterprise and frontline plans also rose by between 5% and 33%. The company also turned its Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Premium packages with paid Copilot into subscriptions priced at $23.50 and $32 per user each month.
Jim Cramer: SK Hynix Is the Last Big IPO of 2026 Unless a Hyperscaler Shocks Us
Amazon guided full-year 2026 CapEx toward $200 billion, Alphabet set 2026 CapEx at $175 billion to $185 billion, and Meta Platforms raised its 2026 CapEx target to $125 billion to $145 billion. Oracle disclosed $638 billion in remaining performance obligations and plans to raise around $40 billion in FY2027 through debt or equity.
Top Wall Street Analyst Says AI Spending Is Delivering Real Returns: “When We Build a Data Center, It’s Already Pre-Sold”
OpenAI and Anthropic combined had less than $20 billion run rate just six months ago. Now they have more than $75 billion run rate. That’s a huge curve,” Luria said. Microsoft Nearly Doubled Capex Without Sacrificing Its Margins Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT | MSFT Price Prediction) Q3 FY26 capex totaled $30.88 billion, up 84.39% year-over-year, while operating margin held at 46.3% and the AI business reached a $37 billion annual run rate, up 123% year-over-year. Commercial remaining performance obligations reached $627 billion, an enormous pre-sold backlog. Amazon Is Spending $200 Billion to Meet Explosive AI Demand Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) posted AWS revenue of $37.587 billion in Q1 2026, up 28%, the fastest growth in 15 quarters, at a 37.7% operating margin. The custom chips line topped a $20 billion revenue run rate, growing triple digits year-over-year. Anthropic committed to up to 5 GW of Trainium capacity and OpenAI to roughly 2 GW starting in 2027. Q1 capex climbed to $44.203 billion, and full-year 2026 capex is guided at roughly $200 billion. Google Cloud Grew 63% as Free Cash Flow Fell 47% Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) posted the most dramatic acceleration. Google Cloud revenue grew 63% to $20.03 billion, with backlog nearly doubling quarter-on-quarter to over $460 billion. Capex more than doubled to $35.67 billion, and 2026 capex is guided at $175-$185 billion.
Meta stock got the 18% pop Jim Cramer said it could on cloud news. What's next?
Meta Platforms finally delivered the rally Jim Cramer said was possible if Wall Street became convinced it could generate revenue from its massive artificial intelligence investments. The Zuckerberg-led company expects capital expenditures of $135 billion at the midpoint of its guidance range this year. For comparison, Microsoft plans to spend roughly $190 billion on capex this calendar year. While that is above Meta's outlook, the key difference is Microsoft has a cloud business to serve. A similar defense applies to Alphabet 's $180 billion to $190 billion in projected 2026 capex, as well as Amazon's guidance for $200 billion .
Why Trade Desk Stock Lost 52% in the First Half of 2026
Shares of Trade Desk (TTD 1.19%) fell 52.4% in the first half of 2026, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Trade Desk kicked off 2026 with a February earnings report that beat revenue estimates but came with the kind of guidance targets no investor wanted to hear. Management projected a sharp slowdown in Q1 growth, and many shareholders headed for the exits in a hurry. This clash was a big deal, because Publicis used to be one of Trade Desk's top clients. The French company's market cap is more than twice Trade Desk's nowadays. It also sports roughly $19.9 billion in trailing sales, far outweighing Trade Desk's $3.0 billion. The company is still growing at a double-digit percentage clip, year over year, but just barely. Two years ago, the top-line growth rate remained reliably above 20%. And management guided to just 8% sales growth in the upcoming Q2 2026 report. That's a long way from the hypergrowth days Trade Desk investors once took for granted. Trade Desk's stock now trades 84% below its 2024 peak. The company remains profitable and is still growing revenue. It's the pace of growth that's slowing down.
Meta's Chief Data Officer Says Agentic Commerce is the "Next Tier of Business"
Fortune Business Insights predicts it will grow to $39.53 billion by 2034, largely driven by AI. Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch.
Why Is Meta (META) Stock Soaring Today
Shares of social network operator Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) jumped 5.2% in the afternoon session after a cluster of AI infrastructure and product news reframed the company's heavy capital spending as a path to lower costs, new revenue, and faster growth rather than a pure expense drag. Meta said it will begin manufacturing its custom "Iris" AI chip in September with Broadcom and TSMC, aiming to cut reliance on pricey Nvidia and AMD GPUs. As Meta owns more of the silicon stack, inference and training could get cheaper over time. Monetization is the second leg. Meta is building a $9.1 billion (CAD 13 billion) data center in Canada and targeting 14GW of total compute by 2027. By renting excess capacity as an "AI Cloud," it turns idle or surplus infrastructure into a revenue stream. Scale also helps on unit economics: Meta's build costs sit below the roughly $45 billion-per-GW industry average, so the same dollars buy more usable capacity than many peers can claim. Growth closes the loop. Muse Spark 1.1, Meta's advanced coding model, is priced at about one-quarter of comparable OpenAI and Anthropic offerings, a deliberate bid to pull developers into Meta's ecosystem and widen the funnel for tools, ads, and cloud demand later. The central bear case on Meta all year had been the capex bill: 2026 AI capital spending was guided up to $125–145 billion (from $115–135 billion, versus ~$72 billion in 2025), pressuring free cash flow and sinking the stock ~7% after Q1 despite an earnings beat.
IT Keeps Buying What The Market Keeps Selling
Over the past three years, Gartner has repurchased $3.8 billion of its stock, which amounts to a huge 41% of its current market capitalization. The pace has only increased recently, with the company buying back $535 million of stock in the first quarter alone, reducing its total share count by about 4%. Revenue over the trailing twelve months grew 2.3%, and the company’s operations are throwing off significant cash. In fact, operating cash flow is 185% of net income, showing the earnings are real. Free cash flow in the most recent quarter was $371 million, up 29% year-over-year. Management has been explicit, stating they “expect contract value will accelerate” through the rest of the year. The market is betting it will not.
You Didn’t Need Alphabet: XLK Returned 29.35% to GOOGL’s 14.26%
From December 31, 2025 through July 10, 2026, GOOGL is up 14.26%, moving from $312.60 to $357.18. Not bad. A $10,000 position on New Year’s Day would be worth roughly $11,426 today. Over that exact same window, XLK returned 29.35%, climbing from $143.62 to $185.78. That same $10,000 in the ETF? Roughly $12,935. The basket beat the celebrity stock by a wide margin, and it did so without you needing to have any conviction about Sundar Pichai’s product roadmap. Management guided 2026 capex to $175 billion to $185 billion.
3 Reasons I Think Meta Platforms is a Screaming Buy Right Now
1. Head in the clouds The tech world was rocked last week when rumors surfaced that Meta is developing a cloud infrastructure business, according to a Bloomberg report. This would put the company in direct competition with industry leaders Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Alphabet's Google Cloud. 2. Significantly lower AI infrastructure costs One of the biggest question marks hanging over Meta this year is the company's aggressive AI-related capex spending. In the first quarter, Meta raised its forecast, saying it expects spending to be in a range of $125 billion to $145 billion, up from its previous range of $115 billion to $135 billion. 3. Muse Spark reception After the tepid reception to its Llama 4 AI model last year, Meta took a step back to regroup. Just this week, the company released Muse Spark 1.1, and early reviews suggest the company has a hit on its hands. The latest multimodal AI -- which powers the Meta AI assistant -- offers advanced reasoning and can handle complex processes. That's an attractive price for a company with so many ways to win, which is why I believe Meta Platforms is a screaming buy right now.
How Mastercard’s New AP4M Machine Payments Platform Will Impact Mastercard (MA) Investors
Mastercard Investment Narrative Recap To own Mastercard, you need to believe its global network can stay central to how money moves, even as new rails, real time systems and stablecoins gain traction. The AP4M launch extends Mastercard into AI driven, machine to machine payments, but it does not materially change the near term focus on defending card volumes and pricing power against regulatory and competitive pressure. Mastercard's narrative projects $46.8 billion revenue and $22.1 billion earnings by 2029. Uncover how Mastercard's forecasts yield a $653.28 fair value, a 24% upside to its current price.
United Parcel Service (UPS) Outperforms Broader Market: What You Need to Know
$21.63 billion, up 1.94% from the prior-year quarter. For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $7.11 per share and a revenue of $90.29 billion, demonstrating changes of -0.7% and +1.84%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Why tech investors are reevaluating AI investments
Current spending levels remain economically justified, with Microsoft investing about $65 billion in cloud and AI infrastructure in fiscal 2025 while generating annualised AI revenue of roughly $37 billion.
Rackspace Technology Cuts 2026 Outlook as $250M Stock Sale Fuels AI Push
Rackspace Technology NASDAQ: RXT said it is accelerating its push into enterprise artificial intelligence infrastructure, announcing a $250 million at-the-market equity offering and updated 2026 financial outlook as it moves away from lower-margin revenue streams. Kandiah said the company is reducing its fiscal 2026 revenue outlook by $150 million and its EBITDA outlook by $20 million. He said the reduction reflects exited revenue across both public cloud and private cloud, as well as investments in AI compute capacity. Marino said the updated total revenue expectation for fiscal 2026 is $2.45 billion to $2.55 billion, compared with prior guidance that implied a smaller decline. The new outlook represents a 7% decline at the midpoint, versus a prior expectation of a 1% decline at the midpoint. Updated EBITDA targets are now $285 million to $295 million, compared with prior guidance of $305 million to $315 million. In public cloud, Rackspace now expects 2026 revenue of $1.45 billion to $1.50 billion, down $125 million from its prior outlook. Marino said the reduction is tied to the company moving away from low-margin infrastructure resale revenue and focusing instead on higher-value services-led opportunities with hyperscaler partners. In private cloud, Rackspace reduced its 2026 revenue outlook by $25 million to a range of $1.0 billion to $1.05 billion. Marino said the decrease reflects the company’s decision to step away from colocation and basic hosting revenue and redirect capacity and capital toward higher-yielding AI deployments. Marino said the EBITDA reduction reflects a near-term mismatch between exiting lower-margin revenue streams, investing ahead of AI-related growth and costs associated with a previously announced workforce realignment. He said benefits from new AI revenue and the workforce realignment are expected in 2027. The company said it aims to reach 15 megawatts of cumulative capacity by the end of 2027 and 30 megawatts by the end of 2028. Marino said Rackspace currently expects $15 million to $20 million of revenue per megawatt of deployed GPU capacity on average, with a floor of $10 million per megawatt for the initial deployment. The company expects the revenue stream to generate EBITDA margins above 50%.
Is Palo Alto Networks' (PANW) AI Cost Push Reframing Its Cybersecurity Platform Ambitions?
Palo Alto Networks' narrative projects $17.9 billion revenue and $2.6 billion earnings by 2029. This requires 19.0% yearly revenue growth and an earnings increase of about $1.8 billion from $842.9 million today.
Did Zacks’ Earnings Upgrade Just Reframe Perimeter Solutions’ (PRM) Risk‑Reward Profile for Investors?
Perimeter Solutions' narrative projects $1.2 billion revenue and $1.0 billion earnings by 2029. This requires 18.7% yearly revenue growth and a $1.2 billion earnings increase from -$190.1 million today. Uncover how Perimeter Solutions' forecasts yield a $43.33 fair value, a 26% upside to its current price. Some of the lowest ranked analysts already expected revenue to reach about US$1.2 billion and earnings of roughly US$655 million by 2029, yet they still worried that slower conversion of government run bases into Perimeter run bases could cap EBITDA growth, highlighting how differently you and other shareholders might view the same Zacks upgrade and why it is worth comparing several scenarios before deciding what this new information means for you.
CoreWeave Stock Sank 11% After Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Unveiled a Cloud Business Plan
Shares of CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV), a leading neocloud provider that provides many of the same services, have dropped nearly 11% since that news broke. Meta will reportedly sell both its raw GPU computing capacity and remote access to its infrastructure to companies so they can run their own AI models. From 2025 to 2028, analysts expect CoreWeave's revenue to surge from $5.1 billion to $40.3 billion as its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) soars from $3.1 billion to $25.7 billion.
Big Tech is paying for the AI boom, and chipmakers are cashing in: Chart of the Day
Hyperscalers — Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT), and Oracle (ORCL) — are writing the checks for chips, data centers, and power. Chipmakers are getting paid first, and they are expected to keep more cash after their own bills are paid. Bank of America Global Research calls it a "generational transfer in free cash flow," and the chart below shows why. Free cash flow is the money a company has left after running the business and paying for major investments. In BofA's chart, that number is moving in opposite directions for Big Tech and chipmakers. For the hyperscaler basket, it is falling into negative territory, while the semiconductor basket — Nvidia (NVDA), Micron (MU), Broadcom (AVGO), and Applied Materials (AMAT) — keeps climbing. BofA said "Magnificent Seven" hyperscalers have spent $234 billion in capital expenditures this year, while their stocks are basically flat in 2026.
Burnout, frustration and heartbreak: Amazon layoffs take their toll in saturated job market
The tech sector has laid off roughly 140,000 employees in the U.S. so far this year, more than any other industry, according to consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. AI was the main reason companies gave for the cuts for a fourth straight month, Challenger said in a report last week. The firm said AI has been cited in about 23% of all job cut announcements in 2026. Amazon has been downsizing more aggressively than many of its peers, laying off more than 57,000 staffers since 2022, or roughly 16% of its corporate workforce. According to data from the website Layoffs.fyi, Amazon has accounted for about 13% of the tech industry's cuts this year. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has warned employees that AI "should change the way our work is done," and that in the next few years, efficiency gains from the technology "will reduce our total corporate workforce."
Zoom's CEO Sold Company Stock Worth $5.1 Million. What Does That Mean for Investors?
Eric Yuan maintains substantial economic interest in the company through 56,622 shares held indirectly in the 2018 Yuan and Zhang Revocable Trust and over 21.2 million derivative securities across direct and indirect holdings. The shares originated from several restricted stock unit grants dating back to July 2022, July 2023, and April 2026. These awards follow structured quarterly vesting schedules spanning three to four years, suggesting a regular cadence of similar tax-related dispositions may occur as future tranches vest. Zoom Communications provides a comprehensive unified communications platform that enables video conferencing, messaging, and collaboration capabilities, generating revenue primarily through subscription-based licensing models and usage-based services across enterprise and consumer segments.
The S&P 500 Isn’t What You Think It Is Anymore — Here’s the Uncomfortable Truth
According to Bloomberg, the 10 largest companies in the S&P 500 now account for 43% of the index's total market capitalization, near the highest level ever recorded. Even more striking, that figure has remained above 40% for the past 12 months, underscoring that this is no temporary spike. Over the past decade, the top 10 companies have more than doubled their share of the index. Meanwhile, the smallest 250 companies in the S&P 500 have seen their combined weighting shrink to roughly 7%, the lowest level since at least 2014. Put another way, the market value of the largest 10 companies is now more than six times greater than that of the index's smallest 250 members combined. During the dot-com era, the market's largest stocks peaked at roughly 27% of the S&P 500, with companies like Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) trading at roughly 130 times forward earnings. Today, the top 10 account for 43% of the index, but they also generate about 30% of the S&P 500's total earnings, giving their market leadership a stronger fundamental foundation than existed in 2000. An S&P 500 fund may still own 500 companies, but with nearly half its value concentrated in just 10 names, its fortunes increasingly rise and fall with a remarkably small group of businesses.
AI Is Consuming the World’s Memory Supply — Will Apple Pay the Price?
Consumers purchasing premium devices are generally less sensitive to moderate price increases. Industry estimates cited by Patel suggest memory costs for premium smartphones could rise from roughly $50 per device to more than $150 if pricing continues climbing.
Datadog Stock Is Way Too Risky Right Now
Datadog's fundamentals have not kept up with the stock's momentum. A 32% year-over-year increase in Q1 revenue is much lower than the stock's year-to-date gains. Growth has been picking up in recent quarters, but the overall trend is still deceleration. Datadog's revenue has a 41.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past five years, suggesting growth is slowing. Artificial intelligence can reinvigorate long-term growth, especially through GPU monitoring, which could become an essential feature for many data centers. However, the current valuation requires perfection. Datadog trades above 25 times sales. It's a major jump from the 15x sales valuation the cloud company had at the end of 2025. The stock's P/E ratio also sits above 650 and has surged by roughly 50% since the start of the year. It is a historically high valuation for Datadog, and its previous vulnerability to sharp corrections implies another sharp drop is possible. Although the five-year revenue CAGR shows decelerating revenue, Datadog did deliver 32% year-over-year revenue growth in Q1. That's higher than the 29% growth rate in Q4 2025 or the 25% growth rate in Q1 2025. Datadog is projecting $1.075 billion in sales at the midpoint, which would only be a 30% year-over-year growth rate. Full-year guidance establishes a $4.32 billion midpoint, which implies 26% year-over-year revenue growth.
Lowe's vs. Floor & Decor: Which Home Improvement Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?
For FY 2025, revenue was approximately $86.3 billion, an increase of about 3.1% year over year. During FY 2025, revenue reached nearly $4.7 billion, reflecting approximately 4% year-over-year growth. Lowe's is expected to grow sales by about 8% and net income by about 2.5% in 2026. Floor & Decor, meanwhile, expects sales to rise about 3% in 2026 to $4.83 billion, bringing net income to $206 million, a slight decline from last year.
Tutor Perini (TPC) Stock Still Trades At A Discount After A Very Large Three Year Run
Over the past 3 years, Tutor Perini has delivered a return of roughly 9x, which puts extra attention on whether recent enthusiasm has already been fully reflected in the price. The stock trades on a P/E of about 51.1x, compared with an industry average near 42.1x and a peer group average around 41.1x.
Prediction: This Magnificent Growth Stock Is Going to Double by 2027, and Here's the Math That Shows How
Around 56.5 million people used its app every single day during the first quarter, and while most of them were free users whom the company monetized through advertising, 12.5 million users were paying for subscriptions to unlock extra features. A growing number of those features are powered by AI. Users who pay for a Super Duolingo or Duolingo Max plan can access Video Call, which features a digital avatar that helps them practice their foreign language speaking skills. During the first quarter, the number of spoken words per user who engaged with this tool more than doubled compared to the year-ago period, so it's clearly proving to be popular. Revenue increased by 27% year over year during the first quarter, which was a solid result at face value, but a deceleration from its 38% growth in the same quarter of 2025.
Dave Ramsey Tells Newlywed Man With 10 Rental Properties to Pay Off His Wife’s $48,000 Debt: “You Are Now Married”
Paying the debt solo on a $2,000 pension takes roughly 4 years and costs around $12,000 in interest; combining finances eliminates it in one transaction. Separate Finances Could Turn $48,000 of Debt Into a Multi-Year Problem Kamel made the same point directly: "If you make $2,000 and he makes $10,000, it's going to take you a decade to pay off your student loans if you're lucky. So that's where I'm going. If you combine this, it's done so much faster. He probably has the money sitting around to just knock it out."
Amazon’s $2 Trillion Empire Faces a Critical Turning Point
AWS grew 28%, its fastest pace in 15 quarters, which helped drive Amazon's (AMZN) Q1 EPS to 68% above estimates for its fifth consecutive beat. Amazon Bedrock processed more tokens in Q1 than all prior years combined, and 66 analysts rate the stock Buy or higher targeting $312. Revenue landed at $181.52 billion, up 16.61% year over year. Earnings per share came in at $2.78 against a $1.653 estimate, a 68.18% beat and the fifth consecutive EPS beat. The cleaner read is operating income of $23.85 billion, up 29.6% year over year, with the corporate operating margin at 13.1%. Cloud revenue reached $37.59 billion, growing 28%, the fastest pace in 15 quarters, at an operating margin of 37.7%. Amazon's chips business (Graviton, Trainium, Nitro) crossed a $20 billion annual run rate at triple-digit year-over-year growth. Advertising services generated $17.24 billion in the quarter, up 24%, and now runs at a trailing rate above $70 billion. Unit growth in stores hit 15%, the highest reading since the end of COVID lockdowns. Shares of AMZN stock are up 6.9% over the past week and 5.13% year to date, but down 5.4% over the past month. The bull case is that Amazon is being paid like a mature retailer while operating like a growth infrastructure company. At 32 trailing earnings and 31 forward earnings, the multiple sits alongside quarterly earnings growth of 74.8% and return on equity of 24.3%.
After saving on their own, retirees are turning to financial advisers 'to know if they are on track'
About a quarter of retirees who have never worked with a financial adviser are now on board, double the number from five years ago. Retirees increasingly have lump sum savings from retirement plans that they need help with investing and spending and figuring out how to withdraw from their savings to generate income," said Craig Copeland, director of wealth benefits research at Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), which published the findings. A one-time review typically costs between $1,500 and $5,000, depending on the scope, and then retirees implement the recommendations.
Chevron May Have Unlocked a Powerful New Growth Engine
Research posted by Goldman Sachs in May puts things in perspective, predicting that data centers located in the United States alone would double their total consumption of electricity between 2025 and 2027, although consumption will continue growing at a brisk pace well beyond next year. RAND expects the nation's so-called "behind the meter" power generation capacity to roughly triple between now and 2030, reaching 49 gigawatts.
Is the AI Data Center Boom Creating a Debt Bubble? Here's What Investors Need to Know.
Meta (NASDAQ: META) just announced that it would lease out excess AI capacity that it has built. The stock rose on the news, as investors seemed to feel that the company had found a new way to profit from AI. However, a cynical view of the situation would be that Meta built more AI capacity than it needed and is now trying to salvage some value from that investment. Notably, Meta has also held internal conversations about its AI investments not progressing the way the company had hoped, according to Reuters. And, to top it all off, the company recently raised $25 billion to fund its artificial intelligence spending, after raising $30 billion in late 2025. Pricing around the recent $25 billion capital raise suggested investors are more fearful than during the $30 billion capital raise, according to Bloomberg. SpaceX is losing money right now, which isn't surprising for a start-up. However, part of the problem is the heavy spending taking place in the company's AI division. Nvidia just issued $25 billion in bonds. However, Nvidia has also been making other deals that raise questions, too. It has been offering revenue-sharing arrangements with AI companies, which help support near-term demand for Nvidia chips, but it offers only a cloudy outlook on the revenue front.
How Legal Setback and Costly Debt Refi At Tutor Perini (TPC) Has Changed Its Investment Story
Tutor Perini's narrative projects $7.6 billion revenue and $483.9 million earnings by 2029. This requires 10.2% yearly revenue growth and about a $405.8 million earnings increase from $78.1 million today. Uncover how Tutor Perini's forecasts yield a $113.25 fair value, a 49% upside to its current price.
Salesforce receives double blow over an AI product
According to Benzinga, KeyBanc analyst Jackson Ader was blunt, saying the only real reason to buy the stock now is that it's cheap. A recent survey of chief information officers, the executives who control software budgets, deepened the worry. More of them plan to trim Salesforce spending over the next year than raise it.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) Is Making An $8.5 Billion Bet On Homes And AI
Berkshire Hathaway, under CEO Greg Abel, has pursued large moves in homebuilding and technology, including an $8.5b deal for Taylor Morrison and the acquisition of McGuinn Homes. The company has made Alphabet a core holding, increasing its position and joining a $10b private placement to support Alphabet's AI build out. For you as a shareholder or potential investor, the key question is how this shift toward Alphabet and vertically integrated housing could reshape Berkshire's risk and return profile over time. The upcoming vote on Taylor Morrison, combined with recent moves at Clayton Homes, will show how much backing Abel has for this new approach to capital deployment and business expansion. Berkshire Hathaway's push into both site-built housing and concentrated technology bets marks a clear shift in how capital is being used under Greg Abel. On the housing side, Clayton's planned US$8.5b purchase of Taylor Morrison, followed quickly by the McGuinn Homes deal, moves Berkshire further into higher margin community-building and build-to-rent projects rather than just manufactured homes. In technology, a US$31.1b position in Alphabet, supported by a US$10b private placement tied to AI infrastructure, sits alongside a long-standing US$58b Apple stake. That pairing gives Berkshire exposure to both AI compute demand through Alphabet and device distribution through Apple. For you as a shareholder, the question is how comfortable you are with this higher concentration in a few technology giants and a more unified housing platform alongside a roughly US$397b cash pile that has not yet been fully deployed.
FedEx and UPS face a new pricing threat from an old rival
Amazon Shipping is offering corporate shippers simplified pricing, waived residential surcharges and rates that can run up to 30% below comparable FedEx and UPS pricing, according to a Supply Chain Dive report. One large retail client using FedEx cut its annual shipping costs by more than 33% after routing most of its distribution through Amazon instead, a shift that shows how quickly volume can move once price becomes the deciding factor.
CrowdStrike Just Completed a Stock Split. Is the Stock a Buy Now?
CrowdStrike recently announced record new annual recurring revenue and record free cash flow. A low single-digit percent of organizations have a significant cybersecurity strategy right now, according to CrowdStrike. This opens up an enormous growth opportunity for the cybersecurity giant.
Amazon Is Spending So Much on AI That Even Its Cash Isn’t Enough. Why Investors Shouldn’t Be Worried.
The numbers behind Amazon's AI push explain the reason it needs the cash. The company plans to spend roughly $200 billion in 2026, a big jump from $131 billion in 2025. Combined, these hyperscalers could spend over $700 billion on AI in 2026. About Amazon Stock Amazon is a technology and e-commerce company operating across online retail, digital advertising, cloud computing, and entertainment. Its products and services include its e-commerce marketplace, Amazon Web Services, Alexa, and Prime Video. Founded in 1994, the company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and led by Jassy. The investment is primarily aimed at AI infrastructure and data centers, which is what the recent bond sale will help fund. The estimated growth of 21% in 2026, accelerating to 27% in 2028, is significant for a company with a $2.66 trillion dollar market cap already. Amazon Posts Record Operating Margin As AI Spending Climbs Amazon reported its first-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings on April 29. Revenue grew 17% year-over-year (YOY) to $181.5 billion, beating the $177.3 billion consensus. AWS surged 28%, marking its fastest growth in the last 15 quarters. The company also posted its highest-ever operating margin of 13.1%, with worldwide operating income reaching $23.9 billion. CEO Andy Jassy noted a growing AWS backlog of $364 billion as a sign of strong demand across its cloud customers. Looking ahead, Amazon guided second-quarter revenue of $194 billion to $199 billion, above the analyst consensus again. The main worry for investors remains the company's heavy spending.
Cathie Wood buys $22.8 million of surging tech stock
In 2025, the flagship Ark Innovation ETF gained 35.49%, far outpacing the S&P 500's return of 17.88% in the same period. Those swings have weighed on Wood's long-term gains. As of July 10, her Ark Innovation ETF has delivered a five-year annualized return of -8.42%, while the S&P 500 has an annualized return of 11.63% over the same period, according to data from Morningstar. From 2014 to 2024, the Ark Innovation ETF wiped out $7 billion in investor wealth, according to a March 2025 analysis by Morningstar's analyst Amy Arnott. Meta is expected to spend up to $145 billion on AI infrastructure this year, making it one of the biggest AI spenders among Big Tech. The company delivered a strong first quarter, reporting adjusted earnings per share of $7.31 on revenue of $56.31 billion, beating Wall Street estimates on both metrics.
Warren Buffett Swears By This 1 Low-Cost Investment. History Proves He's Been Right Every Time.
In 2008, he also made a $1 million bet that this type of investment could outperform a group of actively managed funds. After 10 years, his S&P 500 fund had earned total returns of nearly 126%, while the five actively managed funds averaged a total return of around 36%. Analysts at Crestmont Research studied the S&P 500's long-term performance and found that since the index's inception, it's ended every 20-year period with positive total returns regardless of how volatile the market was during that period. In other words, by holding an S&P 500 ETF for at least 20 years, it's historically been harder to lose money with this investment than it is to make money.
Here Is Why Meta’s ‘Iris’ Chip Could Help the Company Finally Break Free From Nvidia’s Shadow
In its latest fourth-quarter earnings report, Meta delivered a blockbuster revenue of $56.31 billion, registering a staggering 33% year-over-year (YoY) growth that easily beat Wall Street analysts' estimates of $55.52 billion. The company posted an official GAAP EPS of $10.44. However, adjusting for a substantial one-time $8.03 billion income tax benefit, its underlying adjusted EPS came in at $7.31. This core financial performance comfortably surpassed the consensus analyst projection of $6.66 per share, representing a decisive earnings beat fueled by a robust, broad-based recovery across its digital advertising segments. Diving deeper into operational metrics, the tech giant reported that Family Daily Active People (DAP) hit an impressive 3.56 billion, expanding its digital footprint by 4% YoY. Monetization remained highly efficient, with ad impressions across its portfolio surging 19% and the average price per ad climbing 12%. This twin acceleration reflects a powerful health signal for online advertising, further optimized by AI conversion tools. Financially, the company sustained a powerful 41% operating margin, closing the quarter with $81.18 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, while generating a healthy free cash flow of $12.39 billion. Looking ahead, management provided a confident outlook, issuing quarterly revenue guidance of $58 billion to $61 billion, signaling sustained top-line momentum. Full-year total expense guidance was comfortably maintained at $162 billion to $169 billion. Crucially, management raised its full-year capital expenditures guidance to a massive $125 billion to $145 billion to aggressively scale up AI server infrastructure and data centers. Despite this aggressive spending, executives explicitly committed that full-year operating income will exceed the previous year's levels, demonstrating profound conviction in its long-term AI monetization strategies.
Billionaire Tech CEO: Our $25 Billion Backlog Shows “The Demand Is Booked” as “We’ve Never Seen a Buildout Like This Since the Great Wall of China”
NVIDIA's $119B in supply commitments and AMD's 155% year-to-date surge confirm AI compute demand is already contracted, not speculative. Feldman cited a $25 billion Cerebras backlog, with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and AWS among buyers whose orders are already locked in. NVIDIA Has Committed $119 Billion to Meeting Future Demand NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) posted Q1 FY2027 revenue of $81.615 billion, up 85.23% year over year, with Data Center revenue of $75.246 billion and Data Center Networking growth of 199%.
CVCs are spending more on less
CVCs and corporates participated in just 21.1% of US venture deals in the first half of 2026—a decade low—according to the Q2 2026 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. Yet they accounted for a record 82.6% of all deal value as they pile into later-stage VC rounds for in-demand AI startups. Companies, including Amazon, have been willing to invest multi-billion-dollar sums in AI startups to gain proprietary or preferred access to models and compute. Publicly traded companies are warning investors of skyrocketing internal AI spend as compute and token costs climb with more advanced models.
BigBear.ai vs. SoundHound AI: Which Artificial Intelligence Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?
In its 2025 fiscal year (FY), revenue reached $127.7 million, representing a decline of 19.3% compared to the prior year. For FY 2025, revenue grew by 99.4% to reach $168.9 million. SoundHound forecasts 2026 sales to hit between $225 million and $260 million, up from 2025's $168.9 million.
The U.S. Added 441K New Millionaires Last Year. That's More Than 1,200 Every Day. It Now Accounts for Over 40% of the World's Millionaires
The U.S. added 441,078 new millionaires last year, according to the UBS Global Wealth Report 2026. That works out to more than 1,200 new millionaires every day and is an increase of 1.9% from 2024. There are now more than 57.5 million millionaires worldwide, UBS estimates. Of those, roughly 23.6 million live in the U.S., or more than 40%. Over half of global personal wealth remains concentrated in the U.S. and China combined, the report also found.
Fermi America Sinks 11.5% with $375 Million Offering
Shares of Fermi America (NASDAQ:FRMI) are down roughly 11.5% in Friday afternoon trading, changing hands near $6.48 after opening the session at $7.32. Fermi priced an upsized $375 million offering of 5.00% convertible senior notes due 2031, with initial purchasers granted an option for an additional $56.25 million. The company reported zero revenue and a $188.69 million net loss in Q1 2026, with huge capex going into Project Matador, its 7,500-acre Carson County, Texas campus targeting up to 17 GW of behind-the-meter power for hyperscalers and AI compute customers. GEV's Q1 orders alone included $2.4 billion in Electrification equipment tied to data centers, underscoring that customer demand for gigawatt-scale power remains robust.
Private wealth funds ditch the middleman for more alternatives exposure
US-domiciled fund assets stood at a record $607 billion across 567 funds through March 31, according to PitchBook data. These are firms that have the economics where they can actually hire dedicated, experienced, professionally trained private markets experts when it comes to sourcing and underwriting private investment vehicles," says Don Calcagni, chief investment officer of Mercer Advisors, a $115 billion RIA catering to wealthy clients. The entire industry is focused on the wealth channel," Calcagni says. RIAs have grown large enough to hire dedicated private markets talent, negotiate directly with top GPs for favorable terms, and absorb the legal and administrative costs of fund formation. Wealthtech startups including Opto Investments and Allocate have also lowered operational barriers by serving as leads for fund setup and administration. For its part, Mercer hired a team of private-market veterans under Bob Burlinson to lead Aspen Partners, and backed them with several blue-chip service providers. When it designed the Aspen platform, Mercer believed it was filling a void in the quality of private opportunities shopped to investors. Some money managers have a longer history of running proprietary funds, while others are new to the approach. Atlanta-based BIP Capital grew out of BIP Wealth and has operated separately since 2009, running its own private credit, venture and growth strategies distributed through RIAs. Granite Harbor Advisors, a $600 million RIA based in Houston, launched a closed-end fund earlier this year dedicated to private equity and real estate. If it's a profit center, it's a no-go," says Karl Heckenberg, managing partner at Constellation Wealth Partners, a Chicago-based PE firm that backs wealth managers. One of Constellation's firms wrote $2 billion in private fund commitments in a single year—on par with a global insurance company's allocation. If you're a $2 billion RIA thinking you're getting access to the best funds and vehicles out there, I just think you're wrong," Heckenberg said. But some private-wealth-focused funds are undeterred. Earlier this year, a $234 million VC funding round for an AI chip specialist had an unlikely co-lead investor: Arena Private Wealth. This Chicago-based adviser created a special-purpose vehicle for its clients to participate in Positron's Series B funding. For Arena, based in Cleveland, the Positron deal marked a breakthrough, proving the value of the firm's network, which in turn expanded through the deal to include the Qatar Investment Authority, its co-lead investor, according to Mitch Stein, Arena's founder. Arena's clients are mostly in the Midwest and rarely get access to coastal deals.
Stock Indexes Settle Higher as Geopolitical Risks Ease
Forecasts compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence suggest Q2 earnings may increase by +23%, close to Q1's blowout earnings of +30%, which was more than double the +12% analysts had expected. EquipmentShare.com (EQPT) closed up more than +17% after raising its full-year adjusted core Ebitda estimate to $1.95 billion to $2.06 billion from a previous estimate of $1.88 billion to $2.00 billion. WD-40 Co (WDFC) closed up more than +10% after boosting its full-year net sales forecast to $652 million to $667 million from a previous forecast of $630 million to $655 million. Meta Platforms (META) closed up more than +5% to lead gainers in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 after research firm SemiAnalysis posted a positive report on the company's AI computing business. Jackson Financial (JXN) closed up more than +5% after Jeffries upgraded the stock to buy from hold with a price target of $140.
Vodafone Group Spikes 13%: Here’s the Story
FY26 results filed May 12, 2026 showed organic service revenue growth of 5.4%, Adjusted EBITDAaL of $13.23 billion, and a 2.5% dividend increase.
Can Lowe's (LOW) AI Pro Push and Phantom Stock Awards Reshape Its Competitive Moat?
Lowe's Companies' narrative projects $100.9 billion revenue and $8.1 billion earnings by 2029. This requires 4.5% yearly revenue growth and about a $1.5 billion earnings increase from $6.6 billion today. Uncover how Lowe's Companies' forecasts yield a $263.73 fair value, a 25% upside to its current price.
The Monday Blues. Is the Dip in Monday.com Stock a Buying Opportunity?
The company's growth remains strong, with its Q1 revenue climbing 24% to $351.3 million. Its growth was led by existing customers, with net dollar retention at 110%. Any number above 100% represents growth from clients who have been customers for at least a year after churn. Meanwhile, net dollar retention among larger clients was even more robust, at 114% for customers with more than 10 users and 116% for customers with annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $50,000 or more. Looking ahead, the company forecast Q2 revenue of $338 million to $340 million, representing 18% to 19% growth. It projected full-year revenue of between $1.466 million and $1.474 million, above its prior guidance of $1.452 billion and $1.462 billion.
Can Meta Platforms (META) Turn Surplus AI Capacity Into a Durable Enterprise Revenue Engine?
Meta Platforms' narrative projects $369.0 billion revenue and $111.2 billion earnings by 2029. This requires 19.7% yearly revenue growth and about a $40.6 billion earnings increase from $70.6 billion today. Some of the lowest target analysts were already cautious, assuming profit margins would slip toward about 29 percent even as earnings climbed near US$100,000,000,000, and this new AI spend could either validate that concern or force a complete rethink of those expectations.
Warren Buffett's Most Recent Warning to Wall Street Echoes One He Issued During the Dot-Com Bubble. Is It Time to Listen?
The S&P 500 has skyrocketed in recent years -- advancing 78% over the past three calendar years and continuing the momentum in 2026 too. The S&P 500 Shiller CAPE ratio, a measure of stock price in relation to earnings per share over a 10-year period, shows stocks at their second-most expensive level ever -- after the dot-com boom.
Mark Zuckerberg Said Meta's AI Bets "Haven't Come to Fruition Yet" as Shares Fell 5%
Meta Platforms (META +6.16%) is one of the big spenders in the artificial intelligence (AI) race. Its capital expenditures in 2026 will total between $125 billion and $145 billion. At the midpoint, that estimate would be 88% higher than last year's figure. The company believed that the metaverse would replace mobile internet as the next major computing platform, a strategic pivot that Meta has since scaled back. Investors haven't been pleased with Reality Labs' financial performance. This segment of Meta posted a cumulative operating loss of $77 billion during the five-year period from the start of 2021 through 2025. With a world-class advertising platform and 3.56 billion daily active users across its family of apps, Meta aims to leverage AI not only to boost engagement and drive higher ad revenue, but to also bring personal superintelligence to everyone around the world.
Why passengers will pay for easyJet’s debt-fuelled future
More than half of easyJet's planes are owned outright, with the proportion rising to 80pc for the newest models. All told, easyJet-owned aircraft alone are worth about £5bn, according to Jefferies – the same value as Castlelake's bid.
This “Boring” ETF Could Be One of the Biggest Winners from the AI Boom
According to research from Goldman Sachs, by 2030, AI is expected to increase data center power demand by 165%. This is supported by research from Deloitte, acknowledging that from 2024 to 2035, demand for AI data centers is expected to increase fivefold.
3 Phenomenal Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks to Buy Before They Report Earnings
Microsoft's earnings weren't even remotely bad during its last announcements, as it announced incredible AI growth and a strong cloud computing performance. In fiscal 2026's Q3 (ended March 31, 2026), revenue rose 18% year over year, and earnings per share (EPS) increased 23%.
Amazon Has Underperformed in 2026. Is the Stock a Bargain Now?
AWS revenue rose 28% year over year to $37.6 billion in the first quarter of 2026. That was its fastest growth in 15 quarters, and it puts the business at about a $150 billion annual pace. The growth is also enormously profitable. AWS generated $14.2 billion in operating income at a 37.7% margin, which is why it drives most of Amazon's profits even though it is a fraction of total revenue. Total revenue rose 17% to $181.5 billion, and operating income jumped to $23.9 billion. That worked out to an operating margin of 13.1%, a record for Amazon and a sign that years of cost discipline in retail are finally showing up. Amazon poured $44.2 billion into capital projects in the first quarter alone, most of it for AI infrastructure, up from $25 billion a year earlier.
Palo Alto Networks May Need a Breather Before Its Next Rally
Palo Alto Networks' fiscal 2026 third-quarter results pointed to meaningful revenue acceleration. Total sales increased by 31% year over year, compared to a 15% year-over-year increase in the previous quarter. Recent acquisitions of CyberArk and Chronosphere contributed to elevated growth rates, but Palo Alto Networks' underlying business still exhibited more growth than usual. Its annual recurring revenue (ARR) from next-generation security was up by 60% year over year. The total ARR reached $8.1 billion, with $1.6 billion of that coming from the acquisitions. Guidance implied $3.35 billion in fiscal 2026 Q4 revenue, which would be an 11.7% sequential growth rate. Year-over-year growth rates are more attractive, but sequential growth rates factor in the recent acquisitions. Palo Alto Networks also expects to close out the year with up to $8.95 billion in ARR from next-generation security solutions, guidance that offers meaningful revenue visibility. The total ARR reached $8.1 billion, with $1.6 billion of that coming from the acquisitions.
Nomura Says AI Memory Demand Concerns Are Overdone as Supply Constraints Persist
According to Nomura, the current market remains characterized by a significant shortage of memory products driven by rapid artificial intelligence adoption. The analysts said semiconductor manufacturers continue to prioritize higher-margin high-bandwidth memory (HBM), leaving supplies of conventional DRAM and NAND products relatively tight. Nomura estimates that the project, originally launched nine years ago, is unlikely to begin limited production before late 2027, illustrating that more than a decade can pass between initial investment decisions and commercially meaningful output. The brokerage highlighted the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster as an example of the industry’s extended investment timeline.
Netflix Might Be Ready to Buy Something Again, but It's Not What You Think
Variety reports that Netflix is one of the parties in the running to acquire Letterboxd, a fast-growing film-review platform with a social-networking bent reaching 30 million members worldwide, a roughly 50% increase over the past year. Letterbox is reportedly looking for a price tag in the $250 million range. It would be a good catch for Netflix, strengthening its ties with tens of millions of movie buffs.
70% of S&P 500 Tech Stocks Are Down 20% or More from Their All-Time Highs
70% of those S&P 500 tech stocks are down more than 20% from their all-time highs, and half of those are off at least 35%. 40% of those stocks are down this year. Over the past five years, every one of those 72 stocks has had a decline of at least 27%. More than half have lost at least 50% of their value at some point during the past five years. One out of four have lost at least two-thirds of their peak value at some point during that same 5-year period.
Majority of U.S. workers support an AI wealth fund as tech layoffs surge, survey finds
69% of Americans now support "forcing" AI firms to transfer 50% of their stock to a public sovereign wealth fund. Goldman Sachs Senior Global Economist Joseph Briggs estimates that more than 9% of the labor force, or around 15 million workers, could lose their jobs during a 10-year AI transition period.
Meet the Unstoppable Vanguard ETF Obliterating the S&P 500 in 2026
The companies in the S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 come from 11 different economic sectors, so both indexes are diversified. However, while the technology sector alone accounts for more than one-third of the S&P's value, the Russell is far more balanced. The three largest sectors (by weight) in the Vanguard Russell 2000 ETF are as follows: Industrials: 19.8% Healthcare: 16.1% Financials: 15.6% Moreover, the top 10 positions in the VTWO ETF account for just 7.6% of its portfolio, so its performance isn't beholden to a mere handful of stocks. One thing most of these companies have in common is their primarily domestic operations. Therefore, not only are they somewhat protected from geopolitical issues, but they are also benefiting from a series of favorable government policies. For example, the Trump administration has levied broad-based tariffs on imported goods, which are designed to make domestic American companies more competitive with their foreign counterparts. The administration has also slashed regulations to reduce the cost of doing business. An investor who bought the Vanguard Russell 2000 ETF 10 years ago would have earned a respectable return of 152%, but that pales in comparison to the 251% gain in the S&P 500 over the same period. The Russell has struggled to keep up with the bigger indexes because of its limited exposure to mega-cap stocks like Nvidia and Alphabet, which have often led the market in earnings growth, particularly after the onset of the AI boom. However, that doesn't mean the Russell can't outperform the S&P over a single year, and it's certainly on track to do so in 2026. Trillion-dollar giants like Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta Platforms generate significant revenue from outside the U.S., which exposes them to the effects of war and other geopolitical issues. Since the U.S. is technically energy independent, domestic companies are less affected by the volatility in the oil markets, sparked by the current conflict in the Middle East. On Wednesday, July 8, President Trump said last month's ceasefire with Iran was effectively over, so this conflict is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. As a result, I think the Vanguard Russell 2000 ETF could maintain its recent momentum until the end of 2026, and potentially beyond.
Volatility Isn’t the Risk You Should Fear — These Are
$20B in debt due this year against $1B in cash, and JNJ's STELARA lost 60% to biosimilars. PG absorbed a $400M tariff hit and margin compression while MSFT dropped 20% despite 40% Azure growth, and in both stories the driving factor is execution risk rather than volatility. Home Depot (NYSE: HD) ended the fiscal year with $20.28 billion in current liabilities, including short-term obligations, against $1.39 billion in cash and a current ratio of 1.06x. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shows the difference between a price wobble and structural impairment. A beta of 0.235 suggests the shares have historically been far less sensitive to broad market swings. Meanwhile, STELARA revenue fell 59.7% year over year to $656 million as biosimilar competition eroded the franchise. Biosimilar erosion is a recurring headwind that must be offset by growth from products such as TREMFYA (up 68.3% year over year) and DARZALEX (up 22.5%), or it will weigh on earnings over time.
Should You Buy Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)’s Shares?
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) should deliver a small upside for its Azure business in the upcoming second quarter earnings. RiverPark Large Growth Fund discussed Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its Q1 2026 investor letter: "Microsoft Corporation: MSFT was the portfolio's largest detractor for the quarter due to various headwinds. In January, Microsoft reported its fiscal Q2 2026 results with strong operational metrics, revenue up 17% year-over-year, Azure up 39%, and RPO of $392 billion up more than 50% year-over-year, but management's guidance for a sequential deceleration in Azure growth and sharply elevated capital expenditures weighed on investor sentiment.
Alphabet vs. Amazon vs. Microsoft: Which Is the Best Cloud Computing Stock to Buy Today?
Amazon's e-commerce business is also performing well and currently experiencing a lot of operating leverage due to its investments in robotics and AI. Microsoft's Azure cloud computing unit, a big growth driver for the enterprise software giant, has been growing its revenue by 30% or more for 11 straight quarters. This included last quarter, its fiscal Q3, when revenue soared 40% (39% in constant currencies). Alphabet's TPUs were developed more than a decade ago and are generally considered best in class among custom AI chips, as the company has optimized its entire ecosystem around them. Overall, Google Cloud saw the strongest growth of the big three cloud providers, as revenue surged 63% last quarter.
Conduent Incorporated (CNDT) Is A Top Stock To Buy According To Bill Miller
Conduent Incorporated (NASDAQ:CNDT) is one of the top stock picks. Conduent Incorporated (NASDAQ:CNDT) is a business process technology company. Its shares are down by 44% over the past year and by 20% year-to-date. It estimates that 25 million people across the US were affected and added that not only was the breach one of the largest in US history, but the stolen data covered details such as social security numbers, legal names and health insurance data. The deal is expected to close before the end of this year and the firm's CEO outlined that it was part of his firm's effort to simplify its business and focus on core operations.
$10,000 Invested in Mark Zuckerberg's Meta a Decade Ago Is Worth This Much Today
Revenue rose 22% in 2025 to $201.0 billion, and the growth rate stepped up through the year, from 24% year over year in the fourth quarter to 33% in the first quarter of 2026, when revenue hit $56.3 billion. Meta's first-quarter operating income rose 30% year over year to $22.9 billion. The company spent over $26 billion on share repurchases in 2025, paid another approximately $5 billion in dividends and dividend equivalents, and still ended the year with more than $81 billion in cash and marketable securities. Meta recently raised its 2026 guidance for capital expenditures to a range of $125 billion to $145 billion, much of it aimed at AI infrastructure.
SpaceX Has Officially Joined the Nasdaq-100. Here Are 3 Better Nasdaq-100 Stocks to Buy in July.
Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ: KDP) is in the middle of the boldest reinvention of its short life. It closed its roughly $18 billion acquisition of Dutch coffee company JDE Peet's this spring, and it plans to split itself into two focused, separately traded businesses by the end of 2026: a global coffee company and a North American refreshment-beverage company. The company performed a 15-for-1 stock split in 2025, lowering its per-share price so smaller investors can more easily buy whole shares or trade its options, and it keeps expanding, including a growing footprint in Mexico that now tops 120 stores.
The 1 AI Stock I'd Buy and Hold for the Next Decade
In Microsoft's fiscal third quarter (the period ended March 31, 2026), its "Azure and other cloud services" revenue grew 40% year over year. And that's no one-quarter spike. Azure grew 40% in fiscal Q1 and 39% in fiscal Q2, so the business has held steady at about 40% growth for three straight quarters -- remarkable consistency for a business of this scale. Enterprise adoption of AI is arguably still early, too. And when businesses do adopt, Microsoft is often the first vendor they try, because it's the vendor they already pay. The forward-looking signal is even stronger. Microsoft's commercial remaining performance obligations (contracted work it hasn't yet recognized as revenue) roughly doubled year over year to $627 billion in fiscal Q3. And CEO Satya Nadella said on the company's fiscal third-quarter earnings call that Microsoft's AI business surpassed an annual revenue run rate of $37 billion, up 123% year over year. That profit engine lets Microsoft fund one of the largest AI build-outs in the world from its own operations while still paying a dividend. Microsoft expects to invest about $190 billion in capital expenditures in calendar year 2026, including about $25 billion from the impact of higher component pricing.
Is the AI Bubble About to Burst?
42 per cent of organisations abandoned most of their AI initiatives in 2025, compared with 17 per cent in 2024. more than 80 per cent of industrial AI projects fail, mainly due to process complexity, poor data quality, and lack of real-world context.
Amazon Just Announced Shocking $25 Billion News. Should Investors Worry?
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is reported to have made a shocking decision in recent days. According to CNBC, it is issuing $25 billion in debt to fund its data center build-out. The company is currently leading the way among AI hyperscalers in data center construction plans, and it expects to lay out around $200 billion in capital expenditures this year. Over the past 12 months, Amazon generated just shy of $150 billion in cash from operations, so the gap between funds coming in and cash flowing out had to be closed somehow.
Salesforce (CRM) Is Putting $1 Billion Into AI In Switzerland
The Switzerland investment supports the existing narrative that Salesforce is trying to embed AI and automation across workflows, by expanding its international AI footprint and creating another hub where agent-based tools and Data Cloud style offerings can be tested and adopted with real customers. A dedicated Swiss AI hub could help Salesforce refine agent-based tools on real operational problems across industries, strengthening its competitive position relative to Microsoft, Oracle and ServiceNow in enterprise and public-sector deals. The move also gives Salesforce another reference point alongside the U.S. Air Force deployment to show investors that its AI and data platforms can support large, mission-critical use cases rather than only traditional CRM workflows. From here, investors may want to track how Salesforce links the Swiss AI build-out to tangible metrics such as AI-related revenue, large deal wins and product adoption, particularly where agent-based tools replace or augment existing workflows.
Here’s How Nancy Pelosi Beat the Stock Market and Warren Buffett
From FAANG Darling to AI Queen Paul Pelosi did not invent momentum investing, but he developed a distinctive variation: buying just before Congress regulates or funds a sector. Early concentrated bets on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL), and Netflix were already well documented. Then came the pivot that genuinely turned heads: massive call option purchases in Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) in 2022 and 2023, timed right as the AI boom ignited. Those Nvidia purchases also landed just as Congress was debating hundreds of billions in chip subsidies through the CHIPS Act. The timing on Tesla calls before EV tax-credit expansions, and on Microsoft before large Azure cloud contracts with the federal government, followed a similar pattern. Critics describe this as an informational edge. Defenders call it good sector instinct. The portfolio expanded meaningfully following financial disclosures filed on January 23, 2026. Those filings revealed that on January 16, 2026, Paul Pelosi exercised long-term calls across several positions, converting leveraged options into direct equity. The round included 50 call options each for Nvidia (5,000 shares at an $80 strike), Alphabet (5,000 shares at a $150 strike), Amazon (5,000 shares at a $150 strike), and Tempus AI (5,000 shares at a $20 strike). The early 2026 moves also signaled a clear shift toward backend AI data center infrastructure. Pelosi exercised 50 call options in utility company Vistra Corp, acquiring 5,000 shares at a $50 strike price. Vistra has beefed up its nuclear power capacity in recent years and has gotten swept up in the AI investment boom as leading tech companies aggressively pursue nuclear energy to power their data centers. At the same time, the portfolio added 25,000 shares of asset management firm AllianceBernstein, valued between $1 million and $5 million, providing institutional dividend exposure outside pure tech. According to The New York Post, Pelosi's record during her 37-year tenure in Congress produced cumulative returns of 16,930% compared to just 2,300% for the benchmark index. That is thrashing the market by an order of magnitude, not merely beating it. The official explanation is straightforward: Paul Pelosi is a skilled venture investor with a sharp feel for technology cycles. The more skeptical reading is that a spouse who helps write semiconductor, cloud computing, and electric vehicle policy gains access to information that carries real market value before it becomes public. Following legislative trends can be just as financially rewarding as combing through a company's latest SEC filings, particularly when paired with awareness of where politicians are directing their own capital. It does not level the playing field entirely, but it tilts the odds a little further in an ordinary investor's favor.
Jim Cramer Says Comparing the Mag 7 Is a Mistake: Here Are 5 Reasons Each Stock Is Different
Meta: A Data Moat Funding a Superintelligence Bet Meta is an ad machine financing an AI moonshot. Q1 revenue hit $56.31 billion, up 33.08% year over year, with EPS of $10.44, helped by a tax benefit but still far above consensus. Management then raised 2026 capex guidance to $125 billion to $145 billion, per the Q1 8-K filing. That capex line is why the stock swings on infrastructure headlines, and why Meta’s 3.56 billion daily users give the spending story a scale few companies can match. Alphabet: Search, Cloud, and a Gemini Distribution Story Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) posted $109.90 billion in Q1 revenue, up 21.8%, with Google Cloud growing 63% to $20.03 billion and backlog above $460 billion. Polymarket assigns a 92% probability that Alphabet beats its next quarterly report. NVIDIA: The Supplier Everyone Else Pays NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) sits at the center of nearly every major hyperscaler’s capex line. Q1 fiscal 2027 revenue hit $81.6 billion, up 85%, with Data Center revenue reaching $75.2 billion and Data Center networking growing 199%. The non-GAAP gross margin held at 75.0%. Amazon: Retail Cash Flow, AWS Growth, Custom Silicon Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) posted $181.52 billion in Q1 revenue, up 17%, with EPS of $2.78, boosted by Anthropic-related investment gains but still ahead of consensus. AWS grew 28% to $37.59 billion, with operating margin reaching 37.7%.
Bank of America (BAC) Q2 Earnings: What To Expect
Bank of America beat analysts' revenue expectations last quarter, reporting revenues of $30.37 billion, up 7% year on year. This quarter, the market is expecting Bank of America's revenue to grow 11.3% year on year, improving from the 4.4% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year.
My Top 3 Software Stocks to Buy on the Dip
Microsoft's core business is performing well. The company's revenue and earnings are growing at a good clip, and it remains well-positioned to ride the growth of the cloud computing industry -- partly thanks to its AI-related work -- for a very long time. Shopify's financial results may be strong, but the company's valuation leaves little room for error. Shopify is trading at 65x forward earnings, versus an average of 21.4x for information technology stocks. Veeva Systems estimates a total addressable market worth $20 billion across its business -- it has generated just $3.3 billion over the trailing-12-month period.
Wells Fargo Updates Its Call on Banc of California Inc (BANC) Stock Ahead of Q2 Report
In Q1, Banc of California's revenue increased 8% YoY and net interest margin expanded 4 basis points. Wells Fargo sees a bright spot for Banc of California and other regional banks in the commercial and industrial loans market. In Q1, commercial and industrial loans increased 12.7% quarter-over-quarter, according to Fed data.
Nu Holdings Ltd. (NU) Lines Up $4.2 Billion Investment. Destination Mexico
Nu Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NU), doing business as Nubank, plans to invest $4.2 billion to grow its business in Mexico over the next four years. Nubank added roughly 4 million customers in Q1. The bank has built a base of 115 million customers in Brazil, around 14 – 15 million customers in Mexico, and nearly 5 million customers in Colombia.
Goldman Sachs quietly snags a corner of America's retirement money
$16.68 billion in full-year 2025 net revenues, including a record $11.54 billion in management and other fees, according to the 2025 Annual Report. Long-term institutional mandates generate steady, recurring fee income that does not fluctuate with trading volumes or deal flow. Goldman's trading and investment banking revenues are inherently volatile. Growing the fee-based asset management business creates a structural buffer against those swings. In Q1 2026 alone, Goldman reported $62 billion in long-term fee-based net inflows, marking the firm's 33rd consecutive quarter of positive long-term inflows, according to the Q1 earnings presentation. Net revenues in Asset & Wealth Management were $4.08 billion in Q1, up 10% year over year, with management and other fees reaching $3.08 billion, according to the Q1F26 report.
Evercore ISI Raises PT on American Express Company (AXP) Stock
American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) is planning to reinvest much of its incremental revenue into the business. This constrains earnings leverage and might impact investor sentiment.
Aerospace
Space capitalism needs more than a bull market
Last August’s executive order streamlines licensing for launch and reentry. That’s genuinely good. It clears regulatory underbrush, lowering costs at the margin. The market priced the settled layer of space. The unsettled layers, such as asteroid mining and long-term human habitation, may be a ways off, but the legal frameworks they require demand attention today. We need legislation codifying novel-activity authorization, giving space operators the certainty they need to make long-term plans and ensuring that new rules survive a change in presidential administration.
GE Aerospace: Great Company, But Price Matters
Service contracts form two-thirds of revenue, with a $170 billion backlog ensuring years of high-margin work regardless of new aircraft cycles.
Earth observation satellites pass telecom in European space industry sales
Satellite applications, which Eurospace defines as satellites enabling operational upstream-sector activities and applications within the EO, telecom and navigation segment, were the main area of growth, increasing 23.5% compared with 2023. Historically,” Lionnet said, “telecommunication systems were the number-one area of revenue for the European industry. But we now see that Earth observation systems have taken over telecommunication as the main revenue segment for the European industry.” For example in 2025 Earth observation systems manufacturing sales surpassed telecommunication systems by 24%. ESA-related revenues increased by 560 million euro (+20%) from 2024 to 2025, supported by policy and strategy reforms introduced to allow faster spending within the agency’s processes. “All the exports have seen growth in recent years, which was unexpected,” Lionnet said. That growth is split roughly equally between full spacecraft systems and equipment, including launcher fairings and deployment systems. Those systems have become an important business line linked to the development of launch activity worldwide and to Amazon’s LEO constellation deployment. “With seven [Ariane 6 and Vega C] launches in 2025 compared to only three in 2024, there were major business opportunities and revenues for the European supply chain, mostly driven by the uptake in launch system deliveries,” Lionnet said, noting that sustained demand for Amazon’s LEO launches has become an important driver of Ariane 6 activity.
Morgan Stanley drops timely Honeywell stock opinion
Honeywell Aerospace runs a "develop once, deploy everywhere" model. It builds a technology once and sells into commercial jets, business aviation, defense, and space. Morgan Stanley projects an adjusted operating margin near 25.3% by 2028. This happened after the revenue was adjusted for inflation, and the industry delivered far more aircrafts. Defense and space contributed about 41% of 2025 revenue, and that is where the near-term momentum is. Honeywell holds content on 11 of the 12 high-priority munitions programs backed by the 2027 budget request. The request proposes roughly tripling missile procurement funding compared to 2026. It also committed $500 million to expand production of navigation systems, Assure missile actuators and electronic warfare hardware, Honeywell Aerospace confirmed. Morgan Stanley published three scenarios, and the spread is wide. Bull case, $355: Revenue grows about 10% a year, supply chains normalize, margins expand about 110 basis points, and free cash flow conversion hits roughly 100%. Base case, $255: Revenue grows about 8%, margins stay flat near 25.3%, and the stock earns a peer-average multiple. Bear case, $175: Revenue growth slows to about 5%, margins contract, and supply chain bottlenecks bite. Free cash flow conversion decides the outcome, and the bank forecasts about 93% in 2028 against a competitor benchmark near 97%.
SpaceX Went Nowhere for a Month, but It Easily Beat Other Space Stocks
The market cap of Elon Musk's space company sits at $1.96 trillion, making SpaceX one of the largest listings ever and by far the biggest name in the sector. Over the trailing month, Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) is down 45%, Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) is down 40%, and Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) is down 22%.
SpaceX Stock Just Dropped Below Its Debut Price. Is the Stock a Buy?
SpaceX's shares are currently worth $145 apiece. Starlink was SpaceX's only profitable segment last year, and the company recently requested regulatory approval to send 100,000 of its Gen3 Starlink satellites into orbit. Considering the company has just over 10,000 satellites in orbit right now -- and the fact that it is looking to operate these new satellites in very low Earth orbit -- this could improve Starlink's internet speeds and potentially allow it to target customers outside of those in rural and other underserved areas it has focused on so far. NASDAQ: SPCX
2 Key Members of Congress Recently Bought SpaceX Stock. Should You Buy It Too?
SpaceX has around $22 billion in contracts with U.S. government, with the Defense Department ranking as one of its fastest-growing government customers. NASA is the company's largest federal customer, with roughly $15 billion in contracts. The Unusual Whales 2025 Congress Trading Report found that only 32.2% of congressional portfolios outperformed the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) last year.
Elon Musk Confirms Starlink Can Deliver Reliable 10 Gigabit-a-Second Upload and Download Speeds Anywhere On Earth
Starlink can now provide reliable 10 Gbps symmetric send/receive connectivity anywhere in the world. The claim follows Starlink's rapid growth. The service has surpassed 12 million active users across more than 160 countries, up from 9 million users reported in 2025. The expansion comes as SpaceX is also raising prices in some higher-end markets. Starlink Business Aviation plans recently doubled in price, with the Regional 25 GB plan increasing to $4,000 a month from $2,000, according to published pricing details shared this week. Amazon.com Inc. is also moving closer to service. The company revealed last week that Amazon expects to begin initial internet service with its Leo broadband satellite network later this year after its latest launch pushed the constellation above 390 satellites. Realberry gives accredited investors direct access to private real estate opportunities backed by a team with 35 years of experience, $3.4 billion in assets under management, and $481 million in cumulative distributions paid to investors as of Q4 2025, according to the company.
Should You Buy Redwire Stock After It Just Crashed 61%?
Redwire develops critical navigation, power, and 3D-printing components for satellites, space stations, and other spacecraft. It also builds military drones and custom components for missile defense and military communications systems. Its customers include NASA, the Department of Defense, and large commercial space contractors. In 2025, Redwire's revenue rose 10% to $335 million, but its net loss nearly doubled from $114 million to $227 million. Those widening losses were caused by higher estimated project completion costs, goodwill impairment charges from its recent acquisitions, increased spending on its military drone projects, and higher stock-based compensation expenses. From 2025 to 2028, analysts expect Redwire's revenue to grow at a 26% CAGR to $664 million as it narrows its net loss to $43 million. That growth should be driven by the construction of orbital data centers, more low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, new lunar missions, and the development of more sophisticated drones for the U.S. military. Redwire ended the first quarter of 2026 with $175 million in total liquidity. But on June 9, it announced an at-the-market (ATM) equity offering to sell up to $500 million in new common stock. That's a lot of dilution compared to its market cap of $2.4 billion. It's already increased its share count by 232% since its public debut.
Spire Global Hits Major Milestone With Successful 10-Satellite Launch. How You Should Play SPIR Stock Here.
Spire deployed 10 satellites, including satellites monitoring methane emissions for GHGSat, satellites for a number of commercial customers, and one satellite to replace one from Spire's own constellation. The company also pledged alliances with Schaeffler (SFFLY) for the production of satellite hardware and signed a memorandum with Diehl Defence in the area of missile-warning technology. Management nevertheless maintained its full-year outlook, projecting 2026 revenue between $75 million and $85 million while forecasting an adjusted loss of approximately $0.79 to $0.93 per share.
Caterpillar vs. Oshkosh: Which Industrials Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?
In FY 2025, revenue reached nearly $67.6 billion, representing a 4.3% increase over the previous year. The company reported net income of approximately $8.9 billion during this period. For the FY 2025 period, Oshkosh reported revenue of approximately $10.4 billion. This reflected a revenue decline of nearly 2.9% compared to the prior fiscal year. Despite the lower top-line result, the company generated net income of roughly $647.0 million with a net margin of 6.2%. The balance sheet as of December 2025 appears conservative with a debt-to-equity ratio of approximately 0.3x. A lower ratio suggests the company relies less on borrowed money to fund its operations. The current ratio is nearly 1.9x, showing a healthy margin of short-term assets over liabilities, and the company generated close to $618.0 million in free cash flow during the year. Oshkosh carries risk due to its reliance on government budgets, which are subject to political delays and funding shifts. The company is also navigating federal class action lawsuits regarding alleged price-fixing in the fire truck market. It competes for talent and heavy manufacturing contracts against other large firms such as Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and PACCAR (NASDAQ:PCAR). Oshkosh produces specialty vehicles for various industries, including fire trucks and the mail trucks that will replace the aging LLV (long-life vehicle) fleet.
Prediction: SpaceX Shares Can Reach $220 by End of 2026
Revenue rose 33% year over year to $18.7 billion in 2025. Starlink remains the key growth engine, supported by roughly 10.3 million users and 9,600 satellites. Anthropic has also signed a major compute-access deal with SpaceX, securing use of SpaceX's Colossus 1 data center. Reuters reported that SpaceX's two deals are worth about $26 billion annually if fully realized. Analysts' 2026 revenue estimates range from $34.3 billion on the low end to $43.2 billion on the high end, with a base case estimate of about $38.9 billion.
SpaceX gears up for Starship Flight 13
SpaceX said this mission will deploy 20 functioning Starlink V3 satellites. The company said July 11 it is targeting a launch of the Flight 13 mission in a 90-minute window that opens at 6:45 p.m. Eastern from its Starbase, Texas, site.
China lines up methalox Long March 10C as commercial workhorse after first booster recovery
The Long March 10B, according to Yang Yuguang, Chairman of the Space Transportation Committee of the International Astronautical Federation, speaking to China National Radio July 10, will reuse the first stages from Long March 10A flights. The 10B, with its methalox second stage, will be used for commercial missions, while also serving the role of accumulating flight data for the Long March 10A first stage and further improving its reliability. The 10B can carry 16,000 kilograms to LEO in reusable mode, the 10C is likely to become China’s most capable operational rocket to LEO, though official capacity figures have not been released, surpassing the roughly 25,000 kilograms of the Long March 5B.
Bio
Forte Biosciences: FB102 Is Becoming A Platform Story, Not A Single-Indication Bet
Forte Biosciences (FBRX) offers upside as FB102 demonstrates efficacy in both celiac disease and vitiligo, suggesting platform potential beyond a single indication. FB102’s mechanism targets CD122, modulating key immune pathways, with placebo-controlled data showing 21.7% F-VASI benefit in vitiligo and histologic protection in celiac disease. FBRX holds a pro forma cash position of ~$220M post-financing, providing 11–12 quarters of runway to advance Phase II/III trials across multiple autoimmune indications.
Zenas BioPharma (ZBIO): Best IPO Stocks with Huge Upside Potential
The study met its primary and all key secondary endpoints, demonstrating a 56% reduction in flare risk compared to placebo and a significant decrease in glucocorticoid use and related toxicities. Following these successful results, Zenas BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:ZBIO) submitted a Biologics License Application to the FDA in May. The trial, the largest ever conducted for this disease, showed that over 73% of treated patients remained flare-free through 52 weeks with a safety profile comparable to the placebo.
Kailera Therapeutics (KLRA) is One of the Best IPO Stocks with Huge Upside Potential
On July 7, Kailera Therapeutics announced positive topline results from two Phase 3 clinical trials conducted by Hengrui Pharma for HRS-7535/KAI-7535, an oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist. In the obesity trial, participants achieved a mean weight loss of up to 10.9% by Week 44 and 11.1% by Week 50, while the type 2 diabetes trial demonstrated a mean HbA1c reduction of 1.50% to 1.68%.
AI Revolutionizes Cardiovascular Drug Development with $1.4+ Billion in Strategic Investments
Over $1.4 billion in cumulative funding committed to AI-powered cardiovascular initiatives, led by Novo Nordisk's $190 million partnership with Valo Health and HeartFlow's $1.2 billion in total funding for AI-powered cardiovascular diagnostics
Johnson & Johnson vs AbbVie: Two Paths to Pharma Dominance, One Winner
JNJ paired a top-line beat with a raised full-year outlook and a 64th consecutive dividend increase. Oncology carried the quarter: DARZALEX hit $3.96 billion (+22.5%), CARVYKTI grew 62.1%, and TREMFYA absorbed STELARA share with 68.3% growth. AbbVie posted $15 billion in revenue, up 12.43% YoY, with Skyrizi at $4.48 billion (+30.9%) and Rinvoq at $2.12 billion (+23.3%). JNJ is running a diversified compounder strategy, funding a planned Orthopaedics separation and a $1+ billion Pennsylvania cell therapy plant while raising its dividend 3.1% to $1.34. AbbVie is pouring $1.4 billion into a Durham, NC campus and pushing the non-incretin ABBV-295 obesity program toward the GLP-1 conversation.
NovoCure: 'Buy' TRIDENT Setback And TTFields FDA Decision Q4 2026
Q1 2026 net revenues rose 12% to $174 million, driven by Optune Gio, with full-year 2026 revenue guidance raised to $690–$710 million.
Is Rival ATTR-CM Trial Failure and New AI Deals Altering The Investment Case For Alnylam (ALNY)?
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals' narrative projects $9.0 billion revenue and $2.0 billion earnings by 2029. This requires 28.3% yearly revenue growth and a roughly $1.5 billion earnings increase from $538.0 million today. Uncover how Alnylam Pharmaceuticals' forecasts yield a $434.72 fair value, a 39% upside to its current price.
Is Pfizer on Track to Launch Its Next Lipitor -- This Time in the Weight-Loss Market?
While Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are now competing with each other with GLP-1 pills, Pfizer is still trying to get a GLP-1 drug out the door. But it has an ace up its sleeve. The company's Berobenatide is taken monthly, compared with competitors' weekly injections or the daily pills they are now selling. Taking a medication roughly 12 times a year could materially increase adherence rates. In other words, don't give up on Pfizer because it doesn't have a GLP-1 drug just yet. Given the positive update on Berobenatide, it could just be a matter of time before it does, offering consumers a drug regimen that's easier to adhere to.
3 Dividend Stocks That Are No-Brainer Buys Heading Into the Second Half of 2026
The S&P 500 index (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) has a tiny little 1% yield today. Novo Nordisk's trailing 12-month dividend payout ratio is a solid 40%. The uptake of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy GLP-1 pill has been dramatically faster than that of its shot, so the early indications are good.
2 Beaten-Down Stocks That Still Aren't Worth Buying
To its credit, the company has several promising products in its pipeline. For instance, Recursion Pharmaceuticals' REC-4881 is an investigational medicine for familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), a rare disorder that leads to the development of precancerous polyps in the colon and rectum, giving patients a very high risk of colorectal cancer if left untreated. REC-4881 has demonstrated encouraging reductions in precancerous polyp burden in early clinical studies. Given that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has never approved any medicine for FAP, REC-4881 could present an attractive commercial opportunity if it proves effective in late-stage clinical trials. Two patients taking the company's Elevidys, a medicine for a rare, progressive, neuromuscular disease called Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), unfortunately died after developing acute liver failure (ALF). Sarepta Therapeutics was able to keep Elevidys on the market, but only for ambulatory DMD patients -- it is no longer indicated for non-ambulatory patients. Further, it now includes a boxed warning for acute liver injury (ALI) and ALF. The company has requested full approval for two of its other DMD medicines, Amondys 45 and Vyondys 53. Both were previously under accelerated approval, meaning they had to undergo confirmatory studies to confirm efficacy.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Bets $10 Billion on Crinetics to Build Endocrinology Powerhouse
In Phase 3 data discussed on the call, Kewalramani said 83% of patients switching from injectable therapies maintained IGF-1 levels within the normal range on PALSONIFY, compared with 4% on placebo. In a separate study that included treatment-naive patients and others who had stopped prior treatment, 56% of PALSONIFY-treated patients achieved IGF-1 normalization, compared with 5% on placebo. McKechnie said Phase 2 data from the TouCAHn study showed a 67% reduction from baseline in mean A4 androgen levels, even as glucocorticoid dosing was tapered. He said 87% of patients achieved physiologic glucocorticoid dosing while A4 reduction was maintained. Kewalramani also pointed to potential use in ACTH-dependent Cushing's syndrome, where atumelnant is in Phase 2 development. She said early study data showed rapid lowering of urine-free cortisol, including normalization in five of six patients in an 80 mg cohort while on physiologic glucocorticoid doses. Vertex plans to finance the purchase with cash and debt, including $4.5 billion in committed bridge financing. Management said the acquisition should have only a modest near-term financial impact and become accretive to non-GAAP operating income by 2029, while noting some development and safety risks remain for atumelnant. Vertex currently expects the deal to close in the third quarter of 2026.
Nyxoah Touts Genio U.S. Launch Traction, Reimbursement Stability at Investor Day
262 trained surgeons, 123 ordering customers, and 427 patients in prior authorization. Management also said early launched accounts reached a 15% market share in their first six months. Reimbursement remains stable, with company officials and reimbursement experts saying recent CMS code changes do not affect coverage. They noted that most U.S. patients are commercially insured and that prior authorization approvals have been running at a 100% rate so far. Nyxoah reiterated 2026 revenue guidance of EUR 36 million to EUR 40 million and said it has a preliminary cash balance of EUR 98 million. Holstine said Nyxoah has trained 262 surgeons as of the prior week, up 27% from the first quarter, and is seeing enough demand to add additional surgeon training sessions on Saturdays. He also said value analysis committee approvals doubled to 180 from 90 at the end of the first quarter. The company reported 123 ordering customers, nearly 1,200 unique patients identified by physicians, 900 patients consented into its Genio navigation system and 427 patients in prior authorization, up 77% quarter over quarter. Holstine said Nyxoah has seen a 100% approval rate on prior authorizations to date, including approvals obtained on appeal. Holstine said Nyxoah reached a 15% market share in accounts where Genio launched during its first six months in the U.S. Taelman said the company entered the second quarter with 40 sales representatives and is hiring another 15 following its recent financing. Nyxoah's annualized revenue break-even point is EUR 150 million, which he said represents about 15% of the U.S. hypoglossal nerve stimulation market. The company reiterated full-year 2026 revenue guidance of EUR 36 million to EUR 40 million and reported a preliminary cash balance of EUR 98 million.
RxSight Q2 Sales Sink 20% as Alcon Deal Bolsters 2026 Outlook
Excluding revenue related to the agreement, preliminary total company sales were approximately $27 million in the second quarter, down 20% from the prior-year period. RxSight sold 24,917 Light Adjustable Lens, or LAL, units during the quarter, a 10% year-over-year decline. The Alcon collaboration boosted the outlook for 2026, with RxSight now guiding for $140 million to $160 million in revenue, including $30 million to $40 million from the deal. The company also raised its gross margin forecast to 73% to 75% while keeping operating expense guidance elevated. RxSight revised its full-year 2026 revenue outlook to a range of $140 million to $160 million. The company said that range reflects $110 million to $120 million in RxSight sales and $30 million to $40 million of revenue recognized from the Alcon collaboration agreement. The company now expects full-year gross margin of 73% to 75%, compared with previous guidance of 70% to 72%.
LEQEMBI® Subcutaneous Autoinjector Clinical Data Supports Similar Efficacy and Safety to IV Formulation in Early Alzheimer’s Disease Presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® (AAIC®) 2026
Results presented in this session further reinforce the importance of early and continuous treatment, highlighting how LEQEMBI SC initiation and maintenance administration provides greater optionality for long-term disease management. Bioequivalence Achieved: Once-weekly 500 mg SC-AI demonstrated bioequivalence to the IV initiation regimen (10 mg/kg every two weeks), with an exposure ratio of 104% (90% confidence interval [CI]: 99.1%–109%). Exposure remained consistent across body weight quartiles, demonstrating a stable pharmacokinetic profile in a broad patient population. Efficacy Driven by Exposure, Not Route of Administration: Amyloid removal measured by amyloid PET, clinical efficacy measured by CDR-SB, and the incidence of ARIA-E were driven by lecanemab exposure rather than route of administration. The 500 mg SC-AI initiation regimen achieved exposure comparable to the IV initiation regimen, supporting the expectation of a comparable efficacy and safety profile despite the different route of administration. Consistent Results Across Patient Populations: The 500 mg SC-AI initiation regimen demonstrated consistent exposure, amyloid clearance as measured by amyloid PET, clinical efficacy and safety across body weight groups. In addition, amyloid clearance and clinical outcomes were not meaningfully affected by body weight, supporting the appropriateness of a fixed-dose regimen. The U.S. FDA approved Eisai's Biologics License Application (BLA) for subcutaneous maintenance dosing with LEQEMBI IQLIK in August 2025. In November 2025, an application for a subcutaneous injectable formulation in Japan was submitted. In January 2026, the Biologics License Application (BLA) for the subcutaneous formulation was accepted in China. In December 2025, lecanemab (IV) has been included in the "Commercial Insurance Innovative Drug List", recently introduced by the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) of China.
Panic grips Ionis Pharmaceuticals investors amid bad news spree
On July 9, Ionis and partner AstraZeneca (AZN) said their Phase 3 CARDIO-TTRansformtrials of eplontersen, sold as Wainua, failed to meet their primary goal in patients with ATTR-CM. The study tested whether adding Wainua to standard care reduces cardiovascular deaths and recurrent heart events over 140 weeks. Unfortunately, it did not, Ionis confirmed in its official release.
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Flags Semaglutide Supply Delay, Says No Recall Risk
While the API itself met the specification, one of the impurities were found to be out of specification upon testing. The company expects to produce three validation batches, send them to OneSource for drug product manufacturing, and complete testing, including sterility testing. Based on the company's current timeline, Israeli said the work could be completed around September. If successful, commercial API supply to OneSource could resume in October, with product supply to the market potentially restarting in late October or early November. Dr. Reddy's said it remains on track, subject to successful validation, to supply about 6 million to 7 million semaglutide pens between the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2027, with Israeli later describing that output as expected from November through March.
SLS Vs MLTX: Retail Traders Race To Pick Merck’s Next Biotech Buyout As Keytruda’s $31.7B Patent Cliff Nears
Keytruda and Keytruda Qlex generated $31.7 billion in 2025, equal to about 55% of Merck’s $58.1 billion in pharmaceutical revenue. Since 2020, Keytruda sales have more than doubled, while the total pharmaceutical business has grown at a much slower pace.
Here's How Much Eli Lilly's Weight-Loss Drugs Are Worth to Investors
In the first quarter of 2026, Mounjaro and Zepbound generated a combined $12.8 billion in revenue. A franchise still accelerating Mounjaro, Lilly's tirzepatide-based treatment for type 2 diabetes, saw worldwide first-quarter revenue jump 125% year over year to $8.7 billion. Zepbound, the same molecule marketed for weight loss, grew revenue 80% to $4.2 billion. And the pair's momentum isn't new. The two drugs combined for $6.2 billion of revenue in the first quarter of 2025, $11.7 billion in the fourth quarter, and $12.8 billion in the most recent period, meaning the franchise has more than doubled in a year and is still climbing quarter by quarter. For full-year 2025, the pair brought in $36.5 billion, more than half of Lilly's $65.2 billion in revenue. Even more impressive, Mounjaro's growth rate is accelerating. It rose 99% for full-year 2025, 110% in the fourth quarter, and 125% in the most recent quarter. That is extraordinary acceleration for a product already generating billions of dollars every quarter. Lilly's total first-quarter revenue rose 56% year over year, driven by a 65% increase in volume, partially offset by a 13% decline in realized prices. Growth was global, too, with U.S. revenue up 43% and revenue outside the U.S. up 81%. And the surging franchise is showing up on the bottom line. Lilly's first-quarter earnings per share soared 170% year over year to $8.26, and non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share rose 156% to $8.55. On the strength of the quarter, management raised its full-year revenue outlook to a range of $82 billion to $85 billion, a $2 billion increase from its prior forecast, and lifted its adjusted earnings-per-share guidance by $2 as well. The new revenue range implies growth of about 28% at the midpoint compared with 2025. The pill, the pricing, and the price tag In April, the franchise gained a third member. The FDA approved Foundayo, Lilly's once-daily orforglipron pill, for adults with obesity or overweight adults with weight-related medical problems.
Insilico’s Chinese partner returns for $177M pact to explore ‘mass market’ CNS indication
Consumer / Retail
Analyst Report: CarMax Inc
CarMax Inc. operates as a retailer of both used and wholesale vehicles (and related products in the United States), offering a range of makes and models. These include domestic, imported and luxury vehicles, as well as hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs). The company also offers extended protection plans (at the time of sale) and reconditioning and vehicle-repair services.
Vistra (VST) Becomes A Preferred Power Provider For AI
Vistra Corp was selected as the preferred power provider for Helix Digital Infrastructure investments earlier this month. The initiative is led by KKR, along with partners such as Nvidia and the Kuwait Investment Authority, and begins with capital commitments exceeding $10 billion.
Prediction: Can Costco Stock Reach $2,000 by 2030?
Q3 FY2026 revenue hit $70.527 billion, up 11.6% YoY, with comps of 9.8% and digital comps of 21.5%.
Seven & i posts 122% jump in Q1 operating income, lifts FY26 outlook
Seven-Eleven Japan posted same-store sales growth of 2%, which the company linked to increased customer spending and stronger footfall. Merchandise gross profit margin rose 0.3 percentage points to 32%, and total store sales climbed 2.4% to Y1.37tn. In the US, 7-Eleven (SEI) recorded same-store merchandise sales growth of 1.4%, with total store sales up 1.2% to Y2.38tn. Seven & i has revised its full-year FY26 outlook, increasing its operating income forecast by Y20bn and its net income forecast by Y8bn on the back of the stronger first-quarter results. The firm now anticipates double-digit growth in operating income for the full year on a LFL basis. Updated forecasts put operating income at Y425bn, a 10.5% YoY rise on a LFL basis, with net income at Y278bn, up 9.1%.
Polestar sales dip 4% in Q2
The company delivered an estimated 17,296 vehicles in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 18,026 units in the same period last year. With US figures stripped out, quarterly retail sales declined 3.9% to 16,175 cars, down from 16,818. Looking at the first six months of 2026, Polestar's overall retail sales edged up 0.4% to reach 30,423 vehicles, against 30,289 units in the first half of 2025 – a figure the company described as a "record". Excluding the US market, first-half sales climbed 3.1% to 28,562 cars. Polestar CEO Michael Lohscheller said: "Delivering record sales in the first half of the year, despite regulatory and market headwinds, is a significant achievement.
BTIG starts DLR, EQIX at Buy, calls data center demand a multi-decade supercycle
Data center rents have risen 63% over the past five years, while new developments are expected to increase global supply by 86% through 2030 at an estimated total cost of $5.1 trillion. Rystad Energy estimates current demand could support 376 gigawatts of data center development, more than three times current levels, if power and capital were more readily available. BTIG said it favors operators with "proven track records, operational expertise, flexible capital structures, and concentration in core markets" as the sector attracts capital at unprecedented scale.
Coca-Cola expected to post solid second-quarter results as analysts highlight resilient demand
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) is expected to deliver a solid second quarter performance, with analysts at Jefferies and Bank of America highlighting resilient demand, steady volume trends and the company’s ability to navigate ongoing cost and macroeconomic pressures. Jefferies analysts wrote that they expect Coca-Cola to report stronger organic sales growth and a modest earnings beat for the quarter, forecasting organic sales growth of 3.9%, above the Street estimate of 3.5%. The firm expects adjusted earnings per share of $0.94, slightly ahead of consensus of $0.93 and representing 8.5% year-over-year growth. For the full year, Jefferies kept its estimates largely unchanged, forecasting 5% organic sales growth, modest gross margin expansion and earnings per share of $3.28, up 9.2% year over year. Bank of America analysts also maintained a positive outlook ahead of Coca-Cola’s second quarter earnings report, estimating total company unit case volume growth of 2.0% year over year, broadly in line with Visible Alpha consensus of 2.2%. Bank of America reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating and raised its price objective to $95 from $90, above current levels of about $83, based on a higher valuation multiple of 27 times estimated 2027 earnings per share. The analysts highlighted Coca-Cola’s core soft drinks portfolio and Fairlife contribution as supporting its longer-term growth outlook, writing that positive volumes, resilient earnings growth and improving returns on invested capital reinforce its view that Coca-Cola remains a quality consumer staples name.
Information Services Group Sees AI Cloud Demand Fuel Record Tech Spending
Combined market ACV reached $81.3 billion, up 35% year-over-year, compared with 18% growth at the same point in 2025. As-a-service continued to account for most of the market's growth, reaching $31.5 billion in ACV during the quarter. First-half as-a-service ACV rose 53%, accelerating from 28% growth at the same point last year. Managed services showed a more muted picture. ACV totaled $10.9 billion in the quarter, up 2.7% year-over-year. First-half managed services ACV also rose 2.7%, down from 3.9% growth in the first half of 2025. New scope activity within managed services as one of the quarter's clearest market signals. New scope reached an all-time high of $8.2 billion, up 14% year-over-year, and represented more than 75% of managed services bookings in the quarter. ISG said the activity suggests enterprises are reshaping sourcing portfolios, consolidating providers, expanding scope and aligning work with AI, modernization and cost-optimization strategies. However, Hall cautioned that some of the activity may reflect work shifting between providers rather than entirely new demand entering the market. The firm raised its as-a-service growth forecast by 500 basis points to 30%, citing continued strength in AI infrastructure and enterprise software demand. "The market really isn't standing still," Hall said. "It's just being reallocated."
Delta's fuel bill exploded. The airline's refinery gamble offered some relief.
Investors finally got to see the fuel bill for Delta Air Lines' (DAL) second quarter as the war in Iran sent energy prices soaring: The company disclosed Friday morning that it spent more than $4 billion on fuel in the second quarter. One lesser-known side of Delta's business helped the airline recoup some of those costs, however. Performance at the company's oil refinery in Pennsylvania surged 83% to bring its year-to-date revenue to $2.09 billion, the company reported Friday morning, essentially offsetting $0.11 per gallon of the cost of jet fuel. Jet fuel is typically one of the largest operating expenses for airlines, and the recent rally in crude prices has driven up costs. US Gulf Coast jet fuel swaps, a commonly watched proxy for jet fuel prices, remain roughly 60% above where they started the year. Delta recognized a $2 billion increase in fuel expenses for the quarter compared to the same period a year ago. When American Airlines (AAL) reports earnings on July 23, investors will be watching to see whether management's April prediction of an extra $4 billion in fuel costs for the year is shaping up. According to Delta, the company's refinery provides the airline with 200,000 barrels per day of jet fuel through in-house production or jet fuel swaps, or approximately 75% of its consumption.
Delta Air Lines, Inc. Q2 2026 Earnings Call Summary
Record June quarter revenue driven by a 14% increase, reflecting sustained demand and momentum across diverse business segments despite significant fuel headwinds. Management attributes outperformance to a 'premium strategy' that prioritizes value and customer experience over competing solely on price, effectively decommoditizing the brand. The American Express partnership remains a primary growth engine, with card spend growing double digits for seven consecutive quarters and expected remuneration of $9 billion this year. Diversified revenue streams, including Cargo and MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul), now represent 61% of total revenue, enhancing business resilience against macro volatility. Affirmed full-year earnings guidance of $6.50 to $7.50 per share, assuming a return to earnings growth and double-digit operating margins in the second half of 2026. Management highlighted that the low-cost carrier segment must increase fares by approximately 5% just to reach breakeven in the current fuel environment, reducing competitive pricing pressure.
Costco Faces Summer Price Fight
Comparable sales rose 8.8% in June, while U.S. same-store sales climbed 10.6%. The company also reported $29.24 billion in net sales for the five weeks ended July 5, up 10.6% from a year earlier.
One Nuclear Energy Stock With a 100% Upside Potential
Oklo peaked at $193.84 and has since ground down to a 52-week low of $44.88. Shares are down 31.34% year to date and 12.77% in the past month, pressured by the DOE’s $17.5 billion loan program tilting toward large reactors and index deletions from Russell benchmarks in late June. The bull case is straightforward: Oklo has a 14 GW customer pipeline, a binding 1.2 gigawatt Meta agreement in Ohio, a Centrus Energy HALEU LOI, and the Creative Engineers acquisition that internalizes sodium-cooled reactor expertise. Aurora at Idaho National Laboratory targets commercial power by late 2027. The bull scenario points to $170.23, a 245.49% return, if AI power demand and NRC velocity hold. Reported losses are inflated by roughly $12.5 million in stock-based compensation, and R&D spend nearly tripled year over year, reflecting deliberate investment in the platform. The bear case still lands at $81.11, above the current quote. Oklo’s $8.3 billion market cap looks premium, but so does its execution: binding hyperscaler agreements, DOE safety approval, and a defined 2027 delivery target. Our $98.56 target looks reasonable relative to peers still searching for their first binding customer.
American Express (AXP) Stock Looks Like A Bargain On Fair Value But Full On Earnings
Over five years, American Express has returned 113.2%, which puts long term holders in a solid position even with a recent pullback this year. The Excess Returns model looks at how efficiently American Express turns its equity base into earnings above the cost of that equity. For American Express, the inputs are hefty, with book value at $49.85 per share and an average return on equity of 36.00%, which is well above the modelled cost of equity of $4.76 per share. Rolling those streams forward, the model arrives at an intrinsic value of $406.41 per share, which is about 14.7% above the current share price, so the stock screens as undervalued based on this framework. P/E is a useful yardstick for American Express because earnings are a key output of its closed loop payments and lending model. Right now, American Express trades on a P/E of about 21.3x, compared with a Consumer Finance industry average of 8.9x and a peer group average of 20.2x, so the stock sits at a premium to the wider industry and only slightly above closer peers. The tailored fair P/E for American Express is 19.7x, which reflects what investors might typically pay given its size, margins and risk profile.
Why Is Amazon so Much Cheaper Than Walmart and Costco? This Is the Only Answer I Can Think of.
Amazon's low multiple, oddly enough, is partly a story of things going right. Its earnings have been growing so fast that the "E" in the P/E ratio has ballooned, mathematically shrinking the ratio even as the stock price rises. Walmart and Costco are, at their core, machines built for predictability. People buy groceries and household basics in good times and bad, which makes their sales remarkably steady. Amazon is being valued like a technology company whose profits are still ramping and still tied to heavy, uncertain spending on cloud and AI infrastructure. Investors trust the retailers' next few years almost completely, so they pay up. They trust Amazon's underlying business too, but they discount it for the volatility and the enormous capital it's pouring into the future. Walmart and Costco's premiums are earned by genuine consistency, but a premium also means less room for error if growth ever slows.
Lululemon (LULU) Outperforms Broader Market: What You Need to Know
Lululemon (LULU) closed at $119.26 in the latest trading session, marking a +2.36% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.42% gain on the day. Prior to today's trading, shares of the athletic apparel maker had lost 4.37% lagged the Consumer Discretionary sector's gain of 0.02% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.2%. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $2.47 billion, reflecting a 2.26% fall from the equivalent quarter last year. For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $11.08 per share and a revenue of $11.08 billion, signifying shifts of -16.44% and -0.22%, respectively, from the last year. The average PEG ratio for the Textile - Apparel industry stood at 2.14 at the close of the market yesterday.
McDonald’s (MCD) Stock Trades At A Premium On Cash Flow While Earnings Discount Value
McDonald's stock has delivered a 31.2% gain over the past five years, yet today its valuation signals are mixed, with the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) intrinsic value estimate sitting close to the current market price while earnings based multiples still lean supportive. Over five years, McDonald's has returned 31.2%, which points to moderate long term wealth creation rather than an explosive run. The stock's next move may depend on whether investors see McDonald's current price as a fair reflection of intrinsic value or still attractive given its cash generation and dividend profile. On the latest twelve month numbers, the company produced about $7.5b of free cash flow, and the model assumes these cash flows keep growing rather than shrinking. For a mature, cash generative business like McDonald's, the P/E ratio is a straightforward way to gauge what investors are paying for each dollar of earnings. McDonald's currently trades on a P/E of about 22.5x, which sits slightly below the Hospitality industry average of around 24.1x and well below the broader peer group average of roughly 57.0x. Simply Wall St's fair P/E ratio for McDonald's is estimated at about 29.9x, reflecting what investors might typically pay given its size, margins and risk profile. Compared with the current 22.5x, this suggests the stock trades at a discount to this tailored benchmark, even after recent attention on its value promotions and index removals. Bull case: 17% undervalued "Robust investment and traction in digital commerce, including loyalty program expansion, app-based ordering, geofencing-enabled pickup, and a targeted goal of 250 million active loyalty users by 2027, are expected to increase customer frequency, improve retention, and lift average ticket size, supporting both revenue and higher net margins over time…"
Coca Cola (KO) Stock May Be 10% Below Fair Value Despite India IPO Plans
Over five years, Coca-Cola has returned 71.6%, which puts recent price action in focus when judging whether new buyers are paying up for that stability. The planned initial public offering of its Indian bottling unit and a global beverage partnership with Marriott can support long term cash flow expectations, while pressure on margins as the company shifts toward a more balanced growth model is a key risk to how much investors are willing to pay. Coca-Cola passes only 2 out of 6 valuation checks, which indicates the broader toolkit leans toward the stock being on the expensive side rather than a clear bargain. Those cash flows translate into an estimated intrinsic value of about $92 per share, implying the stock appears roughly 9.7% undervalued versus the current market price. The fair P/E ratio implied by the model is closer to 22.3x, which is lower than where the stock trades now. That gap suggests investors are paying a premium relative to what the company's growth profile, margins and risk characteristics would typically support on this measure. On the P/E multiple, Coca-Cola appears overvalued, with the market price implying a richer earnings premium than the model suggests is warranted. The ramp-up of U.S. fairlife capacity in 2026 and strong performance in value-added dairy internationally positions Coca-Cola to capture more share of fast-growing, high-margin dairy and functional beverage segments…
Ford Just Won Its First J.D. Power Quality Crown Since 2010. Here's What It Means for the Stock.
Ford posted 152 problems per 100 vehicles, better than every mass-market rival and all but two brands in the industry. The brand also improved by 41 problems per 100 vehicles compared with last year's study, the largest improvement among mainstream brands. The reason all of this matters to investors comes down to warranty costs. When vehicles leave the factory with defects, the automaker pays for it later in warranty claims and recalls. Even more, in its first-quarter update in late April, Ford said it is on track for $1 billion in material and warranty cost reductions this year. The company reported a full-year net loss of $8.2 billion on special charges that included impairments tied to canceled electric vehicle programs. Revenue rose 6% year over year to $43.3 billion, and adjusted EBIT climbed to $3.5 billion from $1.0 billion in the year-ago quarter, expanding the company's adjusted EBIT margin to 8.1% from 2.5%. A one-time $1.3 billion tariff refund helped, but even excluding it, adjusted EBIT more than doubled. And management raised its full-year adjusted EBIT guidance to a range of $8.5 billion to $10.5 billion, up from a prior range of $8.0 billion to $10.0 billion.
Costco makes big investment to keep members coming back
Costco is different from other retailers in that it doesn't just rely on markups to generate revenue. Costco's membership fees are a goldmine. During Costco's third-quarter 2026 earnings call, the company reported $1.37 billion in membership fee income, up 10.7% year over year.
Hays Q4 Earnings Call Highlights
Hays reported a 5% like-for-like decline in quarterly net fees, but cost cuts and productivity gains led management to raise its fiscal 2026 profit outlook to the top of consensus at GBP 37 million to GBP 46 million. The company accelerated restructuring, delivering GBP 50 million of annualized savings in fiscal 2026 and moving ahead of its prior target, while also planning property cuts that should add about GBP 10 million in annual savings. Hays (LON:HAS) reported a 5% like-for-like decline in group net fees for the quarter ended 30 June 2026, but said cost actions and productivity gains had improved its profit outlook for the full year. James Hilton, Chief Financial Officer, told investors that the recruitment group now expects fiscal 2026 pre-exceptional operating profit to be "at the top" of the consensus range of GBP 37 million to GBP 46 million. Hilton said consultant productivity in the U.K. and Ireland rose 8%, helped by a greater focus on high-skilled roles. Average candidate salaries for permanent placements in the region increased 7% year over year in the fourth quarter. Those efforts helped average consultant net fee productivity rise 8% year over year in the fourth quarter. Hilton said productivity had increased for "a sector-leading 11 consecutive quarters" on a seasonally adjusted basis. Hays also accelerated its cost-reduction efforts. Hilton said the company delivered a further GBP 20 million of annualized savings in the fourth quarter, bringing fiscal 2026 savings to GBP 50 million. Since the start of fiscal 2024, Hays has delivered GBP 115 million of annual structural savings, according to Hilton. The company expects to book a restructuring charge of about GBP 40 million related to the accelerated cost program, which is expected to reduce annual costs by GBP 40 million. Hilton said that action is expected to generate around GBP 10 million in annual savings and result in an impairment of right-of-use property assets of about GBP 30 million.
Schroder Real Estate Invest H2 Earnings Call Highlights
Management highlighted its debt profile as a major strength, with about £130 million fixed at roughly 2.5% for an average of 10 years, helping protect earnings from higher interest rates and reduce refinancing risk. Schroder Real Estate Invest (LON:SREI) managers said the trust remains positioned for earnings growth despite a small decline in annual net asset value and continued uncertainty in the U.K. property market, pointing to rising rents, lower vacancy and a long-dated fixed debt profile as key supports. Montgomery said approximately £130 million of debt with Canada Life, representing about 75% of the debt book, is fixed at about 2.5% with an average remaining maturity of around 10 years. He said that debt profile gave the trust "great visibility" on interest payments and allowed management to focus on rental income growth rather than refinancing risk. Montgomery added that if the fixed-rate debt were marked similarly to an interest rate swap, it would have a value of about £19 million, though that value is not reflected in NAV. Biggins said fixed uplifts over the next 12 months amounted to £1.8 million, while five agreements for lease exchanged as of year-end represented £0.9 million of annualized rent. Montgomery said those agreements alone would be enough to "plug the gap" in dividend cover once completed. The trust also pointed to expense control as a factor. Montgomery said property operating expenses were elevated at £4.3 million, partly due to vacancy and an approximately £800,000 charge from writing off prior-year arrears. Rent collection was about 98%, which he described as trending positively. A central focus during the year was reducing vacancies. Montgomery said the void rate had fallen below 10% after activity through the financial year and post-year-end agreements for lease, reaching its lowest level in three years compared with 12% at the start of the period. Biggins said the trust completed more than 70 lease transactions during the year with an aggregate value of £6.3 million, ahead of the estimated rental value at the start of the financial year. Lease renewals and rent reviews were 24% ahead of previous passing levels, which he said supported confidence in the reversion within the portfolio. The portfolio remains weighted toward multi-let industrial estates and retail warehouse assets, which Biggins said accounted for 66% of the trust.
China outlines five-year roadmap to reshape retail industry
Under the new guideline, authorities aim to build a modern retail system and develop several globally competitive retail enterprises by 2030. The plan's core priorities include structuring the industry's overall layout, encouraging fresh supply and generating new consumer demand. On the structural side, focus will fall on broadening so-called "15-minute life circles", which give residents access to essentials such as supermarkets, convenience stores and wet markets within a short walk, alongside boosting consumption in smaller cities and upgrading retail infrastructure in county-level markets. Retailers are also encouraged to offer additional services such as personalised products, home delivery and assistance for elderly shoppers. On generating demand, the plan calls for renewal of ageing commercial districts, enhancements to pedestrian zones and shopping areas, and support for upgrading facilities at malls, department stores and large supermarkets.
Shein finally wins China's approval for Hong Kong IPO, in third attempt to go public
Shein was valued at as much as $100 billion in 2022, but investors later marked down its worth as the pandemic-driven online shopping boom faded and the U.S., its biggest market, closed a customs duty loophole for e-commerce parcels. Its most recent fundraising round in May 2023 valued it at $66 billion. Shein could now be targeting a valuation of $40 billion to $50 billion in its IPO, the source said. That would value it at less than its main rival, Temu's parent company PDD Holdings, which has a market capitalisation of about $117 billion. It would be roughly twice the size of fast-fashion retailer H&M, valued at about $24 billion, which has lost market share to Shein. Public filings show the CSRC has approved more than 180 other IPOs over the past 12 months, helping drive a revival in the city's equity capital markets.
Should Investors Be Concerned That Walmart Got Kicked Out of the $1 Trillion Club and Now the $900 Billion Club?
Walmart's e-commerce and advertising businesses are growing at double-digit percentage rates, and its fundamentals are incredibly strong. Walmart announced earlier this week that it is reducing prices to entice cash-strapped shoppers. This move should help boost sales in the upcoming quarter and appease a hard-to-please Wall Street. Even with its market cap sitting below $900 billion again, it's still one of the best companies in the world to own.
Average car payment are now $770/month — could a credit union's lower rate save you, or will longer loans cost you more?
The average new-car payment reaching $770 a month (and ~$531 per month for used cars), according to Experian (1). The average repayment span of a car loan stands at 69 months, or just under six years, according to Experian.
Luxury retailer exits beauty business and ends major partnership
According to Kering, the partnership is expected to strengthen Gucci's desirability and brand equity by increasing its global reach across fragrance and beauty. L'Oréal gets a big-name partner For L'Oréal, the agreement expands its portfolio of luxury beauty brands with one of fashion's most recognizable names while securing long-term rights to develop and market Gucci fragrances and cosmetics. The related cash payments are expected to total $250 million during 2026 and up to $150 million in 2027. Selected inventories will also be acquired as part of the transition. At the end of June 2025, Kering reported net debt of €9.5 billion (approximately $10.9 billion), along with €6 billion (about $6.9 billion) in long-term lease liabilities. In fiscal 2024, the last year Kering separately reported Kering Beauté's results, company revenue declined 12% year over year, while comparable revenue also fell 12%. Kering Beauté generated €323 million (approximately $369.1 million) in revenue during fiscal 2024, driven primarily by Creed's performance. However, growth slowed in subsequent quarters. By full-year 2025, Kering reported a negative €320 million (around $365.7 million) revenue change for Kering Beauté, underscoring the challenges facing the business before its sale.
Why Americans Are Quietly Retiring to Greece at 62 on $2,800 a Month
$2,071, but that reflects claimants of different ages and earnings histories. For workers whose full retirement age is 67, claiming at 62 cuts the monthly benefit by 30%. For a middle-earning career, a planning estimate around $1,500 to $1,600 a month may be reasonable, but the real number should come from the worker's own SSA estimate. The 2.8% COLA is already baked into the 2026 figure; future COLAs will depend on inflation. That leaves a gap of about $1,200 to $1,300 a month, or roughly $14,400 to $15,600 a year, to fill from a portfolio. Retiring at 62 with a 30-plus-year horizon makes a 4% withdrawal rate less comfortable, so use 3.5% for the base case. At that rate, a $14,400 annual gap requires about $411,000, while a $15,600 gap requires about $446,000. A practical target is closer to $425,000 to $450,000 to allow for early market losses and currency swings. A retiree may be able to live on $2,800 a month but still need to document resources above that level to qualify.
Costco Could Be Poised for Major Gains Before 2030. Here Is Why Now May Be the Time to Buy.
During fiscal 2025, Costco generated approximately $5.32 billion in membership fee revenue, up 10% from $4.83 billion the prior year. Membership has its privileges The biggest advantage for Costco isn't bulk groceries or discounted televisions. It's membership. During fiscal 2025, Costco generated approximately $5.32 billion in membership fee revenue, up 10% from $4.83 billion the prior year. Even more impressive, its U.S. and Canada membership renewal rate clocked in at 92.3%, while its worldwide renewal rate was 89.8%. Those are among the highest retention rates of any subscription-based business and help explain why membership fees remain one of Costco's biggest competitive advantages. Paid memberships increased 4.1%, while executive memberships (the company's highest-spending customers) grew 9.6%. For Q3 2026, the company reported digitally enabled comparable sales growth of 21.5%.
Shake Shack vs. Texas Roadhouse: Which Popular Restaurant Chain Is the Better Stock to Buy in 2026?
In FY 2025, revenue reached nearly $1.5 billion, representing approximately 15% growth over the prior year. The company reported net income of just over $45.7 million. This result reflects a net margin of roughly 3.2%, up from 0.8% in the previous fiscal year. On its FY2025 balance sheet, the debt-to-equity ratio is roughly 1.7x, representing total debt relative to what shareholders own in the business. Free cash flow, calculated as cash from operations minus capital spending, was $56.5 million for the fiscal year. In FY 2025, total revenue reached nearly $5.9 billion, a growth rate of approximately 9.5% compared to the previous year. Net income for the period was close to $405.6 million. This generated a net margin of roughly 6.9%, showing a slight decrease from the 8.1% net margin reported in 2024. In its December 2025 balance sheet, the debt-to-equity ratio is roughly 1.3x. The current ratio is approximately 0.5x, suggesting the company maintains a leaner cushion for immediate obligations. For the same fiscal period, free cash flow was about $342 million, providing significant cash to fund operations and expansion. For 2026, analysts expect Shack Shake sales to grow neaerly 16%, though with roughly the same net income.
Dollar Tree makes key move to keep popular items in stock
Empty shelves are a frustrating thing for Dollar Tree customers because seeking out those same items elsewhere could mean paying more. At a time when broad inflation is up 4.2% year over year per the latest Consumer Price Index and grocery prices are up 2.7%, that's a problem. Dollar Tree's new distribution center in Litchfield Park, Arizona, will serve more than 700 stores across the West and Southwest, cutting delivery times while giving the retailer more flexibility when disruptions occur elsewhere in its network. A more efficient supply chain means fewer out-of-stock items, quicker replenishment of popular products, and a better chance that seasonal merchandise arrives while customers still want it.
Barclays, Morgan Stanley boost Robinhood price target by up to 50%
The total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (DeFi) on Robinhood Chain has reached around $95.5 million as of July 10, as per the onchain analytics platform DeFiLlama. Barclays raised the price target on the HOOD stock by 48.8% from $82 to $122 and reiterated the Buy rating. Morgan Stanley also reiterated a Buy rating on the HOOD stock and raised the price target by 30.5% from $95 to $124.
Wendy’s Vs. McDonald’s: Buy Wendy’s to Ride the ‘Project Fresh’ Short-Squeeze Momentum and Avoid McDonald’s
WEN beat estimates but U.S. same-store sales crashed 7% while MCD posted 3.8% global comps and $9 billion in loyalty sales. McDonald's, meanwhile, reported EPS of $2.83 on $6.52 billion in revenue, with global comps up 3.8% and U.S. comps up 3.9% on real check growth.
Lowe's vs. Floor & Decor: Which Home Improvement Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?
Lowe's operates as a diversified giant serving the entire home improvement spectrum, whereas Floor & Decor dominates a specialized niche in hard-surface flooring. This comparison examines their financial health, strategic growth, and current valuations to help you determine which stock aligns with your investment strategy for 2026. For FY 2025, revenue was approximately $86.3 billion, an increase of about 3.1% year over year. The company generated net income of nearly $6.7 billion during this fiscal period. During FY 2025, revenue reached nearly $4.7 billion, reflecting approximately 4% year-over-year growth. The company reported a net income of close to $209 million for the same period. Lowe’s is expected to grow sales by about 8% and net income by about 2.5% in 2026. Lowe’s is also pushing to improve the customer experience, noting that first-quarter 2026 sales rose 10% on the strength of initiatives such as its focus on attracting more contractors. Floor & Decor, meanwhile, expects sales to rise about 3% in 2026 to $4.83 billion, bringing net income to $206 million, a slight decline from last year.
Why Today’s Small Dividend Could Become Tomorrow’s Retirement Engine
A stock screener sorted by current yield misses one of the most powerful income stories in the market. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) now pays $0.91 per quarter, up from $0.08 per quarter in 2005. Visa (NYSE: V) most recently paid $0.67 per quarter, and its annual dividend now totals $2.68. Those stocks do not look like high-yield investments today. That is the point. A retiree investing $1 million at a 3.5% yield growing 8% annually starts with $35,000 of income in year one. By year 10, the same shares would pay about $70,000 if year one is the starting point. After 10 full years of growth, the income would reach about $75,600, giving the investor a 7.6% yield on cost without buying anything that paid 7.6% on day one. The 5% to 7% range — covered-call equity ETFs, preferred-share funds, equity REITs, and high-dividend equity funds — brings the capital target down to roughly $1.6 million at 5% or $1.14 million at 7% for $80,000 of income. The 8% to 14% tier — business development companies, mortgage REITs, leveraged options-income funds, and high-yield bond funds — drops the capital target to roughly $571,000 to $1 million. A 12% yielder with no growth still produces a 12% yield on original cost in year 10 if the payout holds. A 3.5% yielder growing distributions at 8% reaches a 12% yield on cost after about 16 years and keeps going if the growth rate persists. Microsoft's 10-year total return, for example, was roughly 725% near late June 2026. The gap can be wider than expected, and the driver is often the combination of dividend growth, reinvestment, and price appreciation.
Carvana (CVNA) is One of the Best Stocks to Invest in Under $100, Here’s Why
On July 7, Carvana officially introduced same-day vehicle delivery for residents in the greater Milwaukee area. This service allows eligible local customers to receive their purchased vehicles on the same day they place an order, while those looking to sell their cars can also utilize expedited same-day pickup and drop-off options. The expansion is supported by Carvana's first-party logistics network and enhanced capabilities at its nearby Chicago facility. As part of a broader national rollout, the company plans to continue scaling this service across more states to increase speed and convenience for customers throughout the region. Furthermore, on June 12, RBC Capital maintained an Outperform rating on Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) while lowering its price target to $85 from $92. The firm updated its retail unit cohort model, suggesting that market share growth expectations currently embedded in Street estimates for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 appear more aggressive than in previous years.
ExxonMobil’s $100 Billion Cash Flow Story Isn’t Over Yet
XOM generated over $100 billion in operating cash flow across fiscal 2024 and 2025, funding $17 billion in dividends and $20 billion in buybacks. The Number ExxonMobil generated $52 billion in operating cash flow in fiscal year 2025, on top of $55 billion in fiscal 2024. That two-year haul is the cash flow story amounts to the total the title refers to, and it is a reported figure straight out of the company's audited statement of cash flows, not guidance and not consensus. Free cash flow for 2025 landed at $23.61 billion after $28.36 billion in capital expenditures. What It Means Operationally, that cash paid for everything at once. ExxonMobil returned $17.23 billion in dividends and completed $20.27 billion in share repurchases in 2025, while lifting capex 19.30% year over year to fund growth in Guyana, the Permian, and Golden Pass LNG. Exxon's dividend has now been raised annually for 43 consecutive years, with management raising its payout in Q4 2025 by 4%. Full-year upstream production hit 4.7 million oil-equivalent barrels per day, the highest in more than 40 years. Adjusted EPS came in at $1.16 versus a $1.01 consensus, and underlying earnings ex-items were $8.77 billion against $7.58 billion a year earlier. Reported net income of $4.18 billion was distorted by $3.88 billion in unfavorable mark-to-market derivative timing and $706 million in Middle East supply-disruption losses. Market Reaction XOM stock closed at $137.09 on July 2, 2026, up 15.45% year to date and 27.36% over the trailing twelve months. Bull Case I think Exxon's bull case rests on the durability of that cash engine at prices well below where it was minted. ExxonMobil has committed to $20 billion in buybacks in 2026, with cash capex guided to $27 billion to $29 billion. The company already put $4.9 billion of buybacks through in Q1 2026 alone. Growth capacity is measurable. Guyana ran at a record above 900,000 gross barrels per day, Permian output hit a Q4 2025 record of 1.8 million boed, and Golden Pass LNG loaded its first Train 1 cargo in April 2026. CEO Darren Woods told analysts that Train 1 alone will lift US LNG exports by "about 5% relative to 2025 US exports" and, once all three trains are online, by roughly 15%. Overall, I think the important thing to note is that this company's balance sheet backs the plan, with debt to equity at 0.168, net debt to EBITDA of 0.548, and interest coverage of 56.28x. Bottom Line For long-term holders, ExxonMobil is delivering the two things retirement-focused investors care about: a 3.03% yield backed by 43 straight years of dividend growth, and a buyback program funded out of cash the business actually earned.
Exxon Mobil vs ConocoPhillips: The Better Dividend Stock for Retirees
Exxon beat on EPS at $1.16 versus $1.0074 expected, though headline net income fell to $4.18 billion after a $3.88 billion derivative timing hit and $706 million in Middle East disruption losses. Strip those out and underlying earnings climbed to $8.77 billion. Guyana hit a record 900,000 gross barrels per day, refining margins printed $16.3 per barrel, and Golden Pass LNG Train 1 shipped its first cargo in April 2026.
44-year-old nostalgic mall retailer quietly closes 28 stores
Tilly's closed 28 stores over the past two years Mall staple Tilly's is known for its cool, youthful vibe. The retailer's vast offering for teens and young adults ranges from graphic tees to Vans sneakers to Santa Cruz skateboards and gear, embodying the unique skater culture that ruled '90s and 2000s fashion. Tilly's recently reported its first quarter of fiscal 2026 results. Total net sales were $124.7 million, up 15.9% compared to the same period in 2025. Tilly's Q1 fiscal 2026 earnings highlights: Net sales from physical stores were $96.3 million, an increase of 12.1%. Net sales from e-commerce were $28.4 million, an increase of 30.9%. E-com net sales represented 22.8% of total net sales this year, compared to 20.2% of total net sales last year. Gross profit was $36.1 million, or 28.9% of net sales, compared to $21.3 million, or 19.8% of net sales, last year. In the report, the company confirmed it has closed a total of 18 stores, cutting its traditional mall footprint by more than 7.6% in 12 months. After analyzing Tilly's previous reports, I discovered that Tilly's has closed 28 stores in two years, reducing its footprint by 11%. Based on its latest earnings report, the brand has 220 operational stores remaining, down from the 248 it had at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2024. "Net sales from physical stores represented 77.2% of total net sales this year compared to 79.8% of total net sales last year," the report added. Tilly's management explained that margins also improved because of improved full-price selling and lower buying, distribution, and occupancy costs "due to decreased occupancy costs associated with reduced store count. "Fiscal 2025 was a year of significant store optimization, resulting in 21 total store closures," Tilly's CEO Nate Smith said during Tilly's fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings conference call, as reported by MarketBeat. "We are proud of the fact that we were able to deliver sales growth in the fourth quarter with 17 fewer net stores." Smith emphasized that downsizing was a difficult but necessary decision to get back to historical sales levels. "It requires discipline, focus, and a willingness to make difficult decisions day after day," the CEO said, adding that "returning to historical levels of store sales, productivity, and the operating performance this business is capable of is the goal we're driving toward, and we know there is meaningful work still ahead of us to get to that point." "There have certainly been some high-profile failures this year, but a lot of space that's come on the market has been quickly released," according to Neil Saunders, a retail analyst and managing director of analytics firm GlobalData. "Vacancy rates remain relatively low. In general, there is too much headline grabbing [a]round store closures. People like to make a thing about physical retail is dead or dying, which is completely untrue." Tilly's is powerhouse behind fashion brands RSQ, West of Melrose Tilly's was founded back in 1982 by former Israel Navy officer Hezy Shaked and his wife Tilly Levine. The couple divorced in 1989, but Levine continued to work for the company as director of vendor relations. Originally known as World of Jeans and Tops, over the years the retailer grew to a national scale. The company went public in May 2012, raising $124 million through its initial public offering of stock. The Irvine, California-headquartered retailer sells branded apparel, accessories, shoes, and more, including some company-owned brands. Tilly's-owned brand names: RSQ Full Tilt West of Melrose Tilly's Additionally, Tilly's features about 200 different brands, from Asics and Nike to Levis and Von Dutch. You can track its full list of brands here. What's next for Tilly's It's evident from the earnings results and the company management's comments that Tilly's is not backing down; rather, it is optimizing its operations to improve margins. Downsizing appears to be working for Tilly's, which plans not only to close more stores but also to open new ones. During the first quarter, Tilly's opened one store and closed four. For the rest of the year, it plans to "open 2 new stores in late July, and 1 more in late October, and to close 1 existing store in mid July and another at the end of the fiscal year," Smith said. The CEO added that management is optimistic about the possibility of expanding its net store footprint. These moves align with the recent mall data, suggesting that top-tier malls are seeing more foot traffic, pushing many brands to close underperforming stores in malls that don't see enough traffic. Based on Tilly's Form 10-K filing with the SEC, the company's store count spread across Regional Malls, off-mall locations, and outlets as of Jan. 31, 2026, was: Regional mall: 128 Off-mall: 79 Outlet: 16 "Visits to indoor malls, open-air shopping centers, and outlet malls all remained in positive YoY territory in June 2026, with indoor mall visits up 1.2%, open-air shopping center visits up 5.1%, and outlet mall visits up 1.0% compared to June 2025," according to Placer.ai. Additionally, the company plans to invest and launch an "AI-driven merchandise allocation tool before the holiday season to help us improve initial allocation accuracy across our stores and online."
Coca-Cola Is Crushing the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100. But There's an Even Better Reason to Buy the Stock in July.
Coke is producing exceptional results despite inflationary and consumer spending pressures on the consumer staples sector. In the first quarter of 2026, Coke grew net revenue by 12% thanks to higher volumes and prices. It also reported an impressive 35% operating margin -- a testament to its elite supply chain, marketing, and network of bottling partners that mix, package, and distribute finished products to stores and restaurants. For the full year, Coke expects organic revenue growth of 4% to 5% and earnings per share (EPS) growth of 8% to 9%, up from $3 in 2025 EPS. The company also expects to generate a staggering $12.2 billion in free cash flow (FCF). In February, Coke reaffirmed its spot on the list of Dividend Kings -- an elite group of companies that have raised their annual payouts for at least 50 straight years -- by raising its quarterly dividend from $0.51 to $0.53 per share, marking its 64th consecutive annual dividend increase. Q1 2026 was the first quarter to feature the higher dividend, which cost Coke $2.28 billion, for a run rate of $9.12 billion per year.
Bank of America lifts target on viral appliance stock after Prime Day
Bank of America raises SharkNinja price target In a recent note shared with TheStreet, Bank of America reiterated its buy rating on SharkNinja and raised its price target to $165 from $145. BofA analyst Andrew Didora said Nielsen point-of-sale data showed domestic SharkNinja product sell-through increased 17% for the week ending June 20 and 86.2% for the week ending June 27. On a combined basis, sell-through grew 51.5% year over year, according to the note, which prompted the firm to raise SharkNinja's price target. According to the data, the increase in sales was driven by Amazon's Prime Day timing and viral interest in products such as the Ninja SLUSHi and Shark ChillPill. The new increase by BofA matters more because SharkNinja's stock has already had a strong run. Latest data show the stock trading at $152.125, close to the company's 52-week high of $154.04, reached on July 2. Overall, the company's stock is up more than 36% year to date and 37% over the past year, at the time of writing. What is sell-through? Sell-through is important because it measures how many products move from retailers to shoppers, not just shipments into stores. That makes it a useful early signal ahead of earnings because it shows whether consumers are actually buying the products retailers have on shelves. BofA said SharkNinja's second-quarter domestic sell-through is now tracking up 25.7%, compared with 18.4% two weeks earlier and well above 2.6% industry growth. The firm said the sharp increase was driven partly by the timing of Amazon's Prime Day, which ran June 23 through June 26 this year, compared with July 8 through July 11 last year. This pulled some demand into late June, meaning SharkNinja will face tougher comparisons in early July. Still, BofA said the data was strong enough to support a higher valuation, and the firm remains comfortable with its 10% domestic growth estimate for the second quarter. The $165 target implied 10.8% upside from BofA's July 7 price of $148.92. With the stock now closer to $152, the target still implies about 8.5% upside. SharkNinja is turning everyday appliances into products people talk about online, which has contributed to its viral growth. BofA said direct-to-consumer platforms add an estimated 200 to 300 basis points to SharkNinja's sales growth. That makes viral moments on platforms like TikTok more important, as they can help push specific products into shoppers' carts. Recent summer products appear to be helping. BofA said influencer videos highlighting the Shark ChillPill generated nearly 3 million views over the past week. Meanwhile, a recent post from tennis player Aryna Sabalenka surpassed 3 million views. The Ninja SLUSHi and Ninja Frost Vault Cooler also saw strong engagement, with three SLUSHi-related influencer videos accumulating more than 7 million views in recent weeks. An official SharkNinja SLUSHi Twist video reached 800,000 views in a few days, while a Ninja Frost Vault Cooler video topped 500,000 views after one day, according to the note. That kind of traction matters because small appliances are a competitive category, and many shoppers are still cautious about discretionary purchases. A viral product can help a company stand out in a market where shoppers are comparing price, usefulness, and reviews before buying. BofA also highlighted SharkNinja's TikTok Shop bestsellers. SharkNinja's Q1 results reveals BofA's interest in sales data SharkNinja's latest earnings provide more context to BofA's bullish view. The company reported first-quarter net sales of $1.41 billion, up 15.6% year over year. Adjusted net income rose 25.1% to $154.8 million, and adjusted earnings per share increased 25.3% to $1.09. SharkNinja also raised its fiscal 2026 outlook. The company now expects net sales to increase 11.5% to 12.5%, above its prior forecast of 10% to 11%. It also expects adjusted earnings per share of $6.00 to $6.10, up from its earlier range of $5.90 to $6.00. The growth was broad enough to explain why BofA is paying attention to multiple product categories. Cleaning Appliances' net sales rose 17% in Q1, driven by carpet extractors and corded vacuums. Cooking and Beverage Appliances rose 19.8%, helped by the Ninja Luxe Café espresso machine and Ninja Crispi. And Beauty and Home Environment Appliances jumped 40.8%, driven by skin care products. International growth was also strong. SharkNinja said international net sales rose 31.6% in the first quarter, helped by global expansion and the introduction of existing product categories into new markets. On the company's earnings call, CEO Mark Barrocas said consumers were actively seeking out SharkNinja products and incorporating them into their daily lives. Management added that direct-to-consumer and TikTok Shop channels were growing faster than the overall domestic business, though the company did not break out exact figures for those channels. That fits BofA's broader argument. SharkNinja is not just relying on one hit appliance. The company is trying to turn product innovation, social media, direct selling, and retail partnerships into a repeatable growth engine. SharkNinja still faces consumer and tariff risks The bullish case has limits. BofA said downside risks to its SharkNinja price target include a slowing macro environment that could pressure higher-ticket product categories, increased tariffs, and increased competition. Those risks are not theoretical. SharkNinja said in its Q1 release that gross margin pressure was partly tied to tariff costs in the U.S. market. The company also warned that uncertainty around tariffs, geopolitics, and global economies could affect its outlook and future results. This is relevant not just to the company but also to consumers because tariffs and cost pressures can eventually influence pricing and promotions. It also matters for investors, since SharkNinja's recent stock gains leave less room for disappointment if sales trends cool after Prime Day or if viral product demand proves temporary.
Could You Retire Like Royalty in Vietnam With $400,000?
$400,000 at 4.5% withdrawal generates $18,000, leaving a gap only $1.35 million or Social Security can close. Vietnam has no retirement visa, and exceeding 183 days triggers local tax residency, exposing worldwide income to progressive rates up to 35%. A large Vietnamese-currency balance sounds impressive, but it does not make the portfolio safer. What matters is how much a retiree can withdraw each year in U.S. dollars, what that buys in Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City, and whether the retiree can legally stay long enough to make Vietnam a real retirement plan rather than a series of extended visits. Vietnam wants tourism, investment, trade, and skilled activity, but it has not put the legal framework in place to be considered a guaranteed permanent retirement base in the way Americans might think of Mexico, Panama, or Malaysia, which have clearer long-stay or retiree-oriented visa pathways. The average retired-worker benefit in 2026 is $2,071 a month, or roughly $24,850 a year, and the 2.8% COLA keeps that moving with US inflation. Add average Social Security to a 4.5% draw on $400,000 and you reach around $42,850 a year. For an early retiree with no Social Security yet, $400,000 funds a nice mid-tier expat life with a modest apartment, local hospitals, and careful spending. To fund the $59,600 budget on portfolio alone, you need roughly $1.35 million at a 4.5% draw. Vietnam does not have a dedicated retirement visa comparable to Thailand's O-A or Portugal's D7. The standard e-visa can be valid for up to 90 days and can be issued for single or multiple entry, but that is not the same as a retirement residency path. That creates a real risk for long-stay retirees. U.S. citizens still file U.S. tax returns, while Vietnam may tax retirement-account withdrawals, pensions, dividends, and other income if the retiree becomes a Vietnamese tax resident. To fund the full high-end budget of roughly $60,000 a year from a portfolio alone, $400,000 is not close. The target is about $1.32 million at a 4.5% withdrawal rate, or closer to $1.5 million at 4%.
Lowe's (LOW) Is Using AI And Acquisitions To Win More Professional Customers
Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW) recently reported industry leading revenue growth among major home improvement retailers. The company is using AI tools and targeted acquisitions to grow sales to professional customers. Watch how professional customer sales, revenue growth, and margins evolve against the current P/E of 17.9 versus the industry average of about 20.0. The combination of high debt and negative shareholders' equity is an important balance sheet risk to weigh against the growth and valuation profile.
Social Security Replaces About 40% of Your Paycheck. Here’s How Much You Need Invested to Cover the Rest.
Social Security replaces only 40% of pre-retirement income, leaving median workers needing a high-six to seven-figure portfolio to cover the rest. The personal savings rate fell to just 3.9% in Q1 2026, far below what retirement calculators require to build an adequate portfolio. Higher earners face a larger shortfall since Social Security replaces a smaller share of their income, requiring proportionally bigger invested portfolios. The starting point is what the median full-time worker actually earns. Median usual weekly earnings for full-time workers reached $1,235 in the first quarter of 2026, up from $1,139 in the first quarter of 2024. Annualized, that translates into gross wages of approximately $64,220. A 40% Social Security replacement rate on that income works out to roughly $25,688 annually, leaving a significant shortfall to be covered by other sources. The remaining 60% is where invested savings come into play. For a median-income worker, this gap covers the difference between Social Security and pre-retirement earnings. Average annual household expenditures were $78,535 in 2024, up from $72,973 in 2022. In May 2026, U.S. consumers spent an annualized $3,950.3 billion on housing and $3,716.0 billion on healthcare, the two categories that tend to grow fastest in retirement.
Home Depot vs. Lowe's: A Look at Recent Revenue Trends for These Home Improvement Giants
Home Depot (NYSE:HD) primarily generates revenue by selling building materials, home improvement items, and installation services to various consumers and contractors. It announced a strategic partnership with Hertz to benefit military personnel on May 1, 2026, and reported approximately 12% EBIT margin for the quarter ended May 3, 2026. Lowe's (NYSE:LOW) operates as a home improvement retailer offering construction materials, appliances, and repair services to homeowners and professionals. While completing a permanent workforce reduction at its North Carolina facilities in early 2026, it recorded 33% gross margin for the quarter ended May 1, 2026.
Costco and Walmart capture grocery store crowns
By a margin of 2 to 1, Americans say they are worse off, as opposed to better off, than they were one year ago with respect to their household finances. Only 26% of shoppers say they are living comfortably and can save money. Macroeconomic issues are weighing on shoppers as concerns about inflation (71% very or extremely) and the overall U.S. economy (66%) reached new highs. The job market is a concern for nearly half of grocery shoppers (49%). Gas prices have also forced people to make changes. "Americans' concerns about gas prices spiked in the past six months, from 43% very or extremely concerned in December to 69% this month. A similar proportion of grocery shoppers (70%) say their spending on gas has increased in the first half of 2026," FMI reported. The U.S. grocery sector grew in 2025, but growth was not volume-led. Grocery sales increased 1.2%, driven by price increases of 2.2%, while volume declined. The market grew in dollars, but shoppers bought fewer units," according to McKinsey's The State of Grocery North America 2026, released on June 17. Consumers are no longer shopping one way for all needs but splitting trips across value stock-ups, fresh and prepared-food occasions, convenience-led delivery, wellness-driven baskets, and fill-in missions. National players continue to benefit from scale, value, innovation, and digital capabilities, while regional players remain powerful where they have distinctive fresh, prepared, and in-store propositions," the consultancy wrote. Over 31% respondents said gas price increases have significantly or extremely impacted their household budget. Only 13% said they felt no impact at all. More telling: 66.4% have already changed their overall spending habits as a direct result with 20.6% making significant changes and 45.8% making moderate ones," the data showed. A counterintuitive but important finding: 37.6% of shoppers report their weekly grocery spend has increased compared to three months ago, yet simultaneously, the majority are actively cutting back. The explanation: grocery prices are rising faster than shoppers can compensate through behavior change, so many are spending more while still trying to spend less," Snipp added.
AstraZeneca Updates 2030 Sustainability Goals as AI and Emissions Cuts Take Center Stage
AstraZeneca has reduced Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 88% as of December 2025, while more than doubling revenue compared with 2015. The company’s ambition is to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 98% by December 2026, where addressable, and Cheng said 11 sites have already met that goal. The company has also reduced water and waste by 23% since 2015 and transitioned 81% of its global car fleet to electric vehicles. More than 80% of supplier spend is with companies that have science-based targets, Cheng said. AstraZeneca updated its near-term Scope 3 target for 2030 to a 35% reduction versus 2019, compared with its previous target of a 50% reduction. Cheng said the revision reflects business growth and alignment with the company’s ambition to deliver $80 billion in total revenue and 20 new medicines by 2030. Cheng said AstraZeneca aims to benefit 1 billion people through health equity programs, including 400 million people from underserved groups. The company defines underserved groups to include patients in low-income, lower-middle-income and upper-middle-income countries, as well as all patients with rare disease, while acknowledging that underserved populations also exist within high-income countries. By the end of 2025, more than 40% of AstraZeneca’s genomic data came from underrepresented populations, Cheng said. The company’s Young Health Programme has reached more than 23 million young people in 56 countries over 15 years through partnerships with more than 60 NGOs, including UNICEF and Plan International. Cheng said AstraZeneca’s health education, screening and early detection programs have reached more than 49 million people since 2024, while 156 million people from underserved communities have been positively impacted by its health equity programs since 2024. Stefan Weber, VP of Global Policy, Advocacy and Health Equity, said AstraZeneca and Qure.ai completed 5 million AI-enabled chest X-rays across more than 20 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. He said the program demonstrates the potential of AI to improve early lung cancer detection in low- and middle-income countries and other resource-limited settings. Weber said AstraZeneca’s Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience, or PHSSR, is active in 37 countries, has published more than 30 reports and has engaged more than 200 policymakers. He said the company expects to launch engagements and reports this year in Mexico, Indonesia, Finland and Turkey, bringing PHSSR activity to more than 40 countries by the end of 2026, near AstraZeneca’s 2030 target of 45. Liz Chatwin, who leads sustainability strategy and safety, health and environment, said sustainability investments have created business value through renewable energy investments, reduced exposure to energy price volatility, lower water and waste use, and more efficient manufacturing. She cited continuous direct compression technology that reduced tablet production time for one hypertension medicine from 20 days to 20 minutes. Cheng closed the update by saying AstraZeneca has made “considerable sustainability progress” while growing its business and that its updated targets are intended to be realistic and transparent as the company measures the next phase of its impact.
Analysts raise TL, LTL estimates ahead of Q2 earnings season
Analysts have raised expectations for carriers heading into the second-quarter earnings season. While the trucking industry is still in the early stages of an upcycle, a tighter capacity backdrop has produced better pricing. Higher rates across leaner cost structures should generate more pronounced earnings growth moving forward. Richa Harnain, Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) analyst, is "forecasting mainly beats" across her transportation coverage, with less-than-truckload carriers leading the charge. She expects median earnings-per-share growth of 15% (year-over-year) for the second quarter and 21% for the third quarter. That would mark a meaningful improvement from the 3% increase the group recorded in the first quarter and the 7% decline logged in the fourth quarter. She raised numbers for both the truckload and LTL carriers she follows. Her LTL forecasts increased roughly 8% on average and sit above consensus expectations. "We expect less-than-truckload (LTL) operators to lead the way, with our official earnings forecasts for the group 5% above consensus on average," Harnain said. "Even that may prove conservative, given how these names have historically performed in the early stages of cyclical upturns." Less-than-truckload demand is starting to reflect six consecutive months of positive manufacturing data. Intraquarter updates provided by public carriers showed tonnage turned positive for the group in May (on a two-year-stacked comp) following an extended downturn. Tightness across the TL market and heavier shipments from the industrial complex are shaping LTL demand. Large national carriers continue to garner mid-single-digit contractual rate increases despite a glut of excess door capacity. General rate increases are occurring at an accelerated pace and LTL fuel surcharge programs become more profitable as fuel prices increase. Higher pricing and cost takeouts (including AI-led optimization initiatives) should allow carriers to restore margins. Harnain noted that the "sharp stock outperformance" (some trucking stocks are up 50% year-to-date) has valuation multiples stretched compared to historical levels. However, she believes improving industry fundamentals and carriers' ability to generate significant cash flows (to fund dividends and stock buybacks) warrant ownership. Ravi Shanker, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) analyst, also flagged valuation as a concern in his second-quarter preview.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian says airline fares will stay elevated even if jet fuel prices fall
Delta Air Lines sees higher fares staying in place for consumers amid higher costs for fuel and other expenses, even if oil prices return to more moderate levels and allow jet fuel costs to decline in turn. Most U.S. carriers were already struggling to earn their cost of capital against a backdrop where industry airfares have meaningfully trailed inflation, costs have reset higher, and consumer preferences have evolved. As we predicted, structural change has accelerated, enabling the industry to recapture this year's fuel cost inflation at the fastest pace of any recent cycle. Even after recent fare increases, airfares remain 10 to 15 points below overall inflation since COVID. We believe that current revenue momentum should remain sustainable even if fuel prices moderate. Airlines are facing not only higher fuel costs, but increased expenses for labor, airport infrastructure, technology and airplanes, which Bastian explained is forcing companies in the industry to build more resilience into their operational strategy. Even with the improvements we've seen in pricing for the industry, the low end of the market still has to increase fares by another 5%, by our estimate, just to get to breakeven at today's fuel environment.
Webull Stock Is One to Watch as Trading Activity Picks Up
Q1 2026 revenue came in at $159.93M, up 36% YoY, with equity notional volume more than doubling to $261 billion and DARTs climbing 42%.
Major tire and auto repair franchisee files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Tire shipments had risen slightly over the previous six years from 332.7 million units in 2019, until the 2025 decline. The Manufacturers Association did not give any reasons for the decline in shipments in its February 2026 forecast, which predicted an increase in tire shipments for 2026 to 338.6 million units. Major tire services and repair chain Monro Inc. closed 145 underperforming stores in its first quarter of 2026, which began March 30, 2025, as part of its company improvement plan, after reporting a 4.9% decrease in sales in the 2025 fiscal year.
PepsiCo’s $200 Billion Stability Play Is Attracting Dividend Investors
Fifty-four. That is how many consecutive years PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) will have raised its dividend once the 4% increase in the annualized dividend per share takes effect with the June 2026 payment. The company which now trades at a $200 billion market capitalization reaffirmed the streak in its Q1 FY2026 earnings release filed April 15, 2026, pushing its annualized payout to $5.92 per share. The raise is backed by real capital return. Management sized total FY2026 shareholder returns at roughly $8.9 billion, split between $7.9 billion in dividends and $1.0 billion in repurchases, on top of a new $10 billion share repurchase program running through February 28, 2030. Pepsi's Q1 core EPS came in at $1.61 against a $1.54 consensus, revenue landed at $19.44 billion versus $18.92 billion expected, and operating margin expanded 210 basis points to 16.5%.
Pizza chain closing up to 50 locations after years of declines
During MTY Group's second-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call, CEO Eric Lefebvre said the company plans to close 68 underperforming corporate-owned restaurants over the next six to nine months. Up to 50 of those locations are expected to be Papa Murphy's restaurants, while the remaining closures will affect other MTY Group brands. The locations selected for closure collectively generated more than CAD 10 million in losses. Executives also said the shutdowns are unlikely to have a meaningful impact on same-store sales because the affected restaurants were performing well below the system average.
Should Citi’s Endorsement of Cheesecake Factory’s New Loyalty App Reframe the CAKE Digital Investment Story?
Earlier this week, Citi reiterated its confidence in The Cheesecake Factory's digital push, highlighting the company's newly launched loyalty program and mobile app as key drivers of stronger customer engagement. This endorsement puts a spotlight on Cheesecake Factory's effort to deepen relationships with frequent diners by linking rewards, mobile ordering, and personalized offers into a single ecosystem. The launch of Cheesecake Factory's first mobile app in April is especially relevant here, because it directly supports the loyalty and digital marketing catalyst investors have been watching. By tying rewards, online ordering, and personalized offers together, the app sits at the center of efforts to keep visits and off premise sales healthy even as competition from fast casual and delivery first concepts intensifies. Cheesecake Factory's narrative projects $4.5 billion revenue and $269.5 million earnings by 2029. This requires 5.8% yearly revenue growth and a $104.5 million earnings increase from $165.0 million today. Some of the lowest ranked analysts were expecting revenue of about US$4.5 billion and earnings near US$263 million by 2029, which paints a much tougher picture than Citi's app driven engagement focus and shows how differently you and other investors might view Cheesecake Factory's digital and margin potential once this latest news is fully reflected in forecasts.
Tailored Brands Files for IPO
Net sales in fiscal 2025 inched up 2.1 percent to $2.5 billion last year as earnings grew by 25.5 percent to $217.2 million. The registration statement, filed with regulators, pointed to research showing that the company sells one in three pieces of tailored apparel and about one in five dress shirts in the U.S. It also has nearly a 60 percent share of the men's rental market.
Real estate is no longer the wealth builder it once was — but is it a bad investment?
Take the latest round of data from the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Indices (2), which concludes the current U.S. housing market has basically slowed to a halt, with U.S. homes declining by 0.1% in April 2026. "April's figures confirm that U.S. home prices remain essentially flat, with the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller National Home Price Index up a scant 0.8% year over year, just above March's 0.7% pace," said Nicholas Godec, head of fixed income tradables and commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "With inflation accelerating to 3.8% in April, U.S. home values have now declined in real terms for an 11th straight month, further eroding inflation-adjusted housing wealth." Other industry data points indicate U.S. mortgage rates still hover above 6%, increasing borrowing costs compared with the 2% to 3% loans many homeowners locked in during 2020-2021. Meanwhile, insurance, property taxes, maintenance, and HOA costs have risen in the last few years, reducing net returns for both homeowners and investors. Insurance premiums alone have increased dramatically over the past several years, rising by 46.8% from 2020 to 2025, with annual rate increases averaging 12.7% in 2025 and up another 6% in 2025, according to Lending Tree.
Bank Of America (BAC) Flags Strong June Spending And Wage Gains Before Earnings
Bank of America's consumer data for June shows robust credit and debit card spending across its customer base. Wage growth for lower-income customers nearly matched higher-income earners, highlighting shifting consumer dynamics. The Bank of America Institute points to resilient U.S. consumer activity ahead of the upcoming Q2 bank earnings season. With strong spending data and solid wage gains among lower-income customers, the latest figures provide important context for how Bank of America's consumer business is currently positioned. At the same time, resilient lower income wages can cut both ways for a bank of this size, since stronger job switching and pay increases may support credit quality, but can also feed into cost pressures for Bank of America's own staffing and technology investments.
3 Reasons Why Netflix Has a Lot to Prove on July 16
When Netflix reported its first-quarter earnings in April, a few things stuck out that weighed on the stock price immediately after the report. But one of the biggest worries from the market seemed to be Netflix's content costs. The management team warned that a large portion of content costs would be front-loaded at the start of the year, and that its content amortization rate would peak in the second quarter of 2026. Netflix's upcoming report will show whether that expectation held true or if the cost of that content is continuing to rise.
The Portfolio That Makes Christmas Feel Like Christmas Again
The average winter holiday budget is not the same as the full cost of Christmas. NRF's 2025 survey put planned spending on gifts, food, decorations, and other seasonal items at about $890 per person. Once travel, hosting, charitable giving, and family traditions are included, however, a travel-heavy family Christmas can easily approach $5,000. At a 3.5% yield, $5,000 a year requires roughly $143,000 in capital. At 4%, the number drops to $125,000. This is the dividend growth tier: broad equity income funds, blue-chip aristocrats, and quality consumer staples. Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) raised its quarterly payout to $0.53 in 2026, marking its 64th consecutive annual dividend increase. PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) announced its 54th consecutive annual increase, lifting the dividend to $1.48 per quarter. At recent yields of roughly 2.6% for Coca-Cola and about 4.1% for PepsiCo, a $125,000 position split evenly between the two would produce about $4,200 a year before taxes, not $5,000. Step the yield to 6% and the capital required falls to roughly $83,000. This is the territory of net lease REITs, regulated utilities, and preferred shares. Realty Income (NYSE: O) calls itself the Monthly Dividend Company for a reason: it has declared more than 670 consecutive monthly dividends, with a recent payment of $0.271 per share and a yield around 5.2%. Regulated utilities like Southern Company (NYSE: SO) and Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) pay quarterly distributions backed by rate-regulated cash flows. Southern raised its annualized dividend to $3.04 in 2026, while Duke's quarterly dividend is $1.065. At a 10% yield, $5,000 a year takes only $50,000. The catch is that the principal often does not grow, and sometimes shrinks. Main Street Capital (NYSE: MAIN) paid regular monthly dividends of $0.26 per share in the second quarter of 2026, then raised the regular monthly dividend to $0.265 for the third quarter, with $0.30 supplemental dividends declared for March and June. A 10% yield with no growth pays $5,000 every December for a decade if the payout holds. A 3% yield that starts at $5,000 and grows 8% a year would pay about $10,000 by year 10 and about $21,600 by year 20.
Costco Has Held Its Hot Dog at $1.50 for Decades. Social Security Tax Thresholds Frozen Since 1984 Haven’t Been So Kind to Retirees.
Costco sold more than 245 million of those hot dog combos last fiscal year, and the company has said outright that if the price had simply tracked inflation since the 1980s, it would be pulling in hundreds of millions more in revenue each year.
Could You Retire Better in Portugal or Costa Rica With $500,000?
Two average Social Security checks plus a 4% draw on $500,000 produces roughly $68,000 gross, clearing the budget bar in either country outside capital cities. A comfortable couple budget in the Central Valley, including places such as Escazú, Atenas, or Grecia, can run around $3,500 to $4,000 a month for retirees who want a car, private care access, and regular dining out. The Pensionado visa requires $1,000 in monthly lifetime pension income, and legal residents generally contribute to the Caja public health system based on declared income. Many retirees still use private clinics or supplemental private coverage. Call it $34,000 to $42,000 a year for a couple living well outside the highest-cost lifestyle choices. The 10-year Treasury was near 4.5% in early July 2026, and new I bonds carried a 4.26% composite rate. SSA's estimated average retired-worker benefit for January 2026 is $2,071 a month after the 2.8% COLA, or about $24,850 a year. A couple with two average retired-worker benefits would receive about $49,700 before touching the portfolio. At a 4% withdrawal rate, $500,000 produces $20,000 a year before tax. Combined with two average Social Security checks, the couple reaches about $69,700 gross. That covers the Costa Rica budget with room for travel and can cover a lower-cost Portugal budget before Portuguese tax. Push the withdrawal to 4.5% and the portfolio produces $22,500, bringing gross income to about $72,200, but with less margin for markets, taxes, and healthcare. A solo retiree with one average Social Security check and a 4% draw reaches about $44,850, which is Costa Rica-comfortable and Portugal-tight.
Medicare Won’t Touch Long-Term Care. The Average Nursing-Home Year Runs Past $100,000.
Per capita disposable personal income was $68,391 in the first quarter of 2026, while one year in a median private nursing home room costs $129,575. The 2026 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment was 2.8%, and the personal saving rate was 3.9% in the first quarter of 2026. Days 1 through 20 of a covered SNF stay cost $0 after any applicable Part A deductible has been met. Days 21 through 100 carry daily coinsurance of $217, up from $209.50 in 2025. After day 100, Medicare pays nothing for that SNF benefit period. The full 80-day coinsurance window comes to $17,360, and then the meter can switch to the private-pay rate.
Crescent Energy Company (CRGY) Is A Top Stock In Miller Value Partners’ Filings
Crescent Energy Company (NYSE:CRGY) is due to report its fiscal second quarter earnings on August 4th. It reported its first quarter earnings on May 4th and posted $1.18 billion in revenue and $0.53 in adjusted earnings per share.
Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (BFH) Is A Top Stock In Miller Value Partners’ Filings
Its shares are up by 54% over the past year and by 28% year-to-date. Barclays bumped the share price target to $104 from $70 and the rating to Equalweight from Underweight. TD Cowen also hiked Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)'s share price target. It raised the price target to $103 from $95 and kept a Hold rating on the stock. The stake peaked to being worth $18.7 million in Q2 2025.
Should You Buy Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (BLMN)’s Shares?
Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)'s comparable sales grew by 0.9% in the first quarter to reverse the 0.5% drop in the previous quarter. The firm's Bonefish Grill brand grew sales by 6% while sales at Outback Steakhouse dipped by 0.3%.
The Social Security Earnings Limit Can Cost Early Retirees Thousands Each Year
In 2026, there are two separate thresholds depending on how far a retiree is from full retirement age. For those who will not reach FRA at any point during the year, the limit is $24,480. For every $2 earned above that amount, $1 in Social Security benefits is withheld. A retiree earning $44,480 in wages, for example, would have $10,000 withheld from their benefits for the year. In the year a retiree actually reaches full retirement age, the threshold jumps to $65,160, and the formula softens to $1 withheld for every $3 earned above that limit. The month full retirement age arrives, the earnings test disappears entirely. Consider a 64-year-old who retired early, began collecting Social Security, and then returned to part-time consulting work, generating $50,000 in annual wages. That income exceeds the $24,480 threshold by $25,520. Now divide this overage by two, and the SSA will withhold $12,760 in benefits for the year. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, nearly 11.4 million Americans over 65 were still working in 2025, and far more between 55 and 64 were approaching eligibility.
Church & Dwight vs. Kimberly-Clark: Which Consumer Goods Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?
In FY 2025, revenue reached nearly $6.2 billion, representing modest growth of roughly 1.6% compared to the prior year. Net income for the period was approximately $736.8 million, resulting in a healthy net margin of roughly 11.9%. This steady performance suggests that the company's efforts to exit the vitamins and showerhead businesses have allowed management to stabilize its earnings profile in a competitive market. As of its December 2025 balance sheet, the company's debt-to-equity ratio stood at roughly 0.6x. The current ratio of approximately 1.1x indicates the company has $1.10 in current assets to cover every $1.00 of short-term liabilities, while free cash flow reached close to $1.1 billion during the fiscal year. In FY 2025, revenue reached nearly $17.2 billion, representing a decline of roughly 14.2% from the previous year. This revenue drop reflects the structural changes within its business units, yet net income for the year remained close to $2.0 billion. Despite the lower top-line figure, the company maintained a net margin of roughly 11.7%, showcasing its ability to generate significant cash from its global brand portfolio. As of the December 2025 balance sheet, the debt-to-equity ratio was approximately 4.9x. A current ratio of nearly 0.7x means the company has roughly $0.70 in current assets for every $1.00 in short-term liabilities, though it still generated nearly $1.6 billion in free cash flow during FY 2025. Church & Dwight faces intense competitive pressures from legacy consumer goods companies like Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) as well as the rising popularity of private-label products. The company relies on sole-source suppliers for certain raw materials, creating a vulnerability to supply chain disruptions and logistical instability. Kimberly-Clark is navigating the complex integration of the Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) acquisition, which carries risks related to cultural misalignment and a substantially increased debt load. The company must also contend with significant commodity volatility in materials like cellulose fiber and petroleum-based plastics, which can squeeze margins if costs cannot be passed to consumers.
Better Buy for the Second Half: Celsius Down 36% or a 50/50 Split of Coca-Cola and Pepsi?
Coca-Cola rolled out Simply Pop, a prebiotic soda pitched around gut health with added vitamin C and zinc. PepsiCo went even bigger, buying the trendy prebiotic brand Poppi and then launching its own Pepsi Prebiotic Cola nationwide, while quietly reformulating core products to cut sugar and strip out artificial colors and flavors. Coca-Cola spans sodas, water, sports drinks, coffee, and juice across almost every country on Earth.
Element Solutions Lands $14.5B Solstice Deal as AI Data Center Demand Booms
Element Solutions Forming Flat Base After Q2 Earnings Solstice Advanced Materials said it has agreed to acquire Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $14.5 billion, including the assumption of net debt, as the companies outlined plans to create a larger advanced materials platform with a heavier focus on electronics, data centers and related thermal management applications. Under the agreement, Element Solutions shareholders will receive $10 in cash and 0.5 shares of Solstice common stock for each Element Solutions share. Solstice President and CEO David Sewell said the offer represented a 15% premium to Element Solutions' closing share price on Friday. Upon closing, Element Solutions shareholders are expected to own approximately 44% of the combined company. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to approvals from both companies' shareholders, regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. The combined company will operate as Solstice, with Sewell serving as CEO. Element Solutions CEO Ben Gliklich is expected to join Solstice's board, along with two other designees from Element Solutions' board, subject to standard governance procedures. Companies Emphasize Electronics and Data Center Growth Sewell said the deal accelerates Solstice's strategy as an independent company and creates what he described as a global advanced materials leader with expected combined 2025 net sales of approximately $6.8 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $1.7 billion. He said the combined company would have leading positions across end markets and more than 8,300 patents and pending applications. Solstice executives framed the acquisition around the growth of advanced computing, artificial intelligence and data centers, particularly the need for materials used in semiconductor fabrication, advanced packaging, assembly and thermal management. "We believe this combination creates an unmatched electronic materials platform," Sewell said, adding that the portfolios are "highly complementary" across semiconductor fabrication, packaging, assembly and thermal management. Gliklich said Element Solutions has been positioning its businesses toward faster-growing, higher-value customers and markets. He noted that Element Solutions generates just over 70% of its revenue from electronics, with about 75% of electronics sales coming from business-to-business markets. He also said more than 20% of Element Solutions' sales come from the data center market and that percentage is growing. Gliklich said the deal combines Solstice's expertise in synthesis and engineering with Element Solutions' expertise in formulation, process chemistry and applications development. He said the combination should help accelerate innovation and time to market. Synergies and Financial Targets Solstice said it has identified more than $180 million in expected annualized run-rate cost synergies on a net basis, which it expects to realize within three years of closing. Sewell broke down the expected savings as follows: Approximately $100 million from operational initiatives and operating model integration, including efficiencies in G&A, sales and marketing, and R&D; About $25 million from supply chain improvements, including raw material and procurement scale and copper recovery from deposition processes; Around $20 million from footprint optimization; About $35 million from other initiatives. Solstice CFO Tina Pierce said the combined company, including run-rate synergies, is expected to have an adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 26%. She said revenue is expected to grow at a mid- to high-single-digit rate over the medium term, with adjusted EBITDA growing faster than revenue as synergies phase in. Pierce also said the company expects cash conversion of approximately 75% and expects the transaction to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share in year one. Solstice expects net leverage of approximately 3.5 times at closing and said it anticipates deleveraging to below 3 times within 18 months after the transaction closes. Pierce said the longer-term net leverage target is 2 times to 3 times, in line with the company's current credit rating profile. Portfolio Fit and Integration Plans Sewell said Solstice's strengths are concentrated in front-end semiconductor fabrication, including chemistries used in deposition, patterning, etching and cleaning. Element Solutions, he said, largely complements those capabilities in advanced packaging, printed circuit board building and assembly. He highlighted copper interconnects and thermal management as areas where the companies believe they can offer more complete solutions together. In response to analyst questions, Sewell said the timing of the deal reflected the importance of advanced electronics to Solstice's long-term strategy and the increasing demands customers are placing on suppliers for solutions. He said the integration is expected to be manageable because of the complementary nature of the businesses, though he stopped short of calling it a simple "drop-in" acquisition. Gliklich said Element Solutions was approached by Solstice and had not put itself up for sale. He described the offer as attractive for Element Solutions shareholders because it includes upfront cash, a premium and continued participation in the expected value creation through Solstice stock. Executives also said they see potential revenue synergies, though Pierce said the company's revenue growth target depends only on a relatively small amount of revenue synergy. Sewell said some opportunities could come from cross-selling into each company's customer base, while longer-term opportunities may require qualification processes that could take about two years. Asked about possible divestitures, Sewell said it was premature to provide details but said the transaction gives Solstice more flexibility to tailor its portfolio to its long-term vision. He said the combined company would not be a pure-play electronics company, emphasizing that refrigerants and nuclear services also fit into Solstice's view of data center infrastructure, including cooling and power needs. Solstice executives said planned investments, including Kuprion facilities at Element Solutions and Solstice's nuclear expansion and sputtering targets expansion, are included in the company's financial model. Sewell said those investments are not expected to prevent the company from meeting its deleveraging goals. About Element Solutions (NYSE:ESI) Element Solutions Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops and supplies highly engineered chemistries to performance-driven end markets. The company's solutions serve customers across the electronics, energy, transportation, consumer and industrial sectors, with a particular emphasis on electronics chemicals, metal plating, and industrial coatings additives. In the electronics market, Element Solutions provides a range of plating and surface-treatment chemistries used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, semiconductor devices, and advanced display technologies. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
How AppLovin (APP) Is Using AI to Expand Beyond Mobile Gaming Into E-Commerce Advertising
AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) operates an advertising technology platform that uses AI-based tools to match advertisers with audiences, optimize campaigns, and support monetization across mobile apps, connected television, and e-commerce. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of APP as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame.
SITE Centers (SITC) Divests Stake in The Pike Outlets for $50 Million
Net sale proceeds stood at roughly $46.5 million after making adjustments for certain allocations, prorations, leasing maintenance, and other credits. Since this special dividend equates to more than 25% of the stock's current price, the NYSE has suggested that the company's common shares will trade on a due-bill basis. Based on a median 1-year price target of $6, the stock currently offers more than 42% upside potential to investors.
Walmart perk could make gas cheaper than Costco
At a time when gasoline prices are up 40.5% year over year, according to the most recent Consumer Price Index, those savings are significant. During Walmart's first-quarter 2027 earnings call, CFO John Rainey said Walmart+ membership fee revenue growth accelerated.
Dollar General offers retro prices
Dollar General has seen growth in a key customer area, driven by the challenging economy. Citigroup analyst Paul Lejuez asked about those wealthier customers during the chain's first-quarter earnings call. "You talked a bit about the trade-in customer in the $100,000-plus range. We hear a lot of companies talk about gaining customers trading down in that income level. I'm curious where you think your customer is coming from," he asked. Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos was direct in his answer. "I would tell you that the trade-in is really coming from the same areas that we've seen over the years at an accelerated rate right now. And that's really from the drug and the grocery side of the business is where we really see the most trade-in. That continues," he said. He noted that Dollar General has continued to add customers in the $100,000-plus income range "and that continues as we moved into Q2 at an accelerated rate," he added. "Value-seeking has the greatest effect on higher-income earners surveyed (those earning $200K or more). They plan to spend 50-60% less in many discretionary categories relative to their peers," according to Deloitte. The $1 price point has been a driver for Dollar General. "From a value perspective, we continue to be pleased with our pricing position, which is within 3 or 4 percentage points of mass retailers as well as our extensive offering of more than 2,000 items across the store at or below the $1 price point," Vasos said. "As part of our overall approach to this price point, we continue to emphasize and strengthen our Value Valley offering, which is comprised of more than 500 rotating items, all at $1. Of note, this offering once again outperformed the chain average in Q1 with a comp sales increase of 18.4%, driven by broad-based performance across many sections and exceptional performance in health and beauty," he added.
3 Top Bank of America Stock Picks That Stand Out for Q3
Spotify has a nearly unparalleled database. The company's streaming service generates more than 3.4 trillion user signals every day, and Spotify is going to put that data to work. Walmart boasts a market cap of nearly $906 billion and operates approximately 10,900 stores across 19 countries. In the fiscal year 2026, which ended in January, Walmart reported $713.2 billion in revenue, making Walmart the world's second-largest retailer by revenue, behind only Amazon. The company projected second-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.72 to $0.74, a touch below Wall Street's expectations, while maintaining its full-year outlook instead of raising it. Ford's primary North America market is better positioned compared to Europe/China given a protectionist trade agenda (no Chinese EV disruption), a favorable regulatory environment given the roll off of emission standards programs that allows Ford to produce its highest margin accretive ICE vehicles, and resilient demand despite higher gas prices.
To Break the Takeaway and Fast Food Habit, They Started Investing the Money Instead. 'It Feels Like a Game and So Rewarding'
Within just a few days, the poster said they had already transferred around 100 Australian dollars ($69) into their retirement account. A few dollars invested here and there may not seem significant, but consistent investing can add up over time. More than 1.5 million people are already quietly investing through Stash — start with as little as $1, earn stock on everyday purchases, and get a 3% IRA match with Stash+. Investors can buy fractional shares of single-family rentals and vacation homes starting with as little as $100. For accredited investors, FarmTogether offers direct access to high-quality U.S. farmland starting at $15,000 — fully managed, with no landlord headaches. Immersed is building technology for the future of work through spatial computing. Known for its AR/VR productivity platform that enables users to work across multiple virtual screens, the company has grown to more than 1.5 million users worldwide. Fundrise offers access to diversified private real estate and credit strategies through an easy-to-use platform, with professionally managed portfolios designed to generate passive income and long-term growth. Realberry gives accredited investors direct access to private real estate opportunities backed by a team with 35 years of experience, $3.4 billion in assets under management, and $481 million in cumulative distributions paid to investors as of Q4 2025, according to the company. EquityMultiple provides access to vetted commercial real estate deals starting at $5,000, with only ~5% of opportunities passing their due diligence process.
50-year-old boat builder files Chapter 7 and won't deliver
The top 10% of earners in the U.S. accounted for nearly 50% of spending in the second quarter, the highest level it's been since this data first started being collected in 1989, according to Moody's Analytics. Kadey-Krogen's fortunes have been in decline for the past few years. "The company's own filing sets out the scale of the downturn. Gross revenue was approximately $14.9 million in 2024. That fell to around $10.1 million in 2025. For 2026, at the point of filing, revenue stood at just $403,962," PowerBoat.News reported. KKY Holdings listed $1 million to $10 million in assets, $1 million to $10 million in liabilities, and 1 to 49 creditors.
Starbucks Builds Sovereign AI to Cut $400 Million in Software Costs
Starbucks is building internal AI tools to replace Microsoft and IBM software, targeting cuts to its $400 million annual technology spending. The strategy aims to defend margins against rising coffee costs, labor wages, and competition while shifting software costs from operating expenses to capital expenditures. Analysts warn that up to 20% of enterprise software spending industrywide could face similar disruption, pressuring shares of legacy software providers. Enterprise technology has long operated as a toll bridge for modern businesses. Software providers charge recurring licensing fees based on user counts and consumption, creating a permanent liability on corporate balance sheets. However, the technology landscape is experiencing a structural fracture. Mega-brands are realizing they no longer need to rent their digital infrastructure when they possess the proprietary data and capital to build it themselves. The era of paying perpetual licensing fees to keep the lights on is facing a severe existential threat from artificial intelligence (AI). Businesses with rich historical data sets are now realizing they hold the keys to their own backend systems. Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) is currently dismantling its legacy software integrations. The company is actively developing internal artificial intelligence tools to replace entrenched vendor applications from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM). This transition represents a structural shift in enterprise strategy. By weaponizing sovereign AI, a custom-built, internally owned digital architecture, Starbucks is targeting its sprawling $400 million annual software spend. The mandate is highly precise. The enterprise technology division is programmed to trim $30 million from its near-term budget, and that factors in an immediate $10 million reduction in software costs. Initial deployments, slated for late 2027, will focus on replacing Microsoft inventory management systems and IBM maintenance-tracking software. Tying technology division compensation to internal AI adoption ensures organizational alignment with this broader cost-cutting directive. Developing proprietary software does not occur in a vacuum. Starbucks is deploying sovereign AI as a mandatory margin defense mechanism against severe macroeconomic pressures. Elevated Arabica coffee futures and structural labor wage increases are actively squeezing unit-level economics across the physical economy. Simultaneously, competition from heavily optimized drive-thru operators like Dutch Bros (NYSE: BROS) and 7 Brew, alongside fortified beverage segments at legacy fast-food chains, demands aggressive capital reallocation. When you examine the financial mechanics of this pivot, the core advantage lies in transitioning technology costs from operating expenses to capital expenditures. Perpetual software-as-a-service licensing fees drain cash flow linearly as a business grows. By developing sovereign AI, Starbucks pays the upfront development costs and amortizes them over time. This architectural shift from rented software to proprietary infrastructure creates immediate structural accretion for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. The underlying business is already demonstrating resilience. Starbucks recently reported earnings per share of 50 cents, topping consensus estimates of 44 cents. This earnings beat was driven by an 8.8% year-over-year revenue increase. Structurally offsetting a $400 million recurring liability reinforces top-line growth and protects the bottom line from volatile commodity pricing and rising barista wages. The implications of this strategy extend far beyond the retail and restaurant sectors. If a non-tech operator successfully proves it can eliminate hundreds of millions in vendor spend using agentic AI and automated coding tools, legacy software providers face an unprecedented risk of systemic enterprise churn. AI is widely viewed as a primary revenue driver for technology stocks, yet it is simultaneously acting as a potent deflationary lever for the broader market. When consumer-facing brands leverage artificial intelligence to write their own backend solutions, the traditional economic moats surrounding enterprise software begin to evaporate. The market is already beginning to price in this reality. Shares of established software providers experienced immediate 3% to 5% pre-market declines as reports of the Starbucks initiative surfaced. Forward-thinking institutional managers recognize that up to 20% of all enterprise software spending faces exposure to this type of agentic arbitrage in the coming years.
3 Dividend Stocks Leading 2026's Rotation Into Value
Coca-Cola (KO +1.04%) is what the rotation looks like when it works. The beverage giant trades near an all-time high, and the business has earned it. First-quarter organic revenue rose 10% year over year, a strong result for a company this size and this old. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 0.82%) offers a similar kind of durability from a different sector. The healthcare giant just raised its dividend for the 64th consecutive year, matching Coca-Cola for the longest streak of this trio. Indeed, its first-quarter results gave the increase plenty of cover. Revenue rose about 10% year over year, adjusted earnings per share came to $2.70, and management lifted its full-year outlook to about $11.55 in adjusted earnings per share, helped by strong demand for cancer drug Darzalex and immunology treatment Tremfya. PepsiCo (PEP 0.35%) is the name it has passed by so far. The snacks and beverages maker trades near a 52-week low. Its second-quarter report on Thursday explains part of why. Organic revenue grew just 2.4%, in line with the sluggish low-single-digit pace of recent quarters, and volume in its North American beverage business fell 4%. But there's another side to this. PepsiCo affirmed its full-year outlook, still expects core constant currency earnings per share to grow 4% to 6% for the year, and just raised its dividend for the 54th year running. The current $2.12 annual dividend uses up only about two-thirds of earnings. Its dividend consumes less than half of adjusted earnings, so there's ample room for more increases.
If You'd Invested $10,000 in Nike a Decade Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Today (And It's Not Pretty)
$10,000 invested in the sportswear giant 10 years ago, with every dividend reinvested, would be worth only about $9,000 as of this writing. You would have less than you started with. Put that same $10,000 into a simple S&P 500 index fund over the same stretch, and you would be sitting on about $41,700 today -- more than four times your money. Over the past 10 years, Nike stock has produced a slightly negative total return with dividends included, while the S&P 500 more than quadrupled the same money. Revenue peaked near $51 billion in fiscal 2024, then fell about 10% to $46.3 billion in fiscal 2025. In fiscal 2026, the year that ended May 31, revenue was essentially flat at $46.4 billion. A business doesn't have to break for its stock to be a poor investment. It just has to disappoint expectations that were set too high. Nike's forward price-to-earnings ratio -- its price measured against expected earnings over the next year -- sits at around 25. For a company whose revenue just went flat, paying about 25 times next year's expected earnings is a lot.
How Much Americans in Their 30s Spend Each Year—and the Biggest Expenses Shaping Household Budgets
The typical household led by someone in their 30s spends about $85,114 per year, or almost $7,100 a month. Housing and transportation costs make up roughly half of total annual expenses. Households led by someone ages 30 to 39 spend an average of $85,114 per year, according to the BLS' 2024 survey. That works out to about $7,093 per month. Housing—meaning mortgage payments, rent, and other direct shelter costs—averages $1,537 per month, making it the single largest expense. Transportation ranks second at $1,187 per month.
Shein scheduled for Hong Kong IPO hearing on Thursday, sources say
Shein did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. A source told Reuters on Friday the company could possibly aim to list in September or October, targeting a valuation of $40 billion to $50 billion.
Others
Orkla ASA (ORKLY) Shareholder/Analyst Call Prepared Remarks Transcript
The Extraordinary General Meeting of Orkla ASA opened. The general meeting is scheduled by the Board of Directors and in accordance with Paragraph 8 of the Articles of Association. The notice of June 19, 2026, has been sent to all shareholders with a known place of residence. It was also announced as a stock exchange announcement and on the website on the same day. Shareholders who wish to receive the documents physically have been able to have them sent to them free of charge by contacting the company. No objections have been received to the notice. I declare the general meeting legally convened.
Wall Street banks tighten prediction market rules for staff as insider fears spread
Polymarket reached a record $713 million in daily taker volume on June 20, according to Dune data. Kalshi also posted a record monthly trading volume of nearly $9.4 billion in June, as the 2026 FIFA World Cup fueled activity across prediction markets.
Entra ASA (ENTOF) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Rental income of NOK 781 million in the quarter, that is 2.4% down from last quarter or 1.4% up from same quarter last year. Net income from property management of NOK 320 million this quarter, which is down NOK 37 million compared to last quarter due to lower rental incomes and higher operating and financial costs. Net value changes came in with a negative of NOK 1.2 billion this quarter, mainly driven by the negative value changes of our -- on our investment properties of NOK 1.1 billion, leaving us then with a loss before tax of NOK 855 million in the quarter -- sorry, that's loss after tax. And the NRV per share this quarter stands at NOK 163.3 and cash earnings per share of NOK 3.54 for the first half of this year. It's been a strong quarter in respect of letting with a positive net letting of NOK 131 million in the quarter,
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited (RDY) Discusses Manufacturing Issue and Process Review for Semaglutide Transcript
We are currently in our silent period related to our Q1 FY '27 financial results.
Why WD-40 Is Crushing the Hottest AI Stocks
WD-40 stock jumped 21% early Friday after its earnings highlighted the old-fashioned value in having a good product and knowing how to sell it.
Delta Earnings Just Grounded the Airline Stocks Rally. It’s a ‘Buying Opportunity.’
$1.56 on revenue of $19.8 billion. Analysts were expecting EPS of $1.49 on revenue of $17.5 billion in the second quarter. The carrier reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.56 on revenue of $19.8 billion. Analysts were expecting EPS of $1.49 on revenue of $17.5 billion in the second quarter.
Does Builders FirstSource (BLDR) Offer an Attractive Risk-Reward Opportunity?
Builders FirstSource, Inc. (NYSE:BLDR) posted a one-month return of -1.44%, while its shares lost 42.49% over the past 52 weeks. We expect 2026 free cash flow to be approximately $500–800 million, representing a 5–9% free-cash-flow yield. Builders FirstSource, Inc. (NYSE:BLDR) appreciated approximately 9% during the second quarter but remains down roughly 13% year-to-date amid continued weakness in the housing market. On July 9, 2026, Builders FirstSource, Inc. (NYSE:BLDR) closed at $356.24 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of $8.01 billion.
INDA vs. EPI: Which India ETF Best Captures the World’s Fastest-Growing Big Economy?
EPI has beaten INDA over every measured timeframe by weighting holdings by net income rather than market cap, returning 131% vs. 91% over ten years. INDA charges 0.61% vs. EPI's 0.85% and triggers less portfolio turnover, making it the stronger pick for tax-sensitive investors in taxable accounts. EPI's lower-multiple value holdings cushioned India's 2026 selloff, dropping just 9% YTD versus INDA's 10%, while also capturing more mid- and small-cap upside. India remains the world's fastest-growing large economy, and two ETFs dominate the way U.S. investors buy into that story: the iShares MSCI India ETF (CBOE:INDA) and the WisdomTree India Earnings Fund (NYSEARCA:EPI). On the surface they look interchangeable. Both are unhedged rupee plays on a country where Goldman Sachs notes 65% of the population is below 35 and digital payments have tripled since June 2021. Under the hood, however, they are betting on completely different definitions of what makes an Indian company worth owning, and the gap has been worth roughly eight percentage points over the past three years.
Workers at GE Appliances say they love app-based gig work despite no benefits and lower pay
The average flexible laborer at the facility clocks in for 24 hours weekly, at their own behest. Those using MyWorkChoice are technically W2 employees of the app, but in the case of GE Appliances and its subsidiaries, at least, they can transition to full-time employees of the plant if they so choose. This thereby gives them access to the associated paid vacation time, healthcare, 401(k) matches and other benefits from the appliance giant.
5 Dividend Stocks Flashing Warning Signs
HUN already cut its dividend 65% and still burns more cash than it earns; DOW's 50% cut left the payout uncovered by negative $1.4 billion in free cash flow. Chasing double-digit yields without checking EPS coverage, free cash flow after capex, and leverage trends often ends with a cut that drags the stock lower. Income investors chasing double-digit yields are often buying a warning sign in disguise. A payout that looks generous today can vanish tomorrow if earnings, free cash flow, or the balance sheet cannot support it. Several once-reliable dividend payers have already reset their payouts over the past year, and a few still look stretched even after the cut. A dividend becomes unsustainable when the company cannot fund it out of recurring earnings and free cash flow without leaning on debt or asset sales. The cleanest check is EPS payout coverage for ordinary corporates, backed up by free cash flow after capital expenditures and a look at leverage trends. When those signals all point the wrong way, the yield is doing the talking, and the fundamentals are not. Huntsman (HUN) Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) already cut the quarterly payout from $0.25 to $0.0875 in Q4 2025, a roughly 65% cut. Even at the reset $0.35 annualized rate, the story is not reassuring. Shares trade at $10.81, and the stock is down 48.71% over five years. The specialty-chemicals business has posted eight consecutive quarters of negative EPS through Q1 2026, including -$0.37 in Q4 2025 and -$0.20 in Q1 2026. Free cash flow was $116 million in 2025 against $146 million in dividend payouts, and Q1 2026 operating cash flow ran negative $53 million. With losses persisting and net debt rising, even the smaller dividend depends on a chemicals recovery that has yet to arrive. Newell Brands (NWL) Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) already took the axe to its dividend once, cutting the quarterly payout from $0.23 to $0.07 effective Q1 2023, roughly a 70% reduction. Three years later, coverage still looks fragile. The stock trades near $5.16, down 84.05% over ten years. The owner of Rubbermaid, Sharpie, and Yankee Candle has reported three consecutive years of net losses (2023 through 2025), including a $285 million loss in 2025. Operating cash flow fell from $930 million in 2023 to $264 million in 2025, and Q1 2026 delivered negative $233 million in operating cash flow while still paying $36 million in dividends. Gross debt sits near $5 billion with interest expense climbing. Normalized EPS covers the dividend on paper, but GAAP earnings and cash flow do not. BCE Inc. (BCE) BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) has already reset its dividend once. Quarterly payments are already down more than 50% in the last two years, with the latest ex-dividend at $0.313. Even after the reset, the Canadian telecom's payout ratio remains under scrutiny. Management has guided 2026 adjusted EPS to decline 5% to 11%, and Q1 2026 adjusted EPS already fell to $0.4625 from $0.51 a year earlier. The Ziply Fiber acquisition and a $1.7 billion Saskatchewan AI data center build (with $1.3 billion of that capex in 2026) are being funded with debt and cash on hand. Shares are down 39% over five years and down almost 8% year to date. Analyst sentiment reflects the caution, with six holds, one sell, and two strong sells alongside the buy ratings. Dow Inc. (DOW) Dow Inc. (NYSE:DOW) is the textbook case of a dividend that was cut and still is not earned. The board reduced the quarterly dividend from $0.70 to $0.35 beginning Q3 2025, a 50% haircut, and has held it there for four quarters running. Yet coverage remains a problem. Full-year 2025 free cash flow was negative $1.447 billion against dividend payouts of $1.49 billion, with a net loss of $2.623 billion. Reported EPS has been negative in four of the last five quarters through Q1 2026, with Q1 2026 at -$0.14. Shares are down 40% over five years, and while local prices reportedly firmed in early 2026, management's own "Transform to Outperform" language points to cost cuts and asset actions rather than an earnings snapback. Until operating cash flow returns to covering both capex and the payout, the reset $1.40 annualized dividend still relies on the balance sheet. The Bottom Line Every name on this list carries a yield the market is pricing skeptically for a reason. Two, Huntsman and Newell, have already cut and remain under pressure. BCE and Dow have reset payouts that still are not comfortably covered by earnings or free cash flow. Nordic American's payout floats with tanker rates and has swung dramatically in recent quarters. A dividend cut typically drags the share price with it. Yield alone has never been a thesis, and coverage math should always come first.
DiaSorin speculated to have rebuffed takeover offer from US suitor - report
DiaSorin (DSRLF) is said to have rejected a takeover offer from a US suitor. Thermo Fisher (TMO) is speculated to have made an approach to DiaSorin (DSRLF) earlier this year, but the offer was rejected by the company
Only 1 Major S&P 500 Sector Is Really Struggling Today
The Iran war and a tug-of-war between AI stocks and other parts of the market have left the S&P 500 stuck in a range. On Friday, the S&P 500’s healthcare sector was the only major sector trading down more than 0.1%: It was down 0.7%.
Delta Air Lines Q2 Earnings Call Highlights
Record June-quarter revenue of $17.7 billion, earnings of $1.56 per share, and a pre-tax profit of $1.4 billion, all above its original guidance despite much higher fuel costs. The airline reaffirmed full-year outlook, keeping EPS guidance at $6.50 to $7.50 and free cash flow at $3 billion to $4 billion, while signaling that higher fares and strong demand should help offset inflationary pressure. Delta generated record revenue that rose 14% from a year earlier, increasing by more than $2 billion. The airline reported pre-tax profit of $1.4 billion, earnings of $1.56 per share and an operating margin of 9%, all above the guidance it provided at the start of the quarter. Through the first half of the year, Delta generated $1.4 billion in free cash flow and announced a 15% increase to its dividend. The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance for earnings of $6.50 to $7.50 per share, which Bastian said would represent 20% year-over-year growth. Delta also maintained its free cash flow outlook of $3 billion to $4 billion for the year. Delta's exit rate on total revenue per available seat mile was "significantly higher" than its entry rate during the quarter, reflecting the effect of fuel recapture efforts that began in March. Total revenue reached $17.7 billion, at the high end of expectations, up 14% from the prior year on roughly 1% capacity growth. Total unit revenue rose 12.4%. Delta ended the quarter with adjusted net debt of $13.6 billion, down from year-end. Snell said the company expects gross leverage to reach two times by year-end and remains focused on reducing debt while increasing shareholder returns over time. For the September quarter, Delta expects revenue to grow in the mid-teens from last year, with capacity up 1%. The company expects an operating margin of 11% to 13% and earnings per share of $2.00 to $2.50, compared with $1.70 a year earlier.
ClearBridge International Growth Strategy: Adds ABB, BUD; exits SAP, Wuxi AppTec in Q2
During the second quarter, the ClearBridge International Growth EAFE Strategy outperformed its MSCI EAFE Index benchmark. On an absolute basis, the strategy produced positive gains across seven of the 10 sectors in which it was invested.
A Dividend Portfolio That Pays For Your Pets
Pet bills arrive monthly, so monthly dividends fit naturally. At 5.5%, $2,500 a year needs about $45,500. Realty Income (NYSE: O) yields about 5.2%, pays monthly, and in June 2026 declared its 135th common-stock monthly dividend increase since its 1994 NYSE listing. The most recent monthly payment is $0.271 per share, and the company reported 98.9% portfolio occupancy at the end of the first quarter. At that monthly payout, roughly 769 shares would produce about $2,500 a year before taxes. The High-Yield Tier At 8.5%, the capital required drops to about $29,400 for the same $2,500 income. Main Street Capital (NYSE: MAIN) declared regular monthly dividends of $0.26 per share for April through June 2026, then $0.265 per share for July through September, along with $0.30 supplemental dividends payable in March and June. Those supplemental dividends can lift the effective yield, but they are not the same as a guaranteed monthly base payout. The catch is that BDC returns are sensitive to credit cycles, portfolio marks, and investor appetite for risk. A puppy adopted today may need its dividend stream to keep up with years of food inflation, rising vet costs, and a major surgery later in life. A 3.5% yield growing 6% to 8% annually gives the income stream a better chance to keep up. A flat 9% yield may cover the first year but still lose ground as the pet budget rises. Total your actual pet spend for the last 12 months, including food, medication, grooming, insurance, boarding, and one-off vet emergencies. Then divide that number by your dividend yield assumption to get a real capital target. A $2,500 pet budget requires about $71,400 at 3.5%, $45,500 at 5.5%, or $29,400 at 8.5%.
Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (SVNDY) Q1 2027 Earnings Call Prepared Remarks Transcript
My role as CFO is clear to accelerate disciplined execution across the group and support faster, higher-quality decision-making that enhances corporate value and deliver sustainable long-term shareholder returns. Against that backdrop, I will focus on 3 priorities. First, strengthening our management information platform. As our businesses continue to evolve timely, transparent and comparable information will underpin better management decisions. While recognizing the different characteristics and growth stages of each business, we will establish a common management framework and performance metrics across the group. By making the differences across our businesses more visible and measurable, we will be better positioned to allocate capital and resources to where they can create the greatest value.
What Wells Fargo (WFC)'s New Debt Issuance and Sports Banking Push Means For Shareholders
Wells Fargo & Company issued a series of new callable senior unsecured notes across maturities from 2029 to 2041 and hired former PJT Partners banker Tom Nicholls as managing director to lead its Sports Investment Banking unit. These moves, combined with the bank's recent Federal Reserve stress test clearance and planned dividend increase, underline how Wells Fargo is actively using its strengthened capital position to fund growth and expand higher-fee investment banking capabilities. Among recent announcements, the expected 11% increase in the quarterly common dividend to US$0.50 per share stands out alongside the new senior unsecured notes. Together, they highlight how Wells Fargo is deploying capital into both shareholder returns and funding its long dated obligations at the same time, which matters for investors focused on how efficiently the bank balances growth initiatives with returns while earnings expectations for the coming quarters remain relatively modest. Wells Fargo's narrative projects $98.9 billion revenue and $23.9 billion earnings by 2029. This requires 6.8% yearly revenue growth and about a $3.2 billion earnings increase from $20.7 billion today.
USDA Cuts U.S. Wheat Output to Lowest Level Since 1970
The USDA said that projected U.S. wheat output for 2026 is 1.536 billion bushels, down 7 million bushels from what the agency forecasted in June.
Medtronic gains on reimbursement hopes for blood pressure therapy
Medtronic (MDT) shares reached a session high on Friday amid hopes of expanded reimbursement for renal denervation, a hypertension therapy used in the company’s Symplicity Spyral Renal Denervation System.
Three Dividend Strategies That Can Produce $7,500 a Month and Which One Comes Out Ahead
The Conservative Path: Dividend Growers Around 3% to 4% At a blended 3.5% yield, generating $90,000 requires roughly $2,571,000 in capital ($90,000 divided by 0.035). This is the tier of dividend kings and aristocrats: healthcare, consumer staples, and diversified industrials that raise payouts every year. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ | JNJ Price Prediction) currently yields about 2% after a 67% one-year rally, with 64 consecutive years of increases and a fresh 3% hike in April. Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) yields near 3% and just extended its streak to 70 straight annual increases. Neither hits 3.5% alone, so this tier typically pairs blue chips with higher-yielding aristocrats, regulated utilities, and broad dividend-growth ETFs to lift the blended yield. The Middle Ground: 5% to 7% From REITs and Hybrids At a 6% yield, the math shrinks to $1.5 million. This is the range of net-lease REITs, preferred shares, midstream energy partnerships, and high-dividend equity funds. Realty Income (NYSE:O), the self-styled Monthly Dividend Company, yields about 5.1% and recently paid its 670th consecutive monthly dividend. Q1 AFFO per share grew 7% year over year, and management raised 2026 guidance to $4.41 to $4.44. The Aggressive Reach: BDCs and Double-Digit Yields At 9%, you need about $1 million. Business development companies dominate this tier. Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) yields roughly 10.4% on a $0.48 quarterly dividend that has held steady for six straight quarters. Main Street Capital (NYSE:MAIN) pays a $0.26 monthly base plus a $0.30 quarterly supplemental, pushing total annual payouts to roughly $4.32 per share. JNJ’s quarterly dividend was $0.66 in 2013 and is $1.34 today, roughly doubling in 13 years. That is the point dividend-growth investors are buying: the starting yield may look modest, but the income stream can become much larger if the company keeps raising the payout.
Analyst Report: Deere & Co
Deere & Co. manufactures and distributes agricultural, forestry, and construction equipment worldwide. It also has a financial services segment that finances sales and leases of equipment. The company was founded in 1837 and is headquartered in Moline, Illinois.
Conmed jumps after report of takeover interest
Conmed (CNMD) soared 10% in after-hours trading on a report that the medical technology company is exploring options, including a possible sale, amid interest from private equity shops.
PepsiCo’s $200 Billion Stability Play Is Attracting Dividend Investors
Fifty-four. That is how many consecutive years PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP | PEP Price Prediction) will have raised its dividend once the 4% increase in the annualized dividend per share takes effect with the June 2026 payment. The company which now trades at a $200 billion market capitalization reaffirmed the streak in its Q1 FY2026 earnings release filed April 15, 2026, pushing its annualized payout to $5.92 per share. Management sized total FY2026 shareholder returns at roughly $8.9 billion, split between $7.9 billion in dividends and $1.0 billion in repurchases, on top of a new $10 billion share repurchase program running through February 28, 2030. Pepsi’s Q1 core EPS came in at $1.61 against a $1.54 consensus, revenue landed at $19.44 billion versus $18.92 billion expected, and operating margin expanded 210 basis points to 16.5%. International segments carried the quarter, with EMEA core operating profit up 29% and Asia Pacific Foods up 35%. That is the plumbing that funds five decades of raises. The macro backdrop favors the thesis. Per capita disposable income has risen from $63,638 in 2024 Q1 to $68,391 in 2026 Q1, and personal consumption expenditures ran at $21,634.9 billion in 2026 Q1.
Danaher Is Getting Better, But The Stock Still Isn't Cheap
Danaher Corporation remains slightly overvalued despite recent share price declines and ongoing operational improvements. Q1/26 results showed modest core revenue growth of 0.5%, with bioprocessing as the primary growth driver and diagnostics continuing to struggle. Current valuation multiples—37x earnings and 25.8x FCF—exceed long-term averages, with intrinsic value estimated at $172.91 per share.
Albemarle (ALB) Stock Drops Despite Market Gains: Important Facts to Note
Albemarle (ALB) ended the recent trading session at $126.05, demonstrating a -1.85% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock of specialty chemicals company has fallen by 19.26% in the past month, lagging the Basic Materials sector's loss of 4.07% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.2%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.53 billion, up 15.08% from the year-ago period. ALB's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $13.15 per share and revenue of $6.13 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +1764.56% and +19.15%, respectively. In terms of valuation, Albemarle is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 9.77. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 14.96.
Merck (MRK) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: Here's Why
Merck (MRK) closed at $123.54 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.22% move from the prior day. Shares of the pharmaceutical company have appreciated by 3.57% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Medical sector's gain of 5.6%, and outperforming the S&P 500's gain of 2.2%. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $2.15, reflecting a 0.94% increase from the same quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $16.3 billion, reflecting a 3.13% rise from the equivalent quarter last year. For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $5.17 per share and a revenue of $66.76 billion, signifying shifts of -42.43% and +2.7%, respectively, from the last year. With respect to valuation, Merck is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 24.21.
Why WD-40 Stock Popped Today
Shares of WD-40 (WDFC +10.65%) spiked on Friday after the household and industrial products maker delivered profits that handily exceeded investors' expectations. WD-40's net sales jumped 24% to $195 million in its fiscal 2026 third quarter, which ended on May 31. The gains were broad-based. Sales in the company's Americas, Asia-Pacific, and EIMEA (Europe, India, Middle East, and Africa) segments rose 29%, 24%, and 17%, respectively. Management credited expanded distribution, e-commerce growth, and a strong customer response to its promotions as key drivers of sales. Higher sales of premium versions of its WD-40 products also helped to boost the company's profit margins. Gross margin improved to 56.6% from 56.2% in the year-ago quarter. That, combined with other scale benefits, contributed to a 47% surge in WD-40's operating income to $40.3 million. All told, WD-40's adjusted net income soared 50% to $31.5 million, or $2.33 per share. That was well above Wall Street's estimates, which had called for per-share profits of $1.56. Management now sees net sales growing by 10%-12% to between $675 million and $690 million, with adjusted earnings per share rising by 6%-11% to $6.05-$6.35.
Mondelez: Bittersweet Valuation As Lower Cocoa Costs Are Already Baked In
Since Mondelez (MDLZ) was last covered Hold rating, the stock has seen little price appreciation as input costs continue to weigh on investor sentiment. Mondelez remains a Hold as easing cocoa prices are already priced in, limiting near-term upside.
IEA Warns Renewed U.S.-Iran Conflict Could Upend Oil Surplus Forecast
Despite the tentative recovery of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz and the first build-up in global stocks since the war began, this week's re-escalation of the U.S.-Iran hostilities could flip the outlook for an oil market surplus for next year, the International Energy Agency said on Friday. Oil prices have plunged since the United States and Iran signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the middle of June, with North Sea Dated prices down by $31 per barrel in June to $68 a barrel by early July, their lowest since January and $2 per barrel below pre-war levels. "An escalation in hostilities on 7-8 July, however, clouds the outlook and could upend the forecast that sees the market flipping to a surplus next year," the IEA said in its closely watched Oil Market Report for July. Since the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, tankers have rushed to exit the Persian Gulf, including millions of barrels of Iranian crude that Tehran couldn't move past the U.S. blockade between mid-April and mid-June. As a result, global oil supply rebounded by a massive 4.1 million barrels per day (bpd) to 98.8 million bpd in June, amid a partial recovery in Gulf production, the IEA said. However, global oil output remained about 9.4 million bpd below pre-war levels, with supply on track to decline by an average of 3.7 million bpd to 102.6 million bpd in 2026, "contingent on a swift de-escalation of renewed hostilities." Global demand is starting to recover from the lows seen in the second quarter, with annual declines easing from 4.8 million bpd in April-June to an expected yearly drop of 1.7 million bpd in the third quarter, the IEA reckons. Despite the wave of crude managing to clear the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks, product supply and deliveries are much slower to rebound, with the markets still tight, the agency noted. "The disconnect between apparently well supplied crude oil markets and tight product markets underpinned a rally in cracks and refinery margins to four-year highs by early July," said the IEA. "While concerns over jet fuel shortages have eased in recent weeks after refiners pushed output to new highs, diesel and gasoline markets have tightened, with gasoline cracks moving sharply higher."
UBS Rebalancing Advice Triggers Withdrawals From Blue Owl Fund (OWL)
According to the company, the portfolio recorded a non-accrual rate of just 0.2%, supporting a stable distribution yield of 9.2%.
Citigroup: Traders Are Getting Too Excited About Capital Markets Growth (Rating Downgrade)
I expect an excellent Q2 earnings report from Citigroup. Citi's overall profitability metrics don't support too large of a P/E multiple or premium to book value. I believe the analyst consensus for Citi's 2027 and 2028 EPS may be too high, and there is a risk of downward revision, especially if financial markets weaken.
Nearly half of retirees leave work earlier than planned — the 3 reasons Americans are retiring at 62 instead of 65
According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)'s 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey reported by USA Today, nearly half of retirees (46%) left the workforce earlier than planned. The average actual retirement age was 62, while the average age workers expect to retire remains 65 (1). A separate study paints an equally striking picture. The Society of Actuaries Research Institute (SARI)'s 2024 Retirement Risk Survey — which surveyed 2,012 Americans aged 45 to 80 — found that 59% of retirees left the workforce before they had expected, while only 6% retired later than planned (2). Health problems are the single most common cause of unplanned early retirement, and they fall hardest on lower-income workers. According to the SARI report, changes in health status were cited by 49% of retirees with incomes under $35,000 as the main reason for retiring early (2). The EBRI survey reinforces this finding, with TheStreet noting that 41% of those who retired early did so because of a health problem or disability — 10% more than the year before (3). Corporate restructuring, downsizing and business closures accounted for 35% of early retirements, according to EBRI. When older workers lose jobs, re-employment at comparable wages is often difficult to achieve — and many effectively retire by default rather than by design (3).
Want Reliable Dividend Income? Then Buy This Industrial Stock and Never Sell.
Emerson Electric has grown its dividend payout for over 69 years. Emerson is leveraging AI to build on its strong moat Emerson has historically provided heavy industrial machinery, mechanical valves, and legacy hardware, but has pivoted toward automation, focusing on software-defined control systems and Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. When customers adopt its process control systems, switching costs are high, giving it a strong economic moat that generates recurring revenue and enables Emerson to navigate economic environments. Emerson Electric has a long history of rewarding investors through a growing dividend. Its 69-year streak appears well intact, as it maintains a payout ratio around 50%, providing some margin of safety and room to continue growing its dividend.
EasyJet swaps Castlelake for Apollo in $7.7B bidding war
UK take-privates hit £12.5 billion in the first four months of this year, after generating £18.1 billion across 24 deals in 2025, according to PitchBook's Q2 2026 UK Exit Market: Dearth or Revival? analyst note, as US sponsors treat London-listed companies as underpriced relative to their American peers. "International bidders see value in the UK market and its world-class businesses that is not reflected in UK market trading valuations," said Patrick Sarch, head of UK public M&A at White & Case.
If You Invest $5,000 in SCHD Today, Here's the Passive Income It Could Deliver in 20 Years
Investing $5,000 into the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF would generate $162.50 of annual dividend income at the ETF's trailing 12-month yield of 3.25%. The ETF would deliver $3,250 of cumulative dividend income if it maintained its current rate for the next 20 years. That adds up to a cumulative $8,313.52 in dividend income by the end of year 20. By that year, the $5,000 investment would be generating $835.52 in annual dividend income, growing the yield on cost to 16.7%.
AppLovin vs. Fastly: A Look at Recent Revenue Trends for These Tech Companies
It launched a new social networking application called Gist alongside ongoing regulatory inquiries, and reported a net income margin of 65% for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. Fastly (NASDAQ:FSLY) offers an advanced edge cloud computing infrastructure designed to efficiently manage, distribute, and secure digital applications for a wide array of clients across global markets. It launched a new data center facility in West Florida while addressing a performance incident in Tokyo, and recorded a net income margin of -12% for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. In comparing the revenue trends for AppLovin and Fastly, the former is clearly a beast. Its sales rose every quarter in 2025, and in the first quarter of 2026, its revenue skyrocketed a whopping 59% year over year. Meanwhile, Fastly's Q1 sales represented excellent year-over-year growth of 20%. However, its stock fell in May after it forecasted 2026 sales to come in between $710 million to $725 million. If Fastly reached the top of that range, it would be about a 16% year-over-year increase over 2025 revenue of $624 million. That growth did not impress Wall Street, leading to a stock sell-off. AppLovin expects its Q2 sales to continue the trend of quarter-over-quarter increases, forecasting about $1.9 billion.
Lowe's Companies (LOW) Could Be 20% Below Fair Value On Its Earnings Update
Lowe's Companies shares have retreated recently, with the 7 day share price return down 6.98% and the 90 day share price return down 13.34%. The 5 year total shareholder return of 18.63% points to more moderate long term progress. The acquisition of Foundation Building Materials (FBM) sharply accelerates Lowe's access to the large Pro contractor market, especially in key underserved regions (California, Northeast, Midwest). This unlocks new revenue streams, greater ticket sizes, and a larger share of the $250 billion Pro market, which is expected to drive above-market sales growth and improved diversification of revenue over the coming years. Based on this narrative, analysts tie those operating and valuation assumptions together using a discount rate of 8.88% to arrive at a fair value estimate of $263.73 per share for Lowe's Companies, compared with the current market price of $211.63.
Soybeans Posting Friday Rally as USDA Shows Better Than Expected Data
USDA reported another private export sale of 264,000 MT of 2026/27 soybeans to China this morning via the daily flash sales system. WASDE data from today showed a 10 mbu drop to 2025/26 US soybean stocks to 330 mbu on a 10 mbu increase to exports.
Corn Rallying Out of Bull Friendly USDA Report
The monthly WASDE report from this morning showed US corn stocks for 2025/26 down 125 mbu from last month to 2.02 bbu. World corn stocks were trimmed by 5.96 MMT to 275.26 MMT. Argentina 2025/26 output was raised by 2 MMT to 63 MMT.
FirstSun joins list of banks hit by borrower fraud
FirstSun said its second-quarter charge-offs could reach $43 million, compared with less than $11 million for the three months ending March 31. FirstSun, which had already been experiencing elevated levels of problem loans, indicated that its second-quarter net charge-offs would range from $42 million to $43 million, up from $10.6 million for the quarter ending March 31. FirstSun reported net charge-offs totaling $28.26 million for all of 2025.
Soybeans Posts Friday Strength as USDA Shows Better Than Expected Report
Soybeans closed the Friday session with contracts up fractionally in some deferred to as much as 16 ¾ cents. USDA reported another private export sale of 264,000 MT of 2026/27 soybeans to China this morning via the daily flash sales system. WASDE data from today showed a 10 mbu drop to 2025/26 US soybean stocks to 330 mbu on a 10 mbu increase to exports. New crop stocks were steady at 310 mbu, as there was a 30 mbu increase in exports to offset the 40 mbu increase in production due to more acres. Commitment of Traders data from Friday afternoon showed spec traders adding back 37,479 contracts to their net long position in soybean futures and options in the week ending on July 7.
Cotton Posts Friday Strength Despite Production Hike
Cotton futures closed with gains of 45 to 99 points on Friday, Futures shrugged off the production increase via the WASDE, as they accounted for the larger acreage from NASS last week. December closed the week with a 442 point gain. USDA's monthly WASDE report showed no changes the old crop stocks at 4.2 million bales. New crop was raised by 400,000 bales to 4.1 million thanks to an identical increase to production to 13.7 million bales on the larger acreage data. Friday afternoon's Commitment of Traders report showed managed money spec funds in cotton futures and options adding 7,121 contracts to their net long in the week ending on Tuesday to 39,106 contracts. Oct 26 Cotton closed at 79.92, up 99 points, Dec 26 Cotton closed at 81.54, up 91 points, Mar 27 Cotton closed at 82.91, up 94 points
AstraZeneca erases billions after sobering reveal
Drug trials fail all the time. What is rare is a failure that costs a company tens of billions of dollars in a single afternoon. That is what happened to AstraZeneca (AZN) on July 9. One setback wiped out more market value than the stock had lost on any day in years.
Does Honeywell’s Post-Spin Guidance and Reverse Split Clarify Its Core Story for Investors (HON)?
Honeywell International recently reaffirmed its second-half and full-year 2026 guidance, keeping expected sales at US$19.90 billion to US$20.20 billion and detailing the earnings impact of its aerospace spin-off alongside a completed 2-for-1 reverse stock split. The most relevant recent update is Honeywell's reaffirmed 2026 guidance, which isolates the aerospace spin impact and points to US$5.39 to US$5.79 in EPS from ongoing operations. Honeywell International's narrative projects $44.5 billion revenue and $7.2 billion earnings by 2029.
C3.ai vs. BigBear.ai: What Quarterly Revenue Trends Tell Investors About These AI Companies
C3.ai (NYSE:AI) primarily generates revenue by providing enterprise software that helps organizations develop and operate large-scale data applications using artificial intelligence. BigBear.ai (NYSE:BBAI) earns revenue by providing technology consulting and data analysis services using AI for predictive modeling and decision support. It reported an EBIT margin of negative 67% for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. As these trends reveal, both businesses are experiencing year-over-year sales declines in recent quarters. The reason behind this is different for each. BigBear.ai saw 2025 revenue drop to $127.7 million compared to $158.2 million in 2024 as a result of the Trump Administration's budget cuts last year.
Will Fresh Bond Issuance and Higher Estimates Shift Morgan Stanley's (MS) Earnings Power Narrative?
Morgan Stanley issued a series of fixed-rate, unsecured global medium-term notes across maturities from 2027 to 2033, while also completing a US$50.6 million 4.450% senior note due 2027. The most relevant recent development is Morgan Stanley's US$20,000 million share buyback authorization in June 2026. Morgan Stanley's narrative projects $84.0 billion revenue and $20.0 billion earnings by 2029.
3 High-Yield Dividend Stocks Paying 5% or More That Are Worth Buying Now
Altria Group continues to plug along, despite smoke-free worries Altria Group, parent company of Philip Morris USA, may not seem like a great candidate for long-term dividend growth. Yes, it's a Dividend King -- a stock with 50 or more consecutive years of annual dividend increases. Altria has raised its payouts for 57 consecutive years. Thanks to these efforts, Altria remains well positioned to maintain its Dividend King status. Last August, the company raised its dividend by 3.9%. At current prices, the stock has a nearly 6% forward yield. Realty Income may have a few years to go before it hits Dividend King status, but it has raised its payout each year since going public in 1994. Since its public market debut 32 years ago, dividend growth has averaged 4.1% annually. It's not a get-rich-quick stock but a gradual wealth builder. As interest rates normalize and Realty Income's earnings and dividends steadily grow, this REIT will likely experience further modest price appreciation over a long time frame. Shares in the pharmaceutical company Pfizer offer one of the highest dividend yields among healthcare stocks. Currently, the forward yield is nearly 7.1% . Many may see this super high-yield and suspect that the stock could be a potential yield trap. Despite this extended hurdle and others, such as the upcoming patent expiration of its blockbuster drug Eliquis, the company is bouncing back. During the 2026 first quarter, non-COVID sales were up 7% year over year. Pfizer also continues to guide for $2.80 to $3 per share in adjusted earnings for 2026. These adjusted earnings more than cover its $1.72 per share in annual cash dividends. Even during its earnings slump, Pfizer has kept raising payouts and now has 16 years of consecutive dividend growth.
KKR-backed Allyntra debuts to serve medtech industry as it announces new CEO
KKR, the global investment giant, has launched Allyntra as a new, precision-engineered solutions platform for the medtech industry while also announcing several senior management changes.
Capital One Flips Millions of Discover Cards to Its Own Platform on July 27. Can It Upsell Without Losing Them?
July 27 will be a big date to watch, since that's when some Discover products will start being integrated into Capital One's back end. Capital One has a big opportunity This is the first real test of Capital One's acquisition of Discover. If it goes well, there could be a very bright future ahead. Not only will Capital One have successfully entered the transaction processing business, but it will have added millions of new credit card relationships. If Capital One can retain those relationships, it opens up additional cross-selling opportunities for the bank and card issuer. NYSE: COF
I'm Calling It. It's Time to Load Up on These 3 High-Yielding Dividend Stocks Right Now (1 Currently Yields Over 8.5%)
Brookfield Renewable has increased its dividend by at least 5% each year since 2011. The company should have plenty of power to achieve its dividend growth target. It generates very stable cash flow (90% contracted for an average of 12 years), which it expects to grow by more than 10% annually through at least 2031. Realty Income's stock price has dipped even though the REIT's growth prospects have improved over the past year. It has formed a series of private capital partnerships that have provided it with new sources of capital and growth. For example, it formed a strategic partnership with Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC, which included a cornerstone investment in its U.S. Core Plus Fund, the formation of a more than $1.5 billion programmatic joint venture (JV) to invest in high-quality build-to-suit logistics real estate, and a construction financing and takeout commitment of a Mexican industrial portfolio (its first investment in that country). The REIT also recently took a major step toward capitalizing on the massive data center investment opportunity by forming another programmatic JV. It will invest up to $1.4 billion for a 45% equity stake in three data centers in Northern Virginia, with the opportunity to make future investments across the U.S. and Europe. Main Street Capital pays two dividends. It pays a monthly dividend set at a sustainable level that it aims to steadily grow. The BDC has grown this payment by 141% since its 2007 IPO, including a dozen increases since the end of 2021. Additionally, Main Street Capital periodically pays supplemental quarterly dividends. It has made these payments for 19 consecutive quarters, maintaining the same rate since early 2023.
How To Earn $500 A Month From Wells Fargo Stock Ahead Of Q2 Earnings
Analysts expect the bank to report quarterly earnings of $1.71 per share. That's up from $1.60 per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for Wells Fargo's quarterly revenue is $21.81 billion. It reported $20.82 billion last year, according to Benzinga Pro. Realberry gives accredited investors direct access to private real estate opportunities backed by a team with 35 years of experience, $3.4 billion in assets under management, and $481 million in cumulative distributions paid to investors as of Q4 2025, according to the company.
Here’s Why Buying the Dip in Sandisk Stock May Pay Off
Sandisk Delivered a Blockbuster Q3 as Pricing Fueled Growth Sandisk has been growing revenue and earnings at a solid pace, supported by higher pricing and volume. In the third quarter, surging NAND flash prices and booming AI-driven storage demand powered record revenue growth and significantly stronger profitability. Third-quarter revenue jumped 251% year-over-year (YOY) to $5.95 billion, driven primarily by a 248% increase in average selling price (ASP) per gigabyte. The sharp rise in pricing reflects a favorable supply-demand environment for NAND flash memory. The biggest growth driver was Sandisk's data-center business, where revenue soared 645% YOY. The segment benefited from a 186% increase in ASP. Momentum also extended beyond data centers. Revenue from the edge business climbed 295%, as stronger pricing more than offset modest shipment declines. Meanwhile, consumer revenue increased by 44%, demonstrating resilient demand despite lower shipment volumes, with higher selling prices more than offsetting weaker unit sales. Profitability improved even faster than revenue. Sandisk's adjusted gross margin expanded to 78.4% in Q3 from 51.1% in the previous quarter, reflecting leverage from rising NAND prices and an improving product mix. Looking ahead, management expects industry supply-demand dynamics to remain favorable through 2026 and beyond. With artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure spending continuing to accelerate and NAND pricing remaining solid, Sandisk appears well-positioned to sustain margin expansion and deliver further earnings growth in the coming quarters. The strategy is already gaining traction. During Q3, Sandisk signed three multiyear agreements representing approximately $42 billion in minimum revenue commitments backed by financial guarantees. Some contracts run for as long as five years and include provisions that allow commitments to grow as customers increase purchasing volumes.
Spectrum makes significant decision as customer losses mount
Spectrum, which is owned by Charter Communications, has decided to make another significant workforce change as it continues to battle mounting customer losses in its cable TV and internet business. Charter revealed in its latest earnings report that Spectrum lost 120,000 internet customers and 60,000 cable TV customers in the first quarter of this year. Amid these losses, the company's revenue dipped by 1% year over year. The decline in customers comes after Spectrum increased the monthly prices of its TV Select packages by $5 and several older internet plans by $2 in July last year. On social media platform Reddit, customers have also flagged what they see as stealthy price hikes for Spectrum's internet service this year. "The operating environment for new sales, in particular internet, continues to be competitive," Charter Chief Financial Officer Jessica Fischer said during an earnings call in April. She also said Charter is betting on its $34.5 billion acquisition of Cox Communications, which received approval from the Federal Communications Commission in February, to help repair its business. The acquisition will enable Charter to invest billions of dollars in upgrading and expanding Spectrum's network nationwide. Spectrum suffers another round of layoffs As Charter works to reverse Spectrum's customer losses, it continues to cut jobs, with its latest round affecting hundreds of employees. In a WARN notice filed on July 8, Charter announced its decision to "discontinue the operation of its network operations center" in Town and Country, Missouri, resulting in the layoff of 107 Spectrum employees. According to a recent report from Fox 2, the center is a regional office for Spectrum's business, finance and corporate support teams. Also, Spectrum clarified to the news outlet that the office building is not closing entirely, as teams not affected by the layoffs will continue working at that location. The layoffs will officially take place on Sept. 8 and will primarily affect employees and managers in network engineering operations. To lessen the blow of the job cuts, Spectrum is outsourcing back-office roles to manage remote network monitoring. It will also offer laid-off employees a comparable role in the St. Louis area for at least the next eight months. Back in October, Spectrum also reportedly laid off 1,200 workers, reducing its workforce by about 1%. Corporate employees and those who work in back-office functions across the country were impacted by this move. Spectrum's recent layoffs come as Charter is aggressively investing in artificial intelligence to reduce its $8 billion in annual operational service costs. In November, it even entered a partnership with Amazon Web Services to deploy AI across its business to transform operations and software development capabilities. Charter CEO Christopher Winfrey said during the earnings call in April that the company's new AI tools are so far yielding positive results across its business. "We have deployed new AI tools, now used by our service agents, driving higher customer satisfaction and reducing call times with higher job satisfaction for our employees as well," said Winfrey. Spectrum's layoffs reflect a broader telecom workforce shift Spectrum isn't the only telecommunications company that has cut jobs this year. T-Mobile quietly conducted layoffs in January, March, and April, impacting workers in several departments such as consumer and retail, sales, end-user support, and product. Verizon also eliminated hundreds of jobs nationwide in May, impacting less than 1% of its global workforce, according to a Business Insider report. In June, AT&T employees took to social media platform Reddit to reveal that the company had also quietly axed jobs across multiple departments. In June, the tech industry announced 15,503 job cuts, the most of any sector. So far in 2026, the tech industry has announced 139,156 layoffs, up 83% from the 76,214 cuts announced in the sector through June 2025. "Tech remains the epicenter of this year's cuts," said Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in a press release. "AI is the dominant force as companies are restructuring around it, automating roles, and reallocating budgets toward new capabilities. The sector is being reshaped in real time." In the telecom sector specifically, 2,269 layoffs have been announced so far this year. In a report from Mobile Europe in May, Matt Walker, chief analyst at MTN Consulting, said that as global telecom revenues remain flat, the industry's top companies are "shifting from unrealistic growth targets to aggressive cost control" and using AI as an excuse to cut jobs. He warned that this move comes with several consequences. "Indiscriminate cuts can erode morale, institutional knowledge, service quality, and brand equity, hurting long-term profitability," said Walker. "Telcos that rush to cut staff in response to AI may also create talent gaps that increase cybersecurity risk, churn, and lost innovation."
Disney: The IP Flywheel Is Working Better Than Ever
Recent results show steady revenue growth, strong cash generation, and successful ecosystem synergy, notably with Toy Story 5's $780M box office performance.
The Dividend Growth Approach That Builds Bigger Paychecks Every Single Year
Ten years ago, a buyer of Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW | LOW Price Prediction) could pick up shares near $66 and collect a quarterly dividend that rose to $0.35 later in 2016. Today, the same share pays $1.25 per quarter, and the stock recently traded near $222. A decade of raises turned a modest-yield holding into a much larger paycheck on the original capital. A portfolio yielding 3% and growing distributions 8% a year doubles its income stream in about nine years. Another nine years, and it has roughly quadrupled. A 9% yielder that holds its payout flat stays where it started in nominal dollars. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shows the pattern cleanly. The annual dividend grew from $3.15 in 2016 to $5.14 in 2025, with the board recently lifting the quarterly rate to $1.34, its 64th consecutive year of increases. Over the same period shares are up 175%. Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) yields 2.9% and just delivered its 70th consecutive annual increase. Payments have run without interruption since 1890. Management expects to return roughly $10 billion in dividends in fiscal 2026 alongside about $5 billion in buybacks. Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) pays 2.5%. The quarterly dividend moved from $0.35 in 2016 to $0.53 in 2026, and management guided 8% to 9% comparable EPS growth for the year, which funds the next raise. Lowe’s yields 2.2% but has been the fastest grower of the group. Its quarterly dividend went from $0.28 in 2016 to $1.25 in 2026, and shares are up 236% over ten years. NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) yields 2.6%, with management guiding roughly 10% annual dividend growth through 2026 and 6% thereafter, funded by a 33 GW renewables backlog. The stock has climbed 244% in ten years. Johnson & Johnson itself, yielding 2.0%, remains one of only two U.S. companies with an AAA credit rating and holds the longest consecutive dividend-growth streak of the group. Realty Income sits at the other end of the tradeoff. The REIT recently yielded about 5.1%, pays monthly, and declared its 670th consecutive monthly dividend in 2026. Its first-quarter materials noted the 114th consecutive quarterly dividend increase, 98.9% occupancy, and 2026 AFFO-per-share guidance of $4.41 to $4.44, implying projected annual per-share growth of 3.0% to 3.7%. The 10-year Treasury, recently at 4.48%, is the natural reference point. Any dividend stock yielding below that number is being bought for the growth of the payment, the possibility of price appreciation, or both. Management expects to return roughly $10 billion in dividends in fiscal 2026 alongside about $5 billion in buybacks. Its first-quarter materials noted the 114th consecutive quarterly dividend increase, 98.9% occupancy, and 2026 AFFO-per-share guidance of $4.41 to $4.44, implying projected annual per-share growth of 3.0% to 3.7%.
Ultra Clean Insider Sells 3,837 Shares After Q1 Revenue Hit $533.7 Million
Ultra Clean Holdings reported trailing twelve-month revenue of $2.1 billion and a net loss of $194.1 million, as the stock was priced at $105.53 as of the July 6, 2026 market close.
What's Behind a $211,680 CEO Sale at Vicor While AI Demand Drives 20% Revenue Growth?
Vicor Corporation reported trailing twelve-month revenue of $471.7 million and net income of $136.7 million, operating as a designer and manufacturer of modular power components with a market capitalization of $11.3 billion as of the July 6, 2026 market close. Vicor's competitive positioning is anchored in its specialized expertise in power component design and manufacturing, enabling it to serve demanding applications where efficiency and reliability are paramount. The company generates revenue through the sale of specialized power conversion and management products to original equipment manufacturers and system integrators across multiple end markets, leveraging its proprietary technology and manufacturing capabilities.
Agoda Announces Rising Travel Interest Ahead of Japan's 2026 Obon Period
According to the data, interest in domestic travel rose 12% during the holiday period, with urban destinations such as Yokohama, Nagoya, and Osaka emerging as the fastest-growing destinations. Meanwhile, interest in overseas travel increased by 13%, especially for popular Asian cities and resort destinations that are easily accessible from Japan, such as Pattaya, Seoul, and Bangkok. Yokohama recorded the highest growth in travel interest, with a 17% increase compared to last year's Obon period. In addition to tourist spots such as Minato Mirai and Chinatown, its popularity is considered to be driven by the diverse appeal of the city, including shopping, dining, and waterfront stay experiences. Nagoya and Osaka also recorded an increase in travel interest of 15% each, while Kobe increased by 13%. Tokyo, Fukuoka, and Sendai each recorded a 10% increase, showing rising interest in domestic travel centered around major cities. Pattaya in Thailand recorded the highest growth, with an 18% year-on-year increase. In addition to its beautiful beaches and resort stays, Pattaya's convenient access from Bangkok is also an attractive point, drawing interest from Japanese travelers looking to refresh themselves during the Obon period.
Better Senior Housing REIT: Sabra Health Care or Welltower?
Sabra's same-store managed senior housing operating portfolio experienced a 14.4% year-over-year surge in cash net operating income (NOI). Its revenue was $2.78 billion, up 49.1% year over year, and NFFO per share rose 22.5% from the same quarter a year ago to $1.47. The company has kept its quarterly dividend at $0.30 since 2023, and at Sabra's current share price, the yield is about 6.14%.