Daily Point
_ Dow Jones 52,224.64 (-0.54%)
_ S&P 500 7,509.20 (-0.46%)
_ Nasdaq 25,837.21 (-1.03%)
_ Bitcoin 65,884.27 (+1.68%)
Topline Signals
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company: Raised actual 2026 capital expenditure guidance to a range of $60 billion to $64 billion, representing a 14% increase above its prior range.
- Super Micro Computer: Secured fourth-quarter orders exceeding $60 billion and raised gross margin expectations to a range of 15% to 17%.
- Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds: Recorded a sixth consecutive day of net inflows with $203.1 million added, bringing cumulative net inflows to $51.8 billion and total net assets to $80.9 billion.
Good day.
The daily fluctuations of the major indices—with the Nasdaq slipping over one percent while energy and select defensive sectors find footing—are merely transient ripples on the surface of a much deeper capital cycle. As we approach a pivotal weekly schedule packed with heavyweight earnings from Alphabet, Tesla, and Intel, alongside the European Central Bank's interest rate decision, the undisciplined retail crowd is predictably anxious. They mistake short-term volatility for structural weakness. In contrast, those of us with true skin in the game look at the massive capital expenditures being deployed into the foundational architecture of the next decade.
Consider the sheer scale of the AI infrastructure buildout. Taiwan Semiconductor’s decision to raise its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to a staggering $60 billion to $64 billion, alongside Super Micro Computer securing over $60 billion in fourth-quarter orders, tells you everything you need to know about the terminal demand for computing power. This is not a speculative bubble; it is a physical re-platforming of the global economy. Companies like Broadcom are converting this trend into pure liquidity, generating over $10 billion in single-quarter free cash flow. When the pick-and-shovel providers of a mega-trend are locking in multi-year pricing power and raising capital expenditure to historic heights, your objective is not to trade the daily noise, but to accumulate and hold the structural winners.
Simultaneously, we are witnessing an unprecedented convergence of traditional finance and digital assets. While the broader equity market experiences minor corrections, Bitcoin continues to consolidate its strength, buoyed by a six-day inflow streak into spot ETFs that has pushed total net assets past $80 billion. The entry of legacy institutions like Charles Schwab into direct cryptocurrency trading is a clear signal that digital asset integration is no longer a fringe theory, but a core component of modern wealth preservation. As sovereign states and global banking systems quietly build out stablecoin and digital asset rails, the asymmetric upside of securing a position in this finite monetary network remains one of the most compelling wealth-building opportunities of our generation. Focus on the compounding cash flows of the infrastructure giants and the steady institutionalization of digital assets. True financial freedom is built by owning the rails of the future, not by guessing the direction of tomorrow's close.
Weekly Schedule
22 Jul (Wednesday)
Inflation Rate YoY
MBA 30-Year Mortgage Rate
EIA Crude Oil Stocks Change
EIA Gasoline Stocks Change
GDP Growth Rate YoY Adv
GDP Growth Rate QoQ Adv
Alphabet Earnings Call
IBM Earnings Call
ServiceNow Earnings Call
Philip Morris International Earnings Call
AT&T Earnings Call
Tesla Earnings Call
Texas Instruments Earnings Call
23 Jul (Thursday)
New Car Registrations YoY
ECB Interest Rate Decision
Deposit Facility Rate
Initial Jobless Claims
Chicago Fed National Activity Index
ECB Press Conference
Consumer Confidence Flash
Inflation Rate YoY
Blackstone Earnings Call
Comcast Earnings Call
Freeport-McMoRan Earnings Call
Honeywell Earnings Call
Intel Earnings Call
Lockheed Martin Earnings Call
RTX Corporation Earnings Call
Union Pacific Earnings Call
24 Jul (Friday)
Retail Sales MoM
S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Flash
S&P Global Composite PMI Flash
S&P Global Services PMI Flash
S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Flash
S&P Global Services PMI Flash
S&P Global Services PMI Flash
S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Flash
S&P Global Composite PMI Flash
New Home Sales MoM
New Home Sales
American Express Earnings Call
NextEra Energy Earnings Call
Schlumberger Earnings Call
Verizon Earnings Call
ExxonMobil Earnings Call
25 Jul (Saturday)
26 Jul (Sunday)
27 Jul (Monday)
Durable Goods Orders MoM
Durable Goods Orders Ex Transp MoM
Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index
Consumer Confidence
28 Jul (Tuesday)
ADP Employment Change Weekly
Retail Inventories Ex Autos MoM Adv
Goods Trade Balance Adv
Wholesale Inventories MoM Adv
S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price YoY
CB Consumer Confidence
API Crude Oil Stock Change
American Tower Earnings Call
Boeing Earnings Call
Coca-Cola Earnings Call
Mondelez International Earnings Call
Sherwin-Williams Earnings Call
United Parcel Service Earnings Call
Visa Earnings Call
General
Mortgage and refinance interest rates today, Tuesday, July 21, 2026: Inching lower
According to the Zillow lender marketplace, the average 30-year fixed rate is 6.402%, down 8.2 basis points since yesterday. The MBA expects the 30-year mortgage rate to be near 6.50% through 2026. Fannie Mae predicts a 30-year average rate of 6.4% for the rest 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 slightly more optimistic and predicts average rates to hold near 6.3% for most of 2027.
Does Your Pension Count Toward the 15% Retirement Rule? Dave Ramsey Breaks Down the Math
The Core PCE index climbing from about 126 in July 2025 to about 130 in May 2026.
Dollar steady as investors weigh Middle East jitters against softer inflation data
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of six peers, was largely unchanged at 100.97 after hitting its highest since July 15 in the previous session, while the euro was marginally higher at $1.1421. A murky inflation outlook has added uncertainty to the markets. Benign U.S. inflation data released last week has already taken some wind out of the dollar by curbing bets on further interest-rate hikes. "A sustained depreciation of the U.S. dollar looks more like a 2027 story. We expect the dollar to remain firm over the next few months until the inflation picture becomes clearer," said Jimmy Jean, chief economist and strategist at Desjardins. Traders are pricing in a 63.1% chance of a rate hike at the Federal Reserve's September meeting, compared with 90% from before the latest inflation print was released, according to data compiled by LSEG.
He Took His Pension as a Lump Sum at 65. Two Years Later, Medicare Billed Him Like a Millionaire.
Medicare sets premiums using your MAGI from two years prior, so a $350,000 pension lump sum can spike Part B costs from $203 to $649 monthly. IRMAA surcharges act as cliffs, where crossing a threshold by just $1 triggers the full penalty and costs Frank roughly $6,400 in a single year. The tiers begin at $109,000 and step up at $137,000, $171,000, $205,000, and $500,000.
Hamilton Lane (HLNE) Slid Amid Broader Concerns
U.S. equities experienced a strong recovery in Q2 2026, with the S&P 500 Index gaining 15.2%, marking its best quarter since 2020. In June, the Federal Reserve maintained steady interest rates, but the meeting had a hawkish tone. Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) closed at $84.60 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of $4.69 billion. Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) posted a one-month return of 11.86%, while its shares lost 45.16% over the past 52 weeks. "During the quarter, shares detracted from performance as broader concerns around private credit and software exposure within private equity portfolios continued to weigh on sentiment across the alternative asset management industry."
The Triple-Tax-Free Account Most Workers Leave Empty: An HSA at 65 Works Like a Second 401(k), Without the RMDs
The personal saving rate fell to 4% in early 2026 while healthcare spending hit $3.7 trillion annually, making the HSA's tax-free compounding increasingly critical. Average consumer expenditures per household reached $78,535 in 2024, up from $77,280 in 2023 and $72,973 in 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey. The Consumer Price Index reached 332.6 in June 2026, up from 322.2 in July 2025. Social Security transfer receipts reached $1,630.3 billion in the first quarter of 2026, and Medicare receipts reached $1,301.0 billion.
Gold prices today, Tuesday, July 21, 2026: Gold hovers above $4,000 ahead of next week’s Fed meeting
Gold (GC=F) August futures opened at $4,013.40 per troy ounce on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, down 0.1% from Monday's closing price. The Fed meets next week and will announce its next interest rate decision on Wednesday. According to CME FedWatch, most expect no change to the fed funds rate, but there is a 16.6% chance of a 25-basis-point rate increase. One year ago: +19.8% The precious metal's one-year gain was 95.6% on Jan. 29. Gold has traded in a tight range near $4,000 over the past week, as investors watch for updates on the Iran war and await an interest rate decision next week.
BlackRock and Goldman just made the same massive call on US economy — with 1 powerful force fueling America
Over the past five years, the price of gold has more than doubled. Gold has long been viewed as a hedge during periods of inflation, financial stress and geopolitical uncertainty. Unlike fiat currency, its supply cannot simply be expanded at the push of a button. That is why diversification still matters — and why gold often enters the conversation. For investors who believe America's technology boom will continue but still want protection against war, inflation, excessive government debt or a sudden market reversal, gold can serve as a counterweight to stocks and other growth-sensitive assets. Over the past five years, the price of gold has more than doubled. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has said that in this environment, gold can "easily" rise to $10,000 an ounce.
Copper Prices Supported by Tighter Supply in China
1126 GMT – Copper prices rise more than 1.5%, supported by tightening supply conditions in China. 0827 GMT – Gold prices gain more than 1% as diplomatic efforts for a U.S.-Iran ceasefire pause oil’s rally. While the Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep rates unchanged at next week’s meeting, traders currently see more than a 60% chance of a rate hike in September, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Is It Better to Play the Historic Gold Rally With a Physical Gold or Mining Stock ETF in 2026?
Spot gold is currently trading around $4,070 per ounce, up about 20% in the past 52 weeks.
US Stock Market Today S&P 500 Futures Rise On Earnings And Inflation Crosscurrents
US stock futures are pointing higher, with key contracts linked to the S&P 500 up about 0.5% and Nasdaq 100 futures up roughly 1.3%, as investors weigh fresh inflation worries against easing rate fears abroad. In the US, the 10 year Treasury yield sits near 4.6%, and markets see roughly a 50 to 60% chance of a Federal Reserve rate hike in September, which matters for mortgage costs, credit cards and growth focused stocks. At the same time, rising oil prices are keeping inflation risks alive, putting energy producers and consumer facing companies in focus as investors ask whether earnings can hold up if borrowing costs stay higher for longer.
Bitcoin
Crypto markets rally on Clarity progress report, Asian chip-stock rebound
Derivatives data show rising open interest and call-heavy options activity in bitcoin and ether, alongside broad-based inflows into major altcoins, even as volatility gauges and put skews signal ongoing demand for hedging. Tokenized asset volume hit a record in the second quarter amid rapid growth in real-world asset tokenization, underscoring institutional adoption. Solana’s tokenized asset volume reached a record $5.8 billion in the second quarter, marking a 114% quarter-over-quarter increase and a six-quarter growth streak driven by tokenized equities. CEX trading volumes rose for the first time in five months in June, with spot climbing 15.3% to $1.11T and RWA perpetual volumes surging to a record $311B.
Bitcoin rally has broad-based support as institutions, whales, options traders pile in
The most obvious buyers are institutions, primarily through U.S.-listed ETFs. The spot bitcoin funds have attracted over $700 million in investor money across five trading days, the longest streak of inflows since May, according to SoSoValue data. "This renewed institutional interest stands in contrast to the severe selling pressure and record redemptions experienced earlier in the summer, notably $7.5 billion between mid-May and June," Tagus Capital said in an email. CEX trading volumes rose for the first time in five months in June, with spot climbing 15.3% to $1.11T and RWA perpetual volumes surging to a record $311B.
Tether-backed Twenty One, Strike merger plan scrapped: Bloomberg
Twenty One held 43,514 Bitcoin at the time of writing, making it the world’s second-largest corporate BTC holder behind Michael Saylor’s Strategy, according to tracking website BitcoinTreasuries.
CoinShares debuts Bitcoin mining ETF in Europe entrance
The CoinShares Bitcoin Mining UCITS ETF began trading Tuesday under the ticker MINE. The similar US-traded CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF (WGMI) has net assets of $343.6 million.
Russia Passes New Crypto Market Law
Russia's Finance Ministry has estimated that domestic cryptocurrency trading totals $640 million U.S. per day. The legislation places limits on non-qualified individual investors, capping their purchase of crypto to 300,000 rubles ($3,820 U.S.) per year.
Crypto XRP Forms Bullish ‘Triangle Breakout’
The token's 24-hour range has been $1.08 U.S. to $1.14 U.S., giving it a market capitalization of $70.85 billion U.S. A triangle breakout pattern is a technical analysis setup where an asset's price consolidates between two converging trendlines before aggressively piercing through one of them. The potential breakout for XRP comes after the cryptocurrency has traded sideways for several weeks and been stuck in a range of $1.09 U.S. to $1.11 U.S. XRP is an open-source cryptocurrency native to the XRP Ledger (CRYPTO: $XRPL), a blockchain designed to facilitate ultra-fast, low-cost cross-border payments.
Augustus raises $180 million to build a clearing bank for the AI and stablecoin era
Augustus doesn't plan to issue its own stablecoin, Dabitz said. Instead, it wants to provide the banking infrastructure that lets financial institutions move money across traditional payment systems and blockchain networks. The company already provides euro clearing through its regulated entity in Finland and says it processes billions of euros annually. "We think in 10 years from now all clearing banks will offer stablecoin rails like they offer Fedwire," Dabitz said. Augustus estimates trillions of dollars remain locked across those accounts today.
U.S. Treasury Freezes $130 Million Iran-Linked IRGC Crypto Wallet, Tracks Ayatollah’s Assets
$1 billion of Iran's crypto. Blockchain analysts have tied billions in on-chain flows to IRGC-linked wallets, with such wallets receiving more than $3 billion in 2025, a rise from over $2 billion the year before.
Bitcoin and ethereum prices today, Tuesday, July 21, 2026: Crypto prices rise as investors’ risk appetite returns
The last week marked the second consecutive week bitcoin ETFs had positive net inflows, for the first time since May.
Bitcoin nears seven-week high as stocks ignore Iran strikes, Trump 10% tariff plans
Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD approaching $67,000, closing in on seven-week highs. Upward momentum that began the day showed little signs of stopping despite macro conditions that seem to favor a risk-off mindset.
XRP Whale Deposits to Binance Just Hit a 2-Month Low: What’s Going On?
Futures are driving XRP's 5% weekly gain, with $1.8 billion in daily futures volume dwarfing $180 million in spot at a ratio of nearly 10 to 1. XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) whale deposits to Binance just dropped to their lowest level in two months. On its face, that is good news. Big holders move coins onto an exchange when they are getting ready to sell, so fewer deposits should mean less selling ahead. Whales are wallets holding enormous amounts of XRP, and when they move coins onto an exchange, it is usually a prelude to selling. You don't move your tokens onto Binance unless you plan to do something with them there. So rising deposits warn that selling pressure is building, and falling deposits mean the big money is staying put. Right now, deposits are falling. Whale inflows to Binance over the past 30 days have dropped to about 947 million XRP, the lowest in two months, according to CryptoQuant analyst Arab Chain. Fewer whale coins are moving toward the exchange, and fewer coins there means less waiting to be sold. Earlier this month, wallets holding between 1 million and 10 million XRP grew their combined holdings by roughly 70 million tokens in a single week, and Binance's XRP reserves have shrunk to a five-month low. So, whales aren't queuing up to sell, some are quietly adding, and the pool of XRP on the exchange ready to be sold keeps shrinking. On Binance, the world's largest exchange, XRP spot trading volume has fallen 54.6% in a week and now runs more than 67% below its monthly and quarterly averages. The money moving on and off the exchange has almost stopped, with inflows and outflows both down around 99% against the weekly average and the number of wallets making deposits down 97.6%. Korea is no different, even though the country is home to some of XRP's most active retail traders. Upbit, its biggest exchange, has seen XRP trading volume fall for four straight weeks, down 51% in a month. More so, the Kimchi premium—the extra price Korean buyers have long paid for XRP above its global rate, reflecting how hot local demand ran—has now vanished, with XRP trading slightly below its global price on Upbit. The slowdown also reaches the XRP Ledger, where transactions are down 33.6% and active addresses have fallen 16.4%. Fewer people are trading the coin, and fewer are even using the network behind it. XRP futures open interest—the total money tied up in open contracts—has climbed to around $2.6 billion, a high for 2026, enough to overtake Hyperliquid's HYPE token, one of the derivatives market's favorites. In a single day, XRP futures volume ran about $1.8 billion against roughly $180 million in spot trading, according to CoinGlass. That is close to ten to one. For every dollar spent buying the coin, nearly ten are spent betting on where its price goes next.
Jack Mallers Quits Twenty One Capital as Tether's Bitcoin Merger Collapses
Shares of the Bitcoin treasury company—a publicly traded firm that holds Bitcoin on its balance sheet, letting regular investors gain exposure to the cryptocurrency without buying it directly—dropped nearly 15% on Tuesday. Twenty One still holds 43,514 BTC. At current prices, that balance sheet is worth more than $4 billion, ranking it second among all public companies for Bitcoin holdings, just behind Michael Saylor's Strategy.
Galaxy sets up $5 million fund to help shield Bitcoin against quantum computing threats
Although experts say quantum computers cannot yet break Bitcoin, researchers warn that preparing upgrades could take years, with as much as 6.9 million bitcoin — worth about $461 billion at current prices — potentially at risk if the technology advances. In Q2; TRON's stablecoin dominance rose to 28.7%, USDT supply on TRON hit $89B ATH, $89M in protocol fees (2nd to Hyperliquid), TRX +3%, and deepening institutional & agentic reach.
Hyperscale Data Buys More Bitcoin, Bridging Holdings to Over $72 million
Hyperscale Data, Inc. has announced that it’s upped its Bitcoin holdings to over 1,000 digital coins. The New York Stock Exchange-listed company said Tuesday that it had over 1,087.4527 BTC as of Sunday — or $72.4 million based on today’s prices. During the week ended July 19, ACG added roughly 51.5 bitcoin through open-market purchases. The buildout is part of the company’s goal of establishing a $100 million digital asset treasury and reaching full parity between its Bitcoin holdings and market capitalization. With a market cap of roughly $63 million, that threshold has now been crossed — the company’s bitcoin alone is worth more than the company itself, before counting cash or its operating businesses. Executive Chairman Milton “Todd” Ault III leaned into that disconnect, stating, “We now hold more than $70 million in Bitcoin.”
XXI stock plunges 18% after CEO's abrupt exit
Twenty One Capital (ticker XXI) is a Bitcoin-native company built to accumulate and hold Bitcoin as its core treasury strategy, led by Jack Mallers and backed by Tether, Bitfinex and SoftBank. Despite the leadership change, Twenty One remains the world's second-largest corporate Bitcoin holder with 43,514 BTC, according to BitcoinTreasuries.
Bitcoin rally faces key test at $68,000 as 'summer slumber' grips crypto, analysts say
Spot market conditions have improved after months of weakness, with U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs shifting from persistent outflows to modest inflows. Bitcoin currently accounts for nearly 67% of spot crypto trading volume, up from roughly 50% a year ago, according to Bitfinex. Data from K33 Research paints a similar picture. Head of research Vetle Lunde said institutional participation has continued to fade, with CME bitcoin futures open interest falling to its lowest level since 2023.
Ether breaks the $1.9K resistance; is $2.1K the next target for ETH bulls?
According to Staking Rewards data, a record-high 34% of all ETH supply is now staked, up from 33% one month earlier. Analysts expect reduced sell pressure as long-term holders keep accumulating supply, including Tom Lee’s Bitmine Immersion (BMNR US), which added 156,719 ETH over the past month. The company now controls 4.8% of available supply. Weekly revenue for Ethereum’s decentralized applications (DApps) fell to the lowest levels since September 2024, hitting $9.8 million.
Crypto lobby group TDC sues Illinois to block digital asset tax
The Digital Asset Tax Act was passed and approved on short notice last month, right before the Illinois state government wrapped up its session for the year. The 0.2% tax applies to any entities that are based in Illinois or provide services with gross receipts of over $100,000. The tax takes effect in January. In Q2; TRON's stablecoin dominance rose to 28.7%, USDT supply on TRON hit $89B ATH, $89M in protocol fees (2nd to Hyperliquid), TRX +3%, and deepening institutional & agentic reach.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin Lift Amid Crypto Bill Optimism: Analyst Flags BTC's 'Biggest Test'
Over $200 million was liquidated from the cryptocurrency market in the last 24 hours, with $160 million in bearish shorts erased, according to Coinglass data. Bitcoin's open interest jumped 4.21% to over $50 billion, indicating an influx of new money into the derivatives market.
Bitcoin holds near $66,300 as chips extend their rally and the yen hits a 40-year low
Bitcoin held near $66,300 on Wednesday, consolidating a two-week high, as the semiconductor rally that has driven crypto all month extended into a second session and the Japanese yen sank to its weakest level in four decades. The largest cryptocurrency was up nearly 1% on the day and 3% on the week, with about $31 billion changing hands and a 24-hour range of roughly $65,400 to $66,900. In Q2; TRON's stablecoin dominance rose to 28.7%, USDT supply on TRON hit $89B ATH, $89M in protocol fees (2nd to Hyperliquid), TRX +3%, and deepening institutional & agentic reach.
Charles Schwab (SCHW) Launches Bitcoin And Ethereum Trading After Record Revenue
For readers, these moves raise questions about how crypto fits into a diversified approach, and what it means when a large, regulated broker supports direct digital asset trading. The combination of record financial results and expanded product breadth at Charles Schwab may influence how competitors respond and how retail investors choose where to keep their assets over time. For Charles Schwab, record quarterly revenue of US$7.1b, net income of US$2.8b for the quarter, and higher earnings per share sit alongside two big signals for investors: deeper engagement on the existing platform and a move to meet client demand for crypto within the Schwab ecosystem. Direct Bitcoin and Ethereum trading gives Schwab a product that already exists at rivals such as Robinhood, Coinbase, and Fidelity, but within a broader suite of brokerage, advisory, and banking services.
Bitcoin ETFs extend inflow streak to six days with $203M added
US spot Bitcoin ETFs extended their inflow streak to six sessions, bringing in about $930 million while remaining down $4.84 billion on a net basis year to date. US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded their sixth consecutive day of net inflows on Tuesday, adding $203.1 million. The funds have accumulated $51.8 billion in cumulative net inflows since launch, while total net assets reached $80.9 billion.
Bitcoin Dominance Expected to 'Keep Increasing,' Says Strategy CEO Phong Le Amid Stablecoin, Big Bank Adoption
Bitcoin's dominance has expanded significantly, moving from 40.83% in 2022 to 56.95% as of this writing. "Bitcoin dominance has increased over the last 4 years with Bitcoin Treasury Companies, ETFs, institutions, and US support," Le said. I expect it to keep increasing as stablecoins, tokenization, big bank adoption, and global support expand the digital asset economy around Bitcoin. Still, the institutional adoption argument holds merit, with over $50 billion flowing into Bitcoin spot ETFs on Wall Street, according to SoSo Value. Furthermore, corporate Bitcoin treasury holdings have surged exponentially, currently exceeding $125 billion, according to CoinGekcko.
The Crypto Industry Has Spent Nearly $200 Million to Pass New Pro-Crypto Legislation. Here's What Investors Need to Know.
The Clarity Act cleared the House of Representatives in July 2025 and the Senate Banking committee in May, and it's now in limbo with no vote scheduled. Assuming those three pillars are still in place if the bill ends up passing, Bitcoin would get the smallest incremental lift, if it got one at all. Regulated Bitcoin futures have existed since 2017, and spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been around since January 2024. Nothing about its thesis would change. Ethereum has a bit more at stake. Two U.S. spot Ether staking ETFs are already trading, with each passing a staking yield of 2% to 3% in addition to price exposure. Those assets exist because of the March regulatory interpretation that the bill would codify. If the bill doesn't pass, staking ETFs probably won't disappear, but the legal ground beneath them might be a bit of an impediment to more institutional adoption. Watch for a cloture motion before Aug. 8. If that happens, the U.S. regulatory picture for crypto will be a lot more permissive of a bull run in the near future. If not, the $189 million in political spending will need to seek a return in 2027, which might be even tougher than this year. Because of that, both Standard Chartered and JPMorgan analysts project between $4 billion and $8 billion in XRP ETF inflows if it passes.
Semiconductor
Bank of America Insanely Bullish on Micron. Sees Shares Rising 83% From Here.
Revenue landed at $41.46 billion, up 345.72% year over year from $9.30 billion. GAAP net income was $28.24 billion, up 1,398.3%. Non-GAAP gross margin hit 84.9% (GAAP 84.6%, up from 37.7% a year ago), and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $25.11 topped the $20.28 consensus by 23.79%, the eighth straight quarterly beat. Micron’s fiscal Q3 2026 report gave the bulls plenty of ammunition.
Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: Nebius Gets NVDA Lift
TSMC to raise chip manufacturing prices by up to 10% in 2027: Nikkei
Unwinding Margin Can Turn SK Hynix Into a Generational Buying Opportunity
Margin debt grew 53.7% year over year in May, reaching a record $1.42 trillion. It was also up by 8.5% month over month. All that margin meant that a small correction would inevitably turn into a big one -- and it did. The company's revenue almost tripled year over year in the company's first quarter, and its 76.7% net profit margin shows that the memory-chip maker is having no problem retaining a large share of total sales.
Forget Picking the Next AI Winner: TSM Lets You Profit From Every Wave of the Revolution
TSM posted $40 billion in Q2 revenue, up 39% year over year, with EPS climbing 61% as AI demand continues to outstrip manufacturing supply. The AI market continues to be very dynamic. The emergence of Agentic AI is leading to a resurgence in the role of CPUs in AI data centers... no matter what CPU approach is taken, whether it's x86, ARM-based, or RISC-V architecture, they are almost all TSMC's customers. Taiwan Semiconductor sits at the center of nearly every one of those markets, each new AI trend creates another avenue for growth.
ASML Shares Slide: What Investors Need to Know
Net sales increased 21% year over year to 9.3 billion euros in the second quarter of ASML's fiscal 2026. It also raised full-year guidance to between 43 billion and 45 billion euros, a solid increase from previous expectations of 36 billion to 40 billion.
Advanced Micro Devices vs. Intel: What the Revenue Trajectories of These Artificial Intelligence Companies Tell Investors
It recently announced a $10 billion investment in the Taiwan manufacturing ecosystem alongside new processor production, and for the quarter ended March 28, 2026, it reported 14% net income margin. Intel: Defending Its Top-Line Revenue Baseline Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) primarily generates revenue by designing central processing units, discrete graphics processing units, networking components, and wafer fabrication services for original equipment manufacturers and cloud service providers. While announcing a $5.7 billion capital investment to expand its manufacturing campus in Ireland and appointing new segment leaders, it reported -28% net income margin for the quarter ended March 28, 2026. Intel's missteps under previous leadership are being rectified by new CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who helped the company orchestrate new foundry deals and partnerships, such as its multi-year collaboration with Google parent Alphabet. This is illustrated by the company's 7% year-over-year increase in revenue for its fiscal first quarter ended March 28. For fiscal Q2, Intel expects sales to come in between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion, which represents a year-over-year increase, as well as quarterly sequential growth.
Intel's foundry lands first named customer under CEO Lip-Bu Tan, as Fortinet signs on for security chips
Intel said in a filing in April that it's still trying to secure a "significant" customer for the company's most advanced manufacturing technology, as it tries to justify the large capital expenditures needed to build factories in the U.S. and overseas. Fortinet doesn't have the name recognition of Apple, Tesla or any of the hyperscalers, but it's operating in a hot market due to the heightened demand for advanced security in a world increasingly dominated by AI.
Intel Jumps 6% on RBC’s Q2 Beat Call, AMD Rises 4%, Broadcom Climbs 3% as Chip Rally Resumes
Intel's last reported quarter delivered non-GAAP EPS of $0.29 on revenue of $13.577 billion, with Data Center and AI revenue up 22% year over year. AMD shares were up 135% year to date heading into today, backed by Q1 2026 revenue of $10.25 billion and 38% year-over-year growth.
Micron Technology, Sandisk, and Western Digital Are Down Big in the Past Month. Is Now the Time to Buy?
Micron has been iconic of the run-up in memory stocks this year, with its valuation at one point reaching nearly $1.4 trillion, making it among the most valuable companies in the world. That's around what electric vehicle maker Tesla is worth right now. It's been a tremendous run for Micron, whose shares have soared more than 1,000% in five years. But in the past month, they're down roughly 24%. The big question is whether this is profit-taking or a sign of a greater bearish trend ahead. Micron's fundamentals have been impressive as the company has generated an incredible $90 billion in revenue over just its past four quarters, and its profit during that stretch has totaled more than $50 billion. It was only a few years ago that the company was struggling to stay out of the red. Western Digital may be a bit less volatile in its growth, but it's also a more expensive stock to own, as it's trading at 25 times its estimated future earnings, which is a bit rich given that the S&P 500 average is a multiple of less than 22. This is a stock that may be due to go lower, as its growth hasn't been as strong as Micron's to justify its massive run-up in recent years. Sandisk spun off from Western Digital last year, and since then, it's been scorching hot, with gains totaling close to 3,900%. It's an astounding return that has resulted in the stock now having a higher valuation ($206 billion) than Western Digital ($168 billion), the company it spun off from.
Rationale for Adding Back NVIDIA (NVDA)
In its Q2 2026 investor letter, NZS Growth Equity Strategy highlighted NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is a leading data center-scale AI infrastructure company that operates through Compute & Networking and Graphics segments. On July 20, 2026, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock closed at $203.28 per share. One-month return of NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) was -2.80%, and its shares gained 18.34% over the past 52 weeks. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) has a market capitalization of $4.95 trillion. NZS Growth Equity Strategy stated the following regarding NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) in its Q2 2026 investor update: "Elsewhere, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) was added back to the portfolio as a resilient position late in the quarter. NVIDIA had been a long-time holding in the portfolio before we exited in the third quarter of 2025. The stock has since lagged the broad surge in the AI semiconductor ecosystem as the market began contemplating budding risks to the GPU's market share in AI compute. This scenario was our primary concern when we exited the position, but we now think the lowered valuation more than compensates for this type of risk. Further, NVIDIA's growth relative to competitors indicates the GPU is actually taking share at present." NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is in fourth position on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 275 hedge fund portfolios held NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) at the end of the fourth quarter, compared to 264 in the previous quarter. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) reported revenues of $82 billion, achieving an impressive 85% year-over-year growth.
SanDisk Rises 8%, Western Digital Jumps 9%, Micron Adds 7% as Memory Rebound Accelerates
The DRAM ETF is rebounding with the group, while Intel's Thursday earnings could confirm or crack the hyperscaler capex thesis driving the rally. UBS projects that Micron could repurchase over 40% of its shares and generate $400 billion in free cash flow through 2028. Bank of America Fuels the Micron Leg Arya characterized Micron's latest quarter as "another memorable beat," pointing to the company's eighth straight quarterly EPS beat, which topped consensus by 24%. The Bank of America note pegs the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) opportunity at $246 billion by 2030 and global semiconductor sales at $2.7 trillion by 2030. Micron's Q4 FY2026 guidance calls for revenue of $50 billion plus or minus $1 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $31 plus or minus $1, and gross margin of 86%.
This Is Why I Can’t Stop Buying AMD
AMD currently captures just 5% to 7% of global hyperscaler AI accelerator spend, and Wall Street projects that share will expand to 20% to 25% between 2027 and 2028. Revenue hit $10.253 billion, up 37.85% year over year, with Data Center alone at $5.775 billion, up 57%. Free cash flow reached $2.566 billion, up 252.96% year over year, on top of a full-year FY25 free cash flow of $5.519 billion. That is a fortress underwriting the buildout. Third, the market Lisa Su is chasing keeps getting larger. On the call, she said "we now expect the server CPU TAM to grow at greater than 35% annually, reaching over $120 billion by 2030," nearly double the pace outlined months earlier.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSM) Doubled Since Giverny Capital Asset Management’s Entry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) is in 6th position on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 234 hedge fund portfolios held Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) at the end of the first quarter, up from 224 in the previous quarter. In Q1 2026, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited's (NYSE:TSM) revenue increased 6.4% (in U.S. dollar terms) sequentially to $35.9 billion, exceeding the guidance.
Micron: The Supply Chain Just Confirmed It
TSMC and ASML confirmed AI memory demand remains exceptionally strong, while fully booked EUV capacity limits industry supply growth through 2028.
Price Prediction: Credo Stock Will Trade at This Price in 2027
Revenue more than tripled in fiscal 2026 to $1.34 billion, and shares are still up 40.86% year to date. Wall Street's average target is $276.39, backed by 4 Strong Buys, 14 Buys, and just 1 Hold with zero sells.
Better Late Than Never? Micron Finally Joins Wall Street’s ‘Best Investment Ideas” List
Micron's AI-driven HBM demand has pushed operating margins to 83% in key segments, with 172% annual earnings growth forecast over the next five years. HBM supply stays tight through 2027, while Micron's 16 multiyear customer agreements lock in pricing floors and revenue visibility through 2030.
Cash is Always King Which is Why I Will Not Stop Adding Broadcom
In fiscal Q2 2026, Broadcom generated $10.262 billion in free cash flow, or 46% of revenue. Full fiscal 2025 free cash flow came in at $26.914 billion, up 38.63% year over year. Capital expenditures ran just $623 million for the full year against $27.5 billion in operating cash flow. Broadcom achieved record revenue, operating profit and free cash flow in Q2 driven by accelerating growth in AI semiconductor revenue and strong operating leverage. Adjusted EBITDA margin hit 69% of revenue. Operating margin printed 67%. The second reason my finger keeps hovering: visibility. Broadcom entered 2026 with an AI backlog exceeding $73 billion, and Q2 alone booked $30 billion in AI orders against $10.8 billion shipped. Q3 AI revenue is guided to $16.0 billion, up over 200% year over year, and Tan reiterated a goal to exceed $100 billion in AI semiconductor revenue in 2027. Add in the $30 billion-plus Apple custom AI chip deal running through 2031 and I can see the shape of the cash flows funding my dividend checks for years.
SK Hynix’s HBM Empire Powers 65% US Revenue — Is This the Must-Own AI Stock?
SK Hynix commands 58% of global HBM revenue, with sales more than doubling year-over-year to fuel a record $33 billion operating profit in FY2025. The U.S. now generates 65% of SK Hynix's revenue, anchored by a Nvidia partnership that alone contributed 24% of total 2025 sales. SK Hynix reported FY2025 revenue of $65 billion, with DRAM (heavily weighted toward HBM) contributing the lion's share at roughly $44 billion, compared to NAND flash at $21 billion.
Intel Stock's AI-Fueled Rally Meets Its Turnaround Reality
Intel's AI-driven businesses now make up 60% of revenue and grew 40% year-over-year. The Data Center and AI (DCAI) segment saw revenue jump 22% year-over-year in the most recent quarter, driven by what the company calls "strong and sustained momentum" for its Xeon server CPUs. The engine is Intel Foundry, the ambitious plan to manufacture chips for other companies. While still losing money, management reports that yields on its new Intel 18A process is "running ahead of the internal projections."
Memory Stocks Spark a Market Rebound; Dow Jones Joins the Party
Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) surged 10.1% after Morgan Stanley predicted memory prices could rise 25% on continued AI demand. Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) rose 1.5% after releasing new details about its Vera CPU for AI data centers. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SOXX) climbed 5.2%, extending Monday's gains.
Why Sandisk Stock Is Still Going Up
TSMC raises prices Nikkei Asia reports today that TSMC will raise its prices for contract chip manufacturing (for customers such as Nvidia and AMD, for example) by "up to 10%" in 2027 (with the potential for some chip prices to spike 20%).
TSMC to Raise Chip Prices by Up to 10% in 2027: Report
TSMC recently raised its 2026 spending projections as it responds to strong artificial intelligence demand and the rising cost of expanding manufacturing capacity.
SK Hynix Rockets 14% Ahead of July 29 Earnings as Chip Stocks Rebound
Shares of SK Hynix (NASDAQ:SKHY) jumped 14% to $172.80 in Tuesday afternoon trading, placing the Korean memory giant at the front of a broad AI chip and memory rebound. Micron delivered $41.46 billion in revenue, up 346% year over year (YoY), with non-GAAP EPS of $25.11 and a stunning 85% GAAP gross margin. NVIDIA remains the anchor demand driver for SK Hynix’s HBM output. In Q1 FY27, NVIDIA reported revenue of $81.61 billion, up 85.2% YoY, including data center revenue of $75.25 billion, and guided Q2 FY27 to $91 billion, plus or minus 2%.
Intel (INTC) Lands Fortinet As First Named Cybersecurity Customer For Its Foundry
For Intel, bringing Fortinet's next generation Security Processor 6 onto its Intel 4 manufacturing process is another data point that it is serious about winning external foundry work, not just supplying its own product lines. Fortinet gains a leading edge security focused chip for its firewalls and security appliances, while Intel adds a publicly visible cybersecurity customer to sit alongside other AI and edge partnerships such as Ultralytics' OpenVINO optimized YOLO models. For you as an investor, this kind of deal is less about one product's revenue and more about whether Intel Foundry can become a credible option next to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Samsung for complex, security centric designs.
Prediction: This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chip Stock Is the Biggest Winner From the $26.5 Billion SK Hynix IPO (Hint: It's Not Nvidia)
According to the company's Form F-1 registration statement, SK Hynix made clear the newly raised funds would be used for capital expenditures rather than general corporate purposes. The proceeds will be allocated across three areas: construction of a fabrication plant in Yongin, South Korea, development of an advanced packaging and testing facility in Cheongju, South Korea, and the purchase of manufacturing equipment. SK Hynix noted that it will be buying extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems. These tools will be deployed across its expanding Korean fabs to support higher-volume production of advanced DRAM and HBM products needed for AI workloads. ASML has a near-monopoly on EUV, ASML (ASML +3.69%) is the only company technologically capable of supply of high-volume EUV lithography systems. SK Hynix's capital raise therefore should be viewed as a powerful catalyst for ASML. By explicitly earmarking funds for EUV system purchases, SK Hynix is telegraphing that it will convert IPO proceeds into ASML equipment orders.
Why Applied Materials (AMAT) Stock Is Up Today
Shares of semiconductor machinery manufacturer Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) jumped 7.7% in the morning session after peer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) announced plans to raise chipmaking prices by up to 10% starting in 2027, while wafer supplier IQE plc raised its guidance. Industry forecasts projected that global chipmaking equipment sales could reach a record high by 2028, driven by the AI boom. Taiwan Semiconductor's $100 billion expansion plan in Arizona underscored the massive scale of future equipment needs required to support advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Intel announced a €5 billion ($5.7 billion) investment in its Ireland facility to boost production of its Xeon 6 processors.
Super Micro says fourth-quarter orders topped $60 billion
Super Micro Computer said on Tuesday it has received orders in excess of $60 billion in the fourth quarter, helped by growing demand for its advanced AI servers, sending the company's shares up 16% in extended trading.
S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Futures Ease As Oil Rally Tempers AI Optimism Ahead of Big Tech Earnings: SMCI, OKLO, XE, SKHY, GOOG In Focus
Super Micro Computer Inc. (SMCI): The server maker’s shares jumped nearly 18% in extended trading hours after the company’s preliminary results showed that its backlog hit a record in the quarter. Oklo Inc. (OKLO), X-energy Inc. (XE): The nuclear energy companies’ shares jumped at the close and continued gaining overnight after they joined a federal initiative led by the Trump administration to fast-track nuclear power plants for AI data centers. SK Hynix Inc. (SKHY): The Korean chipmaker was on the retail radar ahead of its July 29 earnings and the launch of an ADR conversion mechanism, which is expected to narrow the premium between its U.S.-listed ADRs and Seoul-listed shares. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG): The tech giant is in focus ahead of Wednesday's earnings as investors weigh a delay to its Gemini 3.5 Pro AI model against concerns over returns from its heavy AI infrastructure spending. Crude oil prices surged higher on Tuesday, with Brent crude futures expiring in September up about 1.68% to $92.54 per barrel at the time of writing. Yields on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.634% at the time of writing, while spot gold prices were also trading higher at $4,121.39 per ounce. Economist Peter Schiff noted the rising oil prices and Treasury yields in a post on X, saying, “These trends will likely continue and are bearish for the economy and corporate earnings. How much longer can stock investors ignore this?”
Trump's push for American-made AI chips hits TSMC's margins
TSMC has announced a total of $200 billion in commitments to the country, including last week's unveiling of a $100 billion investment into advanced semiconductor manufacturing and packaging facilities in the U.S. Gross margin increased ahead of guidance, but that was offset by dilution from overseas fabs, CFO Wendell Huang said on an earnings call. Margins will be further diluted over the next "several years" as overseas fab projects "ramp-up", he added. The company forecasts the gross margin dilution from the ramp-up of overseas fabs in the next several years to be 2% to 3% in the early stages, widening to 3% to 4% in the latter stages, Huang said.
ASML Lifts 2026 Outlook As High NA EUV Enters Intel Production Might Change The Case For Investing In ASML Holding (ENXTAM:ASML)
ASML Holding N.V. recently reported second-quarter 2026 results showing higher revenue and earnings versus a year earlier, raised its full-year 2026 net sales guidance to between €43.00 billion and €45.00 billion, confirmed third-quarter guidance of €11.00 billion to €12.00 billion in net sales, and declared an interim 2026 dividend of €1.88 per share payable on August 5, 2026. Alongside these results, ASML highlighted that Intel Foundry has entered high-volume manufacturing of select Intel Core Ultra Series 3 "Panther Lake" processors on Intel 18A using ASML's High NA EUV systems, underscoring early real-world deployment of the company's next-generation lithography technology. ASML Holding's narrative projects €60.9 billion revenue and €22.2 billion earnings by 2029. This requires 21.8% yearly revenue growth and a €12.2 billion earnings increase from €10.0 billion today.
Is SK Hynix Buying Intel’s Ohio Fab? Korean Chipmaker Denies Report — Now All Eyes Are on Earnings
Intel announced its Ohio One semiconductor manufacturing campus in January 2022, and said it would invest $28 billion initially to build two leading-edge chip fabrication plants in New Albany, near Columbus. The nearly 1,000-acre site broke ground in September 2022 and has been under construction since, but the project has faced multiple delays amid weaker chip demand and Intel’s cost-cutting efforts. Under the latest timeline, the first fab is expected to be completed in 2030 and begin operations between 2030 and 2031. Intel Foundry’s operating loss narrowed to $2.4 billion in the first quarter, improving by $72 million sequentially, helped by better yields across Intel 4, 3 and 18A processes.
Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) Stock Is Down Nearly 15% This Month Despite Record AI Demand. Here Is Why
Second quarter net profit rose 77% year-over-year to a record T$706.6 billion ($22 billion), beating the LSEG consensus estimate of T$632.6 billion ($19.65 billion) and marking its ninth straight quarter of double-digit growth. TSM raised its full-year 2026 revenue growth (U.S. dollar terms) outlook to slightly above 40% from above 30% and guided third-quarter sales to $44.6 billion to $45.8 billion, which compared strongly to $33.1 billion a year earlier. Capex was the number to watch: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM)'s prior guidance topped out at $52 billion to $56 billion, and BofA's Asia semiconductor analyst forecast a raise to roughly $58 billion. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM)'s actual capex guidance for 2026 came in at $60 billion to $64 billion, about 14% above the prior range and above even the raised pre-earnings estimates.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Just Gave 100 Billion Reasons Why the AI Build-Out Will Last for Several More Years
During its second quarter conference call, TSMC announced an additional $100 billion in investment for its Arizona chip production facilities. CEO C.C. Wei was asked on the conference call by an analyst how long he believes the AI build-out will last, and he stated that demand will remain very strong through 2029 to 2030.
AI / Robotics / EV
Tesla cash burn to test investor faith in AI bets
Investors have been betting that Tesla's autonomous-driving technology and robotics ambitions could eventually unlock new, high-margin revenue streams. However, investors are growing increasingly uneasy as spending on AI infrastructure, including data centers, and manufacturing capacity is projected to climb to $25 billion this year, outstripping quarterly cash generated by Tesla's core automotive and energy operations. Nine of the top 10 most-voted questions center around Tesla's AI-driven bets - robotaxis, Optimus humanoid robots and its Full Self-Driving technology.
Wall Street Veteran Says Tesla Stock is About to Fall, and $550 Million Agrees
The options market agrees, as traders placed a roughly $550 million bet against Tesla into the print, and implied volatility sits in the 78th percentile of its past year. It is a sign the market is braced for a large move. Money Flow Has Already Gone Cold Worth's chart call has support under the surface. Chaikin Money Flow (CMF), a proxy for institutional flows, has fallen since March and just dropped below zero, which shows sellers now control one of July's most-watched stocks. Big investors look more bullish, but that data lags. Filings show institutions added a net 226 million shares last quarter and lifted their share count by about 31%, yet those figures are still weeks old and reflect a late-June snapshot, not real-time ownership. They also carry caveats. The value of those holdings fell more than $1 billion even as the share count rose, because the price slid faster than institutions bought. The flow was far from one-sided either, with 2,160 sellers against 2,880 buyers. Analysts Keep Raising Targets Anyway The Tesla stock bull case has not gone quiet. Through July, UBS, RBC, and Roth Capital, all Wall Street investment banks, lifted their TSLA price targets. And back in June, JPMorgan raised its target from $145 to $475 as it warmed to the robotaxi story. They have not changed the target as of yet. However, the ratings never followed. Nine of 18 top analysts still sit on Hold, and the range stretches down to Wells Fargo's $130 sell call, so Worth is far from the only doubter.
Tesla's jump in sales comes as Optimus, Robotaxi bets require more cash: Q2 earnings preview
Tesla is expected to report Q2 revenue of $26.21 billion, up 16% from a year ago, per Bloomberg consensus. Tesla's adjusted earnings per share are estimated at $0.50, with adjusted EBITDA of $4.00 billion — a substantial jump from the roughly $2.3 billion posted in the year-ago quarter. The revenue jump comes after Tesla reported a blowout delivery quarter. The EV maker reported Q2 deliveries of 480,126, up 25% year over and easily topping Bloomberg consensus estimates of 397,466. Energy storage deployments came in at 13.5 GWh, more than 50% above the first quarter's 8.8 GWh. For the 2026 financial year, the company forecasts a significantly higher production volume compared with the previous year and expects a corresponding increase in capacity utilization," Tesla's German unit said in its 2025 annual report last week. On the flip side, free cash flow (FCF) is the number to watch Wednesday, and it's expected to be deeply negative. Per Tesla's own sell-side analyst consensus estimates, Wall Street sees Q2 FCF dropping to -$3.254 billion as capital expenditures jump to $6.7 billion for the quarter.
General Motors Q2 2026 earnings beat, raises full-year guidance
General Motors reported second-quarter revenue of $48.03 billion and adjusted earnings of $3.57 per share on Tuesday, topping Wall Street expectations and prompting the automaker to raise several full-year forecasts for the second time in 2026. GM's updated full-year targets now call for adjusted EBIT of $14 billion to $16 billion and adjusted EPS of $12 to $14, both shifted $500 million higher than the previous ranges of $13.5 billion to $15.5 billion and $11.50 to $13.50, respectively; adjusted automotive free cash flow guidance also moved up by half a billion dollars to $9.5 billion to $11.5 billion. GM indicated it has largely wrapped up the accounting charges associated with its EV retreat, with the cumulative bill reaching $10.9 billion since late last year.
KIDZ AI Enters into $44.6 Million Definitive GPU Compute Services Agreement with Canopy Wave
256 ultra-scale NVIDIA Blackwell B300 GPUs will be leased and deployed under the contract. The agreement is subject to the Company's subsidiary placing a non-cancellable order for the GPU servers necessary to perform its services under the agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, KIDZ AI's wholly owned subsidiary, Catalyst Compute LLC, will order and deploy a dedicated cluster of 256 NVIDIA HGX B300 GPUs across 32 specialized GPU nodes, each equipped with dual Intel Xeon 6776P processors, 4TB of DDR5 memory, and ultra-fast 800Gb/s InfiniBand interconnectivity. The agreement reflects how KIDZ AI seeks to differentiate its neocloud model from the broader field of GPU cloud providers: rather than deploying merchant capacity and competing on raw scale, the Company pairs infrastructure deployments with long-term contracted enterprise demand and purpose-builds for what it believes is one of the fastest-growing segments of the market - high-throughput, cost-efficient inference on open-weight frontier models. The Company believes recent market developments support this positioning. Open-weight models such as Kimi K3 have meaningfully narrowed the capability gap with leading proprietary models at substantially lower token cost, and KIDZ AI expects economic efficiency - cost per token, throughput, latency, and utilization - to become an increasingly important competitive differentiator as affordable AI expands the addressable market for compute. Canopy Wave's capabilities across optimized inference, AI cloud services, and enterprise-grade GPU infrastructure align KIDZ AI with demand-side inference workloads, and the Company believes the partnership can serve as a repeatable template for future deployments.
Samsung creates RX robotics division for humanoid robots
According to the company, RX will be responsible for steering robotics strategy over the medium and long term, spanning everything from foundational technology work to bringing products to market. Samsung said it intends to open robotics research outposts in the U.S., China, and Japan, positioning itself to tap into the talent and industry networks those markets offer. Samsung said humanoid robots are central to its plans, with the goal of boosting both output and end-user experience — beginning on factory floors and eventually reaching homes and retail settings. The company pointed to rapid progress in physical AI as a key factor improving the commercial prospects for robotics. Earlier this month, Roh said at a briefing in Jinju that Samsung plans to invest around 60 trillion won ($40.7 billion) in the Yeongnam region. Of that total, 19 trillion won is designated for Gumi — in partnership with Samsung SDS — to develop physical AI infrastructure and humanoid robot manufacturing facilities, the company said. Samsung has been navigating a period of significant capital commitments alongside strong financial performance. The company posted a preliminary second-quarter operating profit of 89.4 trillion won — roughly 19 times its year-earlier result — even as investors weighed the scale of its spending plans, including a separate 400 trillion won investment in a new semiconductor manufacturing hub in southwestern South Korea. Samsung stock rose 6.76% on the news, while the Kospi index was up about 4%.
General Motors boosts 2026 outlook as North America margins surge
The company has now booked $10.9 billion in EV-related charges since the second half of 2025, including $7.2 billion with a cash impact. GM raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $12 to $14, up from a prior estimate and above the $12.76 analysts had expected. The company's full-year guidance assumes $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion in gross tariff costs and $1.5 billion to $2.0 billion in commodity inflation and DRAM-related costs. GM North America posted adjusted EBIT of $3.45 billion, up 43% from a year earlier and above estimates of $3.26 billion.
OpenAI Is on Pace to Miss Its Own Ad Revenue Forecast by 90%. Here’s What It Means For The AI Trade
According to research firm eMarketer, OpenAI's advertising business is on pace to miss the company's own five-year revenue forecast by roughly 90%. OpenAI has projected $2.5 billion in OpenAI ad revenue in 2026, growing to $100 billion by 2030. eMarketer's data tells a different story: standalone AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Mode, and Amazon's Alexa for Shopping combined, will generate less than $1 billion in ad revenue this year, and just $5.41 billion across the entire market by 2030. OpenAI's single-company 2030 target is roughly 20 times larger than eMarketer's estimate for the entire U.S. chatbot ad market. That gap calls the whole projection into question and sits at the heart of the AI bubble debate. Advertising is expected to make up roughly 36% of OpenAI's total revenue by 2030, making it central to the revenue base OpenAI needs to fund multi-year compute commitments to partners like Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), and Microsoft. Oracle alone carries $75 billion in AI-linked performance obligations tied to prepaid or customer-supplied GPU arrangements, much reportedly connected to OpenAI.
This Is the Mag 7’s Worst Performer Right Now. Can Q2 Change the Story?
In Q1 2026, Tesla reported revenue of $22.387 billion, up 15.78% YoY, and non-GAAP EPS of $0.41 versus a $0.3481 estimate, a 17.78% beat. Services and Other revenue jumped 42% to $3.745 billion on 1.28 million FSD subscriptions. Q2 reports July 22 after the close. Prediction markets on Polymarket price a 77.5% probability of a Q2 EPS beat. These projections assume Tesla executes on Cybercab, Semi, and Optimus ramps while sustaining FSD adoption.
Google expands Gemini lineup with cheaper models and new Mythos rival
Gemini 3.6 Flash — the stronger of the two new models — is cheaper per task than GPT-5.6 Terra Max, Kimi K3 and Qwen 3.7 Max, while 3.5 Flash-Lite costs just a fraction of that. That demand highlights the other side of the AI race: Building a competitive model is only part of the challenge. Companies also need enough computing capacity to serve it at scale. Tuesday's model launches come as Google is reportedly developing a specialized chip designed to run Gemini up to 10 times more efficiently, part of a broader push to lower the cost of serving AI.
Introducing the ChatGPT for small business program
78% of participants built a functional AI workflow in a single day, and 42% saved more than five hours a week with the help of AI, and we’re excited to recreate this success this year.
Palantir Stock Is Down More Than 35% from Its Peak. Is It Finally a Buy?
$1.6 billion, while U.S. commercial revenue grew more than 130%, highlighting strong demand from businesses adopting its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP).
Tesla spins up robotaxi pilots in Orlando and Tampa ahead of Q2 earnings
Tesla announced autonomous fleets in Dallas and Houston before its first-quarter earnings release but has yet to scale those operations. CEO Elon Musk, for instance, said repeatedly that Tesla's robotaxis would serve half the U.S. population by the end of 2025.
Tesla Rallies Ahead of Earnings as Options Signal 6% Stock Swing
Wall Street expects Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) to post revenue of about $26.4 billion and earnings of 54 cents per share. Investors are also expected to focus on updates related to autonomous driving, robotaxi deployment, AI4 and AI5 chips, software development and capital spending plans tied to the company's artificial intelligence strategy. The options market points to an implied move of roughly 6.4% after earnings.
Tesla Is $370: Should You Buy?
Q1 2026 delivered the operational turn bulls have been waiting for. EPS came in at $0.41 versus $0.3592 expected, revenue grew 15.78% year over year, and automotive gross margin snapped back to 21.1% from 16.2%. Services revenue jumped 42%, and FSD paid subscribers reached roughly 1.3 million, up 51% year over year. The balance sheet remains a fortress at $44.7 billion in cash against modest debt, and prediction markets assign an 80% probability of another earnings beat on July 22.
Tesla’s Q2 preview: the numbers will beat, but will the narrative?
480,126 vehicles delivered in the quarter, up 25% year over year, far above the analyst estimates of about 406,000, marking the company's strongest growth rate since Q3 2023. The energy business delivered 13.5 GWh of storage deployments, up more than 40% from 9.6 GWh in Q2 2025. Tesla will spend $26.8 billion in 2026 and run a free-cash-flow burn of $11.4 billion as it accelerates AI infrastructure investment. Analysts expect negative free cash flow of about $3.25 billion for the quarter, reflecting nearly $6.7 billion in capital expenditures as Tesla invests in AI infrastructure, manufacturing expansion, and robotaxi deployment. The company is expected to end the quarter with approximately $41.0 billion in cash. Tesla's Austin robotaxi service logged 14 crashes between its June 2025 launch and mid-January 2026 across an estimated 800,000 cumulative paid miles, for a rate of approximately one incident every 57,000 miles. At full scale, Cybercab production could reach two million units annually.
Sam Altman v. Elon Musk; Which AI Vision Actually Wins?
ChatGPT has about 1.1 billion monthly users and roughly half the U.S. chatbot market, and OpenAI's annualized revenue has climbed to somewhere around $24 billion to $25 billion. Grok, by contrast, has roughly 117 million monthly users, a shrinking share that recently slipped to fifth place behind Claude, Gemini, and others, and revenue closer to $500 million against a cash burn near $1 billion a month.
The Fed rang the alarm about Anthropic's Mythos AI model — but had to go months without it
The Fed was still trying to get access to Mythos as of July 15. "We are not the deciders as to who has access, but I have not been shy in sharing my views with authorities across the government about the vulnerabilities, and have been asking for access not just for the Federal Reserve but for other institutions to a whole range of these new artificial intelligence models so that they can protect themselves," Warsh told Sen. Jack Reed, D.-R.I., in response to questions about Mythos. Anthropic unveiled Claude Mythos Preview and Project Glasswing in early April. The company said roughly 50 organizations had access to the model at the time, but it named only a handful, including the bank JPMorgan Chase, and tech titans such as Amazon, Apple and Google.
TSLA Stock Jumps 3% Ahead Of Q2 Report — Analysts Split On Earnings Beat Expectations And Tesla’s Overpromise Problem
480,000 deliveries during the period, up 25% year over year and well above consensus. $6.7 billion in Q2 capex and warning that full-year guidance could rise above the current $25.6 billion consensus. Tesla’s company-compiled consensus estimates, Wall Street expects the company to report total Q2 revenue of about $27.58 billion, marking a year-on-year jump of about 23%, and adjusted earnings per share of $0.55, higher than the $0.40 reported in Q2 2025.
NIO Stock Stares At Another Red Month — But Morgan Stanley Says Nvidia-Rivaling AI Chip Arm Could Be Nio’s Valuable Call Option
The flagship NX9031X already powers every Nio and Onvo-branded model, with cumulative shipments exceeding 300,000 units, according to Morgan Stanley. The bank said one NX9031 provides computing performance comparable to four Nvidia Orin processors. Producing the chips internally could therefore reduce Nio’s reliance on imported computing hardware while spreading fixed development costs across a larger volume base. The midrange NX9031U, built on a 5-nanometer automotive-grade process, delivers up to 800 TOPS of equivalent computing power under air cooling. It also supports GeniTech’s Ruidong development platform for robot perception, planning, intelligent computing and advanced manufacturing.
This Asian EV Maker Is Beating Tesla, Nio And XPeng This Month — And Could Break Even At Home Next Year
115,916 vehicles in Vietnam during the first half of 2026, up 72% from the previous year. It is targeting at least 300,000 global deliveries this year after selling around 200,000 vehicles in 2025. VinFast’s first-quarter deliveries had already climbed 61% to 58,577 vehicles, with the company saying it has remained Vietnam’s top automaker every month since September 2024.
Power / Grid
Trump Promised He’d Reduce Electricity Prices By 50% In 18 Months. We Ran The Numbers.
According to U.S. Energy Information Administration data, residential electricity rates rose 18% from Trump’s January 2025 inauguration through April 2026, the latest month available. Pressure is not easing. PJM Interconnection, the largest grid operator in the country, posted a capacity price of $16.4 billion for power delivery in the 2028 to 2029 period, tying the prior record high. Utilities also filed $9.2 billion in rate-hike requests in the second quarter of 2026 alone, up 26% from the same period a year earlier. Data centers powering the AI boom are consuming electricity at a pace the grid was not built for, adding an estimated $6 billion to PJM’s auction costs by themselves. Tariffs raised the cost of key grid equipment, including a 147% tariff on Chinese goods that was later struck down, and a 15% tariff still in place on some grid equipment.
AI Power Demand Continues to Surge: 5 Highest Yielding Utility Stocks You Can Hold for Decades
Data center electricity demand has surged over the last few years as AI workloads have scaled up, becoming one of the biggest tailwinds for the U.S. utility sector. Training and running large AI models require massive, continuous computing power, and technology hyperscalers have been signing large-load power purchase agreements to secure capacity for new facilities. Because data centers run around the clock, as cooling systems, servers, and networking equipment don't power down overnight the way residential or commercial demand does, they create a more constant, predictable load that utilities can plan around. Still, the sheer scale of new demand is straining grids that were built for slower, more gradual growth. This has pushed utility companies to accelerate infrastructure spending, extend the life of existing power plants, and, in some cases, explore new generation sources to keep pace, all of which factor into the growth outlooks that continue to make utility stocks attractive to investors positioning around the AI boom.
Avantus Brings Aratina 1 Solar-Plus-Storage Online in California
The Aratina project is a powerful example of how community choice energy turns climate goals into real projects on the ground. Our long-term commitment to 120 MW from this facility will deliver clean, affordable power to our customers while supporting California's transition away from fossil fuels. We're grateful to partner with Avantus on a project that strengthens grid reliability and invests in the Central Coast's clean energy future. The Aratina Solar Center when complete will represent a combined 350 MW of solar and 952 MWh of energy storage. Avantus and Clean Power Alliance, another community choice aggregator, earlier in July announced a 20-year PPA for the Rexford 2 solar-plus-storage project in Tulare County, California. The companies said the deal is for 200 MW of solar power generation paired with a 200-MW/800-MWh battery energy storage system.
Data centers expected to use 4x more electricity by 2035
Data centers are expected to use one-fifth of the electricity generated in the U.S. by 2035, four times that of today, according to a new report from BloombergNEF. A surge in AI compute will push data center capacity to nearly 200 gigawatts over the next decade, the report predicts. Nearly half of that capacity will be devoted to training and inference, and most of that will remain concentrated in the U.S. By 2033, the country will host 64% of AI chips by power demand. BloombergNEF’s new estimate for electricity demand in 2035 is 83% higher than what the consultancy predicted in December. Other organizations have raised their forecasts, too. EPRI, an electrical industry nonprofit, has more than doubled its 2024 estimate, while S&P’s forecast rose by more than a third between October and April. The revisions reflect the fevered pace of data center development across the U.S. In the coming decade, BloombergNEF expects the majority of new data centers to hit electrical grids that are already strained. The PJM Interconnection, which spans Virginia to Illinois, will see 34% of its electricity go to data centers, while ERCOT, which covers most of Texas, will have to devote 22% of its generating capacity. PJM, which already hosts a large number of the country’s data centers, has struggled to cope with connection requests from both large generators and large loads. It paused applications for new sources to connect to the grid for four years, putting it in a precarious position as demand continued to grow. Though PJM reopened the queue to new generating sources in April, the situation has grown so dire that one utility, American Electric Power, has threatened to pull out of the interconnection. The supply-demand imbalance has pushed electricity prices up 76% over the past year. Even with the congestion, data centers still want to connect to PJM — they represented 38% of charges in the grid manager’s most recent capacity auction. Despite the U.S. claiming a majority of AI compute, data centers will continue to grow elsewhere. By 2033, if AI adoption continues along an aggressive trajectory, data centers will create 1,935 terawatt-hours of new electricity demand worldwide, nearly as much as India uses annually.
NEXTDC Jumps as Contracted Utilization Climbs 11% to 740 MW
The new agreements lifted contracted utilization to 740 megawatts and expanded the company's pro-forma forward order book to 565 megawatts.
Why Bloom Energy (BE) Stock Is Trading Up Today
The firm introduced estimates through fiscal year 2030, projecting 4.1 gigawatts in product segment deliveries. The available supply can reportedly support up to 25 gigawatts of annual manufacturing.
Can Dell (DELL) Sustain Its AI Server Momentum Without Reshaping Its Risk Profile?
Dell Technologies raised its fiscal 2027 revenue guidance and increased its outlook for AI-optimized server sales, reflecting stronger expectations for AI-related infrastructure demand than previously communicated. The most relevant recent announcement is Dell's updated fiscal 2027 outlook, which now bakes in higher AI server revenue expectations. Against the backdrop of strong AI server orders at peers like Super Micro, this revision ties Dell's near term catalyst more tightly to sector wide AI infrastructure spending. It also puts more focus on whether Dell can attach higher margin storage, software, and services to these systems to improve profitability over time. Dell Technologies' narrative projects $209.2 billion in revenue and $15.3 billion in earnings by 2029. Exploring Other Perspectives While the baseline view focuses on AI servers as a margin risk, the most optimistic analysts saw them as a cure, expecting revenues near US$248.4 billion and earnings around US$17.2 billion before this guidance reset, which shows how differently you and other investors might weigh the same AI order momentum and why these narratives could shift again after the latest news.
What Oklo (OKLO)'s Role in Federally Backed AI Data Center Nuclear Project Means For Shareholders
Oklo Investment Narrative Recap To own Oklo, you need to believe compact fast reactors and integrated fuel cycle assets can become viable businesses despite zero revenue today, widening losses and heavy capital needs. The AI data center initiative strengthens the policy tailwind but does not change the near term reality that the key catalyst is converting Oklo's 14 gigawatt pipeline into firm contracts, while the biggest risk remains execution and timing on multiple first of a kind projects that could prolong the loss making period. Against that backdrop, the recent DOE approval of the Documented Safety Analysis for the Groves Isotope Test Reactor in Texas stands out. It moves Oklo's isotope business closer to initial operations under the Reactor Pilot Program, giving more substance to the idea of a second revenue stream alongside future power sales and tying directly into the federal push to accelerate advanced nuclear infrastructure, including the new AI data center effort. Oklo's narrative projects $76.2 million in revenue and $11.3 million in earnings by 2029. This requires earnings to increase by about $140 million from -$128.9 million today.
Software
Brazil and US clash over future of payments as popular Pix system stirs global interest
Pix now accounts for more than half of all transactions in Brazil by volume and has about 170 million users, or 80% of the country's population. Card transaction volumes have continued to rise in absolute terms after Pix helped bring more than 70 million Brazilians into the financial system. But credit cards' share of transactions has fallen to about 15% from roughly 20% before Pix's launch, while the share for debit cards has dropped to around 10% from about 26%.
Gritt exits stealth with $34 million for robots to build solar plants—then, everything else
That brings its total funding to $34 million, following an earlier seed round backed by First Round Capital, Climactic, Congruent Ventures, and VSC Ventures. Gritt has two systems currently deployed in the field, using the data they collect to improve their behavior. Puri says that a typical eight-person crew workers can install 800 panels a day, but the same crew working with Gritt’s systems can install 3,000 to 4,000 panels each day. Now, the company says it is contracted to help install 2.8 gigawatts of solar panels in the next 18 months, and that its customers include three of the top 10 US power construction companies.
Google parent Alphabet to report Q2 earnings in latest test of AI trade
According to Bloomberg, Google has delayed its Gemini 3.5 Pro model over concerns related to its capabilities compared to other leading models. For the second quarter, Alphabet is expected to report earnings per share (EPS) of $2.95 on revenue of $116.98 billion. Revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs is anticipated to be $101.5 billion. Google's Cloud Platform (GCP) revenue should hit $22.4 billion, up 64% from the $13.6 billion the company reported in Q2 2025. Remaining performance obligations (RPOs), or contracts that Google still has to deliver on, are expected to top $488.1 billion, up 351% from Q2 last year.
How Mastercard, Visa, Apple Pay and PayPal performed at the World Cup
Mastercard finished top of the payment group in World Cup coverage as fraud conversations continue, according to CARMA. Trust, not technology, defined how payment brands were talked about, according to the media intelligence provider. CARMA reviewed 898 articles covering four payment brands, Mastercard, Visa, PayPal and Apple Pay, and found that coverage clusters around fraud risk, ticketing, betting, and cashless spending at fan venues. Mastercard holds the largest share of coverage, most of it linked to scam-related stories.
2 Glorious Growth Stocks Bucking the Recent Tech Sell-Off
Atlassian developed software products like Jira and Confluence, which are designed to foster collaboration among employees in large organizations. Its stock has come under pressure amid concerns that AI could shrink the global workforce, and thus reduce the revenue of software companies that charge customers on a per-user basis. Demand for Rovo contributed to the company's impressive 32% year-over-year revenue growth during its fiscal 2026 third quarter (ended March 31). That growth rate accelerated from 23% in the prior quarter three months earlier, so there is no sign the overall business is losing momentum. Atlassian has over 350,000 existing enterprise customers, so while most new AI software providers have to build their customer base from scratch, this company has a huge advantage and is uniquely positioned to become one of the industry leaders. CrowdStrike had $5.5 billion in annual recurring revenue (ARR) at the conclusion of its fiscal 2027 first quarter (ended April 30), which was up 24% from the year-ago period.
Oracle faces potential $7 billion guarantee requirement for Wisconsin AI data centre (ORCL)
According to the Financial Times, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission has decided not to revise the conditions imposed on utility provider We Energies. Under the current framework, Oracle may need to secure a letter of guarantee worth approximately $7 billion, a requirement that could cost the company more than $100 million each year. The planned data centre in Port Washington, Wisconsin, is expected to deliver nearly one gigawatt of computing capacity and forms part of Oracle's $300 billion computing infrastructure agreement with OpenAI.
“Oracle’s Crash Has Cost Larry Ellison $213 Billion. Now It Could End His Son’s $110 Billion Media Empire Dream”
A $213 Billion Wealth Collapse According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index data cited in reporting, Larry Ellison's net worth peaked near $388 billion in September 2025, when Oracle traded at $345.72 a share, making him only the second person ever, after Elon Musk, to cross $400 billion at his height. By mid-July 2026, that fortune had fallen to roughly $175 billion, a decline of about $213 billion in under 10 months, dropping him from No. 2 to No. 8 on the index. The Q4 FY2026 8-K shows Remaining Performance Obligations of $638 billion, up 363% YoY, most of it locked into contracts that will not translate to cash for years.
Texas Instruments or ServiceNow: One Stock Has the Analyst Conviction to Soar After Earnings
ServiceNow's coverage is far more one-sided. Analysts have posted 43 Buy ratings, four Hold ratings, and one Sell rating, an overwhelmingly bullish tilt built around the agentic AI thesis and Now Assist net new ACV more than doubling year over year in the most recent quarter. NOW sits roughly 35% below its $142 consensus price target after a 32% year-to-date drop, offering far wider implied upside than TXN.
MONY Group plc (MNSKY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Our business only succeeds when we save customers' money. So in the first half, we were absolutely thrilled to have helped U.K. households save an estimated GBP 1.5 billion. And it's through doing this that we delivered a strong start to the year. Record revenue was up 6% on a like-for-like basis. That was to GBP 227 million. Adjusted EBITDA was up 3% to GBP 76 million.
Ryan Cohen Says He’s Coming for eBay “One Way or Another.” What GameStop (GME) Shareholders Need to Know
GameStop now owns 43.4 million eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) shares, a 9.8% stake, according to a regulatory filing. That lets Cohen build a large stake without further diluting shareholders. GameStop has positioned itself as one of eBay's largest shareholders by building close to the 10% ownership threshold. eBay lacks that physical network. GameStop's own numbers back the swing as well: the corporation projects adjusted EBITDA above $600 million for the fiscal year ending January 2027, nearly double the $345.4 million it reported in fiscal 2025. Under CEO Jamie Iannone, eBay has moved into higher-margin categories like trading cards, luxury watches, and sneakers, and its market value has grown by nearly 50% since 2020. Its guidance shows the momentum, and the management expects second-quarter 2026 revenue of $2.97 billion to $3.03 billion and non-GAAP earnings of $1.46 to $1.51 a share, after first-quarter revenue grew 19% year over year to $3.09 billion. Of the 1,022 funds tracked, 61 held eBay at the end of Q1 2026, up from 59 the quarter before. But the total dollar value those funds held fell, from $2.51 billion to $1.82 billion, which suggests new holders bought smaller positions rather than existing ones adding to their bets. GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) moved the opposite way. Hedge fund ownership dropped to 29 funds from 31, while the total dollar value held nearly doubled, from $159 million to $293 million, pointing to a smaller group of holders riding the stock up rather than broad institutional buy-in on Cohen's strategy. GameStop has positioned itself as one of eBay's largest shareholders by building close to the 10% ownership threshold.
U.S. strikes continue, GM earnings, the latest on cyclosporiasis and more in Morning Squawk
GM reported $3.57 in adjusted earnings per share on $48.03 billion in revenue, both more than Wall Street estimates. The company's earnings per share for the first half was 25% higher than any other first half in its history. He also said GM's "momentum is palpable."
3 Unstoppable Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks That Are No-Brainer Buys for the Long Haul
During the first three months of the year, Google Search and other related revenue rose by 19%, totaling $60.4 billion. Alphabet's business is doing more than fine; it's thriving due to AI, as its growth remains strong. Its AI chatbot, Gemini, is also proving to be more than just a formidable competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT but a real threat.
Music streamer Deezer says more than 50% of daily uploads are AI-generated
Music streaming company Deezer has been tracking the number of AI-generated tracks uploaded on the platform since last year, and the number has constantly gone up. Today, the company said that AI music now represents more than 50% of downloads. Deezer said that AI-generated track uploads were at a peak in June 2026, representing a monthly average of 90,000 tracks per day. The streamer first released stats around AI music uploads in January 2025, when the daily upload volume was around 10,000 tracks or 10% of daily uploads.
Embellence Group AB (publ) (EMBLF) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Q2 was a challenging quarter where we delivered a net sales of SEK 181 million, which is an organic sales decline of 5% and an additional percentage point in FX, which in total is a decline of 6%.
Alphabet's Gemini delay, spending worries loom over earnings
Alphabet increased its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to between $180 billion and $190 billion in April and has announced plans to raise about $85 billion in equity offerings, including an investment from Berkshire Hathaway. Analysts expect the company's second-quarter revenue growth to ease only slightly from the first three months of 2026, as the cloud business drives results. Alphabet is expected to post a 21.3% rise in revenue for the April-June period to $116.93 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Adobe: The Growth Story Is Broken But Why I'm Buying Anyway
Management expects AI monetization to materialize mainly in fiscal 2027, with ARR growth skewed toward Q4, suggesting a potential upcoming inflection.
Forward Air secures deal to keep at least 50% of $250M account
Forward Air said Tuesday that it will continue working with one of its largest customers, which had provided notice in May that it might pull all of its business. A non-binding arrangement with the customer will allow Forward to keep half, and potentially up to 75%, of the $250 million account. A memorandum of understanding keeps the current contract in place for at least the next two years. Forward (NASDAQ: FWRD) previously said the customer was seeking to diversify its list of vendors, emphasizing that the customer's potential departure had nothing to do with the "exceptional service" being provided. However, Forward's shares plummeted over 40% following the warning that it might lose a customer responsible for 10% of its annual revenue. It said the potential loss of business also foiled its plan to sell the company. (Forward commenced a strategic review at the beginning of 2025 as pressure from investors mounted following its contested merger with Omni Logistics.) Instead, Forward is now looking to sell its intermodal unit and two smaller legacy Omni businesses, which generated $394 million in combined revenue last year. Proceeds from the sales will be used to delever the balance sheet. Net debt of $1.65 billion stood at 5.4 times last 12 months' adjusted EBITDA at the end of the first quarter. "We are extremely pleased with the productive conversations we have had with one of our largest customers, including the prospect of retaining up to 75% of the Customer's business with us and meaningfully extending the contract term," said Shawn Stewart, Forward president and CEO, in a Tuesday news release. "This agreement builds on our 20-year relationship and underscores the impeccable service the Forward Air team continues to provide." Shares of FWRD were up 19% in early trading on Tuesday compared to the S&P 500, which was up 0.5%.
These Dividend Aristocrats Yield Enough to Let Your Passive Income Do the Heavy Lifting
Chevron (CVX) generated $16.6 billion in free cash flow in 2025, backing 39 straight years of dividend increases with net debt to EBITDA of just 1x. Realty Income (O) Realty Income (NYSE:O) yields 4.76% and pays it out monthly, which is exactly the cadence retirees want. The current monthly dividend sits at $0.271 per share, with an annualized rate of $3.252, and the company has now declared 670 consecutive monthly dividends and 114 consecutive quarterly increases since its 1994 NYSE listing. Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT) Federal Realty is the only REIT Dividend King, riding 58 consecutive years of dividend increases. The current quarterly dividend is $1.13 per share, for an indicated annual rate of $4.52, most recently paid on July 15, 2026. Chevron (NYSE:CVX) yields 3.48% and just extended its increase streak to 39 consecutive years. The current quarterly payout of $1.78 per share annualizes to $7.12, and management has now returned more than $5 billion to shareholders for 16 consecutive quarters. T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ:TROW) offers a yield of 4.31%, backed by a current quarterly dividend of $1.30, up from $1.27 in 2025 and $1.24 in 2024. The annualized forward estimate is $5.20. Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) yields 3.87%, with a current quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share and an annualized forward rate of $1.32.
Prediction: Mark Zuckerberg Will Make an Announcement on July 29 That Sends Meta Stock Soaring
Meta's AI spending is crushing its free cash flow Meta's stock has been under pressure this year for one reason: the scale of its AI investments. The company is deploying unprecedented sums to build data centers, design custom silicon, and procure GPU clusters to support its AI initiatives. Those capital expenditures have compressed its free cash flow in the near term. Investors are growing increasingly concerned about the potential timeline for Meta to deliver meaningful returns on this capital, especially amid questions about how AI will be monetized across the broader tech sector. AI is already transformative for Meta Over the last few years, Meta has done a respectable job of embedding AI into its advertising empire. New tools such as Advantage+ use machine learning to automate campaign optimization, audience targeting, and creative testing. This has brought measurable efficiency gains for advertisers while boosting Meta's own average revenue per user.
Apple Stock Hits a New All-Time High: Is It Still a Buy?
Here’s What Boosted Marvell Technology (MRVL) in Q2
Alphabet vs Apple: The Better Buy Before Earnings
Google's Q1 FY2026 landed at $109.90 billion in revenue, up 21.79% year over year, with EPS of $5.11 versus a $2.6327 estimate. Cloud grew 63% to $20.03 billion, with backlog nearly doubling quarter on quarter to over $460 billion. Google doubled CapEx to $36B and guided for $175B to $185B in 2026, while Apple authorized a $100B buyback and raised its dividend 4%.
Prediction: Poet Technologies Will Trade at This Price in 2027
Revenue jumped 201.86% year over year in Q1 2026, yet shares are stuck at $8.33. The Street's consensus 12-month target sits at $17.50, backed by one Buy rating, zero Holds, and zero Sells. Our base case for 2027 is more aggressive at $22.23, implying 166.87% upside, with a bull case of $22.89 and a bear case of $16.61.
Meta vs Pinterest: The Better Stock For Long-Term Investors
Meta beat Wall Street with EPS of $10.44 on $56.311 billion in revenue, up 33.08% year over year.
Salesforce Cratered 33% in 2026. One Analyst Sees It Exploding Nearly 200%
CRM has cratered 34% YTD despite five straight EPS beats, with Dan Ives' $475 price target implying 173% upside on Agentforce's 205% ARR growth. The core bull thesis is that Agentforce represents a new subscription tier. Agentforce ARR hit $1.2 billion in Q1 FY27, up 205% YoY, and combined Agentforce plus Data 360 ARR reached roughly $3.4 billion, growing over 200% YoY. Management raised FY27 revenue guidance to $45.9 to $46.2 billion and set a $63 billion FY30 revenue target.
OpenAI, Anthropic boost lobbying as legacy tech and defense spending slips
OpenAI and Anthropic increased their federal lobbying spending to record levels in the second quarter of 2026 as the artificial intelligence industry poured millions into influencing Washington ahead of the midterm elections and ahead of their highly anticipated IPOs. Together, the two leading AI developers spent $3.17 million during the quarter, up 23% from the first three months of the year, according to federal lobbying disclosures. Anthropic spent $1.97 million from April through June, up 26% from the first quarter. OpenAI spent $1.2 million, an increase of nearly 18%. The companies reported lobbying on issues including cybersecurity, copyright, cloud computing and defense procurement. A CNBC analysis of five “Magnificent 7” tech companies — Meta, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia and Tesla — found they spent a combined $21.25 million on federal lobbying during the second quarter, essentially unchanged from $21.27 million in the first quarter. Meta remained the largest spender in the bunch in the second quarter at $5.99 million, though its lobbying expenditures fell 15% from the first quarter this year. Amazon’s spending was nearly unchanged at $4.36 million. The eight largest U.S.-based publicly traded defense contractors, ranked by fiscal 2024 Defense Department contract obligations in the latest General Services Administration's SAM.gov Top 100 Contractors report, spent $19.68 million on federal lobbying in the second quarter, down 3.3% from $20.36 million in the first quarter. Lockheed Martin led the group at $4.18 million, followed by RTX at $3.86 million and General Dynamics at $3.42 million. Boeing was had the biggest spending increase among the eight companies, increasing spending 13% to $2.77 million.
Buy Alphabet at $350 Because Wall Street’s Former Fear is Now Officially Dead
Sundar Pichai confirmed AI drove Google Search queries to all-time highs, with GOOGL revenue up 19% and EPS beating estimates by 94%. GOOGL has lagged SPY since its blowout Q1 report, yet 57 analysts rate it a Buy targeting $434, implying 23% upside from current levels. Google Cloud surged 63% with a $460 billion backlog, giving Alphabet a second megacap growth engine alongside a forward P/E of just 25.
Oracle stock makes rattling move after major setback
Oracle has already said missing its power schedule would push costs up. Rerouting around state land could add billions to the bill. Research firm SemiAnalysis now expects power at the site in 2029, not 2027, Pete Dinelli reported. The project still lacks an air quality permit and a gas line. The company delivered more than 1.2 gigawatts of data center capacity in 2026 and reported record remaining performance obligations of $638 billion. That call carried the real weight. CLSA estimated Oracle may need up to $500 billion in capital through 2030 to fund its AI roadmap, and internal cash flow could only cover about a fifth of it.
Why Salesforce Was Falling Today, Even as the Nasdaq Rallied
Salesforce was on the receiving end of a Wall Street analyst's downgrade today, along with a big price target cut. That led to a sell-off; however, given the stock's bargain-basement valuation, is the analyst's negativity already baked into the share price? Salesforce, of course, isn't standing still. The company has developed its own agentic AI features and capabilities, which it calls Agentforce. In June, Salesforce made a very interesting acquisition with an eye toward the agentic future: customer service agent software company Fin. Fin has already transformed its business model in the manner Salesforce needs to, including an outcome-based pricing model on its fully autonomous customer service agent, run on a custom AI model independent of the major AI labs. So Agentforce still accounts for only about 7% of revenue; even if that keeps growing fast, a drag on the larger non-agentic business could cap overall growth.
Why BSX Stock Hands You So Much Cash Right Now
Boston Scientific (BSX), a maker of medical devices, trades around $44 a share. Over the past year, the stock has fallen 58%, with a sharp 32% drop in just the last three months. Yet the business generates a 5.1% annual free cash flow yield. That cash flow yield sits above the 4.1% paid by the median large company in the S&P 500. This isn’t a one-year fluke. Boston Scientific’s operating margin over the last twelve months was 19.9%, comfortably ahead of the 18.4% S&P 500 median. Its 3-year average margin of 18.5% shows this profitability is durable. The company’s sales have also outpaced the market, with revenue growing 17.4% over the past year, above the median large company’s 7.5% growth. The first concrete signal of a turnaround will be whether the company can hit the high end of its 5.0% to 7.0% organic revenue growth forecast for the coming quarter.
Oracle stock is still a buy: Analyst outlines his bull case
Oracle (ORCL) stock is moving higher, recovering from its recent slide. Mizuho Americas managing director Siti Panigrahi explains why he maintains an Outperform rating on the stock. When you talk to clients, why do you make the case Oracle's actually a buy here? Yeah, it's a great. Thanks for having having me here. Look, uh Oracle, I think a year ago, if you see or a year or two ago, when they were signing big RPO, people were questioning whether Oracle can even build data center, you know, whether they have their capacity or not. And then there was the funding issue, then there was like RPO customer concentration. A lot of issues like, you know, investors concerned, um that we heard last year. You see last two quarters, the company, you know, management tried to address many of those. Now you can see clear visibility in terms of their funding plan. You know, now you can see see their, you know, uh RPO, you know, customer concentration. They already addressed that. Capacity wise, you know, last year fiscal 26, uh fiscal 26, they delivered 1.2 gigawatt capacity and in Q1 itself alone, they'll get 1 gigawatt. So, I think at this point, um you can see the clear visibility on their long-term guidance, you know, uh you know, fiscal 30. Uh uh they already given you a guidance how how the growth will accelerate. This is one of the company, you know, next five years, Kager, we are seeing a top line 32% and bottom line 28% Kager in the next five years. There are very few mega cap company of this scale can deliver that. It's now question of execution. We see that slowly every quarter management is able to execute and deliver. I think that will bring back that confidence. So, now coming to valuation like you said, right now stock, if you believe on that $21 EPS in fiscal 30, stock is trading 6 time PE. And we think that this is company can deserve more at this point and and that's why, you know, 15X is is reasonable at this point.
MONY Group plc (MNSKY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Prepared Remarks Transcript
We delivered record revenue. That's up 6% to GBP 227 million and adjusted EBITDA up 3% to GBP 76 million, continuing our story of unbroken growth for the last 5 periods. We plan to return over GBP 90 million to shareholders in 2026, made up of our progressive dividend and our ongoing GBP 25 million buyback.
Super Micro Computer Says Fourth-Quarter Margins Will Be Twice as High as Expected
The server company said it now expects gross margins of 15% to 17%, up from its previous guidance for up 8.2% to 8.4%.
Jim Cramer Says Stop Betting on Volatile Tech Stocks and Buy These “Boring” Sectors Instead
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM | JPM Price Prediction) posted Q2 2026 EPS of $7.70 versus a $5.80 estimate, revenue of $57.35 billion, and ROTCE of 23%. Equity Markets revenue jumped 86% year over year to $6.03 billion, and the board authorized a fresh $50 billion buyback. J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) delivered Q2 EPS of $1.91 versus $1.73 expected on revenue of $3.50 billion, up 19.4%. Intermodal revenue rose 22% to $1.75 billion with operating income up 58%. Optical Communications revenue rose 36% year over year to $1.85 billion on AI data center demand, and CEO Wendell Weeks said Corning “finalized two more hyperscaler deals similar in size and duration to our recently announced multiyear, up-to-$6 billion agreement with Meta.”
Netflix “Is Not a Broken Company” and Trades At Just 19x Earnings. Jim Cramer Says Start Buying
Netflix’s Advertising Revenue Could Double to $3 Billion Cramer shared Netflix’s bull case based on an uptick in advertising revenue. “Advertising revenues should roughly double to $3 billion this year, and management believes the gap between the economics of the ad-supported and the ad-free plans is narrowing,” he said, pointing to a gap now under 45%. On the earnings call, co-CEO Gregory Peters described that closing gap as “near-term, unrealized revenue growth” the company can harvest. The Company Captures Only 5% of Global Television Viewing Then came the runway argument. “Penetration of its addressable broadband households captures only about 7% of the entertainment revenue available in those markets, and accounts for just about 5% of global television viewing, so there’s still plenty of room for growth,“ Cramer said. CFO Spencer Neumann noted Netflix is approaching 1 billion people in audience with household penetration under 45% of ~800 million addressable households. Netflix Repurchased a Record $4.7 Billion of Stock Additionally, Netflix repurchased $4.7 billion of stock in Q2, its largest buyback quarter ever, with roughly $27 billion in remaining authorization after April’s $25 billion refresh. Cramer characterized it as one of the largest corporate buyback programs in America, alongside investments across ads, games, live programming, podcasts, sports, and AI. Netflix shares are down 8.44% over the past week, 12.64% over the past month, and 44.1% over the past year, closing Tuesday at $68.67.
Fantastic News for Netflix Stock Investors!
We're under 45% penetrated into addressable households around the world. It's roughly 800 million addressable households. We're capturing, we think, just 7% of addressable revenue market. NASDAQ: NFLX
Why Upstart Stock Lost 19% in the First Half of 2026
Upstart's (UPST +1.67%) business has come a long way in recent years. The fintech stock was one of the biggest losers in the post-pandemic bear market as its profits evaporated in 2022, but since then, it has regrouped, returned to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) profitability, and delivered strong growth. However, that hasn't been enough to please investors, at least so far this year, and concerns about its business model and the departure of CEO Dave Girouard have hung over the company, despite its continuing to deliver solid results. As a result, the stock fell 19% in the first six months of 2026, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Upstart actually jumped out of the gate, scoring a buy rating from Truist early in the year, crediting its advantage over traditional credit scoring and its AI foundation. However, by the end of January, the stock was in the red. Upstart tumbled in February as it gave investors two bitter pills to swallow. First, it said that co-founder Dave Girouard was stepping down as CEO, to be replaced by co-founder and then-CTO Paul Gu, and it reported fourth-quarter earnings, delivering solid results but offering underwhelming guidance. Overall growth in the quarter was impressive, with loans originated up 86% to 455,788 and revenue up 35% to $296.1 million as the company targets smaller loans and lower-risk borrowers, which offer less of a premium and have led to lower take rates. That figure beat estimates at $288.6 million. On the bottom line, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rose from $38.8 million to $63.7 million, and it reported a GAAP profit per share of $0.17. However, the company guided 2026 adjusted EBITDA margin to fall slightly from 22% to 21%, and investors also seemed worried about declining take rates, suggesting its lending partners aren't paying as much as they previously were. The stock fell 15% on Feb. 11 on the news and continued to decline from there. The company maintained its guidance for the year in the Q1 report, and CEO Paul Gu bought 50,000 shares of the stock the following week in May, which is typically a bullish signal. Management also offered guidance through 2028, calling for a compound annual growth rate of around 35% during 2025-2028 and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 28%.
Blackstone (BX) To Report Earnings Tomorrow: Here Is What To Expect
Blackstone beat analysts' revenue expectations last quarter, reporting revenues of $3.46 billion, up 24.2% year on year. This quarter, the market is expecting Blackstone's revenue to grow 11.6% year on year, slowing from the 22.9% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Blackstone rarely misses Wall Street's revenue estimates. Goldman Sachs delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 39.5%, beating analysts' expectations by 23.7%, and Morgan Stanley reported revenues up 27.1%, topping estimates by 8.7%. There has been positive sentiment among investors in the capital markets segment, with share prices up 5.8% on average over the last month. Blackstone's stock price was unchanged during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $138.95 (compared to the current share price of $124.30).
Is Washington Building a Tariff Wall Around American AI?
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has the clearest exposure to the frontier-intelligence theme. The company's latest quarterly filing placed its OpenAI interest at around 27% on an as-converted basis. OpenAI's March 31 funding round valued the company at $852 billion post-money, implying a stake worth roughly $230 billion, although Microsoft has not reported that amount as the investment's carrying value. OpenAI has committed to purchase another $250 billion of Azure services, while Microsoft retains revenue-sharing rights through 2030 and a non-exclusive IP license through 2032.
How the Potential $10 Billion Compute Lease Deal Between Meta Platforms and Anthropic Affects Neocloud Stocks
Meta Platforms recently signed a five-year, $27 billion deal with Nebius (NBIS +18.78%) for additional compute. Hut 8 (HUT +7.98%) recently announced that it had expanded an existing contract with a "high-investment-grade tenant." The updated lease has a 15-year term covering 352 megawatts. The contract's total value is $9.8 billion, averaging $653 million per year. Compute seller Iren (IREN +2.64%) has demonstrated that it can diversify its customer base beyond the hyperscalers. The company announced this week that it had secured $2.8 billion in new customer contracts with "leading AI developers."
Jim Cramer vs. The AI Bears: Why Apple’s Consumer Ecosystem Remains Unbreakable
There is some real opportunity here, and I'm not blind to it. That said, let me tell you what we're doing. First, we are not touching the Trust's longstanding Apple position. The sharp knives are indeed out for the Apple, let's say, management from the tech intelligentsia. The intelligentsia say that Apple will miss the most important story of our lives: artificial intelligence. They lambaste Siri. They regard the lost opportunity as critical to Apple's failure for the next generation. Yet you know what? These same people are posting from their iPhone 17 Pro Max. You know what? They would rather slit their wrists than switch to Samsung... So in its core business, Apple's bulletproof, and they never spent much on AI in the first place. Addressing a $7 intra-day pullback, Cramer pointed out that Apple's deliberate refusal to match competitors' massive infrastructure spending actually protects shareholder value: I want you to think about this as you look at Apple, down seven bucks today. Did anyone switch to Samsung during this travesty of an AI issue? Did anyone say, that's it, I am sick of it, I'm sick of the 17 Pro Max; get me a Lenovo? Perhaps the cognoscenti wishes that Apple would spend $200 billion, maybe 70% on the data center structure and power, maybe give the rest of Google TPUs; maybe buy some expensive NVIDIA GPUs. As someone who owns Apple for my Charitable Trust, I actually like that they let Alphabet spend those billions of dollars on AI and then they've had Alphabet pay them a nominal sum so it was in the iPhone. The pros have a term for this Apple-Alphabet deal. You know what it's called? A great deal. Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan maintained a Buy rating and $380 price target, projecting an earnings beat with $109 billion in revenue (+16% YoY) and $1.89 EPS.
Google Kicks Off Big Tech Earnings: Why Capex, Not Cloud Growth, Could Decide Market’s Next AI Trade
$710 billion this year. They spent a combined $129.8 billion of this in the first quarter, an 81% jump from the year-ago quarter and 9% higher than the fourth quarter of 2025. A June report by The Bank for International Settlements, the Switzerland-based institution that also predicted the 2008 financial crisis, said that a potential scaling back of AI capex could throw the global financial system into disorder. The spending would surely slow at some point. Hyperscalers' capex will rise 76% this year to $673 billion in 2026, but will increase by only 25% next year and just 6% in 2028, Reuters reported, citing estimates from UBS. Expectations are high as they reported remarkably strong cloud growth in the first quarter, with Google Cloud sales surging a record 63%.
Garmin Stock Rises Overnight: Can Its $200 Whoop And Google Fitbit Challenger Get Investors’ Hearts Racing Again?
Revenue increased 17% to $2.12 billion in its fiscal 2025 fourth quarter, with sales from the fitness segment, which includes the watches, rising 42% to about $765.8 million. Garmin’s stock rose sharply in February when it last reported quarterly earnings. Revenue increased 17% to $2.12 billion in its fiscal 2025 fourth quarter, with sales from the fitness segment, which includes the watches, rising 42% to about $765.8 million. In recent months, Garmin has refreshed much of its fitness wearable lineup with the Vivoactive 6, Forerunner 570, Forerunner 970 and Venu X1, targeting everyone from casual fitness enthusiasts to serious endurance athletes. The launches have been broadly well received by reviewers, with the Venu X1 in particular earning praise as Garmin’s strongest smartwatch yet. Still, the company faces intense competition from fitness wearables such as the Apple Watch, the Fitbits, and those from Asian companies such as Samsung and Huawei. However, GRMN stock has pared gains since and is down over 11% from its peak in April. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for GRMN shifted to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ the previous day, amid ‘low message volume.
Aerospace
Northrop Grumman raises 2026 forecasts on strong weapons demand
Northrop lifted its 2026 revenue forecast by $250 million to a range of $43.75 billion to $44.25 billion, roughly in line with Wall Street estimates, according to data compiled by LSEG. The Falls Church, Virginia-based company reported total sales of $10.88 billion for the quarter ended June 30, higher than the $10.35 billion it posted a year earlier. Its total backlog rose 9% to $104.7 billion during the period.
SpaceX Shares Fall Below IPO Price: A Contrarian Buy Worth Considering
The engine underneath SpaceX, its Starlink satellite-internet service, keeps growing and now serves more than 10 million customers, and the company has started raising prices, a sign the product has become hard to live without.
If You Invested $2K in the SpaceX IPO, How Much Do You Have Now?
According to SpaceX's own S-1 filing, the company generated $18.7 billion in revenue in 2025 while posting a net loss of $4.9 billion as it continued investing heavily in Starlink, artificial intelligence and other long-term growth initiatives.
SpaceX sets earnings date, triggering first lock-up expiration for millions of shares
SpaceX is planning to launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 24 Starlink satellites into low orbit on Tuesday after scrubbing the mission before takeoff on Monday. This was the second cancelled launch from SpaceX in a week. The company plans to launch its massive Starship rocket on Thursday after halting the mission last week due to an engine ignition failure. "Some of the engines didn't start, triggering an automatic launch abort," Musk said in a post on the SpaceX-owned social network X. The company said it was modifying the rocket's propulsion system to address the engine issues. Investors are watching Starship test flights closely after SpaceX raised a record $85.7 billion in the biggest initial public offering ever in June, pricing shares at $135. The giant rocket — which is the largest ever built or flown — is key to SpaceX ambitions to scale its Starlink satellite internet service, and key to fulfilling various obligations to the Artemis program of U.S. space agency NASA, which aims to bring astronauts back to the lunar surface in 2028. Musk has also called Starship the "holy grail" of space travel, and wants to see it someday used for space tourism and manned missions to Mars. Investors are also watching SpaceX's growing array of cloud computing contracts. The company acquired Musk's AI venture, xAI, now called SpaceXAI, in February, becoming the owner and operator of sprawling data centers and a power plant in Greater Memphis. Google, Anthropic and Reflection have signed up to rent excess compute capacity from SpaceXAI, as xAI company is now known, at those facilities. The company is also reportedly in talks to provide the Pentagon with compute capacity.
The Cold, Hard Facts About SpaceX’s Value Are Hiding in Plain Sight
Top-line growth ran from $10.387 billion in FY 2023 to $18.674 billion in FY 2025, with trailing twelve-month revenue now at $19.3 billion. Gross profit sits at $9.42 billion and EBITDA is positive at $3.95 billion. SPCX trades at $119.85 against an average analyst target of $240.04, implying 100.28% upside across 11 covering analysts. The stock carries a P/S of 84.63, an EV/Revenue of 85.36, and an EV/EBITDA of 873. Shares are down 13.86% in the past week and 35.22% in the past month, trailing a broadly positive S&P 500 that has posted mid-single-digit gains over the same window. The bear thesis is mechanical. The stock trades at nearly 85 times sales while burning cash. Each quarter that Starship monetization slips, the multiple loses justification. Q1 2026 showed net losses widening sharply year over year, and the next two prints are direct catalysts that bears argue could push the stock toward the $62 Morningstar fair value. What would invalidate the bear thesis is a Starlink margin surprise, a defense contract of meaningful scale, or Starship commercial launch cadence that pulls forward revenue by a year.
SpaceX: The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Infrastructure Build-out Just Got Interesting (NASDAQ:SPCX)
In 2025, its AI segment posted an operating loss of $6.4 billion on revenue of just $3.2 billion. SpaceX has signed capacity agreements worth up to $82 billion with Anthropic, Google Cloud, and Reflection AI.
Northrop adds to charges on Vulcan solid rocket motor program
$91 million unfavorable adjustment to its earnings at completion on its GEM 63XL motor program. That motor is used in the solid rocket boosters on United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket. On the most recent Vulcan launch in February, a booster suffered a “significant performance anomaly,” although the rocket was still able to place its payload into its planned orbit. “We expect to begin delivering the redesigned motors by the end of the year,” she said. “This growth is primarily driven by higher volumes on national security space programs, new awards and improved performance on GEM 63XL,” he said.
Alaska Airlines, Inc. doubles cargo capacity with addition of four freighters
Cargo growth advances the company's Alaska Accelerate strategic plan, delivering $150 million of new annual profit. SEATTLE, July 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska Airlines, Inc. today announced it is entering into long-term lease agreements to add four 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) aircraft to its dedicated cargo fleet, increasing the carrier's 737 freighter fleet from five to nine aircraft. The four additional freighters will effectively double the capacity of our freighter fleet, while injecting more reliability into cargo service for communities we serve and providing more flexibility in aircraft allocation across the airline's cargo network.
SpaceX launches Northrop mission to extend the life of aging satellites
Because the mission required the booster’s full performance to send the MRV and three pods toward geostationary orbit, SpaceX did not attempt to recover the first stage, ending its service after a record 32 flights. Northrop estimates that a pod can extend the useful life of a typical geostationary communications satellite by roughly six years.
Lockheed Martin Unveils Patriot Missile That Could Cost Less Than Half the Current Interceptor as Ukraine, Middle East Conflicts Drive Demand
Lockheed Martin's move to introduce a more affordable interceptor comes on the heels of a significant uptick in defense contracts. In June, the company announced a seven-year contract for up to $35 billion to quadruple production of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors. The new missile from Lockheed Martin is projected to cost less than half of its PAC-3 MSE interceptors, which are currently priced around $4 million per missile, based on U.S. Army budget documents.
Elon Musk Says the Short Sellers Betting Against SpaceX Have a "Very Low" Survival Probability. Their Bets Now Equal 32% of the Float.
About 206 million SpaceX shares are now sold short, according to estimates from S3 Partners. That's roughly 32% of the company's publicly tradable shares, and about $25 billion in bearish bets. The company generated about $19 billion of revenue over the trailing 12 months, up 33% year over year.
SpaceX Stock Is Down 36% From Its Post-IPO Peak. History Says a $10,000 Investment Will Be Worth This Much by June 2027.
SpaceX values its addressable market at $28.5 trillion, and the company attributes the vast majority of that figure ($26.5 trillion) to artificial intelligence products and services. We believe SpaceX's reusable rockets, scaled satellite manufacturing, and operational expertise can enable the cost-effective and rapid deployment of massive AI compute satellite constellations -- with potentially millions of satellites -- for orbital data centers. We believe these AI compute satellites in sun-synchronous orbit will be able to handle energy-intensive AI workloads, such as inference demand, at far greater scale and efficiency than terrestrial alternatives. That means SpaceX is currently 40% more expensive than the most richly valued member of the benchmark index for the entire U.S. stock market.
Bio
Phanes Therapeutics Announces Expansion of Clinical Trial Collaboration and Supply Agreement with Merck to Evaluate Spevatamig in Combination with KEYTRUDA® (Pembrolizumab) and Chemotherapy for Treatment of Biliary Tract Cancer
Spevatamig is an I2E, an emerging class of IO agents. I2Es are expected to activate macrophages and dendritic cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells, providing a potential complementary mechanism to leverage the immune system to attack tumors, especially the so-called "cold tumors" that are less likely to respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Spevatamig is a first-in-class native IgG-like bispecific antibody (bsAb) targeting claudin 18.2 and CD47. It was granted orphan drug designation (ODD) for the treatment of pancreatic cancer by the FDA in 2022 and was granted Fast Track designation for the treatment of patients with metastatic claudin 18.2-positive pancreatic adenocarcinoma in 2024. Phanes is conducting clinical trials with spevatamig in multiple cancer indications, including a Phase 2 study evaluating the efficacy of spevatamig in combination with chemotherapy in first-line PDAC patients.
Novartis Q2 profits recover as revenue mantle passes to newer medicines
$5.94bn, representing flat year-over-year growth. Quarterly sales grew 1% at constant currency to $14.1bn, which was a 3% beat on expectations as per a research note from Citi analysts. The drug racked up $7.8bn in peak sales in 2025, though revenue has been plummeting since the core US patent expired last year. Entresto sales dropped 42% in Q1, and the story has continued into Q2 with the medicine's sales declining 50%. Kisqali (ribociclib) continued to do much of the heavy lifting, growing 43% compared to the same quarter last year to $1.7bn. Kesimpta (ofatumumab), a multiple sclerosis drug, generated $1.4bn, an increase of 32%. Scemblix was the highest-growth medication amongst Novartis' priority brands, up 89% from last year's same quarter due to strong momentum among newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukaemia patients. Looking ahead, Novartis reaffirmed its 2026 guidance of low single-digit growth for net sales.
Novo Nordisk sues Eli Lilly over misleading weight loss drug ads
Novo's specific complaint centers on ads that compare the highest doses of Lilly's drugs to lower doses of Novo's treatments, without accounting for newer data on Novo's products. One TV commercial, which the suit says has received more than 700 million impressions since airing around the end of April, states that patients on Zepbound lose 50 pounds on average compared to 33 pounds on the 2.4-milligram dose of Wegovy.
Should You Be Bullish on Forte Biosciences (FBRX)
Forte Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBRX) posted a one-month return of 161.65%, while its shares gained 355.32% over the past 52 weeks. Forte Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBRX) closed at $47.49 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of $972.54 million. We view Forte favorably given the differentiated mechanism underlying FB102 and its potential applicability across multiple sizeable indications, supported by encouraging early celiac data and a series of meaningful clinical readouts anticipated through the balance of the year.
Strong Results Boosted Guardant Health (GH) in Q2
One-month return of Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) was 13.18%, and its shares gained 220.15% over the past 52 weeks. Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) has a market capitalization of $19.63 billion. Shares contributed positively to performance during the quarter, advancing on first-quarter results that prompted management to raise full-year 2026 revenue guidance, the inclusion of the Shield blood test in updated colorectal cancer screening guidelines, and regulatory approval of Guardant360 CDx as a companion diagnostic for Boehringer Ingelheim's Hernexeos.
ORIC Pharmaceuticals: Royalty-Free Phase 3 Economics Strengthen The Bull Case
ORIC Pharmaceuticals advances rinzimetostat into the global Phase 3 Himalayas-1 trial for mCRPC, with full global rights and royalty-free economics. ORIC’s $419.7M cash position funds operations into 2H 2028, supporting pivotal trial readouts while minimizing dilution via strategic partnerships and disciplined capital allocation. Rinzimetostat’s value is enhanced by a unique royalty-free license and free darolutamide supply from Bayer, maximizing potential post-approval returns.
Johnson & Johnson vs Abbott Laboratories: Two Healthcare Giants on Opposite Trajectories
JNJ's Q1 report leaned on its Innovative Medicine engine, with segment revenue of $15.43 billion, up 11.2%. DARZALEX brought in $3.96 billion (+22.5%), TREMFYA jumped 68.3%, and CARVYKTI kept scaling. That momentum is doing heavy lifting because STELARA collapsed 59.7% against biosimilars, a real drag that TREMFYA is fortunately absorbing. Abbott's Q2 story is different. Medical Devices delivered $5.85 billion, up 9%, led by FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitors at $2.19 billion. Diagnostics surged 42.3% almost entirely because Cologuard from Exact Sciences contributed $919 million. Strip that out and comparable sales grew a more modest 4.8%, which is less flashy but more representative. JNJ raised full-year revenue guidance to $100.3B to $101.3B and adjusted EPS to $11.45 to $11.65. Abbott lifted its EPS range to $5.45 to $5.60, though acquisition financing pushed interest expense to $299 million from $50 million.
Celldex drops in after-hours trading on phase 2 barzolvolimab results
Celldex (CLDX) is down ~6% in after-hours trading Tuesday after phase 2 results for barzolvolimab for the chronic skin disease prurigo nodularis missed primary and secondary goals.
Wall Street can wait: Why one U.S. biotech firm is listing in Hong Kong first
The U.S. remains the deepest and most institutionalized biotech capital pool in the world, said Danny Xiang, founding partner at the life science-focused private equity firm Fontus Capital. The Hang Seng Biotech Index in Hong Kong has climbed more than 75% since January 2025, surpassing the roughly 40%-50% gains in the ICE Biotechnology Index and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index, tracking U.S.-listed firms during the same period, according to LSEG data. Axiom is co-developing a therapy with South Korea-based biopharma firm Medinno for newborns with severe brain injuries linked to high death rates. The therapy has received two U.S. Federal Drug Administration designations for rare pediatric diseases, and a Phase 1 trial involving nine newborns in South Korea has been completed. The Commerce Department has imposed export restrictions on several entities linked to genomics giant BGI Group, while the Pentagon last month added the pharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec to its list of firms that it alleges have ties to the Chinese military.
How Investors May Respond To AbbVie (ABBV) Securing EU Approval For Short-Acting Boey Aesthetic Toxin
In July 2026, Allergan Aesthetics, an AbbVie company, received European Commission approval for Boey (trenibotulinumtoxinE), a rapid-onset, short-duration botulinum neurotoxin serotype E for adults with psychologically impactful moderate to severe glabellar lines, following similar approval in Canada. AbbVie's narrative projects $79.1 billion revenue and $22.8 billion earnings by 2029. This requires 8.0% yearly revenue growth and a roughly $19.2 billion earnings increase from $3.6 billion today.
Should You Buy Moderna Stock Hand Over Fist Before Aug. 5?
mRNA-1010 posted better efficacy numbers than some approved products in this category in phase 3 clinical trials. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set a PDUFA goal date -- or the target deadline by which it will either approve or reject Moderna's application for mRNA-1010 -- of Aug. 5.
Worldwide Digital Railway Market to Reach $136.49 Billion by 2031 as IoT, AI and Cloud Adoption Accelerate
The global digital railway market is projected to grow from USD 90.98 billion in 2026 to USD 136.49 billion by 2031, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.5%. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing digital railway market during the forecast period, supported by rapid urbanization and rising demand for improved mobility. Remote monitoring accounted for the largest share of the digital railway market in 2025.
Consumer / Retail
Wereldhave N.V. (WRDEF) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
She Sold Long-Held Stock at a Gain the Year After Her Husband Died. Her Filing Status Just Halved Her Medicare Premium Thresholds.
$109,000 versus $218,000 for joint filers, instantly cutting the threshold in half for new widows. IRMAA's two-year lookback means a stock sale today locks in a higher Medicare Part B premium years later, long after the money is gone. Realizing large gains in the final joint-filing year, when broader thresholds still apply, is the most effective way to avoid future IRMAA surcharges. A widow with $95,000 of ordinary retirement income sells appreciated stock and realizes a $40,000 long-term gain. As a joint filer the year before, that same combined income would have sat comfortably under the $218,000 line. As a single filer, she lands above $109,000 and into the next tier. Her Part B premium for that future year climbs from $202.90 to $284.10 a month. Push further, into the $137,000 to $171,000 band, and the premium rises to $405.80. The surcharge also applies to Part D. IRMAA hits roughly 8% of Part B beneficiaries, but new widows are overrepresented in that group precisely because the threshold cut catches them off guard. The single standard deduction of $16,100 for 2026 is half the $32,200 married-filing-jointly deduction, so more of the same income becomes taxable.
Homeplus rehabilitation case delayed to September after court appeal
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, online platforms accounted for 60.6% of combined sales among the country's leading distributors in March — the highest proportion recorded since the ministry began its monthly retail survey in June 2016.
AMC’s Meme Stock Mania Is Back, Thanks to Christopher Nolan’s $264 Million New Blockbuster
Shares of AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) jumped about 27% on Monday, July 20, 2026, closing at $2.46, after the theater chain posted the biggest quarterly revenue and profit in its 106-year history. The surge extended a hot streak: AMC is up roughly 32% over the past week and about 58% year to date, reviving the frenzied retail trading that made it a meme stock legend in 2021. AMC’s second-quarter revenue rose 14.2% year over year to roughly $1.6 billion, and Adjusted EBITDA climbed 70% to a record $321.4 million, the best quarter in the company’s history. The film opened to $124 million domestically and $264 million globally in its first three days, Nolan’s biggest global debut ever, recouping its full $250 million production budget almost immediately. AMC felt the impact directly. The chain drew 4.3 million patrons globally for the film’s opening weekend, and more than half of ticket receipts came from premium giant-screen formats like IMAX and Dolby, which carry higher prices and fatter margins. CEO Adam Aron is not shy about the moment. He has pointed to “The Odyssey,” alongside “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” “Dune: Part Three,” and “Avengers: Doomsday,” as reasons 2026 could be the strongest year for movie theaters since before the pandemic. AMC still carries $3,851.6 million in corporate borrowings and negative stockholders’ equity of $1,452.7 million.
Goldman Sachs (GS) Stock Looks Near Fair Value After A 217% Run
Goldman Sachs Group stock has delivered a very large 5 year gain, yet current checks suggest it now looks closer to fairly priced, with the Excess Returns intrinsic value estimate and earnings based multiples both pointing to only a modest valuation gap rather than a clear bargain. Goldman Sachs Group has returned 216.8% over 5 years, which puts the current valuation debate into focus after such a strong run. The stock scores 4 out of 6 on valuation checks, which points to a mixed picture rather than an obvious bargain or clear overvaluation. On these assumptions, the Excess Returns framework arrives at an intrinsic value of $1,108 per share, which implies the stock appears 4.8% undervalued relative to the current price. Goldman Sachs trades at about 16.2x earnings, compared with a Capital Markets industry average P/E of roughly 39.7x and a peer average closer to 30.8x. That is a clear discount to both broad sector pricing and closer peer group levels. The fair P/E ratio, which adjusts for Goldman Sachs Group's growth profile, margins, size and risk, is estimated at about 19.4x. Against the current 16.2x, the stock trades a few turns below what this model would typically assign, which indicates the market may not be fully reflecting the earnings power implied by recent results. On the P/E multiple, Goldman Sachs Group stock appears undervalued relative to what its earnings profile would usually justify. Goldman Sachs Group sits in a middle ground, with the Excess Returns intrinsic value estimate indicating it is only modestly below current pricing, while earnings multiples still point to an undervalued stock relative to peers.
Here Are Tuesday’s Top Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Adobe, Datadog, Five Below, Fortinet, Gilead Sciences, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Salesforce, and More
Five Below (NASDAQ: FIVE) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein, which nudged the target price for the popular retailer to $250 from $247. Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley, which boosted the target price for the shares to $133 from $80. Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) was upgraded to Hold from Reduce at HSBC, with a $995 target price. Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James, with a $410 target price for the clothing and fragrance giant. UDR(NYSE: UDR) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank, which bumped the target price to $45 from $39. Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight, which slashed the target price for the stock to $240 from $365. Apple Hospitality REIT (NASDAQ: APLE) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays, which bumped the target price for the stock to $17 from $16. Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG) was cut to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, which actually raised the target price for the shares to $280 from $210. Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Leerink, which cut the target price on the biotech giant to $127 from $146. Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) was cut to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley, which crashed the target price for the shares to $185 from $287. American Healthcare REIT (NYSE: AHR) was initiated with a Buy at Compass Point, with a $70 target price. Insmed (NASDAQ: INSM) was initiated with an Outperform rating at BMO Capital, with a $192 target price. Ligand Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: LGND) was resumed with a Buy rating at Citigroup, which has a $387 target price for the stock. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) was assumed in coverage with an Overweight rating at Morgan Stanley, which has a $600 target price for the legacy software giant. Stewart Information Services (NYSE: STC) was initiated with a Buy rating at Benchmark, which has an $87 target price.
Charles Schwab profits surge as retail traders bought the dip in a volatile quarter
Charles Schwab (SCHW) said Tuesday that profits soared 32% from a year ago, fueled by record client trading activity during one of Wall Street's busiest quarters ever. Schwab reported net income of $2.8 billion, or $1.62 per share on a adjusted basis. Total net revenue increased 21% to $7.1 billion, driven in part by a 28% rise in trading revenue. The company's report exceeded analyst forecasts for profits and revenue. Customer margin balances, or the amount clients borrowed from Schwab to buy securities, rose 30% from the previous quarter to $165 billion. Schwab's core profit machine, net interest income, rose 19% from a year ago to $3.36 billion. Its net interest margin — or the spread Schwab earns on its loans and securities after funding costs — expanded by 12 basis points from the previous quarter to 3.00%. Total client assets on the firm's platform increased by $1.31 trillion from last quarter to $13.08 trillion.
Hasbro raises 2026 outlook after record Q2 Magic: The Gathering revenue
Hasbro raised its full-year financial outlook on Tuesday after Magic: The Gathering surpassed $500 million in quarterly revenue for the first time in the card game's history, driving a 16% jump in overall company sales. The Pawtucket, Rhode Island-based company lifted its full-year revenue growth target to a range of 5% to 7% in constant currency, stepping up from the 3% to 5% it had previously guided. The company also raised its adjusted EBITDA guidance to a range of $1.45 billion to $1.50 billion, compared with the prior target of $1.40 billion to $1.45 billion. The adjusted operating margin outlook was raised to 25%-26% from 24%-25%. Second-quarter revenue rose to $1.14 billion. Analysts had projected $1.07 billion, according to Reuters. Adjusted earnings came in at $1.28 per diluted share, above analyst expectations of $1.14 per share, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company's Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment led the quarter with 27% revenue growth, reaching $663.8 million. Magic: The Gathering revenue grew 32% to $545.3 million, fueled by the debut of the Marvel Super Heroes set.
CSX or GE Vernova? Wall Street Has Already Picked Its Earnings Winner
GE Vernova sweeps CSX across analyst ratings, price-target headroom, and sentiment, with 30 Buy ratings, zero Sells, and 37% AI-model upside. Prediction markets tilt further toward GE Vernova. Polymarket assigns an 85.5% probability that Q2 orders exceed $18 billion, with the probability mass clustering in the $18 billion to $20 billion range.
Costco Is a Compelling Investment Opportunity, but This Stock Could Be an Even Better Buy
Costco is a genuinely compelling investment. But it is also expensive, and I think a smaller rival running the same playbook could be an even better buy today: BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ). BJ's operates roughly 263 clubs, mostly in the eastern United States, versus Costco's more than 900. Just as important, BJ's trades at a meaningfully cheaper valuation than Costco. You get the same attractive membership economics, a longer runway of store expansion ahead, and a friendlier entry price.
This Is America’s Worst Car Brand
According to CNBC, "The Chrysler brand sold nearly 600,000 vehicles in 2005. In 2024, it sold fewer than 125,000 — an 80% decline in two decades."
Kraft Heinz signs multiyear Disney deal for parks and branding
Kraft Heinz struck a multiyear partnership with Disney that makes it the exclusive provider of certain condiments, macaroni and cheese, and cream cheese at Disney's North American parks, resorts, and cruise line, while also allowing the food company to feature Disney characters on products sold in stores. Ten Kraft Heinz brands fall under the agreement, among them Heinz, Philadelphia, and Kraft Mac & Cheese, according to the Wall Street Journal. Kraft Heinz Chief Executive Steve Cahillane, who took over earlier this year, said the company plans to spend $600 million on marketing, sales, research and development, and related areas to support a recovery in its U.S. business.
Ally Financial Q2 2026 earnings miss analyst estimates
Total net revenue of $2.3 billion topped the prior year's $2.1 billion by roughly 10%, while net financing revenue climbed to $1.7 billion, a $168 million year-over-year gain; net interest margin, stripped of core original issue discount, widened 18 basis points to 3.63%. On the auto side, consumer originations reached $13.3 billion, drawn from a record application pool of 4.6 million, and the estimated retail originated yield stood at 9.09%; retail net charge-offs declined 18 basis points to 1.57%, extending a streak of year-over-year improvement to five straight quarters. Retail deposits grew to $143.6 billion, adding $408 million compared with a year ago; 92% of those deposits carried FDIC insurance.
3 Dividend Stocks to Buy Before July Ends and Hold Forever
McDonald's trades 7% below analyst targets despite 25+ years of dividend growth, while P&G just extended its streak to 70 consecutive annual increases. Visa raised its quarterly dividend 14% in 2025, backed by 14.6% revenue growth and $3.8 billion in single-quarter share repurchases. Management is guiding to roughly 2,600 new restaurant openings and operating margin in the mid-to-high 40% range for FY2026. Q1 FY2026 revenue came in at $6.52 billion, up 9.4% year over year, with EPS of $2.83 beating expectations. Global comps rose 3.8%, and loyalty members drove more than $9.00 billion in systemwide sales in the quarter alone. CEO Chris Kempczinski put it plainly: "McDonald's delivered this quarter. Our 6% global Systemwide sales growth shows how we executed with discipline." Management is guiding to roughly 2,600 new restaurant openings and operating margin in the mid-to-high 40% range for FY2026. Q3 FY2026 delivered $21.235 billion in net sales, up 7.4% year-over-year, with core EPS of $1.59. It was the fourth consecutive quarter of beating both top and bottom-line estimates. Free cash flow reached $3.026 billion in the quarter. Every one of the five segments grew, with Beauty leading at 7% organic growth. Management plans to return roughly $10 billion in dividends and $5 billion in buybacks this fiscal year. Q1 FY2026 net revenue hit $10.90 billion, up 14.6%, with non-GAAP EPS of $3.17. Data processing revenue, the highest-margin engine, grew 17% to $5.54 billion. Visa also repurchased roughly 11 million shares for $3.8 billion in the quarter, with $21.1 billion remaining on the authorization. CEO Ryan McInerney credited "resilient consumer spending and a strong holiday season, as well as continued strength in value-added services and commercial and money movement solutions." Shares are up 11% over the past month and 45% over the past five years, with analysts targeting $398.70. The interchange MDL litigation is an ongoing GAAP overhang, with a $707 million provision in Q1 FY2026 alone. Global regulatory scrutiny of merchant fees is the multi-year variable to watch.
Planet Fitness (PLNT) Declined After Guidance Cut
Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) closed at $55.25 per share. One-month return of Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) was 6.58%, and its shares lost 51.34% over the past 52 weeks. Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion. "Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) is one of the largest fitness club franchisors in the world, operating a budget-friendly gym model built around low monthly dues, broad accessibility, and a welcoming brand position." "We believe the company benefits from a capital-light franchise structure, strong brand recognition, and a meaningful long-term opportunity to expand its club base both in the U.S. and internationally." "During the quarter, shares detracted from performance after the company lowered both its revenue and earnings outlook, as member sign-ups fell short of internal expectations following a recent brand repositioning."
Shopify downgraded, Five Below upgraded: Wall Street's top analyst calls
The company is in a stronger fundamental position, with improved merchandising and marketing supporting a sustainable mid-single-digit comps, the firm tells investors in a research note. Raymond James upgraded Ralph Lauren (RL) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $410 price target, citing increasing confidence in upside to expectations in FY27. The firm's channel checks for fiscal Q1 were "very positive" and indicated quarter-over-quarter acceleration for website traffic, mobile app data, and Google Trends, reports Raymond James, which sees upside in Q1 it believes will carry through to the rest of FY27. Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded Shopify (SHOP) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $130, down from $160. The firm cites competition from Meta Platforms (META) for the downgrade, as the latter is pivoting from a consumer AI assistant to a small business AI tool, "resulting in a longer growth runway, wider moat, and higher margins and returns."
Germany’s Intersnack to buy US peer Utz in $2.9bn deal
Intersnack is also a family-owned private business, which generated sales last year of around $5bn. The transaction gives the Utz and Boulder Canyon brand owner an enterprise value of around $2.9bn.
Price Prediction: Joby Aviation Will End The Year at This Price
Q4 2025 delivered a double beat: revenue of $30.84 million against a $16.88 million estimate and an EPS loss of $0.14 versus the $0.20 expected loss. Management guided full-year 2026 revenue to $105 million to $115 million and raised roughly $1.2 billion in February, lifting total liquidity above $2.6 billion. The Ohio facility supports up to 500 aircraft per year, and management plans to double production from 2 to 4 aircraft per month in 2027.
Stop Paying Off Debt the ‘Smart’ Way. The Math Is Wrong About What Works.
Credit card APRs average around 21%, and some cards even hit 30%, which compounds faster than any realistic investment return and makes high-rate debt the undisputed first target. Attacking any debt above 8% first, then snowballing lower-rate balances for quick wins, outperforms either pure method for real households. The Federal Reserve's most recent G.19 release puts the average credit card APR at 20.94% as of May 1, 2026, still in what the Fed classifies as record territory (see the FRED series here). Card APRs have stayed stubbornly elevated even as the Fed eases. The federal funds target upper bound is 3.75% as of July 14, 2026, down 75 basis points from 4.5% one year ago. The U.S. personal savings rate has fallen from 6.2% in 2024Q1 to 3.9% in 2026Q1, meaning households have less cushion to throw at debt in the first place.
Genuine Parts Q2 Earnings Call Highlights
Genuine Parts reported a strong second quarter, with sales up 6% to $6.5 billion and adjusted EPS rising to $2.15, helped by growth in its industrial business and restructuring benefits. The Motion industrial segment led performance, with sales up 7% and EBITDA margin improving to 13.1%, while North America Automotive also posted modest sales and margin gains despite cautious consumer demand. Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) reported higher second-quarter sales and adjusted earnings as growth in its industrial business and margin initiatives helped offset inflationary pressures and costs tied to the Iran conflict, executives said on the company's earnings call Tuesday. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Will Stengel said the company delivered "a strong second quarter" despite a "dynamic global macro environment," citing total sales of $6.5 billion, up about $400 million, or 6%, from the second quarter of 2025. Adjusted earnings per share rose to $2.15 from $2.10 a year earlier. Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Bert Nappier said adjusted EPS increased 2.5% year over year, driven by higher sales, particularly in Global Industrial, and benefits from restructuring initiatives. Those gains were partially offset by cost inflation in operating expenses, including impacts from the Iran conflict, as well as an $0.08 headwind from depreciation and interest expense. Industrial Segment Leads Growth Genuine Parts' industrial segment, Motion, posted total sales of $2.4 billion, up about $160 million, or 7%, from the prior year. Comparable sales increased 6%, with price inflation contributing about 2.5%. Stengel said Motion delivered "an excellent quarter," with balanced growth across large corporate accounts, small and medium-sized customers and value-added solutions. He pointed to improving industrial sentiment, including six consecutive PMI readings above 50, and said the company saw growth in 11 of the 14 end markets it tracks. Growth was strongest in equipment and machinery and food products, with additional strength in iron and steel, automotive, mining, fabricated metals, distribution centers and logistics, oil and gas, and equipment rental and leasing. Softer demand in pulp and paper, lumber and wood, and rubber and plastics partially offset those gains. Motion's core maintenance, repair and operations business, which accounts for about 80% of segment sales, rose roughly 7% in the quarter. Project-based demand, representing the remaining 20% of sales, increased about 9%, marking its strongest performance since the first quarter of 2023, Stengel said. Industrial segment EBITDA rose about 10% to $316 million, while EBITDA margin increased 30 basis points to 13.1% of sales. Automotive Results Mixed Across Regions In North America Automotive, total sales rose approximately 4%, while comparable sales increased 2.6%. Segment EBITDA was $208 million, up 6%, with EBITDA margin improving 20 basis points year over year to 8.2% of sales. Stengel said the North America Automotive business continued to navigate a cautious consumer backdrop and persistent inflation, both of which he said were affected by the Iran conflict. U.S. total sales rose about 3%, with comparable sales also up about 3% and price contributing roughly 2.5%. Average daily sales rose in the low- to mid-single digits in April and May but were roughly flat in June, which Stengel attributed to a softer market tied to higher fuel prices. He said July month-to-date average daily sales had improved and were tracking in line with company expectations. Company-owned store comparable sales increased about 4%, with commercial sales up around 5.5%. Independent same-store purchases improved sequentially from the first quarter and increased about 1.5% from a year earlier. Stengel said the broader NAPA system, including company-owned sales and sales to end customers from independent stores, delivered 3% sales growth in the quarter. By customer type, comparable sales to commercial customers rose about 4%, while retail comparable sales declined about 3%. Non-discretionary repair and maintenance and service categories remained relatively strong, rising in the low- to mid-single digits. Discretionary categories improved sequentially and were up low single digits. In Canada, total sales rose 9% in local currency and comparable sales increased 1%. Stengel said the Benson acquisition continued to provide a tailwind and remained ahead of company financial and operational targets. International Automotive total sales rose about 8%, while comparable sales increased approximately 1%. Segment EBITDA rose 6% to $150 million, though EBITDA margin declined 20 basis points to 9.4% of sales. Nappier said the margin decline was primarily due to inflation in salaries and wages, rent and freight, partially offset by restructuring and cost actions. In Europe, total sales increased about 4% in local currency and comparable sales were up about 1%, with notable improvement in the U.K. and Germany. In Asia Pacific, total sales rose about 2% in local currency, with comparable sales up 1%. Margins, Costs and Cash Flow Nappier said total company sales growth included a 340-basis-point contribution from comparable sales, a 120-basis-point benefit from acquisitions and a 140-basis-point benefit from foreign currency. Each segment delivered sequentially improved comparable sales growth compared with the first quarter. Adjusted gross margin increased 20 basis points to 37.9%, driven by strategic pricing and sourcing initiatives, partially offset by higher product costs tied to inflation from the Iran conflict. Adjusted SG&A as a percentage of sales rose 40 basis points to 29.1%. Nappier said core SG&A increased 4% year over year, with higher healthcare, freight and rent costs. U.S. healthcare expenses were up about 15%, while freight and rent were up mid-single digits. He said people-related costs as a percentage of sales were roughly flat, reflecting restructuring and cost actions. Year to date, Genuine Parts has incurred $134 million of restructuring costs and realized $55 million of cost savings, including about $30 million in the second quarter. Nappier said the company estimated a $16 million negative EBITDA impact in the quarter from the Iran conflict, in line with its prior expectation of $10 million to $20 million. In response to an analyst question, he said all but $1 million of that impact was in Automotive. For the first half of 2026, Genuine Parts generated $464 million in cash from operations, aided by an approximately $260 million improvement in net working capital. The company invested $205 million in capital expenditures and returned $288 million to shareholders through dividends. Guidance Reaffirmed Despite Second-Half Caution Genuine Parts reaffirmed its 2026 adjusted diluted EPS guidance of $7.50 to $8.00, representing 5% growth at the midpoint compared with 2025. The company expects diluted EPS, including restructuring expenses and year-to-date separation costs, to range from $5.90 to $6.40. Nappier said first-half results were ahead of internal expectations and, absent second-half headwinds, would have put the company on pace toward the high end of its earnings range
Should You Be Bullish on Arm Holdings plc (ARM)?
Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) has a market capitalization of $286.87 billion. Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) reported record revenue of $1.49 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, up 20% year-over-year.
Here’s Why Lam Research Corporation (LRCX) is Rallying
Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) has a market capitalization of $383.62 billion. Lam Research Corporation's (NASDAQ:LRCX) revenue for the March quarter of 2026 was $5.84 billion, representing a 9% sequential increase and a 24% increase compared to Q1 2025.
Netflix Fell 45% Over 12 Months But This Ratings House Sees A Doubling Share Price
Netflix has fallen 44.1% over 12 months. The streaming giant runs the world's dominant subscription video service with an audience approaching a billion people across 190+ countries and a rapidly scaling ad business guided to roughly double to approximately $3.0 billion in 2026. Core financials remain elite: a 33.4% operating margin and a 49.5% return on equity. The bull thesis centers on advertising. Co-CEO Greg Peters characterized the gap between ad-tier and standard ARM as "essentially near-term, unrealized revenue growth", and management expects ad revenue to roughly double to approximately $3 billion in 2026. Cloud games (monthly players up 11x since October 2025), live events that have driven 6 of the top 10 new member sign-up days over the past 5 years, and a $27.1 billion remaining buyback authorization support the operating flywheel.
Compass Group PLC (CMPGY) Q3 2026 Sales/Trading Call Transcript
We delivered another strong quarter with organic revenue growth over 7%, continued excellent client retention of 96% and net new business growth accelerating back into our 4% to 5% target range. We remain on track to deliver net new business growth at this level, which represents over $2.2 billion for the fifth consecutive year.
AMC Stock After Record Earnings: Buy, Sell, or Hold?
AMC's record quarter sent EBITDA up 70% to $321M and doubled free cash flow, yet Wall Street's consensus target sits 9% below current price. Revenue rose 14.22% year over year to $1.6 billion, EPS of $0.14 obliterated a $(0.0167) estimate, and adjusted EBITDA soared 70% to $321.4 million. Refinancing cut $16 million of annual interest, with leverage-triggered rate cuts on roughly 75% of debt expected to save another $51 million per year. AMC trades at $2.46 against a Wall Street average target of $2.242, implying roughly 8.9% downside.
The 13.49% Expense Ratio Trap: Why PBDC Still Beats Expectations for Income Investors
The actual management fee that Putnam collects from the ETF is 0.75%. The remaining 12.74% is AFFE flowing through from the underlying BDCs. PBDC's trailing twelve-month distributions total $3.05 per share against a current price of $27, working out to a yield in the 11% range. The latest quarterly payment of $0.696 is down from $0.8251 in December 2025. BIZD has fared slightly worse at roughly 14%. The fund tracks an index of the largest publicly traded BDCs, giving investors a longer track record, a lower direct management fee, and more than a decade of history with a ten-year total return near 109% before distributions were reinvested at the peak.
Danaher Q2 Earnings Review: Nothing Exciting For Me To Buy This Dip
Danaher Corporation delivered Q2 revenue of $6.3B (+5.5% y/y), beating estimates and showing segment growth across Biotechnology, Diagnostics, and Life Sciences. Management raised full-year EPS guidance slightly, but projected low single-digit revenue growth and a slow recovery, disappointing investors and triggering a 14% share price drop.
Coca-Cola just made a big change to how it looks
Coca-Cola (KO) products account for roughly 2.2 billion of an estimated 65 billion beverage servings consumed worldwide each day, according to the company's 2025 Form 10-K. Advertising expenses were $5.4 billion in 2025 versus $5.1 billion in 2024, while net operating revenues rose 2% to $47.9 billion, according to the 10-K. Advertising climbed close to 6% against revenue growth of 2%. Analysts expect earnings per share near 92 cents on revenue of roughly $13.1 billion, and Jefferies anticipates management will reiterate full-year guidance of 4% to 5% organic sales growth and 8% to 9% earnings per share growth, according to Proactive Investors. The payout ratio sits near 80%, according to Yahoo Finance.
Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR) vs. TXN and ADI: Are Investors Paying Too Much for AI Power Growth?
First quarter 2026 revenue rose 26.1% year over year to a record $804.2 million, while adjusted EPS increased 26.2% to $5.10 — solid, but not spectacular for a stock trading at about 54 times next year's earnings, versus roughly 26 times for Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) and 38 times for Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN). The evidence so far backs this up: MPWR's "Enterprise Data" segment, its AI server business, grew 97.7% year-over-year and now drives nearly 80% of the company's total revenue growth. Management just raised its stated manufacturing capacity target from 4 billion to 6 billion units, essentially signaling that it expects demand large enough to need that much capacity. MarketBeat's $1,599 price target implies EPS of about $29.61 at a 54 times forward multiple, which is roughly 111% above MPWR's trailing twelve month EPS of $14.06. MarketScreener's $1,789 target implies EPS of about $33.13 at the same multiple, roughly 136% above trailing EPS. Gross margin was 55.5% in Q1 2026, unchanged from last quarter and actually lower than a year ago. Inventory rose to $619.2 million from $454.8 million, with inventory days rising to 157 from 146. 49 hedge fund portfolios held Monolithic Power Systems at the end of the first quarter, down slightly from 50 in the previous quarter. Short interest data also shows some investor caution around MPWR, with 6.07% of its float sold short, well above Analog Devices at 2.76% and Texas Instruments at 2.07%.
Why Equifax Stock Is Tumbling Today
The good news is, Equifax (NYSE: EFX) topped last quarter's revenue and earnings expectations. It's the bad news, however, that's winning the day. As of 12:50 p.m. ET Equifax stock is down 7.1%, mostly in response to guidance for the remainder of the year that fell short of analysts' estimates. Credit bureau Equifax turned $1.7 billion in revenue into a per-share profit of $2.25 for the three months ending in June, up 11% and 13% year over year, respectively. And, those figures topped analyst expectations for sales of just under $1.7 billion, and earnings of $2.20 per share. The future, however, isn't looking quite as bright. Equifax is calling for a top line of between $1.68 billion and $1.71 billion for the third fiscal quarter ending in June to translate into earnings of between $2.15 and $2.25 per share, versus consensus estimates for sales of $1.71 billion and a per-share profit of $2.27. This of course means full-year results will also come up relatively short of analysts' average outlooks. The company's now looking for 2026 earnings of between $8.39 and $8.69 per share on revenue of between $6.71 billion and $6.78 billion. But, the analyst community was anticipating a bottom line of $8.60 per share on a top line of $6.76 billion. A shrinking mortgage loan market is the chief concern. Mortgage rates remain elevated at roughly 6.6% for 30-year loans. Although applications had been edging higher since March's multi-month low, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, even the slight uptick in interest rates in recent weeks is taking a measurable toll on interest in purchasing residential real estate that's already exceedingly expensive. The company also announced on Tuesday it was doubling its AI-driven cost-cutting target to $150 million.
Cracker Barrel sells Maple Street Biscuit, raises fiscal 2026 outlook
In connection with the transaction, Cracker Barrel anticipates non-cash charges in the range of $37 million to $39 million during its current fiscal fourth quarter, plus cash charges of $6 million to $8 million, with a portion of those costs carrying over into fiscal 2027. The company's fiscal year ends July 31. It had previously projected total revenue of $3.27 billion to $3.30 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $120 million to $125 million. In the first 11 weeks of the fiscal fourth quarter, restaurant same-store sales were down roughly 2.5% while retail same-store sales edged up about 0.5% compared with the year-earlier period.
Is Netflix Asking Investors To Trust A Story It Will No Longer Tell?
Revenue of $12.56 billion was a miss against expectations, but earnings per share of $0.80 landed right on target. Total view hours grew just 2% in the first half of 2026. Management has stated that engagement quality is improving even as reported viewing hours per member have softened.
Disney partners with Kraft Heinz for theme parks, cruises, and media
00:06 Speaker A Yeah, so essentially what we've seen is this is sort of a big opportunity for Kraft Heinz. We do know that this is a snack maker that has been struggling. You take a look at their expectations for the second quarter and Wall Street thinks that in North America, revenue is going to decline 4.8%, volume is going to decline 5%.
Brian Niccol's Starbucks Turnaround Is Quietly Working -- Even With Profit Cut in Half. The July 29 Test Comes Next.
Comparable store sales, which measure sales at locations open at least a year, trace the turnaround quarter by quarter. Starbucks' global comparable sales grew 1% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 -- its first increase in seven quarters. They rose 4% in the fiscal first quarter of 2026. Then, in the fiscal second quarter (the period ended March 29, 2026), they climbed 6.2%. That is three straight quarters of acceleration. Even better is what's driving the growth. Global transactions rose 3.8% in the fiscal second quarter, and in the U.S., comparable sales jumped 7.1% on a 4.3% increase in transactions. The recovery is reaching the income statement, too. Fiscal second-quarter revenue rose 9% year over year to $9.5 billion. The company's GAAP operating margin expanded 180 basis points to 8.7%, and earnings per share rose 32% year over year to $0.45. Non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share grew 22% to $0.50. Management raised its outlook alongside those results. Starbucks now expects global and U.S. comparable sales to grow at least 5% this fiscal year, up from prior guidance of about 3%, with non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share of $2.25 to $2.45. About that halved profit. Starbucks earned $1.63 per share in fiscal 2025, down from $3.31 in fiscal 2024. Net income came in at just $1.9 billion, versus $3.8 billion the year before.
DELL, HPE Stock Gain After-Hours As SMCI's Strong Margin Outlook Lifts Server Peers
According to a company release, SMCI secured upwards of $60 billion in new orders throughout the fourth quarter, which are anticipated to be fulfilled over upcoming quarters. Analysts polled by Fiscal.ai expect Dell to report revenue of $44.39 billion in the quarter ending July 2026, a near 50% jump year-on-year, while earnings are expected to come in at $4.9 per share, much higher than the $2.32 per share recorded in the same quarter last year. For HPE, revenue is expected to surge about 30% YoY to $11.9 billion, with earnings of $0.92 per share. Ahead of its August 11 earnings report, analysts expect Super Micro to post $0.70 in quarterly earnings, up nearly 71% year over year, with revenue more than doubling to $11.73 billion. Super Micro raised its fourth-quarter gross margin expectations to 15%-17%, significantly above its previous guidance of 8.2%-8.4%.
Why Nike Stock Lost 36% in the First Half of 2026
As you can see from the chart below, the stock's declines came primarily in March and April, and it fell sharply following its third-quarter earnings report at the end of March. In its third-quarter earnings report, revenue was flat at $11.3 billion, and gross margin fell 130 basis points to 40.2%.
NOK Stock Rises Overnight: Retail Bulls Charged After SMCI's Backlog Surge, Call Nokia 'Pillar Of Infrastructure' Ahead Of Earnings
Nokia Oyj (NOK) stock climbed nearly 3% overnight as retail investors piled into the stock following Super Micro Computer's backlog-fueled rally, betting the Finnish telecom giant could similarly benefit from accelerating AI infrastructure demand ahead of its July 23 earnings. NOK’s evening move followed AI server provider Super Micro Computer’s (SMCI) strong early update for its fourth quarter, reporting more than $60 billion in new orders, lifting its backlog to a record high and signaling strong demand for its AI, enterprise, storage, and 5G/Edge products. The update made retail traders optimistic about Nokia’s growth as the company provides AI-augmented networking offerings and has expanded its AI-focused products by improving data center networking equipment with faster performance and AI-powered automation. Nokia is expected to report its fiscal second-quarter earnings on July 23, and analysts see €4.83 billion ($5.51 billion) in revenue with earnings of €0.07 per share, according to Fiscal AI data. Nokia stock traded over 3% higher overnight on Tuesday, after a 5% rally in the regular session, ending four consecutive days of losses. In July, Nokia expanded its AI-focused network business through new products and partnerships. The company launched the industry’s first commercial AI-powered Radio Access Network (AI-RAN) platform, using its anyRAN software and Nvidia’s technology to help telecom operators build faster, smarter, and more efficient wireless networks. Nokia also expanded its long-standing partnership with Taiwan Mobile, deploying its AirScale portfolio and AI-powered software to modernize the operator's 5G network with greater automation, energy efficiency and performance. In the defense sector, Nokia partnered with NestAI to develop AI-enabled command-and-control capabilities using deployable 5G networks and communications for military operations in contested environments. Meanwhile, Orange Belgium chose Nokia to upgrade its optical transport network, enhancing support for AI-scale computing, quantum-resilient security and future 5G services while improving network automation.
Why Did PSKY, MCD, NOC Stocks Tumble To 52-Week Lows Today?
PSKY stock plunged to a 17-year low of $8.41 on Tuesday, extending losses after a federal judge hit a pause on its proposed $110 billion merger with WBD for at least two weeks. MCD stock fell to a 52-week low of $263.65, putting it on track for a fifth consecutive month of declines after the fast-food chain entered bear market territory earlier this month. The company’s shares have been declining amid growing investor concerns over slowing consumer spending and mounting cost pressure. McDonald's expects second-quarter sales growth to slow as it faces tough year-ago comparisons from its "Minecraft" movie promotion, with CFO Ian Borden saying a slowdown was anticipated even before consumer sentiment weakened. NOC stock fell to a 52-week low of $479.02 on Tuesday after its second-quarter results revealed margin compressions and a weak earnings outlook. While headline numbers came in strong, with earnings per share of $7.68 on revenue of $10.88 billion, ahead of Wall Street expectations, the aerospace and defense company’s operating margin narrowed by 3.7 percentage points year-on-year to 10.1%.
3 Brilliant Growth Stocks to Buy Right Now
1. On Holding On footwear is resonating with consumers globally. Despite macroeconomic headwinds, the brand has posted consistently high sales growth. In 2025, sales rose 35% year over year on a constant-currency basis, and in the first quarter of 2026, they rose 26% year over year. 2. eBay eBay has executed a successful turnaround under CEO Jamie Iannone, who took over in 2020. Growth has accelerated over the past year, driven by platform improvements and an expansion of gross merchandise volume (GMV) in strategic categories such as collectibles. The company posted a stellar 27% year-over-year increase in U.S. GMV in the first quarter. This contributed to a 19% increase in total revenue. 3. Celsius Holdings Celsius stock fell sharply a few years ago, but it has begun to show signs of a bottom and appears poised to rebound. The company delivered strong financial results in the first quarter, with revenue up 138% year over year.
Others
Danaher Non-GAAP EPS of $1.94 beats by $0.09, revenue of $6.3B beats by $130M
Danaher press release (DHR): Q2 Non-GAAP EPS of $1.94 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $6.3B (+5.5% Y/Y) beats by $130M. Non-GAAP core revenue increased 3.0% year-over-year and non-GAAP core revenue excluding respiratory testing revenue increased 4.5% year-over-year.
Netflix Earnings, Is Netflix Washed?, Additional Notes
Netflix’s earnings were fine, and befitting a mature company whose most exciting days are likely behind them.
Alfa Laval AB (publ) (ALFVY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
It was a quarter with solid demand across almost all of the part of the business with a new all-time high of just above SEK 22 billion. It was another step forward in our SEK 100 billion growth plan for 2030. Note that despite the large SEK 1 billion biofuel order, large orders were as a whole on a normal level and was not the main growth driver in the quarter. Sales grew on a steady pace and a record order book of SEK 53.5 billion and good momentum in the transactional business indicates a
Embla Medical hf. (OSSUY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Sales in the second quarter were $259 million, corresponding to 11% reported growth and 6% organic growth. EBITDA margin was strong at 22% for the quarter.
Danaher stock slips despite Q2 earnings beat, raised guidance
Danaher (DHR) shares fell 10% in premarket trading Tuesday despite the life sciences and diagnostics company reporting second-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates and raising its full-year earnings guidance. The company reported adjusted earnings of $1.94 per share on revenue
Is AMC Entertainment’s (AMC) Record Revenue Proof That the Theater Recovery Is Finally Real?
Revenue reached $1.60 billion, compared with the $1.47 billion expected by analysts, while adjusted earnings came in at 14 cents per share instead of the expected 6-cent loss. In detail, AMC's revenue increased 14.2% from a year earlier to $1.60 billion. Adjusted EBITDA climbed nearly 70% to $321.4 million, marking the first time the company generated more than $300 million of adjusted EBITDA in a single quarter. The company's adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 20.1% from 13.6% a year earlier. Attendance increased 13.5% to 71.3 million customers during the quarter. U.S. attendance rose 12%, while international attendance increased 17.9%. Admissions revenue advanced to $863.1 million, and food and beverage revenue climbed to $576.1 million. The broader domestic box office grew 10.7% to approximately $2.99 billion during the quarter, its best performance in seven years. AMC's domestic revenue increased 13%, suggesting the company grew slightly faster than the overall market. AMC ended June with $778.4 million in cash, up from $428.5 million at the end of 2025. The company also reduced the principal amount of its corporate borrowings to $3.91 billion from $4.02 billion. During the quarter, AMC refinanced $400 million of notes previously due in 2027, extending those maturities by four years. It also redeemed or began redeeming other debt, leaving the company with no currently expected material maturities until 2029. AMC raised approximately $285 million through common-stock offerings during the quarter. Holders also converted approximately $155.8 million of exchangeable notes into common shares.
Form 8.3
10,926,847 1.17 (2)Cash-settled derivatives: (3)Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell: TOTAL: 10,926,847 * 1.17 * Massachusetts Financial Services Company and/or its affiliates do not have discretion regarding voting decisions in respect of 202,069 shares that are included in the total above. The variation between the resultant holding stated above and that included in Massachusetts Financial Services Company's last relevant public Rule 8 disclosure, which is not accounted for by the purchase[s]/sales[s] below, is due to the transfer of 21,972 shares out of our assets under management. All interests and all short positions should be disclosed. Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions). (b)Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors' and other employee options) Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists: Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages: 3.DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in. The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated. (a)Purchases and sales Class of relevant security Purchase/sale Number of securities Price per unit USD 0.01 common US74340W1036 SELL 37,298 USD 147.3150 USD 0.01 common US74340W1036 SELL 4,119 USD 147.3150 USD 0.01 common US74340W1036 SELL 228 USD 147.3150
Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (WRTBY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Total order intake increased by 33% to EUR 2.8 billion, and that is an all-time high quarter in the history of Wartsila. And we recorded all-time highs, both in Energy and Marine. So all-time high quarterly order intake for energy, close to EUR 1.7 billion, all-time high also order intake for Marine at EUR 1.2 billion.
CorVel: Trying Its Damnedest To Return To Its Formal Glory (Technical Analysis)
CorVel Corporation (CRVL) has faced a significant decline, with shares down 35% since July 2025, driven by tepid growth and industry headwinds. Recent Q4 results showed improvement: 7% revenue and 20% EPS growth, alongside a 56% surge in new bookings, supporting a cautiously optimistic outlook.
Adnoc to Proceed With $6.2 Billion Abu Dhabi Gas Project
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said it took the final investment decision on the Umm Shaif Gas Cap project alongside TotalEnergies, Eni and the China National Petroleum Corporation.
American Resources' ReElement unit expands workforce ahead of Indiana commissioning
ReElement Technologies Corporation, a rare earth element and critical mineral refining company majority-owned by American Resources Corp (NASDAQ:AREC), has added 13 professionals to support the commissioning and scaling of its refining platform. The new hires span plant operations, engineering, maintenance, laboratory sciences, finance and process optimization, and are aimed at supporting commissioning of the company's refining campus in Marion, Indiana, as well as ReElement's strategy of expanding production capacity in line with commercial customer demand. "Demand for secure, domestic rare earth and critical mineral refining is moving quickly, and we are building the organization to move just as quickly," said Kirk Taylor, CFO of ReElement Technologies. "These hires represent much more than additional headcount. They bring the operational, technical and financial expertise needed to commission equipment, improve processes, expand production and serve customers at commercial scale." Among the additions are five professionals highlighted by the company. Luis Garza, a maintenance manager with nearly 30 years of experience at companies including Befesa USA and Zinc Nacional, will focus on equipment performance and process improvement. Anastasiia Natova brings more than a decade of experience building industrial systems and will support scale-up of the Marion facility. Emma Kerr, an industrial engineer with more than five years of experience, joins the engineering team after delivering more than $1 million in continuous-improvement savings in a prior role. Silvia Vargas joins from Purdue University, where her research focused on separating and recovering rare earth elements, and will support ReElement's laboratory and process innovation work. Sara Tanner, a Certified Six Sigma Green Belt with more than eight years of public accounting experience, joins the accounting team to help build financial infrastructure ahead of ReElement's plans to prepare for public markets.
VYNE Therapeutics approves 1-for-50 reverse stock split ahead of Yarrow merger
VYNE Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VYNE) said its board authorized a 1-for-50 reverse stock split in connection with its merger with Yarrow Bioscience.
3M Q2 2026 earnings beat, full-year guidance raised
3M reported second-quarter results on Tuesday that exceeded analyst expectations, and the company raised its full-year profit guidance as its safety and industrial business posted strong growth. The St. Paul, Minnesota-based manufacturer now expects full-year adjusted earnings per share of $8.80 to $8.95, up from its previous range of $8.50 to $8.70. The company also raised its adjusted organic sales growth outlook to more than 3.5%, up from a prior target of roughly 3%, the company said. For the second quarter, adjusted earnings came in at $2.40 per share, up 11% year-on-year. Analysts had expected $2.25 per share, according to BNN Bloomberg. Revenue climbed 2.4% to $6.5 billion, topping the $6.4 billion consensus estimate. The safety and industrial segment — 3M's largest by sales — brought in $3.09 billion in quarterly revenue, an organic jump of more than 8% compared with the same period last year, driven by demand in electrical markets, adhesives, abrasives, and industrial specialties. On an annual basis, 3M is targeting an adjusted operating income margin gain of 70 to 80 basis points alongside adjusted operating cash flow in the range of $5.8 billion to $6.0 billion, the company said.
Namibia Critical Metals advances Lofdal rare earth project into next development phase
Namibia Critical Metals (TSX-V:NMI, OTCQB:NMREF) announced that the Joint Management Committee overseeing the Lofdal Heavy Rare Earth Project in Namibia has approved the next phase of work for the project's definitive feasibility study (DFS), including up to approximately C$11 million in additional funding to advance completion of the study. The company also announced the award of its first major metallurgical and geometallurgical contracts under the expanded DFS program to SGS Canada, which will carry out testing and process development work. Under the approved work program, approximately 30 tonnes of representative ore will undergo continuous pilot-scale flotation testing to validate the processing flowsheet, optimize operating conditions and produce concentrate for downstream hydrometallurgical processing.
Halliburton Q2 2025 earnings: CEO warns of softer oilfield market
Halliburton reported second-quarter net income of $472 million, or $0.55 per diluted share, as profit rebounded from a first quarter burdened by impairment charges — but Chairman, President and CEO Jeff Miller warned the oilfield services market is weakening more than he had anticipated. Total revenue for the second quarter of 2025 was $5.5 billion, up from $5.4 billion in the first quarter. Operating income rose to $727 million, compared to $431 million in the previous quarter, which included $356 million in impairments and other charges. Revenue from the Completion and Production segment was $3.17 billion in the second quarter, down from $3.40 billion in the same period a year earlier. Drilling and Evaluation revenue came in at $2.34 billion, compared to $2.43 billion a year ago. Cash flow from operations was $896 million in the quarter, with free cash flow of approximately $582 million. Halliburton repurchased approximately $250 million of its stock during the quarter and paid dividends of $0.17 per share. For the first half of 2025, total revenue was $10.93 billion, down from $11.64 billion in the first half of 2024. Net income for the six-month period was $676 million, or $0.78 per diluted share, compared to $1.315 billion, or $1.48 per diluted share, a year earlier. "What I see tells me the oilfield services market will be softer than I previously expected over the short to medium term," Jeff Miller said in a statement.
Marsh & McLennan Companies Q2 Earnings Call Highlights
$7.4 billion and adjusted EPS rising 9% to $2.96. Revenue rose 10% and operating income increased 11%. Mercer's wealth business had its best growth quarter since 2016, while Marsh Management Consulting delivered its fastest quarterly growth in more than two years. Commercial insurance and reinsurance pricing stayed weak, with primary commercial insurance rates down 6% and Guy Carpenter revenue falling 2% as reinsurance rates continued to decline. Even so, the company said new business, retention and catastrophe bond activity remained strong. Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MRSH) reported higher second-quarter revenue and earnings, with management pointing to continued demand for its risk, insurance and consulting services despite pricing pressure in commercial insurance and reinsurance markets. John Doyle, President and CEO of Marsh, said consolidated revenue rose 6% in the quarter to $7.4 billion, while underlying revenue growth accelerated to 5% from 4% in the prior quarter. Adjusted operating income increased 5%, and adjusted earnings per share rose 9% to $2.96. "We had a solid second quarter as demand for our advice and capabilities remained strong," Doyle said. He added that the company repurchased $200 million of stock during the quarter, bringing first-half repurchases to $1.5 billion. Risk and insurance services pressured by pricing Mark McGivney, Marsh's COO and CFO, said risk and insurance services revenue was $4.8 billion in the quarter, up 4% from a year earlier and 3% on an underlying basis. Adjusted operating income for the segment rose 3% to $1.7 billion, with an adjusted operating margin of 35.3%. Marsh Risk generated $4.1 billion of revenue, up 6% on a reported basis and 4% on an underlying basis. McGivney said the business saw "solid performances in the U.S. and across international." U.S. and Canada underlying growth improved sequentially to 4%, while international underlying growth was 5%, including 8% growth in Latin America and 5% growth in both EMEA and Asia-Pacific. Guy Carpenter, the company's reinsurance business, reported revenue of $664 million, down 2% on both a reported and underlying basis. McGivney said growth was affected by a difficult comparison to the prior year and continued declines in reinsurance rates, especially in property lines. He said rate pressure had a roughly 6 percentage point impact on Guy Carpenter's underlying growth in the quarter. Dean Klisura, CEO of Guy Carpenter, said during the question-and-answer session that the company's property catastrophe rate-on-line index was down 16% at midyear, "the steepest year-over-year decline" observed since the index was created 25 years ago. He said property represents about half of Guy Carpenter's global portfolio and that the firm has the largest property catastrophe book in the global marketplace. Despite the pricing pressure, Klisura said Guy Carpenter delivered double-digit new business growth in the first half, high-90s client retention and record catastrophe bond activity, leading 20 issuances totaling $5 billion of limit. Consulting revenue rose 10% to $2.6 billion in the second quarter, or 8% on an underlying basis. Adjusted operating income in consulting increased 11% to $533 million, and the adjusted operating margin was 20.5%. Mercer reported $1.6 billion of revenue, up 7% reported and 5% underlying. Within Mercer, health grew 3%, wealth grew 8% and career grew 2%. McGivney said Mercer's wealth business posted its best quarter of growth since the company began reporting on that basis in 2016. Assets under management were $846 billion at quarter-end, up 16% sequentially and 26% from a year earlier, driven by new business and capital markets. Marsh Management Consulting generated $1 billion of revenue, up 15% reported and 13% underlying, which McGivney described as the fastest quarterly growth in more than two years. Ted Moynihan, CEO of Marsh Management Consulting, said growth was broad-based across regions and most business lines, with strength in Europe and Asia and in industries including energy, insurance, telecom and transportation. He said the strongest service offering growth came from Quotient, the company's AI strategic advisory team. Doyle said the Marsh Global Insurance Market Index showed primary commercial insurance rates declined 6% in the second quarter, following a 5% decline in the first quarter. He noted that the index skews toward large accounts. U.S. rates decreased 2%. Europe and Asia declined by mid-single digits. Canada, the U.K. and Latin America were down by high single digits. The Pacific region saw double-digit decreases. Global property rates declined 12% year over year. Global financial and professional liability rates fell 3%, while cyber decreased 4%. Global casualty rates rose 2%, with U.S. excess casualty up 15% and workers' compensation down 4%. In reinsurance, Doyle said abundant capacity and growing reinsurer appetite have created a favorable market for insurers. He said June 1 Florida catastrophe renewals saw rate reductions in the 15% to 20% range due to excess supply, partly offset by a modest increase in demand. Doyle said the company continues to execute its Thrive program, which is intended to create capacity for investments in the Marsh brand, sales capabilities and operations and technology. McGivney said the company remains on track to deliver $400 million of total savings, with a portion reinvested for growth, and still expects to incur approximately $500 million of charges to generate those savings. Doyle said the company has seen a strong response to the new Marsh brand and is accelerating the transition of Guy Carpenter and Mercer to Marsh in September. He also highlighted the company's role as the official risk partner of Formula 1, saying the partnership expands visibility among Formula 1's more than 800 million global fans and its concentration of C-suite leaders and decision-makers. Management also emphasized AI initiatives. Doyle said Marsh is focused on AI development in growth, productivity and efficiency. He cited Marsh Risk Companion, an AI-enabled client platform introduced at the RIMS Conference; a coverage intelligence platform for middle-market producers; Atlas, a reinsurance strategy platform; and Claims IQ for claims professionals. He also described Lenwork, an internal agentic assistant, as a more secure and cost-efficient way to support enterprise large language model usage. McGivney said the company ended the quarter with $20.6 billion of total debt and $1.7 billion of cash. Second-quarter uses of cash totaled $1.4 billion, including $438 million for dividends, $230 million for acquisitions and $750 million for share repurchases. First-half uses of cash totaled $2.7 billion. The company now expects to deploy approximately $5.5 billion of capital in 2026 across dividends, acquisitions and share repurchases, up from its prior expectation of $5 billion. McGivney said the ultimate level of share repurchase will depend on how the company's mergers and acquisitions pipeline develops. He also noted a 10% increase
Danaher Q2 Earnings Call Highlights
Danaher beat Q2 expectations with sales of $6.3 billion, adjusted EPS of $1.94, and $1.3 billion in free cash flow. Core revenue rose 3% year over year, with management saying performance improved across life sciences and diagnostics. Life Sciences was a standout, posting 5.5% core revenue growth and its strongest quarter in several years. Demand improved across instruments and consumables, including strong growth at Pall, Beckman Life Sciences, and Abcam. Danaher raised full-year 2026 EPS guidance to $8.45-$8.60, while keeping core revenue growth guidance at 3%-4%. The company said bioprocessing shipment delays hurt the quarter, but underlying demand remained strong and it expects life sciences strength to offset some of that pressure. The Biotechnology segment reported core revenue growth of 2.5%. Within the segment, discovery and medical grew mid-single digits, while bioprocessing grew low single digits across both consumables and equipment. Danaher also announced that Leica Biosystems plans to acquire StatLab, a manufacturer of consumables used in anatomical pathology workflows. Blair said StatLab generated about $250 million in 2025 revenue, with more than 85% recurring revenue. Danaher expects the business to grow high single digits over the long term and be accretive to adjusted EPS in the first full year of ownership. Danaher raised its full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance to a range of $8.45 to $8.60, up from its previous outlook of $8.35 to $8.55. The company continues to expect full-year 2026 core revenue growth of 3% to 4%. For the third quarter, Danaher expects revenue growth of approximately 2% to 3%, including a roughly 250-basis-point headwind from respiratory testing. Excluding respiratory, the company expects core growth of about 5% in the third quarter.
Novartis rises as Q2 results beat on both lines
Novartis is up ~5% in Tuesday morning trading after reporting Q2 financial results that beat on both lines. The Swiss drugmaker also reaffirmed its 2026 guidance. Full-year revenue consensus is $58.05B, while the non-GAAP EPS consensus is $8.68.
Market Correction: This ETF Could Be a No-Brainer Buy if a Bear Market Is Coming
One of the biggest debates in the investment world so far in 2026: "Is the artificial intelligence (AI) trade overpriced?" Major tech companies have been spending hundreds of billions of dollars on AI data centers and other capex, but some investors are worried that the spending won't pay off, and that AI stocks are overvalued. On Friday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index dropped by 1.5%, driven largely by declines in semiconductor stocks. A Chinese AI start-up called Moonshot recently released a new AI model that could potentially compete with America's leading AI start-ups. As a result of these uncertainties, investors seem to be selling off chip stocks and AI stocks and rotating money into other assets. It's too soon to say that a bear market is coming for the Nasdaq-100, let alone the wider U.S. stock market. But if you're concerned about high valuations of tech stocks, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO +0.58%) might be a good buy. This is one of the most popular exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the world. No matter what happens next with AI stocks or the overall stock market, buying this S&P 500 ETF is generally a good move for long-term investors. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF: 506 stocks, nearly 16 years of 15% annualized returns The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF ranks as one of the best ways to buy the entire S&P 500 index. This fund holds 506 stocks and charges an ultra-low expense ratio of 0.03%. The ETF is up 9.6% year to date. It has delivered average annual returns (by net asset value) of about 22.3% over the past year, 20.6% for the past three years, and 13.4% for the past five years. NYSEMKT: VOO Key Data Points In the past nearly 16 years since the VOO fund's inception in September 2010, it has delivered average annual returns of 15.03%. That's an impressive run, considering that the S&P 500's long-term average return is about 10% per year. Why buy VOO in case of a bear market? No one knows what's going to happen next with any sector of the economy or stock. But if the AI boom turns out to be an overheated bubble, it's likely that the Nasdaq-100 index would go through a larger downturn. The S&P 500 might also decline if AI stocks enter a bear market, but the downturn would likely be less severe. We saw this happen during the most recent bear market in 2022. The Nasdaq-100 lost 32.4% of its value that year, while VOO (which tracks the S&P 500) declined by 18.2%: Over time, the S&P 500 index adds or drops stocks from its listing based on which companies are growing and gaining value. Today's losing stocks get replaced by tomorrow's winning stocks automatically. That's a big reason why buying the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF is often a smart move for long-term investors -- it puts the 500 largest U.S. companies into your portfolio at a low price, with automatic diversification. Investing in the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF is almost always a winning proposition in the long run, even if the stock market goes down in the next year or so.
New House bill hopes to waive the IRS 10% early withdrawal penalty and restore tax deductions for scam victims
Under current U.S. law, you can only potentially deduct personal losses incurred from a weather event or a scam if it's tied to an investment opportunity. That's because investment scams are deemed to be motivated by profit, so it works similarly to claiming losses from the sale of underperforming stocks. However, no such exemptions exist for victims of romance or imposter scams. If a victim of a romance scam drains their 401(k) and sends it to the cybercriminal under false pretenses, it's not considered a for-profit move. Not only would this individual need to pay income taxes on the distribution and replace those retirement funds over time, they would also be subjected to the IRS' 10% early withdrawal penalty. "It reinstates the deduction to provide relief to victims of fraud so they can deduct the amount stolen from them, thereby mitigating the majority of the tax consequences," Clark Flynt-Barr, AARP's government affairs director for financial security, told CNBC.
The Progressive Corporation’s (PGR) EPS Growth Not Reflected in Share Price
The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) is a leading auto insurer in the United States offering personal autos and special lines products. On July 20, 2026, The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) closed at $212.23 per share. The one-month return of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) was -1.60%, and its shares lost 14.21% over the past 52 weeks. The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) has a market capitalization of $123.39 billion. We own Index constituents such as Charles Schwab, JP Morgan, Mastercard and The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) that continue to grow their earnings per share at healthy rates and in some cases at higher rates than usual, but whose stock prices are lagging. The consensus of Wall Street analysts says Progressive will report lower earnings this year than last, as auto insurance rates are in decline after years of rate inflation. Progressive's growth rate is indeed slowing, but for the first half of 2026 its EPS rose 7%. Despite this, the share price dropped 4% for the first half of the year.
Mastercard (MA) Trails Market Despite Earnings Growth
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) closed at $547.44 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of $483.71 billion. Roughly 40% of the Index outperforming the average and 60% underperforming is not so unusual, but two-thirds of that lagging group underperforming by more than 10 percentage points seems like a lot. Even this level of dispersion might make sense if most of the earnings growth in the Index was concentrated in the 200 stocks that were up double digits. This is not the case. We own Index constituents such as Charles Schwab, JP Morgan, Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) and Progressive Corp. that continue to grow their earnings per share at healthy rates and in some cases at higher rates than usual, but whose stock prices are lagging. Similarly, Wall Street analysts expect Mastercard to compound EPS by 15% over the next few years, roughly the same rate as the past 20 years. The stock was down 10% in the first half of 2026 and has lagged the Index over the past five years.
Is The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) Trading at a Discount?
The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) posted a one-month return of 10.06%, while its shares gained 7.50% over the past 52 weeks. Schwab, for example, earned $4.87 per share in 2025 and the consensus of Wall Street analysts calls for earnings per share, or EPS, of $7.62 in 2027.
Utz Brands to be acquired by Intersnack Group in $2.9B transaction
Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) has agreed to be acquired by Germany-based Intersnack Group in a deal valued at approximately $2.9 billion, including debt, with the transaction taking the US salty snack manufacturer private and expanding Intersnack's presence in the North American market. Intersnack will acquire all outstanding shares of Utz Class A common stock for $14.25 per share in cash. The offer represents a premium of approximately 91% to Utz's July 20 closing price. The acquisition will be financed through approximately $920 million in cash from Intersnack, borrowings under a new $1.1 billion term loan facility, a new $250 million asset-based lending facility, rollover equity from the Rice and Lissette family and a reinvestment of proceeds from a $44 million settlement of Utz's tax receivable agreement. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.
United Community Banks, Inc. (UCB) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
United's presentation today includes references to operating earnings, pretax, free credit earnings and other non-GAAP financial information. For these non-GAAP financial measures, United has provided a reconciliation to the corresponding GAAP financial measure in the Financial Highlights section of the earnings release as well as at the end of the investor presentation. Both are included on the website at ucbi.com. Copies of the second quarter's earnings release and investor presentation were filed this morning on Form 8-K with the SEC and a replay of this call will be available in the Investor Relations section of the company's website at ucbi.com.
Our Bearishness On Netflix Hasn't Ended
Netflix (NFLX) has underperformed the market by more than 15% since our article at the start of the year arguing it had further to fall. Quarterly results show 13.4% YoY revenue growth, the slowest in several quarters, and no clear operating margin expansion. NFLX trades at an annualized P/E above 20x, which remains elevated given its decelerating growth and competitive pressures. Persistent sector crowding and lack of margin improvement reinforce a bearish stance at the current $285 billion valuation.
Magnolia Oil & Gas to acquire WildFire Energy for $4B
Magnolia Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: MGY) shares fell about 3% on Tuesday after the company announced a definitive agreement to acquire private equity-backed WildFire Energy for approximately $4 billion. The company currently produces about 53,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with approximately 70% of production weighted toward oil, across roughly 810,000 net acres.
Michael Burry says 95% of investors don't know what they own — and they like it that way. Is that such a bad thing?
95% of investors likely have no idea what they really own. Around 44% of said they were confident that they were able to make good investments. Almost 60% of U.S. adults said they have a retirement account, according to a 2025 Gallup poll The poll found the overlap between people who own stock and people who own a retirement account is high: 89% of retirement fund owners have stocks, while 86% of stock owners have a retirement account.
BDC credit stress climbs; software names add pressure
Private credit is grinding through a rough patch in the cycle, featuring lower base rates, heavy reliance on PIK income, and an approaching maturity wall. The mood has darkened to match. For a second straight quarter, survey respondents named a negative perception of the asset class as its top challenge, ahead of credit stress. Stress is climbing both in borrower count and dollar exposure, with software names accounting for more than a quarter of companies under pressure. Of the roughly 5,000 companies held by BDCs at the end of March, 538, or 10.6%, showed signs of some degree of credit pressure, according to LCD's analysis of more than 170 BDCs. The number of companies held by BDCs that showed some degree of credit pressure rose by 15% in the first quarter, to 538. Volume of first-lien TL and unitranche investments under pressure rose by 44% in the first quarter, to $35.4 billion. The software industry accounts for the largest share of borrowers under pressure, representing 26% of investments at fair value as of Q1 2026, up from 19% at the end of 2025. Most stressed borrowers are still paying cash. Out of the 538 companies on the watchlist at the end of March, half did not use payments-in-kind (PIK) in the last 12 months.
ExxonMobil to Release Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
ExxonMobil Holdings Corporation (NYSE: XOM) will release its second quarter 2026 financial results on Friday, July 31, 2026. The company will issue a press release via Business Wire that will be available at 5:30 a.m. CT at investor.exxonmobil.com. Darren Woods, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Neil Hansen, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Jim Chapman, Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer, will review the results during a live conference call at 8:30 a.m. CT. The presentation will be accessible via webcast or by calling (800) 918-2066 (Toll-free) or (646) 307-1342 (Local). Please reference passcode 5358637 to join the call.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) Could Be 4% Undervalued On Fee Growth And Bond Issuance
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has been active in the debt markets, announcing multiple fixed income offerings that span maturities from 2028 to 2056, including senior unsecured notes with fixed and variable coupons. At a share price of $338.87, JPMorgan Chase has seen recent momentum build, with a 30 day share price return of 4.2% and a 90 day gain of 8.27%. The 1 year total shareholder return of 18.69% and very large 5 year total shareholder return underline how recent bond issuance and solid earnings are being absorbed into a longer running performance story. Continued strong growth in client investment assets (+14% YoY) and assets under management (+18% YoY) in both Wealth and Asset Management, supported by rising global wealth and healthy inflows, points to JPMorgan's ability to capture expanding demand for sophisticated financial services; this should drive higher fee revenue and support long-term earnings growth. The narrative uses a 7.95% discount rate and ties JPMorgan Chase to a future earnings profile and P/E multiple that sit above current broader US banks assumptions, reflecting a belief in durable revenue growth, slightly lower margins and ongoing share count reduction that together support the $353.95 fair value mark.
Ousted founder’s $1.6 million claim tops Movement Labs’ bankruptcy filing
MVMT filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, reporting assets between $100,001 and $500,000 and liabilities of up to $10 million.
Semiconductor Stock Builds on Key Technical Support
Texas Instruments Inc (NASDAQ:TXN) was last seen up 3.5% at $294.04, extending a bounce off familiar support at the $280 level. Year to date, the equity has been outperforming with a 69.2% lead. According to Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, TXN is trading within 0.75 times the 80-day moving average's 20-day average true range (ATR), after spending at least 80% of the previous two weeks and 80% of the prior 42 trading sessions above that trendline. This setup has appeared 16 times over the last decade, after which the stock was higher one month later 88% of the time, averaging a 6.4% gain. An unwinding of pessimism amongst options traders could also support a rebound. Though calls are winning out on an absolute basis, the stock's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 0.75 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) ranks higher than 85% of readings from the past year, meaning puts are getting picked up at a faster-than-usual rate. When weighing in, options look like a good way to go. Texas Instruments' Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) sits at a lofty 99 out of 100, indicating the stock has exceeded options traders' volatility expectations over the past year.
Activist Barington pushes for Chemed to start a strategic review
Activist investor Barington Capital is escalating its campaign against Chemed Corp. (CHE) and wants the hospice service and Roto-Rooter owner to start a strategic review and change its board.
Ligand resumed at buy at Citi with acquisition of XOMA Royalty
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (LGND) StockJNJ, RHHBY, ZVRABy: Jonathan Block, SA News EditorSavePlay(1min)Commentsfranckreporter Citi has resumed its coverage of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND) with a buy rating saying that its acquisition of XOMA Royalty adds a significant number of late-stage assets as well as a steady royalty stream.
Interactive Brokers Earnings Reveal $1.90B Revenue, How Will IBKR Stock React?
Interactive Brokers earnings beat Wall Street with $1.90 billion Q2 revenue and $0.69 EPS as shares rose after hours.
Why MSCI Stock Is Plummeting Lower Today
Shares of global index and analytics provider MSCI (MSCI 10.39%) are down 10% today as of 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday after the company reported second-quarter earnings that disappointed the market. While sales and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) grew 12% and 19%, respectively, these totals came in shy of Wall Street's expectations. Making matters worse, MSCI slightly raised its 2026 expense guidance as it integrates its new acquisition, First Street, a climate-risk modeling firm. Its P/FCF ratio of 29 is the lowest it has been since 2019, yet MSCI has grown sales, EPS, and dividend payments by 13%, 15%, and 18% annually over the last five years.
Canton developer Digital Asset raises additional $10 million at same $2 billion equity valuation
Canton Network developer Digital Asset has raised an additional $10 million from Shinhan Financial Group and SC Ventures.
Nano Dimension appoints Moshe Rozenbaum as interim CEO
Nano Dimension (NNDM) on Tuesday appointed Moshe Rozenbaum as interim chief executive officer, effective immediately.
Dyne Therapeutics launches $300M stock offering; shares fall 14% in after hours
Dyne Therapeutics (DYN) announced on Tuesday that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of $300M of its common stock.
Citigroup Declares Common Stock Dividend
The Board of Directors of Citigroup Inc. today declared a quarterly dividend on Citigroup's common stock of $0.67 per share, payable on August 28, 2026, to stockholders of record on August 3, 2026. Holders of depositary receipts, each representing one-twenty-fifth of a full preferred share, will be paid $31.25 for each receipt held. Holders of depositary receipts, each representing one-twenty-fifth of a full preferred share, will be paid $10.375 for each receipt held. Holders of depositary receipts, each representing one-twenty-fifth of a full preferred share, will be paid $18.4375 for each receipt held. Holders of depositary receipts, each representing one-twenty-fifth of a full preferred share, will be paid $19.0625 for each receipt held. Holders of depositary receipts, each representing one-twenty-fifth of a full preferred share, will be paid $18.00 for each receipt held. Holders of depositary receipts, each representing one-twenty-fifth of a full preferred share, will be paid $17.8125 for each receipt held. Holders of depositary receipts, each representing one-twenty-fifth of a full preferred share, will be paid $17.50 for each receipt held. Holders of depositary receipts, each representing one-twenty-fifth of a full preferred share, will be paid $16.875 for each receipt held.
Charles Schwab's Dip Doesn't Offer A Buying Opportunity
The Charles Schwab Corporation delivered strong Q2 2026 results, with revenue and earnings surpassing analyst expectations. SCHW continues to grow client assets, active brokerage accounts, and managed investing flows, reflecting operational strength and innovation.
Steel Dynamics, Inc. (STLD) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Good morning and welcome to Steel Dynamics Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded and will be available on our website for replay later today. Leading today's call are Mark Millett, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Steel Dynamics; Theresa Wagler, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Barry Schneider, President and Chief Operating Officer.
Hinge Health: My Hidden Gem Pick Has Performed Well, But It's Time For A Cool-Off (Downgrade)
Hinge Health has delivered an impressive near-50% rally in just over six weeks. I initially highlighted HNGE’s 85% gross margins and innovative migraine care program as key growth drivers.
Review & Preview: Bounce
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.7% while the S&P 500 rose 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.3%. Semiconductor stocks logged their best day in a month. Overall, traders “shrugged off the news from the War in favor of buying the chip makers again, presumably on the hope that the AI hyperscalers, when they report second-quarter earnings over the next few days, will also report large capital spending plans,” wrote Macquarie Strategist Thierry Wizman.
ExxonMobil Holdings (XOM) Could Be 11% Undervalued Following Earnings Optimism
The recent 2.26% 1 day share price return and 10.09% 30 day share price return suggest momentum has been building in ExxonMobil Holdings, while the 44.23% 1 year total shareholder return highlights how sustained energy sector strength and interest in its oil and lower emission projects are feeding into renewed sentiment. Industry wide underinvestment in new hydrocarbon production is tightening supply. Combined with Exxon's scale and execution of high return projects, this positions the company to benefit from higher sustained oil and gas prices, supporting strong earnings and cash flow. Ongoing operational efficiency initiatives and digital transformation, including advanced use of AI, automation, and a unified ERP, are lowering structural operating expenses. This supports resilient net margins and enhances earnings stability through commodity cycles. Result: Fair Value of $169.91 (UNDERVALUED)
Trump outlines plans for up to 200% tariffs on generic drug imports starting in 2028
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said generic drugs imported into the U.S. will face zero tariffs for two years starting August 1, before a 100% levy takes effect in August 2028 and rises to 200% a year later.
bioAffinity Technologies, Inc. (BIAF) Discusses Innovations in Lung Cancer Screening Technologies for Veterans Transcript
Lung cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in the United States. And unfortunately, veterans face an even greater burden due to higher rates of smoking, chronic lung disease and service-related environmental exposures. The VA has built one of the nation's largest integrated health care systems, creating a unique opportunity to rethink how we deliver lung cancer screening at scale, especially for a population with some of the highest risk factors of this disease.
Can Texas Instruments’ (TXN) Dividend Amid AI Demand Reveal Its True Capital Allocation Priorities?
Earlier this month, Texas Instruments' board declared a quarterly cash dividend of US$1.42 per share, payable on August 11, 2026, to shareholders of record as of July 31, 2026, while investors focused on upcoming second-quarter results and strong AI-related demand across its end markets. The combination of this dividend declaration and optimistic earnings expectations tied to AI infrastructure spending has sharpened attention on how Texas Instruments balances shareholder payouts with heavy manufacturing and technology investment. Among recent developments, the most relevant alongside the dividend is TI's raised attention from Wall Street around its upcoming second-quarter report, where analysts expect revenue of about US$5.23 billion and earnings of US$1.91 per share. Those expectations sit directly in the crosshairs of the AI demand story and TI's large manufacturing program, making the coming earnings print an important check on whether current optimism about orders and utilization is well supported. Texas Instruments' narrative projects $26.4 billion revenue and $10.4 billion earnings by 2029. Some of the lowest-estimate analysts paint a more cautious picture, assuming TI's revenue grows only about 8.9 percent annually and earnings reach roughly US$7.6 billion by 2029, so it is worth weighing that more pessimistic view alongside the latest AI-fueled optimism and seeing how both might shift after this news.
US defers more than $1B in Medicaid payments to California, Minnesota
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) deferred more than $1 billion in federal Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota as part of the Trump administration's effort to combat fraud, waste
The Age of Free ETF Trades Is Ending
Brokerages like Fidelity and Charles Schwab are charging ETF firms to place their products on their platforms. individual investors will ultimately bear the costs.
Prologis (PLD) Could Be 4% Undervalued As Earnings Beat Lifts Guidance
Prologis (PLD) is back in focus after reporting second quarter 2026 results, along with a fresh increase to its full year earnings guidance that gives investors new figures to assess the logistics REIT. The earnings beat and raised guidance have come alongside stronger share price momentum, with a 16.19% year-to-date share price return at a latest share price of $149.94 and a 1-year total shareholder return of 41.77%, while 3- and 5-year total shareholder returns of 29.82% and 34.05% point to steadier, longer-term compounding rather than a sudden surge. Prologis is trading at $149.94 against a narrative fair value of about $156.07, so the current debate is whether that gap reflects upside or already embedded expectations. The continued expansion in value-added services (like renewable/distributed energy solutions and data centers) further diversifies revenue streams and leverages long-term trends toward automation and electrification in warehouse operations, which is likely to provide incremental NOI and margin expansion opportunities.
Don’t Quit on Danaher Stock After Horrific Earnings Reaction
Danaher expects core revenue (a metric that excludes things like currency and acquisitions) to increase between 2% and 3% for the third quarter, and Danaher narrowed its full-year forecast to 3% to 4% growth from the prior 3% to 6% expectation.