Daily Point
_ Dow Jones 51,711.65 (-1.6%)
_ S&P 500 7,408.30 (-1.67%)
_ Nasdaq 25,137.69 (-2.88%)
_ Bitcoin 65,056.30 (-0.27%)
Topline Signals
- Alphabet: Raised full-year 2026 capital expenditure guidance to $195B–$205B alongside a record $514 billion Google Cloud backlog.
- Intel: Posted Q2 2026 revenue of $16.13 billion, representing 24% year-over-year growth driven by a 59% surge in Data Center and AI segment revenue.
- Lockheed Martin: Expanded its total order backlog to a record $230.4 billion after booking $65 billion in new Q2 orders.
Good day.
Today's sharp market pullback—marked by a 2.88% decline in the Nasdaq and steep selloffs in tech leaders like Tesla and Alphabet—reflects acute short-term anxiety surrounding aggressive capital expenditures and geopolitical oil shocks pushing crude past $100. As we approach next week's Federal Reserve interest rate decision, quarterly GDP estimates, and core PCE inflation data, institutional noise and yield pressures are tempting weak-handed investors to panic over temporary margin compression.
As a practitioner who has built wealth by riding multi-year capital cycles, I encourage you to look through this surface-level turbulence. What short-term analysts misinterpret as cash burn is actually the decisive capital deployment phase of the artificial intelligence revolution. Alphabet raising its annual capital spending to over $195 billion is directly justified by a staggering $514 billion cloud backlog, while Intel's fastest revenue growth in nearly 15 years proves that the physical demand for compute infrastructure remains unquenchable. Furthermore, while risk assets faced broad liquidation, Bitcoin held firm near $65,000, underscoring the growing structural resilience of non-sovereign digital assets.
True financial independence is achieved by exploiting these precise moments of market disconnect. Real wealth is accumulated by acquiring the fundamental building blocks of tomorrow's economy—advanced silicon, sovereign digital reserves, and critical energy grid infrastructure—when the crowd retreats over short-term quarterly metrics. Maintain your perspective, keep your capital concentrated in top-tier structural trends, and let short-term volatility fund your long-term freedom.
Weekly Schedule
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
29 Jul (Wednesday)
MBA 30-Year Mortgage Rate
EIA Crude Oil Stocks Change
EIA Gasoline Stocks Change
Fed Interest Rate Decision
Fed Press Conference
Business Confidence
Air Products Earnings Call
Arm Holdings Earnings Call
Biogen Earnings Call
Equinix Earnings Call
Robinhood Markets Earnings Call
Meta Platforms Earnings Call
Microsoft Earnings Call
Procter & Gamble Earnings Call
Qualcomm Earnings Call
Starbucks Earnings Call
30 Jul (Thursday)
Consumer Confidence
GDP Growth Rate YoY Flash
Unemployment Rate
Economic Sentiment
GDP Growth Rate QoQ Flash
BoE Interest Rate Decision
Initial Jobless Claims
GDP Growth Rate QoQ Adv
Personal Spending MoM
Core PCE Price Index MoM
Personal Income MoM
PCE Price Index MoM
PCE Price Index YoY
GDP Price Index QoQ Adv
NBS Manufacturing PMI
BoJ Interest Rate Decision
Apple Earnings Call
Amazon Earnings Call
Coinbase Global Earnings Call
Mastercard Earnings Call
Altria Group Earnings Call
MicroStrategy Earnings Call
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Earnings Call
Southern Company Earnings Call
General
Comcast Reports 2nd Quarter 2026 Results
Revenue decreased 1.2% compared to the prior year period. Net Income Attributable to Comcast was $3.5 billion, compared to $11.1 billion in the prior year period, which included a $9.4 billion gain from the sale of our interest in Hulu. Adjusted Net Income decreased 20.3%. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 13.4%. On a pro forma basis to reflect the Versant separation, which was completed on January 2, 2026, and the sale of our Sky operations in Germany, which was completed on May 31, 2026, revenue increased 4.7% and Adjusted EBITDA decreased 5.3%. Earnings per Share (EPS) decreased 66.9% to $0.99. Adjusted EPS decreased 16.7% to $1.04. Capital Expenditures increased 8.3% to $2.9 billion. Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities was $8.1 billion. Free Cash Flow was $4.6 billion. Dividends and Share Repurchases. Comcast paid dividends totaling $1.2 billion and repurchased 33.8 million of its shares for $900 million, resulting in a total return of capital to shareholders of $2.1 billion. On June 29, 2026, Comcast announced it would pause its share repurchase program as it works through the separation of its businesses into two independent publicly traded companies. Total Customer Relationships for Residential Connectivity & Platforms decreased by 230,000 to 47.7 million, reflecting a decrease in domestic and international residential customer relationships. Total domestic broadband residential customer net losses were 167,000, total domestic wireless line net additions were 448,000 and total domestic video customer net losses were 280,000. Adjusted EBITDA for Residential Connectivity & Platforms decreased due to lower revenue, partially offset by lower operating expenses.
Dollar hits new 40-year high versus yen, euro lower after ECB decision
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.32% to 101.47, with the euro down 0.35% at $1.137. U.S. crude jumped 5.41% to $91.51 a barrel and Brent was at $100.42 per barrel, up 6.75% on the day. The ECB kept interest rates unchanged as expected but held the door open to another increase in September, as a fresh jump in energy prices threatens to keep inflation well above its 2% target. President Christine Lagarde said "while developments in underlying inflation have remained contained, the full effects of the energy shock have yet to play out". The recent rebound in oil prices, along with comments from multiple Fed officials, including Chair Kevin Warsh, that have flagged concerns about inflation pressures over labor market concerns, have helped push market expectations for rate hikes from the central bank higher. U.S. data on Thursday showed weekly initial jobless claims dropped by 22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 187,000, according to the Labor Department, the largest decline in three months and well below the 212,000 estimate of economists polled by Reuters.
Why the 4% Withdrawal Rule Breaks Down for Retirees Who Retire at 55
BLS data shows household spending peaks between ages 45 and 54, meaning early retirees exit income at their highest-spending years, not during natural tapering. The honest answer is that a 55-year-old retiree almost certainly needs a lower starting withdrawal rate than 4%, not because the 4% rule is wrong, but because it was designed for a shorter time horizon and different spending profile than an early retiree faces.
Average 30-year US mortgage rate climbs to 6.58%, highest level in nearly a year
The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.58% from 6.55% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.74%. Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, often sought by borrowers refinancing a home loan, also rose this week. That average rate increased to 5.96% from 5.93% last week. A year ago, it was at 5.87%, Freddie Mac said. The 10-year Treasury yield was 4.7% at midday Thursday on the bond market, up from 4.57% a week ago. It was just 3.97% in late February, before the war broke out.
Mortgage rates hit highest level since August as oil's rise sparks inflation worries
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate rose to 6.58% through Wednesday, according to Freddie Mac data, up from 6.55% a week earlier. Mortgage applications for home purchases were up 6% through Friday from a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
U.S. Debt Smashes WWII Record — But It’s About to Get So Much Worse
U.S. federal debt has surpassed its WWII peak at 122% of GDP, yet no wartime emergency or deep recession is driving it. The GAO projects debt will hit 250% of GDP by 2056 if policies stay unchanged, more than doubling today's already elevated level. Debt isn't just a government accounting problem. It affects markets through higher borrowing costs. As Treasury debt expands, the government must issue more bonds. If investors demand higher yields to absorb that supply, interest expenses consume a larger share of the federal budget. Those higher Treasury yields also ripple through the economy, lifting mortgage rates, corporate borrowing costs, and financing expenses for consumers. That matters because recessions typically cause deficits to widen. Tax revenue declines while spending on unemployment benefits and economic stimulus rises. If debt already exceeds the size of the economy before a downturn begins, policymakers have less fiscal flexibility when the next crisis inevitably arrives. Worse, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) projects federal debt will reach 250% of GDP by 2056 if current fiscal policies remain unchanged.
Gold crashes from $5,500 to $4,160 since the Iran conflict began, but experts see a massive buying opportunity
Since the fighting began in late February, gold has experienced a volatile downtrend, falling from roughly $5,274/oz to roughly $4,160/oz by late July. On the upside, gold's year-to-year price performance is up 20%, which slightly outpaces the 19% returned by the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, which suggests gold will rebound once its main thorn — the U.S.-Iran conflict — is removed.
Bessent just ran into a problem he cannot talk down
The two-year Treasury yield rose from 3.47% on Jan. 2 to 4.18% on July 17, according to Treasury Department data. The 30-year yield moved from 4.86% to 5.06% across the same stretch, per the same Treasury series. Roughly 36% of market participants expected a rate increase at the July meeting as of July 13, up from 18% on July 2, according to Chase, citing CME FedWatch data. The 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 6.55% as of July 16, the highest since August 2025, according to Freddie Mac. Net interest reached $857 billion in fiscal 2026 through June, a figure I worked through earlier this month, and it grows mechanically for as long as the curve stays where it is.
This Vanguard ETF Has Weathered Every Recession in Its History
There have been two recessions over the past 20 years, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), and this Vanguard exchange-traded fund (ETF) has outperformed the market in both. The Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF was not around for the dot-com recession of 2001; in fact, Vanguard only had one ETF on the market at that time, the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI -1.31%). During the COVID-19 recession, from mid-February to mid-April 2020, the VDC was down 7%, but the S&P 500 was off 15% and the Nasdaq fell 12%.
With a 13% Yield but an Uncertain Interest Rate Environment, Is AGNC Stock a Buy?
With a yield of over 13%, AGNC Investment (AGNC -2.10%) is a stock that frequently pops up on dividend investors' radars. For those unfamiliar with AGNC, it is a mortgage real estate investment trust (mREIT) that owns a portfolio of agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Since these bonds are backed by government agencies, they carry essentially no default risk. However, the value of MBS can be greatly affected by movements in mortgage spreads and interest rates, and with the Fed now considering an interest rate hike rather than a cut, the environment has suddenly changed for AGNC. While AGNC noted the sudden shift in rate expectations with a new Fed chief, it believes the supply of new mortgages will be materially lower this year, while demand for MBS should remain high. As such, it thinks spreads can remain within 120 to 160 basis points of Treasuries and perhaps even tighten. Lower spread volatility is generally good for AGNC and can allow it to invest with more leverage. Meanwhile, AGNC continues to generate strong net spread and dollar roll income (dollar roll is a hedging strategy used in MBS markets to avoid losses when MBS values decline), which is used to cover its dividend. For Q2, this came in at $0.40 per share, while it paid $0.36 per share in dividends. That was an increase from $0.38 a year ago. Its net interest spread was basically unchanged at 2%, as was its at-risk leverage of 7.4 times. AGNC's tangible book value (TBV) also rose in the quarter, increasing by $0.20 per share to $8.58 at the end of Q2, up from $8.38 at the end of Q1. TBV is the value of AGNC's MBS portfolio, and it is the metric by which mREITs are normally valued. It said that as of the end of last week, its TBV was down about 1%, or a little less than 2% when accounting for its monthly dividend accrual. Mortgage REITs are always trying to balance the impact of mortgage rates, spreads over Treasuries, prepayments, and a host of other factors. AGNC management has done a solid job of this over the past couple of years, especially in generating solid income to cover its robust dividend. Right now, the stock looks like it will continue to be a solid income generator. However, unless spreads tighten significantly, I don't see much additional upside beyond its current dividend payout, given that the stock trades well above its TBV per share.
The Probability of a July Fed Rate Hike Has Tripled Over the Last Week -- Here's Why
The probability of a July FOMC rate hike has soared over the last week In five days, on July 29, the 12-member Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), including Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, will render its verdict on whether to raise or stand pat on interest rates. This decision can send shockwaves through the equity and bond markets. On July 15, the CME Group's proprietary FedWatch Tool, which tracks 30-day Fed funds futures prices to gauge the probability of changes to the federal funds target rate at upcoming meetings, predicted a 10.7% chance of an FOMC rate hike on July 29. By July 22, the probability of the FOMC raising interest rates had more than tripled to 34.7%. BREAKING: US May PCE inflation, the Fed's preferred inflation metric, rises to 4.1%, the highest reading since April 2023. Core PCE inflation rose to 3.4%, its highest since October 2023. US inflation is now officially running at more than double the Fed's 2% target.
Bitcoin
Crypto catches its breath as bitcoin settles into a holding pattern amid July rally
Derivatives positioning Period of stasis: The crypto futures market appears to be in a state of stasis, with 24-hour trading volumes down just 1% at $147 billion and open interest (OI) holding steady around $111 billion. Open interest shifts in major assets: Bitcoin's futures open interest has slipped back to 743K BTC from the highs of over 760K BTC seen early this week. This decline indicates an unwinding of existing bets as the price rally stalls and valuations pull back slightly. Options flows and evaporating fear: Flows across the Deribit exchange and the OTC desk Paradigm featured notable demand for the BTC $70,000 call option expiring Aug. 7. While some traders were positioned for upside, others simultaneously picked up longer-duration puts as a downside hedge. Ethereum options have also seen a general demand for upside exposure. Broadly speaking, market fear appears to be evaporating as put-call skews for both BTC and ETH slip toward zero. Notably, ETH's one-week skew briefly turned negative yesterday, marking a temporary bullish shift in sentiment where calls became more expensive than puts. Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.
Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Capital joins tokenization push as Coinbase takes stake in onchain fund
Mubadala Capital has launched a tokenized version of one of its private markets strategies for qualified investors, using infrastructure from UAE-based tokenization firm KAIO. The fund is available on Coinbase's Base network, Solana and Sui and has already attracted about $75 million in onchain assets, according to the companies. Mubadala Capital has brought one of its private markets investment funds onchain, making the asset management arm of Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund one of the latest major financial firms to embrace tokenization. The alternative asset manager, which oversees about $430 billion in assets, said Thursday it launched a tokenized version of one of its private markets strategies for qualified investors using infrastructure from KAIO, a UAE-based tokenization specialist. Tokenization has become one of the fastest-growing corners of digital assets as traditional finance firms look to modernize fund infrastructure. Citi recently projected that tokenized securities could grow to roughly $5.5 trillion by 2030, while Boston Consulting Group and Ripple estimate tokenized assets across all asset classes could reach $18.9 trillion by 2033. For this particular case, KAIO provides the infrastructure that issues and administers Mubadala Capital’s tokenized fund. The company said Mubadala joins firms including Hamilton Lane, Brevan Howard and Laser Digital that use its platform to distribute investment products onchain, and currently has $144 million in tokenized funds on its platform. Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.
Bernstein says Bitcoin mining deals necessary for AI power crunch
The investment manager’s Bitcoin mining industry deal tracker registered a new AI-related deal every week in July, with combined deals standing at more than 7.5 gigawatts or the contracted equivalent of $150 billion in multi-year contracts, according to a Thursday research note shared with Cointelegraph. Bitcoin mining stocks logged double-digit gains on Monday after Bitcoin mining companies Hut 8 and IREN announced major AI infrastructure deals. Hut 8 announced a 15-year, $9.8 billion lease for its AI data center campus and IREN disclosed $2.8 billion in cloud services contracts with AI developers. Days earlier, TeraWulf signed a 20-year data center lease with AI startup Anthropic, a deal the company said could generate roughly $19 billion in contract revenue. Sector tracking exchange-traded fund CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF (WGMI) was up 1.47% ahead of the Nasdaq open. Bernstein’s research note said that Bitcoin miners and third-party computing power providers will remain important for AI companies, as the construction of new data centers is facing growing bipartisan political pushback. In April, US Senator Ron Wyden shared concerns that AI data centers in his home state of Oregon could worsen water scarcity during persistent droughts. He said that large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons of water per day and asked large data center operators to explain how they would reduce groundwater withdrawals to protect the local water supply. In March, President Donald Trump’s administration published a Ratepayer Protection Pledge aiming to expand AI infrastructure without increasing electricity bills for households and small businesses.
Morning Minute: Wall Street Moving Onchain Will Drive the Next Bull Market
BTC ETFs see 7 straight days of inflows; ETH validator exit queue goes to 0
Here’s what happened in crypto today
According to CoinGecko’s Q2 2026 Crypto Industry Report, CEX perpetual futures volume fell 10% to $12.7 trillion during the quarter, while decentralized platforms continued gaining ground. Hyperliquid has emerged as one of the leading decentralized perpetual exchanges, ranking second by open interest behind Binance. Hackers stole more than $31.6 million across two unrelated crypto bridge exploits spaced just hours apart, targeting bridges operated by decentralized perpetual exchange AFX and Verus Protocol. The Senate’s proposed CLARITY Act would temporarily prohibit US federal officials, including President Donald Trump, from issuing or sponsoring digital assets under new ethics rules aimed at addressing conflicts of interest.
Kazakhstan Moves to Build a National Crypto Reserve Funded by Bitcoin Miners
Kazakhstan has laid out a plan to build a national strategic crypto reserve fed by its bitcoin miners, part of a two-step push by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to pull the country’s large mining industry into a regulated, state-supervised system. A presidential decree signed July 7 sets the frame, and a government resolution approved July 18 supplies the mechanism. The government cleared the rules for strategic digital mining under Government Resolution No. 638, published in the PRG.kz legal database. Together the two measures aim to route mining output and crypto trading through Kazakh infrastructure, with the state taking a share of mined coins for a sovereign reserve. The reserve sits at the center. Under the July 18 resolution, the Kazakhstan government created a program of “strategic digital mining,” in which miners receive electricity quotas at capped tariffs on 10-year contracts from listed power producers. In exchange, they must hand over part of what they mine, according to local reporting. A formula sets the transfer at 10% of mined digital assets after the cost of electricity and grid services, paid each month to the state-linked Astana Hub fund, which passes the coins to the National Investment Corporation of the National Bank for management inside a “national strategic crypto reserve.” The first approved power source is the Ekibastuz GRES-1 coal plant, with a 300-megawatt quota. To qualify, a miner must run a data center of at least 150 megawatts, with rigs that each clear 150 terahashes per second, among other conditions. Kazakhstan ranks among the world’s largest bitcoin mining hubs, fifth by mining activity in the Cambridge Digital Mining Industry Report from April 2025, a status built on cheap coal power that drew miners after China’s 2021 ban, though the country moved to tighten its mining rules over grid strain.
Crypto for Advisors: It’s time for tokenization to get to work
Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) have pushed past $30 billion, roughly six times where they sat at the start of 2025. During their keynote, RedStone’s founders cited an EY and Coinbase Institutional survey which found 64% of asset managers now want to tokenize, up from 40% a year earlier. RedStone co-founder Marcin Kazmierczak framed it bluntly: CLARITY could be a 10x or even 100x moment relative to GENIUS, because it opens the door to the full range of asset classes. Collateral is where tokenization earns its keep first. On the repo panel, Broadridge's Robert Krugman said his firm now moves around $370 billion of tokenized repo a day on the Canton network. That is a sliver of the $12 trillion US repo market, but a real one, and the programmability pitch is simple. "If you want to borrow for five minutes, you pay for five minutes [instead of a full day]. It's a no-brainer," said Ami Ben-David, CEO at Ownera. Apollo's Christine Moy said the firm's tokenized private credit fund has confirmed what she calls the "superpowers" of onchain assets: secondary liquidity for otherwise illiquid products, and the ability to post private credit as collateral in DeFi protocols like Aave and Morpho. Treasury desks are coming around for similar reasons. On the Onchain Treasury Management panel, WisdomTree's Maredith Hannon described a small US construction company paying an Argentine vendor today, through a tokenized money market fund behind a familiar web interface. No second bank account, and the treasurer earns yield while the money moves. Citi's Ryan Rugg described the bank's tokenized deposits and its 24/7 dollar clearing, while stressing that clients "don't want just a Citi token." They want multi-bank rails. June saw $3.86 billion in on-chain tokenized equity trading volumes, a 145% jump from May. The SpaceX IPO was the main catalyst, with tokenized SPCX generating $1.19 billion across platforms including Backpack and xStocks. It’s important to note that most activity runs through synthetic wrappers rather than issuer-sponsored structures, and a large share is perpetual futures rather than spot.
The SEC settles with Coinbase over its missing Gary Gensler texts
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit over its investigations into Ethereum, according to a joint status report filed July 22. History Associates Inc., working on behalf of Coinbase, had sued in June 2024 after the SEC failed to fully respond to records requests about Ethereum’s shift to proof-of-stake and earlier crypto enforcement actions. The case, which forced the SEC to turn over thousands of documents and revealed the deletion of texts and data from phones of top officials including Gary Gensler, will be dismissed once final production is complete. Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.
Top exec at $1.7 trillion Wall Street giant makes bold crypto call
Kaul cites estimates suggesting agentic commerce, meaning AI agents making purchases and payments on their own, could reach $3 trillion to $5 trillion by 2030. She points to newer, faster blockchains like Aptos and Solana, which she says can process thousands of transactions per second, faster than networks like Bitcoin or Ethereum, and comparable to how quickly Visa's network operates day to day.
Ethereum nears market bottom against Bitcoin, though key signals remain unconfirmed: CryptoQuant
Ether is becoming increasingly attractive from a valuation standpoint, particularly relative to Bitcoin, but onchain data suggests the market has yet to reach a definitive cycle bottom, according to CryptoQuant. In its latest weekly report, the analytics company said Ether (ETH) is trading roughly 17% below its realized price, or the average onchain acquisition cost of all ETH in circulation, of about $2,300. Ether is also showing signs of improving relative to Bitcoin (BTC). CryptoQuant said that ETH’s market value-to-realized value (MVRV) ratio has retreated from extreme overvaluation, exchange inflows have declined, exchange-traded fund (ETF) holdings have begun to recover after months of weakness, and ETH/BTC spot trading volumes have fallen into a range historically associated with market bottoms. Tom Lee’s Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the biggest corporate ETH holder, continues to accumulate Ether, boosting its holdings by 325,000 ETH over a one-month period, despite sitting on large unrealized losses.
Smarter Web Company Sells Bitcoin to Clear $11.7 Million Debt Facility
The Smarter Web Company has sold a portion of its Bitcoin treasury to repay an $11.7 million convertible debt facility held by TOBAM, a move the company frames as a choice for balance-sheet flexibility over equity dilution. After the sale, Smarter Web still holds 2,700 BTC in treasury. Smarter Web was not exiting its Bitcoin position. It used BTC to extinguish a debt obligation and avoid issuing 7,718,551 ordinary shares, an outcome that would have diluted existing shareholders had the convertible converted into equity instead. The company faced a capital-structure choice. It could leave the convertible in place and risk dilution from a future conversion into shares, or it could draw down part of its Bitcoin position to repay the debt directly.
Bitcoin slides below $65K as Iran conflict fuels $100 oil and bond-yield surge
Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $65,000 on Thursday as US stocks slid amid another round of escalation in Iran. Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting three-day lows of $64,799 on Bitstamp. Ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next interest-rate decision, data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed an increasing chance of officials hiking by 0.25% — traditionally a headwind for crypto markets. Odds neared 40% on Thursday, while a week prior, they were closer to 12%.
Gemini sent $10M in Bitcoin to Trump PAC after joint motion with CFTC
$10 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to a super political action committee (PAC) supporting President Donald Trump. According to the MAGA Inc. Super PAC’s July report to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) filed on Monday, the Gemini Trust Company run by co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss sent two separate contributions of more than $5 million in Bitcoin on June 19. As of June 30, MAGA Inc. reported receiving more than $397 million. Selig remains sole CFTC commissioner with no nominations announced
Ripple Just Solved RLUSD’s Two Biggest Problems With Ripple Mint and Notabene Deal
Ripple Mint adds programmatic access alongside the web interface, so RLUSD operations can run inside an institution’s own software. Teams can mint, redeem and bridge through code, pull balances and transaction status the same way, and receive automatic alerts at every stage from fiat receipt through minting to final payout. Every step carries the same reference ID, so a treasury team follows one trail instead of matching a bank statement against a block explorer by hand. Circle has offered institutions the same access to USDC through Circle Mint for years, and it moved further ahead on July 2, when Standard Chartered became the first major global bank to let clients mint and redeem USDC without holding a Circle account. USDC’s supply is around $73 billion against RLUSD’s roughly $1.6 billion, and it is far busier too, turning over its entire supply about 16 times in June and carrying roughly two-thirds of all stablecoin transaction volume that month. Notabene runs the largest open network for regulated on-chain transactions, built around the Travel Rule, which requires firms to pass sender and recipient details along with a transfer the way banks always have. Its checks run while a payment can still be stopped rather than after it has settled, so an institution confirms who it is paying before committing the money. When Notabene raised its Series B in November 2024, just over 165 companies used the platform and it had handled close to $500 billion in transaction volume over the prior year. It now serves more than 280 customers, including tier-1 banks and custodians, with four times the annual volume. The XRP Ledger is now the biggest network holding RLUSD after passing Ethereum in late June, so more of this activity runs on XRP’s own ledger than anywhere else. Every transaction there destroys a small amount of XRP as its fee, though that burn has removed about 14 million XRP since 2012, which is 0.014% of the original supply in fourteen years—it is far too small to move the XRP price. If those institutions start moving RLUSD, most of that traffic would run on the XRP Ledger, since it already holds more of the supply than any other network. Each transfer burns a fraction of a cent in XRP, so heavier use would speed up a burn that has barely registered in fourteen years.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin Fall as US Strikes on Iran Enter 13th Day: Analyst Says Correction Isn't 'Great' for the Market
Over $250 million was liquidated from the cryptocurrency market in the last 24 hours, with $188 million in bullish long positions alone wiped out, according to Coinglass data. Bitcoin's open interest fell 2.85% over the last 24 hours. A falling open interest with falling prices typically indicates that traders are exiting their long positions rather than new sellers taking over. The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.25 trillion, following a dip of 0.59% over the last 24 hours.
BitMEX delists 65 trading pairs, derivatives in July amid exchange shutdown
BitMEX will have removed 65 derivative contracts and trading pairs in July, compared with just 19 across the first six months of the year. Cointelegraph’s analysis of BitMEX’s delisting announcements over the past year shows that 65 crypto instruments are set to be delisted in July, compared to 19 in the first half of the year.
Bitcoin holds near $65,000 as $800 billion AI selloff leaves crypto largely untouched
Bitcoin fell less than 1%, and dogecoin led the majors lower. The largest cryptocurrency traded at about $65,400, down less than 1% on the day and up 3% on the week. Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.
Mirae plans to turn crypto exchange Korbit into something Korea hasn't seen before
Mirae Asset has completed a 97.15% acquisition of South Korea’s oldest crypto exchange, Korbit, and is rebranding it as Digital X. Mirae Asset has acquired Korbit and its plans for the exchange go beyond just capturing Korean market share. It wants to build an "intelligent investment platform." "We plan to strengthen investor education and research capabilities and develop Digital X into an 'intelligent investment platform' where knowledge, information and in-depth investment insights are organically connected," the firm told CoinDesk in an email. Mirae is rebranding Korbit as Digital X as part of its broader vision for the exchange. X here represents an uncharted future and the limitless possibilities created when different forms of value intersect and converge, the firm said. The group also told CoinDesk it would strictly comply with AML, KYC, and fraud-detection standards across all areas, a signal that Digital X is being positioned for institutional clients as much as for retail traders. Mirae Asset's affiliate Mirae Asset Consulting recently increased its stake in Korbit to 97.15%, completing the acquisition after receiving regulatory approval from South Korea's Fair Trade Commission. Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.
Ripple’s RLUSD gets two boosts as transfer volume drops 25%
Ripple launched an institutional minting platform and added RLUSD to Notabene’s compliance network as holder growth rose but monthly transfer volume fell to $10.95 billion. RLUSD now has a market value of about $1.5 billion with supply split between the XRP Ledger and Ethereum, but despite rising holder counts and active addresses, its market cap and monthly transfer volume have declined, suggesting it is being held more than used. Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.
Ripple launches Mint to expand institutional access to RLUSD
Ripple launches Mint to expand institutional access to RLUSD Ripple launches Mint to expand RLUSD access for institutions as the stablecoin’s market cap approaches $1.6 billion. At the time of publication, RLUSD ranked as the ninth-largest USD-pegged stablecoin by market capitalization.
BTC supply in profit eyes 60%, but analysis hints recovery may ‘roll back over’
Bitcoin supply profitability improved versus its 2026 low, but analysis warned that a fake recovery had already broken down at the start of June. Bitcoin (BTC) investors are back in aggregate profit, but onchain data suggests it’s too early to confirm a new bull market. - Bitcoin supply profitability is improving, but the trend must prove its staying power before confirming a market recovery, says CryptoQuant. - Supply in profit is now approaching 60%, up from its 2026 low near 46% less than a month ago. “Bitcoin’s Supply in Profit (%), the share of Bitcoin worth more than its acquisition price, has climbed to 57.5% as of July 22, up from 46.2% on June 30, the 2026 low,” CryptoQuant contributor thechessONCHAIN summarized. With nearly 60% of the BTC supply now in profit, the spent output profit ratio (SOPR) of long-term holders (LTHs) is also improving. LTHs are entities whose Bitcoin has remained dormant for at least six months. SOPR measures the proportion of LTH coins moving onchain at a higher price relative to their previous transaction. Values above 1 indicate coins moving onchain mostly in profit, while values below 1 indicate LTH investors are moving coins at a loss, potentially indicating capitulatory activity. ThechessONCHAIN explained that previous bear markets have only ended when both supply in profit and LTH-SOPR meet specific requirements. The 30-day simple moving average (SMA) of LTH-SOPR should remain above 1 without falling below that level for weeks on end, while total supply in profit should be above 64%. “This cycle already produced one failed attempt: from April 28 to June 1 the LTH-SOPR average held above 1.0 for 35 days, Supply in Profit reached 67%, and both rolled back over,” TheChessOnChain noted. Since then, the 30-day SMA of LTH-SOPR has been below 1 for more than 50 days. As Cointelegraph reported earlier, Bitcoin supply in loss crossed the 50% mark in June, a threshold that has historically preceded bear-market bottoms.
Semiconductor
TSMC Just Announced Incredible News for Nvidia and Broadcom Investors
TSMC management confirmed the AI build-out has not slowed. In fact, it announced an additional $100 billion investment to grow its Arizona production facilities. Nvidia and Broadcom stocks trade for 22.6 and 31.9 times forward earnings, respectively. For reference, the S&P 500 trades for 21.5 times forward earnings. I think both Nvidia and Broadcom are screaming buys at these levels. Patient investors can receive a massive payoff over the next few years as these two rise to meet their full potential as stocks.
Qualcomm Just Signed Deals With 3 Major Hyperscalers for AI Chips. Is This the "Hidden" AI Stock Wall Street Keeps Overlooking?
Qualcomm expects to do at least $15 billion worth of data center business in its fiscal 2029, up from none a year ago. For perspective on that figure, the company reported revenue of $44.3 billion for its fiscal 2025, which ended in September. The outlook from Precedence Research suggests that the global AI processor market is poised to grow from a little less than $58 billion last year to more than $146 billion by 2029, en route to a total of $550 billion in 2035.
Is SK Hynix Your Path to $1 Million by 2030?
SK Hynix and peers Samsung and Micron are spending hundreds of billions of dollars to expand capacity. That includes creating space within existing facilities and building new chip fabs. Analysts currently expect earnings for SK Hynix and its peers to peak in 2027 or 2028.
The Overlooked Infrastructure Play Quietly Winning the AI Boom
TSMC released its second-quarter 2026 earnings report on July 16. The company's revenue increased 34% year over year to $40.2 billion, while earnings per share jumped by an even more impressive 77% from the year-ago period to $4.31. TSMC anticipates Q3 revenue of $45.2 billion, which points to a 37% jump from the year-ago period.
Bank of America Gives AMD Investors a New Reason to Watch
Q1 2026 revenue hit $10.25 billion, up 37.9% YoY, with non-GAAP EPS of $1.37 beating the $1.29 consensus.
Billionaire Investor Philippe Laffont’s Top 5 Tech Picks
Broadcom's Hock Tan guided Q3 AI chip revenue to $16 billion, up over 200% year-over-year, while TSMC guided full-year 2026 revenue growth above 40%. Q2 FY2026 delivered EPS of $4.31 versus $3.89 estimated, revenue of $40.20 billion (+36.0% YoY), and gross margin expanding to 67.7%. Management guided full-year 2026 revenue growth "slightly above 40%" in USD, with 2nm debuting at 3% of wafer revenue and 7nm-and-below already at 77%. CEO Hock Tan guided Q3 AI semiconductor revenue to "grow over 200 percent year-over-year to $16.0 billion."
The Nvidia Vs. AMD Narrative Was Never True, It’s Not a Zero Sum Game
NVDA posted $81.6B and AMD $10.3B in quarterly revenue, with OpenAI and Meta signing AI infrastructure deals with both simultaneously. No single supplier can meet AI infrastructure demand, making NVDA's $119B supply commitments and AMD's MI450 pipeline complementary, not competitive. NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) and AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) both posted blowout quarters that push back on the tired "one must lose for the other to win" framing. NVIDIA reported $81.615 billion in Q1 FY2027 revenue. AMD delivered $10.253 billion in Q1 2026. Lisa Su hit a different note. AMD's Data Center rose 57% to $5.775 billion on EPYC server CPUs and Instinct GPU shipments, and Client (Ryzen) added another 26%, a business NVIDIA does not touch.
Credo or Marvell: Who Leads the AI Connectivity Race?
Credo booked $437 million in Q4 FY2026 revenue, up 157.02%. Marvell delivered $2.418 billion in Q1 FY2027, up 27.57%. The company raised FY27 and FY28 outlooks, guiding Q2 to $2.7 billion.
Intel stock is down 27% from June record highs. How the chipmaker can reverse the slide
Intel has, as of right now, the most clean room space expansion opportunity sitting before it, Ben Bajarin, CEO and principal analyst at Creative Strategies, a tech research firm. They can add capacity in their foundries, largely here in the United States, some in Ireland as well, faster than [TSMC] can, Bajarin added. The Taiwan-based chip manufacturer has reached full capacity, leaving reliant customers in need of other options. That's where Intel becomes a natural shoo-in. Intel has recently taken steps to expand capacity. Last week, it announced plans to invest roughly $5.7 billion in its Leixlip, Ireland, facility to increase production of its Xeon-brand server CPUs and other products. While the investment is aimed primarily at meeting demand for Intel's own chips, it also expands the company's manufacturing footprint, supporting its longer-term foundry ambitions. On Tuesday, Intel's foundry division landed a deal with cybersecurity firm Fortinet to produce its next-generation security chips. This is the first announcement of this kind for the division under Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who took over at Intel in March 2025. Other recent wins for the foundry unit include both manufacturing and packaging opportunities for companies like Apple , MediaTek, and Elon Musk's Terafab project. While the Apple-Intel deal has not been confirmed by either company, President Donald Trump has said the two American tech giants have an agreement.
Why GE Vernova Stock Surged 80% in the First Half of 2026
GE Vernova bagged orders worth $18.3 billion, up 71% year-over-year. GE Vernova's latest numbers, however, have sent the stock tumbling. GE Vernova completed a $5.3 billion buyout of transformer manufacturer Prolec, taking 100% control of a critical supplier and instantly expanding its electrification equipment backlog. The power segment (natural gas turbines) pulled in $10 billion in orders, electrification segment $7.1 billion, and wind turbine segment the remaining. Backlog hit $163 billion. Those upfront payments and strong sales helped generate a jaw-dropping net margin of 50.9% and $4.8 billion in free cash flow (FCF), prompting management to raise its full-year revenue and cash flow guidance.
Quantum Computing Stocks Are Falling. Should You Buy IonQ or D-Wave, or Just Stick With Nvidia?
In terms of revenue, IonQ brought in $64.7 million in the first quarter of 2026, up 755% year over year, and raised its full-year guidance to between $260 million and $270 million. D-Wave's revenue was only $2.9 million in the same quarter, down 81% compared to a year ago, thanks to a one-time $12.6 million system sale last year, though its Q1 bookings jumped to $33.4 million. It generated $81.6 billion in revenue in the fiscal first quarter of 2027, with $75.2 billion of that sum from its data center segment.
I’m Buying ‘Fully Priced’ AMD Because The Math Says I Should
Q1 FY2026 revenue landed at $10.25 billion, up 37.9% YoY, with Data Center alone at $5.775 billion, up 57% YoY. FY2025 free cash flow reached $5.519 billion, up 129.48%, and Q2 2026 guidance calls for revenue of roughly $11.2 billion, about 46% YoY growth. The balance sheet backs the ambition: net debt/EBITDA of -0.16 and interest coverage of 28.2x.
My 3 Favorite AI Stocks to Buy Right Now
TSMC's 2 nm processing technology accounted for 3% of TSMC's total revenue in the second quarter, but it's expected to become a major moneymaker for TSMC. TSMC also announced it would invest an additional $100 billion in its Arizona facilities to support advanced packaging fabs and its 2 nm processing technology. The investment brings TSMC's total commitment to its Arizona sites to $265 billion. Micron reported $41.45 billion in revenue for its fiscal 2026's third quarter (ended May 28), a whopping gain of 345% from a year ago. Nebius' revenue in the first quarter was $399 million, up 684% from a year ago. The company spent an incredible $2.5 billion in capital expenditures, primarily GPUs and related hardware, in the first quarter.
AAI 2026: AMD Delivers Full-Stack Compute for the Agentic AI Era
AI is accelerating demand for the full range of AMD silicon spanning data center, PCs, edge and embedded processors, driving AMD's TAM to ~$2 trillion in 2030. 6th Gen EPYC processors deliver the broadest server CPU portfolio for agentic AI,2 spanning cloud, enterprise, general-purpose and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads. With leadership per-core performance and the highest thread density3, they enable the most agents per watt, per dollar and per rack.4,5,6 For AI host nodes, 6th Gen EPYC CPUs deliver the speed and memory bandwidth to keep accelerators fully fed. And for general-purpose servers, they bring leadership performance and energy efficiency to run business critical applications and AI support tasks. With AMD Instinct™ MI400 Series GPUs, AMD delivers powerful performance for cloud, enterprise and HPC workloads. AMD Instinct MI455X GPUs deliver 34x higher token throughput compared to MI355X GPUs7. For high-precision workloads, the AMD Instinct™ MI430X accelerator is the most advanced for HPC and sovereign AI with up to 288 TFLOPS of hardware-based FP64 performance for scientific computing. AMD also launched the Instinct MI350P GPU, bringing seamless AI acceleration to existing infrastructure with leadership token economics. MI350P GPUs deliver up to 4.2x more tokens per second per dollar than the competition8. Based on AMD Performance Labs estimates as of July 2026, tokens-per-dollar performance was calculated using the Kimi K2 Thinking workload (32K input / 8K output) on an AMD Helios rackscale solution compared to an NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 rack. Results reflect estimated aggregate throughput across low, medium, and high-interactivity operating points and hourly pricing projection of system GPUs based on market conditions. Starting with the 6th Gen AMD EPYC™ server processor family, AMD uses Default CPU Power to describe processor power consumption, succeeding AMD's historical TDP reference. Default CPU Power reflects total power consumed across the processor's compute and I/O dies for the stated performance target.
MiTAC Computing Advances Agentic AI Infrastructure with 6th Gen AMD EPYC™ Server CPUs
The G8825Z5 enables customers to deploy more sustainable and cost-effective AI infrastructure for large-scale training and inference workloads. MiTAC also offers three AI racks powered by AMD Instinct™ MI350 GPUs and AMD EPYC™ CPUs, enabling up to 96 engineers and developers to remotely log in for testing and validation. This shared-access environment supports collaborative AI development, workload benchmarking, and faster iteration for teams evaluating next-generation AI infrastructure. MiTAC delivers diversified AI infrastructure, spanning CPU systems to liquid-cooled racks. Combining AMD platforms with MiTAC's integration expertise seamlessly optimizes customer workloads. This builds future-ready infrastructure for AI, HPC, and enterprise transformation.
Intel blows past estimates, recording fastest sales growth in almost 15 years on 'unprecedented' demand
Intel reported better-than-expected second-quarter results on Thursday, notching its fastest revenue growth rate for any quarter since 2011 and issuing guidance that topped expectations. The stock jumped 11% in extended trading. For the current quarter, Intel said it expects adjusted earnings per share of 38 cents on revenue between $15.8 billion and $16.8 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue of $15.1 billion and EPS of 27 cents, according to LSEG. Intel is boosting its capital expenditures, targeting a "meaningful increase" next year, as it aggressively tries to morph into a manufacturer of chips for other companies. Intel said its foundry reported $5.8 billion in sales, up 31% on an annual basis.
Nvidia, Amkor strike $1.5 billion chip packaging deal
Under the agreement, Nvidia will make a prepayment to support the expansion of Amkor's U.S. advanced packaging operations, including capacity in Arizona. In June, Amkor entered a 10-year partnership with TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, to enhance semiconductor packaging capabilities in the United States.
AMD, Arm gain after hours following blowout results from Intel
Intel posted $16.13 billion in second-quarter revenue on Thursday, blowing past the $14.33 billion Wall Street consensus by roughly $1.8 billion and sending the chip sector higher in after-hours trade. The print, which also included adjusted EPS of $0.42 against a consensus of $0.21, represented Intel's fastest revenue growth in nearly 15 years and triggered an immediate halo effect across the semiconductor space. For Q3 2026, Intel guided revenue of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion, above the $15.1 billion consensus.
Intel: Things Change
Intel Corporation delivered a stunning Q2 2026 double-line beat, with revenues of $16.1 billion, up 24% year-over-year. Data Center and AI segment revenues surged 59%, while the Foundry business rebounded 31%, underscoring broad-based strength.
Intel: A Great Quarter Doesn't Make It A Good Investment (Downgrade)
Intel Corporation posted a strong Q2, with Data Center revenue up nearly 60% YoY and operating margin rising to 39.5%.
Rough Day for Markets, but Good Q2 Earnings After the Close
Intel Shines in Q2, FIX and DECK Also Report Earnings Chip-making giant and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) Intel INTC may have just posted the strongest quarterly numbers in this Q2 earnings season: 42 cents per share doubled the 21 cents in the Zacks consensus, which itself was a +310% earnings growth increase from the -$0.10 per share reported in the year-ago quarter. Revenues in the quarter grew +25% year over year to $16.1 billion, well above the $14.41 billion analysts were estimating — the company's strongest revenue growth in 15 years. Guidance for the present quarter also impressed: Intel is looking for $0.31-0.38 per share in Q3, well above the $0.25 expected. Revenues of $15.8-16.8 billion is much stronger than the $15.08 billion consensus estimate. Gross margins are projected to come in at +42%.
NVIDIA vs. Planet Labs: Which High-Growth Tech Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?
In its 2026 fiscal year (FY), revenue reached $215.9 billion, representing growth of 65.5% compared to the prior year. In FY 2026, the company reported revenue of $307.7 million, which marks growth of 25.9% year-over-year. NVIDIA stock is unlikely to see the kind of explosive share price increase Planet Labs experienced this year, because Wall Street now holds sky-high expectations of the AI chip leader. Even so, NVIDIA is a well-run business under visionary CEO Jensen Huang, who correctly predicted the company’s chips could galvanize the AI sector. In NVIDIA’s first quarter ended April 26, 2026, the company reported revenue of $81.6 billion, up an outstanding 85% from a year ago, demonstrating its dominance in the AI chip market.
AMSL, AMAT, KLAC, LRCX: Chipmaking Equipment Stocks Rise On Intel’s CapEx Bump
Intel raised its 2026 CapEx forecast to $20 billion and $18 billion and indicated that most of it would go towards chipmaking and related tools and memory chips. “We're also aggressively locking in tool purchase orders from our vendors, accelerating our clean room build-outs and actively securing supply of substrates and memory,” he said, adding that the CapEx in 2027 would be “significantly above” the estimated spending this year. “In fact, as we look back from 2021 through 2026, our total capital spending in tools and space in the U.S. is approaching $100 billion, significantly higher than any other semiconductor company over that time frame.”
Nvidia Stock Is Barely Beating the S&P 500 Index in 2026 Despite Record Revenue. Here's What This Performance Might Suggest.
Revenue surged 85% year over year in the 2026 second quarter (ended April 26) to $81.6 billion, establishing a fresh record. According to management, the future could not be brighter. "AI infrastructure spending is on track to reach $3 trillion to $4 trillion annually by the end of this decade," chief financial officer Colette Kress said on the latest earnings call.
Intel Corp (INTC) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Highlights: Surpassing Expectations with Strong Revenue ...
Intel Foundry Revenue: $5.8 billion, up 6% sequentially. 2026 CapEx Outlook: More than $20 billion.
AI / Robotics / EV
Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: ServiceNow's Answer To Rogue AI
The company has increased its revenue by more than 20% year over year for five consecutive quarters. "We have a kill switch that stops AI agents that go rogue, so those things don’t need to happen, and they wouldn’t happen when companies run ServiceNow,” McDermott said on CNBC’s “Mad Money.” He said ServiceNow’s AI Control Tower helps businesses move “from AI chaos to AI discipline.”
Moonshot AI accessed Nvidia's chips despite Chinese export ban, White House official says
Nvidia's most advanced AI chips are under export restrictions to China, though some less capable semiconductors are allowed to be shipped to the country. Nvidia's GB300 chips are one generation behind its frontier Vera Rubin systems and are still considered cutting edge. "It is well known that China is using American compute both within the country and abroad," said Keegan McBride, director of science and technology at think tank the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. "It demonstrates just how far ahead the US is on compute," he added. "American compute is the foundation for the AI race today." While the U.S. reportedly cleared 10 Chinese firms to buy Nvidia's H200 chips in May, earlier this month a top U.S. trade official said "very few" had been shipped to China and Hong Kong. "When PRC firms conduct covert, industrial-scale distillation attacks that cross the line into IP theft, sanctions and Entity List designations will be on the table," he said in a post on X.
Tesla and Alphabet shares slump as AI spending concerns spook investors
Tesla, meanwhile said capex surged 142% year-on-year in the second quarter to $5.79 billion. The company said it expects more than $25 billion in capex this year. Management at both companies looked to calm investor fears over spending. "This is a massive capex year. I'm confident that all the things that we're investing in will yield incredible returns. Really, maybe the best capex returns that we've ever seen," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on the earnings call on Wednesday. Alphabet raised its capital expenditure forecast for this year to $195 billion to $205 billion and warned of higher figures in 2027. The Google parent company's previous projection was for capex between $180 billion and $190 billion. At Tesla, the company's core automotive business brought in $20.52 billion in revenue, up 23% year-on-year.
Tesla Misses Badly on Earnings as Free Cash Flow Turns Negative
Active FSD subscriptions rose 56% to 1.48 million. Operating expenses jumped 47% to $4.35 billion on AI and research spending, dragging operating margin down to 1.4% from 4.1%. Free cash flow turned negative at $1.1 billion, as capital expenditure surged 142% to $5.79 billion.
Generative AI Disruption Fears Hurt Intuit (INTU)
In its Q2 2026 investor letter, Bristol US Equity Strategy highlighted Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU). Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) is a financial software company offering products and services for financial management, payments, capital, compliance, and marketing. Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) has a market capitalization of $77.81 billion. In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) reported revenue of $8.6 billion, reflecting a 10% year-over-year growth.
Honeywell International Q2 Earnings Call Highlights
Adjusted EPS rose 10% to $1.95, helped by higher segment profit, lower interest expense, and a lower share count. Honeywell raised its full-year organic sales growth outlook to 3% to 4%, up from previous guidance of 2% to 3%. The company now expects second-half organic growth of 4% to 6%, compared with its prior outlook of 3% to 5%. The company also raised its full-year segment margin expansion outlook to 250 to 290 basis points, up 25 basis points at the midpoint. Stepniak said the improvement reflects second-quarter outperformance, progress on stranded cost elimination and accretion related to the accelerated timing of divestitures. Honeywell now expects full-year adjusted EPS of $8.20 at the midpoint, up from $8.10 previously and approximately 27% higher than the prior year. The company maintained its expectation for roughly $2 billion of free cash flow in 2026, with most of that expected in the second half and an approximately 95% conversion rate. PA&T orders rose 24% organically, with process technology orders up roughly 50%, producing a book-to-bill ratio above 1.2 for the segment. Total company book-to-bill was 1.1. Building Automation orders were supported by high-growth verticals, where Kapur said orders rose more than 50% and organic sales grew 30%. The fire business also posted approximately 30% orders growth. In Industrial Automation, orders in the remaining core business after divestitures rose 11%, or 7% sequentially, while sensing and industrial measurement orders increased more than 20%. Honeywell's strategy is centered on growing its installed base and monetizing it through software, services and outcome-based solutions. He said the company is increasing exposure to higher-growth verticals such as data centers, LNG, grid infrastructure and life sciences. "We are pleased with Honeywell Technologies' second quarter results, which enabled us to increase our 2026 outlooks across all key metrics," Kapur said. "Today is only the beginning of that journey."
Tesla’s $28B quarter fueled by record deliveries, Semi production ramp
Tesla reported second-quarter revenue of $28.24 billion, up 26% year over year, while executives highlighted progress toward launching production of the Tesla Semi Class 8 electric truck at its Nevada manufacturing facility. The company generated $20.5 billion in automotive revenue during the quarter, delivered a record 480,126 vehicles worldwide and reported diluted earnings per share of 32 cents. Tesla said capital expenditures more than doubled from the previous quarter to $5.8 billion as the company expands manufacturing capacity.
AI chip startup Etched defies skeptics, hits $10.3B valuation from big-name investors
Etched was previously valued at $5 billion in December when it raised a $500 million round, meaning it has doubled its valuation in about seven months. Last month, Etched announced that it had successfully manufactured its homegrown chips, that its first full systems were being tested by clients, and it had already booked $1 billion worth of orders. Today, there are 400 people bustling in an office, and Etched operates a 2 megawatt data center.
Google closes in on another billion- user product with Gemini
The Gemini app has found a strong user base on iOS with launches like the Nano Banana image generation model. According to Appfigures, the app has been downloaded over 137 million times on iOS in the last 12 months. In its latest “State of AI” report, the analytics firm Sensor Tower noted that ChatGPT’s market share among AI assistants fell below 50% for the first time. The report, which looked at H1 2026, also noted that Gemini’s share rose to 27.7%. Google reported that its search vertical is going strong, partially thanks to the AI-centric overhaul. During this quarter, its Q&A-style AI mode crossed 1 billion users.
Runway launches AI model router as generative media gets crowded
Token pricing has become a hot topic in 2026 as enterprises that went all-in on agentic AI felt the sting of high token bills. The Media Router launch also comes weeks after Runway replaced its unlimited subscription plans with token-based pricing, a move that drew criticism from some users.
Eric Trump-backed Foundation partners with AMD to develop humanoid robots
The start-up, founded in 2024, said it has deployed its Phantom MK-1 robots to contribute in building more than 24,000 cars in 2025. In October, the company will open a factory capable of building 5,000 Phantom robots annually, with plans to start building another facility early next year with an annual capacity of 50,000 robots, CEO Sankaet Pathak told Reuters.
Micron gains as Musk thanks it for ’significant’ memory chip allocation
Micron (NASDAQ: MU) shares rose 3.1% in intra-day action Thursday following the comments as investors interpreted the endorsement as confirmation of a deepening strategic supply relationship. Musk's exact words, as captured in an Investing.com earnings-call transcript, left little ambiguity about the significance of the arrangement: "I actually I'd also like to thank Micron for giving us the memory allocation. They're going to make some very tough decisions on memory allocation, and we really appreciate Micron making room for Tesla in the years to come and giving us actually a very significant allocation on reasonable terms given the pretty insane pricing of memory these days." The phrase "years to come" is doing considerable work in that sentence. TrendForce reported on Thursday that Micron's Strategic Customer Agreements — long-term contracts that lock in both pricing and supply volumes for three to five years — already cover roughly 20% of Micron's DRAM output and about one-third of its NAND volumes. Musk also addressed Tesla's broader spending ambitions directly: "This year is an extremely huge year for capital expenditures, but I am confident that all the projects we invest in will generate incredible returns. This could be the best return on capital expenditures we have ever seen."
Stock Market Today, July 23: Tesla Stock Crashes on Earnings Miss and Rising AI Spending
Trading volume reached 114.2 million shares, coming in about 131% above its three-month average of 49.4 million shares. Tesla IPO'd in 2010 and has grown 20,006% since going public. Analysts lowered their price targets for Tesla following the earnings miss, citing margin pressure and cautious guidance on autonomous driving. The future direction of Tesla stock will depend on what investors prioritize.
Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua to step aside as company pushes into robotaxis, robotics
In January, the company acquired Shashua's humanoid robotics startup Mentee Robotics for $900 million, which Shashua called part of "Mobileye 3.0," the next phase of the business focused on robotics and automotive AI. Mobileye also said in June it would expand beyond its supplier status to launch its own robotaxi service in a U.S. city in 2027.
Tesla (TSLA) Is Down 18.3% After Record Revenue But Weak Q2 Profitability And Cash Flow - Has The Bull Case Changed?
Tesla's Q2 2026 results showed record revenue of US$28.24 billion and record deliveries of 480,126 vehicles, but earnings, margins, and free cash flow weakened as higher operating expenses and capital spending on AI, robotics, and new products reduced profitability. The company's first quarter of negative free cash flow in more than two years, alongside a sharp drop in regulatory credit revenue and heavy investment in projects like Optimus, robotaxis, and semiconductor capacity, raised fresh questions about how quickly these long-term bets might translate into durable earnings. Tesla Investment Narrative Recap If you own Tesla, you effectively need to believe that the company's heavy pivot into AI, robotaxis, and robotics will justify today's premium valuation, even as near term profitability weakens. Q2's record US$28.24 billion in revenue and 480,126 deliveries did little to change that core thesis, but the sharp earnings miss and first negative free cash flow in over two years make the biggest near term catalyst (monetizing autonomy at scale) more tightly linked to the biggest risk: prolonged margin pressure from elevated AI and capex spending. Among the recent announcements, Tesla's plan to push capital expenditure above US$25 billion in 2026, funded partly by up to US$30 billion in new debt facilities, is most relevant. It underlines how central projects like Optimus, robotaxis, and the Terafab semiconductor buildout have become to the story, while also increasing execution and financial risk around those same programs that many shareholders view as their primary upside catalyst. Tesla's narrative projects $149.5 billion revenue and $13.1 billion earnings by 2029. This requires 15.2% yearly revenue growth and about a $9.2 billion earnings increase from $3.9 billion today.
Tesla's Operating Margin Just Fell to 1.4% and Free Cash Flow Went Negative. Here's Where the Money Is Going.
Tesla's quarterly update lists the projects. Cybercab, the company's purpose-built autonomous vehicle, began production at Gigafactory Texas during the quarter. Tesla decommissioned its Model S and X lines at the Fremont Factory to install the first production lines for Optimus, its humanoid robot. And the company more than doubled its AI training compute in Texas during the first half of 2026, continued work on a semiconductor fab in Austin, and kept ramping battery cell production and lithium refining. Chief financial officer Vaibhav Taneja has told investors to expect capital expenditures above $25 billion this year -- guidance he laid out back in April -- and he said on Wednesday's call that operating expenses will keep growing in 2026 and beyond. Full Self-Driving (Supervised) subscriptions climbed 56% year over year to 1.48 million. More than 55% of new North American deliveries included FSD subscriptions, a record attach rate.
Prediction: This Autonomous Driving Stock Will Be a Much Better Buy Than Tesla Over the Long Term
Tesla (TSLA -14.38%) recently started manufacturing its Cybercab autonomous robotaxi, but it faces two problems. First, the company's full self-driving software lacks widespread regulatory approval in the U.S., so the robotaxi won't be hitting the road at scale anytime soon. Second, Tesla is behind other operators, like Alphabet's Waymo, which is already completing over 500,000 paid autonomous trips per week. Uber Technologies operates the world's largest ride-hailing platform, and it has partnered with around 30 companies in the autonomous industry that are deploying their vehicles in its network. Autonomous vehicles will transform Uber's business For most manufacturers of autonomous vehicles, designing a great car is the easy part. The real challenge is building a network, attracting customers, and providing rides in a timely fashion. Uber has mastered all of those things, which is why dozens of companies in the autonomous space -- including Waymo -- are deploying their cars into its network rather than building their own, and it's a win for all parties. Uber's autonomous partners get instant access to its 199 million monthly active users, and Uber gets to offer its customers a wide selection of autonomous rides without incurring the exorbitant cost of manufacturing its own cars. The ride-hailing giant will simply take a cut of every ride facilitated by its platform, the same way it does with human-driven rides. Financially speaking, the shift to autonomous vehicles will be transformative for Uber. The company reported $53.7 billion in gross bookings during the first quarter of 2026, which was the dollar value of every ride, food order, and commercial delivery paid for through its platform. Historical data suggests around 44%, or $23.6 billion, of those bookings were likely paid to the human drivers who operate in its network. They are consistently Uber's single highest cost. After excluding other costs, like the money paid to restaurants for their food orders, Uber was left with $13.2 billion in revenue for the first quarter. After accounting for operating expenses like marketing, the company's operating income was just $1.9 billion. That's right, Uber pocketed less than 4% of its $53.7 billion in gross bookings as operating profit. Theoretically, if Uber eliminated the cost of its human drivers by using autonomous vehicles instead, it would have earned $23.6 billion in additional revenue during the first quarter alone. Some of that money would have been paid to the owners of the self-driving vehicles in its network, but I think that cost will be far lower than the cost of human drivers in the long run, particularly because autonomous cars can operate around the clock without sleep, lunch breaks, or vacations. As of March 31, self-driving cars were available in eight U.S. cities through Uber, with plans to expand to 15 cities by the end of 2026. Moreover, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said autonomous trips soared tenfold year over year during the first quarter, so they are scaling up fast. Uber stock is more attractively valued than Tesla stock Khosrowshahi thinks the autonomous revolution will be a multitrillion-dollar opportunity over the long term, so where investors choose to put their money could be the difference between disappointment and life-changing returns. Uber stock is entering this new era at a very attractive valuation, but the same can't be said for Tesla stock. Uber's price-to-sales (P/S) ratio is just 2.7 as I write this, which is a discount to its long-term average of 4.1 dating back to when the company went public in 2019. It also means Uber is much cheaper than the Nasdaq-100 technology index, which has a P/S ratio of 6.3. Tesla's P/S ratio of 13.6 is 5 times higher than Uber's, and double that of the Nasdaq-100. Many investors are backing Tesla because of the potential of its Cybercab robotaxi and its Optimus humanoid robot. But in my opinion, its valuation doesn't accurately reflect the risks associated with commercializing these products, which means its stock could suffer a sharp correction if they run into any speed bumps. As a result, I think Uber stock is a much better buy than Tesla stock as the autonomous revolution ramps up.
Palantir Is Down 25%. Here's Why I'm Buying More.
Revenue in the first quarter was $1.63 billion, up 85% from a year ago. The company said its U.S. commercial revenue jumped 133% from a year ago to $595 million, and U.S. government revenue increased 84% to $687 million. The company closed 206 deals in the first quarter, with at least $1 million each, 72 of them at least $5 million, and 47 at least $10 million. Overall, in the quarter, Palantir closed $2.41 billion in total contract value. The company increased its full-year guidance, now calling for revenue in a range of $7.650 billion to $7.662 billion. Previous guidance was for revenue between $7.182 billion and $7.198 billion.
TSLA Stock Rebounds Premarket After Q2 Rout — Cathie Wood Bought The Dip, Retail Influencer Sees SpaceX Merger Reveal In 3 Weeks
Revenue of $28.24 billion exceeded the $26.36 billion consensus, but rising spending on AI, robotics and autonomous vehicles pressured margins and pushed free cash flow negative. Gene Munster raised his estimated probability of a merger over the next few years from 80% to 90%, citing potential integration across Starlink, Robotaxi connectivity, Grok, Optimus and Terafab.
Power / Grid
Why Bloom Energy Stock Soared 248% in the First Half of 2026
Bloom Energy (BE -3.01%) stock soared 248.4% in the first half of 2026, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Things really ignited in mid-April for Bloom Energy when tech giant Oracle expanded its partnership, signing a master services agreement to procure up to 2.8 gigawatts (GW) of Bloom Energy's fuel cell systems for its aggressive AI infrastructure buildout. Bloom Energy reported a $20 billion backlog as of the end of 2025.
Galaxy Digital Sells Junk Bonds To Fund A.I. Data Centre Expansion
The Helios data centre campus has regulatory approval for up to 1.6 gigawatts of power dedicated to A.I. and high-performance computing.
Want to Be a Millionaire? Buy These 3 Stocks and Hold for 20 Years
GE Vernova's backlog jumped $13 billion quarter-over-quarter in Q1 to $163 billion. This total represents more than 3.5 years of annual sales based on the company's 2026 revenue guidance. NextEra expects to deliver strong adjusted earnings per share (EPS) growth through 2035, with a targeted compound annual growth rate of at least 8%. Management also plans to increase its dividend by around 10% this year and by 6% per year through the end of 2028.
Software
Amazon Workers on Food Stamps Nearly Tripled, While Company Spends $200 Billion on AI
In those states, 12,346 Amazon workers were enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and 11,338 in Medicaid, figures the report says are nearly triple the counts in the prior GAO study. Nationally, the GAO estimates 13.8 million working Americans are on Medicaid, up from 12 million in 2020, and 10.6 million on SNAP, up from 9 million. The BEA’s latest quarterly figures show transfer receipts have grown to $5,099.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026, with Medicaid outlays climbing to $1,060.2 billion. Over roughly the same window covered by the GAO study, Amazon’s annual profit grew from $11.59 billion to $77.67 billion. Revenue reached $716.92 billion in fiscal 2025, with operating income of $79.98 billion. On the Q4 2025 earnings call on Feb. 5, 2026, CEO Andy Jassy told investors the company would spend about $200 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, a roughly 60% increase from about $125 billion in 2025, saying the outlays are “predominantly in AWS” to meet AI compute demand. AWS generated $37.59 billion in revenue in Q1 2026, up 28% year over year, the segment’s fastest growth in 15 quarters.
Quest Diagnostics Non-GAAP EPS of $3.12 beats by $0.30, revenue of $3.04B beats by $70M
Revenue of $3.04B beats by $70M. FY26 net sales consensus of $11.85B, EPS consensus of $10.77 Full year 2026 revenues now expected to be between $11.95
Apple is 'standing out' from the pack: Does it represent the anti-AI trade?
Apple's impressive run this year on the stock charts has pushed up its valuation multiples that are light years removed from their 10-year averages. I was surprised to see the valuation levels when I went on to Alpha Space on Apple. Now I've, of course, I've seen the stock come on and by extension of that run in Apple, the the valuation multiple is going to go up, but I mean, there's a significant premiums versus their 10-year average despite the company really being an afterthought on AI. Yeah, my initial read on Apple is that it's standing out a bit from the pack in like the Mag 7. It's really kind of bucked this trend of being kind of the hyperscalar, spending a massive amount on CAPEX, and it's being a little bit more fiscally responsible, one might say. Um, I wouldn't say it's avoiding innovation, it's just avoiding leverage and that goes back to the conversation we were having before the break around the massive amounts of debt on the balance sheet that a lot of these companies are taking on for this AI race. So Apple's kind of said, hey, I'm going to do my own thing over here. Um and what ultimately this is doing is it's benefiting shareholders. They're able to take some of the free cash flow, return it to shareholders, able to engage in buybacks still. And that's a much different fiscal posi- position relative to some of its peers.
Alphabet's cash burn raises alarm for Big Tech as AI spending climbs
The Google parent burned $5.9 billion in the second quarter, even as the cloud unit that rents out AI computing power notched a record 82% growth. Analysts expect Alphabet and Amazon to burn cash in 2026, while Meta's cash flow is likely to shrink 95.7% to just $1.85 billion. Their capex-to-revenue ratio, a gauge of how much of every sales dollar is being plowed back into spending, is set to nearly double this fiscal year.
Philip Morris: The First $11 Billion Quarter Won't Be The Last
Philip Morris International delivered record Q2 2026 net revenues of $11.19 billion, with 15.2% adjusted EPS growth and expanding margins. Smoke-free products now comprise 42% of PM’s revenues, with IQOS and ZYN driving global share gains and margin expansion. Full-year guidance was trimmed solely for currency; operational outlook and 2026–2028 growth targets remain strong and visible.
Oracle's Stock Crash Has Cost Larry Ellison $213 Billion in 10 Months. Should Investors Buy the Dip?
Demand for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure remains strong. The company continues to sign large infrastructure contracts and expand its data center capacity. In fact, its remaining performance obligations reached a record $638 billion as of May 31, the end of its fiscal 2026. The problem is that building AI data centers isn't cheap. Oracle dramatically increased capital spending to expand its cloud infrastructure. Capital expenditures topped $21 billion in fiscal 2026, up from about $7 billion a year earlier, and management says it expects to spend more than $25 billion in fiscal 2027.
Google’s New Chip in the Works May Run AI Up to 10x Cheaper — Why This Efficiency Breakthrough Makes the Stock a Screaming Buy
It feels like Alphabet is finally on the road to making a profit on its extraordinary CapEx, but that wasn’t quite enough, especially since many investors are still just a bit shocked over the pace of spend, with quarterly CapEx coming in just shy of $45 billion — that’s a lot of money being spent in three short months. Take Google’s “Frozen v2” custom AI chip, which is reported by The Information to be 6-10x more efficient.
Alphabet: Cloud Backlog At $514B Signals The Growth Cycle Is Just Getting Started
Alphabet Inc. delivered a strong Q2’26, with Google Cloud backlog surging to $514b and top-line growth of 82%.
Laboratorios Farmaceuticos Rovi, S.A. (LABFF) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Total revenue increased by 13% to EUR 357 million in the first half of the year. Operating revenue reached EUR 344.2 million, representing a 9% increase compared to
Howmet Aerospace (HWM) Positions to Benefit from Prudent Capital Allocation
One-month return of Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM) was 2.77%, and its shares gained 50.27% over the past 52 weeks. Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM) has a market capitalization of about $112.31 billion. Management has demonstrated excellent capital allocation through investments in high-growth projects that leverage the company's strengths. According to our database, 75 hedge fund portfolios held Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM) at the end of the first quarter, up from 71 in the previous quarter.
ServiceNow stock jumps on strong revenue as company shrugs off AI disruption fears
Subscription revenue climbed roughly 25% year over year to $3.88 billion last quarter, while current remaining performance obligations (cRPO), a key metric of near-term bookings, rose 21% to $13.2 billion.
I Won’t Stop Buying Meta Even With The High Capex Spend
Meta spent $19B on capex in Q1 2026 while delivering 33% revenue growth and holding 41% operating margins, killing the AI spending bear thesis. META's 30-day post-earnings return of 17% nearly doubled QQQ's 9%, rewarding concentrated exposure over the index alternative. Reality Labs burned $4B in Q1 2026, but analysts still target $823 for META against a $646 price, preserving the bull case. Meta spent $18.997 billion on capex, up 46.8% year over year, and raised full-year guidance to $125 to $145 billion. Revenue grew 33.08% to $56.311 billion, operating income climbed 30.29%, and free cash flow stayed positive at $12.386 billion. Operating margin held at 41%. Those are the numbers of a company compounding through its investment cycle. Meta has kept everyday operating costs flat by cutting non-core corporate layers, freezing traditional infrastructure, and executing deep workforce reductions, funneling the freed capital into GPUs and data centers. Ad impressions rose 19% year over year in Q1 2026 and average price per ad rose 12%. Family daily active people reached 3.56 billion. The business keeps finding more inventory and charging more for it. ROIC sits at 20.69%, ROE at 30.24%, and net profit margin at 30.08%. Debt to equity is 0.39. Interest coverage is 71x. There is no financial fragility here.
Microsoft at $390: Irrational AI Capex Fear Is Your Opportunity
MSFT's $627 billion contracted backlog, up 99% year over year, backs management's FY27 guide for double-digit revenue and operating income growth. Commercial remaining performance obligations reached $627 billion, up 99% year over year. That is contracted revenue backed by signed customer commitments. Microsoft's $190 billion planned calendar 2026 capex is building against signed obligations competitors do not hold. Monetization is showing up. AI annual run rate hit $37 billion, growing 123%, while Azure ran at 40% growth and Copilot seats climbed 250% year over year.
UPM-Kymmene Oyj (UPMMY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Our quarter 2 sales grew slightly, and our comparable EBIT from continuing operations increased 71% year-on-year, reaching EUR 212 million or 9% of sales. Including plywood, UPM's total EBIT was EUR 230 million.
Alphabet's Selloff Misses The Bigger Picture
Google Cloud revenue surged 82% to $24.8B, with backlog climbing to $514B; most TPU system sales revenue will materialize in 2027.
Warren Buffett’s Primary Reason for Buying Alphabet is Mine and Should Be Yours
In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, Google Search & other revenue reached $60.40 billion, up 19%, and Pichai told shareholders "queries at an all time high". That is a two decade old business still compounding at scale. Google Cloud revenue grew 63% to $20.03 billion, and backlog nearly doubled quarter on quarter to over $460 billion.
Here’s Why Accenture (ACN) is Struggling
In its Q2 2026 investor letter, Bristol US Equity Strategy highlighted Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN). Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN), a professional services company that focuses on consulting, technology, and outsourcing. On July 22, 2026, Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) closed at $140.09 per share. One-month return of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) was 9.41%, and its shares lost 51.13% over the past 52 weeks. Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) has a market capitalization of $84.17 billion. Bristol US Equity Strategy stated the following regarding Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) in its Q2 2026 investor update: "We liquidated our stakes in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) and Intuit due to overlapping thematic headwinds. Both companies face intensifying market scrutiny regarding the potential for generative AI to disrupt their core business models. Accenture's labour-intensive consulting framework and Intuit's legacy software franchise. Because these structural debates will take considerable time to resolve, the near-term visibility on earnings durability has diminished. More critically, our forward-looking model signaled a material deterioration in their projected dividend-growth trajectories. Consequently, we redeployed this capital into higher-conviction opportunities with what we believe are superior risk adjusted return profiles." Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 64 hedge fund portfolios held Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) at the end of the first quarter, compared to 71 in the previous quarter. In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) reported revenues of $18.7 billion, reflecting a 5% increase in local currency.
What Makes EMCOR (EME) an Investment Choice?
On July 22, 2026, EMCOR Group, Inc. (NYSE:EME) closed at $755.15 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of $33.56 billion. In Q1 2026, EMCOR Group, Inc. (NYSE:EME) reported revenues of $4.63 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 19.7% and organic growth of 16.8%.
Alphabet: Don't Be Fooled By The CapEx Panic
$119.8B in revenue, driven by surging Cloud and AI demand. GOOG's Cloud segment posted 82% year-over-year revenue growth, now representing 20.7% of total revenues and delivering a 35%+ operating margin. Despite negative Q2 free cash flow from aggressive CapEx, I view this as temporary given the record $514 billion Cloud/AI backlog and strong operating momentum.
Alphabet Shares in Correction Territory as Investors Question Returns on AI Build-Out
GOOGL has fallen 13% from May highs as investors question whether returns can justify $185 billion in planned 2026 AI capex. Alphabet's free cash flow swung to -$6 billion in Q2, long-term debt nearly doubled to $98 billion, and the buyback was suspended. Google Cloud revenue surged 82% to $25 billion in Q2, with Wall Street analysts still pricing GOOGL at a $434 average target. Alphabet is already on pace to spend nearly $200 billion this year, with Q2 capex expected to double from a year ago. Bank of America sees spending approaching $300 billion in 2027. Alphabet's numbers back that up. Q2 capex hit $44.924 billion, up 100.14% year over year, following $35.67 billion in Q1. Full-year 2026 guidance sits in the $175 billion to $185 billion range, roughly double FY2025's $91.45 billion. Alphabet has raised more than $140 billion in debt and equity since October. With some analysts now modeling free cash flow to turn negative next year. Alphabet has already crossed that line. Q2 free cash flow came in at -$5.9 billion, and long-term debt nearly doubled from $46.5 billion to $98.2 billion.
Is Blackstone Inc a Buy After Its Latest Earnings Report?
Blackstone's distributable earnings jumped 26% to nearly $2 billion, or $1.52 per share. Its year-to-date distributable earnings have surged 26% to over $3.7 billion. That continued the private equity giant's strong showing in 2026. Its assets under management increased 11% to nearly $1.35 trillion, thanks in part to nearly $70 billion of inflows during the quarter. Blackstone's distributable earnings are up 26% this year. It has generated $7.9 billion, or $6.15 per share, in distributable earnings over the last 12 months, up 26% from the year-ago period. That has enabled it to increase its trailing 12-month dividend payout by nearly 23% (from $4.26 to $5.23 per share).
15 Billion Reasons Alphabet Shares Are Sinking After Reporting Strong Earnings Growth
Shares of Alphabet traded roughly 7.1% lower, as of 10:24 a.m. ET. Second-quarter revenue of nearly $119.8 billion rose 24% year over year, while operating profit of $40.7 billion increased 34%. Revenue topped Wall Street expectations by close to $3 billion, while adjusted earnings per share of $2.85 missed consensus estimates by $0.04. Investor focus remains on capital expenditures. Investors have become quite squirrely as hyperscalers like Alphabet go all in on AI, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to large-scale infrastructure projects. Here are 15 billion reasons why Alphabet stock is sinking today. Raising already high capex guidance Heading into the quarter, Alphabet's full-year capex guide was already a staggering $180 billion to $190 billion. But on the company's earnings call, Alphabet's CFO Anat Ashkenazi raised the guidance to $195 billion to $205 billion, increasing the midpoint by $15 billion. That could put it above Amazon's $200 billion 2026 capex guidance, which had been the highest among the hyperscalers, although Amazon has yet to report earnings.
Google Is Up $94 Billion on SpaceX But Not for the Reason You Think
That sounds like a giant new investment, but it is not. Google made this bet more than ten years ago, long before SpaceX got big. In January 2015, Google and Fidelity put $1 billion into SpaceX. Together they got just under 10% of the company. That valued SpaceX at more than $10 billion. Google led the round. Then SpaceX grew for a decade. It went public in June at about $135 a share. That valued it near $1.77 trillion, the biggest IPO ever. Google's early bet had grown into a stake worth about 100 times more. The gain showed up in Google's June quarter. Its investments rose about $99 billion on paper. That pushed profit up to $112 billion. Stakes in AI firm Anthropic helped too. Google spent $44.9 billion in three months on AI. It even burned through $5.9 billion more cash than it made.
Google Cloud CEO Kurian says customers are spending 50% more as segment blows away expectations
Google's cloud chief Thomas Kurian said the company's existing customers are shelling out "roughly 50% more" than they've already committed to spend on its products, which helped drive its red-hot cloud growth during the second quarter. "Our existing customers have increased their spend when they make a commitment to us," Kurian told CNBC's Jim Cramer on Thursday. "They're spending roughly 50% more than the commitment, and so it comes down to the differentiation in our product portfolio, the strength we have in our go-to-market execution, and you see that in both top line and operating income growth."
Forget the Other Five: These 2 Mag7 Stocks Deserve Your Attention
NVIDIA has consolidated, up 13.84% YTD and sitting 28% below its 52-week high of $236.26. Yet Q1 FY27 delivered revenue of $81.62 billion (+85% YoY) and Data Center revenue of $75.25 billion. CEO Jensen Huang called the AI factory buildout "the largest infrastructure expansion in human history."
The Single Biggest Reason to Buy Celestica Ahead of July 27 Q2 Earnings
CLS trades at a forward P/E of 30 while posting 53% revenue growth and sitting 30% below its 52-week high. Celestica grows more than four times faster than Flex and runs margins roughly 200 basis points above Jabil's full-year guide. Q1 FY26 revenue hit $4.05 billion, up 52.8% year over year, with adjusted EPS of $2.16 beating the $2.08 consensus.
Cash Squeeze at Tesla and Alphabet: Same Issue But Not The Same at All
Tesla's story reads differently. Revenue came in at $28.236 billion, a 7.10% beat, but EPS of $0.33 missed by 38.51%. Operating margin cratered to 1.4% as operating expenses jumped 47% on AI compute, R&D, and stock-based comp tied to the 2025 CEO Performance Award. Regulatory credits collapsed to $146 million from $739 million a year ago. Alphabet posted revenue of $119.796 billion, up 24.23%, with EPS of $9.11 against a $3.0427 estimate. Google Cloud grew 82% to $24.768 billion, and Sundar Pichai told investors that "nearly 90% of the Fortune 100" now use Gemini Enterprise. Operating margin expanded to 34%. This is a company being paid to spend. Tesla self-funds from $43 billion in cash while Alphabet doubled long-term debt to $98 billion, suspending buybacks to aggressively scale AI cloud capacity.
Alphabet Just Posted a Monster Quarter. The Stock Dropped Anyway. Time to Buy the Stock?
Google Cloud revenue jumped 82% to $24.8 billion, with operating margins nearly doubling to 35.6%. The backlog stands at $514 billion. Trailing P/E is distorted right now by $99 billion in paper gains from Alphabet's SpaceX stake, which began in 2015.
Rockefeller CIO Warns: Big Tech’s $650B AI Buildout May Be Hiding a Massive Overbuild
Microsoft targets $190B and Amazon $200B in 2026 AI CapEx, with Amazon's free cash flow already cratered 95% to $1.2B. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) plans roughly $200 billion in 2026 CapEx, a figure that has already crushed trailing free cash flow to $1.2 billion, a 95% drop. Microsoft told analysts on its most recent call that Q4 2026 CapEx will exceed $40 billion, with calendar-year spending pointed toward roughly $190 billion.
Ultra Clean Holdings (UCTT) Surged on Strong Results and Improving Semiconductor Spending
Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT) closed at $101.46 per share. Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. NASDAQ:(UCTT) has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion with a 52-week trading range between $21.28 - $144.22. Rewey Asset Management stated the following regarding Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT) in its Q2 2026 investor letter: "Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT), highlighted in our 3Q25 letter, was again our top performer in 2Q26, delivering a 127.81% return."
A Mag 7 Peer Just Directed The Market to Load Up on Amazon Before July 30
AWS posted its fastest growth in 15 quarters, AMZN carries a $364B contracted backlog, and Polymarket prices a 95% chance of a Q2 earnings beat. Alphabet's 82% Google Cloud growth with nearly 90% of Fortune 100 on Gemini signals category-wide strength heading into AWS's July 30 report. Start with AWS. Last quarter it grew 28% year over year to $37.59 billion at a 37.7% operating margin, and Andy Jassy called it "our fastest growth in 15 quarters."
Here Is Why You Should Buy Netflix And Roku
Quick Read - Netflix (NFLX) posted 33% operating margins and $27B in buybacks; Roku (ROKU) grew platform revenue 28% with advertisers more than doubling YoY. Netflix owns the screen with NFL packages and hit content; Roku owns the ad feed, targeting $1B in free cash flow by 2028. Netflix delivered EPS of $0.80 on revenue of $12.559 billion, growing 13.37% YoY. Operating margin held at 33.4%, doing the heavy lifting. Roku's quarter was louder in percentage terms. Platform revenue climbed 28% YoY to $1.13 billion, with Advertising up 27% and Subscriptions up 30%.
ServiceNow: Debunking The 2 Biggest Bear Arguments
Summary - ServiceNow delivered strong Q2 results, surpassing revenue and EPS estimates, with subscription revenue up ~25% YoY and growing high-value customer momentum.
As Wall Street Cuts Tesla, Morgan Stanley Raises Its Apple Target
iPhone 17 drove quarterly revenue to $111 billion and Services hit an all-time record $31 billion. Apple's installed base of over 2.5 billion active devices becomes the launchpad for a Services business compounding at double-digit rates, a paid Apple Intelligence tier, and a rumored foldable iPhone (prediction markets assign 88.5% odds of a foldable arriving before 2027). Layer on a fresh $100 billion buyback authorization and expanding operating margins, and our internal bull case lands at $378.01, a 16% one-year return.
Amazon Falls 4% as Senate China Probe and AI-Spending Jitters Weigh Ahead of Earnings
Amazon's TTM free cash flow has collapsed to $1.2 billion as the company's AI buildout consumes capital. Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating on AMZN stock with a $310 price target, citing AI-driven AWS acceleration and expected Q2 revenue of $198.8 billion. The consensus analyst target sits near $313, with a Moderate Buy rating overall. Amazon's Q1 2026 setup supports that view. AWS grew 28% to $37.6 billion, the fastest pace in 15 quarters, and advertising crossed $70 billion in trailing revenue. Prediction markets currently price a 95% probability Amazon beats Q2 estimates. Still, the bearish overlay shouldn't be overlooked. Amazon's Q1 2026 capital expenditures hit $44.2 billion, and the company's TTM free cash flow fell to $1.2 billion, a reminder of how much cash the AI buildout is consuming.
Two Blowout Quarters, Two Selloffs: What Tesla and Alphabet Reveal About our Price Target
Tesla's nosebleed 344 trailing P/E limits upside to 11%, while Alphabet's cheap 26 P/E and 82% Cloud growth support a 60% upside target. Alphabet trades cheaper than Meta and AI peers despite 32% operating margins, and even its bear case of $433 sits above the current price. Our 24/7 Wall St. price target for Tesla is $413.49, implying 10.56% upside from $374.01. Our 24/7 Wall St. price target for Alphabet is $545.95, implying 59.68% upside from $341.91. Both earn a buy at high confidence. Tesla posted record deliveries of 480,126 vehicles and revenue of $28.24 billion (+25.52% YoY), but operating margin collapsed to 1.4% and free cash flow flipped to negative $1.09 billion. Shares are down 5.18% on the week and 16.83% year to date. Alphabet's Q2 revenue of $119.80 billion (+24.23%) was overshadowed by $44.92 billion in single-quarter capex, a suspended buyback, and roughly $70 billion in combined equity and debt raised. The stock dropped 7.64% on the week even with Cloud growth accelerating to 82%. As Sundar Pichai put it, "Q2 was an amazing quarter, with Alphabet revenues growing 24% year-over-year and Google Cloud revenues accelerating to 82% growth."
Tesla falls 13%, Alphabet sinks 7% as AI spending concerns spook investors
$25 billion in capex this year. Alphabet raised its capital expenditure forecast for this year to $195 billion to $205 billion and warned of higher figures in 2027. Tesla, meanwhile, said capex surged 142% year on year in the second quarter to $5.79 billion.
Why agilon health (AGL) Shares Are Falling Today
Shares of healthcare services company Agilon Health (NYSE:AGL) fell 10.8% in the afternoon session after Citi downgraded the stock's rating from Neutral to Sell, citing valuation concerns. The downgrade followed a massive 650% rally in 2026, which left the stock trading at a 38% premium compared to its peers. Citi noted this valuation was "too rich," especially since the company faced risks as Medicare Advantage plans sought to retain margins heading into 2027. Despite raising the price target from $80 to $105, the firm placed a "downside 30-day catalyst watch" on the stock, indicating a significant second-quarter earnings beat was unlikely. Adding to the negative sentiment, a law firm announced an investigation into the company regarding potential false statements about its medical costs. agilon health's shares are extremely volatile and have had 98 moves greater than 5% over the last year. The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 12 months ago when the stock dropped 51.6% on the news that the company reported dismal second-quarter financial results, announced the departure of its CEO, and withdrew its full-year guidance. The company's revenue missed analyst estimates and its net loss more than doubled expectations. The poor performance stemmed from a significant reversal in its medical margin, which swung from a $106 million profit in the same quarter last year to a $53 million loss, driven by reductions in expected revenue. agilon health is up 525% since the beginning of the year, but at $105.27 per share, it is still trading 18.9% below its 52-week high of $129.84 from July 2026. Despite the year-to-date gain, investors who bought $1,000 worth of agilon health's shares 5 years ago would now be looking at only $114.17.
Market Indexes Sink as Oil Tops $100 Amid Rising AI Costs
Revenue hit $119.8 billion, up 24%. Google Cloud revenue surged 82%, proving that AI is absolutely generating real money on the software and services side. But management raised Alphabet's full-year capital expenditure guidance by $15 billion and said that next year's infrastructure investments will be even larger. Free cash flow turned negative at negative $5.9 billion for the quarter as AI data center spending doubled year-over-year.
Tesla and Alphabet Trigger Nasdaq 2.5% Selloff as Oil Nears $100
Tesla fell about 12% after reporting quarterly earnings that missed profit expectations despite stronger revenue, while Alphabet dropped roughly 7% after lifting its 2026 capital expenditure outlook to as much as $205 billion.
Why Alphabet (GOOGL) Shares Are Getting Obliterated Today
Shares of online advertising giant Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) fell 6.5% in the afternoon session after its second-quarter earnings report revealed a sharp downturn in cash flow, overshadowing strong revenue growth. The company beat Wall Street's revenue estimates, with sales growing over 24% year on year to $119.8 billion. Alphabet reported a negative free cash flow of $5.86 billion, a significant reversal from the positive free cash flow it generated in the same period last year. Alphabet is up 1.4% since the beginning of the year, but at $319.69 per share, it is still trading 20.6% below its 52-week high of $402.62 from May 2026.
Turn The VST Shares You Own Into A 16% Income Stream
16% annualized income on VST shares you already own, with 20% of upside room, by selling a covered call. - You own (or buy) 100 shares of VST near today’s price of $166.74. - Sell one call option on VST expiring 6/17/2027, with a strike price of $200, about 20% above today. - Collect roughly $2,375 in premium up front per contract (each contract covers 100 shares), which you keep no matter what the stock does. - That premium is about 15.9% annualized on the $16,674 of stock, income you earn just for holding. - If VST finishes above $200, your shares are called away at $200. Counting the premium, your total return works out to about 38% annualized, but you give up any gains above the strike. Management sees a “structurally improved demand environment” fueled by data centers and electrification, forecasting sustained annual load growth of “at least 5% to 6% through 2030” in its crucial ERCOT market.
Norfolk Southern’s earnings rise with volume gains
Adjusted for the impact of one-time items – including expenses related to the February 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, derailment and hazardous materials release, and the proposed merger with Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) – the railroad's operating income increased 5%, to $1.19 billion, as revenue rose 11% to a record $3.46 billion.
2 reasons why Microsoft belongs in your portfolio: D.A. Davidson's Gil Luria
For a couple of reasons. One is they have Open AI's IP for free for the next seven years. So they can use it however they want, whenever they want without having to pay open AI. And two is the biggest part of the AI market is going to be open source. That whole discussion we just had about Kimi K3 wasn't about China. It was about open source. We don't need the most advanced model for everything we do in AI. Summarizing my emails doesn't require a fable level model. And so an open source model which will come likely from Microsoft, from Amazon, maybe even from Meta will more than do the trick and that's something Microsoft can sell at probably even higher margins than selling access to Open AI and Anthropic models.
Oracle signs 10-year software contract with Pentagon worth up to $7 billion
The Pentagon on Thursday announced a contract with Oracle worth almost $7 billion over a decade, a big win for the software maker, which has been punished by investors this year. Kirsten Davies, the Department of Defense's chief information officer, said in the release that the agency is saving at least $441 million for taxpayers "by fundamentally improving how we procure on-premises Oracle capabilities." Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth estimated that the war in Iran, which began in February, has cost the U.S. $37.5 billion. Oracle said in June that quarterly software revenue declined 2% from a year earlier, though the company's database software is widely used inside large companies.
Stock Market Today, July 23: Alphabet Slides 7% After Announcing 2026 Capex of Roughly $200 Billion
Alphabet IPO'd in 2004 and has grown 12,557% since going public. Capex rose by 100% in Q2 to $45 billion and caused free cash flow to turn negative for the first time in Alphabet’s publicly traded history.
Why Is RTX (RTX) Stock Soaring Today
Shares of aerospace and defense company Raytheon (NYSE:RTX) jumped 7.2% in the afternoon session after the company reported strong second-quarter earnings that beat expectations and raised its full-year guidance. The aerospace and defense giant delivered $1.89 in adjusted earnings per share on $24.71 billion in revenue, a 14.5% increase from the previous year. Driven by strong demand, RTX raised its full-year sales outlook to $95.5 billion at the midpoint, up from its prior forecast of $93 billion. Management also raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $7.18 at the midpoint. Operating margin expanded to 11.4%, up from 9.9% in the same quarter last year. Free cash flow was also a bright spot, coming in at $2.88 billion compared to negative $72 million in the previous year. RTX is up 11.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $208.88 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $212.16 from March 2026.
VeriSign Q2 Earnings Call Highlights
Revenue of $1.745 billion to $1.755 billion. Operating income of $1.185 billion to $1.195 billion. Interest expense and non-operating net expense of $59 million to $65 million. Capital expenditures of $55 million to $65 million. A GAAP effective tax rate of 22% to 25%.
Oracle lands $7 billion Department of War software contract, sending stock higher
The single-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity agreement under the Department of War Enterprise Software Initiative establishes a streamlined, ten-year procurement framework for Oracle's suite of enterprise products and cloud services. The contract carries a base value of $3.31 billion covering an initial five-year ordering period, with unexercised option years potentially expanding total cumulative spending to $6.99 billion over a decade. Awarded by the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, the non-competitive direct contract will consolidate software acquisition across defense agencies while expanding authorization to the intelligence community and the Coast Guard. For Oracle, securing such a massive defense enterprise deal provides a critical long-term growth catalyst and enhanced revenue visibility at a time when enterprise software providers face heightened macroeconomic scrutiny.
Amazon vs. Microsoft: Which Cloud Empire Is the Better Buy Now?
One interesting thing to note is that Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud computing platform, actually generates more operating profits than its commerce divisions, accounting for 59% of the bottom line during Q1. Microsoft doesn't publicly break out the individual operating characteristics of each segment, so investors can't know precisely how profitable Azure is. But we know that it's growing at a 40% clip -- faster than AWS' 28% pace. Still, AWS is a larger service than Azure, which could account for that growth mismatch. During their most recently reported quarters, Amazon's overall revenue rose at a 17% pace, while Microsoft's grew at an 18% clip. That tracks with a historical trend of Microsoft growing ever so slightly faster than Amazon. However, that's only from a revenue growth standpoint. Microsoft has fallen well below its normal trading range, making it much cheaper than Amazon. Considering how close in performance these two are from a financial standpoint, I think that Microsoft's lower valuation of 20.5 times forward earnings makes it a better buy.
Dell's Big Day Was All About Another Company
Dell Technologies (DELL) popped 9.3% on Wednesday, and you might be looking for a press release or an earnings report from the company to explain it. The real catalyst came from a rival, and it tells you everything you need to know about the current state of the AI hardware market. What Did Super Micro Announce? The company lighting up the ticker was Super Micro Computer. It released a preliminary business update showing it had received more than $60 billion in new orders during its fiscal fourth quarter. That flood of demand drove its order backlog to a record high and sent its own stock up 13%. And Why Does That Matter For Dell? Wall Street calls this a “read-through.” The logic is simple: if a company like Super Micro is seeing that level of “incredibly strong demand for AI powered servers,” then a market leader like Dell is almost certainly swimming in the same rich current. Isn’t Dell Already Firing On All Cylinders? This wave of optimism is dropping sharply onto fertile ground. Dell’s own performance has been impressive, with year-over-year revenue growth accelerating to 39%, nearly triple its 3-year average of 12.9%. At the same time, its net margin just hit a 3-year peak of 6.3%. The company has successfully positioned itself as a key hardware leader in the global AI buildout, and investors are clearly willing to price in good news before it even arrives. We’ve also looked at whether this setup makes Dell stock worth owning after its big run. After a 9.3% jump on a competitor’s good news, what happens when Dell has to deliver its own? Does This Run Have Staying Power? Knowing why a stock ran is one thing; knowing whether the run has legs is another. The most durable moves are the ones a rising forecast is actually backing, rather than a good week of sentiment. Our Guidance Momentum screen tracks the S&P 500 names where a raised outlook meets real price momentum, so you can judge which runs are built to last. And if you would rather own the whole theme than this one winner, our ETF Scorecard shows how the technology funds compare.
ORCL Stock Rises After-Hours On Pentagon Deal Worth Up To $7B — Why Retail Sees NOW, PLTR, MSFT And Others Benefiting Too
Shares of Oracle Corp. (ORCL) gained nearly 3% in after-hours trading on Thursday after the company secured a Department of War Enterprise Software Agreement worth up to $6.99 billion over 10 years. The contract carries an initial award value of $3.31 billion over the first five-year ordering period and includes an unexercised option that would increase its total value to $6.99 billion. The initial five-year agreement includes perpetual and subscription-based software licenses, maintenance, support and consulting services. The agreement is designed to consolidate fragmented software licensing and procurement into a single enterprise-wide contract, with the Department projecting at least $441 million in taxpayer savings over its lifetime. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth estimated earlier this week that the war with Iran has cost the U.S. $37.5 billion since it began in February, reported AP. Kirsten A. Davies, Chief Information Officer for the Department of War, said in a statement, “By fundamentally improving how we procure on-premises Oracle capabilities, we are driving at least $441 million in taxpayer savings while rapidly and effectively serving our warfighters.”
47 Analysts Cover Apple. Their Average Price Target Is Now Below the Stock Price, One Week Before Earnings.
Revenue rose 17% year over year in the fiscal second quarter, and earnings per share climbed 22%. iPhone revenue hit $57 billion in the March quarter, a record for the period and up 22% year over year, and the high-margin services business set an all-time revenue record of its own.
Warren Buffett Just Said This About Berkshire Hathaway's Massive Google Investment
Warren Buffett officially retired as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB +0.30%)(BRKA +0.53%) at the end of 2025 and is now just the chair of the board. This includes its direct stock purchases, as well as a $10 billion private placement in June 2026 as part of Alphabet's capital raise. Berkshire's investment in Alphabet is not necessarily because it is a winning artificial intelligence (AI) stock. Buffett said it was to make up for the mistake of not investing in the owner of Google Search earlier in its life as a publicly traded company, especially when some of Berkshire Hathaway's subsidiaries, like Geico, were heavy users of its advertising services. Now, Alphabet has the opportunity to deploy hundreds of billions of dollars in capital over the coming years to retain its position as a leading internet platform and, increasingly, an AI player. The company is still seeing strong revenue growth from Google Search while benefiting from spending on its Google Cloud infrastructure services and the Gemini chatbot. Overall revenue grew 22% year over year last quarter, an astounding rate of growth for a business of Alphabet's size. Alphabet has extended its growth runway by investing heavily in AI. For example, Google Cloud is now growing revenue at a 60% year-over-year rate, hitting $20 billion in sales just last quarter. This has supercharged Alphabet's share price, which is up 81% in the last 12 months alone. In the last 10 years, Alphabet has produced a cumulative total return of 846%. Even though it now trades at a market cap of $4 trillion (or higher, depending on the day), the stock still trades at a reasonable multiple of earnings.
Amazon Fell 4.6% Today Because Other Companies Said They Would Spend More Money. It Reports July 30.
Amazon got caught in that downdraft for a specific reason. It has an AI (artificial intelligence) spending plan as big as any of them, at about $200 billion in expected capital expenditures for 2026. The concern isn't hypothetical. Amazon's free cash flow for the trailing 12 months had already fallen to $1.2 billion as of the first quarter. A year earlier, that figure was $25.9 billion. Amazon Web Services, the company's cloud computing business, grew revenue 28% year over year in the first quarter to $37.6 billion.
Barclays Trading Boss Hunts for Growth Against Wall Street Giants
£2.51 billion ($3.34 billion) for the quarter when it reports results on Tuesday, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. each generated about $12 billion from trading during the period. Barclays' markets division has grown at a slower rate than some US and European peers, with revenue rising at an annualized rate of about 6.2% from 2023 as the bank refocused the unit through last year, according to Bloomberg calculations based on reporting currencies. Bank of America Corp. reported almost double the trading revenue that Barclays did last year. Barclays has determined it wants to gain market share in trading securitized products, European rates and equity derivatives, setting those priorities in 2024. Traders are under pressure to get the firm into the top five ranking for 70 of its top-rated clients this year. For now, they are at 65, meaning for those clients they have dislodged one of the five main Wall Street banks. In the first three months of 2026, client financing made up more than a third of the global markets business revenue.
Aerospace
Airbus space business takes advantage of growing demand for satellite systems
Airbus Defence and Space had earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, of 800 million euros in 2025 and has a goal of achieving EBIT of 1.3 billion euros in 2029. Some of you might ask, and I anticipate the question, is that with or without Bromo? My answer will be it is robust against both scenarios.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) Stock Just Lost $1 Trillion in a Month. Is the Selloff a Buying Opportunity or a Warning?
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) stock fell for a seventh straight session on Monday, dropping 3.3% to $119.85. The Falcon 9 rocket has launched more than 650 times against three launches for Blue Origin's New Glenn. So, analyst DiPalma estimates Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) controls over 90% of the rocket launch market, putting it roughly a decade ahead of its closest competitors.
Lockheed Martin Q2 2026 earnings beat, full-year outlook raised
Lockheed Martin reported second-quarter sales of $20.1 billion on Thursday, up 11% from a year earlier, and raised its full-year financial guidance after results came in ahead of expectations. The company lifted its full-year 2026 sales outlook to approximately $79.75 billion to $81.75 billion, up from its prior guidance range of $77.5 billion to $80.0 billion. The company reported a record backlog of $230.4 billion, up from $193.6 billion at year-end 2025, boosted by $65 billion in new orders during the quarter.
As Analysts Bet on Boeing Turnaround, Retail Investors Fixate on One Uncomfortable Fact
Backlog reached $695 billion. Retail investors, however, are looking at the same filing and seeing a $1.5 billion free cash flow burn and a Commercial Airplanes segment still running at a 6.1% negative operating margin. Commercial Airplanes is still losing money at the segment level, with a negative 6.1% operating margin in Q1. Free cash flow swung back to a $1.5 billion outflow after two positive quarters, denting the recovery narrative.
Lockheed Martin Rockets 10%, RTX Jumps 7% on Beat-and-Raise Quarters and Record Backlogs
Lockheed Martin posted adjusted EPS of $7.94 on revenue of $20.1 billion, up 11% year over year, versus roughly $7.23 and $19.37 billion expected. The company booked $65 billion of new Q2 orders, including a multi-year $35 billion THAAD interceptor agreement with the Missile Defense Agency, taking backlog to a record $230 billion. Management raised Lockheed Martin's full-year 2026 guidance across the board, lifting EPS to $29.95 to $30.65, revenue to $79.75 billion to $81.75 billion, and free cash flow to $7 billion to $7.2 billion.
Airbus, Boeing fly in different directions at Farnborough
She noted that "about 70 percent" of Boeing's cashflow comes from the 737, adding it is "essential" that the group grows production to 47 planes per month from 38 currently.
Lockheed Martin, RTX lift 2026 forecasts as Pentagon looks to restock weapons
The U.S. House of Representatives this week passed its version of a massive defense policy bill that would authorize an unprecedented $1.15 trillion in spending for the military. Demand is expected to remain strong. The U.S. has used more than 50,000 rockets, missiles and rocket-propelled munitions since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022 and throughout the U.S. attack on Iran, which began on February 28, according to Pentagon data. Lockheed's total backlog — orders yet to be produced — grew to $230.4 billion, up 38.3% from $166.5 billion last year. The company now expects 2026 revenue between $79.75 billion and $81.75 billion, up from a prior range of $77.5 billion to $80 billion, and above analyst expectations of $79.14 billion, according to LSEG data. At RTX, backlog rose 22% from a year earlier to $289 billion, including $170 billion in commercial aerospace orders and $119 billion in defense.
RTX Corp (RTX) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Growth and Raised Outlook Amid Supply ...
RTX Corp (NYSE:RTX) reported strong financial performance with adjusted sales of $24.7 billion, up 16% organically, and adjusted EPS of $1.89, up 21% year over year. The company achieved a record backlog of $289 billion, up 22% year over year, indicating strong demand for its products and services. Raytheon booked nearly $20 billion in awards, resulting in a book-to-bill ratio of 2.4, highlighting robust demand in the defense sector. RTX Corp (NYSE:RTX) raised its full-year outlook for adjusted sales, EPS, and free cash flow, reflecting confidence in continued growth. Q: Can you provide an update on the framework agreements and how they align with the current budget environment? A: Christopher Calio, CEO, explained that the US defense budget request exceeding $1 trillion is significant and shows strong demand for RTX's capabilities.
Prediction: $1,000 Invested in SpaceX Stock Will Be Worth This Amount in 3 Years
$11.4 billion in revenue and $4.4 billion in operating profit in 2025. Starlink also exited the first quarter of 2026 with 10.3 million subscribers, up 105% year over year. However, Starlink's average revenue per user fell 23% year over year to $66 in the first quarter, as SpaceX expanded into lower-priced international markets. SpaceX may also witness rapid expansion in its network capacity once its next-generation reusable rocket system, Starship, begins deploying the larger V3 Starlink satellites. Each Starship launch carrying V3 satellites is estimated to add more than 20 times as much capacity as a launch of V2 Mini satellites on the currently used Falcon 9 rocket system. The projections start with an estimated 2026 revenue of $39.1 billion. In a conservative scenario, assuming 20% annual revenue growth, revenue will reach $67.6 billion in 2029. Applying a conservative price-to-sales multiple close to 10x gives SpaceX a $676 billion market capitalization and a share price near $49. The initial $1,000 would fall to approximately $410. In my base case, 35% annual growth lifts revenue to $96.2 billion. A price-to-sales multiple close to 15 produces a share price of roughly $105, turning $1,000 into approximately $875. Finally, in the best-case scenario, 50% annual growth would produce $132 billion in revenue. At a reasonable 20 times sales, SpaceX stock could reach approximately $192, making the investment worth roughly $1,600.
RTX: Lots Of Tailwinds, But Little Margin For Error
RTX Corp. delivered robust Q2 results with 14% sales growth, 21% higher EPS, and a record $289 billion backlog. Management raised 2026 sales guidance to $95–$96 billion and EPS to $7.10–$7.25, driven by Raytheon's defense momentum and improving Pratt & Whitney operations. Raytheon’s 2.42 book-to-bill ratio and surging international orders underscore multiyear rearmament tailwinds, while Pratt’s GTF issues are receding with operational improvements.
Why Are Lockheed Martin (LMT) Shares Soaring Today
During the quarter, revenue increased 10.5% year-on-year to $20.06 billion, and earnings per share jumped to $7.94, exceeding Wall Street's estimates. The robust performance was supported by elevated demand for the company's products, pushing its total order backlog to a staggering $230.4 billion, up 38.4% year on year. Furthermore, Lockheed Martin demonstrated impressive cash profitability, generating $2.92 billion in free cash flow. Additionally, reports highlighted other substantial deals, including a $35.5 billion Pentagon contract for THAAD interceptors and a separate $2.9 billion radar contract with the U.S. Army, reinforcing investor confidence in the company's backlog and revenue prospects. Lockheed Martin is up 13.5% since the beginning of the year, but at $564.30 per share, it is still trading 16.6% below its 52-week high of $676.70 from March 2026.
2 Missions, 3 Launches, and Up to $300 Million for Rocket Lab
Two wins for Rocket Lab The missions in question, announced June 25, are called PolSIR (Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer) and TSIS-2, and both are due to launch next year (meaning revenue generated from the missions will fall within a single year). NASA noted that both missions run under the aegis of its Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract, which permits NASA to buy launch services valued up to $300 million total over a 10-year ordering period. If I were to venture a guess, I suspect Rocket Lab's actual take from these two missions will approximate its usual Electron rocket launch cost. We've seen those recently priced as high as $9.5 million, so times three launches for the three satellites involved in the two missions equals $28.5 million, give or take.
Two Mag-7 Giants Hold Stakes In SPCX As Alphabet Discloses $94B Position
$94.1 billion investment in the rocket manufacturer as of June 30, in its latest quarterly report. Roughly $80 billion of those SpaceX shares face short-term limits on sales. Another $14.1 billion cannot be sold until late 2027, the company revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Most recently, in June 2026, they signed a multi-year agreement under which Google will pay SpaceX about $920 million a month—roughly $30 billion in total—for AI computing power, giving the search giant access to more than 110,000 Nvidia GPUs through mid-2029.
Cathie Wood Just Bought More SpaceX Stock. Here's Why I Wouldn't Copy Her
SpaceX is developing a next-gen rocket, Starship, that could significantly reduce launch costs. Over the next few years, SpaceX could record growing revenue thanks to Starlink, which already boasts 10.3 million subscribers, a number that should keep growing at a good clip.
Bio
Lilly Targets Early 2027 Filing for Next Obesity Drug
The highest weekly dose produced average weight loss of 22.6%. A separate 80-week trial in overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes showed 20.8% weight loss and lowered A1C levels by 1.6%. retatrutide patients carried a 12% higher risk than placebo.
Eli Lilly's Retatrutide Clears Two More Trials Ahead of 2027 Filing
In one study, persons with obesity and Type 2 diabetes lost an average of up to 20.8% of their body weight, or approximately 50 pounds, after 80 weeks. Another experiment with patients with extreme obesity and established cardiovascular disease revealed average weight loss of as much as 22.6%, or 55.8 pounds.
Laboratorios Farmaceuticos Rovi, S.A. reports 1H results
EBITDA grew 85.00% year-over-year to reach €121.20M. CDMO sales grew 38.00% year-over-year to reach €106.30M. Net profit surged to €84.40M from €39.70M, while gross margin expanded by 6.50 pp to 68.90%.
2 Top Growth Stocks to Buy Right Now Without Any Hesitation
Eli Lilly's retatrutide, for instance, recently posted an average weight loss of up to 20.8% in patients with type 2 diabetes who were overweight or obese in an 80-week phase 3 study. That means additional indications, eventually, and potentially, greater adoption of robotic-assisted surgery (RAS).
Consumer / Retail
Starbucks Is on Track to Beat the Nasdaq-100 for the First Time Since 2022. Is There More Room to Run?
The company reported declining year-over-year same-store sales in both fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2025. Traffic trends have been encouraging. In April, Starbucks reported its financial results for Q2 2026, ended March 29. And the management team revealed that global comparable transactions were up for a second straight quarter. Starbucks is working to right the ship. The company's key priorities have been to re-establish cafes as a welcoming "Third Place," while boosting store operations with better staffing and equipment. Starbucks also innovated with new menu offerings to capture more sales during the afternoon. The Starbucks rewards program has been updated, too. It now features membership tiers based on different spending levels, aiding in personalization and providing more benefits to the most loyal customers. This setup supports engagement and frequency. There are now a record 35.6 million members in the United States. Starbucks set out to reduce its annual expenses by $2 billion, and there appears to be progress in this regard. The business raised its full-year profit guidance, now forecasting adjusted earnings per share of $2.25 to $2.45. At the midpoint, that implies a 10% year-over-year jump. The turnaround isn't over, though. Getting back to healthy growth is the main goal. At Starbucks' investor day meeting in January this year, management laid out a target to achieve a 5% year-over-year revenue gain by fiscal 2028. The top line is expected to be flat in fiscal 2026, so there is still work to do. Starbucks' adjusted EPS will grow at a compound annual rate of 19.8% between fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2028, according to consensus analyst estimates.
You Can Do Better Than Coca-Cola Stock. Buy This High-Yield Dividend Stock Instead.
Coca-Cola is royalty among dividend investors. I mean that literally. Its 64 consecutive annual dividend hikes make it a Dividend King, a rare club of companies with at least five decades of uninterrupted payout growth. Realty Income (O +0.21%) is one of the world's top REITs. The company boasts a global portfolio of 15,571 properties, primarily leased to single-tenant businesses in consumer-facing industries. Think along the lines of grocery and convenience stores, home improvement stores, fast-food restaurants, drug stores, and automotive repair shops. The current dividend is only 73% the company's guided 2026 distributable cash profits. Realty Income trades at less than 15 times its 2026 FFO guidance.
Santander UK halts branch cuts until 2028
Under the commitment, the group will keep 305 Santander sites, and 175 TSB sites open across the UK for at least nearly another 18 months. The cash deal, which was initially signed in July 2025 and valued at £2.65bn ($3.6bn), is intended to support Santander UK's aim of raising return on tangible equity to 16% by 2028.
Will American Express or Verizon Come Out as an Earnings Winner?
American Express carries 14 Buy, 15 Hold, and one Sell ratings, a modest lean toward neutral with a single dissenter. Verizon's coverage skews cleaner on the downside: 11 Buy, 15 Hold, and zero Sell ratings. No sell-side analyst is telling clients to exit Verizon, and that matters for a retirement holder who cares about tail risk in the coverage universe. American Express has more outright Buys, but the presence of a Sell and a heavier Hold cluster tempers conviction. Winner: Verizon. Zero Sell ratings versus one, with a similar Hold count, gives Verizon the cleaner buy-side floor. American Express has an analyst consensus target of $374.94, almost 8% higher than the current price, alongside an AI model target of $391.47, implying 12.25% upside. Verizon's consensus target is $51.12, with an AI model target of $49.99, implying 12.88% upside. On percentage upside to the model target, Verizon has a hair more room. On absolute dollar distance to consensus, American Express has further to travel. What tips the scale for a retirement investor: Verizon's year-to-date price performance is already +8.7%, while American Express is −5.7% year to date.
Nestlé to sell half of waters business to Platinum Equity
Nestlé is to sell half of its waters business to the US private-equity firm Platinum Equity under a joint-venture agreement. The Swiss food and drinks giant said it expects to gain €3bn ($3.42bn) in cash proceeds from the transaction. The deal gives Peranel an enterprise value of €4.9bn. "Peranel will have full flexibility to invest in its brands and pursue growth opportunities," Nestlé said. Nestlé revealed a plan to separate its water and "premium beverages" operations into a standalone business in 2024.
Reddit’s Oil Bet on Occidental Clashes With Wall Street’s Caution
Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.06, comfortably beating the $0.58 consensus. Principal debt cut to $13.3 billion from $20.8 billion, funded by the OxyChem sale to Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) that closed January 2. Dividend lifted to $0.26 per share, more than 8% higher and doubled over four years. Shares closed at $57.50 on Wednesday, up 39.8% year to date and 6.9% in the past week alone, sitting 14.8% below the 52-week high.
Should You Buy Coca-Cola Stock Before July 28?
When Coca-Cola reported its Q1 numbers in late April, for the period ended April 3, management laid out full-year guidance. At that time, it expected organic revenue growth of 4% to 5% and an adjusted earnings-per-share (EPS) gain of 8% to 9%. Should this outlook be upgraded, then investors will have a clear sense of how optimistic the leadership team is. On the other hand, a downgraded forecast indicates difficult times ahead. Consensus analyst estimates call for sales to rise 4% year over year in the second quarter. EPS is projected to increase 7%. It's worth pointing out that Coca-Cola exceeded Wall Street's top- and bottom-line forecasts in Q1 of this year. Coca-Cola has reported an average operating margin of 26.3% over the past five years. This allows the company to rake in huge amounts of free cash flow.
Vita Coco buys coconut-water maker Copra
Copra brings specialised capabilities, deep sourcing expertise and a super-premium offering that can help us serve more consumers, and expand our market share while continuing to help shape and lead the category's continued global growth. In the statement, Martin Roper, the group's CEO, called out Copra's "remarkable" net sales CAGR of close to 50% in the past three years, specifically "in the cold-chain coconut water segment". Copra said it anticipates its annual net sales will reach over $100m this year, most of which are generated in the Americas, "with opportunity to expand internationally and to significantly grow the branded business".
Honeywell Technologies Q2 2026 earnings: profit forecast raised
Honeywell Technologies raised its full-year profit forecast on Thursday, its first earnings report as a standalone automation company following the completion of a three-way corporate breakup. Honeywell Technologies lifted its full-year adjusted EPS target to a range of $8.05 to $8.35, compared with the previous guidance of $7.90 to $8.30, the company said. Full-year sales guidance was set at $19.8 billion to $20.0 billion, with organic sales growth of 3% to 4%. Second-quarter adjusted EPS for the standalone Honeywell Technologies business came in at $1.95, up 10% from a year earlier. Quarterly sales for the standalone business reached $5.2 billion, up 3% from a year earlier and up 4% on an organic basis. The Building Automation segment led the way, with sales rising 10% to $2.0 billion and segment margin expanding 90 basis points to 27.1%, driven by volume leverage and pricing. Honeywell Technologies expects organic sales growth of 4% to 6% in the second half of the year.
Equities surpass real estate as top US wealth driver for first time since WW2, Goldman says
Equity gains have been the dominant driver of household wealth accumulation and the main contributor to a positive wealth effect on consumer spending, the brokerage said in a note on Thursday.
Will Costco (COST) be Able to Continue High Dividend Growth?
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) operates a membership-based model with a durable competitive moat in retail, anchored by industry-leading renewal rates and a value proposition that strengthens with scale. The recurring membership-fee stream is high-margin, predictable, and compounds alongside member growth and periodic fee increases.
Southwest Airlines shares fall as weak Q3 outlook overshadows earnings beat
Revenue also topped expectations, with adjusted operating revenue reaching a record $8.7 billion, up 20.3% year over year, compared with analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. Managed business revenues reached an all-time quarterly record, rising 30% year over year. The airline guided for third quarter adjusted earnings per share of $0.50 to $0.75, while lowering its full-year 2026 adjusted EPS outlook to a range of $3.25 to $4.25 from its previous expectation of at least $4. For the third quarter, Southwest expects revenue per available seat mile to increase between 17.5% and 19.5% year over year, while capacity is expected to range from a 1% decline to flat growth.
Jim Cramer Highlights Visa (V) as Consumer Credit Demand Soars
During the Tuesday episode of Mad Money, host Jim Cramer discussed the major credit card networks as he noted that consumer spending remains resilient. He began by highlighting the broader economic data and noted that roughly 81% of Americans hold a credit card, averaging three to four cards per consumer, with cardholders using about 29% to 30% of their available balance. All this is to say that the three big credit card companies, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express have a tremendous read on the state of the economy, and after a very rocky first quarter, these stocks have been steadily chugging higher since April. Why don't we start with Visa? That's the most used credit card. 60% of cardholders have one... Check out the daily chart. Visa's been roaring higher on terrific relative strength lately. I mean, this is not what Visa's chart looks like when the consumer's being squeezed. Lately, Visa's on-balance volume has been spiking, and that's a strong sign that big institutions can't get enough of this one. This is rather extraordinary how much they love it... Now, remember, unlike American Express, Visa and Mastercard have no credit exposure. They don't have losses if you don't pay. And that's why they're so beloved by mutual funds. Cramer pointed out that as the dominant player in the industry, whose product is held by 60% of cardholders, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) leads peer Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) (25% to 30% cardholder reach) and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP).
Harley-Davidson Q2 2026 earnings: profit falls, guidance raised
Second-quarter revenue came in at $1.23 billion, a 6% decline from the year-ago period. The company raised its full-year guidance for global motorcycle retail sales to a range of 133,500 to 138,500 units, up from a prior forecast of 130,000 to 135,000 units. It also lifted its full-year outlook for wholesale shipments to the same range, and raised its motorcycle division operating income forecast to between $10 million and $50 million, from a prior range of a $40 million loss to a $10 million profit. Global motorcycle shipments increased 9% to 39,209 units. North American retail motorcycle sales rose 3% to 29,751 units, while worldwide retail sales were up 1% to 42,467 units.
First Merchants Q2 Earnings Call Highlights
$43.5 million, or $0.70 per share, as stronger net interest income and margin expansion helped offset credit costs. The bank's net interest margin rose to 3.38%, aided by lower funding costs, improved loan yields, and the payoff from a mortgage loan sale that reduced higher-cost brokered and wholesale funding. First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) reported second-quarter 2026 net income of $43.5 million, or $0.70 per diluted share, as stronger revenue and margin expansion were offset by credit costs tied to two commercial loans moved to non-accrual status. The bank recorded adjusted pre-tax, pre-provision earnings of $84.6 million, up 7.5% from the prior quarter, while net interest margin expanded to 3.38%. Hardwick said First Merchants ended the quarter with $21.3 billion in total assets, $15.5 billion in loans and $16.8 billion in deposits. The company now operates 126 banking centers, reflecting the addition of Southern Indiana locations following the First Savings acquisition. Loan Growth Rebounds, Deposits Rise Seasonally President Mike Stewart said loan growth returned to more typical levels after a flat first quarter. Commercial and consumer loans each grew at nearly a 6% annualized rate in the second quarter, with activity coming across the bank's three-state footprint. Deposits grew at a 6.5% annualized rate in the quarter. Stewart attributed commercial deposit growth primarily to seasonal public fund increases tied to tax collections and a large temporary deposit from a client's business sale. He said consumer deposit declines were also seasonal, reflecting spending of tax refunds, and that the patterns should normalize through the rest of the year. Chief Financial Officer Michele Kawiecki said second-quarter total revenue increased meaningfully, with net interest income up $7.6 million from the prior quarter and non-interest income up $1.6 million after normalizing for a $29.8 million loss on mortgage loans sold in the first quarter. Net interest income on a fully tax-equivalent basis totaled $165.3 million, up $7.6 million linked quarter and $26.1 million from the prior-year period. Kawiecki said the company's pricing discipline on both loans and deposits helped drive margin expansion despite Federal Reserve rate cuts in the fourth quarter of 2025. The rate paid on deposits declined to 2.07% in the quarter, and Kawiecki said the bank used $271 million in proceeds from the completed mortgage loan sale to reduce higher-cost brokered deposits and wholesale funding. She said the mortgage loan sale added liquidity to the balance sheet. Loan yields also improved modestly. The held-for-investment loan portfolio yield rose two basis points from the prior quarter to 6.11%, while new and renewed loans were originated at an average yield of 6.28%, compared with 6.18% in the prior quarter. Two Credits Drive Provision Increase Chief Credit Officer John Martin said the bank recorded a $33 million provision for credit losses in the quarter, largely due to $29.7 million in specific reserves established on two commercial credits. Net charge-offs totaled $3.9 million, and the allowance for credit losses ended the quarter at $241.6 million, representing a coverage ratio of 1.56%. The larger credit was a $28.1 million participation in a syndicated loan to an authorized wireless retailer. Martin said new company-specific information received after quarter-end led the bank to place the loan on non-accrual status. He said negotiations with the borrower remain active and that the company expects "substantially greater visibility" into the likely resolution by the end of the fourth quarter. The second credit was a $13.7 million sponsor-financed loan to a commercial and residential roofing contractor. Martin said the loan had been on the watchlist for three quarters and was moved to non-accrual in July after the sponsor informed the bank it no longer intended to support the company. Non-accrual loans increased to $118.2 million, while non-performing assets plus loans 90 days past due rose to $129.5 million, or 0.83% of loans. Classified loans increased to $393.3 million from $357.1 million in the prior quarter. Martin said the increase was driven primarily by a limited number of borrower relationships rather than broad-based portfolio deterioration. He said First Merchants expects a meaningful portion of the loss content associated with the two non-accrual relationships to be realized through charge-offs in the third and fourth quarters. Full-year 2026 net charge-offs are expected to trend into the 40 to 45 basis point range, largely due to those known credits. Kawiecki reiterated expense guidance for the remainder of 2026, saying quarterly total expense run rate is expected to remain between $111 million and $114 million. She also said the company expects a normalized organic expense growth rate of roughly 3% to 5% going forward as it invests in talent and technology. Tangible book value per share increased $0.46, or 1.6%, from the prior quarter to $29.80. The tangible common equity ratio was 8.99%. Kawiecki said First Merchants repurchased just under 1 million shares for $38.3 million year to date. Hardwick said the company expects to continue share repurchase activity through the remainder of the year if the stock price remains in a similar range. He said management continues to view buybacks as a good use of capital while also supporting loan growth and dividends. On interest margin, Kawiecki said the company is assuming no Federal Reserve rate changes for the rest of the year. Under that scenario, she said First Merchants would expect margin to increase by "maybe a couple basis points" in the second half, though competitive deposit pricing remains a variable. Hardwick said the first half of the year was "a little noisy," citing both progress on integration and the completed mortgage loan sale as positives, while acknowledging the credit issues that pressured second-quarter results.
Weak housing market hurts big and bulky last-mile delivery
Growth in last-mile delivery for big and bulky e-commerce items has slowed by half because stagnant home sales mean people are ordering fewer large-ticket discretionary items like furniture and appliances, cutting into profit margins, according to a report from Armstrong & Associates and the National Home Delivery Association. Armstrong & Associates estimated the $10.6 billion market for residential delivery of oversized and heavyweight items will grow at a 5.1% compound annual rate through 2027, down from 10.6% over the past eight years, reaching an estimated value of $12.3 billion. Transportation from a distribution or fulfillment center to a customer's doorstep can account for 30% to 40% of total transportation costs. Revenue per shipment in this segment typically falls below traditional less-than-truckload averages, with less than $90 per shipment being common, the authors said. However, total revenue varies significantly based on service level. Gross margins in big and bulky delivery have dipped from 28.9% in 2022 to 27.5% last year, the report said. "Over the next 12 to 24 months, the operators that pull ahead will be those that execute reliably, deploy technology with discipline rather than as a marketing layer, deepen the long-tenured shipper relationships that already define this segment, and build the scale needed to compete with vertically integrated retailers for the remaining third-party volume. Operators that do not adapt on those dimensions will fade out of the addressable market," the Armstrong report predicted.
Applied Digital Could Have 155% Upside Ahead of July 27 Q2 Earnings
APLD holds $16 billion in signed hyperscaler leases, posted 139% revenue growth last quarter, and analysts unanimously target 155% upside. Q3 FY2026 revenue hit $126.64 million, up 139.3% year over year, while adjusted EBITDA jumped to $44.14 million from $6.26 million a year earlier. Over the last year, APLD returned 174.7% versus IREN's 122.05%.
e.l.f. Stock Hasn't Given Investors a Lot to Cheer About Lately. Here's Why That Could Change.
E.l.f. completed its $1 billion acquisition of Rhode last August. At the time of the deal, the high-end skincare line founded by celebrity Hailey Bieber had quickly grown to over $200 million in sales, offering just a handful of products on its website with little marketing outside of Bieber's own fame. Before its acquisition, Rhode had already entered an agreement to start being sold in LVMH's Sephora stores. Rhode saw strong success with its launch in U.S. and Canadian Sephora stores, but it has now started to expand overseas. After a highly successful debut at Sephora stores in the U.K. last September, e.l.f. will now expand the Rhode brand throughout Europe, both within Sephora stores and online. It also entered the Australia and New Zealand markets in February, and began offering its products direct to consumers in Mexico in June. Meanwhile, e.l.f. is also looking to make a big move with its namesake brand. After disrupting the mass-market cosmetics category, the company is now set to go after the hair care category. It said its research showed that 77% of its customers were interested in e.l.f. offering hair care products, and that two limited-edition products scored high marks with consumers.
Why Retirees Are Choosing This $100.8 Billion ETF Over Individual Dividend Stocks
SCHD tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index, screening for companies with at least 10 years of dividend payments, strong cash-flow-to-debt ratios, and consistent dividend growth. The fund currently offers a 3.2% dividend yield on $1.05 in annual distributions per share, backed by a 55% payout ratio at the fund level. Cost drag is minimal, as SCHD charges a 0.06% expense ratio against roughly $100.8 billion in assets, leaving nearly all of the underlying dividend stream intact for shareholders. Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) anchors the safety case. The company just raised its quarterly payout to $0.53 from $0.51, extending a 63-year streak of annual increases. Chevron (NYSE:CVX) raised its quarterly dividend to $1.78, its 39th consecutive annual increase. Merck (NYSE:MRK) warrants the closest look. Merck lifted its quarterly dividend to $0.85 from $0.81, and the current payout is easily covered by earnings. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) raised its quarterly dividend to $3.45, supported by a record $194 billion backlog.
Wal-Mart De Mexico S.A.B. de C.V. ADR (WMMVY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Prepared Remarks Transcript
Consumer spending remains soft, and our performance is not yet where we wanted
General Motors analyst sets new stock price target after earnings
Despite formidable headwinds, including tariffs and rising gas prices, GM reported a 30% increase in profits year over year. GM's second-quarter earnings before interest and tax rose to $3.94 billion from $3 billion last year. That translates to $3.57 per share, easily topping analyst estimates of $3.20. General Motors is so confident right now that it raised its full-year earnings guidance to between $12 and $14 per share, up from its previous expectations of between $11.50 and $13.50. It also raised its adjusted EBIT expectations to between $14 billion and $16 billion from its previous expectation between $13.5 billion and $15.5 billion. GM has a new $100 price target, up from $90 per share, that is 18% higher than the stock's trading level on Wednesday, July 22. DB analysts expect General Motors to report earnings of $13.64 for the year, up from their previous expectation of $12.82 per share, on revenue of $168.9 billion, up from its previous revenue expectations of $165 billion. "GM's 2Q performance and raised FY26 outlook continue to demonstrate strong execution amid macro headwinds and geopolitical uncertainties."
Prediction: Dell Technologies Stock Could Be 30% Higher by This Time Next Year
Dell booked $24.4 billion in AI orders last quarter as AI-optimized server revenue surged 757%, supporting a $525 price target within 12 months. At 22x forward earnings on 74% EPS growth, Dell's PEG ratio of 0.65 signals the stock trades cheap relative to peers with far lower growth rates. AI-optimized server revenue jumped 757% year over year to $16.13 billion in a single quarter, and Dell booked $24.4 billion in AI orders in that same three-month window. Gross margin compressed from 21% to 18% as AI servers dominate the revenue mix, fueling investor debate that is capping Dell's valuation multiple. Consensus is directionally right but hasn't fully priced the earnings acceleration. With 70% of analysts bullish and quarterly EPS growing 2.825x year over year, estimates should keep chasing reality higher. The Path to $525 Per Share Reaching $525 from today's price of $404.15 requires a gain of 29.9%. With forward EPS of $18.20, a price of $525 implies a forward P/E of 29x. Our base case of $487.57 already implies roughly 30x, so the bold target simply needs earnings to deliver, not additional multiple expansion.
Custom Health wins Buy rating from Stifel, then seals a pharmacy deal to match
That headache is medication non-adherence, which costs the US healthcare system an eye-watering $0.5 trillion a year. Custom Health's answer is a full-stack system: a device called Spencer that dispenses and monitors pills at home, an AI-powered platform called AdhereNet, and a network of automated pharmacies behind it. Stifel says the result is a 98% adherence rate, far above the industry norm. Stifel expects the company to nearly triple its active patient count next year, from about 6,000 to 17,000, helped along by its recent acquisition of InnovativeRx, with revenue more than doubling. The margin story is arguably the most compelling part: the Spencer device alone represents close to a $200 million recurring revenue opportunity at gross margins north of 60%.
Kuehne + Nagel International AG (KHNGY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Over the first half of the year, strong volume growth in Air Logistics and disciplined cost control across the group drove the steady improvement in recurring EBIT. In Q2, recurring EBIT rose to CHF 381 million, an increase of 6% year-over-year and 24% sequentially, roughly double
ExxonMobil (XOM) Is Up 6.9% After Geopolitical Oil Spike and Earnings Optimism - What's Changed
Against this backdrop, the most relevant recent development is ExxonMobil's confirmation that it will report second quarter 2026 results on July 31, with analysts projecting a triple digit EPS increase versus the prior year and ongoing benefit from firm crude prices. This earnings date has become even more important as geopolitical risk lifts oil prices, putting a spotlight on how the company's automation driven cost base and integrated model translate higher commodity prices into profit and cash flow. ExxonMobil Holdings' narrative projects $369.2 billion revenue and $46.2 billion earnings by 2029. Some of the most optimistic analysts were expecting ExxonMobil to reach around US$427.2 billion in revenue and US$55.8 billion in earnings by 2029, a much brighter path than consensus, but recent Middle East driven oil volatility is a reminder that these upbeat views and more cautious ones can both shift as conditions change, so you should weigh several perspectives before deciding what you believe.
Albertsons cuts fiscal 2026 sales and profit outlook, stock drops
The Boise, Idaho-based grocer now expects identical sales to fall between 0.5% and 1.5% for fiscal 2026, compared with a prior target of flat to up 1%, the company said. Adjusted earnings per share guidance was cut to a range of $1.75 to $1.85, down from a previous range of $2.22 to $2.32. Adjusted EBITDA guidance was lowered to between $3.55 billion and $3.625 billion, from a prior range of $3.85 billion to $3.925 billion. Identical sales fell 0.8% in the quarter, while adjusted net income came in at $210.3 million, or $0.42 per share, down from $318.9 million, or $0.55 per share, a year ago. In the first quarter, our digital and pharmacy businesses continued to deliver strong growth, while core grocery faced increasing pressure from softer industry unit trends and a more cautious consumer," Chief Executive Officer Susan Morris said in a statement. Albertsons also announced that Sharon McCollam is stepping down as Chief Financial Officer and will leave the company before year's end, according to Reuters.
Freeport-McMoRan: A Global Copper Bull Market Presses On, Solid Q2 Numbers
Freeport-McMoRan delivered a solid Q2, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and reaffirmed full-year guidance despite recent stock volatility. FCX lowered 2026 unit cost guidance to $1.90/lb, raised molybdenum production targets, and remains well positioned with $962 million in Q2 free cash flow. I maintain a “Buy” rating, with fair value near $81 based on $3.40 NTM EPS and a 24x P/E multiple, supported by strong copper prices and operational execution.
Brent Crude Tops $100 After Reports of Tanker Attacks Near Saudi Arabia. Should Investors Buy Oil Stocks Now?
Brent oil, the global benchmark, soared about 7% on Thursday to more than $100 a barrel. The continued disruptions to the oil market led Goldman Sachs to warn that Brent could top $120 a barrel next quarter, and average $100 a barrel in 2027. Despite upside risks to oil prices, oil stocks are only modestly higher this year. Oil giants ExxonMobil (XOM +2.15%) and Chevron (CVX +1.30%) have rallied about 30%, while Brent has surged 65%.
Coca-Cola (KO): President Donald Trump’s Favorite Dividend Stock Pick
Q1 2026 was a strong quarter. Revenue rose 12% year over year, with organic growth at 10%, the best pace in 11 quarters. Operating margin climbed to 35% from roughly 33%. Comparable EPS grew 18%. Unit case volumes rose 3% for the quarter, so people bought more, not just paid more. North America volumes grew 4%, EMEA grew 2%, Latin America added 1%. Asia Pacific still posted 5% volume growth even with a mid-single-digit hit to price and mix, as Coca-Cola trades margin for market share there. Coca-Cola is a Dividend King with a streak of annual increases now past six decades, a rare feat.The forward yield sits around 2.5%, below its own four-year average, another sign the stock has gotten pricier relative to the income it pays.
Howden Joinery Group Plc (HWDJY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Group sales in the first half increased by 3.3% and were up 3.7% on a trading adjusted basis. The results met our expectations for the period, and we're on track for 2026. Group sales in the first half increased by 3.3% and were up 3.7% on a trading adjusted basis.
Amazon, Walmart, & cautious consumers are major headwinds for Albertson's: A closer look
00:32 Speaker B Yeah, down 35% this year. today alone down significantly. We're seeing down about 20% on Alfis Bs. If you take a look at the screen, this is the biggest intraday decline that we've seen since 2022. And to think about, you know, how large this decline on and think about this this this drop off as you can see on your screen here, year to date as we've tried to see this company as you noted, is down 35%. You can see right there down in the last month alone, down about 19%.
United Parcel Service (UPS) Looks Fully Valued Following Its Network Overhaul Narrative
United Parcel Service has climbed in the past month and now sits only about 1% below the average analyst target, while some models still suggest a sizeable intrinsic discount. Is the market's caution outdated or still warranted as you weigh valuation next? The company's Network of the Future initiative and largest network reconfiguration in history focuses on optimizing capacity and increasing automation, reducing labor dependency and capital requirements, expected to enhance operating margins and return on invested capital. Result: Fair Value of $112.88 (OVERVALUED)
Ermenegildo Zegna Q2 Earnings Call Highlights
Paola Durante, Chief of External Relations and Sustainability, said group revenue reached EUR 517 million in the second quarter, up 11% on an organic basis. Durante said DTC accounted for 86% of group branded revenue in the quarter, excluding textile and other business-to-business revenue. The ZEGNA brand generated EUR 324 million in second-quarter revenue, with management pointing to sequential acceleration and strong DTC performance across all regions. Durante said ZEGNA’s DTC revenue, which accounted for 90% of the brand’s first-half revenue, rose 18% organically in the quarter, entirely driven by comparable sales. Thom Browne reported EUR 65 million in second-quarter revenue, up 3% organically. The brand’s DTC revenue rose 16%, driven by the Americas, Korea and Japan, and helped by new space contribution. TOM FORD FASHION generated EUR 89 million in second-quarter revenue, up 7% organically. Durante said DTC revenue increased 13%, led mainly by the Americas, with the rest of APAC outperforming. The group’s textile business declined 3% in the quarter, which Durante attributed largely to the phasing of deliveries. Americas and APAC Show Strong Momentum By geography, the Americas posted the strongest second-quarter growth, rising 22% organically. Durante said the region, which represented 31% of first-half group revenue, benefited from double-digit DTC growth across all three brands. Greater China, representing 24% of first-half group revenue, grew 9% organically in the second quarter, accelerating from the first quarter. The rest of APAC rose 19% organically, with all markets contributing, particularly Korea and Japan. Tagliabue said the company remains focused on delivering its 2027 targets and called full-year 2026 consensus “reasonable.” In the Q&A, he clarified that when management refers to consensus as feasible, it is referring to absolute EBIT numbers.
Nokia's Massive AI Orders Overshadow Soft Guidance — BofA Sees 90% Upside
Nokia secured approximately €2.8 billion ($3.19 billion) in AI-related order intake during the quarter, a figure that the analyst said substantially exceeded expectations. The firm said that investors are placing too much emphasis on the company's conservative near-term outlook. Nokia expects its Q3 net sales to rise 3% to 7% quarter-on-quarter. According to the analyst, much of the newly announced AI-related business will not translate into revenue immediately because industry-wide manufacturing and capacity constraints are expected to delay deliveries until 2027, with some extending into 2028. He also outlined progress on new AI-powered telecom products designed to support future 5G and 6G deployments.
Could UPS's Cost Focus and Modest Earnings Outlook Quietly Redefine Its Investment Story (UPS)?
United Parcel Service has drawn attention as analysts anticipated its quarterly earnings report, with consensus expecting earnings per share of US$1.65 and revenue of US$21.75 billion, alongside modest growth in key domestic and international package segments. The latest expectations for US$1.65 EPS on US$21.75 billion in revenue keep the near term focused on execution of cost savings as the key catalyst, while geopolitical and trade-policy uncertainty remains the biggest risk. United Parcel Service's narrative projects $97.8 billion revenue and $6.8 billion earnings by 2029. This requires 3.5% yearly revenue growth and about a $1.6 billion earnings increase from $5.2 billion today. Some of the lowest UPS estimates look far more cautious, assuming revenue of about US$92.9 billion and earnings near US$5.7 billion by 2029, so you should weigh those views against the recent cost control story and consider how this quarter's results might shift those expectations.
XOM, CVX Are Already Up More Than 25% This Year — One Analyst Thinks There's Still More To Come For Big Oil
XOM stock is up nearly 28% so far in 2026 and CVX stock has gained about 25% in the same time.
Duke Energy (DUK) Unveils Customer Savings Plan To Back Data Center Growth
Duke Energy introduced its Customer Protection Plus framework, aimed at delivering multi billion dollar savings to customers while supporting rising power needs from data centers. The program is built around long term agreements with data center clients, tying new infrastructure investment to shared value and reliability commitments. The initiative is positioned as a way to manage rapid grid expansion while keeping costs and system impacts in check for households and businesses.
US Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Futures Slip As Higher Yields And Volatility Bite
Lockheed Martin (LMT) jumped 10.54% after Q2 results showed higher sales and net income. United Rentals (URI) gained 10.11% following a Q2 beat, higher guidance, and price target increases. Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) climbed 8.71% on strong Q2 earnings, raised guidance, and multiple analyst upgrades. Tesla (TSLA) fell 14.52% after Q2 earnings and multiple analysts reduced price targets on the stock. T-Mobile US (TMUS) declined 10.75% despite Q2 revenue growth and a higher price target from Goldman Sachs. Rollins (ROL) dropped 9.27% following a downgrade to Underperform and several price target cuts. American Express (AXP) reports Q2 today, giving a read on card spending trends and credit quality expectations. SLB (SLB) Q2 results this morning highlight capital spending trends across global energy and drilling projects. Verizon Communications (VZ) pre market Q2 update focuses on subscriber trends, pricing and network investment discipline. NextEra Energy (NEE) pre market Q2 release centers on renewable project execution and regulated utility returns.
Others
Thermo Fisher Scientific Non-GAAP EPS of $6.03 beats by $0.32, revenue of $11.99B beats by $290M
Thermo Fisher Scientific press release (TMO): Q2 Non-GAAP EPS of $6.03 beats by $0.32. Revenue of $11.99B (+10.4% Y/Y) beats by $290M. Revenue for the second quarter of 2026 grew 10% to $11.99 billion, versus $10.85 billion in the same quarter of 2025.
Comcast Declares Quarterly Dividend
PHILADELPHIA, July 23, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.33 a share on the company's common stock. The quarterly dividend is payable on October 28, 2026, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on October 7, 2026.
medmix AG (MDMXF) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Despite a challenging market environment and revenues declining by 1.6% organically, we continued to improve profitability and we remain firmly on track to return to profitable growth. Adjusted EBITDA margin increased by 40 basis points year-on-year to 20.3%, within our
Thermo Fisher rebounds after Q2 beat
Following a multiday decline driven by peer Danaher’s (DHR) lower-than-expected outlook earlier this week, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) added ~5% in the premarket on Thursday after the life sciences company beat Street forecasts with its Q2 2026 results.
RTX (NYSE:RTX) Reports Upbeat Q2 CY2026, Stock Soars
Aerospace and defense company Raytheon (NYSE:RTX) reported Q2 CY2026 results beating Wall Street's revenue expectations , with sales up 14.5% year on year to $24.71 billion. The company's full-year revenue guidance of $95.5 billion at the midpoint came in 1.5% above analysts' estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.89 per share was 13.7% above analysts' consensus estimates. Revenue: $24.71 billion vs analyst estimates of $22.91 billion (14.5% year-on-year growth, 7.8% beat) Adjusted EPS: $1.89 vs analyst estimates of $1.66 (13.7% beat) The company lifted its revenue guidance for the full year to $95.5 billion at the midpoint from $93 billion, a 2.7% increase Management raised its full-year Adjusted EPS guidance to $7.18 at the midpoint, a 5.5% increase Operating Margin: 11.4%, up from 9.9% in the same quarter last year Free Cash Flow was $2.88 billion, up from -$72 million in the same quarter last year
Cigna doubles down on AI eyeing $200M decline in medical costs
Cigna Healthcare, the insurance arm of Cigna (CI), on Thursday projected a $200M decrease in medical costs over three years as the company leverages AI-enabled capabilities and predictive analytics to drive a significant expansion in its personalized care management programs.
First look: Union Pacific earnings
Union Pacific delivered a better second quarter in 2026, reporting higher profit and earnings per share Thursday as the railroad continued to benefit from stronger underlying performance. The Omaha-based company (NYSE: UNP) said net income increased 6% year over year to $2.0 billion, while diluted EPS improved 7% to $3.36. On an adjusted basis, the results looked even stronger. Adjusted net income climbed 12% to $2.0 billion, and adjusted diluted EPS advanced 13% to $3.41, suggesting that core operating trends outpaced the headline comparison.
JPMorgan Sees AI-Powered Growth For Banks; Stock Pops Into Buy Zone After Earnings Growth
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) stock is trading in a 5% buy zone, making the Big Cap 20 component actionable after a strong earnings move in July.
These 4 Stocks Are Wall Street’s Most Reliable Dividend Growers
Chubb (CB) raised its dividend to $1.02 supported by an 84% combined ratio; Aflac (AFL) has delivered 43 consecutive years of dividend increases. T. Rowe Price leads the group with a 4.5% yield but absorbed $13.7 billion in net client outflows in Q1 2026 alone. Cincinnati Financial trades at roughly 10 times earnings and holds $8 billion in unrealized equity gains backing decades of unbroken dividend growth. Aflac earned $8.75 in trailing EPS against a $2.35 per-share dividend, and Q1 2026 alone produced $1.02 billion in net income on $4.35 billion in revenue, up 25.86% year over year. The Board pushed the quarterly dividend from $0.97 to $1.02 in Q2 2026, keeping intact a growth pattern that has taken the payout from 86 cents in 2023 to $1.02 today. Trailing EPS of $27.59 versus a $3.88 per-share dividend leaves the payout deeply covered, and Q1 2026 alone produced operating cash flow of $3.95 billion, up 152% year over year, on $73.79 billion in shareholders' equity. The combined ratio improved to 84.0% from 95.7%, indicating underwriting profit remains excellent. Buybacks of $1.143 billion in the quarter underline the cash return capacity. Management has publicly cited 43 consecutive years of dividend increases, and the dividend data confirms an unbroken pattern of annual raises across the full record. At $121.01 per share, the forward yield lands near 1.91%, based on the $2.44 annualized forward dividend. Recent hikes have accelerated: 40 cents in 2022 to 42 cent in 2023, 50 cents in 2024, 58 cents in 2025 and 61 cents in 2026. The Board bumped the payout from $1.27 to $1.30 for Q1 2026, extending a growth ladder that has taken annual dividends from $4.88 in 2023 to $5.20 annualized in 2026. Trailing EPS of $9.52 comfortably clears the $5.11 dividend per share. Q1 2026 alone generated $966.3 million of operating cash flow, up 52.68% year over year, and the firm ended the quarter with $3.73 billion in cash and equivalents plus $1.71 trillion in ending AUM. Management returned $629 million to shareholders in Q1 2026 alone via dividends and buybacks. Prior special dividends in 2021 ($3.00) and 2015 ($2.00) highlight the firm's willingness to top up ordinary returns when capital allows. Q1 2026 net outflows totaled $13.7 billion, following FY2025 outflows of $56.9 billion, and fee rate compression to 38.4 basis points remains a live pressure on revenue mix.
Traton SE ADR (TRATY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to TRATON's Q2 and First Half 2026 Results Call. My name is Ursula Querette, and I'm Head of Investor Relations at TRATON SE. With me on the call is Christian Levin, our CEO, who has dialed in from Sweden. Dr. Michael Jackstein, our CFO and CHRO, is here with me in Munich.
Replenish Nutrients closes $7.5M equity investment from SRC Agrominerals
Replenish Nutrients Holding Corp (CSE:ERTH, OTC:VVIVF, FRA:7KE) has closed the $7.5 million equity portion of a previously announced $15 million strategic investment from SRC Agrominerals Sales, the company said. The $7.5 million convertible debenture investment is expected to close on or about August 14, 2026. Net proceeds will be used to fund the Beiseker Pelletization Expansion, working capital, inventory purchases, debt repayment and general corporate purposes. Replenish also entered into a 10-year supply agreement with SRC for the supply and delivery of carbonatite, a calcium, phosphorus, trace-mineral and microbial-rich resource used for its soil-enhancing properties.
Uber Job Cuts Put AI Efficiency in Focus
Uber has reportedly cut about 10% of the jobs in its customer service operation as the company looks to simplify the business and use artificial intelligence more aggressively. The layoffs affect Uber's community operations team and were announced on July 22, according to Bloomberg. Management said the group had become too complex and fragmented, making it harder to roll out AI tools across customer support. Uber runs one of the world's largest ride-hailing and delivery platforms, connecting drivers, couriers and customers through its app. Customer service is a major cost center because the company handles millions of trips, payments and support requests every day. The move marks Uber's first round of layoffs directly tied to AI efficiency and its second workforce reduction in less than two months. The company previously cut 23% of its people division in June and said in May that it would slow hiring.
Infosys Q1 Earnings Call Highlights
Q1 results were solid but guidance was trimmed: Constant-currency revenue rose 2.4% year over year, supported by $3.6 billion in large deals and a 21.1% operating margin. However, Infosys cut its full-year revenue growth outlook to 1.5% to 3% because of an uncertain macro environment and softer demand trends. Infosys revised its full-year constant-currency revenue growth guidance to a range of 1.5% to 3%. Its operating margin guidance remains unchanged at 20% to 22%. Parekh said AI services revenue accounted for 8.2% of total revenue in the first quarter and has grown at a double-digit quarter-over-quarter pace for several quarters. Infosys will roll out compensation increases in two parts, Parekh said. Most employees will receive increases in October, while senior employees will receive them in January, Sanghrajka added. Parekh said Infosys hired 20,000 college graduates last year and plans to hire another 20,000 this year. More than 4,000 were recruited in the first quarter, he said.
US energy shares gain as Houthi tanker attacks push Brent to $100
US energy shares rose in premarket trading on Thursday as Brent crude briefly touched $100 a barrel, extending a five-day rally after attacks on two Saudi oil tankers intensified Middle East tensions and heightened concerns over global oil supply disruptions. Brent crude futures rose as much as 6.3% to $100 per barrel by 1302 GMT for the first time since May 26. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 5.2% at $91.30 per barrel. Shares of Exxon Mobil and Chevron rose 1.6% and 1.7%, respectively. Diamondback Energy , Devon Energy, ConocoPhillips and Occidental Petroleum were up between 2% and 2.5%. Refiners Valero Energy , Marathon Petroleum and Phillips 66 also gained between 2.1% and 2.6%.
ServiceNow raises annual forecast after AI-driven bookings surge
ServiceNow Inc (NYSE:NOW, XETRA:4S0) forecast third-quarter results above Wall Street expectations and posted second-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates. The company reported second-quarter subscription revenue of $3.88 billion, up 24.5% from a year earlier, while total revenue reached $3.99 billion, ahead of analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.90, topping estimates of $0.86. Current remaining performance obligations (cRPO), a closely watched bookings metric, rose 21% year-over-year to $13.20 billion, above estimates of roughly $13.03 billion. For the third quarter, ServiceNow guided subscription revenue of $3.975 billion to $3.98 billion and cRPO growth of 19.5% year-over-year, ahead of analyst estimates of 18% to 19% growth. The company raised its full-year subscription revenue guidance to a range of $15.76 billion to $15.78 billion, representing growth of 22.5% year-over-year. It maintained its outlook for subscription gross margin of 81%, operating margin of 31.5% and free cash flow margin of 35%. ServiceNow said its artificial intelligence business surpassed $1 billion in annual contract value during the quarter, as the company continues to expand its AI product offerings. The company also reported 658 customers with more than $5 million in annual contract value, up 23% from a year earlier, and 123 transactions exceeding $1 million in annual contract value, up about 40%. Adjusted operating margin was 29.5%, above estimates of 26.5% and flat year-over-year. Free cash flow totaled $634 million, a 16% margin, below estimates of $679 million.
Peacock Q2 2026 earnings: first-ever quarterly profit
The streaming service reported adjusted EBITDA of $189 million for the April-June quarter, a $290 million improvement from the same period a year earlier, the company said. Peacock added 2 million paid subscribers during the quarter, bringing its total to 48 million. Revenue rose to $1.9 billion, up from $1.2 billion in the prior-year period.
Bankinter, S.A. (BKNIY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
We have delivered another strong quarter and excellent results for the first half of the year. Profitable growth and disciplined execution once again translated into strong shareholder value creation, EUR 605 million of net profit, a ROTE above 20%, continued capital generation and 17% increase in shareholder
What IBM execs think will be different 90 days after a brutal warning
IBM guided for full-year constant currency revenue growth in the range of 4% to 5%. Previously, it forecast full-year constant currency revenue growth of "more than" 5%. "We do not see any evidence of clients getting off of mainframe," IBM CFO Jim Kavanaugh told Yahoo Finance. "So the key indicators for us that give us confidence in mainframe is that we expect a record year compared to prior programs in the high 120s. Q2 net sales: +1% to $17.2 billion versus estimates for $17.2 billion. Q2 diluted earnings per share: +5% to $2.93 versus estimates for $2.93.
Quest Diagnostics climbs as Q2 earnings top estimates, guidance raised
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) shares climbed about 11% on Thursday after the diagnostic testing company reported second-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates and lifted its full-year 2026 guidance above consensus.
Molina tumbles despite Q2 beat amid high medical expenses
Despite reporting better-than-expected financials, Molina Healthcare (MOH) traded lower in the morning hours on Thursday, leading a decline among its managed care peers as analysts focused on its medical costs that exceeded estimates.
Moon Capital Management Exited DaVita (DVA) with 174% total Return
Moon Capital Management, LLC, an investment management company, released its second quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The S&P 500 index rebounded in the second quarter, achieving a 9.6% return for the first half of the year, while Moon Capital Management's equity portfolio gained 4%. AI-related stocks led market performance, mitigating geopolitical concerns. Moon Capital holds 10% of its portfolio in technology, significantly less than the S&P 500's 39%. The firm remains cautious about large AI investments and their potential return on investment. In addition, please check the Strategy's top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026. On July 22, 2026, DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) closed at $232.08 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of $14.89 billion. DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) posted a one-month return of 8.77%, while its shares gained 60.31% over the past 52 weeks. During the second quarter, we exited our position in the kidney dialysis services company DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA). While DaVita remains an exceptional operator with a well-established competitive advantage, we concluded that the future opportunity had become less attractive following the significant appreciation in the stock. Over our 3.5-year holding period, we generated a total return of approximately 174%, or roughly 35% annualized. We originally purchased shares at approximately $72 per share following a selloff triggered by the company's reduction in its 2023 guidance. At the time, the market was focused primarily on near-term volume concerns, while we believed investors were underestimating the durability of DaVita's cash generation. Based on the company's EBITDA outlook, we estimated free cash flow would exceed $1 billion annually, allowing us to purchase the business for less than 7x free cash flow, roughly half of its historical valuation. A key part of our thesis revolved around DaVita's ability to use its depressed valuation to create significant per-share value through share repurchases. Although buybacks were temporarily paused while the company prioritized debt reduction, we believed they would eventually resume...
Mastercard (NYSE:MA): Jim Cramer’s “Tech Company in Bank Clothing”
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) occupies a middle ground in cardholder reach while sharing a critical structural moat with market leader Visa Inc. (NYSE:V). While Visa commands the top spot with 60% of cardholders and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) handles roughly 10% of purchase volume, Mastercard sits solidly in second place with 25% to 30% cardholder penetration.
Sappi Limited (SPPJY) Shareholder/Analyst Call Prepared Remarks Transcript
The quorum requirements for this meeting are that at least 3 shareholders entitled to vote are present in person or represented and representing at least 25% of the issued shares.
Community Health Systems plunges 10% on weak Q2 print, slashed guidance
Community Health Systems (CYH) declined more than 10% on Thursday after reporting weaker-than-expected second quarter results and lowering its full-year guidance. The hospital chain posted an adjusted loss of $0.19 per share, missing estimates by $0.09, while revenue came in at $2.83B, about $70M below analysts’ consensus.
T-Mobile reports quarterly earnings beat, raises free cash flow outlook
T-Mobile US Inc (NASDAQ:TMUS, XETRA:TM5) shares fell about 5% in early trade on Thursday after the wireless carrier reported second quarter results that topped Wall Street expectations on earnings but narrowly missed revenue estimates. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.99 for the quarter, ahead of analyst expectations of about $2.55. Revenue came in at $22.79 billion, slightly below the consensus estimate of $22.95 billion. T-Mobile added 277,000 net postpaid accounts during the quarter, exceeding expectations for 259,000 additions, though the figure declined 13% year over year. Postpaid average revenue per account (ARPA) rose 2% from a year earlier to $152.91. Service revenue increased 9% year over year to $19 billion, while postpaid service revenue grew 13% to $15.9 billion. Net income was $3.2 billion, up 1% from the prior-year period, while diluted earnings per share increased 5% to $2.99. The company highlighted continued customer momentum, including a record wireless Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 46, which it described as the highest score for a major U.S. carrier based on HarrisX survey data. T-Mobile also raised its full-year adjusted free cash flow outlook, now expecting a range of $18.4 billion to $18.8 billion.
Annaly Capital Management's EAD Topped Its Dividend for a 9th Straight Quarter. Here's Why That Matters for Its 12.5%+ Yielding Payout.
Annaly Capital Management's EAD Topped Its Dividend for a 9th Straight Quarter. Here's Why That Matters for Its 12.5%+ Yielding Payout. That's because the one metric that matters most for its dividend continues to top its payout. During the second quarter, the mortgage REIT generated $0.79 per share of EAD, comfortably above the $0.75 per share dividend it paid. That marked the ninth straight quarter that Annaly's EAD exceeded its dividend payment: Annaly's rising EAD over the past nine quarters has enabled it to increase its dividend twice during this period, including a recent boost from $0.70 to $0.75 per share. That has reversed the prior downtrend in Annaly's EAD and dividend. Those factors drive the REIT's expectation that it can continue to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns across market cycles. It currently sees meaningful investment opportunities across its three strategies. Annaly can earn levered returns of 11% to 13% on new MSR investments, 12% to 15% on residential credit, and 14% to 16% on Agency MBS investments.
Infosys Limited (INFY) Q1 2027 Earnings Call Transcript
He brought in calmness, focus [to the company] from $10 billion to $20 billion, completed the transformation for the digital era and started the [real differentiation in the industry]. He is from Infosys. He's been somebody who is a true-blue Infosian. He has worked in Infosys for 31 years.
West Pharmaceutical signals 10%-11% 2026 organic revenue growth and $8.85-$9.05 adjusted EPS amid leadership transition
I am pleased to report strong second quarter results which exceeded our expectations on the top and bottom line." (Non-Independent Chair of the Board, President & CEO Eric Green) "Revenues of $872 million were up
Super Micro: Market Remains Far Too Pessimistic
Super Micro Computer, Inc. delivered preliminary FQ4 results with gross margins of 15–17%, nearly double guidance, and over $60 billion in new orders. SMCI's path to $100 billion in annual revenue is supported by surging orders and expanded manufacturing capacity, with DCBBS products driving margin expansion. The company has a clear path to $10+ EPS by FY28, while consensus estimates remain far lower despite massive order momentum.
Getty Realty Corp. (GTY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Yesterday afternoon, the company released its financial and operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. The Form 8-K and earnings release are available on the Investor Relations section of our website at gettyrealty.com.
Blackstone Raises Quarterly Dividend to $1.29 a Share
Blackstone (BX, Financials), an alternative asset manager with investments in private equity, real estate, credit and infrastructure, declared a quarterly variable dividend of $1.29 per share.That compared with $1.16 in the prior quarter, up 13 cents, or almost 11 percent.
Bystronic AG (BYSTF) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
We had an order intake of CHF 337.7 million, which at constant exchange rates is 15.7% more than the previous year, which is, of course, good.
Robinhood CEO’s X account apparently hacked to promote Vladhood memecoin flagged as ‘scam’
Robinhood Chain has seen cumulative DEX volume of about $9 billion, primarily driven by higher-risk memecoins, per Entropy Advisors.
Lazard, Inc. (LAZ) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Good morning, and welcome to Lazard's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. This call is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] At this time, I will turn the call over to William Murdock, Lazard's Head Strategy and Investor Relations Officer. Please go ahead. William Murdock Thanks, Chelsea. Good morning and welcome to Lazard's earnings call for the second quarter and first half of 2026.
Union Pacific posts record financial results, raises outlook
Union Pacific raised its financial outlook Thursday as the railroad's second-quarter volume, revenue, and profits increased. "Strong execution and volume growth enabled another successful quarter and record financial results," Chief Executive Jim Vena said. The railroad's operating income grew 9%, to $2.8 billion, as revenue rose 12%, to $6.86 billion. Earnings per share, adjusted for the impact of one-time items, increased 13%, to $3.41. "Put it all together, we had a record quarter," UP (NYSE: UNP) Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Hamann said on the railroad's earnings call, with new marks set for revenue, operating income, and net income. The operating ratio was 59.7%, a 0.7-point increase from a year ago, as operating expenses rose 13% due to a combination of inflation, higher volume, and costs related to the proposed merger with Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC). Overall volume was up 2% for the quarter. Premium business, including intermodal and automotive, was up 4%, almost entirely from intermodal. Industrial products volume increased 3%. Bulk business was down 1% as a 12% increase in grain traffic was not enough to overcome a 14% decline in coal volume. "Domestic intermodal delivered its fourth consecutive record quarter in both volume and revenue. It's evident our outstanding service set the foundation to grow the business, and that's exactly what we're doing," said Kenny Rocker, executive vice president of marketing and sales. "In the second quarter, private asset, rail asset, and parcel volumes were all up double digits, benefiting from constrained truck capacity and share gains." Omaha-based UP now expects high single-digit percentage growth in earnings per share, up from mid single-digits, as the railroad's economic forecast rose to mixed from muted. UP has a positive outlook for all of its major traffic segments with the exception of coal, which faces headwinds from a combination of high power plant stockpiles and lower natural gas prices. The railroad's key operating metrics improved for the quarter. Average car miles per day increased 5%, to 231, as terminal dwell declined 7%, to 19.7 hours, and average train speed rose 3%, to 24.7 mph. "We delivered record second quarter operating performance, ran a fluid network, and improved safety all while handling 2% more volume," said Eric Gehringer, executive vice president of operations. UP saw record workforce productivity as train and engine crew headcount declined 2%. UP also set records for train length and fuel consumption, while terminal dwell tied a company record.
HDV Delivers 3.1% Yield While Beating SPY Year to Date by 9 Points
The iShares Core High Dividend ETF (NYSEARCA:HDV) is BlackRock’s answer for investors who want US large-cap exposure with a bigger income stream than a plain S&P 500 fund provides. HDV tracks the Morningstar Dividend Yield Focus Index and holds roughly 81 dividend-paying companies screened for competitive moats and balance sheet strength. The distribution profile has generated headlines in the 3.7% range on a trailing basis, though at recent prices the running yield sits closer to 3.1%. Whether HDV’s income stream is durable enough to justify holding it instead of a broad core fund depends on the quality of its underlying cash flows. Bureau of Economic Analysis data shows durable-goods manufacturing profits climbing from $325.6 billion in Q1 2025 to $452.9 billion in Q1 2026, a backdrop that supports energy cash flows. Retail sector profits climbed to $422.2 billion in Q1 2026, up steadily for four quarters, which reinforces the case that staples payouts are backed by real cash generation rather than balance sheet leverage. Over the past year, HDV returned 23% on price alone, ahead of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY)’s 18%. Year-to-date, HDV is up 18% against SPY’s 9%. The dividend looks safe. Coverage is grounded in some of the strongest cash-flow generators in the US market, the 60% payout ratio at the fund level leaves cushion, and 9% dividend growth suggests income is compounding, not stagnating.
medmix AG reports 1H results
medmix AG press release (MDMXF): 1H Revenue of CHF214.4M. Gross profit decreased by CHF 1.4 million to CHF 81.1 million, due to lower group revenues. Despite the decrease in revenues, medmix delivered a strong gross profit margin of 37.8% compared to 36.6% in the first half 2025. Group adjusted EBITDA was CHF 43.5 million, a decrease of CHF 1.3 million
This Overlooked Pipeline Stock Could Quietly Make You a Fortune
The business is simple enough: It owns and operates over 18,000 miles of crude oil and natural gas pipelines in Canada and the U.S., handling nearly 5 billion barrels/equivalent every year. Since 1995, the dividend has risen by an average of 9% per year.
Ladder Capital Corp (LADR) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Ladder released its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. These measures are reconciled to GAAP figures in our earnings supplement presentation, which is available in the Investor Relations section of our website.
Acme United outlines Med-Nap certification progress with goal to finish by year end as My Medic targets stronger profits beyond Q4
Acme United made progress during the second quarter of 2026, said Walter Johnsen (Chairman of the Board & CEO), highlighting that "net sales increased from $54 million to $63 million, an increase of 16%," while "net income increased from $4.8 million
Dätwyler Holding AG (DATWY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Ongoing geopolitical tensions, especially the conflict in the Middle East, continued to disrupt global supply chains, constrain raw material availability and drive higher logistics costs. Datwyler continued to make solid progress in executing its strategy. Most importantly, the structural trends supporting our Healthcare and Food & Beverage businesses remain fully intact. Against the backdrop of strong currency headwinds and continued softness in some parts of our industrial markets, we improved the quality of our earnings. We further strengthened our portfolio and achieved important milestones in our
If You'd Invested $10,000 in Ford Stock 10 Years Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Today
Ford Motor Company (F -1.87%) has been on a tear recently. Shares of the Detroit auto giant have soared 28% over the past 12 months (as of July 21), outperforming the S&P 500 index. Over the past decade, Ford shares have produced a total return, which includes dividend reinvestment, of 72%. This means that a $10,000 initial capital investment would be worth just over $17,200 today. The S&P 500 index's total return of 305% is more than 4 times larger.
Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Beats In Q2 As Lower Copper Sales Outlook Tests Valuation
Freeport-McMoRan's share price has had a choppy few months, with the stock down over the past day and month but still showing a 22.28% year-to-date share price return and a 43.97% total shareholder return over the past year. Freeport-McMoRan last closed at $63.50 compared with a narrative fair value around $70.68. Freeport's new Indonesian smelter, starting up ahead of schedule and expected to reach full capacity by year-end, will make the company a fully integrated global copper producer, lowering operating costs, capturing more downstream value, and reducing exposure to export duties, directly supporting higher future margins and cash flows. The narrative fair value suggests Freeport-McMoRan is undervalued, but its current P/E of 33.5x tells a different story.
JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (JAKK) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
JAKKS issued its earnings press release earlier today. The earnings release and presentation slides related to today's call are available on the company's website in the Investors section. Before we begin, the company would like to point out that any comments made about JAKKS Pacific future performance, events or circumstances, including the estimate of sales, margins, earnings and our adjusted EBITDA in 2026 and beyond as well as any other forward-looking statements concerning 2026 and beyond are subject to safe harbor protection under federal securities laws.
Edwards lifts 2026 sales growth outlook to 10%-11% while reaffirming $2.95-$3.05 EPS
CEO Bernard Zovighian said the quarter came in ahead of plan: "We delivered stronger-than-expected second quarter sales growth of 12.5%."
Robert Half Q2 Earnings Call Highlights
Global Enterprise revenues were $1.336 billion, down 2% from the prior-year quarter on a reported basis and down 3% on an adjusted basis. Net income per share was $0.26, compared with $0.41 in the second quarter of 2025. Waddell said earnings were affected by cost actions at Protiviti, including severance costs discussed by Chief Financial Officer Michael Buckley. Talent Solutions revenue declined 2% year over year on an adjusted basis. U.S. Talent Solutions revenue was $660 million, down 1%, while non-U.S. Talent Solutions revenue was $205 million, down 4%. Waddell said Talent Solutions delivered its third consecutive quarter of sequential revenue growth on a same-day constant currency basis. Permanent Placement also returned to adjusted year-over-year growth, with revenue up 2.5% for the quarter. Buckley said Permanent Placement revenue in June was up 4% from June 2025, compared with a 3% increase for the full quarter. For the first three weeks of July, Permanent Placement revenue was also up 4% from the year-earlier period. Contract Talent Solutions revenue exited the quarter with June revenue down 2% from the prior year, matching the full-quarter decline. Revenue for the first two weeks of July was down 1% from the comparable period in 2025, Buckley said, while cautioning investors not to read too much into short-term trends. Protiviti generated global second-quarter revenue of $471 million, including $373 million in the United States and $98 million outside the United States. On an adjusted basis, global Protiviti revenue fell 5% from the year-earlier period, with U.S. revenue down 6% and non-U.S. revenue down 3%. Buckley said Protiviti’s results reflected “ongoing shifts in the U.S. financial services regulatory environment.” The company recorded $7 million in severance costs during the quarter, reducing adjusted gross margin by 1.4 percentage points and earnings by $0.04 per share. Waddell said those actions are expected to produce $45 million in annualized cost savings, fully reflected in third-quarter guidance. Contract Talent Solutions gross margin was 39.1% of applicable revenue, unchanged from the prior-year quarter. Overall Talent Solutions gross margin was 47.4%, compared with 47.1% a year earlier. Protiviti gross margin was 13.5% of revenue, down from 19.7% a year earlier, while adjusted Protiviti gross margin was 18.5%, compared with 22.3% last year. Enterprise SG&A costs were 40.1% of global revenue, compared with 37.1% in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted enterprise SG&A was 34.3%, compared with 33.8% a year earlier. Reported operating income for the quarter was negative $62 million. Adjusted operating income was $39 million, or 2.9% of revenue. Talent Solutions generated adjusted operating income of $29 million, or 3.3% of revenue, while Protiviti generated adjusted operating income of $10 million, or 2.1% of revenue. Buckley said the company’s second-quarter income statement included a $101 million gain from investments held in employee-deferred compensation trusts, which had no impact on reported net income. The tax rate was 35%, compared with 33% a year earlier. Robert Half guided for third-quarter revenue of $1.31 billion to $1.41 billion and income per share of $0.43 to $0.53. At the midpoint, revenue of $1.36 billion would be flat with the third quarter of 2025 on an adjusted basis. Buckley said the midpoint assumes Talent Solutions revenue growth of 3% year over year and a 6% decline in Protiviti revenue. The company’s underlying assumptions include adjusted Talent Solutions revenue growth of 1% to 5%, Protiviti revenue down 4% to 8%, and overall revenue ranging from a 2% decline to a 2% increase.
AtriCure targets $602M-$610M 2026 revenue while raising adjusted EBITDA outlook to $85M-$89M
AtriCure delivered solid second quarter results with worldwide revenue of $154 million and growth of 13%.
Union Pacific Q2 Earnings Call Highlights
Union Pacific NYSE: UNP reported record second-quarter 2026 financial results, with executives citing volume growth, pricing gains and improved operating performance, while also raising the railroad’s full-year earnings outlook. Chief Executive Officer Jim Vena said the company delivered “record financial results driven by strong execution and 2% volume growth.” Net income totaled $2 billion, and earnings per share were $3.36 on a reported basis. Adjusted for merger costs, EPS was $3.41. Revenue Rises as Fuel Surcharges and Volume Lift Results Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Hamann said operating revenue rose 12% from a year earlier to $6.9 billion, while freight revenue also increased 12% to $6.5 billion. Fuel surcharge revenue contributed 750 basis points to freight revenue growth and increased by roughly $460 million, reflecting higher fuel prices and volume. Volume growth added 225 basis points to freight revenue, while core pricing and business mix contributed 175 basis points. Hamann said the company’s “quarterly pricing dollars continue to exceed inflation dollars” as Union Pacific competes for business at levels reflecting the value of its rail service. Operating expenses rose 13% to $4.1 billion, primarily due to higher diesel fuel prices. Fuel expense increased 63%, driven by a 60% increase in the average fuel price and 2% higher gross ton miles. The company’s average price per gallon rose to $3.86 from $2.42 a year earlier, adding 120 basis points to the operating ratio. Union Pacific’s operating ratio was 59.2% in the quarter. Hamann said cash from operations increased 21% to $5.5 billion, while free cash flow totaled $1.8 billion after network reinvestment and dividends. The company also paid down $1.5 billion of long-term debt in the first half, bringing adjusted debt-to-EBITDA to 2.5 times. Company Raises 2026 EPS Outlook Union Pacific raised its 2026 outlook to reported EPS growth in the high single-digit range, up from its prior outlook for 6% year-to-date growth in line with January expectations. Hamann said the company expects continued operating ratio improvement despite pressure from fuel costs. Bulk, Industrial and Premium Segments Show Mixed Trends Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales Kenny Rocker said second-quarter freight revenue excluding fuel surcharge grew 4% to $5.5 billion, which he described as a record. In the bulk segment, revenue rose 7% despite a 1% decline in volume. Grain and grain products posted double-digit volume growth, driven by export demand, facility expansions, renewable fuels and related feedstocks. Rocker said the category delivered record second-quarter volume and revenue. Coal volume was pressured by weaker natural gas prices, mild weather and customer downtime. Industrial revenue increased 8% on 3% volume growth. Petrochemicals benefited from improved demand and new business, while metals and minerals volumes rose on higher domestic steel production and business development wins, offsetting weakness in export soda ash. Premium revenue rose 21% on 4% volume growth and a 16% increase in average revenue per car. Domestic intermodal posted its fourth consecutive record quarter in both volume and revenue, with private asset, rail asset and parcel volumes all up double digits. Rocker said the business benefited from constrained truck capacity and share gains. International intermodal volume fell 14%, though the company saw improvement late in the quarter from stronger West Coast imports. Looking ahead, Rocker said grain and grain products are positioned for further second-half growth, while coal is expected to remain challenging due to elevated inventories and lower natural gas prices. He also said domestic intermodal should continue to perform well, supported by over-the-road conversions and Union Pacific’s service product. Operations Improve as Volume Grows Executive Vice President of Operations Eric Gehringer said Union Pacific delivered record second-quarter operating performance while handling 2% more volume. Employee and derailment rates improved compared with their respective three-year rolling averages. Freight car velocity increased 5% to 231 miles per day, a second-quarter record. Train speed rose 3%, and terminal dwell improved 7% to 19.7 hours, matching the first-quarter record and marking the third straight quarter below 20 hours. Gehringer said both the intermodal and manifest service performance indexes finished at 95%. The company also reported record workforce productivity, train length and fuel consumption performance. Locomotive productivity improved 1%, fuel consumption improved 1%, workforce productivity rose 5%, and train length increased 2% from a year earlier. Gehringer said Union Pacific continues to make strategic capacity investments, including in the Houston Complex, Pacific Northwest siding extensions and Sunset Double Track projects. Norfolk Southern Merger and CN Agreement Remain in Focus Vena also provided an update on Union Pacific’s proposed merger with Norfolk Southern. He said the Surface Transportation Board accepted the company’s application as complete on May 28 and that Union Pacific planned to submit supplemental information requested by the board on Monday. Vena said Union Pacific has expanded its Committed Gateway Pricing and made other voluntary commitments intended to improve the competitive nature of the proposed merger. He also highlighted a newly announced merger settlement agreement with Canadian National. Vena said the agreement with Canadian National addresses ownership and competitive issues involving the Kansas City terminal and Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis, while also giving Canadian National access between east of St. Louis and Kansas City. He said the agreement would provide CN with a path to move traffic into Mexico and would give Union Pacific better east-to-west access through Chicago. Vena argued the merger would create seamless single-line service, improve reliability, lower costs and make rail more competitive against trucks and other railroads. “Now versus almost one year ago when we first announced our plans to merge, we have even more conviction that our transaction is in the public interest,” he said.
Dem senator calls GOP’s CLARITY ethics proposal a ‘piece of shit’: Politico
On Wednesday, Senate Republicans released the proposed text for the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, including language on ethics that would bar all US federal officials — including US President Donald Trump — from issuing or sponsoring any digital asset. Senate Republicans have rejected the idea that the ethics provisions are weak, with Senator Bernie Moreno describing the draft as containing “the most powerful ethics language in US history.”
Eli Lilly-backed Scribe Therapeutics raises $128.7M in upsized IPO; set to trade on Nasdaq
Scribe Therapeutics (SCTX) Thursday announced the pricing of its upsized initial public offering of 8,580,000 shares of its common stock at the high end of the range at a public offering price of $15 per share.
Can Duke Energy (DUK) Justify Its Price As Its Higher Dividend Draws Attention?
Duke Energy (DUK) has drawn fresh attention after declaring a higher quarterly cash dividend of $1.085 per common share, alongside a scheduled payout on its Series A preferred stock in mid September 2026. Recent moves in Duke Energy's share price suggest steady, dividend-focused momentum, with a 1-month share price return of 3.37% and a year to date share price return of 10.06%. The 5-year total shareholder return of 48.37% highlights how reinvested dividends have contributed meaningfully alongside price gains. Major economic development wins (e.g., AWS's $10B data center in North Carolina), paired with accelerated migration and manufacturing demand in Duke's service territory, are expected to drive robust, multi-year load and volume growth, supporting higher revenues and long-term EPS growth.
Major shareholder announcement
On 23 July 2026, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc informed Netcompany, that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc on 17 July 2026 directly and indirectly controlled 2,358,589 voting rights corresponding to 5.13% of the total voting rights in the Company.
South Korea Fast-Tracks New Rule for Leveraged ETFs to Curb Market Swings
The country’s Financial Services Commission said it will bring forward the introduction of the cash deposit rule to the end of July from August.
Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing Announces Acquisition of French Logistics Portfolio of Five Assets
Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing is the global private real estate investment management business of Morgan Stanley. One of the most active property investors in the world for over three decades, MSREI employs a patient, disciplined approach through global value-add / opportunistic and regional core / core-plus real estate investment strategies. With 17 offices throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia, regional teams of dedicated real estate professionals combine a unique global perspective with local presence and significant transaction execution expertise. MSREI currently manages $58 billion of gross real estate assets worldwide on behalf of its clients. Morgan Stanley Investment Management, together with its investment advisory affiliates, has more than 1,300 investment professionals around the world and $2 trillion in assets under management or supervision as of June 30, 2026.