Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

On July 13, 2026, we delve into the DCF analysis for Qualcomm Inc (QCOM), a company that has shown notable price performance in recent times. Over the past year

The Intel logo at the 10th edition of the VivaTech technology startups and innovation fair in Paris, France, June 18, 2026. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

SummaryCompaniesInvestment to add several hundred jobs at Irish operationMajority of investment to be deployed by end-2027LEIXLIP, Ireland, July 13 (Reuters) - Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab has begun a €5 ​billion ($5.7 billion) capital investment to upgrade its Irish campus and expand its ‌European output to meet growing global demand for AI and high-performance computing, the U.S. chipmaker said on Monday.

Intel said the move would upgrade and maximize capacity at its facility in Leixlip outside ​Dublin that produces Intel 3 silicon wafers, which the company says is ​the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility of its kind in Europe.

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⁠It will also link the facility to other factories at the campus, Intel's European ​manufacturing base, as well as advance research and development and retrain staff, Naga Chandrasekaran, ​executive vice president of Intel Foundry, said.

Intel is one of the key multinationals in Ireland's foreign investment-focused economy, having already invested €30 billion in the country since 1989, more than half of which ​was spent between 2019 and 2023 on the fabrication facility that doubled the available capacity ​in Ireland.

The leading-edge manufacturing equipment that Intel has begun to install will help deliver Intel ‌Xeon ⁠6 processors and next-generation Intel Xeon built on the group's Intel 3 manufacturing process, the company said.

"The demand for servers, the demand for AI is driving a significant increase in the need for Intel 3 wafers," Chandrasekaran told reporters.

Chandrasekaran said the investment ​would add "several hundred" more ​jobs to the ⁠4,900 people Intel employs in Ireland.

The majority of the investment would be made by the end of 2027 and represents ​about 30% of Intel's $17 billion planned capital expenditure for 2026, he ​added.

Ireland ⁠is hugely reliant on the taxes and jobs of foreign multinationals such as Intel. Foreign-owned firms have almost doubled their Irish workforce in the last decade to make up 11% of ⁠the ​entire labour market.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said ​Intel's latest investment was a powerful vote of confidence in Ireland and its position as a location for ​advanced manufacturing.

($1 = 0.8750 euros)

Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Sarah Young and Tomasz Janowski

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Key Takeaways Intel's AI-driven businesses reached 60% of revenues and grew 40% year over year in first-quarter 2026.INTC posted stronger margins, beat earnings estimates and ramped up Xeon 6 and Core Series 3 production.TSMC is expanding N3 capacity and ramping up N2 production to meet strong AI-related demand. The AI chip market is increasingly emerging as a long-term investment opportunity, with the rising adoption of AI innovation and accelerating digital transformation. According to Roots Analysis, the market is projected to expand at a CAGR of 24.29% through 2040 from an estimated $100 billion in 2026. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM - Free Report) , or TSMC, and Intel (INTC - Free Report) remain two closely watched names in this space.

TSMC has operated a pure-play foundry business model since its inception, manufacturing semiconductors based on proprietary integrated circuit designs provided by its customers.  The products serve a broad range of end markets, including high-performance computing (HPC), smartphones, the Internet of Things (IoT), automotive and digital consumer electronics (DCE).

On the other hand, Intel designs, manufactures and markets CPUs and other semiconductor solutions used by consumers, enterprises, governments and educational organizations worldwide. The company is also growing its external foundry business by leveraging its U.S.-based capabilities in leading-edge semiconductor process technology, R&D, manufacturing and advanced packaging.

Let’s take a closer look at how the two companies stack up against each other.

Reasons to Stay Bullish on TSMCAccording to TSMC, robust AI-related demand continues to fuel demand for its leading-edge silicon. Management is confident in the multiyear AI megatrend, with semiconductor demand expected to remain fundamental as cloud service providers offer a strong signal and positive outlook. The company views higher capital spending as a reflection of stronger growth opportunities. Backed by its technology leadership and manufacturing expertise, TSMC is well-placed to capture long-term structural demand driven by 5G, AI and high-performance computing.

TSMC’s first-quarter 2026 revenues increased 6.4% sequentially to $35.9 billion, slightly ahead of its guidance. The top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.13%. Gross and operating margins increased 390 basis points (bps) and 410 bps, respectively, on a sequential basis, led by cost improvement efforts, a high-capacity utilization rate, favorable foreign exchange and operating leverage.

TSMC's 2-nanometer (N2) technology has entered high-volume manufacturing with good yields and is ramping up successfully across multiple phases at both Hsinchu and Kaohsiung sites, supported by strong demand from both smartphone and HPC AI applications.

The company is also expanding its global 3-nanometer (N3) capacity to meet the strong demand in AI applications, marking a departure from its usual practice of not adding capacity once a node reaches its target level. TSMC is also seeing a high level of customer interest and engagement from both smartphone and HPC applications for its A14 technology, with volume production scheduled for 2028. Featuring the company’s second-generation nanosheet transistor structure, A14 is expected to provide performance and power benefits over N2 to address the sensible need for high-performance and energy-efficient computing.

However, the initial ramp-up of N2 technology is expected to dilute gross margin by 2%-3% in 2026. Potential increases in prices for certain chemicals and gases due to Middle East tensions may also affect TSMC’s profitability.

Reasons to Stay Bullish on IntelThe company believes it is well-positioned to capitalize on the AI-driven semiconductor market, whose total addressable market is approaching $1 trillion. Management also noted that AI is expanding into the real world toward a more distributed inference and reinforced learning workloads like agentic, physical AI and robots and edge AI, with the shift already beginning to contribute to the financial results.

Intel reported first-quarter 2026 revenues of $13.6 billion, up 7% year over year and surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.09%. Driven by strong demand, improved product mix and pricing actions. The company’s collective AI-driven businesses now represent 60% of revenues and grew 40% year over year. Adjusted gross margin reached 41%, nearly 650 bps above guidance, while adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at 29 cents, exceeding both the company’s breakeven guidance as well as the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 1 cent per share.

Demand continues to outpace supply for all of Intel’s businesses, especially for Xeon server CPUs, where momentum is expected to sustain this year and beyond. Intel 3-based Xeon 6 and Intel 18A-based Core Series 3 products have entered full-volume production ramp-up, marking the company’s fastest new product ramp-up in five years.

With customers increasingly deploying server CPUs alongside accelerators, CPU-anchored architecture remains the backbone of AI computing in production. The trend supports Intel’s x86 ecosystem and positions its CPU franchise as a key long-term growth engine.

The company also sees rapid AI infrastructure deployment as a meaningful opportunity for its external foundry business. Intel 4, Intel 3 and 18A yields are running ahead of internal projections, signaling an inflection in execution and factory finished good output. Intel is also making steady progress in its advanced packaging technologies, including additional growth in customer backlog during the first quarter.

How Do Estimates Compare for TSM & INTC?The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TSMC’s 2026 EPS currently stands at $15.39, implying a 44.5% jump over 2025. The estimate has been revised upward in the past 60 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The consensus mark for Intel’s 2026 EPS implies year-over-year growth of 152.4% to $1.06. The estimate has moved upward in the past 60 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

TSM & INTC: Price Performance and ValuationSo far this year, TSMC shares have advanced 42.8%, while Intel has surged 197.6%. Both have comfortably outperformed the Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s 16.9% gain. 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

TSM shares are trading at a forward, five-year Price/Sales (P/S) of 12.20X, while INTC sits at 8.97X.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

ConclusionIntel, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present, delivered growth across its AI-driven businesses in its most recent quarterly results, along with stronger margins and earnings. The company’s CPU franchise remains well-positioned as anchored architecture underpins the AI computing in production. It is also progressing well with its A14 technology development and is likely to extend the company’s technology leadership position.

TSMC, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), continues to benefit from the robust AI-driven demand for its leading-edge process technologies. The first-quarter results highlighted sequential revenue growth and margin expansion. Its N2 and A16 technologies support the growing demand for energy-efficient computing.

Earnings estimates for both companies are trending higher. While both TSM and INTC offer compelling investment opportunities, Intel’s year-to-date stock performance and relatively cheaper valuation give it an edge.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on this link.

FORT WORTH, Texas, July 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sports Entertainment Gaming Global Corporation (“SEGG Media” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: SEGG, LTRYW), the global sports, entertainment and gaming media company and owner of Veloce Media Group and Quadrant, today announced the successful completion of its high-demand Quadrant x Shopify pop-up in central London during the 2026 British Grand Prix week. The activation demonstrated the Company’s ability to convert its rapidly growing digital audiences into higher-margin commerce, sponsorship and experiential revenue opportunities.

The week-long activation took place at London’s Outernet during one of the highlights of the global motorsport calendar, bringing more than 10,000 of Quadrant’s highly engaged audience into a premium physical retail space. The activation exceeded internal expectations for fan engagement and merchandise demand with social campaigns earning 5.8 million impressions.

The pop-up generated strong commercial results through its partnership with Shopify and direct-to-consumer merchandise sales of exclusive Quadrant apparel. Shopify’s market-leading commerce platform powered the full purchasing experience, delivering a seamless journey for customers and supported high-volume transactions throughout the week. The collaboration with Shopify demonstrates SEGG Media’s ability to attract leading global commercial partners while providing the infrastructure necessary to scale direct-to-consumer commerce across its growing portfolio of brands.

The activation highlights SEGG Media’s strategy to transform audience engagement into multiple recurring revenue streams, including merchandise, sponsorship, licensing, live experiences and strategic brand partnerships. Through a combination of content, community, live experiences and commerce, this approach creates multiple revenue streams while strengthening long-term fan relationships.

Founded by Formula 1 driver Lando Norris and operated within SEGG Media’s portfolio through Veloce Media Group, Quadrant has become one of the fastest growing, creator-led motorsport lifestyle brands. Spanning apparel, original content, blue-chip partnerships, and live experiences, Quadrant’s latest London activation further demonstrates its ability to extend beyond digital content into experiential retail.

Daniel Bailey, Chief Commercial Officer of SEGG Media and CEO of Veloce Media Group, said: "This activation demonstrates the commercial model behind SEGG Media’s investment in Veloce and Quadrant. Working alongside Shopify, we delivered a premium brand experience that created value for both partners while generating direct consumer revenue through Quadrant merchandise sales. It's an excellent example of how our media brands evolve beyond content into sustainable commerce businesses, creating multiple revenue opportunities from a single fan experience. This model is highly scalable, and we intend to replicate it across our broader portfolio.

“The activation also reflects management’s strategy of leveraging acquired brands across multiple commercial channels rather than relying solely on advertising or media revenue.”

By bringing together a globally recognized creator-led brand with one of the world's leading commerce platforms, SEGG Media, Quadrant and Shopify created a repeatable blueprint for how modern sports and entertainment brands can deepen fan engagement while generating measurable commercial outcomes.

SEGG Media believes the success of the Quadrant x Shopify activation validates a scalable commercial model that can be extended across its expanding portfolio of sports and entertainment assets. As the Company further deploys Veloce Media Group’s assets across its ecosystem and continues developing additional premium brands, management expects similar activations to support increased sales and higher-margin revenue opportunities, deepen consumer engagement and contribute to long-term shareholder value creation.

About SEGG Media Corporation

SEGG Media (Nasdaq: SEGG, LTRYW) is a global sports, entertainment, and gaming group operating a portfolio of digital assets including Sports.com, Concerts.com, TicketStub.com, Lottery.com, and Veloce Media Group. Focused on immersive fan engagement, ethical gaming, and AI-driven live experiences, SEGG Media is redefining how global audiences interact with the content they love.

Important Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included in this press release, including statements regarding the Company’s strategy, future operations, prospects, plans, objectives, product rollout, market availability, sponsorship integration, fan engagement opportunities and expected future updates, are forward-looking statements. Words such as “could,” “should,” “will,” “may,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “continue,” “expand,” “launch,” “rollout,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and beyond the Company’s control. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, regulatory, operational and commercial considerations in each market in which Sports.com Predict may be made available; the Company’s ability to implement and scale technology, product, sponsorship and marketing initiatives; the Company’s ability to secure additional capital resources; the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern; the Company’s ability to maintain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rules and become or remain current with its SEC reports; and the other risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s filings with the SEC. Additional information concerning these and other factors that may impact the matters discussed herein can be found in the reports that the Company has filed and will file from time to time with the SEC, which are available publicly at www.sec.gov. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and plans could differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, the Company disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statements, all of which are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

This press release was published by a CLEAR® Verified individual.

In the 30 days ending July 8, the S&P 500 made a directional move of 1% or more four times. Some analysts will dismiss that as a consequence of large numbers. That is, the S&P 500 is over 7,500 points. Five years ago, that was around 4,300 and 10 years ago it was around 2,100.

But investors perceive that as volatility, and that has many seeking safety outside of the volatile artificial intelligence trade. It’s hard to fault that strategy. Investors (who are also consumers) are dealing with sticky inflation, which impacts the outlook for interest rates and consumer sentiment.

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That would be enough, but investors also have to consider a tense geopolitical environment in the Middle East and Europe that suggests there may be many more directional moves of 1% or more in the S&P 500 for the remainder of 2026.

Dividend Stocks Balance Safety With GrowthDespite the market gyrations, many investors sleep well at night. Their investment strategy includes dividend-paying stocks, so their portfolio generates regular, passive income.

Many investors will dismiss dividend stocks as being too boring. It’s true that many of the best dividend stocks will not beat the performance of the S&P 500. That math doesn’t work for growth-oriented investors.

But for investors looking for safety in a turbulent market, dividend stocks offer an attractive balance of enough growth to go along with a safe, growing dividend. Whether investors reinvest the dividends or use the cash as supplemental income, these stocks do what they’re designed to do. Here are three names that have an attractive total return outlook in the second half of 2026.

IBM Delivers Dividend Growth Alongside AI InnovationIBM NYSE: IBM has successfully pivoted from its hardware roots into a major player in cloud computing.

International Business Machines Today

IBM

International Business Machines

$290.07 +2.51 (+0.87%)

As of 09:58 AM Eastern

This is a fair market value price provided by Massive. Learn more.

52-Week Range$212.34▼

$332.46Dividend Yield2.33%

P/E Ratio25.65

Price Target$306.28

The company’s 2025 acquisition of Confluent is pushing it into the application layer of the AI stack, which gives IBM a direct hand in how enterprises feed live, real-time data into their AI models instead of just supplying the infrastructure underneath them.

IBM is also one of the large-cap names that is staking its claim in the quantum computing space. Not every name in this space will make it, but with its reputation and balance sheet, IBM shouldn’t be counted out.

In the last five years, IBM has delivered stock price growth of over 100%. However, the total return, which includes its dividend, is over 170%. IBM increased that dividend for its 30th consecutive year in April 2026.

For investors looking for a growth and value play in the technology sector, IBM is a name to consider.

Kinder Morgan Offers Reliable Income Despite Energy Price VolatilityThe U.S. conflict with Iran has caused oil prices to move from above $100 to around $60 in the first half of the year. That kind of price movement in the underlying commodity has made some energy stocks as volatile as tech stocks.

Kinder Morgan Today

KMI

Kinder Morgan

$32.02 -0.10 (-0.30%)

As of 09:58 AM Eastern

This is a fair market value price provided by Massive. Learn more.

52-Week Range$25.60▼

$34.81Dividend Yield3.72%

P/E Ratio21.46

Price Target$34.71

That’s why investors may want to consider Kinder Morgan NYSE: KMI. The company is a midstream company. It’s responsible for transporting oil and natural gas through its extensive pipeline network, and its business is agnostic to oil and natural gas prices. The work is contracted and predictable, which is good for its customers as well as investors.

KMI is up approximately 17% in 2026 and has delivered a total return of over 150% in the last five years. It’s trading within about 7% of its consensus price target of $34.71. However, UBS Group recently reiterated its $43 price target for the stock.

Plus, Kinder Morgan’s dividend yields 3.7% as of this writing, and the company has increased the dividend for nine consecutive years.

Templeton Emerging Markets Fund Adds Global Growth and Dividend IncomeThe Templeton Emerging Markets Fund NYSE: EMF is a different avenue for investors looking to balance growth and safety. Heading into 2026, emerging markets were seen as a place to seek outsized performance. EMF is up about 34% in 2026.

Templeton Emerging Markets Fund Today

EMF

Templeton Emerging Markets Fund

$22.36 -0.36 (-1.56%)

As of 09:55 AM Eastern

This is a fair market value price provided by Massive. Learn more.

52-Week Range$14.10▼

$24.70Dividend Yield4.03%

Investing in emerging markets is important for a diversified portfolio. However, investing in companies outside the United States does require a different level of due diligence.

The Emerging Markets Fund uses a bottom-up, fundamental research approach to identify undervalued opportunities across local stock exchanges. The fund’s holdings span a range of industries, reducing the risk of any one country or sector.

The EMF pays a quarterly dividend that currently comes out to 90 cents per share on an annual basis. 

However, the company just increased its dividend to 24 cents per share in May. With a share price that’s around $22 as of this writing, investors have time to build a sizable position.

Should You Invest $1,000 in International Business Machines Right Now?Before you consider International Business Machines, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and International Business Machines wasn't on the list.

While International Business Machines currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

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The space race is growing fast, and you don’t have to have gotten in early on SpaceX to profit. This report shows seven space stocks you can buy today that may grow as rockets, satellites, defense, space internet, and new space technology become more important.

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Death Cross and Macro Factors Intensify Downside Pressures The $4000 level, I think, extends down to the $3900 level, and if that is going to be the case, then I suspect we could see this market drop down to $3500 before it’s all said and done. If we do get a little bit of a rally from here, then I think it should be viewed through the prism of selling signs of exhaustion. I just don’t have any interest in buying gold at the moment.

I think rates and the US dollar are both working against the value of gold long-term. Long term I like it, but we would have to get the situation in the Middle East sorted out, and I just don’t think we’re anywhere near that at the moment, so I think gold continues to slump in this environment. This is a market that is a situation that remains very fluid, and I think bearish in general. I would make it a point to be a trader who uses a small position size, as the headlines continue to see a lot of volatility in risk appetite.

On the earnings front, Dick’s Sporting Goods, on May 27, reported mixed results for the first quarter. The company posted quarterly earnings of $2.90 per share, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $2.93 per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $5.165 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $4.974 billion.

Jenny Van Leeuwen Harrington, chief executive officer of Gilman Hill Asset Management, LLC, said The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) has a 5% dividend yield.

As per the recent news, Clorox, on June 17, named Chris Hyder as COO.

Don’t forget to check out our premarket coverage here

Bill Baruch, founder and CIO of both Blue Line Capital, an investment advisor, and Blue Creek Capital Management, picked Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ:NBIS).

Nebius is expected to report earnings on Aug. 6. Wall Street expects a loss of 73 cents per share, compared with a loss of 38 cents a year earlier. Revenue is projected to rise to $576.67 million from $105.10 million a year ago.

Kevin Simpson, Capital Wealth Planning founder and CIO, recommended NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA).

Nvidia shares closed higher on Friday after reports suggesting that China’s Alibaba, ByteDance and DeepSeek have received word that they might soon be approved to purchase the company’s H200 chips.

Price Action:

Dick’s Sporting shares rose 0.3% to close at $217.98 on Friday. Clorox shares gained 3.8% to settle at $96.56 during the session. Nebius Group shares gained 1.6% to close at $219.65 on Friday. Nvidia shares rose 4% to settle at $210.96 during the session. Photo via Shutterstock

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Wells Fargo (WFC 0.44%) reports its second-quarter results at about 7 a.m. ET on Tuesday, July 14, with a conference call to follow at 10 a.m. For most big banks, a quarterly report is mainly a read on loan demand, credit costs, and trading. For Wells Fargo, this one carries a question investors have asked for years: Can the bank finally grow again?

That question exists because of a penalty that shaped the last seven years. In 2018, following its fake-accounts scandal, the Federal Reserve capped Wells Fargo's assets at $1.95 trillion, effectively freezing the size of the balance sheet. The Fed lifted that cap in June 2025. For the first time since 2018, the balance sheet can grow with the business without the asset-growth restriction.

So when the results land Tuesday morning, the line to watch isn't earnings per share. It's net interest income.

Image source: Getty Images.

Why net interest income matters most Net interest income (the gap between what a bank earns on its loans and pays on deposits) is the closest thing Wells Fargo has to a single gauge of growth. Under the asset cap, it went nowhere. Net interest income was about $47.5 billion in 2025, essentially flat with 2024. A bank that can't grow its balance sheet can't easily grow the income that comes off it.

The 2026 guidance is where that changes. Management has told investors to expect about $50 billion in net interest income this year -- which would mark a return to mid-single-digit growth after a down year and a flat one. The early read supports it: in the first quarter of 2026, net interest income rose 5% year over year, though it slipped $235 million, or 2%, from the fourth quarter on two fewer days and slightly lower rates.

That sequential dip is the catch, and it's why Tuesday matters. The full-year target leans on this income building through the year as loans and deposits grow -- the very activity the asset cap used to block. The deposits Wells Fargo is now free to gather tend to be higher-cost than the ones it leaned on under the cap, so growth and margin will work against each other as it rebuilds. If second-quarter net interest income steps up and management holds or raises the $50 billion target, the growth case is intact. If the number stalls and the guide comes down, the main reason to own the stock instead of a cheap index fund gets much harder to make.

There's a rates wrinkle, too. Like any bank, Wells Fargo earns more on its loans when rates stay higher for longer, so the path of Federal Reserve policy will shape this income alongside the bank's own growth. Fewer rate cuts than the market expects would actually work in its favor here.

Today's Change

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Current Price

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86.78

A cheap stock with a new lever Net interest income is the headline, but two other figures round out the picture.

The first is the efficiency ratio (the share of revenue a bank spends to run itself, with lower ratios being better). Wells Fargo's improved to 67% in the first quarter from 69% a year earlier, extending a multiyear cost-cutting push under CEO Charlie Scharf. Having spent years shrinking, the bank now has to spend to grow, so investors will want costs to stay contained even as the balance sheet expands.

The second is capital return, where Wells Fargo has been aggressive. It repurchased $17.7 billion of its own stock in 2025 and still has about $26 billion left on a $40 billion buyback authorization. After clearing the Fed's 2026 stress test, management said it plans to raise the quarterly dividend 11%, to $0.50 a share. Buybacks on this scale lift earnings per share even when net income grows slowly, a genuine support for the stock while that plays out.

Then there's the price. Around $87 a share, Wells Fargo trades at about 13 times earnings -- a discount to the S&P 500 at around 25 times, and cheap for a bank that just got a growth lever back.

That mix of a low multiple and a newly unfrozen balance sheet makes Wells Fargo a rare value stock among the big banks.

And with the dividend on its way up, you get paid to wait while the growth case plays out.

Put it together, and I think Wells Fargo is one of the more reasonably priced ways to own a large bank right now, and I'd lean toward buying. But the case rests on that one line. Before getting too excited, I'd want to see second-quarter net interest income move higher on Tuesday and management stand behind its $50 billion guide for the year. That's the number that should define the reaction -- and, more importantly, the investment.

The Zacks Fertilizers industry is challenged by elevated costs of key raw materials, partly due to war-led disruptions, which have put pressure on the margins of industry players. Higher fertilizer prices and input cost inflation are also likely to result in growers reducing application rates, partly due to affordability issues, leading to weaker fertilizer demand.

However, increased fertilizer prices augur well for the companies in this space. Fertilizer players such as Nutrien Ltd. (NTR - Free Report) , CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF - Free Report) and Yara International ASA (YARIY - Free Report) are worth a look, notwithstanding the near-term headwinds.

About the Industry The Zacks Fertilizers industry comprises producers, distributors and marketers of crop nutrients for the global agriculture industry. Companies in this space offer nutrients such as phosphates (including diammonium phosphate, monoammonium phosphate and phosphoric acid), potash and nitrogen (including urea, ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate) fertilizers. They also provide other nitrogen products to help farmers maximize crop yield. Crop nutrients are essential to drive agricultural productivity and boost the natural fertility of the soil. Demand for these nutrients is being supported by the need to increase the production of grains to address rising food consumption globally. Moreover, the constant need of growers to nourish their crops, replenish nutrients in the soil following a harvest and boost yields to feed a growing global population drives the consumption of fertilizers.

What's Shaping the Future of the Fertilizers Industry? Elevated Input Costs a Concern: Increased prices of major raw materials pose a headwind to fertilizer companies. Prices of both sulfur and ammonia — key inputs for the production of phosphate — remain elevated. Supply disruptions from Russia amid the war with Ukraine, aggravated by the Middle East conflict, contributed to the rise in prices of both sulfur and ammonia. Plant shutdowns and maintenance also led to a tight supply of these raw materials, which, coupled with strong demand, pushed up their prices. Rising natural gas prices, a key feedstock for nitrogen fertilizer, are also a concern. Natural gas prices have shot up in Europe and Asia due to constrained supply availability. Higher raw material costs have led to an increase in production costs. As such, fertilizer makers are likely to face short-term margin pressure associated with higher input costs.

Reduced Affordability May Dampen Fertilizer Demand: Growers face challenges from still-depressed crop commodity prices and elevated production costs triggered by increased fertilizer prices, higher input and other costs, including fuel. Escalating costs are likely to result in farmers reducing fertilizer applications or switching to less fertilizer-intensive crops, leading to softer demand. Farm income is also projected to decline this year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects net farm income to decline 0.7% year over year to  $153.4 billion this year. The same is forecast to decline 2.6% after adjusting for inflation. Reduced farm income may lead to a cutback in fertilizer application. Meanwhile, prices of major crops such as corn, soybean and wheat have improved this year from the lows witnessed in recent years, partly due to the Middle East tensions, but they remain well below the multi-year highs reached in 2022.

Higher Fertilizer Prices Augur Well: Prices of phosphate, potash and nitrogen remained depressed in 2023 and 2024 amid oversupply in the market and weak demand, weighing on the profitability of fertilizer companies. On a positive note, strong demand and supply tightness led to an uptick in fertilizer prices in 2025, with phosphate prices seeing a notable increase. Prices were driven by solid agricultural demand in major markets, China’s export restrictions, U.S. tariffs and higher costs of inputs. The upward momentum in fertilizer prices continues this year. Higher prices are expected to drive top-line and margin expansion for companies in this space over the near term.

Zacks Industry Rank Reflects Downbeat Prospects The Zacks Fertilizers industry is part of the broader Zacks Basic Materials sector. It carries a Zacks Industry Rank #207, which places it in the bottom 16% of more than 250 Zacks industries.

The group’s Zacks Industry Rank, which is basically the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates a bleak near term. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

Before we present a few stocks that you may want to consider for your portfolio, let’s take a look at the industry’s recent stock market performance and valuation picture.

Industry Underperforms S&P 500 The Zacks Fertilizers industry has underperformed the Zacks S&P 500 composite and the broader Zacks Basic Materials sector over the past year.

The industry has lost 52.2% over this period against the S&P 500’s rise of 24.2% and the broader sector’s increase of 20.7%.

One-Year Price Performance

Industry's Current Valuation On the basis of the trailing 12-month enterprise value-to EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, which is a commonly used multiple for valuing fertilizer stocks, the industry is currently trading at 8.43X compared with the S&P 500’s 18.75X and the sector’s 12.8X.

In the past five years, the industry has traded as high as 15.54X and as low as 4.55X, with a median of 9.4X, as the chart below shows.

Enterprise Value/EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) Ratio

Enterprise Value/EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) Ratio

3 Fertilizer Stocks to Keep a Close Eye on Yara International: Norway-based Yara International is a leading global producer and supplier of mineral fertilizers. It has industry-leading experience in ammonia development, production, operations and distribution. A favorable nitrogen demand environment bodes well for YARIY. Cost reductions and actions to strengthen the balance sheet are expected to boost the company’s profitability and cash flows. YARIY also remains focused on rewarding its shareholders by leveraging strong cash flows.

Yara International currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). It has an expected earnings growth rate of 61.1% for 2026. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings has moved 6.9% higher over the past 60 days. The company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the trailing four quarters and missed it once. In this timeframe, it delivered an earnings surprise of 63.1%, on average. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Price and Consensus: YARIY

Nutrien: Canada-based Nutrien is a leading provider of crop inputs and services. The company is benefiting from healthy demand for crop nutrients, backed by supportive global agriculture markets. NTR is seeing strong potash sales volumes and increasing production from its low-cost North American operations to meet rising demand.  NTR is also gaining from acquisitions, cost efficiency and increased adoption of its digital platform. The company also continues to expand its footprint in Brazil through acquisitions. Cost and operational efficiency initiatives are also expected to aid its performance. The company has announced several strategic actions to reduce its controllable costs and boost free cash flow.

Nutrien has expected earnings growth of 26.5% for 2026. The consensus estimate for 2026 earnings has been revised 3.2% upward over the past 60 days. Nutrien currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Price and Consensus: NTR

CF Industries: Illinois-based CF Industries is a leading global manufacturer of nitrogen and hydrogen products for fertilizer, clean energy, emissions reduction and other industrial applications. It is gaining from higher nitrogen fertilizer demand in the major markets such as North America, Brazil and India. CF is seeing higher nitrogen demand for industrial uses in North America. Higher nitrogen prices are also contributing to a boost in CF Industries’ revenues. CF remains committed to boosting shareholders’ value by leveraging strong cash flows. The company is also taking action to de-leverage its balance sheet.

CF Industries, currently with a Zacks Rank #3, has an expected earnings growth rate of 84% for 2026. The consensus estimate for 2026 earnings has been revised 23.8% upward over the past 60 days. CF’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters at an average of 11.4%.

Price and Consensus: CF

Financial Times: Dubai plans to build a new port to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

According to a report by the UK’s Financial Times, Dubai plans to build a new port to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

4 minutes ago

DTCC plans to demonstrate blockchain-based real-time stock trade settlement processes this week.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) plans to demonstrate blockchain-powered real-time stock trading processes this Wednesday. Market participants believe this technology can streamline the clearing, settlement, and record-keeping workflows underlying Wall Street stock trades, boosting capital market operational efficiency. The test is viewed as a key step for traditional financial systems in exploring on-chain securities infrastructure. However, the project remains limited in scale during its initial phase. After years of research and development, DTCC—one of the largest U.S. securities clearing institutions—this demonstration is more of a verification exercise rather than a full-scale push to migrate the entire stock market to blockchain. Analysts note that while tokenized securities and on-chain settlement are seen as having the potential to reduce costs and enhance trading efficiency, migrating traditional financial infrastructure to blockchain still faces challenges including regulation, compliance, system compatibility, and coordination among market participants. Earlier, Joseph Spiro, DTCC’s Director of Digital Asset Products, said in a May webinar that DTCC plans to launch its tokenized services this year, will demonstrate relevant use cases in a production environment in July, and officially roll out the service in October.

4 minutes ago

U.S. stocks opened with mixed performance across the three major indexes, with SK Hynix falling more than 8% and SanDisk dropping over 6%.

U.S. stock market opens: Dow Jones rises 0.08%, S&P 500 falls 0.32%, Nasdaq declines 0.73%. Tech stocks are mostly lower, with SK Hynix (SKHY.O) dropping over 8%, SanDisk (SNDK.O) down more than 6%, Micron Technology (MU.O) falling 5%, Qualcomm (QCOM.O) down 1%, and Intel (INTC.O) declining 4%.

4 minutes ago

Coinbase Ventures emerged as the most active crypto venture capital firm in the first half of 2026, with DeFi, AI, and payment sectors being its most favored investment areas.

CryptoRank data shows Coinbase Ventures, with 30 investments completed in H1 2026, is the most active crypto venture capital firm. Animoca Brands, a16z, and Tether followed with 19, 18, and 15 investments respectively. Over the past 12 months, Coinbase Ventures has closed a total of 75 investments, ranking first in the industry, followed by Animoca Brands, YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs), GSR, and a16z. Despite the crypto market remaining in a slump, industry financing volumes continue to shrink. Total funding for crypto firms fell to $1.4 billion in June, a 63% drop from $3.8 billion in April; the number of financing rounds also decreased from 89 in May to 61. Meanwhile, the number of independent investment firms participating in deals dropped from 452 in October 2025 to 242 in June this year. By sector, DeFi, payments, and AI remain the most capital-favored segments over the past year, with 216, 131, and 128 financing rounds respectively. Coinbase Ventures has focused its investments on payment protocols, DeFi, infrastructure, and RWA tokenization projects.

4 minutes ago

U.S. Senate enters critical window for Clarity Act; next four weeks could decide the bill’s fate this year.

After the U.S. Congress reconvened, the Clarity Act (Crypto Market Structure Act) has entered a critical legislative window. Industry insiders say the next four weeks will determine whether the bill can complete Senate review before Congress adjourns in August and be formally enacted this year. According to reports, the Senate is expected to release this week the latest version of the bill, which integrates texts from the Senate Banking Committee and Agriculture Committee. Currently, the bill faces two core sticking points: one is the final language of the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act concerning regulatory liability for non-custodial software developers; the other is ethical provisions on conflicts of interest among government officials, particularly those related to Trump’s crypto business. Sources familiar with the matter noted that the White House and Congress have yet to reach an agreement on the ethical provisions, a key factor in the bill’s effort to hit the 60-vote threshold. Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, said the next four weeks could be the Clarity Act’s last chance to pass in the current congressional session; if the bill fails to become law, the U.S. may further lag behind overseas markets in the race for digital asset innovation.

4 minutes ago

US pre-market news roundup: Intel plans to invest €5 billion to expand its Irish factory; storage and semiconductor equipment sectors fall across the board in pre-market trading.

Key pre-market news for U.S. stocks is as follows: 1. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs will kick off Q2 earnings reports on Tuesday, while Morgan Stanley will release its results on Wednesday. Markets expect U.S. large banks’ investment banking and trading revenues to surge, driven by SpaceX’s IPO, rising M&A activity, and market volatility sparked by the Iran situation; 2. Trump claimed Iran always breaks agreements, so the U.S. will strike hard at Iran, take control of the strait, and likely dominate it in the future; 3. SK Hynix’s U.S. ADR trades at a 23.4% premium to its South Korean shares; 4. Semiconductor equipment and storage sectors fell across the board pre-market, with KLAC down 3.7%, SanDisk and Western Digital both dropping over 5%; 5. Spot gold and silver fell broadly, with gold down 1.32% and silver down 2.23%; 6. Crude oil markets fell broadly, with U.S. crude up 3.35% and Brent crude up 3.53%; 7. Strategy did not add to its Bitcoin holdings last week, selling 4.82 million units to raise $467 million; 8. Bitmine added 27,801 ETH to its holdings last week, bringing its total staked ETH to 4.917 million, with an estimated annual staking income of $242 million.

4 minutes ago

Key Takeaways Micron's AI memory business is benefiting from strong demand, supply shortages and rising HBM pricing.MU forecast fiscal Q4 2026 revenue of about $50B and adjusted EPS of $31, above consensus estimates. Micron plans major U.S. investments through 2035 to expand AI memory capacity and secure silicon supply. Micron Technology Inc. (MU - Free Report) witnessed a meteoric rise in its stock price in the first half of 2026, rallying nearly 340%. On June 24, the company posted blockbuster third-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings results, crushing all estimates. 

As a result, on June 25, shares of MU touched an all-time high of $1,255. Thereafter, the stock has seen a gradual decline and is currently in the bear-market territory plunging 22% from its all-time high. However, the recent softness in the stock price has opened a tremendous opportunity for both short and long-term investors. 

The chart below shows the price performance of MU in the past month.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Excellent Business Opportunity Micron has been benefiting tremendously from the enormous application of AI in day-to-day life, which has pushed up the demand for memory chips. The four major hyperscalers raised their AI capital expenditure budget to $750 billion for 2026. This figure is set to cross $1 trillion next year and is likely to rise further beyond 2027. 

This has resulted in more AI semiconductor sales, implying the need for multiple AI memory chips to operate. Flash memory technologies like DRAM and NAND are used in AI chips, enabling them to perform optimally. 

This has pushed up the demand for AI-enabled memory chips. In their last earnings reports, all four major hyperscalers highlighted a shortage of memory and storage chips, resulting in soaring prices of these products. As a result, MU benefits significantly. 

Micron’s CEO, Sanjay Mehrotra, said, “Our customers are recognizing that supply shortages in memory and storage will take considerable time to improve, even as we expect industry supply to improve gradually in 2028.”

Solid Estimate RevisionsMicron has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of more than 100% each, for the current year (ending August 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 22.6% over the last 30 days. 

MU has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 87.8% and more than 100%, for the next year (ending August 2027). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for next year’s earnings has improved 44.3% over the last 30 days. 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Micron’s gross margin climbed to 84.9% in the third quarter from 74.9% in the prior quarter and 39% in the year-ago period. This proved how high-bandwidth memory (HBM) shortage is helping these high-end memory developers to increase prices in a world of AI-powered data center boom. Likewise, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2027 EBITDA margin has shown steady improvement since mid-May.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

New Tech Trends to Drive ProspectsThe performance of any AI model depends on memory performance and capacity. MU’s HBM is a highly sought-after product for NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA - Free Report) , Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD - Free Report) and Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL - Free Report) to name a few, for their AI-enabled chipsets.

Micron has meaningful exposure to AI, cloud data centers, industrial IoT and autonomous vehicles, all of which require increasingly advanced memory solutions. As AI adoption accelerates, demand for DRAM and NAND products continues to rise. 

NVIDIA identified Micron as a key HBM supplier for its GeForce RTX 50 Blackwell GPUs, reinforcing its importance within the AI supply chain. Demand for HBM4 is also benefiting from next-generation AI infrastructure deployments, including NVIDIA’s Vera Rubin platform. 

On July 8, Reuters reported that Micron has decided to invest more than $250 billion in the United States through 2035. The company’s original investment plan was $170 billion, which it raised to $200 billion in June. 

Moreover, MU also unveiled its plan to invest $3 billion in GlobalWafers' silicon wafer manufacturing operations in Texas. The two companies plan to enter a 10-year deal to ensure a long-term supply of raw silicon wafer capacity to the AI memory chip behemoth.

Strong Guidance Micron anticipates revenues of $50 billion (+/1 billion) in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2026. Operating expenses on a non-GAAP basis are estimated to be approximately $1.65 billion. Adjusted EPS is anticipated to be $31.00 (+/- $1.00). 

Attractive Valuation Despite a robust rally, the MU stock still looks very attractive. It trades at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 13.43, which is significantly lower than the industry average of 27.73. This discount adds to the appeal for long-term investors.

MU trades at a price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of 12.41, compared with the industry average of 10. Further, it trades at a price-to-book (P/B) multiple of 11.12, compared with the industry average of 8.40. These two multiples warrant premiums due to the company’s dominant position in the AI HBM and DRAM markets.

Huge Price Upside PotentialThe current Zacks Consensus average price for Micron is based on short-term price targets offered by 33 analysts. The short-term average price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 52.2% from the last closing price of $979.30. 

The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $2,000-$470. This indicates a maximum upside of 104.2% and a maximum downside of 52%. The risk/reward ratio is highly favorable 1:2. 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

What Next for MU?Micron currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

MU has invested heavily in next-generation memory technologies, positioning itself to meet the growing performance and efficiency requirements of AI ecosystems. MU’s position in the AI ecosystem continues to strengthen. 

Micron Technologies represents an opportunity to invest in a company with substantial unrealized potential in the AI revolution. At this stage, it will be prudent to buy MU on every dip. Hold this stock for the long term as the astonishing growth potential of the global AI-powered data centers and MU’s strong guidance and business visibility are likely to generate more value.

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Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG | ISRG Price Prediction) looks compelling ahead of its July 16 earnings report, and the setup rarely gets this clean for a category leader trading well below fair value. Shares sit at $413.58, down 26.71% YTD, while the 247 base-case target of $559.79 implies 35.35% upside. Wall Street sits higher still at $563.35, with 22 buy ratings against 2 sell.

Three Reasons the Decision Is Easy Operating momentum is accelerating: Q1 2026 delivered non-GAAP EPS of $2.50 versus a $2.11 consensus (an 18.66% beat) on revenue of $2.77 billion, up 23% year over year. That is the fourth straight beat, following surprises of 13.22%, 20.65%, and 11.95%. Operating income jumped 47.95%. Da Vinci procedures grew ~16% and Ion procedures grew ~39%.

The moat is measurable: The installed base sits at 11,395 da Vinci systems and 1,041 Ion systems, generating $1.69 billion in Q1 instruments and accessories revenue. That is the recurring razor-and-blade annuity retirement portfolios want, on a business that crossed $10 billion in full-year revenue for the first time in FY2025.

Capital return with a fortress balance sheet: ISRG holds $7.98 billion in cash (up 210% YoY) and repurchased 2.3 million shares for $1.1 billion in Q1 alone.

Better Than the Obvious Alternative Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) is the name investors reach for when they want robotic-surgery exposure with a dividend. ISRG wins the head-to-head decisively. Medtronic’s Hugo platform has limited traction against ISRG’s 11,395-system installed base, and ISRG’s 23% revenue growth operates in a different tier than MDT’s mature medtech mix. For a retirement account that wants compounding, ISRG’s FY2025 operating income growth of 25.4% settles it.

The Catalyst Is Days Away Polymarket assigns a 97% combined probability that Q2 da Vinci procedure growth prints between 12.5% and 17.5%, sitting inside management’s 13.5% to 15.5% full-year guide. Composite sentiment reads 68.39, bullish. Q3 2025’s earnings day produced a 13.89% single-session gain after a 20.65% surprise. History has favored shares heading into the report.

ISRG shares look well-positioned heading into the July 16 report.

Meet America's Newest $1b Unicorn (Sponsor) A US startup just passed a $1 billion private valuation, joining billion-dollar private companies like OpenAI and ByteDance. Unlike those other unicorns, you can invest in EnergyX right now; but only until July 16.

Over 50,000 people already have, along with global giants like General Motors and POSCO.

Here's why there's so much interest: EnergyX's patented tech can recover up to 3X more lithium than traditional methods. That's a big deal, as demand for lithium is expected to 5X current production levels by 2040. Become an early-stage EnergyX shareholder before the 7/16 investment deadline.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of GME either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

MercadoLibre (MELI +1.94%) is a hot tech stock you may not have heard of if you don't live in Latin America. It's the largest e-commerce company in the region, but it's still much smaller than retail giants Amazon, Walmart, and Costco Wholesale.

However, it's growing much faster than all of these stocks, and it could join them as a $50 billion revenue stock by next year. Here's how.

Latin America's answer to Amazon MercadoLibre's main business is e-commerce, which accounts for slightly more than half of total revenue. In that way, it's a different model from the other retailers, which are more of a pure-play retail model. Even Amazon, which has a cloud business, Amazon Web Services (AWS), an advertising business, and several other segments, relies on e-commerce for more than 60% of its total revenue. When you include the ad business as part of e-commerce, as MercadoLibre does, it's more than 70%

Image source: Getty Images.

The fintech business, though, isn't completely separate; it was created to support payments on the MercadoLibre marketplace, and it's a component of the ecosystem. People who engage with the fintech platform are also more highly engaged with the e-commerce platform, and they're both growing rapidly.

In the 2026 first quarter, total revenue increased 49% year over year, with a 42% increase in gross merchandise volume (GMV) and a 41% increase in total payment volume.

The underpenetrated opportunity If MercadoLibre can continue to report similar growth over the next few quarters, it should easily reach $50 billion in trailing-12-month revenue by next year. Right now, it has $31.8 billion, and if it grows at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45%, it should surpass $50 billion before the end of 2027.

There are many reasons to believe that it can hit this goal and keep growing. Latin America is underpenetrated in both e-commerce and financial technology, but it's shifting as MercadoLibre improves its value proposition. One of the most consequential decisions it has made was to lower the free shipping threshold in Brazil last year, and that continues to deliver results. Unique active buyers are accelerating in the country, with a 32% increase year over year in the first quarter, as are GMV and items sold, which were up 38% and 56% respectively.

Today's Change

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Joining the ranks of similar large e-commerce and retail giants might take time; Amazon and Walmart are the two largest companies in the world by sales, and Costco, the smallest of the three, has $294 billion in trailing-12-month sales. For MercadoLibre to reach that, it would need to grow at a CAGR of 25% for the next 10 years. That's a real possibility, although Costco would also be much bigger at that point.

MercardoLibre stock trades at a P/E ratio of 49, near a 10-year low it reached earlier this year, and this could be a great opportunity to buy on the dip.

The chip maker reports a 68% monthly sales jump, but investors are still questioning how long the AI spending boom can last.

On July 13, 2026, we present a detailed DCF analysis for Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (TMO), a company currently priced at $527.05. Despite a year-to-date decli

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

Expectations are high that when banks start posting second-quarter results Tuesday, led by JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, revenue from trading equities and fixed income will approach, or even exceed, the records set earlier this year.

That's a key part of what veteran analyst Mike Mayo of Wells Fargo calls the "sweet spot" in the financial sector right now. Both of banking's profit engines — Wall Street and Main Street — are in growth mode at the same time.

The largest U.S. banks are raking in rising fees from helping corporations tap the markets, punctuated by last month's giant SpaceX IPO, while risk-taking traders are also thriving as geopolitical unrest including the Iran war stokes volatility across asset classes.

"You saw the largest IPO in history, a pace of mergers that's on track to be a record year, and a broadening out of trading to include equity and fixed income across myriad geographies," Mayo told CNBC.

The quarter's big bank earnings come at an unusually favorable moment for the industry. After years of navigating higher interest rates and inflation-fueled recession fears, lenders are benefiting from a rare combination of booming Wall Street activity, resilient consumer credit and a long-awaited pickup in business lending.

"There's not much more you can ask for," Mayo said.

The trends, which coincide with the Trump administration's push to ease banking regulations, have helped financial stocks outperform the broader market for two straight years, Mayo noted. That streak also raises the stakes as investors look for signs the momentum can continue into 2027.

JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs are set to post results early Tuesday, with Morgan Stanley reporting Wednesday.

'Big money maker'Investment banking revenue for the group could surge 26% from a year ago, while trading revenue could jump 14%, according to KBW analyst Chris McGratty.

Besides the hundreds of millions of dollars in fees that SpaceX paid banks — led by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — for the IPO itself, the firms garnered fees for raising debt for the newly public company, and also have a shot at managing the wealth of newly minted millionaires and billionaires.

On top of that, Goldman and Morgan Stanley likely reaped so-called soft dollars from the SpaceX initial public offering, according to Jay Ritter, professor emeritus of finance at the University of Florida's Warrington College of Business.

Soft dollars are essentially fees that hedge funds pay investment banks for a slice of an oversubscribed IPO, Ritter said.

"The big money maker for investment banks in IPOs is not the bankers' fee, but the ability to allocate shares to hedge funds and some active mutual funds that pay soft dollars," he said.

Meanwhile, trading gains were driven by strength in equities as stock markets climbed during the quarter, as well as heightened activity in fixed income after the Iran conflict sent oil prices, interest rates and currencies swinging, McGratty said.

"Banks are doing a good job these days of capturing the upside of volatility, whereas in previous cycles, they've been caught offsides," McGratty said.

'Demand is back'But Mayo contended that the more important development this quarter might be happening away from Wall Street.

The less glamorous business of commercial lending could be turning the corner after years of weakness as banks look to wrest market share from private credit lenders and as the artificial intelligence-fueled spending boom spreads to the rest of the economy, he said.

"Demand is back as companies treat the uncertainty as the new normal and build that new factory, invest in plants and get on with business," Mayo said.

The trend could benefit regional lenders including Fifth Third because commercial lending represents a larger share of their business than it does for diversified giants like JPMorgan, Mayo said.

Consumer banking also appears healthy. Low unemployment has kept borrowers current on mortgages, auto loans and credit cards, limiting losses.

There are still some risks for the quarter, including potential blowups in the private credit realm, even though that concern has subsided for most banks in the absence of new "cockroaches" emerging. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warned analysts and investors last year after the collapse of subprime car lender Tricolor Holdings that "when you see one cockroach, there are probably more."

Another is whether competition over deposits is intensifying, as some players have been forced to pay higher rates to attract and keep savers' dollars, McGratty said. In an environment where interest rates are steady or rising, that could pressure lender margins.

After two years of market-beating returns, investors are becoming less interested in how strong the last quarter was than whether this unusually favorable backdrop can last.

"We know the quarter's going to be strong, so I think the question that you ask yourself is around sustainability, right?" McGratty said. "Is it all sustainable?"

Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO | AVGO Price Prediction) and NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) both just posted blowout quarters, but the story underneath the numbers is diverging fast. Broadcom is riding a custom-silicon wave for hyperscalers. NVIDIA is still the merchant GPU king, yet faces a mid-summer lull before its late-August report.

ASICs Carry Broadcom. Blackwell Carries NVIDIA. Broadcom’s Q2 FY2026 revenue hit $22.187 billion, up 47.9%, with AI semiconductor sales of $10.80 billion growing 143%. CEO Hock Tan said the mix is being “driven by increasing demand for custom AI accelerators and AI networking.” That is the tell. Broadcom builds XPUs for a handful of hyperscalers and pairs them with Ethernet switches, capturing inference workloads where cost-per-token beats brute force.

NVIDIA’s Q1 FY2027 revenue reached $81.615 billion, up 85.23%, with Data Center at $75.246 billion and networking alone up 199%. Jensen Huang framed the moment as “the largest infrastructure expansion in human history.” Bigger dollars, slightly slower AI segment growth.

Business Driver Broadcom NVIDIA AI Growth Engine Custom ASICs + Ethernet Blackwell GPUs + NVLink AI YoY Growth 143% Data Center 92% Next-Quarter AI Guide $16.0B, over 200% YoY Total rev $91B Custom Silicon vs. The Universal Platform Broadcom is compounding a narrow, high-margin ASIC business with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 69%. The reported $30B+ Apple custom AI chip deal through 2031 reinforces that pattern. NVIDIA leans on scale and CUDA gravity, but assumes zero China Data Center compute revenue in Q2 guidance, a headwind Broadcom does not carry to the same degree.

Valuation frames the risk. NVIDIA trades near a 30 P/E, cheaper than Broadcom’s 65. Yet AVGO has climbed 11.28% over the past week while NVDA slipped 9.52% from June 1.

The Next Catalyst Window Favors Broadcom NVIDIA does not report again until August 26, 2026, leaving 47 days without fresh fundamentals. Broadcom’s Q3 earnings report lands September 8, and management has already telegraphed $16.0 billion in AI revenue, roughly 54% of total sales. I will watch whether hyperscaler order patterns actually validate Tan’s 44% custom-silicon compounding thesis.

Analyst consensus targets tell the same story: $523.73 for AVGO against $301.62 for NVDA, with 44 buys and zero sells on Broadcom.

Why I Lean Toward Broadcom Through Year-End For my own read, Broadcom looks like the better setup for the back half of 2026. The catalyst calendar is nearer, AI mix is accelerating faster off a smaller base, and the Apple relationship gives the ASIC thesis a marquee anchor. If you want the safer, deeper platform, NVIDIA still owns the training market and prints staggering cash. But if you want the faster incremental move between now and December, I would rather ride the custom silicon curve. I would change my view if hyperscaler capex softens or if Blackwell 300 supply constraints ease dramatically before August.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

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Considering buying FAST stock? Here’s what analysts think:

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DTCC plans to demonstrate blockchain-based real-time stock trade settlement processes this week.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) plans to demonstrate blockchain-powered real-time stock trading processes this Wednesday. Market participants believe this technology can streamline the clearing, settlement, and record-keeping workflows underlying Wall Street stock trades, boosting capital market operational efficiency. The test is viewed as a key step for traditional financial systems in exploring on-chain securities infrastructure. However, the project remains limited in scale during its initial phase. After years of research and development, DTCC—one of the largest U.S. securities clearing institutions—this demonstration is more of a verification exercise rather than a full-scale push to migrate the entire stock market to blockchain. Analysts note that while tokenized securities and on-chain settlement are seen as having the potential to reduce costs and enhance trading efficiency, migrating traditional financial infrastructure to blockchain still faces challenges including regulation, compliance, system compatibility, and coordination among market participants. Earlier, Joseph Spiro, DTCC’s Director of Digital Asset Products, said in a May webinar that DTCC plans to launch its tokenized services this year, will demonstrate relevant use cases in a production environment in July, and officially roll out the service in October.

9 minutes ago

U.S. stocks opened with mixed performance across the three major indexes, with SK Hynix falling more than 8% and SanDisk dropping over 6%.

U.S. stock market opens: Dow Jones rises 0.08%, S&P 500 falls 0.32%, Nasdaq declines 0.73%. Tech stocks are mostly lower, with SK Hynix (SKHY.O) dropping over 8%, SanDisk (SNDK.O) down more than 6%, Micron Technology (MU.O) falling 5%, Qualcomm (QCOM.O) down 1%, and Intel (INTC.O) declining 4%.

9 minutes ago

Coinbase Ventures emerged as the most active crypto venture capital firm in the first half of 2026, with DeFi, AI, and payment sectors being its most favored investment areas.

CryptoRank data shows Coinbase Ventures, with 30 investments completed in H1 2026, is the most active crypto venture capital firm. Animoca Brands, a16z, and Tether followed with 19, 18, and 15 investments respectively. Over the past 12 months, Coinbase Ventures has closed a total of 75 investments, ranking first in the industry, followed by Animoca Brands, YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs), GSR, and a16z. Despite the crypto market remaining in a slump, industry financing volumes continue to shrink. Total funding for crypto firms fell to $1.4 billion in June, a 63% drop from $3.8 billion in April; the number of financing rounds also decreased from 89 in May to 61. Meanwhile, the number of independent investment firms participating in deals dropped from 452 in October 2025 to 242 in June this year. By sector, DeFi, payments, and AI remain the most capital-favored segments over the past year, with 216, 131, and 128 financing rounds respectively. Coinbase Ventures has focused its investments on payment protocols, DeFi, infrastructure, and RWA tokenization projects.

9 minutes ago

U.S. Senate enters critical window for Clarity Act; next four weeks could decide the bill’s fate this year.

After the U.S. Congress reconvened, the Clarity Act (Crypto Market Structure Act) has entered a critical legislative window. Industry insiders say the next four weeks will determine whether the bill can complete Senate review before Congress adjourns in August and be formally enacted this year. According to reports, the Senate is expected to release this week the latest version of the bill, which integrates texts from the Senate Banking Committee and Agriculture Committee. Currently, the bill faces two core sticking points: one is the final language of the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act concerning regulatory liability for non-custodial software developers; the other is ethical provisions on conflicts of interest among government officials, particularly those related to Trump’s crypto business. Sources familiar with the matter noted that the White House and Congress have yet to reach an agreement on the ethical provisions, a key factor in the bill’s effort to hit the 60-vote threshold. Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, said the next four weeks could be the Clarity Act’s last chance to pass in the current congressional session; if the bill fails to become law, the U.S. may further lag behind overseas markets in the race for digital asset innovation.

9 minutes ago

US pre-market news roundup: Intel plans to invest €5 billion to expand its Irish factory; storage and semiconductor equipment sectors fall across the board in pre-market trading.

Key pre-market news for U.S. stocks is as follows: 1. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs will kick off Q2 earnings reports on Tuesday, while Morgan Stanley will release its results on Wednesday. Markets expect U.S. large banks’ investment banking and trading revenues to surge, driven by SpaceX’s IPO, rising M&A activity, and market volatility sparked by the Iran situation; 2. Trump claimed Iran always breaks agreements, so the U.S. will strike hard at Iran, take control of the strait, and likely dominate it in the future; 3. SK Hynix’s U.S. ADR trades at a 23.4% premium to its South Korean shares; 4. Semiconductor equipment and storage sectors fell across the board pre-market, with KLAC down 3.7%, SanDisk and Western Digital both dropping over 5%; 5. Spot gold and silver fell broadly, with gold down 1.32% and silver down 2.23%; 6. Crude oil markets fell broadly, with U.S. crude up 3.35% and Brent crude up 3.53%; 7. Strategy did not add to its Bitcoin holdings last week, selling 4.82 million units to raise $467 million; 8. Bitmine added 27,801 ETH to its holdings last week, bringing its total staked ETH to 4.917 million, with an estimated annual staking income of $242 million.

9 minutes ago

South Korean stock market faces a margin trading crisis, with forced liquidations totaling 344.2 billion won in July.

According to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association, the recent sharp decline in South Korea's stock market has triggered accelerated deleveraging of margin trading positions. The total forced liquidation volume in July has reached 344.2 billion won, with the single-day forced liquidation amount on July 9 hitting 142.2 billion won. As forced liquidation data lags by two trading days, the clearing pressure from the nearly 9% plunge in the KOSPI on July 13 has not yet been fully reflected, and the market expects subsequent liquidation volumes to rise further. On July 13, South Korea's KOSPI index closed down 8.95%, triggering the Sidecar (seller order suspension mechanism) and Level 1 Circuit Breaker during intraday trading. The semiconductor sector plummeted, with SK Hynix falling 15.37%—its largest single-day drop in history—and Samsung Electronics down 10.7%. Meanwhile, South Korean retail investors' margin sizes, margin loan balances, and investor deposits have all continued to decline, with the market trapped in a deleveraging cycle of "stock price drop—forced liquidation—further decline".

9 minutes ago

Hyperliquid (HYPE) is down over 2% on Monday, extending last week's decline despite steady weekly institutional inflows of around $10 million. HYPE futures signal reduced retail support as the Open Interest and funding rates take a sharp drop. Technically, a clear breakout of the ascending trendline could threaten the supporting 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) around $63.13.

Broader market weakness weighs down on HYPERenewed strikes between the US and Iran over the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz have elevated broader market risk-off sentiment. Demand in the crypto market has eased, with altcoins such as Hyperliquid trading in the red. 

CoinGlass data shows the HYPE futures Open Interest is down over 2% in the last 24 hours to $2.72 billion, reflecting a contraction in active leveraged positions. In addition, the total liquidation of $2.93 million, led by $2.48 million in long liquidations, aligns with a reduced risk appetite, mainly from long-position buyers.

At the same time, the funding rate has plunged to 0.0275%, reflecting a sharp shift among traders toward buying short positions at a premium.

However, HYPE-focused Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) recorded $10.36 million in inflows last week, indicating steady demand from institutional investors. Taken together, the derivatives market signals short-term downside risk in HYPE while the ninth consecutive week of institutional inflows supports long-term upside.

HYPE derivatives data. Source: CoinGlass

HYPE ETFs data. Source: SosovalueTechnical outlook: Will HYPE hold above its 50-day EMA?Hyperliquid trades around $65 at press time on Monday, testing the breakout of a crucial support trendline around $68.50. The path of least resistance guides HYPE toward the 50-day EMA at $63.13, which acts as the immediate support zone. A decisive daily close below $63.13 could extend the decline toward the 50% retracement level at $53.71, measured from the $38.17 to $75.58.

In addition, the momentum is softening on the daily chart, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 48 slipping below the midline. At the same time, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) descends below the signal line as the negative histogram expands. Together, the indicators suggest that momentum is shifting neutral to bearish.

HYPE/USD daily price chart.On the topside, a potential rebound could retest the overhead barrier around the previous swing high at $75.58.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)

DTCC plans to demonstrate blockchain-based real-time stock trade settlement processes this week.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) plans to demonstrate blockchain-powered real-time stock trading processes this Wednesday. Market participants believe this technology can streamline the clearing, settlement, and record-keeping workflows underlying Wall Street stock trades, boosting capital market operational efficiency. The test is viewed as a key step for traditional financial systems in exploring on-chain securities infrastructure. However, the project remains limited in scale during its initial phase. After years of research and development, DTCC—one of the largest U.S. securities clearing institutions—this demonstration is more of a verification exercise rather than a full-scale push to migrate the entire stock market to blockchain. Analysts note that while tokenized securities and on-chain settlement are seen as having the potential to reduce costs and enhance trading efficiency, migrating traditional financial infrastructure to blockchain still faces challenges including regulation, compliance, system compatibility, and coordination among market participants. Earlier, Joseph Spiro, DTCC’s Director of Digital Asset Products, said in a May webinar that DTCC plans to launch its tokenized services this year, will demonstrate relevant use cases in a production environment in July, and officially roll out the service in October.

9 minutes ago

U.S. stocks opened with mixed performance across the three major indexes, with SK Hynix falling more than 8% and SanDisk dropping over 6%.

U.S. stock market opens: Dow Jones rises 0.08%, S&P 500 falls 0.32%, Nasdaq declines 0.73%. Tech stocks are mostly lower, with SK Hynix (SKHY.O) dropping over 8%, SanDisk (SNDK.O) down more than 6%, Micron Technology (MU.O) falling 5%, Qualcomm (QCOM.O) down 1%, and Intel (INTC.O) declining 4%.

9 minutes ago

Coinbase Ventures emerged as the most active crypto venture capital firm in the first half of 2026, with DeFi, AI, and payment sectors being its most favored investment areas.

CryptoRank data shows Coinbase Ventures, with 30 investments completed in H1 2026, is the most active crypto venture capital firm. Animoca Brands, a16z, and Tether followed with 19, 18, and 15 investments respectively. Over the past 12 months, Coinbase Ventures has closed a total of 75 investments, ranking first in the industry, followed by Animoca Brands, YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs), GSR, and a16z. Despite the crypto market remaining in a slump, industry financing volumes continue to shrink. Total funding for crypto firms fell to $1.4 billion in June, a 63% drop from $3.8 billion in April; the number of financing rounds also decreased from 89 in May to 61. Meanwhile, the number of independent investment firms participating in deals dropped from 452 in October 2025 to 242 in June this year. By sector, DeFi, payments, and AI remain the most capital-favored segments over the past year, with 216, 131, and 128 financing rounds respectively. Coinbase Ventures has focused its investments on payment protocols, DeFi, infrastructure, and RWA tokenization projects.

9 minutes ago

U.S. Senate enters critical window for Clarity Act; next four weeks could decide the bill’s fate this year.

After the U.S. Congress reconvened, the Clarity Act (Crypto Market Structure Act) has entered a critical legislative window. Industry insiders say the next four weeks will determine whether the bill can complete Senate review before Congress adjourns in August and be formally enacted this year. According to reports, the Senate is expected to release this week the latest version of the bill, which integrates texts from the Senate Banking Committee and Agriculture Committee. Currently, the bill faces two core sticking points: one is the final language of the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act concerning regulatory liability for non-custodial software developers; the other is ethical provisions on conflicts of interest among government officials, particularly those related to Trump’s crypto business. Sources familiar with the matter noted that the White House and Congress have yet to reach an agreement on the ethical provisions, a key factor in the bill’s effort to hit the 60-vote threshold. Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, said the next four weeks could be the Clarity Act’s last chance to pass in the current congressional session; if the bill fails to become law, the U.S. may further lag behind overseas markets in the race for digital asset innovation.

9 minutes ago

US pre-market news roundup: Intel plans to invest €5 billion to expand its Irish factory; storage and semiconductor equipment sectors fall across the board in pre-market trading.

Key pre-market news for U.S. stocks is as follows: 1. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs will kick off Q2 earnings reports on Tuesday, while Morgan Stanley will release its results on Wednesday. Markets expect U.S. large banks’ investment banking and trading revenues to surge, driven by SpaceX’s IPO, rising M&A activity, and market volatility sparked by the Iran situation; 2. Trump claimed Iran always breaks agreements, so the U.S. will strike hard at Iran, take control of the strait, and likely dominate it in the future; 3. SK Hynix’s U.S. ADR trades at a 23.4% premium to its South Korean shares; 4. Semiconductor equipment and storage sectors fell across the board pre-market, with KLAC down 3.7%, SanDisk and Western Digital both dropping over 5%; 5. Spot gold and silver fell broadly, with gold down 1.32% and silver down 2.23%; 6. Crude oil markets fell broadly, with U.S. crude up 3.35% and Brent crude up 3.53%; 7. Strategy did not add to its Bitcoin holdings last week, selling 4.82 million units to raise $467 million; 8. Bitmine added 27,801 ETH to its holdings last week, bringing its total staked ETH to 4.917 million, with an estimated annual staking income of $242 million.

9 minutes ago

South Korean stock market faces a margin trading crisis, with forced liquidations totaling 344.2 billion won in July.

According to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association, the recent sharp decline in South Korea's stock market has triggered accelerated deleveraging of margin trading positions. The total forced liquidation volume in July has reached 344.2 billion won, with the single-day forced liquidation amount on July 9 hitting 142.2 billion won. As forced liquidation data lags by two trading days, the clearing pressure from the nearly 9% plunge in the KOSPI on July 13 has not yet been fully reflected, and the market expects subsequent liquidation volumes to rise further. On July 13, South Korea's KOSPI index closed down 8.95%, triggering the Sidecar (seller order suspension mechanism) and Level 1 Circuit Breaker during intraday trading. The semiconductor sector plummeted, with SK Hynix falling 15.37%—its largest single-day drop in history—and Samsung Electronics down 10.7%. Meanwhile, South Korean retail investors' margin sizes, margin loan balances, and investor deposits have all continued to decline, with the market trapped in a deleveraging cycle of "stock price drop—forced liquidation—further decline".

9 minutes ago

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