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New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - July 9, 2026) - Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC, a nationally recognized investor-rights law firm, announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Futu Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: FUTU) and certain of its officers.

This lawsuit seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Futu securities between May 24, 2023 and May 27, 2026, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm's site: bgandg.com/FUTU.

Futu Case Details

The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that:

Futu was not in compliance with the requirements of the China Securities Regulatory Commission ("CSRC"), including because Futu continued to conduct securities business, public fund sales business, and futures business in mainland China without obtaining the requisite licenses or approval; as a result, Futu was reasonably likely to face regulatory penalties, including the disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and other penalties; and as a result of the foregoing, Futu's financial results were overstated; and as a result of the foregoing, defendants' positive statements about Futu's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.What's Next for Futu Investors?

A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint, you can visit the firm's site: bgandg.com/FUTU, or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Client Relations Manager, Nathan Miller, of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 917-590-0911. If you suffered a loss in Futu you have until August 25, 2026, to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as lead plaintiff.

No Cost to Futu Investors

We, Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC, represent investors in class actions on a contingency fee basis. That means we will ask the court to reimburse us for out-of-pocket expenses and attorneys' fees, usually a percentage of the total recovery, only if we are successful.

Why Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC for Futu Securities Class Action?

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a nationally recognized firm that represents investors in securities fraud class actions and shareholder derivative suits. Our firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors nationwide. More at www.bgandg.com

"Our practice centers on restoring investor capital and ensuring corporate accountability, which serves to uphold the essential integrity of the marketplace," said Peretz Bronstein, Founding Partner of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC.

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To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/303316

Source: Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC

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Key Takeaways Seagate is benefiting from AI-driven storage demand, supporting higher revenue growth and margin expansion.STX is advancing HAMR with Mozaic drives, targeting higher-capacity enterprise HDDs through 2027.STX is boosting shareholder returns with debt reduction, dividends, buybacks and strong cash flow. The AI boom has reshaped the technology landscape, creating massive demand not only for GPUs and cloud infrastructure but also for data storage solutions. As enterprises generate and retain unprecedented amounts of AI training and inference data, storage has become a critical piece of the AI value chain.

Among the biggest beneficiaries of this trend has been Seagate Technology Holdings plc (STX - Free Report) , surging an impressive 505.6% over the past year. It has outpaced the Zacks Computer-Integrated Systems industry, the Zacks Computer & Technology sector and the S&P 500’s run of 218.8%, 34.4%, and 23.1%, respectively, in the same period.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

STX’s shares have exceeded its industry peers like International Business Machines Corporation (IBM - Free Report) , but lagged HDD behemoth and its direct competitor Western Digital Corporation (WDC - Free Report) and storage rival Micron Technology (MU - Free Report) . WDC, MU and IBM have gained 751.4%, 676.2% and 4.1%, respectively, during the same time frame.

STX remains one of the world's leading manufacturers of enterprise HDDs and has been aggressively developing next-generation high-capacity drives specifically designed for AI data centers. The company boasts a 52-week high of $1,145. Nonetheless, such an extraordinary rally naturally raises an important question for investors: Can Seagate continue climbing, or has the market already priced in most of the opportunity?

Accelerating AI Infrastructure Spending Fuels STX’s ExpansionAI is driving an explosion in data storage. As hyperscale cloud providers continue expanding AI infrastructure, they increasingly rely on a combination of SSDs for active workloads and HDDs for large-scale data storage. This industry trend plays directly into Seagate's strengths. Major cloud providers, including Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta Platforms, continue investing tens of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure. As they expand AI data centers, demand for enterprise storage is rising, creating a strong long-term growth opportunity for Seagate.

Management highlighted that the company is entering a “new era of structural growth” driven by strong AI-led demand, rising adoption of Mozaic products and disciplined execution focused on expanding margins, cash flow and long-term value. While SSDs dominate high-speed applications, HDDs remain significantly more cost-effective for bulk storage—especially critical in hyperscale data centers supporting AI infrastructure. Seagate is well-positioned to capture this expanding opportunity through a technology strategy focused on increasing areal density rather than unit volumes, enabling a more capital- and manufacturing-efficient path to scale while improving cost and power efficiency per terabyte. This supports its target of mid-20% exabyte growth.

HAMR Technology Gives STX a Competitive EdgeInvestment in HAMR technology is STX’s key competitive advantage. Seagate’s focus on areal density and HAMR technology supports capacity growth and cost efficiency, with new product generations planned. Mozaic 4, second-generation HAMR, delivers up to 44TB per drive, 30% more capacity than the first generation. Mozaic 4 shipments began in late March and are expected to command 70% of HAMR shipments by the end of fiscal 2027. Mozaic 5 is in development, targeting 50TB capacity, with qualification shipments in late 2027. HAMR exabyte crossover is expected by the end of 2026. The focus is on increasing capacity per unit rather than unit volume, leveraging technology to improve aerial density.

Second-generation HAMR enables continued growth, with third-generation drives with 50TB capacity expected by the end of next year. Technology innovations include laser, photonic circuitry and media improvements, with minimal impact on the bill of materials. Seagate's strategy is built on durable storage demand, technology leadership and disciplined execution. Rising AI-driven data creation is boosting demand for cost- and energy-efficient, high-capacity HDDs, while its Mozaic platform and HAMR technology strengthen its competitive position. Backed by build-to-order contracts, pricing discipline and long-term supply agreements, Seagate is improving margin visibility and profitability.

Strong hyperscaler investment and sustained nearline storage demand have prompted the company to raise its annual revenue growth outlook to at least 20%, with capacity largely committed through 2027. Seagate's disciplined pricing strategy, supported by build-to-order contracts, provides greater revenue visibility and margin stability. Strong year-over-year and sequential price increases reflect robust demand, while most pricing for fiscal 2027 is already locked in with a significant portion of capacity allocated over the next four quarters. This approach is expected to support sequential revenue and profit growth throughout fiscal 2027, with management anticipating stable pricing trends rather than further acceleration.

Seagate's margins continue to outperform expectations, driven by strong demand, a favorable product mix and technology-led cost efficiencies. Incremental gross margins have exceeded the company's 50% target, supported by higher-capacity drives, improved yields and greater production efficiency. Management expects further margin expansion as Mozaic 5 and other technology advancements enhance cost and performance.

Strong Cash Returns Enhance the Investment CaseConsistent free cash flow generation strengthens Seagate's balance sheet and provides flexibility for future investments. Seagate also rewards shareholders through dividends. The company has maintained an attractive dividend policy while continuing to invest in product innovation. For income-focused investors, this provides an additional layer of return beyond potential share-price appreciation.

Seagate is using its strong cash flow to reduce debt while returning capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. After retiring $641 million in debt last quarter, the company plans to reduce its remaining convertible notes further, expand buybacks and continue investing in growth, reinforcing its commitment to long-term shareholder value. It will maintain capital discipline while continuing the transition and ramp-up of HAMR technology, with fiscal 2026 capital spending expected to remain within its target range of 4–6% of revenue.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

However, investors should remain aware of several risks. The HDD industry remains cyclical, making shipments vulnerable to customer inventory corrections, slower enterprise spending and weaker PC demand. Declining SSD prices could also intensify competition, although HDDs continue to offer a significant cost advantage for exabyte-scale storage. Additionally, Seagate's reliance on large hyperscale cloud customers means changes in their purchasing schedules can lead to quarter-to-quarter revenue volatility.

Positive Estimate Revision Trend for STXSTX is currently witnessing an uptrend in estimate revisions. Earnings estimates for fiscal 2026 have inched up 0.3% to $14.93 over the past 60 days, while the same for fiscal 2027 has gone up 6.5% to $28.05.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Valuation VulnerabilitiesGoing by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 30.54 forward earnings compared with 13.5 for the industry.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

In comparison, the forward 12-month price/earnings multiple for IBM, MU and WDC are 23.35X, 6.73X and 29.54X, respectively.

Is More Upside Ahead for STX Stock?Seagate's growth outlook is driven by several long-term catalysts, including sustained AI infrastructure spending, broader adoption of HAMR technology, increasing enterprise data storage needs and continued expansion of cloud data centers. Improving storage pricing, robust free cash flow and ongoing margin expansion could further boost earnings. Successful execution of its technology roadmap would strengthen Seagate's leadership in enterprise storage and support additional upside over the long term.

For investors who believe AI-driven data creation will continue accelerating over the next decade, Seagate remains an attractive way to gain exposure to one of the essential segments of the AI supply chain. While short-term pullbacks are always possible after such a strong run, the company's technological prowess, improving profitability and exposure to one of the fastest-growing technology trends suggest there could still be further upside over the long term.

Boasting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) currently, STX is a portfolio must-have. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

GFL Environmental Inc. (GFL - Free Report) closed the last trading session at $40.89, gaining 11.8% over the past four weeks, but there could be plenty of upside left in the stock if short-term price targets set by Wall Street analysts are any guide. The mean price target of $53.31 indicates a 30.4% upside potential.

The average comprises 18 short-term price targets ranging from a low of $40.00 to a high of $65.00, with a standard deviation of $7.23. While the lowest estimate indicates a decline of 2.2% from the current price level, the most optimistic estimate points to a 59% upside. More than the range, one should note the standard deviation here, as it helps understand the variability of the estimates. The smaller the standard deviation, the greater the agreement among analysts.

While the consensus price target is highly sought after by investors, the ability and unbiasedness of analysts in setting price targets have long been questionable. And investors making investment decisions solely based on this tool would arguably do themselves a disservice.

But, for GFL, an impressive average price target is not the only indicator of a potential upside. Strong agreement among analysts about the company's ability to report better earnings than they predicted earlier strengthens this view. While a positive trend in earnings estimate revisions doesn't gauge how much a stock could gain, it has proven to be powerful in predicting an upside.

Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Here's What You Should Know About Analysts' Price TargetsAccording to researchers at several universities across the globe, a price target is one of many pieces of information about a stock that misleads investors far more often than it guides. In fact, empirical research shows that price targets set by several analysts, irrespective of the extent of agreement, rarely indicate where the price of a stock could actually be heading.

While Wall Street analysts have deep knowledge of a company's fundamentals and the sensitivity of its business to economic and industry issues, many of them tend to set overly optimistic price targets. Are you wondering why?

They usually do that to drum up interest in shares of companies that their firms either have existing business relationships with or are looking to be associated with. In other words, business incentives of firms covering a stock often result in inflated price targets set by analysts.

However, a tight clustering of price targets, which is represented by a low standard deviation, indicates that analysts have a high degree of agreement about the direction and magnitude of a stock's price movement. While that doesn't necessarily mean the stock will hit the average price target, it could be a good starting point for further research aimed at identifying the potential fundamental driving forces.

That said, while investors should not entirely ignore price targets, making an investment decision solely based on them could lead to disappointing ROI. So, price targets should always be treated with a high degree of skepticism.

Why GFL Could Witness a Solid UpsideThere has been increasing optimism among analysts lately about the company's earnings prospects, as indicated by strong agreement among them in revising EPS estimates higher. And that could be a legitimate reason to expect an upside in the stock. After all, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has increased 8.5%, as one estimate has moved higher compared to no negative revision.

Moreover, GFL currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), which means it is in the top 20% of more than 4,000 stocks that we rank based on four factors related to earnings estimates. Given an impressive externally-audited track record, this is a more conclusive indication of the stock's potential upside in the near term. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .

Therefore, while the consensus price target may not be a reliable indicator of how much GFL could gain, the direction of price movement it implies does appear to be a good guide.

We’ve talked before about the hot IPO summer, but with SpaceX just launched to public markets and Anthropic and (maybe) OpenAI soon to come, it can be easy to miss the sheer scale of what’s happening.

We got a good reminder of it in Wednesday’s NCVA-Pitchbook Venture Monitor report. Not surprisingly, all of the money in private markets is flooding into AI — but one particular figure stood out. Taking the measure of the pending OpenAI and Anthropic IPOs, the report drops this nugget: “Along with the SpaceX IPO, these exits will generate more value than all U.S. VC-backed exits since 2000.”

That’s quite a claim, and when you add up the numbers, it’s hard to disagree. SpaceX has already gone public at a $1.77 trillion valuation, and with both Anthropic and OpenAI pushing into the trillions it’s likely the trio together will land somewhere north of $4 trillion. By comparison, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission counted just $70 billion in U.S.-based IPO proceeds last year.

Careful readers will notice a few caveats in the language. It doesn’t include non-U.S. companies like Alibaba, and we’re measuring “value created” as opposed to strictly liquid cash. A lot of the major tech developments happened at companies that had already gone public (the iPhone, the debut of Android, and the launches of YouTube and Instagram), so they wouldn’t be captured in the IPO figures.

Still… that was a pretty eventful 25 years. Among other things, that period saw IPOs from Google (2004), Tesla (2010), and Meta (2012), which are now among the most valuable companies in the world. During the same period, LinkedIn, Slack, and WhatsApp were all acquired for more than $20 billion. Uber’s $84 billion IPO seemed like a lot of money in 2019, but it’s less than 5% of what SpaceX just drummed up.

One factor here is that companies are staying private for longer. The Google of today probably would have delayed its IPO and gone public at a higher number. Another factor is the capital-intensive nature of AI training, which has pushed labs into intense fundraising and inflated valuations. But the sheer scale of the public offerings is still way beyond anything the industry has ever done, and is already pushing the financial infrastructure to its limit.

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Russell Brandom has been covering the tech industry since 2012, with a focus on platform policy and emerging technologies. He previously worked at The Verge and Rest of World, and has written for Wired, The Awl and MIT’s Technology Review. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at 412-401-5489.

The SpaceX IPO made CEO Elon Musk a trillionaire and could make investors in the company richer in years to come if the story can play out, Grantham said in an interview on Morningstar’s "The Long View" podcast.

"Supply and demand being what it is, it’s hard to imagine the price won’t go up, and perhaps it will go up a lot," Grantham said.

The GMO co-founder and chief investment strategist said the SpaceX IPO is a "landmark historical event."

"It will be amazing, by the way, if it doesn’t collapse, because it will need such massive developments on AI that our entire lives are totally different."

Grantham said SpaceX is "the craziest IPO in the history of man," an event that had everyone lining up telling investors to buy.

"In 50 years, they’ll be telling and writing stories about SpaceX and they’ll be quoting you paragraphs from the prospectus, and you will be laughing at it."

The Elon Musk AbilityThe British investor said that Musk is good at creating perceived value for his companies, which allows him to sell stock and reinvest in them.

"You’re so good at propaganda that instead of the price falling because of the dilution, it doesn’t, and very quickly it’s multiples of fair value once again."

Grantham mentions the greater fool theory when talking about Musk in the interview and his ability to get investors. This theory involves making money by buying overvalued assets, regardless of fundamentals, and later selling them at higher prices to "greater fools."

"The cohort that invested in Musk were proven right."

Grantham said time will tell if the theory works with SpaceX.

"Whether they can pull it off with $1.7 trillion worth of hype about AI – put it this way: If AI is actually going to be so good that the $1.7 trillion is cheap."

The investor said we should hope this is just AI hype, because if it’s not, the technology could put lives at severe risk.

"I wouldn’t wish it on our species at all."

Image via Shutterstock

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Key Takeaways Apple signed a $30B multi-year chip agreement with Broadcom, extending supply through 2031.ETFs like XLK and GXPT hold Apple and Broadcom among their top portfolio positions.The deal supports U.S. chip manufacturing and strengthens Apple's long-term AI and supply-chain strategy. Apple's (AAPL - Free Report) recent announcement of a landmark chipmaking agreement, worth more than $30 billion, with Broadcom (AVGO - Free Report) has sent ripples through the tech sector, with the latter’s shares climbing nearly 5% on the bourses following the news. 

This multi-year deal, which secures Broadcom as a key supplier of critical radio frequency (RF) and custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips through 2031, producing over 15 billion U.S.-made chips, underscores the deepening strategic ties between the two tech giants. 

For investors looking to capitalize on this powerful partnership without betting on a single stock, technology exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with significant exposure to both Apple and Broadcom offer a diversified path to participate in the potential upside.

But before diving straight into the specifics of these ETFs, it is crucial to understand the strategic rationale behind Apple’s $30 billion investment, how it strengthens both giants alongside the broader tech industry, and why this partnership remains critical amid the rapidly accelerating AI infrastructure build-out, so that investors can make an informed decision.

Rationale and Industry Impact of the $30B DealThe latest agreement involving the massive $30 billion investment commitment is a strategic masterstroke for both Apple and Broadcom, which will simultaneously bolster the entire U.S. tech industry. 

For Apple, the deal marks its largest commitment under its American Manufacturing Program, part of a $600 billion, four-year U.S. investment plan. It ensures a stable, long-term U.S.-based supply chain for critical components like RF filters and wireless connectivity chips, helping mitigate its supply-chain risks amid geopolitical uncertainties.

For Broadcom, the agreement eliminates its single largest long-term structural risk — the possibility of Apple replacing its components with in-house chips. This gives Broadcom long-term revenue visibility and massive cash flow security, freeing up resources to aggressively pursue its fastest-growing opportunity, custom AI accelerators. 

Ultimately, the broader tech sector should benefit heavily as this transaction accelerates an end-to-end silicon supply chain within the United States, reducing reliance on foreign fabrication plants.

The Future of the Partnership Amid AI AccelerationLooking ahead, this partnership is poised to become even more critical as the AI infrastructure build-out accelerates at a breakneck pace. The agreement goes beyond traditional iPhone components; it firmly positions Broadcom as a key partner in Apple's ambitious AI roadmap. 

As AI models grow more complex and pivot from training to inference, the demand for specialized, power-efficient silicon will surge. Custom ASICs are highly coveted for this exact transition due to their ability to maximize performance-per-watt for neural network algorithms. This trajectory is validated by Broadcom's proven strategy of providing tailored silicon for hyperscalers like Google, Meta, and OpenAI, cementing its status as a formidable player alongside NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report) in the AI hardware race. 

For Apple, this long-term contract secures priority access to next-generation silicon, positioning both tech giants at the vanguard of the AI revolution.

ETFs to Capture the Tech BoomConsidering the aforementioned discussion, rather than picking individual winners in this rapidly evolving landscape, investors can gain diversified exposure through the following ETFs that hold both Apple and Broadcom, as well as other key tech players. 

State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK - Free Report)

This fund, with assets under management (AUM) worth $118 billion, offers exposure to 74 companies from technology hardware, storage and peripherals; software; communications equipment; semiconductors and semiconductor equipment; IT services; and electronic equipment, instruments and components industries. NVDA holds the first spot in this fund, with 13.24% weightage. AAPL holds the second spot with 12.67% weightage, while AVGO holds the fourth spot with 4.87% weightage. 

XLK has surged 41.1% over the past year. The fund charges 8 basis points (bps) in fees and traded at a good volume of 10.53 million shares in the last trading session. It sports a Zacks ETF Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

iShares U.S. Technology ETF (IYW - Free Report)

This fund, with net assets worth $24.62 billion, offers exposure to 149 software, semiconductors, and tech hardware companies in the United States. NVDA holds the first spot in this fund, with 13.10% weightage. AAPL holds the second spot with 12.94% weightage, while AVGO holds the sixth spot with 4.31% weightage. 

IYW has soared 39.5% over the past year. The fund charges 38 bps in fees and traded at a volume of 0.43 million shares in the last trading session. It sports a Zacks ETF Rank #1.

iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM - Free Report)

This fund, with net assets worth $10.34 billion, offers exposure to 296 U.S. and Canadian technology and select communication services companies. AAPL holds the first spot with 8.87% weightage, while AVGO holds the fourth spot with 7.79% weightage. 

IGM has soared 39.8% over the past year. The fund charges 39 bps in fees and traded at a volume of 0.33 million shares in the last trading session. It sports a Zacks ETF Rank #1.

Global X PureCap MSCI Information Technology ETF (GXPT - Free Report)

This fund, with net assets worth $123.3 million, offers exposure to 87 U.S.-listed information technology companies. NVDA holds the first spot with 19.92% weightage. AAPL holds the second spot with 19.45% weightage, while AVGO holds the fourth spot with 7.40% weightage. 

GXPT has rallied 29.6% over the past year. The fund charges 15 bps in fees and traded at a volume of 0.06 million shares in the last trading session. It carries a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy). 

In this video, I will cover a major update from Meta Platforms (META +2.05%) and explain why the market's reaction may be sending the wrong signal to investors. Watch the short video to learn more, consider subscribing, and click the special offer link below.

*Stock prices used were from the trading day of July. 8, 2026. The video was published on July. 8, 2026.

Neil Rozenbaum has positions in Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Neil is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through his link, he will earn some extra money that supports his channel. His opinions remain his own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.

Key Takeaways Meta is building a $9B Alberta data center as part of its aggressive AI infrastructure expansion.A cloud business could help Meta monetize AI investments and reduce its reliance on advertising.Heavy AI spending, rich valuation and execution risks may make a better entry point worth waiting for. Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) has built one of the world's most profitable digital advertising businesses. Nearly 98% of its revenues still comes from ads, while artificial intelligence (AI) has helped improve content recommendations, advertising performance and user engagement across its apps.

But the company is thinking beyond advertising and is laying the groundwork for its next phase of growth. In the latest infrastructure push, Meta is building its first data center outside the United States—a 1-gigawatt facility in Alberta, Canada, expected to cost about $9 billion. That would be the company’s 33rd data center. Separately, reports indicate Meta is exploring a cloud computing business by potentially renting excess computing capacity or offering AI services to outside customers.

Over the past year, META stock has underperformed the broader industry and peers like Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) and Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) but has surpassed Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) .

1-Year Price Performance Comparison Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Do Meta's aggressive AI infrastructure investments and potential cloud plans strengthen its long-term investment case? And is META stock a buy at current levels?

The AI Infrastructure Build-Out ContinuesMeta's Alberta facility is the latest step in the company's AI infrastructure expansion. As AI models become larger and more compute-intensive, Meta is rapidly adding data center capacity to support growing demand for AI infrastructure and services.

Alberta offers several advantages for such a project, including abundant energy, industrial land and a business-friendly regulatory environment. The data center is also expected to create more than 3,000 construction jobs at its peak, while supporting local infrastructure and community investments.

Meta is building this infrastructure to train and deploy its Llama AI models and power AI experiences across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads.

Meta is not alone. Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet are also investing on a huge scale in AI infrastructure and data centers to meet surging demand for generative AI.

Could Meta Become the Next Cloud Provider?Alongside its infrastructure expansion, Meta is reportedly evaluating another opportunity—cloud computing.

Per Bloomberg reports, the company is debating whether to offer customers access to AI models hosted on its infrastructure or simply rent out excess computing capacity. If launched, the business would compete with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, which have become major revenue contributors for Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet, respectively.

For investors, the significance lies in diversification. Meta has invested significantly in AI infrastructure over the past several years. A cloud business could provide another way to generate returns from those investments while reducing the company's overwhelming dependence on advertising.

However, cloud computing also comes with challenges. Unlike advertising, cloud infrastructure is a lower-margin business that requires significant investments in servers, networking, enterprise sales and customer support. Alphabet offers a useful example. While Google's advertising business enjoys operating margins above 40%, Google Cloud took years to become profitable and still operates at much lower margins. If Meta eventually enters the cloud market, investors should expect greater revenue diversification, but potentially lower overall profitability.

AI Is Already Strengthening Meta’s Core BusinessMeta is already benefiting from its AI investments. Instagram Reels watch time increased 10% globally during the first quarter of 2026, while Facebook video watch time rose 8%. AI-translated videos are now watched weekly by more than 500 million users across Facebook and Instagram. Threads also surpassed 500 million monthly active users.

Meta's ecosystem remains one of its biggest competitive advantages. More than 3.56 billion people use at least one of its apps every day, giving the company enormous amounts of data to improve AI models and deliver better advertising results.

The company is also expanding monetization opportunities through paid messaging on WhatsApp, subscription offerings across Facebook, Instagram and Meta AI, and new AI tools such as Muse Image.

Meta’s Elevated Spending Remains a ConcernWhile Meta is seeing tangible benefits from AI, the cost of building that advantage remains a key concern. Its aggressive AI spending has raised investor concerns, as the financial returns from these massive investments are likely to take time to materialize.

Meta now expects 2026 capital expenditures between $125 billion and $145 billion, above its previous guidance, while operating expenses are projected between $162 billion and $169 billion. This is expected to put pressure on free cash flow and near-term earnings.

Meta is not alone in this spending race. Alphabet raised its 2026 capital expenditure outlook to $180-$190 billion, reflecting higher AI compute demand and additional investments tied to the Wiz acquisition. Microsoft expects to invest roughly $190 billion during fiscal 2026, while Amazon plans to spend around $200 billion and continues investing aggressively to expand AWS and its AI infrastructure.

META Valuation CheckMETA stock is trading at a premium valuation. Its forward 12-month P/S of 5.45X is above the Zacks Internet Software industry's 3.89X. The stock also carries a Value Score of C.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

How to Play META Stock NowMeta is making the right long-term strategic bets, but investors may have to wait longer for those investments to deliver meaningful financial returns. The stock has a rich valuation, and heavy AI spending is likely to weigh on free cash flow and earnings over the near term. Although Wall Street's consensus price target implies roughly 37% upside from current levels, that potential is accompanied by significant execution risk.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Existing shareholders can continue to hold the stock for its long-term AI potential, but new investors may be better off waiting for a more attractive entry point. META currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

In this video, I will cover recent Meta (META +2.05%) news and explain the ripple effect it could have on Nebius, CoreWeave, and the broader AI infrastructure trade. Watch the short video to learn more, consider subscribing, and click the special offer link below.

*Stock prices used were from the trading day of July. 2, 2026. The video was published on July. 2, 2026.

Neil Rozenbaum has positions in CoreWeave, Meta Platforms, and Nebius Group. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Neil is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through his link, he will earn some extra money that supports his channel. His opinions remain his own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.

Meta Platforms Inc. META shares traded higher on Thursday, reversing early losses as investors assessed the company's latest artificial intelligence initiatives.

This includes plans to begin manufacturing an in-house AI chip and the public preview of its upgraded Muse Spark 1.1 model.

The developments show Meta's efforts to strengthen its AI infrastructure, reduce reliance on third-party chip suppliers, and expand its portfolio of proprietary AI products as competition with OpenAI, Anthropic and Google intensifies.

According to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters, Meta plans to begin manufacturing its in-house artificial intelligence chip, code-named Iris, from September.

The chip is part of the company's four-generation Meta Training and Inference Accelerators (MTIA) program and is designed to improve the AI systems powering Facebook and Instagram.

Reuters reported that testing of the chip took just six weeks and uncovered no major issues, marking progress for an in-house chip initiative that has faced challenges since it began more than five years ago.

Meta is working with Broadcom on the chip's design, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) will manufacture it.

The custom silicon is intended to complement the large number of graphics processing units (GPUs) Meta purchases from Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) while helping the company lower computing costs and reduce dependence on external suppliers.

Meta plans to deploy seven gigawatts of computing infrastructure this year before doubling capacity to 14 gigawatts in 2027.

To support its AI expansion, the company has secured long-term supply agreements with Samsung Electronics for memory chips, Sandisk for flash storage and Sumitomo Electric for fiber-optic equipment.

Alongside its infrastructure investments, Meta introduced Muse Spark 1.1, describing it as the latest version of its AI model focused on coding and agentic AI capabilities.

The company is making the model available through a public developer preview, allowing developers to join a waitlist for API access through Meta's developer portal.

"This is going to be served on top of the computer infrastructure that we’ve built," said Meta's AI chief Alexandr Wang.

Wang said the updated model is Meta's "strongest model for agentic and coding work yet."

He also said the pricing is "very aggressive and attractive" compared with competing offerings from OpenAI and Anthropic. New API users will receive $20 in free credits before usage-based pricing begins.

"The goal is to really have attractive pricing that scales with immense consumption usage," Wang said.

According to Wang, Meta trained Muse Spark 1.1 to strengthen coding capabilities because "You kind of have to build coding capabilities as part of that in service of overall agentic capabilities."

Meta said it is currently limiting API access to its own ecosystem rather than making the model available through third-party AI marketplaces.

The latest announcements come as Meta continues to increase spending on AI infrastructure.

Reuters reported that the company expects to spend as much as $145 billion on AI infrastructure this year, accounting for a significant share of Big Tech's projected AI investment.

The company also announced plans to build its first Canadian data center in Sturgeon County, Alberta.

The AI-optimized facility represents an investment of more than CAD $13 billion, is expected to support about 3,000 construction jobs at peak and more than 300 operational positions, and will run on 100% clean and renewable energy.

Known as one of the boldest portfolio managers out there, Cathie Wood of Ark Invest likes to swing for the fences with her exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This has led to some years of big gains for her flagship fund, the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK +1.85%). In 2023, it rose 67.6%, and in 2025, it gained 35.5%. It has also resulted in some years with steep losses, like 2022, when it plunged by 67%.

As a rule, Wood invests in companies with disruptive technology, and she's willing to make big bets on those innovators. Let's look at five stocks she was recently buying on the dip.

SpaceX

Today's Change

(

0.58

%) $

0.86

Current Price

$

149.16

Although SpaceX (SPCX +0.58%) had its initial public offering less than a month ago, Wood has already made the stock one of her 10 largest positions, and she has been scooping up more shares as the stock has come down from its early peak. SpaceX is trying to be at the center of disrupting several industries. Among its goals is to deploy a constellation of data center satellites in space, create a giant chip manufacturing facility, and potentially compete with tradition mobile carriers with its Starlink satellite broadband service.

However, the stock trades at a high valuation, and the company will need to overcome numerous technical hurdles to achieve any of these moonshot objectives.

Cerebras

Today's Change

(

3.76

%) $

6.84

Current Price

$

188.56

Cerebras (NASDAQ: CBRS) is another recent arrival to the public market that has pulled back to well below its IPO price, and Wood recently added some shares of the company to a couple of Ark ETFs. Cerebras has an innovative solution for inference that embeds SRAM (static random-access memory) directly onto its chips. This gives the company a superior solution for inference, but it comes at a premium price, as its technology is based on huge, wafer-sized chips -- each about the size of a dinner plate -- that need special cooling and energy-management solutions that need to be sold or rented as complete systems.

Right now, Cerebras is a niche player in the chip space, but it has the potential to upend the inference market. It also has a big deal in place with OpenAI.

Tesla

Today's Change

(

-0.28

%) $

-1.11

Current Price

$

392.95

Wood has continued to add to her biggest position, Tesla (TSLA 0.28%). Tesla shares fell despite the electric vehicle (EV) market reporting better-than-expected second-quarter deliveries, led by gains in Europe, as U.S. deliveries remain weak. However, Wood's thesis on Tesla largely centers on the company's robotaxi ambitions, and its rideshare service recently debuted in a second market, Miami.

I remain skeptical of Tesla's robotaxi ambitions. Its autonomous driving solution has safety issues relative to competitors that use lida, and Waymo now has a first-mover advantage. If Tesla's robotaxi or robotics ambitions don't pan out as management has promised, the stock is clearly overvalued based on its core business.

Circle Internet Stablecoin platform Circle Internet (CRCL 1.05%) has been seeing its shares sell off following the news that Open Standard is introducing a rival stablecoin called Open USD, and Wood has been buying the pullback. The stock has lost nearly 70% of its value over the past year, during which time Wood has made it the Ark Innovation ETF's 12th-largest holding.

Circle has strong liquidity and a first-mover advantage that may make it difficult to unseat in this huge market. It's deeply integrated into decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, crypto exchanges, and corporate treasury pilot programs. However, a serious threat could be looming: Big banks are expected to roll out a tokenized deposit network next year through The Clearing House that will introduce blockchain to mainstream finance. Circle will likely continue to dominate as the bridge between crypto networks and finance apps, but it likely won't be able to break into mainstream banking, which could limit the stock's upside.

Image source: Getty Images.

Palantir Another stock Wood has been buying on the dip is Palantir (PLTR 3.88%). The company has been caught in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry sell-off, although its unique position in the AI ecosystem would make it one of AI's biggest long-term winners. The company's Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) acts as an AI orchestration layer that helps reduce hallucinations and makes AI more useful for enterprises by gathering all of an organization's data and placing it in an ontology that it then links to real-world processes and objects.

While the stock is not cheap, trading at a price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of 39 times, the company has been seeing rapid and accelerating revenue growth, including a surge of 85% last quarter. Given how many use cases there could be for AIP across industries, Palantir has the potential to eventually become one of the largest companies in the world.

Elon Musk has been the wealthiest man in the world since 2024, and he reached trillionaire status for the first time when Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX +0.75%) stock briefly topped $200 a share in its first week of trading. However, SpaceX stock is now 26% off its highs, and Elon Musk is no longer a trillionaire.

What does that mean for his companies, SpaceX and Tesla (TSLA +1.26%), and for shareholders?

Image source: Getty Images.

Elon Musk and ownership Many of the world's billionaires have their wealth tied up in stock, usually as executives of their companies. Elon Musk heads two of the world's top-15 most valuable companies, and he owns a substantial stake in each. As of July, he owns 717.1 million Tesla shares, or 15.7% of the company, which is worth about $282.4 billion at today's price. He also owns about 46% of SpaceX stock, with more that could come his way based on performance measures. At today's prices, that's $704.5 billion worth, and together, his net worth is $987 billion, just shy of $1 trillion.

Both of these stocks have been sliding lately, although they're both trillion-dollar companies. SpaceX is the seventh-most-valuable company in the U.S., worth $1.94 trillion, while Tesla is 11th and worth $1.48 trillion. Tesla stock is down 12.4% this year. At $148 a share, SpaceX stock is still over its IPO price of $135, but it's dropped below its market open price of $150.

Today's Change

(

0.75

%) $

1.11

Current Price

$

149.41

What about other shareholders? Tesla shareholders have been well-rewarded over time. It's up more than 24,640% since it went public and has almost certainly minted some millionaires, even retail investors who aren't company insiders. However, like SpaceX, it has attracted investors based on hype and Elon Musk fandom. It's a growing company, but there's accelerating competition in the electric vehicle space, and there are worries about lower profits and a high valuation -- based on its shrinking net income, the stock currently trades at 368 times trailing 12-month earnings.

Today's Change

(

1.26

%) $

4.99

Current Price

$

399.05

SpaceX is even more expensive, trading at 110 times sales, and it's reporting high net losses. It's even clearer that the investing thesis is based on confidence in Elon Musk's vision.

Both of these are risky stocks, but SpaceX has an added risk tied to Elon Musk's ownership, and that's his 82.3% voting rights. That means other shareholders have no recourse if they're unhappy with his leadership or in making any other decisions about the company and its direction.

Right now, neither one of these companies looks like a great bargain on the dip.

Alphabet earns a 'Buy' rating, with medium-term upside driven by ecosystem expansion and M&A-driven synergies, notably the Wiz acquisition. GOOG's business verticalization and integration of assets are expected to protect and potentially expand margins as AI and cross-selling opportunities scale. Key catalysts include a doubling GCP backlog, monetization of 8th-gen TPUs, and bundled premium offerings, supporting above-consensus growth rates.

Taking full advantage of the stock market and investing with confidence are common goals for new and old investors, and Zacks Premium offers many different ways to do both.

Featuring daily updates of the Zacks Rank and Zacks Industry Rank, full access to the Zacks #1 Rank List, Equity Research reports, and Premium stock screens, the research service can help you become a smarter, more self-assured investor.

Zacks Premium also includes the Zacks Style Scores.

What are the Zacks Style Scores? The Zacks Style Scores is a unique set of guidelines that rates stocks based on three popular investing types, and were developed as complementary indicators for the Zacks Rank. This combination helps investors choose securities with the highest chances of beating the market over the next 30 days.

Each stock is given an alphabetic rating of A, B, C, D or F based on their value, growth, and momentum qualities. With this system, an A is better than a B, a B is better than a C, and so on, meaning the better the score, the better chance the stock will outperform.

The Style Scores are broken down into four categories:

Value ScoreFinding good stocks at good prices, and discovering which companies are trading under their true value, are what value investors like to focus on. So, the Value Style Score takes into account ratios like P/E, PEG, Price/Sales, Price/Cash Flow, and a host of other multiples to highlight the most attractive and discounted stocks.

Growth ScoreGrowth investors are more concerned with a stock's future prospects, and the overall financial health and strength of a company. Thus, the Growth Style Score analyzes characteristics like projected and historic earnings, sales, and cash flow to find stocks that will see sustainable growth over time.

Momentum ScoreMomentum traders and investors live by the saying "the trend is your friend." This investing style is all about taking advantage of upward or downward trends in a stock's price or earnings outlook. Employing factors like one-week price change and the monthly percentage change in earnings estimates, the Momentum Style Score can indicate favorable times to build a position in high-momentum stocks.

VGM ScoreWhat if you like to use all three types of investing? The VGM Score is a combination of all Style Scores, making it one of the most comprehensive indicators to use with the Zacks Rank. It rates each stock on their combined weighted styles, which helps narrow down the companies with the most attractive value, best growth forecast, and most promising momentum.

How Style Scores Work with the Zacks Rank A proprietary stock-rating model, the Zacks Rank utilizes the power of earnings estimate revisions, or changes to a company's earnings outlook, to help investors create a successful portfolio.

#1 (Strong Buy) stocks have produced an unmatched +23.94% average annual return since 1988, which is more than double the S&P 500's performance over the same time frame. However, the Zacks Rank examines a ton of stocks, and there can be more than 200 companies with a Strong Buy rank, and another 600 with a #2 (Buy) rank, on any given day.

This totals more than 800 top-rated stocks, and it can be overwhelming to try and pick the best stocks for you and your portfolio.

That's where the Style Scores come in.

To have the best chance of big returns, you'll want to always consider stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2 that also have Style Scores of A or B, which will give you the highest probability of success. If you're looking at stocks with a #3 (Hold) rank, it's important they have Scores of A or B as well to ensure as much upside potential as possible.

As mentioned above, the Scores are designed to work with the Zacks Rank, so any change to a company's earnings outlook should be a deciding factor when picking which stocks to buy.

A stock with a #4 (Sell) or #5 (Strong Sell) rating, for instance, even one with Scores of A and B, will still have a declining earnings forecast, and a greater chance its share price will fall too.

Thus, the more stocks you own with a #1 or #2 Rank and Scores of A or B, the better.

Stock to Watch: Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) Amazon.com is one of the largest e-commerce providers, with sprawling operations in North America, now spreading across the globe. Its online retail business revolves around the Prime program well-supported by the company's massive distribution network, which delivered at its fastest speeds ever for Prime members globally in 2025. Further, the Whole Foods Market acquisition helped Amazon establish a footprint in the physical grocery supermarket space. Amazon also enjoys a dominant position in the cloud-computing market, particularly in the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) space, thanks to Amazon Web Services (AWS), which is one of its high-margin generating businesses. Amazon's custom AI chips — Trainium and Graviton — now have a combined annual revenue run rate of over $10 billion.

AMZN is a #2 (Buy) on the Zacks Rank, with a VGM Score of B.

Additionally, the company could be a top pick for growth investors. AMZN has a Growth Style Score of B, forecasting year-over-year earnings growth of 23.6% for the current fiscal year.

One analyst revised their earnings estimate higher in the last 60 days for fiscal 2026, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $0.02 to $8.86 per share. AMZN also boasts an average earnings surprise of +11.4%.

With a solid Zacks Rank and top-tier Growth and VGM Style Scores, AMZN should be on investors' short list.

For much of the past decade, Wall Street rewarded companies that funneled excess cash into stock buybacks. That playbook is changing. The world’s largest technology companies are now directing hundreds of billions of dollars toward artificial intelligence infrastructure instead of repurchasing shares. 

At first glance, that has disappointed investors looking for immediate capital returns. Yet the shift reflects something far more important: management teams believe the return on AI investment exceeds the return on buying back their own stock. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN | AMZN Price Prediction) may be one of the clearest examples of why patient investors should pay attention.

Amazon Is Buying Chips Instead of Its Own Stock A recent BofA Global Research report comparing hyperscalers and semiconductor companies on a 12-month forward free cash flow basis illustrates the market’s current divide. Hyperscalers have seen free cash flow pressured as capital expenditures surge, while semiconductor companies are enjoying expanding cash generation as demand for AI chips continues climbing.

The relationship is straightforward. The largest technology companies have largely stopped buying their own shares because they’re buying AI hardware instead.

Amazon hasn’t repurchased any of its stock since the second quarter of 2022. Instead, the company has poured capital into expanding Amazon Web Services (AWS), building AI data centers, developing its Trainium and Inferentia AI chips, and expanding the infrastructure needed to support generative AI.

That spending isn’t unique to Amazon. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) are all committing record sums to AI infrastructure. The immediate winners have been semiconductor companies supplying the chips powering that buildout.

Ironically, that’s exactly why chipmakers have outperformed.

Amazon is ditching short-term payouts to fund a massive AI infrastructure play—and its valuation hasn't been this low in a decade. © 24/7 Wall St. The Investment Payoff Is Still Ahead Some investors have started asking why they should own Amazon if management isn’t even buying back its own stock. But investors should flip that argument around.

Management isn’t avoiding buybacks because it lacks confidence. It’s skipping buybacks because executives believe investing billions into AI infrastructure today will generate higher returns tomorrow.

Those investments won’t remain expenses forever. They become revenue-producing assets through AWS cloud services, AI model hosting, custom silicon sales, enterprise software, advertising improvements, and retail automation.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Amazon didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Amazon also has multiple growth engines working simultaneously:

Growth Driver Opportunity AWS Enterprise cloud and AI workloads continue expanding Custom AI Chips Trainium and Inferentia reduce customer costs while competing with third-party accelerators Retail AI improves fulfillment efficiency and customer recommendations Advertising Higher-margin business continues growing across Amazon’s ecosystem Space Project Kuiper adds another long-term platform opportunity As those investments mature, free cash flow should begin catching up with today’s elevated capital spending.

The Valuation Looks Hard to Ignore This is where the numbers get compelling. Amazon currently trades around 29 times earnings, one of its lowest valuation multiples historically, as shares often trade for 50x or more. Despite rebounding roughly 23% from its trough earlier this year, the valuation remains historically depressed.

Even after the recovery, Amazon shares still trade roughly 14% below their 52-week high. Meanwhile, Wall Street analysts project 22% average annual earnings growth over the next five years.

Granted, heavy capital spending always carries execution risk. If AI demand cools or enterprise customers slow adoption, those returns could take longer to materialize. But Amazon has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to turn large infrastructure investments into highly profitable businesses, from AWS to its logistics network.

Key Takeaway In short, Amazon’s lack of buybacks shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of confidence. It’s a deliberate capital allocation decision. The company believes every dollar invested in AI infrastructure today can earn more than a dollar spent shrinking the share count.

Semiconductor companies are benefiting first because they’re selling the picks and shovels. Amazon’s payoff should arrive later as those AI investments begin generating higher revenue, expanding margins, and stronger free cash flow.

For investors with a medium- to long-term time horizon, that creates an attractive setup. A company expected to grow earnings roughly 22% annually, trading near some of its lowest valuations ever, while building multiple new AI-driven businesses, doesn’t come along often. Ultimately, today’s muted valuation could prove to be one of the better entry points Amazon has offered in years.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Amazon didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

by Lisa Stiffler on Jul 9, 2026 at 9:00 amJuly 9, 2026 at 8:30 am

Inside a Microsoft data center. (Microsoft Photo) Microsoft has just four more years to reach its ambitious goal of removing more planet-warming carbon that it produces. But the company’s annual sustainability report, released Thursday, shows it’s moving in the opposite direction, as its 2025 emissions spiked 25% over the previous year.

Despite the troubling increase, Microsoft leaders say they remain committed to the longer-term goal.

“We continue to really be focused around carbon negativity by 2030,” said Melanie Nakagawa, chief sustainability officer, in an interview with GeekWire.

The Redmond, Wash.-based company is the latest tech giant to fall further behind its climate targets as they invest billions of dollars in new, energy-hungry data centers to power the AI boom. Amazon’s carbon footprint jumped 16% last year, while Google’s greenhouse gas emissions swelled 18%.

The report also shows how much energy use drove that increase: Microsoft’s emissions from purchased electricity — known as Scope 2 emissions — grew by 25% last year.

In total, Microsoft produced 34 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2025. After subtracting the carbon it paid to remove from the atmosphere, that figure drops to a net 20 million tons. That puts the company’s footprint roughly on par with the total emissions of Panama or Lithuania.

In addition to data center expansion, Nakagawa said, the carbon increase was also driven by Microsoft’s decision to stop buying unbundled, short-term renewable energy certificates, or RECs — a mechanism companies can use to quickly lower their reported emissions for a given year. Microsoft is instead prioritizing longer-term initiatives with bigger impact, she said.

The challenge Microsoft wants to answer, she said, is how to take a “portfolio approach” that spans carbon dioxide removal, carbon-free electricity, sustainable materials, and fuels — addressing all of them together rather than in isolation.

Image from Microsoft’s 2026 sustainability report. Where Microsoft made gains The annual report highlighted areas of success. That includes:

Matching its electricity consumption worldwide with clean energy sources. For the first time, replenishing more fresh water globally than it withdrew, making important progress on its 2030 goal of being water positive across operations. Achieving 92% reuse and recycling of decommissioned cloud servers and components for the second consecutive year. Reaching a total of 40 gigawatts of clean power purchase agreements across 26 countries, with 19 gigawatts currently online. (Forty gigawatts is roughly enough power to serve 30-40 million typical U.S. homes at once.) Scrutiny over recent moves Microsoft’s sustainability disclosures come after a series of announcements and news reports that have raised concerns among climate advocates.

Last month, Microsoft and Chevron announced an agreement to build a natural gas facility in Texas with a 2.67 gigawatt capacity, providing dedicated electricity to the tech company for 20 years. In May, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft was considering scaling down or scuttling a pledge to match its electricity use with carbon-free power around the clock by 2030. In April, the New York Times reported that Microsoft was pausing future purchases of carbon removal credits, after years as the market’s top buyer. Nakagawa said the company has not canceled any canceled removal projects, though she did not provide specifics about new purchases going forward. “We’re just continuing to take a hard look at each of the deals that are coming through,” she said, and looking for “credible opportunities to scale.”

Asked about Microsoft’s commitment to purchasing clean energy 24/7 — an approach that would eliminate reliance on coal- or gas-powered energy when wind and solar aren’t available — Nakagawa declined to confirm it. “We still are looking towards opportunities around carbon-free electricity,” while focusing on the 2030 carbon negative goals, she said.

As to the natural gas deal, the chief sustainability officer said Microsoft has also contracted to purchase 4.7 gigawatts of renewable power in Texas alone and that the company evaluates its energy investments as part of a broader mix.

Looking for efficiencies elsewhere Even as data centers remain the prime driver of Microsoft’s rising energy use and emissions, the company points to other steps aimed at reducing the environmental footprint of the facilities.

That includes increasing the use of lower-carbon steel and concrete and incorporating mass timber into data center buildings. And In the past year, Microsoft has added a seventh Circular Center — one of several facilities worldwide where the company recycles and reuses electronics from data center operations.

Microsoft is also working with developers to use AI models more efficiently and build right-sized products. AI agents can review, test and improve code so it uses less energy when it runs, Nakagawa said.

“I definitely think there’s an opportunity here,” she said.

Six gigawatts. That is the total AMD Instinct GPU capacity AMD (NASDAQ:AMD | AMD Price Prediction) will deploy for Meta under a partnership disclosed alongside its most recent earnings, with the first 1-gigawatt tranche powered by a custom MI450-based GPU. For scale reference, one gigawatt is roughly the output of a large nuclear reactor. Meta is committing to power-plant-scale AMD silicon, and it is doing so on top of a separate 6-gigawatt OpenAI agreement already on the books.

The total investment in compute for AMD has been rumored to be around $300 billion, though we’ll see what ultimately gets invested over time. Indeed, that’s the big question mark right now in financial markets.

What It Means Hyperscalers do not sign gigawatt-scale accelerator agreements as hedges. They sign them when they intend to build. That reframes AMD from a challenger chasing NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) into a co-supplier for the largest AI infrastructure buildouts in the world.

The financial fingerprints are already on the tape. Q1 FY2026 Data Center revenue reached $5.775 billion, up 57% year over year, making it the largest and fastest-growing of AMD’s four segments. Total Q1 revenue landed at $10.253 billion, up 37.9% year over year, beating the $9.91 billion consensus by 3.41%. Non-GAAP EPS came in at $1.37 versus $1.29 expected, driven by non-GAAP gross margins which expanded to 55% (up 170 basis points year over year).

Cash generation is scaling with the mix shift. Q1 free cash flow hit $2.566 billion, up 252.96% year over year, on operating cash flow of $2.955 billion. Net income more than doubled to $1.383 billion, up 95.06%.

Market Reaction AMD shares closed at $517.82 on July 2, 2026, down 4.26% on the day. That single-session dip is noise inside a much larger move. AMD is up 141.79% year to date from $214.16 at the end of 2025, and up 273.82% over the past year. For context, over the same twelve months, NVIDIA is up 24.06%.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and AMD didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Bull Case The AMD bull case rests on a simple observation – the company’s customer roster now looks like NVIDIA’s. AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Tencent are expanding 5th Gen EPYC-powered instances. Meta is the lead customer for 6th Gen EPYC (Venice and Verano). Oracle Cloud Infrastructure is standing up a 50,000-GPU AI supercluster using AMD Helios rack design in Q3 2026. Samsung is supplying HBM4 memory for the MI455X.

Guidance points to further acceleration. AMD guided Q2 FY2026 revenue to roughly $11.20 billion, implying about 46% year-over-year growth, with non-GAAP gross margin expanding to about 56%. On the Q1 call, CEO Lisa Su said, “Customer engagement around MI450 Series and Helios is strengthening, with leading customer forecasts exceeding our initial expectations and a growing pipeline of large-scale deployments providing us with increasing visibility into our growth trajectory.”

The pressure on rivals is visible in relative performance. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) still carries a negative EPS of -$0.60 on a trailing basis, with quarterly earnings growth down 71.7% year over year. NVIDIA remains the incumbent, but AMD is winning nameplate capacity commitments rather than trial orders. Analyst posture reflects it: 41 buy or strong buy ratings against 10 holds and zero sells, with a consensus target of $508.31.

Bottom Line Six gigawatts from Meta and another six from OpenAI turn AMD’s AI narrative from optionality into contracted backlog. For long-term holders, the anchor to watch is Data Center revenue, which drove the Q1 beat and underpins Q2 guidance of about $11.20 billion in total revenue.

AMD’s valuation is stretched, with a forward P/E of 77 on a stock up 141.79% year to date leaves little room for execution slips. But, the shipments behind those gigawatts are what the next earnings report will need to prove. That is the number that decides whether the pressure on rivals turns into permanent market share.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and AMD didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

A Lufthansa Boeing is surrounded by ambulances and other emergency vehicles after several staff members were injured when the nose gear of a Boeing 787 jetliner unexpectedly collapsed at a... Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Read more

BERLIN, July 9 (Reuters) - German aviation accident investigators said on Thursday that a misplaced locking ​pin was involved in the nose gear ‌collapse of a Boeing 787 at a gate at Frankfurt airport last month.

The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.

A locking pin ​had not been inserted in the ​nose gear before the collapse that left ⁠several staff members injured.

The device was ​instead found in a storage box in ​the aircraft's forward hold, said the BFU federal aviation accident investigation bureau in an interim report.

The Lufthansa (LHAG.DE), opens new tab ​Boeing B787-9 (BA.N), opens new tab jetliner was being prepared ​for a long-haul flight to Los Angeles at a ‌terminal ⁠parking stand on June 4 when its nose gear collapsed.

According to the report, there were 28 people inside the aircraft, including ​technicians, crew ​members and ⁠ground staff, when the nose landing gear unexpectedly retracted.

Six other ​individuals outside were directly involved.

The investigation ​is ⁠not yet complete, and an analysis, including a determination of the causes, will only ⁠be ​provided in the final ​report, expected in about a year.

Reporting by Klaus Lauer, Writing ​by Miranda Murray; Editing by Alexandra Hudson

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

NKE's 2026 reset has cash strength and performance traction, but weak estimates, channel pressure and valuation keep the stock from looking like a bargain.

The State Street SPDR Portfolio MSCI Global Stock Market ETF (SPGM +0.79%) offers broader geographic exposure and a lower expense ratio than the iShares MSCI World ETF (URTH +0.66%).

Both funds serve as core global equity holdings, but they define global differently. While URTH tracks developed markets, SPGM includes emerging markets and a wider range of market capitalizations, providing a more comprehensive slice of international stocks for a fraction of the cost.

Snapshot (cost & size)MetricURTHSPGMIssueriSharesSPDRShare price (as of July 6, 2026)$204.44$86.02Expense ratio0.24%0.09%1-yr return (as of July 6, 2026)21.4%25.6%Dividend yield1.4%1.8%Beta0.950.92AUM$8.1 billion$1.9 billionBeta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year monthly returns. The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. Dividend yield is the trailing-12-month distribution yield.

SPGM is more affordable, with a 0.09% expense ratio compared to 0.24% for its iShares peer. Additionally, the State Street fund currently provides a higher payout, with a yield gap of 0.40 percentage points.

Performance & risk comparisonMetricURTHSPGMMax drawdown (5 yr)(26.1%)(25.9%)Growth of $1,000 over 5 years (total return)$1,729$1,718What's insideState Street’s ETF provides broad exposure to established and developing markets, covering sectors like technology at 31%, financial services at 16%, and industrials at 12%. Its largest positions among 2,933 holdings include Nvidia (NVDA 0.88%) at 3.99%, Apple (AAPL +0.49%) at 3.98%, and Microsoft (MSFT 0.96%) at 2.39%. The fund was launched in 2012. SPGM has paid $1.54 per share over the trailing 12 months, which on its recent ~$86.02 share price works out to a 1.8% yield.

The iShares fund focuses exclusively on developed economies, with a portfolio leaning into technology at 31%, financial services at 16%, and industrials at 11%. Top holdings among its 1,287 positions include Apple at 5.1%, Nvidia at 5.01%, and Microsoft at 3.03%. URTH was launched in 2012. The iShares ETF has paid $2.84 per share over the trailing 12 months, which on its recent ~$204.44 share price works out to a 1.4% yield.

For more guidance on ETF investing, check out the full guide at this link.

What this means for investorsURTH and SPGM share several commonalities. Their five-year returns and max drawdowns are about the same. Both have low betas. Their top 10 holdings even include the same eight stocks among them! However, the iShares ETF has a higher expense ratio and lower dividend yield, which may be unattractive to some investors.

One significant difference between URTH and SPGM is their size. The iShares fund has over $8 billion in assets under management, while its counterpart has just under $2 billion. Accordingly, URTH has a much higher average trading volume, and the increased liquidity that accompanies that may be more attractive than SGPM's lower cost and higher dividend yield.

Erin Kennedy has positions in Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The AI trade has been built on a powerful assumption: AI won’t just supercharge Big Tech earnings — it will eventually lift profitability across the entire economy. 

The problem, according to Apollo chief economist Torsten Slok, is that the second half of that equation isn’t showing up yet.

NVDA stock is moving. See the chart and price action here.  "So far there are no signs of profit margins rising outside the tech sector. This is ultimately what we are waiting for, because the value of AI companies today rests entirely on the promise that margins in the S&P 493 will eventually climb," Slok said.

S&P 493 Is the Real TestThe "S&P 493" — the index excluding the Magnificent Seven — is where the real test lies. 

This gap is a valuation risk.

AI leaders are being priced as if broad-based productivity gains are imminent, with markets effectively pulling forward years of expected earnings growth. But if adoption cycles and ROI timelines stretch longer than expected, those assumptions could prove premature.

"This creates a dangerous divergence between aggressive, front-loaded valuations today and a much slower cash flow reality, since equity markets priced for instant earnings growth will face a painful repricing if the productivity hockey-stick takes five years rather than five months," Slok warned.

In other words, the market is betting on speed — and the economy may be moving at a different pace.

ROI Delays Are the RiskThe mismatch is critical. Enterprise AI adoption requires major upfront investment, workflow redesign and time before efficiency gains begin to show up in margins.

If those gains take years to materialize, rather than quarters, the current premium baked into AI-exposed names could come under pressure.

"The bottom line is that a mismatch between current earnings expectations and the actual time firms need to generate ROI on AI investments could have significant implications for many AI company valuations today," Slok said.

Investors know AI works for enterprise — they are asking about when it pays. And right now, the broader market is not confirming the timeline priced into high-flying AI stocks.

Photo: M-SUR / Shutterstock

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AAPL

NVDA

Apple, a global technology giant, now trades just 1% off its record high. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

With the Nasdaq trading just 5% below its recent 52-week high, the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF remains a relative laggard, sitting roughly 8% beneath the record high it reached on May 14.

Wall Street analysts forecast that Bank of America (BAC - Free Report) will report quarterly earnings of $1.13 per share in its upcoming release, pointing to a year-over-year increase of 27%. It is anticipated that revenues will amount to $30.62 billion, exhibiting an increase of 15.7% compared to the year-ago quarter.

Over the last 30 days, there has been an upward revision of 1.6% in the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter, leading to its current level. This signifies the covering analysts' collective reconsideration of their initial forecasts over the course of this timeframe.

Prior to a company's earnings announcement, it is crucial to consider revisions to earnings estimates. This serves as a significant indicator for predicting potential investor actions regarding the stock. Empirical research has consistently demonstrated a robust correlation between trends in earnings estimate revision and the short-term price performance of a stock.

While investors typically rely on consensus earnings and revenue estimates to gauge how the business may have fared during the quarter, examining analysts' projections for some of the company's key metrics often helps gain a deeper insight.

That said, let's delve into the average estimates of some Bank of America metrics that Wall Street analysts commonly model and monitor.

According to the collective judgment of analysts, 'Efficiency Ratio (FTE basis)' should come in at 59.8%. The estimate compares to the year-ago value of 64.6%.

Analysts forecast 'Total earning assets - Average balance' to reach $3121.38 billion. The estimate compares to the year-ago value of $3050.21 billion.

The combined assessment of analysts suggests that 'Book value per share of common stock' will likely reach $39.22 . Compared to the present estimate, the company reported $37.13 in the same quarter last year.

The collective assessment of analysts points to an estimated 'Total nonperforming loans and leases' of $6.68 billion. Compared to the current estimate, the company reported $5.98 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.

It is projected by analysts that the 'Tier 1 Capital Ratio' will reach 12.5%. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported 12.8% in the same quarter last year.

The consensus among analysts is that 'Total nonperforming loans, leases and foreclosed properties' will reach $6.78 billion. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported $6.10 billion in the same quarter last year.

Based on the collective assessment of analysts, 'Tier 1 Leverage Ratio' should arrive at 6.5%. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported 6.7% in the same quarter last year.

The consensus estimate for 'Net Interest Income- Fully taxable-equivalent basis' stands at $16.24 billion. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported $14.82 billion in the same quarter last year.

Analysts' assessment points toward 'Total Noninterest Income' reaching $14.76 billion. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported $11.79 billion in the same quarter last year.

Analysts expect 'Investment and brokerage services' to come in at $5.47 billion. The estimate compares to the year-ago value of $4.78 billion.

The average prediction of analysts places 'Investment banking fees' at $1.96 billion. Compared to the current estimate, the company reported $1.43 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.

Analysts predict that the 'Total fees and commissions' will reach $10.73 billion. Compared to the current estimate, the company reported $9.47 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.

View all Key Company Metrics for Bank of America here>>>

Over the past month, Bank of America shares have recorded returns of +6.9% versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +1.1% change. Based on its Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), BAC will likely exhibit a performance that aligns with the overall market in the upcoming period. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .

The Walt Disney Company (DIS 0.34%) entered a new chapter back in March when Josh D'Amaro succeeded Bob Iger as the chief executive officer of the iconic entertainment company. D'Amaro is a longtime Disney executive, and Wall Street is largely bullish on him and the company's outlook.

But the stock has struggled mightily. In 2026 alone, Disney is down more than 14% as of this writing. The entertainment giant is eager to make a comeback, and Disney will report earnings in early August. So should you buy the stock beforehand?

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There are reasons to be optimistic about the upcoming earnings report. D'Amaro comes from the theme park side and had quite a bit of success. In its latest quarter, the experiences division reported 7% year-over-year growth.

The company is also investing heavily in streaming and is approaching profitability there. Finally, the successful release of Toy Story 5 has given Disney a much-needed boost heading into the summer season. Overall, Disney expects adjusted earnings-per-share growth of 12% for fiscal 2026.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

The D'Amaro era isn't without its challenges. Disney is facing intense scrutiny and regulatory pressure from the FCC. Raymond James even cut Disney's price target recently due to increased competition from Comcast's Universal theme parks.

There's plenty of optimism surrounding Disney that simply hasn't translated into positive momentum for the stock. That could change when earnings are released in August. Disney is focused on sparking growth, and with the stock at a reasonable price right now, buying before the end of July could be advantageous for long-term investors.

Catie Hogan has positions in Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Walt Disney. The Motley Fool recommends Comcast. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

It doesn't matter your age or experience: taking full advantage of the stock market and investing with confidence are common goals for all investors. Luckily, Zacks Premium offers several different ways to do both.

The popular research service can help you become a smarter, more self-assured investor, giving you access to daily updates of the Zacks Rank and Zacks Industry Rank, the Zacks #1 Rank List, Equity Research reports, and Premium stock screens.

It also includes access to the Zacks Style Scores.

What are the Zacks Style Scores? Developed alongside the Zacks Rank, the Zacks Style Scores are a group of complementary indicators that help investors pick stocks with the best chances of beating the market over the next 30 days.

Each stock is given an alphabetic rating of A, B, C, D or F based on their value, growth, and momentum qualities. With this system, an A is better than a B, a B is better than a C, and so on, meaning the better the score, the better chance the stock will outperform.

The Style Scores are broken down into four categories:

Value ScoreFor value investors, it's all about finding good stocks at good prices, and discovering which companies are trading under their true value before the broader market catches on. The Value Style Score utilizes ratios like P/E, PEG, Price/Sales, Price/Cash Flow, and a host of other multiples to help pick out the most attractive and discounted stocks.

Growth ScoreWhile good value is important, growth investors are more focused on a company's financial strength and health, and its future outlook. The Growth Style Score takes projected and historic earnings, sales, and cash flow into account to uncover stocks that will see long-term, sustainable growth.

Momentum ScoreMomentum trading is all about taking advantage of upward or downward trends in a stock's price or earnings outlook, and these investors live by the saying "the trend is your friend." The Momentum Style Score can pinpoint good times to build a position in a stock, using factors like one-week price change and the monthly percentage change in earnings estimates.

VGM ScoreIf you like to use all three kinds of investing, then the VGM Score is for you. It's a combination of all Style Scores, and is an important indicator to use with the Zacks Rank. The VGM Score rates each stock on their shared weighted styles, narrowing down the companies with the most attractive value, best growth forecast, and most promising momentum.

How Style Scores Work with the Zacks Rank The Zacks Rank, which is a proprietary stock-rating model, employs earnings estimate revisions, or changes to a company's earnings expectations, to make building a winning portfolio easier.

#1 (Strong Buy) stocks have produced an unmatched +23.94% average annual return since 1988, which is more than double the S&P 500's performance over the same time frame. However, the Zacks Rank examines a ton of stocks, and there can be more than 200 companies with a Strong Buy rank, and another 600 with a #2 (Buy) rank, on any given day.

With more than 800 top-rated stocks to choose from, it can certainly feel overwhelming to pick the ones that are right for you and your investing journey.

That's where the Style Scores come in.

You want to make sure you're buying stocks with the highest likelihood of success, and to do that, you'll need to pick stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2 that also have Style Scores of A or B. If you like a stock that only has a #3 (Hold) rank, it should also have Scores of A or B to guarantee as much upside potential as possible.

The direction of a stock's earnings estimate revisions should always be a key factor when choosing which stocks to buy, since the Scores were created to work together with the Zacks Rank.

A stock with a #4 (Sell) or #5 (Strong Sell) rating, for instance, even one with Scores of A and B, will still have a declining earnings forecast, and a greater chance its share price will fall too.

Thus, the more stocks you own with a #1 or #2 Rank and Scores of A or B, the better.

Stock to Watch: Ford Motor Company (F - Free Report) Dearborn, MI-based Ford is one of the leading automakers in the world. It manufactures, markets and services cars, trucks, sport utility vehicles, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles. 

F is a #1 (Strong Buy) on the Zacks Rank, with a VGM Score of A.

It also boasts a Value Style Score of A thanks to attractive valuation metrics like a forward P/E ratio of 8.24; value investors should take notice.

Two analysts revised their earnings estimate higher in the last 60 days for fiscal 2026, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $0.04 to $1.64 per share. F also boasts an average earnings surprise of +58.4%.

With a solid Zacks Rank and top-tier Value and VGM Style Scores, F should be on investors' short list.