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TL;DR: Gold surged 3.7% to $4,495 after a Treasury buyback shock sent long-end yields and the Dollar tumbling — a real-yield move that survived hawkish FOMC minutes and now puts a break above $4,600 within reach of $5,000.

Treasury Buyback Shock Cracks Long Yields Gold’s path toward $5,000 has become more credible after Wednesday’s Treasury buyback shock triggered a sharp reversal across US yields and Dollar, giving bullion precisely kind of real-rate backdrop needed to extend its medium-term recovery. Gold surged around 3.7% to $4,495 on August 19, its strongest level since early June, while 30-year Treasury yield dropped from this week’s near-two-decade high above 5.33% to around 5.20% and 10-year yield retreated from around 4.75% to 4.65%. Dollar Index simultaneously slid roughly 0.8% to a fresh three-month low near 98.85. Importantly, Gold rose alongside equities and Bitcoin rather than in isolation, pointing to falling real yields and weaker Dollar—not classic risk aversion—as dominant transmission mechanism.

Catalyst was Treasury Department’s unexpected decision to at least double maximum size of long-dated debt buybacks, from $2bn to at least $4bn, targeting 10–20 year and 20–30 year sectors from September 9 through November 4. Actual enlarged operations are still weeks away, yet bond market repriced immediately. That reaction highlights how stretched long end had become after persistent selling pressure. Markets effectively front-ran future liquidity support and relief to duration pressure, driving yields lower before Treasury had purchased a single additional bond.

Hawkish Fed Minutes Couldn’t Reverse the Move More strikingly, rates move survived release of more hawkish-than-expected July FOMC minutes. Several participants favored an immediate hike, many saw further tightening as likely if inflation failed to fall, and some questioned whether financial conditions were sufficiently restrictive.

That makes Gold’s move more significant. Bullion didn’t need a dovish Fed to break higher — the Treasury market did the work instead. Duration repricing was powerful enough to overwhelm a Fed message that, in isolation, should have supported yields and the Dollar.

Worth noting: the minutes themselves reflect a Committee with more hawks than the 9-3 vote alone suggested, though the July meeting is now several weeks stale relative to this week’s developments.

This Was a Real-Yield Move, Not a Debasement Trade Breakeven inflation data provide clearest evidence for underlying mechanism. 10-year breakeven inflation stayed around 2.30% on both August 18 and August 19, even as nominal yields dropped sharply.

With inflation expectations unchanged, decline in nominal yields translated primarily into lower real yields—the more direct textbook support for Gold. That also argues against interpreting Wednesday’s move primarily through currency-debasement lens. Fed minutes were hardly signaling accommodation, inflation expectations did not jump, and identifiable catalyst was Treasury-driven compression in long-duration yields.

Nothing in Aug 19 price action requires a debasement explanation. For now, Gold’s rally is better explained by a specific real-yield shock.

Dollar Breakdown Confirms Gold’s Reversal Dollar chart is reinforcing same story. DXY has broken decisively below 99.41, 38.2% retracement of 95.55–101.80 rebound, strengthening case that advance from 95.55 to 101.80 completed as a three-wave corrective move.

Further decline is favored while 55-day EMA near 100.08 caps recovery, with 97.93, 61.8% retracement, next downside objective.

Gold and Dollar are therefore confirming each other from opposite directions: Gold is breaking medium-term resistance just as DXY is a key near term support. A move in DXY through 97.93 would add further support to Gold’s rally.

Gold 4,600 Is Gateway to $5,000 Gold’s own technical structure has shifted significantly. Larger fall from 5,598.75 increasingly looks to have completed as a triangle at 3,942.43. Daily MACD bullish divergence, break above 55-day EMA near 4,272, and this week’s clean break of descending medium-term trend line all strengthening reversal case.

Near-term outlook stays bullish while 4,324.23 support holds. Next decisive test is resistance cluster between 4,575.31 (38.2% retracement of 5,598.75–3,942.43 decline) and 4,604.74 (61.8% projection of 3,995.82–4,449.73 from 4,324.23).

A clean break of 4,575–4,605 zone would open 161.8% projeciton at 4,778.14 first, followed by 61.8% retracement at 4,966.14—effectively putting $5,000 directly into medium-term view.

Watch 30-Year Yield First, 10-Year Second Rates remain key confirmation. 30-year yield at 5.18% should be watched first, because Treasury buyback impact is concentrated toward long end and this maturity has led latest reversal. Sustained break below 5.18 would indicate duration repricing still has room to run.

10-year support around 4.59% is confirmation level. If 30-year breaks lower while 10-year holds 4.59, move would remain concentrated in long end—still Gold-positive, but less powerful for Dollar. A break of both would signal broader yield compression and strengthen case for DXY extending toward 97.93 while Gold challenges 4,600.

Final check is breakevens. If nominal yields continue falling while inflation expectations stay flat or ease, real yields would compress further and preserve cleanest bullish setup for Gold. If breakevens instead begin rising sharply, story would shift toward inflation repricing and become less straightforward. Track T10YIE/T30YIE alongside the yield levels themselves, not price in isolation.

For now, signal is unusually coherent: long yields are breaking lower, Dollar is breaking support, real yields are compressing and Gold has cleared its medium-term downtrend. $5,000 is not there yet, but decisive break above 4,600 would make it far more than a distant target.

Key Takeaways Gold surged 3.7% to $4,495 after the Treasury unexpectedly doubled its long-dated debt buyback size, triggering an immediate repricing in long-end yields. The move survived hawkish July FOMC minutes, confirming duration repricing, not Fed dovishness, is driving Gold’s rally. Flat 10-year breakevens around 2.30% alongside falling nominal yields point to a real-yield mechanism, not a currency-debasement trade. The DXY has broken below 99.41 support, confirming Gold’s reversal from the opposite direction and opening a path toward 97.93. A break above the 4,575-4,605 resistance cluster would open 4,778.14 and then 4,966.14, putting the $5,000 level within medium-term view.

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California American Water's proposal is rooted in multiple years of strong water storage through Aquifer Storage and Recovery and continued regulatory progress on the desalination project

, /PRNewswire/ -- Today, California American Water submitted written testimony to the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) regarding the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District's (District) application to modify the cease-and-desist order limiting new water connections on the Monterey Peninsula.

"California American Water shares the District's goal of a thriving Peninsula and welcomes the opportunity to chart a responsible path toward easing these restrictions without threatening existing water supplies," said Sarah Leeper, president of California American Water. "Successful expansion of Aquifer Storage and Recovery, coupled with continued regulatory progress on the desalination project, means Monterey Peninsula is on a path toward better water security, and we can support a temporary suspension of the moratorium on new water connections to allow more flexibility for the community while maintaining key protections for the Carmel River."

The Water Board instated the cease-and-desist order in 2009, banning new water connections until sufficient new water sources could be developed to reduce Carmel River pumping. While the pause on new connections has supported the recovery of the Carmel River watershed and its steelhead population, it has also stunted the Monterey Peninsula's ability to build affordable housing, grow businesses and develop its economy for nearly two decades.

The importance of adding long-term water supply was underscored last summer when the California Public Utilities Commission unanimously confirmed that Monterey could face an annual shortfall of 815 million gallons by 2050. To mitigate this projected water supply shortage, California American Water continues to focus on the three-part Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project – which includes the Aquifer Storage and Recovery project, water recycling and desalination. Each offers unique benefits to the region; however, desalination is the only solution that will bring the Monterey Peninsula the new, drought-proof supply it needs to reduce reliance on the Carmel River and support future demand.

"Any modification to the cease-and-desist order must consider Monterey Peninsula's unique water supply constraints, and we urge a cautious and strategic approach until Monterey has a permanent, drought-resilient water supply," continued Leeper. "If the order is lifted without the appropriate guardrails, the subsequent increase in demand could cause challenges during future droughts, putting decades of Carmel River restoration at risk."

The public will have an opportunity to provide public comment to the Water Board on November 5, 2026.

About American Water

American Water (NYSE: AWK) is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States. With a history dating back to 1886 and celebrating 140 years in 2026, We Keep Life Flowing® by providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable drinking water and wastewater services to approximately 14 million people with regulated operations in 14 states and on 19 military installations. American Water's approximately 7,000 talented professionals leverage their significant expertise and the company's national size and scale to achieve excellent outcomes for the benefit of customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders. For more information, visit amwater.com and join American Water on LinkedIn, Facebook, X and Instagram.

About California American Water

California American Water, a subsidiary of American Water with approximately 300 dedicated employees, provides safe, clean, reliable and affordable water and wastewater services to approximately 720,000 people.

SOURCE American Water

Most crypto projects talk about bridging the digital and physical worlds. Virtuals Protocol is trying to do it with actual robots.

The project’s Eastworlds initiative, which launched in late February 2026, operates as a robotics accelerator and deployment lab designed to do something deceptively simple: put humanoid robots into real environments, collect the data they generate, and funnel it back into an AI training pipeline. The twist is that this entire data economy is anchored to the $VIRTUAL token.

What Eastworlds actually does At its core, Eastworlds is a neodeployment lab. It takes robotics teams that have promising technology stuck in the demo phase and gives them the infrastructure to operate in the real world. Selected teams get access to advanced hardware, including Unitree G1 humanoid robot units, along with teleoperation workflows and operational support lasting up to one month.

The real product, though, isn’t the robots themselves. It’s the data.

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Every time a robot manipulates an object, navigates a space, or executes a locomotion task, Eastworlds captures that interaction as training data for autonomous policies. The initiative has documented more than 500,000 individual tasks and currently generates approximately 200 hours of humanoid teleoperation data per week. That volume positions Eastworlds as one of the more significant sources of operational robotics data outside of China, where much of the world’s humanoid robot development is concentrated.

The data flywheel and the token Virtuals Protocol has structured Eastworlds around what it calls a “data flywheel.” Deployed robots generate training data. That data improves autonomous policies. Better policies make robots more capable in the field. More capable robots generate higher-quality data.

Where $VIRTUAL fits into this loop is as the economic layer. The Virtuals Protocol ecosystem revolves around tokenized AI agents, and the data harvested through Eastworlds feeds directly into training those agents.

Entry into the Eastworlds program requires teams to meet a minimum fully diluted valuation of $5 million for a week of participation. The target industries include logistics, manufacturing, and service sectors.

Why this approach is different Eastworlds takes a platform approach. By providing hardware, environments, and operational support to multiple external teams, it can generate data across a wider range of tasks, environments, and use cases than any single company could manage alone.

The centralized decision-making around team onboarding and scheduling, managed entirely by the Eastworlds team, keeps the operation streamlined. That’s a practical necessity when you’re coordinating expensive hardware and limited facility time, but it also means Virtuals Protocol maintains tight control over who gets access and what kind of data flows into the ecosystem.

What to watch For traders and investors in the $VIRTUAL ecosystem, the key metric to track is whether the data flywheel actually accelerates. Generating 200 hours of teleoperation data weekly is a solid starting point, but the value proposition hinges on that data translating into measurably better autonomous policies that attract more teams, which in turn generate more data.

The competitive landscape is also worth monitoring. Major robotics companies like Tesla, Figure, and Agility Robotics are all pursuing their own data collection strategies through proprietary deployments. Eastworlds’ advantage is its open-platform model, but its disadvantage is scale.

The $5 million valuation floor for participating teams also raises questions about how quickly Eastworlds can expand its roster.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

BERKELEY, Calif., Aug. 19, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rigetti Computing, Inc. (Nasdaq: RGTI) ("Rigetti"), a pioneer in full-stack quantum computing, today announced a new operating structure designed to scale deployment of on-premises quantum systems, strengthen end-to-end operational execution, and further focus its engineering resources on quantum processor development.

Rigetti is establishing a dedicated Systems Delivery organization and creating the role of Chief Operating Officer to lead manufacturing operations, systems delivery, commercial functions, and customer-facing engineering. Quantum processor architecture, chip development, and hardware engineering will be consolidated under the Chief Technology Officer.

The Company has seen increased demand for customer deployments of on-premises systems, ranging from 9-qubit Novera systems to large-scale 108-qubit Cepheus-class systems. Historically, installation and customer support activities have been supported within the engineering organization. The new structure creates dedicated leadership and resources for system deployment and customer success, while enabling engineering teams to concentrate on advancing processor performance and the Company's published technology roadmap, including its target of 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity on Cepheus-1-108Q.

David Rivas, who has served as Rigetti’s Chief Technology Officer since February 2023, has been appointed Chief Operating Officer. In this newly created role, Rivas will oversee fabrication operations, systems delivery, software engineering, applications, business development, government programs, supply chain, and facilities.

Andrew Bestwick, Ph.D., currently Senior Vice President, Quantum Systems, has been appointed Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Bestwick has led the architecture of Rigetti's Cepheus-class multi-chip systems and will oversee quantum processor development, chip fabrication development, and hardware engineering. The technology organization will remain Rigetti’s largest engineering organization, underscoring the Company's continued focus on advancing processor performance and executing its technology roadmap.

Both executives report to Rigetti’s President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Subodh Kulkarni. The appointments are effective August 18.

"Rigetti’s growing deployment activity makes this the right time to establish a dedicated organization focused on delivering and supporting systems for customers," said Dr. Kulkarni. "This structure gives our commercial and operational teams clear, end-to-end accountability for scaling system delivery, while giving our technology organization even greater focus on quantum processor innovation and performance. David brings deep experience building the operational capabilities that support our systems and customers, and Andrew brings exceptional technical leadership to our chiplet-based architecture. Together, we believe these appointments position Rigetti to execute across both customer deployments and our technology roadmap."

About David Rivas

David Rivas joined Rigetti in March 2019 as Senior Vice President of Systems and Services, where he oversaw the engineering and operations of Rigetti's Quantum Cloud Services platform, and was appointed Chief Technology Officer in February 2023. He previously held executive positions at Sun Microsystems, Nokia, Bolt Threads, and Stage 3 Systems, including leadership of field engineering and services organizations of product management, and core engineering organizations. He holds a B.S. in electrical engineering and an M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of California, San Diego.

About Andrew Bestwick

Andrew Bestwick, Ph.D., joined Rigetti in August 2015 and has held technical and leadership positions spanning chip fabrication, circuit design, cryogenic RF hardware engineering, and system architecture. He was appointed Senior Vice President, Quantum Systems in January 2024. He previously worked in management consulting at Bain & Company. He holds an A.B. in physics and mathematics from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in physics from Stanford University.

About Rigetti

Rigetti is a pioneer in full-stack quantum computing. Rigetti quantum computers are based on superconducting qubits, which are widely believed to be the leading qubit modality given their maturity, clear path to scaling, and fast gate speeds. Rigetti quantum computing systems achieve gate speeds of 50-70 nanoseconds, which is about 10,000 times faster than trapped-ion systems and 100 times faster than neutral-atom systems.

Rigetti sells on-premises 9-qubit to 108-qubit quantum computing systems, which support national laboratories and quantum computing centers. Rigetti’s Cepheus 36-qubit to 108-qubit systems are based on the Company’s proprietary chiplet-based technology and include the Company’s control electronics. Rigetti’s 9-qubit Novera QPU supports a broader R&D community with a high-performance, on-premises QPU designed to plug into a customer’s existing cryogenic and control systems.

The Company operates quantum computers over the cloud through its Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) platform, enabling global enterprise, government, and research clients to pursue R&D. The Company’s proprietary quantum-classical infrastructure provides high-performance integration with public and private clouds for practical quantum computing.

Rigetti developed the industry’s first multi-chip quantum processor for scalable quantum computing systems. Leveraging this proprietary technology, Rigetti deployed the industry’s largest multi-chip quantum computer in 2026 with Cepheus-1-108Q, based on twelve 9-qubit chiplets tiled together. The Company designs and manufactures its chips in-house at Fab-1, the industry’s first dedicated and integrated quantum device manufacturing facility. Learn more at https://www.rigetti.com/.

Contacts

Rigetti Computing Investor Contact:
[email protected]

Rigetti Computing Media Contact:
[email protected]

Cautionary Language and Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this communication may be considered “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements with respect to the Company’s expectations with respect to its future success and performance, including the design of the Systems Delivery organization to scale deployment of on-premises quantum systems, strengthen end-to-end operational execution, and further focus its engineering resources on quantum processor development; the advancement of processor performance and the Company's published technology roadmap; the target of 99.5% median two-qubit gate fidelity on Cepheus-1-108Q; and the belief that these appointments position Rigetti to execute across both customer deployments and our technology roadmap. These forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company and its management, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: the Company’s ability to achieve milestones, technological advancements, including with respect to its technology roadmap; Company’s ability to deliver products to customers in time or at all, including actions by customers, such as controls over their facilities and cancelling orders; the ability of the Company to obtain government contracts successfully and in a timely manner and the availability of government funding; the potential of quantum computing; the success of the Company’s partnerships and collaborations; the Company’s ability to accelerate its development of multiple generations of quantum processors; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against the Company or others; the ability to maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and attract and retain management and key employees; costs related to operating as a public company; changes in applicable laws or regulations; the possibility that the Company may be adversely affected by other economic, business, or competitive factors; the Company’s estimates of expenses and profitability; the evolution of the markets in which the Company competes; the ability of the Company to implement its strategic initiatives and expansion plans; the expected use of proceeds from the Company’s past and future financings or other capital; the sufficiency of the Company’s cash resources; unfavorable conditions in the Company’s industry, the global economy or global supply chain, including rising inflation and interest rates, deteriorating international trade relations, political turmoil, natural catastrophes, warfare, and terrorist attacks; and other risks and uncertainties set forth in the section entitled “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 and other documents filed by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and the Company assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements other than as required by applicable law. The Company does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX attempted to acquire AI coding startup Cognition as it works to catch up to OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google in the AI race, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Cognition CEO Scott Wu disputed the report soon after it published, writing on X that the story was inaccurate and that Cognition “is not for sale,” adding that the two companies haven’t been in talks.

The report comes a few days after SpaceX’s $60 billion acquisition of Cursor, another AI coding startup, whose deal closed last week. 

SpaceX acquired Musk’s AI company, xAI, earlier this year. It then went public in a blockbuster IPO in June, with its market capitalization rising to nearly $2.3 trillion at its peak.

SpaceX has sold investors on its AI ambitions, which include eventually building data centers in space. But the xAI business remains relatively early-stage and has fallen behind competitors.

It’s also had to contend with its chatbot Grok’s penchant for controversy, including last year’s “MechaHitler” incident and this year’s nonconsensual sexual imagery scandals, as it tries to win over enterprise customers.

Last week, Musk told SpaceX’s employees that in about “four or five years, AI will be 99% of the value” of the company, but achieving that feat will require SpaceX to pull in much more revenue from AI.

AI-assisted coding has emerged as one of the clearest ways to monetize the technology. Anthropic’s meteoric growth, fueled in large part by Claude Code, is proof of that. Bringing Cursor into the fold was part of that equation, and the companies were already working together before the acquisition closed. This month, Cursor and SpaceX jointly released Grok 4.6, a new model that scores higher on benchmarks for coding and complex multi-step agentic tasks. 

Adding Cognition and its coding agent Devin — along with an enterprise customer base that includes Mercedes-Benz, Citi, and Goldman Sachs — would have given SpaceX another way to deepen its push into AI coding and compete for enterprise customers. 

Bloomberg reports that the deal talks are no longer active, but that the companies are still discussing working together — potentially with Cognition using SpaceX’s computing capacity, which the company is selling to other AI players like Anthropic until it needs that capacity for itself. Wu didn’t address this specific claim in his denial.

Cognition remains one of the largest independent AI software coding startups that hasn’t yet been gobbled up by a major AI model maker. The company in late May raised a $1 billion round at a $25 billion post-money valuation, and Bloomberg reports it’s now in early talks for a new round of funding at a $40 billion valuation.

Cognition made headlines last year when it acquired the remaining assets of competitor Windsurf after Google DeepMind acqui-hired the startup’s CEO and top research in a $2.4 billion deal for talent and licensing rights.

After the merger, Cognition laid off 30 employees and offered buyouts to the remaining 200 Windsurf employees. Those who decided to stay faced strict operational expectations, like a more than 80-hour workweek and six days in the office.

That sort of wartime work ethic wouldn’t be out of place in a Musk company. Musk has said he works up to 120 hours a week and often sleeps on office or factory floors. 

SpaceX and Cognition did not respond to requests for comment.

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Rebecca Bellan is a senior reporter at TechCrunch where she covers the business, policy, and emerging trends shaping artificial intelligence. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and other publications.

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Grayscale says the SEC’s proposed Regulation Crypto Assets could reopen U.S. token based fundraising, creating new routes for issuers while potentially increasing activity across major public blockchain networks.

Grayscale Sees Potential Boost for ETH, SOL and BNB Grayscale Research said clearer fundraising rules could encourage more token issuers to operate in the United States rather than structuring offerings overseas. Many newer token launches have excluded U.S. investors because of regulatory concerns.

Grayscale said increased issuance could bring more companies and investors onto public blockchains. The asset manager identified Ethereum, Solana and BNB Chain as networks that could receive more activity if token fundraising expands.

However, that outcome remains uncertain because the SEC has only proposed the rules. Market participants will also need to assess the final eligibility, disclosure and compliance requirements before determining how widely issuers could use the framework.

SEC Proposal Creates New Token Fundraising Routes TheU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, or Reg Crypto on August 18. The framework would create rules designed specifically for companies raising capital through newly issued crypto tokens.

The proposal differs from tokenized stocks, which represent existing securities on blockchain networks. Instead, Reg Crypto focuses on new token offerings used to raise capital, an area that has faced regulatory uncertainty in the United States since the 2017 ICO boom.

The SEC proposal includes two exemptions. A startup exemption would permit eligible projects to raise up to $5 million over four years with lighter disclosure rules. A broader fundraising exemption would allow qualifying issuers to raise as much as $75 million during a 12-month period.

Projects using the larger exemption would face added disclosure requirements. Those could include financial statements and continued reporting when issuers cross specified fundraising thresholds. Federal antifraud and market manipulation rules would continue to apply.

Safe Harbor Could Address Decentralized Tokens Reg Crypto also proposes an “investment contract safe harbor.” Under certain conditions, an issuer could certify that it has permanently completed or ended the managerial work originally promised to investors.

That process could allow qualifying tokens to move outside investment-contract treatment once their underlying networks reach the required stage. SEC Chair Paul Atkins linked the approach to earlier safe-harbor work from Commissioner Hester Peirce.

The proposal arrives as Congress continues debating the CLARITY Act, which would establish broader federal rules for digital asset markets and divide oversight between the SEC and CFTC.

Grayscale said Reg Crypto could address parts of the regulatory gap while congressional negotiations continue. Still, the proposed framework must pass through the SEC’s rulemaking process before any new token fundraising exemptions become available.

For more regulated trading options, investors can explore the best US crypto exchanges operating under current federal guidelines.

Nethermind has ended its LayerZero verifier role and moved its cross-chain operations to Chainlink after reviewing the two infrastructure providers.

Summary

Nethermind has stopped operating a decentralized verifier network within LayerZero. The Ethereum engineering firm has joined Chainlink as a node operator and technology provider. Nethermind did not identify a LayerZero flaw or disclose the migration’s cost and completion date. BitGo, Kelp DAO, and Wyoming have also selected Chainlink for cross-chain operations. Nethermind said Wednesday that it had migrated away from its decentralized verifier network operations and joined Chainlink as a node operator and strategic technology provider.

Nethermind has joined the @chainlink Network as a node operator and strategic technology provider, helping secure CCIP and Data Feeds as part of a joint mission to bring institutions onchain securely. https://t.co/SAqDnCGHQP

— Nethermind (@Nethermind) August 19, 2026 The company will help operate Chainlink’s network while supplying engineering tools, infrastructure services, and integration support to blockchain developers. Nethermind said the decision followed an “extensive review,” but it did not publish the review or explain which technical and operational factors determined the result.

As part of the change, Nethermind will concentrate its cross-chain work on Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol. CEO Daniel Celeda described the move as a long-term infrastructure decision tied to the responsibilities carried by node operators.

“Being a node operator carries real responsibility for a network’s reliability, and that’s consistent with how we approach every engineering commitment we make.”

Neither company disclosed the financial terms of the arrangement. Nethermind also did not provide a deadline for completing the migration, saying only that it would issue updates as the process continued.

Nethermind’s Chainlink role replaces LayerZero verification Within LayerZero, decentralized verifier networks independently check whether messages sent between blockchains are genuine and unchanged. Applications can choose which DVNs verify their messages and set the number of approvals needed before a transaction proceeds.

LayerZero’s documentation describes each DVN as a combination of smart contracts and off-chain systems. Once a message leaves its source blockchain, the selected verifiers confirm its digital fingerprint before the message can be committed and executed on another network.

Nethermind had served as one of the infrastructure operators available under that model. Its own website previously listed LayerZero DVNs among the cross-chain services run through its globally distributed infrastructure.

Under the Chainlink arrangement, Nethermind will instead operate a node within Chainlink’s network. Chainlink says its CCIP system uses independent node operators, transaction limits and a separate risk-management network to monitor cross-chain activity.

Reportedly, the move represented a decision by a major LayerZero infrastructure operator to use Chainlink’s “secure-by-default architecture.” Because the description came from Chainlink, it does not independently establish that one system eliminates the technical, governance, or operational risks found in cross-chain infrastructure.

Celeda said Nethermind has historically made “deliberate, long-term bets” on infrastructure that it believes will support on-chain financial services. Consolidating the firm’s cross-chain work around CCIP followed the same approach, he added.

LayerZero migrations followed the $292 million rsETH attack Nethermind’s decision arrives four months after hackers drained 116,500 rsETH, worth about $290 million at the time, from Kelp DAO’s LayerZero-powered bridge.

The April 18 attack involved a forged cross-chain message and a single-verifier configuration. The attacker created unbacked rsETH and later placed much of it into Aave lending positions to borrow wrapped Ether, spreading losses beyond the bridge itself.

In May, Kelp DAO announced an rsETH migration to Chainlink while disputing LayerZero’s account of the security setup. Kelp said LayerZero had known about its 1-of-1 verifier arrangement and had previously treated the configuration as secure.

LayerZero CEO Bryan Pellegrino rejected Kelp’s claims. He said the protocol initially used a multi-verifier setup involving LayerZero Labs and Google before changing it to a single verifier, a configuration he said LayerZero had not recommended for production.

After the attack, LayerZero said it would stop approving messages for applications secured by only one verifier and would move affected projects toward configurations with multiple DVNs. LayerZero also attributed the incident to a compromised verifier rather than a flaw in its core messaging protocol.

Nethermind has not said whether the Kelp exploit triggered its review. Its announcement did not identify a security failure at LayerZero.

Other large projects have made comparable decisions since the attack. BitGo selected Chainlink in August as the exclusive cross-chain provider for Wrapped Bitcoin, replacing LayerZero across a WBTC ecosystem then valued at about $7.3 billion. As previously reported by crypto.news, the announcement brought the value covered by publicly disclosed LayerZero-to-Chainlink migrations to nearly $15 billion.

Aave adopted CCIP in July as the default system for cross-chain functions across its app and Stable Vaults. The protocol already used the service for GHO stablecoin transfers and governance messages before expanding the CCIP integration to deposits, withdrawals, vault rebalancing, and asset movements.

Wyoming adds a U.S. public-sector angle For U.S. users, the closest public-sector comparison comes from Wyoming’s Frontier Stable Token, or FRNT. The Wyoming Stable Token Commission said on Aug. 18 that it had completed its migration from LayerZero to Chainlink following a state security review.

FRNT is issued by a U.S. public entity and is available on eight blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, Base, Arbitrum, and Avalanche. Wyoming holds its reserves in cash and short-term U.S. Treasury securities, while reserve income supports the state’s School Foundation Program.

The commission named disclosure practices and operational security among its concerns about LayerZero. Executive Director Anthony Apollo said CCIP was the only system assessed by the state that met its security and reliability requirements “across the board.”

Under a multiyear agreement, Chainlink has become the exclusive cross-chain provider for FRNT, and the state has deprecated its LayerZero bridge. The Wyoming security review was not released publicly, leaving its full criteria and technical findings unavailable.

LayerZero said it respected Wyoming’s decision and was assisting with the transition. A company spokesperson said LayerZero had strengthened its security approach in recent months but did not address the state commission’s specific disclosure concerns.

Nethermind supports core Ethereum infrastructure Founded in 2017, Nethermind develops one of Ethereum’s main execution clients, software used by network nodes to process transactions and maintain Ethereum’s state. The firm employs more than 200 people across client development, cryptography, blockchain security, formal verification, and institutional infrastructure.

According to Nethermind, its software supports more than 16,000 Ethereum validators and over $5 billion in delegated assets. Its infrastructure clients and partners include EtherFi, Gnosis, Lido, StarkWare, World, and Arbitrum.

Nethermind also contributes to Ethereum and Starknet development while providing smart-contract audits, research, and engineering services to financial institutions and crypto protocols. The company said its new Chainlink role will include technical support for developers integrating cross-chain services, alongside its responsibility for operating network infrastructure.

NetApp (NTAP - Free Report) closed at $194.48 in the latest trading session, marking a -5% move from the prior day. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.21%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.22%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.16%.

Shares of the data storage company have appreciated by 23.5% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 3.8%, and the S&P 500's gain of 3.25%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of NetApp in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to go public on September 2, 2026. In that report, analysts expect NetApp to post earnings of $2.11 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 36.13%. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $1.83 billion, reflecting a 17.61% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $9 per share and revenue of $7.54 billion, indicating changes of +10.7% and +8.86%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for NetApp. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.83% higher. NetApp is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note NetApp's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 22.74. This denotes a premium relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 10.67.

Investors should also note that NTAP has a PEG ratio of 2.98 right now. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Computer- Storage Devices was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.18 at yesterday's closing price.

The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 23, which puts it in the top 10% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.

Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Aave, announced a governance proposal to bring the Neuberger Securitize High Income Tokenized Fund, known as HINC, onto Aave Horizon as supply-only collateral. Neuberger Berman, the asset manager behind the fund, oversees roughly $230 billion in assets under management.

What HINC brings to the table HINC is a high-yield fixed-income strategy fund that invests primarily in high-yield corporate bonds, collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), and bank loans. The fund requires a minimum investment of $100,000, which signals this isn’t aimed at retail participants. It’s built for qualified, institutional users who want exposure to below-investment-grade credit products while tapping into onchain borrowing.

If the Aave governance proposal passes, HINC holders would be able to borrow stablecoins including USDC, GHO, and RLUSD against their fund positions. That’s a meaningful expansion of what’s available as collateral on Aave Horizon, which until now has focused more on treasuries and investment-grade instruments.

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Securitize handles the tokenization and infrastructure for HINC. The firm has previously worked with VanEck on its VBILL tokenized treasury fund.

Neuberger Berman itself serves as subadvisor on the fund. The firm is part of a larger group managing approximately $567 billion as of March 2026.

Why Aave Horizon matters Aave Horizon is an institutional-grade lending protocol built on Ethereum, specifically designed for qualified users to borrow stablecoins against tokenized real-world assets. The platform already has hundreds of millions in market size. The onboarding of HINC would be Aave Horizon’s first below-investment-grade credit asset, moving the platform beyond the safer, more conservative corner of fixed income and into territory where yields are higher but so are the risks.

HINC’s multi-chain integration adds another layer to the story. The fund is structured to operate across Avalanche, Ethereum, Solana, and Sui, which gives institutional participants flexibility in choosing their preferred blockchain infrastructure.

The bigger picture for tokenized RWAs The supply-only designation for HINC is worth noting. Collateral marked as supply-only can be deposited to earn yield or posted as collateral for borrowing, but it cannot itself be borrowed by other users. That constraint limits certain forms of leverage and rehypothecation, which is a sensible guardrail for a fund investing in below-investment-grade instruments.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Solana has taken its first step on the path to 200ms slot times, pushing the first reduction from 400ms to 350ms on mainnet. When complete, Solana will theoretically be capable of processing twice as many blocks as previously, doubling network scalability.

The reduction is set to take effect from epoch 1020, scheduled for August 21, 2026. Meanwhile, Anza CEO Brennan Watt claims the Solana testnet has already succeeded in reaching 200ms slots.

Combined with Solana’s recent block limit increase, experts like Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz argue these developments facilitate a 4x performance increase for the network, with critical improvements like Alpenglow still expected later this year.

350ms Slot Times Pushed to Mainnet Anza, the Research and Development firm spearheading Solana’s development, has activated the first of four incremental improvements to network scalability, dropping slot times from 400ms to 350ms.

While the feature has been activated onchain, the drop will not become effective until Epoch 1020, currently expected on August 21.

As part of an extended rollout to Agave v4.2, Anza’s validator client software, slot times on the network will drop to 200ms, effectively doubling the speed at which Solana produces blocks. 

Beyond improving Solana’s performance, the reduction also functions as a censorship resistance measure by shortening the time in which leaders hold a monopoly over block production.

Solana Testnet Hits 182ms Slot Time Fortunately for the Solana mainnet, testnet implementation of slot time reductions have progressed smoothly. Anza CEO Brennan Watt asserts that testnet slot times have been pushed as low as 182ms. 

Testnet block explorer data confirms that the average slot time over the past hour is 193ms, suggesting that all staggered reductions have been successful. Based on testnet data, consequent reductions have been activated every 2 epochs.

While it is unconfirmed that mainnet rollout will follow the same cadence, the same implementation schedule would see 200ms slot times operational on mainnet by epoch 1026, or roughly the 1st of September.

However, mainnet rollout may be slightly slower. Solana’s validators have collectively agreed not to progress to the next reduction if the network’s skip rate is too high.

Slot Time Reduction + Block Limit Increase = 4x Performance Improvement?  While making a significant impact on network scalability, Solana’s slot time improvements are only one piece of a much larger plan to increase bandwidth and reduce latency across crypto’s most performant chain.

In a recent podcast appearance, Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz claimed that Solana’s upcoming slot time reduction, when combined with block limit increases, will make four times more performant in the immediate term.

Beyond faster slots and higher block capacity, Solana is also set to embrace further performance enhancements in its next major network upgrade, Alpenglow. Designed by Anza, Alpenglow promises to reimagine Solana’s consensus mechanism, bringing transaction finality down to 150ms and reducing validator voting costs to ~1.6 $SOL per epoch, down from around 2.4 $SOL per epoch.

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Jupiter’s dominance of Solana’s DEX aggregator market has reached a new low. According to Blockworks data, Jupiter accounted for 48% of Solana DEX aggregator volume on August 18, marking the first time its daily share has fallen below 50% since launch. OKX captured 37%, while DFlow and Titan accounted for 13% and 2%, respectively.

The latest figures extend a decline that has accelerated over the past several months. In early April, Jupiter controlled about 90% of weekly aggregator volume. By Aug. 1, that figure had fallen to 71%, representing a roughly 20% decline in 4 months.

OKX and DFlow have captured much of the share Jupiter has lost. OKX held 13% of daily volume on Aug. 1, while DFlow accounted for 11%.

Jupiter Continues Expanding As Revenue Declines Jupiter’s declining aggregator share comes as the company continues to expand its broader DeFi ecosystem.

Jupiter Lend has steadily gained ground against competitors such as Kamino in recent weeks. Its Gacha product also attracted more than $27 million in user spending within 3 weeks of its launch.

On Aug. 10, Jupiter launched Lend v2, which introduced Smart Collateral and Smart Debt. The optional features allow deposited and borrowed assets to also provide DEX liquidity, giving users the potential to earn lending yield alongside trading fees and, where applicable, staking rewards.

The additional yield depends on actual trading activity through the associated liquidity pools, linking Lend v2's performance partly to Jupiter’s routing activity.

Jupiter’s falling market share also comes against a backdrop of declining revenue. DefiLlama data indicates that Jupiter generated about $2.24 million in revenue so far in August. That figure puts the platform on pace for another relatively weak month if the current trend continues.

The decline looks more significant when compared with Jupiter’s 2024 and 2025 performance.

Monthly revenue surged throughout 2024 and peaked at over $28 million in late 2024. Several months in 2025 also generated more than $10 million, with some approaching or exceeding $20 million.

Revenue has since fallen considerably. Recent monthly figures have fallen to their lowest levels in roughly two years, highlighting the pressure facing its core business as trading activity and aggregator share change.

OKX Gains While Titan Fades OKX has emerged as Jupiter’s most significant challenger in the aggregator market. Incentivized trading campaigns may have contributed to its rising share.

Titan, meanwhile, has fallen from being Solana’s second-largest aggregator to just 2% of daily volume according to Blockworks data. Titan operates as a meta-aggregator, meaning its quotes can include routing through other aggregators. That structure can cause some of its flow to appear in competing venues.

Despite weaker overall onchain activity during the crypto bear market, DEX aggregators remain important to Solana traders even as DEX aggregator share of spot volume has dropped to its lowest level in months.

Jupiter’s fall below 50% therefore marks more than a change in one platform’s market share. It signals a more competitive Solana trading market, with OKX and DFlow increasingly challenging the dominance Jupiter held for years.

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Since its inception in 2018, The Graph has successfully established itself as the industry’s leading protocol for blockchain data infrastructure - the critical layer that makes the world's onchain data accessible. It was built on a core belief: data should be open and permissionless. That belief is not incidental to The Graph. It is the reason The Graph exists.

Throughout that time, The Graph Foundation's mandate has been to steward the health and growth of that protocol and ecosystem to ensure that belief is made real in the world. The Foundation’s mandate spanned strategic treasury management, facilitating alignment, and accountability among contributors. The Foundation team worked as the credibly-neutral steward in an ecosystem deliberately structudred so that participants pursuing their own interests, within the right incentive framework, would ultimately produce value for users.

Earlier this year, the Foundation published the Technical Roadmap - the first installment in a two-part series detailing the protocol's future. This second post concludes that series by pairing the technical vision with the official announcement of The Graph Foundation’s new operating mandate.

The Roadmap Set the StageIf you read the Technical Roadmap, you already have more context than you might realize. That post wasn't just a technical vision. It also described a more expansive view of The Graph - a vision characterized by new data services, changes to issuance, and an economic model rebuilt to reward and incentivize real network participation. Early signals of many operational and ecosystem changes to come.

For quick context, the technical roadmap shared the Foundation’s belief that The Graph needs to look beyond Subgraphs - to data services that span real-time data streaming, token analytics, institutional-grade infrastructure, and AI-native access - alongside other important changes to how issuance, incentives, and resources get allocated to support this expansive view.

As an industry pioneer, The Graph defined decentralized data indexing and established Subgraphs as the standard for onchain data - a milestone built by some of the most dedicated contributors in web3. However, that very breakthrough transformed indexing into a fiercely contested landscape. Today, market maturity, rapidly shifting user demands, and aggressive competition require an equally decisive evolution in how the protocol operates.

What brought The Graph to the forefront initially must now drive its future: an uncompromising focus on speed, execution velocity, innovation, and creating value for users. Delivering on that standard also necessitates a fundamental shift in how the Foundation operates. The Foundation must evolve its mandate from passive underwriter supporting external development to directly building, maintaining, and scaling The Graph Network and protocol.

From Coordinator to OperatorWhen the Foundation’s mandate was originally written, stewardship meant something specific: managing the treasury responsibly, funding independent contributors, and remaining credibly neutral across the ecosystem. This was the standard playbook across web3 foundations, and it made sense during The Graph’s formative years - when the priority was establishing indexing standards, attracting contributors through grants, and coordinating independent development teams. Today, industry maturation and shifting market dynamics mean that that original approach is no longer sustainable.

The multi-core-developer model relied on large, long-term grants to independent teams tasked with building novel web3 solutions. While this approach may have scaled the protocol initially, it no longer delivers the competitive edge required in today’s market.

A pivot is required. The Foundation must place greater emphasis on the strategic allocation of capital alongside a decisive directive to build The Graph, support network participants, and serve users. This necessitates an evolved mandate: stepping into the protocol directly as an operator, maintainer, and developer. Rather than coordinating and underwriting third-party roadmaps from a distance, the Foundation must take direct responsibility for executing The Graph’s long-term vision.

Executing this pivot requires organizational evolution, in-house technical capabilities, and dedicated resourcing. An active governance proposal from the Foundation seeks to redirect 20% of protocol issuance to support these expanded responsibilities - a common funding mechanism in other protocol ecosystems. In parallel, the Foundation is actively restructuring internally to onboard a dedicated team capable of operating and maintaining the protocol directly, reducing reliance on external dependencies.

The rationale is clear: evolving market dynamics and coordination bottlenecks require a decisive departure from the past paradigm. It is time to transition the Foundation from passive coordinator to an active catalyst for growth.

A Catalyst for GrowthStepping into an operator role brings greater velocity, tighter execution, and a clear path toward expanding The Graph's reach. It’s a much simpler model. To unlock this next phase of growth, several core priorities will define the Foundation’s new mandate:

Operational Continuity. Continuity for the protocol, the network, and the users who depend on them comes first. The Foundation is actively building internal technical capacity to run and maintain core infrastructure directly, rather than relying exclusively on funding external teams. This shift represents a decisive transition from coordinating third-parties to taking direct ownership of protocol operations.

Product Acceleration. Users will experience this operational shift most directly through a unified product interface. As The Graph expands beyond Subgraphs into modular data services, Subgraph Studio is evolving into a single platform to publish, discover, and consume data products, including Subgraphs, real-time streams, token analytics, and RPC endpoints. Crucially, the Foundation will prioritize an end-to-end decentralized Studio architecture, ensuring every query routes directly through the network and Indexers. Other user benefits will include integration of native Substreams, expanding consumption pathways from GraphQL and SQL to direct database delivery, and engineering next-generation indexing stacks to deliver high-performance data infrastructure under one cohesive, network-backed developer experience.

Enabling Data Service Providers. The Graph's expanding architecture - from Horizon and other initiatives - opens the door to a new class of network participant: teams that build and operate specialized data services on shared infrastructure. While several long-standing core developers are already migrating to this model, the Foundation is simultaneously leading the recruiting and onboarding of new ecosystem partners to accelerate this provider pipeline. This is also a deliberate change in how The Graph grows. Alongside serving developers directly, the Foundation is investing in a partner-led motion - targeting companies that build their products and businesses on top of the network and bring their own customers with them. Gateway Operators and data service providers can make The Graph their backend, reach markets the Foundation would never reach alone, and route that demand to the network's Indexers - teams that once ran parallel infrastructure become partners with a stake in the network's success. Every business that grows this way grows the network with it.

Chain Coverage and Integration. Capturing the value created across the ecosystem is an essential priority. Today, revenue generated from chain integrations is largely captured outside the protocol. However, protocol value capture must scale in tandem with network expansion. Consequently, the Foundation will take direct ownership of the Chain Integration Process - thereby aligning revenue capture directly with the protocol while prioritizing chains with proven developer demand and durable network value.

Vertical Priorities. The developer community remains the core of The Graph. As the industry matures, the Foundation will reinforce its commitment to developers while expanding the addressable user base and supported use cases. Moving forward, the Foundation will direct capital investment, product development, and ecosystem resources across three primary verticals:

DeFi: While Subgraphs remain a core pillar of The Graph’s product suite, scaling Substreams adoption is a primary focus for capturing new market share. Significant enhancements in latency and expanded chain coverage make Substreams an essential data layer for high-throughput DeFi applications. Built directly on this foundation, a Token API product is intended to provide standardized, pre-indexed token metrics, while Tycho will deliver real-time streaming access to decentralized exchange liquidity. Expanding usage across these offerings routes sustained query demand into the upcoming Substreams data service.Institutional and Enterprise: Substreams will replace fragile RPC polling with high-throughput, parallelized data streaming delivered directly into proprietary enterprise systems. Deterministic and reproducible by design, Substreams is engineered so that identical inputs produce identical outputs - providing compliance, forensics, and custody teams with verifiable, reproducible data across chains for scalable risk management and regulatory reporting. In parallel, the Foundation is positioning the network for the rise of institutional onchain privacy. As asset managers and banking institutions deploy confidential applications on public chains, confidentiality must be paired with verifiability. The Graph is uniquely suited to serve as the neutral, immutable query and verification layer that enables regulators, auditors, and counterparties to validate disclosures against ground-truth data, extending core protocol utility into enterprise infrastructure.AI and Agentic Applications: The Graph is positioned as the foundational data layer for onchain intelligence. The ecosystem is deploying an advanced suite of AI-native capabilities: Subgraph Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent-to-Agent (A2A) interfaces for natural language querying, agentic SKILL modules to accelerate developer velocity, and x402 primitives to facilitate autonomous, pay-per-query settlement for AI agents. Beyond data ingestion, the Foundation is expanding into agent state management. As autonomous agents act on behalf of users, they generate critical contextual memory, preferences, and interaction histories - assets currently siloed across proprietary centralized providers. Applying decentralized protocol principles, the Foundation is preparing the launch of its inaugural agentic product that will provide end-to-end encrypted, user-owned, and fully portable memory across heterogeneous models and agents. Served directly via The Graph Network without vendor lock-in, this architecture leverages existing network primitives to minimize operational overhead while scaling efficiently alongside adoption. Additional details about the Foundation's inaugural AI agentic product will be shared in upcoming releases.Network Economics and Ecosystem Health. The Foundation is also taking a more hands-on role in the sustainability and performance of the Indexer ecosystem, reviewing issuance, payments, and incentives directly. Three efforts anchor that work:

The Rewards Eligibility Oracle moves indexing rewards from proof-of-presence toward proof-of-work. It ties reward eligibility to real quality of service, so Indexers earn for the value they actually deliver rather than for merely holding an allocation. Eliminating reward waste on idle allocations significantly optimizes the efficiency of the issuance pool, which helps balance broader shifts in protocol resource allocation.Direct Indexer Payments let consumers and Gateway Operators pay Indexers directly to serve specific subgraphs at an agreed level of service. This gives developers a way to increase confidence the data they need gets indexed, and gives Indexers a clear, verifiable pay-for-work relationship as the network scales.The GRT Liquid Staking Initiative turns staked GRT into stGRT, a liquid token built with Avantgarde Finance on Enzyme tooling and managed by The Graph Foundation. Liquid Staking is intended to provide greater flexibility while allowing participants to maintain staking exposure, and makes participation far simpler for holders and institutions while deepening the stake that secures the network. More details will be forthcoming in the following weeks.Community and Communication. With direct ownership of core development, the Foundation can finally communicate the way the community has asked for: a faster cadence of updates, clearer accountability for what ships and when, and more direct channels for dialogue - with this publication as an immediate step in that direction.

The Road AheadThe road ahead will bring complex challenges. Geopolitical, macroeconomic, and regulatory forces continue to shape the industry in unpredictable ways. However, the Foundation enters this new phase with grounded optimism - driven not by hype, but by operational clarity and a defined sense of responsibility.

The Graph was founded on the principle that the world's blockchain data is a public good, and that open protocols offer superior reliability and permanence compared to centralized alternatives. That conviction is the through-line from The Graph's origins to this moment. The Graph represents some of the most vital infrastructure ever created in this industry, and The Graph Foundation is dedicated to demonstrating that through strong execution, supported by a vibrant ecosystem of committed chains, contributors, builders, and community members who share this vision. We believe The Graph’s best days are yet to come!

In the coming months, we'll follow up with more updates on what this next chapter means in practice - specific deliverables, timelines, and how the pieces described here fit together.

To learn more about how this evolution impacts protocol governance, resource allocation, and core development, review the FAQs below.

Frequently Asked QuestionsHow will the issuance allocation be used and governed?

Leveraging protocol issuance to fund core development is an established practice across the industry. These resources are committed strictly to building The Graph and to maintaining infrastructure continuity for users. The Foundation and its budget remain accountable to The Graph Council, which will retain oversight.

Is The Graph abandoning decentralization?

No. The protocol is strategically prioritizing decentralization where it delivers maximum impact and security: at the network, Indexer, and Gateway layers. A truly decentralized data market relies on a permissionless, distributed infrastructure of independent node operators, which remains core to The Graph. Concurrently, core development and resource allocation require focused operational leadership. Adopting an active operator posture enables the Foundation to provide strategic continuity and rapid technical execution without compromising the decentralized architecture of the network itself.

What happens to the former core development teams?

Former core development teams remain vital pillars of the ecosystem, and the Foundation desires to maintain deep, collaborative relationships with the contributors who established The Graph. Ongoing collaboration will continue across chain integrations, dedicated data services, and targeted product development. What is shifting is the funding framework and operational leadership. The new Foundation mandate replaces broad, open-ended operational grants with directed resource allocation that aligns ecosystem funding with the protocol's strategic priorities.

Is the Rewards Eligibility Oracle punitive? Will it push out small Indexers?

The Rewards Eligibility Oracle (REO) is aimed at directing rewards toward active service provision, not at punishing small Indexers. REO’s purpose is to support Indexers who actively contribute value to the protocol, rather than those staking without providing service. Size is not the criterion; contribution is. Rewards that would otherwise flow to Indexers delivering no value are reclaimed and can be redirected toward Indexers and other participants who do provide value, in both the near and long term.

One downstream effect is worth flagging for Delegators. Stake delegated to an Indexer that is no longer eligible for rewards will not earn indexing rewards either. Delegators in that position are encouraged to review where their stake sits and move it to an Indexer that actively participates in and contributes value to the network. Alternatively, The Graph will be announcing a new Liquid Staking program in the coming days to ease Delegator migration.

Does Foundation-run liquid staking centralize delegation?

This initiative does pool delegations and that is deliberate. Pooling lets the Foundation direct stake toward Indexers who deliver real value to the protocol. Historically, delegation has often followed the Indexers with the strongest marketing or the best placement on external staking and educational platforms, rather than those contributing the most value. The Foundation has the most complete view of where support is needed across the network, and this tool lets it back chain integrations, subgraph and data-service coverage, and both established and emerging contributors as the ecosystem grows.

How can the Foundation reinterpret the mandate?

Reinterpreting the mandate was not a unilateral move. The Foundation was encouraged to rethink the mandate by the Council and by other core teams in the ecosystem, who shared a dissatisfaction with how the original mandate was working. The previous mandate did not deliver the growth and success the protocol needs for its longevity. Reinterpreting how the Foundation participates has been more than a year of work, and we have concluded it is the best path to the protocol's long-term health and growth.

About The GraphThe Graph is a suite of blockchain data infrastructure products that extract, process, and deliver scalable blockchain data solutions across 60+ networks. The Graph enables application developers, data analysts, AI agents, and enterprise teams that need structured, real-time access to blockchain data. Products include Subgraphs, Firehose, Substreams, and Amp. As of early 2026, The Graph has served over 1.27 trillion queries to more than 75,000 projects, powered by a network of independent Indexers around the world.

Follow The Graph on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Reddit. Join the community on The Graph’s Telegram, join technical discussions on The Graph’s Discord.

GENGLYCOS is the first gene therapy approval, and fifth FDA approval overall, for the company

Approval provides a long-awaited first-ever option to reduce the burden of care associated with GSDIa

Ultragenyx received a Priority Review Voucher upon approval

Ultragenyx to host conference call on 8/19/26 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time

NOVATO, Calif., Aug. 19, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: RARE) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for GENGLYCOS™ (pariglasgene brecaparvovec-opnr), also known as DTX401, in adult and pediatric patients eight years and older with glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSDIa).

“The approval of GENGLYCOS fulfills our commitment to provide the first therapy that directly targets the root cause of GSDIa. The reduced reliance on cornstarch, experienced by patients in our clinical studies, demonstrates this gene therapy’s ability to establish the normal breakdown of glycogen to produce glucose during fasting or episodes of metabolic stress. This ability to regulate glucose has alleviated the disease burden and has the potential to mitigate the risk of severe or life-threatening hypoglycemia for these patients,” said Eric Crombez, M.D., chief medical officer at Ultragenyx. “As our first gene therapy approval, GENGLYCOS represents an important achievement for our company and the realization of the promise of a powerful new tool to deliver transformative medicines for people living with rare diseases.”

GSDIa is an ultra-rare genetic metabolic disorder caused by a deficiency of the enzyme needed to release glucose from the liver to the bloodstream. The deficiency reduces the liver’s ability to control glucose levels and is associated with potentially life-threatening hypoglycemia episodes and other serious complications, requiring rigorous nutritional management that involves a burdensome, around-the-clock regimen of raw cornstarch intake as an oral glucose replacement therapy. Glucose control with cornstarch is crude with large swings in glucose, and patients instead end up spending a large fraction of their day significantly hyperglycemic to avoid hypoglycemic episodes. GSDIa affects 1,500-2,500 patients in the U.S. and 6,000-8,000 worldwide within commercially accessible geographies.

“Day-to-day management of GSDIa requires a relentless regimen of raw cornstarch and strict dietary management that can be extraordinarily demanding for patients and families. Even with meticulous adherence to this regimen, patients must be perfect. Any missed cornstarch puts patients at risk of severe hypoglycemia, seizures, and even death,” said David Weinstein, M.D., MMSc, one of the world's leading GSDIa experts. “The approval of GENGLYCOS represents a major step forward for the GSDIa community and reflects almost 30 years of work and scientific progress aimed at improving safety and the quality of life of people living with this disease.”

“For families affected by GSDIa, every day revolves around strict schedules, overnight vigilance, and the constant worry that a missed meal or dose of cornstarch could trigger life-threatening hypoglycemia,” said David and Wendy Feldman, co-founders and current Board members at The Children’s Fund for Glycogen Storage Disease Research. “This approval is an incredibly meaningful milestone for a community that has spent decades hoping, advocating, and helping advance the research for new treatment options that could ease the burdens of this disease.” 

Clinical Program and Post-Marketing Study Requirements Supporting Accelerated Approval of GENGLYCOS

The approval of GENGLYCOS is based on positive data from the 48-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 GlucoGene study which treated 46 participants aged eight years and older with DTX401 (1.0 x 10^13 GC/kg dose) or placebo, showing a reduction in the cornstarch requirements in the treated group (p<0.001). There were 44 participants in the modified intention-to-treat (mITT) population providing efficacy data within the Week 48 analysis period following treatment with DTX401 (n=20) or placebo (n=24). At Week 48, eligible participants crossed over and received the alternate treatment. After crossover, participants continued to be followed, with analyses conducted at Week 96 and Week 144.

As part of accelerated approval, Ultragenyx has agreed to provide two years of safety and efficacy clinical data from open-label commercial treatment of 50 patients and 20 control patients through enhancement of its existing GSDIa Disease Monitoring Program (DMP). The control group will consist of patients who sought commercial treatment but cannot be treated with GENGLYCOS due to the presence of anti-AAV8 antibodies. The study will provide more data to support the reduction in cornstarch clinical burden, fasting tolerance, and other measures in a post-marketing setting where patients can know their immediate glucose levels, and their cornstarch and diet can be managed more promptly by their physician. The DMP will also evaluate previously treated clinical trial participants as well as these new commercial patients for a total of 10 years.  

Enabling Access for Eligible Patients

Ultragenyx will provide support to help enrolled patients and caregivers navigate access to treatment through its UltraCare® program, which now includes specially trained UltraCare® Gene Therapy Guides to help understand insurance coverage, assist in obtaining treatment support, and answer questions about the treatment process. Dedicated in-house UltraCare Gene Therapy Guides are available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time at 888-756-8657. More information is available at www.ultracaresupport.com. 

GENGLYCOS will be available through a national network of Qualified Treatment Centers (QTCs) with specialized expertise and training to safely administer gene therapy.

GENGLYCOS is manufactured entirely at Ultragenyx’s Gene Therapy Manufacturing Facility (GTMF) in Bedford, Mass., strengthening the Company’s ability to scale production of high-quality gene therapy products and deliver them to patients as efficiently as possible. 

More information will be available at www.genglycos.com.

This approval reflects the work of a remarkable team spanning many years and organizations. Ultragenyx is deeply grateful to the patients, families, and clinical investigators who made our clinical studies possible; Dr. David Weinstein, whose scientific and clinical leadership laid critical groundwork across early research and clinical trials; Dr. Janice Chou for her early work at NIH, and the team from Dimension Therapeutics. Their collective commitment and perseverance have transformed a scientific vision into a new therapeutic option for patients.

Investor Conference Call and Webcast Information

Ultragenyx will host a conference call today at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time / 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time to discuss the approval of GENGLYCOS. The live and replayed webcast of the call will be available through the company's website at https://ir.ultragenyx.com/events-presentations.

INDICATION

GENGLYCOS (pariglasgene brecaparvovec-opnr) is indicated to reduce daily cornstarch intake as an adjunct to nutritional management in adult and pediatric patients 8 years of age and older with glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSDIa).

This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on reduction in daily cornstarch intake. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification of clinical benefit in confirmatory trial(s).

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

CONTRAINDICATIONS

GENGLYCOS is contraindicated in patients with known severe hepatic fibrosis or cirrhosis.

WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

Hypersensitivity and Infusion Reactions (IRs)

Hypersensitivity reactions including anaphylaxis and IRs have occurred with GENGLYCOS treatment. Severe reactions have been reported. Monitor for signs and symptoms of hypersensitivity and IRs, including urticaria, flushing, hypotension, bronchospasm, dyspnea, chest tightness, nausea, vomiting, headache, abdominal pain, lightheadedness, flu-like symptoms, shivering, rash, and hypertension.Premedicate with acetaminophen and non-sedating antihistamines and administer GENGLYCOS according to recommended infusion rates. Monitor patients during and after completion of GENGLYCOS infusion as clinically indicated. If anaphylaxis or severe IR occurs, pause GENGLYCOS infusion immediately and initiate medical treatment as clinically indicated, monitoring as needed. For mild to moderate IRs, consider slowing or temporarily interrupting the infusion, and administer symptomatic treatment as clinically indicated. The infusion may be restarted at half the prior rate upon resolution of symptoms.Medical support measures, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation equipment and medications for the treatment of anaphylaxis (e.g., epinephrine, antihistamines, corticosteroids), should be available during GENGLYCOS administration.
Hepatotoxicity

Immune-mediated hepatotoxicity, with elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and/or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels, has occurred with GENGLYCOS. Avoid use in patients with preexisting hepatic impairment or acute hepatic viral infection.Prior to GENGLYCOS infusion, evaluate liver-related medical history and assess liver function by clinical examination and laboratory testing. Advise patients to immediately report signs and symptoms of hepatotoxicity, including fatigue, jaundice, dark urine, nausea, vomiting, and right upper quadrant pain. Administer corticosteroids to all patients after GENGLYCOS infusion in order to mitigate hepatic reactions. Elevated transaminases may require adjustment of the corticosteroid treatment regimen, including increased dose or prolongation of the corticosteroid taper.Monitor transaminase levels for the first 6 months after GENGLYCOS administration. Continue to monitor transaminases in all patients who develop transaminase elevations, until transaminases return to baseline or as clinically indicated.
Adrenal Insufficiency

Adrenal insufficiency, including serious events, has been reported in patients receiving GENGLYCOS during corticosteroid use and tapering.Signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency include fatigue, weakness, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, hypotension, hyponatremia, and hypoglycemia. Adrenal crisis may present as severe hypotension, acute abdominal pain, or loss of consciousness.Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency and adrenal crisis after GENGLYCOS administration during and after corticosteroid therapy and tapering. Taper corticosteroid therapy gradually. Do not abruptly discontinue corticosteroid therapy.
AAV Vector Integration and Risk of Tumorigenicity

There is a theoretical risk of tumorigenicity due to integration of AAV vector DNA into the genome.GENGLYCOS is composed of a recombinant, non-replicating AAV8 vector whose DNA persists largely in episomal form. Random integration of recombinant AAV-vector DNA into human DNA has been reported with AAV gene therapies. The clinical relevance of individual integration events is unknown, but it is acknowledged that individual integration events could potentially contribute to a risk of tumorigenicity. If a tumor develops in a patient receiving GENGLYCOS, health care providers should contact and report the tumor to Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. at 1-888-756-8657. Adverse Reactions

Seven serious adverse events were observed in the Primary Efficacy Analysis Period (PEAP) of Study 1 (Weeks 1-48), including anaphylaxis/infusion reaction (2), adrenal insufficiency (2), high lactate level (2) and hypoglycemia (1).The most common adverse reactions during the PEAP of Study 1 (occurring in ≥10% of patients) with higher frequency in GENGLYCOS compared to placebo were ALT/AST Enzyme elevated (71%), Nausea (38%), Headache (24%), Hypertriglyceridemia (29%), Adrenal Insufficiency (24%), Constipation (19%), Hyperglycemia (14%), Acne/Dermatitis Acneiform (19%), Cushingoid Features (14%), and Anaphylaxis (10%). DRUG INTERACTIONS

Vaccinations

Vaccine schedules may need to be adjusted for immunosuppressive therapy, and vaccines should be avoided 1 month prior to GENGLYCOS administration.
USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATIONS

Pregnancy

GENGLYCOS should not be used during pregnancy. There are no data on the use of GENGLYCOS in pregnant women. It is unknown whether GENGLYCOS can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproductive capacity.
Contraception

Women of childbearing potential should use effective contraception for at least 12 months after administration of GENGLYCOS.For 6 months after administration of GENGLYCOS, men must not donate semen, and men of reproductive potential and their female partners must prevent or postpone pregnancy using an effective form of contraception. ADDITIONAL PATIENT COUNSELING INFORMATION

Vector Shedding

Inform patients/caregivers that vector distribution in blood and vector shedding in urine, stool, and saliva can occur after GENGLYCOS infusion. Advise patients/caregivers on proper hygiene when handling patient body waste. These precautions should be followed for 3 months after GENGLYCOS infusion.
Report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088. You may also report side effects to Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. at 1-888-756-8657. 

Please see the full Prescribing Information for GENGLYCOS.

About Glycogen Storage Disease Type Ia (GSDIa)
GSDIa is an ultra-rare, serious, and life-threatening disease due to an inborn error of carbohydrate metabolism caused by pathogenic variants of the G6PC gene, which encodes G6Pase, an enzyme that is critical for the release of glucose from glycogen and other metabolic sources. Deficiency of G6Pase activity results in severe hypoglycemia during periods of fasting between meals and during the night along with excess hepatic glycogen storage, metabolic derangements, and other disease-related complications. Cornstarch is critical in the management of GSDIa throughout the day and night in providing an exogenous source of glucose to help avoid sudden and severe drops in plasma glucose levels; however, current management strategies carry a significant burden to patients and families. GSDIa affects 1,500-2,500 patients in the U.S. and 6,000-8,000 worldwide within commercially accessible geographies.

About Ultragenyx
Ultragenyx is a biopharmaceutical company committed to bringing novel therapies to patients for the treatment of serious rare and ultra-rare genetic diseases. The company has built a diverse portfolio of approved medicines and treatment candidates aimed at addressing diseases with high unmet medical need and clear biology, for which there are typically no approved therapies treating the underlying disease.

The company is led by a management team experienced in the development and commercialization of rare disease therapeutics. Ultragenyx’s strategy is predicated upon time- and cost-efficient drug development, with the goal of delivering safe and effective therapies to patients with the utmost urgency.

For more information on Ultragenyx, please visit the company's website at: www.ultragenyx.com.

Forward-Looking Statements and Use of Digital Media
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements regarding the commercial launch, availability and market acceptance of GENGLYCOS; Ultragenyx's ability to manufacture GENGLYCOS at its gene therapy manufacturing facility, scale production and supply GENGLYCOS to Qualified Treatment Centers; patient access to GENGLYCOS, including insurance coverage and reimbursement; the safety, efficacy, durability and potential benefits of GENGLYCOS; estimates of the number of patients with GSDIa and the potential commercial opportunity for GENGLYCOS; the design, enrollment, timing, conduct and results of the post-marketing Disease Monitoring Program and other post-marketing requirements; and Ultragenyx's ability to satisfy FDA requirements and maintain accelerated approval for GENGLYCOS, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks and uncertainties related to the commercial launch and market acceptance of GENGLYCOS; the ability to identify eligible patients and establish and support a network of Qualified Treatment Centers; uncertainty related to insurance coverage and reimbursement; risks related to serious or undesirable side effects, including risks associated with AAV gene therapy; manufacturing risks, including Ultragenyx's limited experience operating its own manufacturing facility and the ability to manufacture and supply GENGLYCOS in sufficient quantities and in compliance with regulatory requirements; Ultragenyx's ability to complete the post-marketing Disease Monitoring Program and other post-marketing requirements within required timeframes and to confirm clinical benefit; the risk that the FDA may modify the approved indication or impose additional requirements, or may withdraw accelerated approval if clinical benefit is not confirmed or post-marketing requirements are not satisfied; smaller than anticipated market opportunities; competition from other therapies or products; product liability; regulatory scrutiny; and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of Ultragenyx's products and product candidates. Ultragenyx undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Ultragenyx in general, see Ultragenyx's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on August 5, 2026, and its subsequent periodic reports filed with the SEC.

In addition to its SEC filings, press releases and public conference calls, Ultragenyx uses its investor relations website and social media outlets to publish important information about the company, including information that may be deemed material to investors, and to comply with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Financial and other information about Ultragenyx is routinely posted and is accessible on Ultragenyx's Investor Relations website (https://ir.ultragenyx.com/) and LinkedIn website (https://www.linkedin.com/company/ultragenyx-pharmaceutical-inc-/).

Ultragenyx Contacts

Investors
Joshua Higa
[email protected]

Media
Jess Rowlands
[email protected]

Key Takeaways D-Wave trails peers after Q2 as revenues fell short and bookings dropped sharply from the prior quarter.D-Wave has $40.7M in RPO, planned 2026 system deliveries and growing production applications.QBTS carries a lofty valuation, while analysts see 71% upside if bookings convert into revenue growth. D-Wave Quantum (QBTS - Free Report)  has gained just 0.6% since its Aug. 6 second-quarter earnings report, trailing IonQ (IONQ - Free Report) , Rigetti (RGTI - Free Report) and the S&P 500, as investors appear to be prioritizing near-term financial execution over D-Wave’s long-term technology milestones. The disconnect is evident in the company’s second-quarter revenues, essentially flat year over year and 19.5% below the Zacks Consensus Estimate, while adjusted EBITDA loss widened to $37.1 million.

More importantly, second-quarter bookings were only $2.1 million after a $33.4 million first-quarter haul, indicating the lumpiness of demand despite first-half bookings surging 1,120% to $35.5 million.

Stock Comparison Since QBTS’ Q2 Earnings Announcement
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Still, the outlook is improving with $40.7 million of RPO, 57% expected to convert within 12 months, two system deliveries planned for 2026, and production applications already generating 37.3% of first-half QCaaS revenues, providing potential catalysts.

Meanwhile, stronger U.S. policy support for quantum commercialization and domestic supply chains adds a favorable backdrop. The key near-term test is whether bookings convert into revenue and commercial deployments fast enough to justify elevated spending.

Q3 & 2026 Revenue, EPS EstimatesThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for the third quarter of 2026 is pegged at $3.95 million, a 5.7% improvement over the year-ago reported number, with a loss per share expectation of 7 cents (narrower than the year-ago 41 cents of loss), suggesting that the impact of D-Wave’s strong bookings is unlikely to be fully reflected in the near-term results.

For full-year 2026, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is pegged at $38.63 million, a 57.1% improvement over the 2025 reported number. The projected EPS loss narrows to 28 cents from $1.11 in 2025. The estimates therefore place considerable weight on second-half execution, particularly the conversion of bookings, RPO and planned system deliveries into recognized revenue.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Technical AnalysisGoing by the technical picture, QBTS trades below both its 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs). Moreover, the 50-day average remains below the 200-day average, offering no strong technical confirmation of a potential trend reversal. The chart indicates that the market remains cautious despite D-Wave’s improving bookings, RPO and commercial pipeline.

50-200-Day SMAs
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Lofty ValuationDespite its commercial momentum, QBTS continues to trade at a lofty valuation relative to its current revenue base. The stock is currently trading at a 12-month Price/Sales ratio of 110.17X, compared with approximately 5X for the S&P 500. Its three-year median P/S ratio stands at 87.89X, also well below the current multiple. This implies that the stock already carries substantial growth expectations, leaving limited room for execution disappointments.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

But Price Target is HighWith the short-term average price target of $35.79 implying 71.49% upside from the last close of $20.87, the consensus suggests that, despite the stock’s recent weakness and elevated valuation, analysts see substantial room for appreciation as D-Wave converts its strong bookings and commercial pipeline into revenue growth.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Why Hold QBTS NowInvestors may prefer to hold QBTS rather than book profits or initiate fresh positions, as the stock’s strong commercial pipeline and 71% analyst-implied upside offer meaningful potential, while its lofty valuation and weak technical setup warrant caution. The company’s ability to convert bookings into revenue remains the key catalyst. Accordingly, Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) supports a wait-and-watch approach until execution improves. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Klarna Group plc (KLAR) Q2 2026 Earnings Call August 18, 2026 8:30 AM EDT

Company Participants

Sebastian Siemiatkowski - Co-Founder, CEO & Director
Niclas Neglen - CFO & Director

Conference Call Participants

William Nance - Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division
Robert Wildhack - Autonomous Research US LP
Harshita Rawat - Bernstein Institutional Services LLC, Research Division
James Faucette - Morgan Stanley, Research Division
Bryan Keane - Citigroup Inc., Research Division
Connor Allen - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division
Jason Kupferberg - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division
Andrew Bauch - BMO Capital Markets Equity Research
Matthew O'Neill - BofA Securities, Research Division
Harry Bartlett - Rothschild & Co Redburn, Research Division
Kyle Peterson - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division
Thomas Nilsson - Nordea Markets, Research Division
Moshe Orenbuch - TD Cowen, Research Division
Giuliano Anderes-Bologna - Compass Point Research & Trading, LLC, Research Division
Lemar Clarke

Presentation

Operator

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Klarna's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. During this call, we will discuss our business outlook and make forward-looking statements. These statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions as of today. Actual results may differ materially due to various risks and uncertainties, including those described in our most recent filings with the SEC.

During this call, we will present both IFRS and non-IFRS financial measures. A reconciliation of non-IFRS to IFRS measures is included in today's earnings press release, which is distributed and available to the public through our Investor Relations website as well as filed with the SEC. Please note, unless otherwise stated, all comparisons in this call will be against our results for the comparable period in 2025. [Operator Instructions]

Before we move to Q&A, we will begin with a brief presentation. Sebastian, please go ahead.

Sebastian Siemiatkowski
Co-Founder, CEO & Director

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining. This was a good quarter. We delivered above

Mark Zuckerberg and his minions at Meta had a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy when child safety issues arose and preferred to turn a blind eye to protect profits, according to scorching testimony from a former employee on the second day of the historic trial Wednesday.

Arturo Béjar, a former Meta safety researcher who has become one of its biggest critics, told jurors in California federal court that Zuckerberg did little to address the harmful effects of Facebook and Instagram despite having near-unchecked power as the company’s CEO.

“You just cannot trust Mark Zuckerberg with kids,” Béjar said on the witness stand.

A courtroom sketch of Arturo Bejar during his testimony. REUTERS He was the first witness called by the coalition of 29 state attorneys general who have accused Meta of causing a teen mental health crisis through addictive app design that fueled anxiety, depression and even suicide – all while illegally harvesting kids’ data without parental consent.

The state AGs are seeking to force Meta to change key features of its apps and to impose major penalties on Meta over its alleged misdeeds. Lawyers for the states said the damages could approach $200 billion, while Meta has alleged the actual number could reach an astronomical $1.4 trillion.

Béjar, who led a safety-focused team at Meta from 2009 to 2015 and later returned as a consultant from 2019 to 2021, accused Zuckerberg of lying about the company’s commitment to protecting kids in public statements.

“I felt that he created a false and misleading impression of Facebook’s commitment to young people,” said Béjar, who estimated that he spoke to Zuckerberg about safety issues at least 100 times during his tenure.

Béjar was a safety researcher at Meta. REUTERS The researcher added that Meta had the capability to detect underage users who were evading safeguards but had a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy to protect its bottom line.

“Where the youngest kids are is where the users are going to be in the future,” Béjar said.

He previously served as a key witness in a separate trial brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, where he emotionally described how his then-16-year-old daughter received sick messages from pervs including “unsolicited penis pictures” shortly after she joined Instagram.

Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify during the trial. Getty Images Under cross examination by a Meta attorney in the current trial, Béjar admitted that he was caught off guard by the extent of the risks his daughter would face when he allowed her to join Instagram.

“I kept an eye on how distressing it was for her,” Béjar said. “She got a good following, at the price of harm.”

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The state AGs’ trial is expected to last roughly six weeks. Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri are each expected to testify during the proceedings.

Meta has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and accused the state AGs of seeking penalties that go far beyond the scope of their case.

During opening statements on Tuesday, Meta’s lawyer Paul Schmidt argued that Zuckerberg and his allies have worked to improve Facebook and Instagram and taken many steps to protect kids online – including parental oversight tools and time limits for social media use.

With Post wires

Nvidia (NVDA -0.99%) has been making some interesting investments lately, a few of which should be concerning for investors, if not outright red flags.

The AI chip giant just announced it was making a $105 billion investment to support the development of an enormous data center in Ohio that will be leased by OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.

OpenAI is a major customer of Nvidia, so the deal will presumably help it continue to purchase Nvidia's expensive graphics processing units and systems.

Image source: Getty Images.

Previously, Nvidia invested billions of dollars in Anthropic, which owns the Claude chatbot, and in the cloud-computing firm CoreWeave. It has also partnered with investment firms Apollo and Blackstone to arrange hundreds of billions in financing for new data centers.

Some observers say Nvidia is engaging in what's known as circular financing. That is, it is investing in AI firms and data centers so that those companies will build more AI infrastructure that requires Nvidia's powerful chips. So, in a way, Nvidia is providing financing for other companies to buy its products, and its own revenue is boosted by capital it has deployed.

Circular financing deals took a toll on hardware firms during the dot-com crash The practice is reminiscent of what occurred during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, when Cisco Systems, which made the networking hardware that was the backbone for much of the internet, arranged similar deals for its customers. That inflated the company's revenue. Other internet firms made similar deals.

When the internet bubble burst, Cisco's share price fell precipitously from a 2000 peak of around $77 to around just $12 in late 2001. Cisco shares didn't recover fully from that loss until 2025.

Of course, the internet infrastructure built during the dot-com bubble proved highly productive for the U.S. economy, and it's likely that the data centers financed by Nvidia will too. But that will be of little consolation to Nvidia's shareholders should the market decide that the company's revenue and profits are not organic, but self-financed.

Also, if Nvidia invests in customers that later fail or can no longer pay for its products, it will lose both those revenue streams and its investments, which would damage its finances.

All that said, Nvidia is an enormously successful company by almost every metric. In its fiscal 2027 first quarter, which ended April 26, its revenue climbed 85% year over year. It more than doubled its annual revenue in fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2024, and grew its top line by 65% in fiscal 2026. Earnings per share soared 215% last quarter and 147% last year.

Today's Change

(

-0.99

%) $

-2.18

Current Price

$

217.56

The company's chips are so powerful that the U.S. government restricts their sales to companies in certain nations.

So Nvidia looks strong at the moment, but the vendor financing it's increasingly engaging in is something for investors to watch closely.

JPMorgan Chase
JPM -1.65% 81

, America's largest bank by assets, dropped roughly 1.7% to $357.09 Wednesday as Treasury yields finally cracked after their brutal run higher. The 30-year yield had just hit its highest level since 2007 before retreating as the Treasury moved to expand liquidity-support buybacks. That reversal took some heat out of the rate trade and put banks on the back foot, even as the broader market recovered.

But JPMorgan's business is doing anything but cooling. Second-quarter results delivered $21.2 billion of reported net income, or $7.70 per share, while profit excluding significant items hit $16.9 billion. And the real punch came from Wall Street. Investment-banking fees jumped 30%. Equity-markets revenue ripped 86% higher. Total markets revenue climbed 35%. JPMorgan does not need one perfect rate environment when this many profit engines are firing at once.

The bigger question is price. At $357.09, JPMorgan sits 13.95% above its GF Value™ estimate of $313.38. That is a meaningful premium, and after the stock's monster run, investors are clearly paying up for execution. Wednesday's decline looks more like the market trimming that premium than suddenly questioning the franchise. The business remains powerful. The earnings remain huge. But at nearly 14% above GF Value™, JPMorgan now has to keep delivering numbers big enough to justify the price.

Check the Warning Signs for

JPM

now!

Key Takeaways Stocks like FTNT delivered strong Q2 growth as AI-driven cyber threats intensified demand. PANW's revenues rose 31%, while Next-Generation Security ARR surged 60% to $8.1 billion.ETFs like CIBR offer diversified exposure to cybersecurity's structural growth trend. This year’s second-quarter earnings cycle has delivered a clear message to investors: cybersecurity is no longer a defensive bet — it's a growth imperative. As enterprises grapple with an unprecedented surge in AI-driven cyber threats, which have jumped 89% from last year, according to CrowdStrike’s 2026 Threat Hunting Report, securing digital infrastructure has become a non-negotiable operational priority. 

This reality has created a powerful tailwind for industry leaders like Palo Alto Networks (PANW - Free Report) , which has not only surpassed analyst expectations but also demonstrated accelerating momentum. Notably, the Nasdaq CTA Cybersecurity Index has soared 36.5% year to date, outperforming the broader Nasdaq Index’s 13% return over the same period. 

For investors looking to capitalize on this secular growth trend, the recent market performance could make cybersecurity stocks and the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that hold them compelling entry points.

The following section breaks down the standout financial performances delivered by top cybersecurity players in the second quarter and illustrates how their underlying strength powers broader ETF growth.

Q2 Performance Breakdown: Cybersecurity LeadersThe recent second-quarter earnings cycle highlighted strong top and bottom-line growth among leading cybersecurity companies, driven by an increasingly challenging AI-enabled threat environment:

CrowdStrike (CRWD - Free Report) reported a 26% year-over-year increase in revenues to $1.19 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2027, while Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) reached $5.51 billion as of April 30, 2026. Its adjusted earnings per share improved a solid 50.7% year over year, fueled by rapid customer adoption of its AI-powered Falcon platform. 

It became the only cybersecurity company selected as a launch partner in both Anthropic’s Project Glasswing and OpenAI’s Trusted Access for Cyber (TAC) programs. The stock gained a solid 94.1% during the April-June quarter.

Palo Alto Networks posted third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue growth of 31% to $3 billion, while its Next-Generation Security ARR surged 60% to $8.1 billion. CEO Nikesh Arora highlighted the latest advancements at the AI frontier, leading to increased demand for cybersecurity as the primary growth driver for the company.  

Its remaining performance obligation (RPO) grew 36% year over year to $18.4 billion in the last reported quarter. The stock surged 112.2% during the second quarter of 2026.

Fortinet (FTNT - Free Report) delivered a standout performance in the second quarter of 2026, crushing estimates with its quarterly revenues of $2.05 billion, up 26% year over year. A 52% jump in its product revenues underscored massive demand for hardware and software upgrades designed to manage complex AI network traffic.

Moody’s Ratings has upgraded Fortinet’s senior unsecured notes rating to A3 from Baa1 and its senior unsecured shelf rating to (P)A3 from (P)Baa1, the highest rating of any public cybersecurity company. The stock has rallied 89.3% during the second quarter.

AI Threat Outlook: Why ETFs Offer a Better Entry StrategyAs generative AI lowers the technical barrier for cybercriminals to launch sophisticated phishing schemes, zero-day exploits, and automated ransom attacks, cybersecurity spending is shifting from discretionary IT expenses to critical utility-like infrastructure. 

As the threat landscape evolves at machine speed, a long-term demand scenario is there for the sector. To this end, some market experts believe that cybersecurity companies have the potential to experience consistent outsized revenue growth, even in an economic downturn.

Against this backdrop, the combination of robust second-quarter earnings and an intensifying AI threat landscape presents an ideal entry point for cybersecurity ETFs. While individual stock picking exposes investors to company-specific volatility — such as post-earnings swings and execution risks — cybersecurity ETFs offer diversified, basket exposure to the primary beneficiaries of this structural growth trend without single-stock risk.

4 Cybersecurity ETFs to BuyConsidering the aforementioned discussion, investors may add the following ETFs to their portfolios:

First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR - Free Report)

With $15.56 billion in net assets, the fund provides exposure to 42 companies primarily involved in developing, implementing, and managing security protocols for private and public networks, computers, and mobile devices to protect data integrity and network operations. PANW holds the first spot in this fund, with 9.74% weightage, while CRWD holds the second spot with 8.54% weightage. FTNT holds the third position with 8.25% weightage. 

CIBR has risen 36.4% year to date and charges 58 basis points (bps) in fees. It traded at a good volume of 1.50 million shares in the last trading session. 

Amplify Cybersecurity ETF (HACK - Free Report)

This fund, with net assets worth $2.97 billion, offers exposure to 23 companies actively involved in providing cybersecurity solutions that include hardware, software, and services. PANW holds the first spot in this fund with 6.57% weightage, while CRWD holds the second spot with 5.62% weightage. FTNT holds the sixth spot with 5.01% weightage. 

HACK has soared 43.5% year to date and charges 60 bps in fees. It traded at a volume of 0.21 million shares in the last trading session. 

Global X Cybersecurity ETF (BUG - Free Report)

This fund, with net assets worth $1.51 billion, offers exposure to 31 companies that stand to potentially benefit from the increased adoption of cybersecurity technology, such as those whose principal business is in the development and management of security protocols preventing intrusion and attacks to systems, networks, applications, computers, and mobile devices. PANW holds the first spot in this fund, with 8.02% weightage, while CRWD holds the third spot with 7.34% weightage. FTNT holds the fourth spot with 7.20% weightage. 

BUG rallied 38.2% year-to-date and charges 50 bps in fees. It traded at a volume of 0.97 million shares in the last trading session. 

iShares Cybersecurity and Tech ETF (IHAK - Free Report)

This fund, with net assets worth $1.08 billion, offers exposure to 35 companies at the forefront of cybersecurity across developed & emerging markets. Qualys holds the first spot in this fund, with 5.90% weightage, while PANW holds the third spot with 4.89% weightage. CRWD holds the sixth spot with 4.51% weightage. 

IHAK has surged 36.7% year to date and charges 47 bps in fees. It traded at a volume of 0.12 million shares in the last trading session. 
 

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Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev believes the global financial system is approaching its biggest technological transformation in decades. Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box from D.C. ahead of meetings at the White House and the CFTC, Tenev framed the environment for tokenization in unusually sweeping terms: “We’re at the beginning of a supercycle, and it’s going to take over the entire financial system.”

Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD | HOOD Price Prediction) has launched tokenized exposure to 190 U.S. stocks across more than 120 countries, expanded its prediction markets to billions of dollars in monthly volume, and attracted over 100,000 customers to AI-powered trading tools. Now Tenev wants U.S. regulators to open the domestic market before tokenized trading volume and financial innovation move permanently overseas.

Robinhood Wants to Put Every Asset on Blockchain Robinhood Chain launched outside the U.S. with tokenized exposure to 190 U.S. stocks, and those tokens trade 24/7 across more than 120 countries. Robinhood’s CEO Tenev connected the technical shift to a broader societal claim: “I think that broad ownership, particularly of these innovative companies, is essential to maintaining a free, stable and prosperous society.”

On the company’s earnings call in July, Tenev laid out the same vision in operational terms, describing Robinhood Chain as “purpose-built for real-world assets” and pitched the strategic upside: “Can we use the early success of Robinhood Chain to actually make all assets, make everything that you have in the U.S. available to billions of people worldwide?“ The chain has already processed over $12 billion in DEX volume post-launch and became the fastest chain to reach 100 million transactions, according to company disclosures.

The Washington meetings signal that Tenev sees U.S. regulatory clarity as the missing piece. He wants the CFTC and the White House to greenlight tokenized U.S. equity trading domestically before overseas venues capture the liquidity.

Prediction Markets Just Generated $6 Billion in Monthly Volume The second leg of the thesis is event contracts. “We’ve seen tremendous growth in our prediction markets business. Just in July, we had over $6 billion in volume,“ Tenev told CNBC, adding that volume is diversifying beyond sports into financial and crypto markets.

Robinhood’s event contracts business generated $156 million in Q2 2026 revenue, and the Rothera joint venture with Susquehanna became a top 3 DCM in the U.S. after one month. Prediction market users grew from 1.5 million to roughly 2 million, with midterms cited as the next catalyst.

Robinhood Wants AI to Build Trading Strategies for Anyone The third bet is AI. “Through our agentic products, we have over 100,000 customers. We’re getting usage, and we’re getting lots of feedback for what’s working, what’s not working, how we can make it better,” Tenev said.

He drew a direct parallel to how AI has helped enable anyone to be their own developer: “In the same way that the agentic coding tools have allowed for an explosion of developer activity, the same thing will happen in financial services, where you can create increasingly sophisticated strategies and deploy them without having a computer science background.”

Record Revenue Gives Tenev Room to Think Bigger Robinhood posted record revenue of $1.31 billion in Q2 2026, up 32% year over year, with EPS of $0.62 against a $0.43 consensus. Total platform assets reached $369 billion.

Tenev also flagged the Trump Accounts app, which currently offers S&P 500 exposure through a State Street ETF, as an on-ramp for the next generation of owners. 7 million children have signed up, with nearly $1.5 billion in contributions.

Key Takeaways Robinhood is assembling a broader financial platform built around tokenized assets, prediction markets, and AI-generated trading strategies. Record revenue, $369 billion in platform assets, and rapid adoption across these newer products give that vision more credibility than it had even a year ago.

Regulation remains the biggest unresolved variable. Robinhood has already demonstrated that tokenized U.S. stocks can attract international demand, but bringing the model home will require support from Washington. If regulators provide a workable framework, Robinhood could become one of the primary gateways to a 24-hour, blockchain-based financial system.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

-

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ameresco, Inc., (NYSE: AMRC), a leading energy infrastructure company, today announced that, effective September 25, 2026, Mark Chiplock has resigned as Chief Financial Officer to accept a CFO position at a private equity-owned company in a different industry.

“We appreciate the significant contributions Mark has made to our company during his tenure with us, and the strong financial team that he has built and mentored. Mark has been a valuable member of our executive leadership, and we are grateful for his leadership and wish him continued success in his new opportunity,” said George Sakellaris, CEO.

Mark will continue to serve as CFO through September 25, 2026, and will support an orderly transition of his responsibilities.

Ameresco is pleased to reiterate its guidance for full year 2026 revenue of $2.0 billion to $2.2 billion, Adjusted EBITDA of $250 million to $270 million, and Non-GAAP EPS of $1.15 to $1.35.

The company has begun a search to identify its next Chief Financial Officer who will join us in leading the company during this next transformation period of growth.

About Ameresco, Inc.
Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE: AMRC) is a leading energy infrastructure company delivering integrated solutions to create reliable power and modernize infrastructure. The company’s Power Infrastructure business integrates energy resources across behind-the-meter and utility-scale systems. Its Buildings & Public Infrastructure business modernizes the built environment with smart, connected solutions that optimize performance and enhance resilience. Ameresco is a trusted full lifecycle partner, delivering over $15 billion in solutions and contracting over 5 GW of energy resources since its founding in 2000. Headquartered in Massachusetts, Ameresco serves public and private sector customers across North America and Europe. Learn more at www.ameresco.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Exchange Act, and Section 27A of the Securities Act. Statements that do not relate strictly to historical or current facts are forward-looking. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, forward-looking statements contained herein specifically include expectations about market conditions, growth opportunities, financial guidance including estimated future revenues, net income, adjusted EBITDA, Non-GAAP EPS, and other statements containing the words “projects,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “will” and similar expressions .The forward-looking statements included herein involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from projected results. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on current expectations and assumptions about future events, taking into account all information currently known by the Company. While the Company considers these expectations and assumptions to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, regulatory and other risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and beyond the Company’s control. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: (i) demand for our energy efficiency and infrastructure solutions and our ability or inability to execute our strategic growth plan, including our ability to invest according to plan, grow our businesses (including through joint ventures or other co-investment vehicles and expand into new lines of business); (ii) the timing of, and ability to, enter into contracts for awarded projects on the terms proposed or at all; (iii) the timing of work we do on projects where we recognize revenue on a percentage of completion basis; (iv) the ability to perform under signed contracts without delay and in accordance with their terms and the potential for liquidated and other damages we may be subject to; (v) the fiscal health of the government and the impact of any government shutdowns; (vi) our ability to complete and operate our projects on a profitable basis and as committed to our customers; (vii) our cash flows from operations and our ability to arrange financing to fund our operations and projects; (viii) our customers’ ability to finance their projects and credit risk from our customers; (ix) our ability to comply with covenants in our existing debt agreements; (x) the impact of macroeconomic challenges, weather related events and climate change; (xi) our reliance on third parties for our construction and installation work; (xii) availability and cost of labor and equipment; (xiii) global supply chain challenges, component shortages and inflationary pressures; (xiv) changes in federal, state and local government policies and programs related to our business; (xv) the ability of customers to cancel or defer contracts included in our backlog; (xvi) the output and performance of our energy plants and energy projects; (xvii) cybersecurity incidents and breaches; (xviii) regulatory and other risks inherent to constructing and operating energy assets; (xix) the effects of and ability to close our acquisitions and joint ventures; (xx) seasonality in construction and in demand for our products and services; (xxi) a customer’s decision to delay our work on, or other risks involved with, a particular project; (xxii) the addition of new customers or the loss of existing customers; (xxiii) market price of our Class A Common stock prevailing from time to time; (xxiv) the nature of other investment opportunities presented to our Company from time to time; (xxv) risks related to our international operation and international growth strategy; and (xxvi) the other risks described in our periodic reports filed with the SEC, including under the caption “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of our Annual Report. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements appearing in this press release.

More News From Ameresco, Inc.

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Bloom Energy Today

BE

Bloom Energy

$206.00 -3.01 (-1.44%)

As of 03:59 PM Eastern

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

$40.56▼

$351.28274.67

$248.05

Bloom Energy NYSE: BE is no longer the niche fuel-cell maker Wall Street shrugged at for much of the past decade as it racked up years of losses.

Instead, it’s become a player on the front lines of an urgent AI problem. AI data centers need power faster than the electric grid can deliver it.

Get Bloom Energy alerts:

Bloom's solid-oxide fuel cells generate electricity on-site from natural gas without waiting years for a grid connection. Investors have noticed. The stock is up over 130% since the start of this year and about 370% over the past 12 months.

For investors now, the question is how much of that surge is fueled by emotion and how much the financials can support the new value.

Record Earnings Back Bloom’s Rapid RiseThere’s no doubt that the company’s second-quarter headline numbers, released July 28, were extraordinary. Second-quarter revenue hit a record $1.065 billion, up 165.5% from a year earlier and well above the $826.13 million analysts expected.

Profitability improved just as impressively. While its reported net income came in at $196.3 million, in contrast to a $42.6 million loss a year earlier, non-GAAP operating income jumped to $239.6 million from $28.6 million. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) reached $253 million, roughly 24% of revenue.

Those earnings jumps translated to per-share figures. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share came in at 78 cents, double the 39-cent consensus. GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) were 62 cents in contrast to a loss of 18 cents the previous year. Product revenue, the core of Bloom's business, surged 215.4% to $935.4 million.

Management followed the beat with a bigger promise, raising full-year 2026 revenue guidance to between $3.9 billion and $4.2 billion. That was up from between $3.4 billion and $3.8 billion. Non-GAAP EPS guidance came in at $2.55 to $2.85.

Major AI Deals Drive the Growth PipelineThese numbers did not suddenly happen. Bloom has spent the past year stacking the kind of contracts that explain where the growth is coming from. Oracle NYSE: ORCL expanded its agreement to procure up to 2.8 gigawatts of Bloom's fuel-cell systems, with 1.2 gigawatts already under contract.

European AI infrastructure firm Nebius agreed to pay Bloom up to $2.6 billion in service fees over the life of a new power deal. And in June, Brookfield expanded its financing framework for Bloom-powered AI infrastructure projects fivefold, from $5 billion to $25 billion.

Indeed, this pipeline of committed multiyear power contracts is the core of the investment thesis. Beyond selling standalone equipment, Bloom is becoming embedded infrastructure for the AI buildout, with hyperscalers, or large-scale cloud computing providers. effectively funding its expansion.

Wall Street Stays Bullish Despite Supply-Chain and Valuation RisksBloom Energy Stock Forecast Today12-Month Stock Price Forecast:
$248.05
20.41% Upside

Moderate Buy
Based on 26 Analyst Ratings

Current Price$206.00High Forecast$350.00Average Forecast$248.05Low Forecast$39.00Bloom Energy Stock Forecast Details

At current price levels, Wall Street's response is broadly favorable but far from unanimous. Twenty-six analysts currently cover the stock with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average 12-month price target of $248.05, representing an upside of about 19%.

In all, the analysts are rather evenly split. Of the 26 ratings, three have given the company a Strong Buy, 10 suggest Buy, 12 recommend Hold, and one lists it as a Sell.

While the runup in stock price might worry new investors, the most immediate risk might be one that has already rattled the stock.

In early July, short sellers Hunterbrook Research and Crossroads Capital published reports alleging Bloom understated its reliance on Chinese-sourced scandium oxide, a material used in its fuel cells. The reports questioned whether enough scandium exists globally to support the company's targets.

Bloom immediately rejected the claims as “false and misleading,” saying it has sufficient non-China-dependent supply to meet current demand and backlog, with visibility to support 25 gigawatts of annual production. Although the allegations have been largely dismissed, it shows how fragile investor perception can be regarding supply-chain questions.

Competitive and valuation pressure add a second layer of risk. Natural-gas turbine projects from Chevron NYSE: CVX and Microsoft NASDAQ: MSFT, along with government-backed nuclear initiatives, are emerging as alternative ways for data-center operators to secure power. Bloom's window as the fastest available power option is not likely to stay open forever.

A Lofty Valuation Leaves Little Room for ErrorInvestors might remember to keep these in mind. With a trailing price-to-earnings ratio above 300, Bloom Energy isn't just pricing in continued hypergrowth; it's pricing in years of it going exceedingly well.

For comparison, GE Vernova NYSE: GEV, another company riding the AI power buildout through turbines and grid equipment, trades at roughly 29 times trailing earnings. Also, Bloom pays no dividend, so this is clearly a growth story rather than an income-oriented investment.

Bloom Offers a High-Risk Bet on AI PowerThis enthusiasm for the company’s future versus the realities of the present is where investors need to choose between them.

Bloom might be considered a higher-torque, higher-risk way to participate in the sector. Its fuel-cell technology is differentiated, its contract backlog is faster-growing, and the valuation assumes none of it stumbles.

But the realities cannot be ignored. It’s a competitive business that seemingly changes daily with new data center battles and an unknown AI future.

For risk-tolerant investors who believe AI power demand is structurally durable, Bloom remains one of the purest, if not potentially volatile, ways to play in the theme.

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Should You Invest $1,000 in Bloom Energy Right Now?Before you consider Bloom Energy, 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 Bloom Energy wasn't on the list.

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

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Arbitrum One Crosses 10,000 RWA Holders@Arbitrum One has reached a new milestone, with the total number of real-world asset (RWA) holders on the network surpassing 10,000 for the first time. The figure marks a meaningful step forward for a network that has been quietly building one of the most active RWA ecosystems in crypto.

The growth has been driven by strong adoption of blockchain-native asset products, including @tethergold (XAUT), @Ondo U.S. Dollar Yield (USDY), and @Spiko_finance EU T-Bills. These products cover a broad spectrum of traditional finance categories brought onchain, from commodities to fixed income instruments.

A Growing Force in Tokenized FinanceThe holder milestone sits within a broader pattern of expansion on Arbitrum. As of August 2026, Arbitrum One has been recognized as the first blockchain to host more than 3,000 real-world asset tokens, based on on-chain analytics. Among the issuers active on the network are Ondo Finance, Franklin Templeton, Backed, and Centrifuge, with assets spanning U.S. Treasuries, private loans, money market funds, and commodities.

RWA assets under management on the Arbitrum platform have reached approximately $850 million, representing a threefold increase year-on-year, with more than 2,000 tokenized assets now deployed across the network.

Arbitrum operates as a Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, built to handle higher transaction throughput at lower cost than the base layer. Its strategic focus on tokenization and decentralized finance has made it a preferred infrastructure choice for projects bridging traditional financial assets and blockchain rails.

Institutional investors are drawn to Arbitrum partly because it combines Ethereum-level security with lower gas costs, making it practical for daily NAV updates and on-chain redemptions. That combination has helped attract a range of tokenized products that require reliable, cost-efficient settlement infrastructure.

The 10,000 RWA holder count on Arbitrum One specifically reflects the growing retail and institutional appetite for tokenized assets on the network's core chain, separate from newer application-specific deployments built on the Arbitrum stack.

Sources:
Arbitrum Foundation: H1 2026 Ecosystem Update
Tron Weekly: Arbitrum One First to Surpass 3,000 Tokenized RWA Assets
Crypto Adventure: Arbitrum Leads Blockchain Networks With 2,056 Tokenized Real-World Assets

A slew of closures have left grocery shoppers in California with fewer affordable options.

Grocery Outlet — a major discount retailer — first announced plans to shut down 36 “financially underperforming stores” locations back in March. The shutters would take place all across the country as part of the company’s “optimization plan.”

The scheme would “improve operational execution, strengthen long-term profitability and increase cash flow generation,” according to a company earnings call.

Grocery Outlet has closed down eight California locations Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images The California-based chain has since closed down 12 stores with eight of them in The Golden State, the grocery behemoth said on its latest August 12 earnings call. Ian Ferry, CFO, added that 10 new stores have been opened during the quarter, and 17 this year to date.

While the company has not revealed a full list of stores that have closed, locations were made available by restructuring and investment firm Gordon Brothers.

Shortly after the closure announcement, Gordon Brothers put together a list of leases that were made public via a flyer.

The leases show eight California locations are up for grabs as they have closed down since July 2026.

The following address are the eight stores which have shut down:

315 Panno Drive, Brawley 350 N. 2nd Street, El Cajon 14868 West Whitesbridge Avenue, Kerman 2001 West Whittier Blvd, La Habra 4420 Ontario Mills Parkway, Ontario 2900 Sperry Ave, Patterson 13345 Poway Rd, Poway 120 N. China Lake Blvd, Ridgecrest

The closures come as the company has announced its optimization plan tputman151 – stock.adobe.com Jason Potter, the President and CEO of Grocery Outlet, said in the March earnings call that while the brand made progress on its goals last year, fourth-quarter proved it had more work to do.

“Consumer pressure intensified, federally funded benefits were delayed, and competition grew more promotional in the fourth quarter,” Potter said in a press release.

“In response, we have begun to sharpen our focus on what matters most: delivering clearer value and a better in-store experience.”

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In addition to the closed Golden State stores, it has also shut down three locations in Idaho, six in Maryland, four in New Jersey, six in Ohio and three in Pennsylvania.

Despite the 36 closures, it only accounts for roughly 6% of Grocery Outlet’s lineup, according to Grocery Dive.

Grocery Outlet is a bargain chain offering shoppers massive discounts MediaNews Group via Getty Images The retail giant has been a reliable spot for shoppers as folks can depend on it for massive discounts, including private-label products that have discounts ranging anywhere from 40% off up to 70% off.

The Post has reached out to Grocery Outlet for more information but has not heard back.

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Toll Brothers, Inc. (TOL) Q3 2026 Earnings Call August 19, 2026 8:30 AM EDT

Company Participants

Douglas Yearley - Executive Chairman
Karl Mistry - CEO & Director
Gregg Ziegler - Executive VP & CFO
Seth Ring - COO & President

Conference Call Participants

John Lovallo - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division
Stephen Kim - Evercore ISI Institutional Equities, Research Division
Alan Ratner - Zelman & Associates LLC
Michael Dahl - RBC Capital Markets, Research Division
Rafe Jadrosich - BofA Securities, Research Division
Richard Reid - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division
Trevor Allinson - Wolfe Research, LLC
Jay McCanless - Citizens JMP Securities, LLC, Research Division
Ryan Gilbert - BTIG, LLC, Research Division
Susan Maklari - Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division
Alex Barrón - Housing Research Center, LLC
Matthew Bouley - Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division
Jason Sabshon - Keefe, Bruyette, & Woods, Inc., Research Division

Presentation

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to the Toll Brothers Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2026 Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] The company is planning to end the call at 9:30 when the markets open. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Doug Yearley, Executive Chairman. Please go ahead.

Douglas Yearley
Executive Chairman

Thank you, Betsy. Good morning. Welcome, and thank you all for joining us. With me today are Karl Mistry, Chief Executive Officer; Gregg Ziegler, Chief Financial Officer; and Seth Ring, President and Chief Operating Officer. During today's call, I will provide a brief overview of our third quarter results and current market conditions. Karl will discuss our operating performance and trends across our markets, and Gregg will review our financial results and our outlook.

Before we begin, please note that many statements on this call are forward-looking based on assumptions about the economy, world events, housing and financial markets, interest rates, the availability of labor and materials, inflation and