Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

The Google logo is pictured at the entrance to the Google offices in London, Britain January 18, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

June 28 (Reuters) - Google has put limits on Meta’s (META.O), opens new tab use of its Gemini AI ​models after the social media company sought more ‌computing capacity than the rival tech group could provide, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

Google, owned by Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, told Meta around March ​it could not meet the full Gemini capacity the ​company had sought to purchase, the newspaper said, ⁠adding that the shortfall disrupted and delayed some of ​Meta’s internal AI projects.

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Several other Google clients have also been ​affected, though to a lesser extent, according to the report. Meta has been particularly impacted due to its exceptionally high demand for Google’s ​models, the FT said.

Reuters could not immediately verify the ​report, which cited people familiar with the matter. Google and Meta did ‌not ⁠immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours.

Due to the restrictions, Meta has encouraged staff to be more efficient with AI tokens, the units that measure AI usage, ​the FT report ​said.

Even as ⁠companies continue to spend billions on chips and data centres, they are still struggling to ​secure enough computing power to support the growing ​demand ⁠for AI services.

Revenue at Google Cloud grew to $20 billion in the first quarter ended March, but CEO Sundar Pichai said computing ⁠power ​constraints prevented even higher growth and ​contributed to the cloud unit's backlog nearly doubling quarter on quarter.

Reporting by Abu ​Sultan in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard and Sonali Paul

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Tesla (TSLA +1.38%) and Elon Musk are making a big push to expand beyond electric vehicles (EVs). The company recently completed a tape-out for its upcoming AI5 computer chip, which will be deployed in new projects such as the Optimus humanoid robot.

Here's what the news means for Tesla and how it could impact the stock price in the years ahead.

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Expanding beyond vehicles A tape-out is when a computer chip design is sent to manufacturers for fabrication, essentially a final blueprint for the project. The AI5 chip has been sent to Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor, with manufacturing planned to ramp over the next 12 to 18 months.

Tesla's latest chip boasts a 40x performance boost over the previous generation, and its goal is to help scale the two latest endeavors for the Musk technology company in humanoid robots and the Cybercab self-driving vehicle. Unlike other players in the robotics and self-driving car space, Tesla has designed its own chips, which should give it a cost advantage over those that rely on expensive suppliers like Nvidia.

In the long run, Tesla plans to build its own semiconductor manufacturing facility to further vertically integrate its robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) vision. The project, called Terrafab, will be built in Texas in conjunction with Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Intel. Like with its own chip designs, the theory is that this vertical integration will give Tesla a cost advantage as it scales up humanoid robot manufacturing in the years ahead.

Image source: Getty Images.

The future of Tesla stock Tesla is already working on designs for the AI6, which is reportedly being manufactured by Samsung. If you solely look at Musk's vision, there is a lot for shareholders to be excited about today. Who wouldn't want a future in which humanoid robots perform menial tasks, with everyone driven around by a self-driving Cybercab network?

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This vision is far from a reality right now. Plus, Tesla's stock already prices in much of this vision, which isn't guaranteed to come to fruition. Its market cap is $1.4 trillion, with a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 348. 

It is smart for Tesla to design its own chips and eventually build its own chip factories. However, many pieces still need to come together over the next decade, and executing the humanoid robot vision should keep investors away from the stock at today's $1.4 trillion market cap.

Brett Schafer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Intel, Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Every four years, Bitcoin cuts its mining rewards in half. Fidelity Digital Assets has spent the last two years building a detailed case for why concerns about network security are overblown.

The firm’s June 2026 report, titled “Bitcoin’s Programmed Security: Part Two,” is a follow-up to its March 2024 analysis and digs into the economic mechanics that keep Bitcoin resilient even as miners earn fewer coins per block. The core argument: the combination of rising hash rates, automatic difficulty adjustments, and growing transaction fee revenue creates a self-reinforcing security model that doesn’t collapse when subsidies decline.

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The numbers behind the argument Since the 2016 halving, Bitcoin’s hash rate has surged by over 8,000%. Since 2020, it has climbed 394%. Both of those stretches included halvings that cut miner rewards in half.

The most recent halving occurred in April 2024, dropping block rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. The next one, expected around 2028, will reduce rewards further to 1.5625 BTC.

Why the doomsday math doesn’t add up Bitcoin’s difficulty adjustment mechanism recalibrates every 2,016 blocks (roughly two weeks), automatically adjusting how hard it is to mine a block. If miners drop off the network, difficulty falls, making it cheaper for remaining miners to operate. If miners flood in, difficulty rises.

Fidelity notes that while temporary hash rate dips have occurred after halvings, none have resulted in significant security breaches. The report also finds that even in projected low-subsidy environments beyond 2040, the cost of mounting a 51% attack on the network remains disproportionate to any potential gains from doing so.

Transaction fees as the long-term bridge During the April 2024 halving, transaction fees in a single block reached approximately 12 times the block subsidy. That spike was partly driven by the Runes protocol launch, which created unusual demand for block space.

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

Intel (INTC 3.20%) was once at the top of the semiconductor industry. But after arriving late to the AI boom, losing its technological edge to rivals like Advanced Micro Devices and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and stumbling out of the gate in the competitive foundry business, its dominance turned into a sobering lesson in how quickly even the best chip companies can fall.

Image source: Getty Images.

Lately, though, a string of wins suggests Intel's AI bet is finally starting to pay off, raising a fair question: Is it time to reconsider this stock? The fact is, revenue is improving, foundry partnerships are stacking up, and investor confidence is clearly back.

Still, headlines don't tell the whole story. To see whether Intel's momentum is real, investors need to look at where the company actually stands in AI and what's driving this move.

From $40 to $130 in half a year? How? Intel's stock price action has been hard to ignore. Shares are up more than 230% year to date and 484% over the last 52 weeks, and the stock recently pushed through $140 to a new all-time high.

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That kind of rally doesn't happen for just one reason. Intel's cost-cutting is starting to show up in the numbers, and its renewed focus on AI is catching investors' attention.

But the biggest contributors have been partnerships with major AI players. In April, Intel announced a deeper collaboration with Alphabet to expand the use of its Xeon CPUs and custom IPUs for AI workloads.

Around the same time, Intel joined the Terafab project as a strategic partner alongside Space Exploration Technologies and Tesla, contributing design, fabrication, and advanced packaging capabilities. Intel is set to serve as a key manufacturing partner.

Is it ambitious, like perhaps one of Elon Musk's projects? Absolutely. But SpaceX and Tesla are willing to spend real money to try, and that's exactly the kind of business and validation Intel has lacked in recent years.

That brings us to the biggest catalyst behind the stock's move: the foundry business.

Foundry generated $5.4 billion in revenue in Q1 For years, Intel Foundry was viewed as a giant money pit.

Intel poured tens of billions into advanced manufacturing capacity, process technology, and fab expansions, while the segment reported multibillion-dollar operating losses. Investors were asked to be patient, even as the losses kept piling up.

Now, the narrative is shifting.

As mentioned earlier, Foundry's latest quarterly revenue is becoming a meaningful part of the business. It suggests Intel no longer has to rely solely on selling its own processors. It can also manufacture chips for other companies. And with the AI boom still in full swing, hyperscalers are spending billions to secure leading-edge silicon. That gives Intel a chance to capture a piece of a market it entered late.

Operating losses are also in the billions To be clear, Foundry is still unprofitable. In the first quarter of FY 2026, the segment reported an operating loss of about $2.44 billion , with Intel remaining in the red on a GAAP basis. Net loss also ballooned more than 350% year over year.

Nobody expected Foundry to flip to profitability overnight, though. The more important point is that revenue is moving in the right direction. Partnerships with hyperscalers and AI leaders add credibility, which could translate into a real advantage in contract manufacturing.

If Intel keeps executing on its roadmap, improves yields, and wins a few more high-profile clients, its original Foundry vision could eventually materialize.

Is Intel a buy today? Intel stock currently carries a buy rating from Wall Street. Still, more analysts are leaning toward a hold as the stock approaches its price target, and that hesitation makes sense.

It's one thing to reinforce the story with partnerships and improve revenue. It's another to turn that good news into steady, durable profits. Investors will need more validation. But at this point, it does look fair to say Intel's foundry bet is no longer just a costly experiment. It's a legitimate path to future growth, and a big reason some investors are taking a fresh look at the stock.

Avalanche’s C-Chain onboarded 707,000 new addresses during Q2 2026. That’s six times the number added in Q1, a pace that suggests something beyond routine growth is happening on the layer-1 network.

The numbers behind the surge The 707,000 figure represents net new C-Chain addresses, the primary execution layer where most user activity on Avalanche takes place. Monthly new address data tracked by The Block has become one of the more reliable proxies for gauging real user adoption on the network, and the Q2 numbers represent a clear inflection point.

Avalanche’s DeFi ecosystem has been pulling in capital at a remarkable clip. Total value locked across the network has nearly doubled since April 2025, reaching approximately $2.1 billion.

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The subnet architecture has also been expanding. By the end of 2025, the network had 75 active subnets, a 158% year-over-year increase. Each subnet can be tailored for specific applications, whether that’s gaming, enterprise logistics, or DeFi protocols, without clogging the main road.

On the infrastructure side, Avalanche raised its C-Chain gas target to support throughput of 4 million transactions per second.

What changed to unlock this growth The Etna upgrade, which went live in December 2024, significantly reduced the cost of deploying new subnets. Following Etna, the Avalanche9000 and Granite initiatives further refined the network’s performance characteristics.

VanEck launched a spot AVAX ETF in January 2026, giving traditional finance a regulated on-ramp to the token. A spot ETF signals that at least some regulatory bodies have reached a level of comfort with AVAX’s classification as a digital commodity. Pilot programs targeting institutional participation in Avalanche’s DeFi ecosystem have also contributed to the TVL growth.

What this means for investors For AVAX holders, more active users means more transaction fees, and more transaction fees means more demand for the token that pays those fees. AVAX is also used for staking and subnet validation, so network expansion creates additional demand channels beyond simple transaction activity.

Avalanche is carving out a distinctive position with its subnet model at a time when other layer-1s are competing primarily on raw throughput or EVM compatibility. The 75 active subnets represent a real differentiator, particularly for enterprise use cases where organizations want their own execution environment without sacrificing interoperability with the broader ecosystem.

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

Shares of Brookfield Renewable (BEPC +0.24%)(BEP +0.11%) have slumped more than 15% from their 52-week high. That sell-off came even though the leading global renewable energy producer grew its cash flow per share by more than 15% in the first quarter. With its stock price down, Brookfield Renewable's dividend yield is up over 4%.

Here's why buying Brookfield Renewable today might be one of the best financial decisions you'll ever make.

Image source: Getty Images.

High-powered growth ahead Brookfield Renewable is a leader in owning, operating, and developing renewable energy and sustainable solutions. The company sells around 90% of the electricity it produces under long-term, fixed-rate power purchase agreements (PPAs) with utilities and large corporations. Most of its PPAs link rates to inflation (70% of its revenue). That provides it with a stable and steadily growing stream of cash flow (2% to 3% annual growth from inflation escalation).

The company expects to deploy $9 billion to $10 billion of capital over the next five years to support surging global power demand driven by catalysts such as increased electrification, reindustrialization, and AI data centers. Brookfield aims to deploy around $850 million in capital each year to develop additional renewable energy capacity (an annual run rate of 10 gigawatts by next year), which should add 4% to 6% per year to its cash flow per share. Additionally, it expects to continue making value-enhancing acquisitions. Brookfield and a partner agreed to buy Boralex in a $9 billion deal earlier this year. Add in growth from margin-enhancing activities, such as securing higher rates as legacy PPAs expire, and Brookfield expects to deliver more than 10% annual cash flow per share growth for at least the next five years. Given the long-term demand for clean power, Brookfield should grow at a healthy rate for decades.

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An attractive and growing income stream Brookfield Renewable also provides investors with a top-notch income stream. The company's current yield of more than 4% is well above the S&P 500's rate of around 1.1%. It has an exceptional record of paying dividends, having increased its payout by at least 5% each year since 2011.

The leading renewable energy dividend stock is in a strong position to continue raising its high-yielding payout. Brookfield aims to grow its dividend by 5% to 9% per year. With its earnings expected to rise by more than 10% annually, its dividend payout ratio will steadily decline from an already conservated 75% over the last 12 months, making its dividend even more sustainable over the long term.

Robust total return potential Brookfield Renewable is one of those rare companies that offers a high-yielding income stream and high-powered earnings growth. With a more than 4% yield and double-digit earnings growth expected, Brookfield should deliver total returns at the high end of its 12% to 15% target range, especially from its lower share price. Earning such a robust return from a low-risk stock makes investing in Brookfield potentially one of the best financial decisions you'll make.

Matt DiLallo has positions in Brookfield Renewable and Brookfield Renewable Partners. The Motley Fool recommends Brookfield Renewable and Brookfield Renewable Partners. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Walter Field McLallen, a director of OneSpaWorld Holdings Limited (OSW +3.38%), reported the sale of 10,500 shares of Common Stock in an open-market transaction on June 11, 2026, according to a SEC Form 4 filing.

Transaction summaryMetricValueShares sold (direct)10,500Transaction value$259,035Post-transaction shares (direct)137,382Post-transaction value (direct ownership)~$3.41 millionTransaction value based on SEC Form 4 weighted average purchase price ($24.67).

Key questionsHow does this transaction compare to McLallen's historical sale patterns?
Since July 2023, McLallen has executed sell transactions averaging approximately 13,524 shares each.What is the impact of this sale on McLallen's ownership position in OneSpaWorld?
The sale reduced McLallen's direct Common Stock holdings by 7%, leaving a post-transaction balance of 137,382 shares.Were any shares disposed of through indirect entities or derivatives in this filing?
No; all 10,500 shares were sold from direct holdings, with no indirect transactions (such as those involving trusts or LLCs) or derivative exercises involved in this event.Company overviewMetricValuePrice (as of market close 6/11/26)$24.67Revenue (TTM)$989.00 millionNet income (TTM)$77.68 million1-year price change37.14%* 1-year performance calculated using June 11th, 2026 as the reference date.

Company snapshotOneSpaWorld offers a comprehensive suite of spa, wellness, fitness, and beauty services, including traditional therapies, medi-spa treatments, and branded retail products, primarily on cruise ships and at premium destination resorts.The firm operates under a service-based business model, generating revenue through direct provision of health and wellness services, product sales, and exclusive brand partnerships within its facilities.It targets cruise line passengers and resort guests seeking premium wellness experiences, with a focus on high-value leisure travelers and vacationers.OneSpaWorld Holdings Limited is a leading global provider of health and wellness services, operating an extensive network across cruise ships and destination resorts. The company leverages exclusive brand partnerships and a broad service portfolio to address the growing demand for premium wellness experiences among leisure travelers. Its scale and integrated offering underpin a strong competitive position within the leisure and hospitality sector.

What this transaction means for investorsMcLallen has been a consistent seller over the past several years, and this transaction falls below his average sale size while leaving him with a sizable stake in the company.

More importantly for long-term investors, OneSpaWorld reported record first-quarter revenue of $247.6 million, up 13% year over year, while net income climbed 40% to $21.3 million and adjusted EBITDA increased 21% to a record $32.2 million. CEO Leonard Fluxman said the company has now delivered 20 consecutive quarters of record revenue and adjusted EBITDA, citing strong execution and continued demand across its cruise ship and resort network. Management also raised its full-year outlook, now expecting as much as $1.034 billion in revenue and up to $139 million in adjusted EBITDA, while highlighting plans to launch operations on six new cruise ships this year.

With shares up 37% over the past year, it's not surprising to see some insiders lock in gains. Still, McLallen retained more than 137,000 shares after the sale, suggesting his interests remain aligned with shareholders. Investors should focus less on this relatively modest disposition and more on whether the hospitality provider can continue translating strong cruise demand into higher earnings, cash flow, and shareholder returns.

Jonathan Ponciano has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The SoFi Technologies (SOFI +3.35%) stock price has been climbing over the past month, which is welcome news for shareholders. That's because, as of June 24, shares are down more than 30% on the year.

SoFi will likely report its 2026 second-quarter earnings results in late July or early August, which could help decide the next direction for the stock price. In the report, there will be a few updates that investors will want to follow.

Image source: Getty Images.

Will forward guidance be maintained? In its 2026 first-quarter earnings report, SoFi maintained its adjusted full-year revenue and adjusted full-year net income guidance of $4.6 billion and $825 million, respectively. Even without boosted guidance, that would still be a 30% increase in net revenue and a 72% increase in net income from its 2025 totals. That said, expectations are still high.

If forward guidance is strengthened, it could fuel a stock price rally. If guidance is maintained and the rest of the results underwhelm, the stock price would likely dip lower.

Member growth and cross-selling For Q1 2026, SoFi added 1.1 million new members, setting a record. That also marked the third straight quarter of 35% growth in its member totals, which reached 14.7 million.

As SoFi adds new members, it's also focusing on cross-selling products. In what SoFi calls its financial services productivity loop, it includes everything from home loans to student loans to an investing platform to credit cards. SoFi is seeing more existing customers signing up for more products in that productivity loop.

That should help it rely less on new members for long-term revenue growth, and it is a sign that the company has an opportunity to generate more revenue from current members. This next earnings report will offer a look into whether that momentum is continuing or has stalled.

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Updates on a slumping division In the first quarter, SoFi reported disappointing results for its Technology Platform, which basically powers the infrastructure for banks and other financial entities to build and run apps. That division's revenue fell 27%, with SoFi mentioning the loss of a major client.

SoFi is rebranding that platform to SoFi Technology Solutions for enterprise clients, offering them products and services across processing, banking, core ledgers and services, payment hubs, and risk and fraud. The second quarter will offer insight into whether that part of SoFi's business is returning to growth or is still experiencing declining revenue.

Investment considerations After climbing 70% in 2025, SoFi stock has struggled to find its footing in 2026. Its upcoming Q2 2026 earnings report can help establish the direction that shares move next, but long-term investors can view it more as a progress report.

The fintech operator will need to show that the loss of that client, mentioned in Q1 2026, was a one-time issue and that revenue is growing again in its SoFi Technology Solutions division. It will also need to show it's continuing to add new members at a steady pace, and that it's connecting current members with more of its products and is effectively creating cross-selling opportunities.

Yuma, a Digital Currency Group-backed investment company, has launched a fund that gives institutional investors diversified exposure to the Bittensor ecosystem, as asset managers expand investment products tied to decentralized AI.

According to a Thursday announcement, the Yuma Total Market Fund provides exposure to Bittensor’s native TAO token and a basket of AI-focused subnets through a single investment vehicle. The strategy is intended to simplify access to the broader Bittensor ecosystem without requiring investors to select individual subnet tokens.

The fund launched with seed capital from an undisclosed anchor investor.

Bittensor is a decentralized network that supports the development of AI infrastructure and applications through specialized subnets spanning areas such as compute, marketplaces and identity. According to Yuma, the network's 128 subnets represent more than $900 million in combined value. However, data from network tracker Taostats shows a combined subnet value closer to $300 million.

TAO, the native token of the Bittensor ecosystem, has a market capitalization of nearly $2.4 billion. Source: CoinMarketCap

Institutional interest in the Bittensor ecosystem has grown alongside the network’s expanding subnet economy. In April, Grayscale increased TAO’s weighting in its Grayscale Decentralized AI Fund to 43% during the fund’s quarterly rebalance. TAO’s allocation has since fallen to about 20%, with Near Protocol's NEAR now comprising the fund’s largest holding at roughly 44%.

Asset managers are also seeking to broaden investor access to TAO. Bitwise filed for a TAO Strategy ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in April, while Grayscale submitted an amended registration statement to convert its existing Bittensor Trust into a spot TAO exchange-traded fund that would list on NYSE Arca if approved.

Grayscale Bittensor Trust (TAO) application with the SEC. Source: SEC

Anthropic restrictions renew focus on decentralized AIThe case for decentralized AI, which distributes AI infrastructure and computing across blockchain-based networks rather than relying on a single provider, gained renewed attention after the US Commerce Department suspended public access to Anthropic’s Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models over national security and export control concerns.

At the time, Grayscale head of research Zach Pandl said the restrictions underscored the risks of relying on centralized AI providers. The government order limiting access to Anthropic’s Fable 5 and Mythos 5 “highlights the risks of centralized control of AI,” Pandl said. “We expect demand for decentralized AI, like Bittensor and its TAO token, to rise as investors seek alternatives.”

The restrictions appear to be easing. The Commerce Department restored access to Mythos 5 on Friday, and Axios reported Saturday that the Trump administration is expected to allow Anthropic to resume public access to Fable 5 as soon as next week.

Magazine: How AI just dramatically sped up the quantum risk for Bitcoin

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Timothy Price Crain II, SVP & Chief Technology Officer at Intuitive Machines (LUNR +5.83%), reported the redemption of 150,000 common units and immediate sale of an equivalent number of Class A Common Stock shares for $3.28 million on June 18, 2026, according to the SEC Form 4 filing.

Transaction summaryMetricValueShares sold (direct)150,000Transaction value$3.3 millionPost-transaction shares (direct)9,071,894Post-transaction value (direct ownership)$207.3 millionTransaction value based on SEC Form 4 weighted average purchase price ($21.87); post-transaction value based on June 18, 2026 market close.

Key questionsWhat was the structure and intent of this transaction?
This was a derivative-driven transaction: 150,000 common units were redeemed and immediately sold as Class A shares, providing liquidity without drawing on previously held shares.Did the sale meaningfully reduce Price’s overall economic exposure to Intuitive Machines?
No, the 1.63% reduction only affected direct Class A holdings; substantial exposure remains through Class A shares and 8,720,615 Class C/Common Units, all held directly.How does this trade compare to Crain Price II's historical trading cadence and capacity?
The transaction falls within the pattern of routine, capacity-driven selling.Does the transaction timing suggest opportunism in response to stock price movements?
The Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted in September 2025 governs the sale, indicating this was a pre-scheduled, routine portfolio management event rather than a discretionary response to the recent 124.9% one-year share price increase (as of June 18, 2026).Company overviewMetricValueMarket capitalization$3.2 billionRevenue (TTM)$328.2 millionNet income (TTM)-$109.3 millionCompany snapshotIntuitive Machines provides lunar access services, orbital services, lunar data services, and space products and infrastructure, with revenue primarily generated from aerospace contracts and lunar mission services.The firm operates a project-based business model focused on delivering high-value aerospace solutions for lunar and deep space exploration, leveraging proprietary technology and mission execution capabilities.It targets government space agencies, commercial aerospace clients, and scientific organizations engaged in lunar and planetary exploration.Intuitive Machines, Inc. is a Houston-based aerospace company specializing in lunar and deep space exploration technologies. The company leverages integrated service offerings and proprietary platforms to address the growing demand for lunar access and data services. With a focus on enabling both government and commercial missions, Intuitive Machines positions itself as a key player in the next generation of space infrastructure and exploration.

What this transaction means for investorsThis sale ultimately looks more like disciplined portfolio management than a shift in conviction, especially because it was executed under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

The backdrop is particularly noteworthy given the excitement and volatility surrounding SpaceX’s massive IPO this month, which has fueled sharp moves across the industry. Intuitive Machines shares had climbed roughly 125% over the past year, but have since pared yearly gains to about 74%.

The business has also continued to deliver operational momentum. First quarter revenue nearly tripled year over year to a record $186.7 million, adjusted EBITDA turned positive at $2.7 million, and backlog reached a record $1.1 billion after the company completed its acquisition of Lanteris Space Systems. Management also reaffirmed full-year revenue guidance of $900 million to $1 billion. CEO Steve Altemus said Intuitive Machines is "building" the infrastructure that will define the next phase of the space economy.

For long-term investors, scheduled insider sales are worth monitoring, but execution on that growing backlog, major NASA and defense contracts, and the company's ability to translate today's enthusiasm into sustainable profits are likely to matter far more.

Jonathan Ponciano has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Intuitive Machines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Ripple’s [XRP] decline continued after leveraged buyers lost control, pushing the altcoin down to $1.02, its lowest value since early February. Initially, the price slipped toward $1.07 before triggering nearly $9 million in long liquidations on the 25th of June.

Binance led with about $4.5 million, highlighting the concentration of the leverage that existed within one exchange. As forced selling intensified, derivatives traders rapidly reduced exposure instead of adding fresh positions.

Binance Open Interest dropped to nearly $205 million, marking its lowest level since the 22nd of March. Meanwhile, Bybit Open Interest fell to around $185 million, reinforcing the domino effect of the catastrophe.

Source: CryptoQuant This synchronized decline suggests speculative excess has largely been flushed from the market. Such resets typically take some pressure off the downside because they eliminate the weakly positioned leveraged sellers.

Otherwise, lower leverage alone may stabilize volatility without generating a sustained recovery. The next directional move will likely depend on whether fresh buyers replace liquidated positions or continue waiting on the sidelines.

ETF demand tightens XRP supply XRP ETF demand is tightening available XRP supply despite the market weakness. The net inflow reached 4.82 million XRP during week 26, driving total ETF holdings up by almost 10% to 938.73 million XRP, which accounts for approximately 1% of the currently circulating XRP.

With each new ETF creation requiring the purchase of additional Spot XRP, this gradual reduction in available XRP on the open market can help limit the amount of sellable inventory or reduce potential selling pressure.

Source: XRP Insights On the other hand, despite the fact that institutional buyers are accumulating significant amounts of XRP via the ETFs, no corresponding increase in participation from the broader spot market has been seen.

As such, prices have continued to be pressured downward. In addition to the decrease in price, valuations have also declined from over $1 billion at one time down to $989 million at present.

As such, it appears that institutional buying power has increased more than the valuation of XRP.

If ETF inflows persist alongside stronger spot demand, shrinking liquid supply could increasingly amplify future price recoveries. Otherwise, accumulation may continue without triggering an immediate breakout.

Final Summary Ripple’s leverage reset has reduced speculative pressure, but sustained recovery still depends on fresh spot demand returning. XRP ETF accumulation continues tightening liquid supply, though stronger Spot participation remains essential for a lasting breakout.

Blockchain intelligence firm AMLBot has confirmed the Polymarket supply-chain attack total at approximately $3.1 million in PUSD across 11 user wallets, with funds bridged from Polygon to Ethereum and converted to ETH. Polymarket has pledged full refunds but has not named the compromised vendor.

Blockchain intelligence firm AMLBot has fixed the total stolen in Thursday's Polymarket supply-chain attack at approximately $3.1 million in PUSD, providing the first forensically confirmed on-chain dollar figure and tracing the stolen assets from Polygon to Ethereum. On-chain investigator Specter, which published the first public alert, identified more than 11 victim wallets.

AMLBot posted the revised tally on Saturday, two days after on-chain investigators first flagged the drain. The figure revises earlier estimates upward and, for the first time, pins both the dollar amount to a single on-chain intelligence source. AMLBot said it continues to monitor affected accounts as the investigation proceeds.

From Front-End to BridgeThe attack, covered by The Defiant on Thursday, began when a compromised third-party vendor injected malicious JavaScript into Polymarket's website. The code targeted user transactions at the front-end layer; Polymarket's smart contracts on Polygon were untouched. Polymarket confirmed fewer than 15 accounts were affected, consistent with scope described by on-chain security researchers tracking the wallets in real time.

On-chain investigator Specter published the first public alert and identified the attacker's primary consolidation address on Ethereum: `0xe65b1C586757c5510B60F998Eebb14C1eF71E1eD`. PeckShield confirmed the stolen funds were bridged from Polygon to Ethereum and then swapped into roughly 1,893 ETH. Bubblemaps independently counted fewer than 15 affected accounts and estimated $3 million in losses being refunded.

PUSD is Polymarket's native collateral token, a Polygon-based ERC-20 minted 1:1 against USDC.e through the platform's on-chain collateral contracts. Deployed in April 2026 per on-chain records, PUSD operates exclusively within the platform and carries no external exchange listing, so the attacker had to convert it to ETH to exit. The token held its $1.00 peg throughout the incident, per PolygonScan data for the pUSD contract on Polygon.

Refund Commitment, Vendor Still UnnamedPolymarket posted on X Thursday morning saying it had contained the attack, removed the malicious dependency, and would refund impacted users in full. William LeGate confirmed the repayment would be total, adding in a second post that there were "no user 'losses.'" The platform has not publicly named the compromised vendor across any channel since the incident was disclosed.

Initial independent estimates put the theft at $2.94 million, based on on-chain wallet tallies by Specter Analyst, while PeckShield and other firms rounded to roughly $3 million. AMLBot's Saturday update lifts the confirmed total by approximately $160,000 from Specter's initial read.

TechCrunch reported that a Polymarket spokesperson confirmed the breach but declined to provide further detail. Security researchers at CyberInsider and BleepingComputer both classified the incident as a supply-chain attack, the type where a downstream dependency injects hostile code into a trusted application, rather than a direct protocol exploit.

Platform ContextThe platform currently holds $432 million in total value locked on Polygon, per DefiLlama. Security trackers cataloguing Q2 2026 DeFi incidents have counted the June 25 Polymarket attack among a sustained wave of supply-chain and front-end compromises targeting DeFi infrastructure in 2026.

Polymarket has committed to refunding affected users in full but has set no public timeline for completion and has not disclosed the identity of the third-party vendor whose compromise triggered the attack.

Cardano wallet SecondFi has identified a recovery path for users affected by Tuesday's exploit and expects to begin returning assets in about two weeks, following testing and security reviews.

According to a Saturday statement by Phillip Pon, CEO of SecondFi developer Emurgo, the company completed forensic investigations and established a recovery pathway for affected users. Pon said the coming week would be spent building the solution, followed by another week of testing before assets begin to be returned.

Pon urged users to refrain from migrating assets or taking actions outside official guidance, saying the recovery process was designed around existing wallet states and that independent action could complicate the secure return of funds.

SecondFi developer Emurgo shared an update on the wallet's recovery efforts. Source: Emurgo

SecondFi disclosed a security breach on Tuesday that affected approximately 16 million ADA, worth about $2.4 million at the time, across 374 addresses. SecondFi previously said it traced the incident to an address-level issue in its Cardano web wallet generation software that exposed users' private keys.

The company also said it secured roughly 129 million ADA through emergency measures and transferred the funds to an independent third-party custodian, where they will remain until the verification and recovery process is complete.

SecondFi has not yet published a comprehensive post-mortem detailing the vulnerability or how the exploit was carried out.

SecondFi warns of recovery-related scamsIn a separate update on Saturday, SecondFi warned that malicious actors are circulating fraudulent messages impersonating the wallet while its recovery effort remains underway. 

The company said no recovery actions requiring user participation have begun and that it will never ask users for private keys, seed phrases, wallet credentials or direct wallet access.

SecondFi said any messages instructing users to submit wallet information, migrate assets or take immediate action outside its verified communication channels should be treated as fraudulent. 

It added that users requiring assistance should submit a ticket through its official support portal while the recovery process continues.

Magazine: AI is banking the unbanked in Africa… faster than crypto

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Tether and Ledn have teamed up to bring tokenized gold into the crypto lending world. The partnership, announced on June 18, integrates Tether Gold (XAUT) into Ledn’s platform alongside Bitcoin and stablecoins, with gold-backed loans expected to follow later this year.

What the deal actually looks like From launch, Ledn users can trade and hold XAUT on the platform. Each XAUT token represents one fine troy ounce of gold, with 707,747 ounces currently backing the equivalent number of tokens in circulation.

Later in 2026, Ledn plans to roll out gold-backed loans denominated in Tether’s stablecoins. Borrowers will be able to choose between USDT and the newly launched USAT.

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Ledn maintains a 1:1 collateral holding policy, meaning they don’t rehypothecate or lend out the collateral backing user deposits. Worth noting: the lending product won’t be available to residents of Canada or the EU.

The gold behind the token Tether manages a gold stockpile estimated between 140 and 154 metric tons, valued at roughly $23 billion. XAUT’s market cap recently surpassed $3 billion, making it one of the most significant commodity-backed tokens in crypto.

“Growing demand for solutions that combine long-term ownership with financial flexibility,” Paolo Ardoino said of the partnership’s rationale.

Why this matters for investors The crypto lending market has been rebuilding trust since the cascading failures of 2022, when firms like Celsius, BlockFi, and Voyager proved that aggressive rehypothecation and opaque risk management could crater an entire sector overnight. Ledn survived that purge, partly because of its conservative collateral approach.

Paxos Gold (PAXG) is XAUT’s closest competitor in the tokenized gold space, and it currently lacks a comparable lending integration.

The USAT launch, which will serve as one of the loan denomination options, suggests Tether is building an ecosystem where its various products feed into each other.

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

Aave confirmed Saturday that Aavenomics 3.0 is now active, with automated AAVE token buybacks running and DAO operational spending reduced, completing a governance roadmap the protocol has built toward since mid-2024.

Aave’s governance framework confirms that Aavenomics 3.0 is now active, with automated AAVE token buybacks running and DAO operational spending reduced, completing a governance roadmap the protocol has built toward since mid-2024.

The activation follows passage of the Aavenomics Part One ARFC and the Aave Will Win framework, which together established the immutable buyback and revenue-routing structure now live. Protocol revenue currently runs at approximately $402 million annualized, based on DefiLlama’s trailing seven-day window, with all-time fees exceeding $2.21 billion. Buybacks under the prior discretionary program had already acquired more than 205,000 AAVE tokens, roughly 1.28% of total supply, since launching in April 2025, per Aave’s governance forum.

Automated Buyback MechanicsThe original buyback mandate, passed as the Aavenomics Part One ARFC in early 2025, authorized the Aave Finance Committee to execute $1 million per week in AAVE purchases from secondary markets for the first six months of the mandate. That program was committee-directed: the AFC could resize, pause, or redirect it without a protocol-level change.

Aavenomics 3.0 replaces that structure with an immutable, non-discretionary mechanism that routes all Aave Protocol and GHO revenue to AAVE holders without requiring committee sign-off on each cycle.

Aave founder Stani Kulechov outlined the design Thursday, describing “immutable and automated buybacks of AAVE” as the core update. The Defiant reported Thursday on Kulechov’s initial public remarks as he disputed reports of discounted stake talks with Kraken’s parent company.

DAO Spending ReductionThe spending cut runs in parallel. In March 2026, governance passed an ARFC reducing the annual buyback budget from approximately $50 million to $30 million, citing a 25% decline in borrow fee revenue from its peak and an optimistic 2026 operational budget of $190 million against 2025’s $142 million in annual revenue. The adjustment also shifted primary buyback funding from stablecoins to ETH-correlated assets, using the DAO’s approximately $40 million in ETH holdings to reduce stablecoin drawdown.

The reduction preserves around $20 million annually in stablecoin reserves for service providers and growth programs. At the adjusted pace, the DAO acquires an estimated 292 AAVE per day.

The broader revenue framework was established by the Aave Will Win (AWW) proposal, proposed in late March 2026 and launched in April 2026. Under AWW, 100% of revenue from Aave Protocol, GHO, and Aave-branded products flows to the DAO treasury. Aave Labs operates solely as a DAO service provider with no direct claim on protocol revenue.

AAVE PriceAAVE was trading around $97.83 Saturday morning, up roughly 10% over the prior 24 hours and up about 32% on the week, per CoinGecko. Market cap stood at approximately $1.49 billion, with Aave’s total value locked at $12.45 billion, per DefiLlama.

GHO, Aave’s native stablecoin, circulates at roughly $598 million, per DefiLlama, contributing incremental fee income alongside lending revenues.

Trading activity across the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem on Shiba Inu’s L2 blockchain, Shibarium, has disappeared, as DEX volume currently sits at zero. 

At press time, Shibarium DEX volume stood at zero, according to data from DeFiLlama, reflecting extremely weak on-chain participation.

Zero Trades Since June 23 Decentralized exchanges operating on Shibarium, including WoofSwap and ShibaSwap, have recorded no trading activity since June 23. The last recorded DEX transaction on the network occurred on June 22, when traders exchanged just $60 worth of assets. 

Furthermore, throughout most of June, daily trading volumes on these platforms remained below $100, underscoring the lack of activity across the ecosystem. The slowdown highlights Shibarium’s struggle to attract meaningful DeFi adoption since its launch. 

Shibarium DEX Volumes Dwindling DEX Activity  After the mainnet went live in August 2023, the network initially showed encouraging signs of growth. DEX volume reached $6,800 in October 2024 before climbing to $54,000 in December 2024.

However, activity weakened in the following months. Although the development team attempted to revive optimism by promising faster ecosystem growth and higher DEX participation, trading activity continued to decline. 

Shibarium briefly recovered in September 2025, when DEX volume rose to $47,000, before reaching a cycle peak of $86,000 in December 2025. Since then, trading activity has entered a prolonged decline, with many days registering no transactions at all across Shibarium-based DEXes. 

Since October 2024, Shibarium’s decentralized exchanges have processed a cumulative $2.66 million in trading volume. That figure remains lower than the amount of DEX volume established networks such as Ethereum and Solana regularly process in a single day.

One major reason behind the weak on-chain metrics is that most trading involving Shiba Inu ecosystem tokens still occurs on centralized exchanges rather than on Shibarium’s native applications.

At press time, SHIB generated $56.4 million in 24-hour trading volume, with most transactions taking place on centralized platforms such as Binance and Coinbase. 

Total Value Locked Remains Modest Despite weak trading activity, Shibarium’s total value locked (TVL) currently stands at $21,495, representing a 1.89% increase over the past 24 hours. While the increase suggests some capital remains within the ecosystem, the figure remains modest compared to competing DeFi networks.

Meanwhile, overall network usage continues to weaken. Shibarium currently processes only 889 daily transactions, with smart contract interactions accounting for most of that activity. The trend suggests that user engagement across the network remains limited and that DeFi adoption on Shibarium has yet to gain meaningful traction. 

Shibarium Daily Transaction DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.

© Bet_Noire / Getty Images

Few stocks earn their place in a retiree’s portfolio the way Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED | ED Price Prediction) has. The New York utility delivers electricity, gas, and steam to roughly 3.7 million electric customers across the country’s busiest commercial district and just notched its 52nd consecutive year of dividend increases. Is that streak built to last another decade?

Dividend Snapshot Metric Value Annual Dividend $3.55 per share Dividend Yield 3.17% Consecutive Years of Increases 52 years Most Recent Increase 4.4% (January 2026) Dividend King Status Yes Payout Ratios Leave Room, but Free Cash Flow Is the Catch Con Ed paid $1.166 billion in dividends in 2025 against $4.8 billion in operating cash flow, an OCF payout ratio of just 24.3%. On an earnings basis, the $5.93 trailing EPS easily covers the $3.55 payout, and management’s 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $6.00 to $6.20 drops the forward earnings payout ratio near 58%.

Metric Value Assessment Earnings Payout Ratio (TTM) ~60% Healthy Forward Earnings Payout Ratio ~58% Healthy OCF Coverage 4.1x Strong The catch: capex hit $4.764 billion in 2025, leaving free cash flow flat and historically negative. Like every regulated utility, Con Ed funds growth with fresh debt and equity, which is why the FCF payout ratio is not a clean signal here.

Leverage Is Elevated and Moody’s Is Watching Metric Value Assessment Total Liabilities / Equity $50.4B / $24.2B Aggressive (utility norm) EV/EBITDA 10.47x Manageable Cash on Hand (Q1 2026) $147M Thin Credit Outlook Moody’s Negative Watch item Con Ed is funding its $6.6 billion 2026 capex plan with up to $1.1B in common equity and $3.2B in long-term debt. That dilution is the price retirees pay for grid investment.

The Streak: 52 Years and Counting Year Annual Dividend 2026 $3.55 2025 $3.40 2024 $3.32 2023 $3.24 2022 $3.16 The 5-year CAGR sits near 3%, barely ahead of the recent CPI run rate. The 2026 hike of 4.4% is the largest in years.

Management Sounds Confident on the Investment Cycle CEO Tim Cawley framed the setup on the Q1 2026 call: “Our first-quarter results reflect the strength and durability of our regulated businesses, with reaffirmed adjusted earnings per share guidance driven by continued operational excellence and industry-leading reliability.” Reaffirmed guidance after a Q1 EPS miss signals confidence. The dividend isn’t in question.

The Verdict: Safe With Caveats Dividend Safety Rating: Safe. A 58% forward payout ratio, an 8.8% rate base CAGR through 2030, and 52 years of raises make a cut unlikely. Con Ed works for income if you want New York regulated cash flows and a yield that beats most bond ladders after tax. The risk to monitor: if rates stay near 4.49% on the 10-year and Moody’s downgrades, equity dilution would accelerate. For a retiree’s core income sleeve, this dividend earns its keep.

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Kohl's was once a retail darling, carving out market share as a department store catering to the middle-income American consumer with coupons and deals that drove loyalty.

But over the past five years, Kohl's stock has lost nearly 70% of its value, plummeting as the retailer reported weak sales.

As department stores struggle to stay relevant and middle-income consumers face budget pressure, Kohl's is now trying to reinvigorate sales by leaning back into its core value proposition and investing in the store experience to ensure customers find what they need and keep coming back for more. Though Wall Street analysts believe the retailer has more work to do, investors have started to take notice: Kohl's shares have climbed more than 130% in the past year.

"For us, it's really about making sure that we are picking a lane," CEO Michael Bender told CNBC. "Sitting in the middle of the retail landscape like we do, selling the products like we do, that are admittedly more discretionary than others, means that you have to pick a lane and decide who you're serving, and that you understand that customer really, really well."

The company, which went public in 1992, saw its peak in the early 2000s as department stores gained traction around the U.S. Kohl's was known for its value, proprietary brands, coupons and Kohl's cash rewards, enjoying success along with other department store chains like Macy's and Bloomingdale's.

At its height, Kohl's commanded major market share, with its stock reaching an all-time high of $82 per share in late 2018 and the company reporting revenue of $20.23 billion for the fiscal year ended February 2019.

Kohl's 5 year chart

But soon after, the retailer began to lose traction. While department stores have broadly struggled during that time, Kohl's also faced specific issues that contributed to revenue declines.

"As a department store, they've kind of been struggling for a number of years," Chuck Grom, an analyst at Gordon Haskett, told CNBC.

Now, the company is working to stabilize its business, return to growth and win back a customer base that Bender said Kohl's never completely lost.

Losing its coreThrough changing its assortment, limiting coupon usage and leaning into off-price retail instead of proprietary brands, Kohl's "alienated" its core customers, forcing them to go elsewhere, Grom said.

Grom, who has been covering Kohl's for years, said the retailer went wrong when it leaned into being an off-price retailer.

"I think companies need to realize who their customer bases are and not try to become somebody they're not," he said. "I think too often retailers want to become what somebody else is, and that often can backfire on you."

It's a move that Bender said set Kohl's down the wrong path, leading to years of stagnant sales, declining foot traffic and "drifting" business strategies. The company saw rapid executive turnover and changes to its credit card and promotional offerings, which also came as it dealt with increased competition.

"We made some decisions where we took away categories, for example, petites and jewelry, we've spoken about that in previous earnings calls and other public discussions, those are categories, as an example, that are not substitutable," Bender said. "We stopped listening to the customer."

Kohl's paid the price. Wall Street lost confidence in the retailer, which posted quarter after quarter of slumping sales. At the same time, competitors like Walmart and T.J. Maxx were snatching up market share left behind by Kohl's, and online retailers such as Amazon were growing.

Winning over cost-conscious consumers hit by elevated inflation in recent years also became more difficult as more retailers put a premium on value.

"There always is this concern that can department stores actually grow for any meaningful period of time? There's lots of competition in terms of off-price specialty brands going direct-to-consumer," said Blake Anderson, an analyst covering Kohl's at Jefferies. "The space has really evolved over time, and I think the way that Kohl's has competed has been significantly tied to value, and so winning that customer based on value is becoming very difficult."

Sonia Lapinsky, managing director of retail at consulting firm AlixPartners, said a pressured consumer coupled with the fall of the traditional department store model meant the broader economy wasn't on Kohl's side, either.

"They're looking for options that are giving them their best bang for their buck," she said. "They want value, they want brands, they want the cheapest price they can get it. And there's a lot of compelling propositions out there from these other retailers."

Lapinsky added that priorities at Kohl's changed multiple times after the company's peak, which led in part to its decline.

"Over the years, we've seen a lot of shifting strategies at Kohl's, specifically whether they're getting into athletic and athleisure, or they're doubling down on fashion, or now they're growing private label, and it's a constant kind of shift of what the customer can expect when they walk into the store," Lapinsky told CNBC. "I think that's caused some confusion."

Turning the pageSince Bender took over as CEO in late 2025, he said he's been focused on returning to what always worked for Kohl's: proprietary brands, value, coupons and assurance customers will reliably find the products they want at the right prices.

"In those periods of time, Kohl's was known for taking care of families and making sure that there was assurance that what they were looking for, added value, was going to be available to them," Bender said. "Some of the restoration of that theme that made Kohl's great back then, we think is still relevant today. Customers want convenience."

In its most recent earnings report last month, Kohl's posted its best comparable sales growth in four years, even as it saw revenue decline. The retailer reported revenue of $3 billion, topping Wall Street estimates, and projected full-year net sales and comparable sales to be in a range of down 2% to flat.

At the time, Bender said the quarter marked Kohl's "knocking on the door of growth." The stock spiked 20% following the report.

Grom, the Gordon Haskett analyst, said he believes if Kohl's hadn't returned to its core identity, it would have been "problematic" for the retailer.

"I think their strategy actually makes a lot of sense right now," Grom said. "I think getting back to who they are is going to be important for their success."

Kohl's, which has traditionally catered to older shoppers, has also been trying to capture younger consumers, especially through its Sephora shop-in-shops, designed to draw Generation Z into the store.

Though the Sephora shops struggled slightly in the retailer's most recent quarter — with Bender saying on a call with analysts that the business "underperformed" and declined by a low-single digit percentage — it's historically delivered billions in sales and growing momentum.

"What's been a really interesting development for them is a creative use of their square feet and a way to try to drive not only sales, but new and younger customers," Anderson, the Jefferies analyst, said. "There's often some pushback on department stores, that they were established during a different generation and some of the customers do skew older, so ensuring they maintain relevancy for younger consumers is important."

Bender said the younger generation is "who we can grow with in the future," as Kohl's works to convert that customer to buy deeper in the store after coming in for Sephora.

Despite Kohl's progress, Wall Street may not be convinced yet that the company is making its return to being a household name.

In a June note, TD Cowen analysts wrote that they believe the company is "making the right strategic decisions" but rated the stock at hold due to underperformance in the apparel and footwear businesses.

"Kohl's remains a 'show-me' story, but results appear better than feared with [comparable sales]," the analysts wrote after the most recent earnings report. "We continue to view simplified promotions, rebalanced inventory and leveraging success in juniors as keys to the turnaround. On first look, progress in product and inventory is encouraging, though pressure on the core credit consumer and 'other revenue' remains a key question."

Lapinsky said because of its reputation for deals and promotions, Kohl's has to offer a strong value proposition in addition to a worthwhile in-store experience, which sets it apart from other retailers.

"They have to have a compelling product offering, they have to have the right prices, they have to have the product that consumers want to go into the store and to know that they're getting the best deal — that's really what the consumer is looking for, and that's where they've gone other places for," she said.

Lapinsky added that while Kohl's is clearly trying to improve its balance sheet and bottom line, the market will have to wait and see how it fares against rising competition as it tries to win back customers.

Still, Bender said while the signs toward recovery are encouraging, it's only the first step in a longer road into the "neighborhood" of growth.

"We have not arrived yet," Bender said. "I don't want anyone to feel like we planted that flag and said, 'We're done.' We're still in the early innings, quite honestly, but we are moving in a direction that is much more positive and aligned with a lot more clarity about the direction that we want to take the company."

Shares of UnitedHealth Group (UNH +2.87%) have done something few investors saw coming a year ago: they've quietly climbed back to the doorstep of a fresh 52-week high. As of this writing, the stock trades near $427, up about 80% from its 2025 low of $234.60 -- a rebound that has outpaced the S&P 500. The collapse that defined last year -- soaring medical costs, a withdrawn forecast, and a sudden change at the top -- has given way to a steady, almost uneventful recovery.

The numbers behind that recovery are real. But after a move this size, the question isn't whether the business is recovering. It's whether the stock still offers investors much upside from here.

Image source: Getty Images.

The margins are improving UnitedHealth's first-quarter results showed the turnaround taking hold where it matters most: the medical care ratio, or the share of premium revenue an insurer pays out in medical claims. That figure fell to 83.9% from 84.8% a year earlier.

For a company in the competitive life insurance business, a single percentage point can be the difference between a struggling insurer and a profitable one.

Management credited the improvement to a mix of pricing discipline, tighter medical cost management, and favorable reserve development. That last piece is worth flagging -- favorable reserve development means past claims came in lighter than the company had set aside for, and it isn't a tailwind a company can lean on every quarter.

The bigger driver, however, is more deliberate.

UnitedHealthcare, the company's insurance arm, repriced its Medicare Advantage plans and accepted membership attrition as part of its focus on margin recovery. That trade-off shows up plainly in the top line: first-quarter revenue rose just 2% year over year to $111.7 billion, a sharp slowdown from the 12% growth the company posted for all of 2025. UnitedHealth is shrinking parts of its book to repair its margins -- and so far, it's working.

The flip side is that a business growing revenue at just 2% has far less room to absorb a surprise.

"The historic disciplines and innovations of UnitedHealthcare are rounding back into place," CEO Stephen Hemsley said on the company's first-quarter earnings call.

The progress has been rewarded. Management raised its full-year 2026 non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings guidance to more than $18.25 per share, and the company generated $8.9 billion in operating cash flow during the quarter, up sharply from a year earlier. After a year in which almost nothing went right, the operational story has clearly stabilized.

Today's Change

(

2.87

%) $

11.94

Current Price

$

427.47

The overhang that won't lift But here's the problem.

The recovery is no longer a secret, and two things still stand between UnitedHealth and a clean bill of health.

The first is legal. UnitedHealth has disclosed that it's responding to both criminal and civil Department of Justice investigations into how it reportedly bills the government for Medicare Advantage members. The probe cuts to the heart of how Medicare Advantage insurers make money -- the way they document patient diagnoses to set their federal reimbursement. This is the kind of risk that's hard to handicap. It could end in a manageable settlement, or it could reshape the economics of the company's most important growth engine. Investors don't know yet, and an unresolved investigation like this can shadow a stock for years.

Then there's the stock's valuation. Sure, near its 2025 low, UnitedHealth shares traded at just 13 times its 2026 adjusted earnings guidance -- a valuation that priced in real fear. Today, the stock's forward price-to-earnings ratio of 23 shows a stock with far more optimism priced in.

Ultimately, for shares to do well from here, the company will need to see continued margin improvement and stabilization in its membership trends. Additionally, for the bull case to go well, UnitedHealth investors should hope that the legal cloud plaguing the company is resolved reasonably.

UnitedHealth is a high-quality business that appears to be steadily improving. But the stock that was an obvious bargain near $235 simply isn't one near $427. With a serious investigation still unresolved and the easy money already made, I'd rather watch this one from the sidelines.

Tesla logo is seen on the steering wheel of an electric vehicle at a dealership in Durango, northern Spain, October 30, 2023. REUTERS/Vincent West Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

CompaniesJune 27 (Reuters) - U.S. safety regulators said on Saturday they had closed their probe into Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab vehicles over power steering ​loss, in view of a company recall which ‌was carried out last year.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the investigation, which had the status of an engineering analysis, ​covered about 376,241 Model 3 and Model Y ​vehicles from the 2023 model year.

Stay up to date with the latest news, trends and innovations that are driving the global automotive industry with the Reuters Auto File newsletter. Sign up here.

NHTSA opened a ⁠preliminary evaluation in July 2023 into loss of steering ​control reports in Tesla Model 3 and Y vehicles after ​some owners reported an inability to turn the steering wheel or an increase in required effort.

In early 2024, the probe was upgraded ​to an engineering analysis to further investigate the alleged ​defect.

Tesla recalled 376,000 of its vehicles in the U.S. in early 2025, due ‌to ⁠a failure of the power steering assist feature that could make the vehicles harder to steer, particularly at low speeds, raising the risk of a crash.

However, it ​said the recall ​was not ⁠in response to NHTSA's investigation, which remained open at the time.

The recall said that ​Tesla had released an over-the-air software update designed ​to ⁠prevent overvoltage breakdown and overstress of motor drive components on the printed circuit board, which had caused an increase ⁠in ​steering effort.

In view of Tesla's recall, ​the NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation said it was closing its engineering ​analysis.

Reporting by Disha Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexander Smith

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Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh are the two frontrunners in the race to succeed Jamie Dimon. JPMorgan And then there were two.

JPMorgan elevated Troy Rohrbaugh and Doug Petno to co-presidents on Thursday, the clearest sign yet that they are leading the race to replace CEO Jamie Dimon.

The announcement comes after more than a decade of speculation and a rotating cast of succession candidates. Even now, the field could keep shifting until the day Dimon steps down. While both are held in high esteem at JPMorgan, Petno and Rohrbaugh have distinct strengths — the former is known for his charm and client relationships, the latter for his trading chops and quieter risk management.

Petno and Rohrbaugh had jointly led the commercial and investment bank, which Petno will now lead on his own as Rohrbaugh becomes CEO of the firm's consumer and community banking unit. Marianne Lake, the current head of consumer and community banking who had been seen as a frontrunner in the CEO race, is retiring.

Though the announcement effectively narrows what had been a more crowded field to a two-person race, it doesn't seem that Dimon, 70, plans to step down anytime soon. Analysts from Bank of America said the announcement, especially Lake's retirement, suggests Dimon will stick around for several more years, and his timeline could impact whether Petno, 61, or Rohrbaugh, 56, lands his job.

"It's a question of timing more than anything," Mike Mayo, a Wells Fargo banking analyst, said. Mayo said that Rohrbaugh, with his relative youth, likely has a better shot at becoming CEO the longer Dimon stays in the position.

Their decadeslong careers at the bankPetno has worked at JPMorgan for more than 35 years, though originally thought he would be a veterinarian, he told his alma mater, Wabash College, in 2019. He started at the firm as an investment banker and eventually became head of the natural resources group.

He became the CEO of commercial banking in 2012, and under his leadership, revenue more than doubled. In 2024, he became the co-head of global banking, before becoming co-head of the investment bank in 2025, the role he shared with Rohrbaugh.

Through his three decades at the firm, Petno became known as one of Dimon's close associates, with a finger on the pulse of top customers. Dimon described him as "a great client guy and a culture carrier" in an interview with Bloomberg at the beginning of last year, adding that he has a good sense of humor. The CEO has trusted him with big projects over the years, tapping him to help combine the corporate and investment banks and build up the firm's startup banking capabilities.

"I learned to observe the people and types of behavior I admire and embrace it, building it into my own style," Petno told Wabash in 2019 about his rise. "People took chances on me, including Jamie."

Rohrbaugh has been less of a public- and client-facing figure. A veteran trader who started at JPMorgan in 2005, he's built a reputation as someone who knows how to navigate risk — he said in an interview with Bloomberg last year that, being a trader by background, "I worry about everything." That skill could make him an attractive CEO candidate, an industry recruiter previously told Business Insider.

The 56-year-old studied political science and played football at Johns Hopkins, and started his finance career trading options at the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. He then worked at Banque Nationale and Goldman Sachs before joining JPMorgan's foreign-exchange business. Rohrbaugh helped stabilize and mature the business while pushing to modernize its technology capabilities. He's also served as head of global markets, and his experience at JPMorgan has spanned Asia, London, and New York.

Rohrbaugh was vaulted more publicly into the succession race when he became co-head of the commercial and investment bank in 2024.

In a video to Johns Hopkins' football team in 2023, Rohrbaugh, dressed in blue jeans, advised staying "calm under pressure" — potentially useful words of advice given his current circumstances.

Proving they're up for the jobNow that Rohrbaugh and Petno are locked into their roles as co-presidents — they each received a one-time $30 million retention bonus, according to an SEC filing — they'll need to prove they're up for the CEO job that's been synonymous with Dimon's name for decades.

Petno, as the sole head of the corporate and investment bank, has the chance to maintain his strong client relationships and impact on firm culture, Chris McGratty, an analyst at KBW, said in an email. On top of that, the veteran investment banker will need to demonstrate his handle on the markets business. He's also one of the people spearheading the Security & Resiliency Initiative, a $1.5 trillion effort that's a huge focus for Dimon.

Rohrbaugh, on the other hand, is now overseeing an entirely new group of people and line of business on Main Street rather than Wall Street, giving him wider insight into the sprawl that is JPMorgan. In his new position, he's overseeing more than 5,000 branches across the country. The new role could also address his more limited experience in high-profile leadership roles, which Mayo, the Wells Fargo analyst, described as a potential "shortfall."

With Dimon seemingly entrenched as CEO for at least a couple more years, the two men, former football and soccer players, have just started what might be the most public game of their lives. It seems all of Wall Street is filling the stands.

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Brad Garlinghouse has criticized Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin acquisition strategy, arguing that Strategy’s reliance on preferred stock financing has failed to create lasting value as its securities continue to weaken.

Summary

Brad Garlinghouse criticized Strategy’s Bitcoin funding model, arguing long-term value should come from utility rather than financial engineering. Growing scrutiny of Strategy includes a shareholder investigation, insider share sales, and CryptoQuant’s call to preserve cash. Anchorage Digital said investors remain defensive, but options markets are not signaling expectations of a company-specific crisis. According to comments made during a CNBC interview on Friday, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse criticized Michael Saylor’s approach to financing Bitcoin purchases through Strategy’s capital markets program, saying long-term value in crypto should come from real-world utility rather than financial engineering.

Questioning whether the model can continue rewarding shareholders over time, Garlinghouse argued that issuing securities to fund additional Bitcoin purchases does not create sustainable value. He added that Strategy’s focus on financial structuring has had negative consequences for the digital asset market.

“Financial engineering does not drive long-term value … long-term value of any digital asset is going to be driven by utility.”

Although he challenged Strategy’s funding model, Garlinghouse maintained that he remains bullish on Bitcoin itself. His comments came as Bitcoin briefly traded below $60,000 on Friday, extending pressure across companies closely tied to the cryptocurrency.

Strategy’s preferred stock has come under pressure Garlinghouse pointed to Strategy’s STRC preferred shares as evidence that investors are becoming more cautious about the company’s financing structure. He noted that the preferred stock has fallen roughly 25% below its $100 face value, describing the decline as a sign that investors are questioning the sustainability of the approach.

Strategy has spent roughly the past year raising capital through preferred securities, including STRC, to finance additional Bitcoin purchases. The instrument also carries an 11.5% cumulative annual dividend obligation, leaving the company with continuing dividend commitments alongside its expanding Bitcoin treasury.

At the same time, scrutiny has widened beyond Garlinghouse’s criticism. Earlier this week, on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant recommended that Strategy pause further Bitcoin purchases and instead strengthen its cash reserves as market conditions remain difficult.

Additional pressure has emerged from legal developments. As crypto.news reported previously, Rosen Law Firm has opened an investigation into whether Strategy made materially inaccurate business disclosures to investors. According to the firm, it is evaluating potential securities claims and considering a possible class action lawsuit on behalf of shareholders who suffered losses.

Investor scrutiny has continued despite mixed market signals Selling by company insiders has added another layer to investor concerns. SEC filings show Strategy director Jarrod Patten exercised options to acquire 1,500 Class A shares on June 23 before selling the entire position the same day at $106.08 per share, generating an estimated pre-tax gain of about $131,766.

The latest transaction extends a months-long selling streak. Regulatory filings indicate Patten has sold 55,750 Strategy shares over the past three months for roughly $9 million in proceeds, with the sales taking place as investors continue debating the company’s reliance on repeated share issuance and leveraged Bitcoin accumulation.

Even so, derivatives markets are not signaling expectations of an immediate company-specific crisis. According to new research from Anchorage Digital, traders continue paying elevated premiums for downside protection across Bitcoin, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust and Strategy shares, but options pricing remains well below levels seen during previous periods of severe stress.

Anchorage Digital’s head of research, David Lawant, wrote that while defensive positioning has risen into the upper range of historical readings, Strategy’s options market has not reached the conditions normally associated with forced deleveraging or fears of a breakdown in the company’s business model.

Chainlink just landed two of the most consequential institutional partnerships in its history, and both happened within weeks of each other.

On May 12, 2026, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation selected Chainlink’s Runtime Environment, known as CRE, to power its Collateral AppChain. Then on June 23, 2026, Chainlink announced it would serve as core infrastructure for Project Pangea, a consortium of over 50 banks and banking groups managing more than $10 trillion in assets.

What DTCC actually does, and why this matters DTCC processed over $4.7 quadrillion in securities transactions in 2025 alone. To put that in perspective, global GDP is roughly $100 trillion. DTCC handles nearly 50 times that figure annually.

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The organization is now building a Collateral AppChain, scheduled to launch in Q4 2026, that will manage real-time collateral operations including pricing, valuation, margining, and settlement for tokenized assets across multiple blockchains. Chainlink’s CRE is the selected runtime environment for that system.

Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov described the CRE as capable of “securely orchestrating critical outputs” for DTCC’s operations.

Project Pangea and the T+0 settlement ambition Project Pangea is targeting T+0 foreign exchange settlement, meaning trades would clear and settle on the same day, instantaneously, rather than the current T+2 standard where settlement takes two business days after a trade is executed.

The mechanism is atomic Payment-versus-Payment swaps, or PvP. In a traditional FX trade, one party sends currency first and hopes the counterparty delivers theirs shortly after. In an atomic PvP swap, both legs of the transaction settle simultaneously, or neither does. There is no trust required between counterparties because the settlement is enforced by the protocol itself.

Chainlink’s technology will facilitate this process using regulated EUR and KRW stablecoins. The consortium includes over 50 banks and banking groups with a combined $10 trillion in assets.

What investors should watch The risks are real. DTCC’s AppChain is not live until Q4 2026, and large-scale institutional deployments have a history of running over schedule and under-delivering on initial specifications. Project Pangea is even earlier in its development arc. Regulatory approvals for stablecoin-based settlement at this scale involve multiple jurisdictions and no clear timeline.

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

Key takeaways:

SOL’s rebound to $72 shows bullish futures and airdrop hopes, but falling TVL and low DEX volumes point to fragile onchain demand.Tokenized stocks spark hype on Solana, yet Pump.fun dependence and Hyperliquid competition threaten sustained SOL momentum.Solana native token SOL jumped to $72 on Friday, distancing itself from the $64 lows the prior day. Part of traders’ optimism stemmed from the stellar growth of tokenized stock trading, fueled by the AI sector. However, increasing competition in decentralized application networks could limit SOL’s short-term upside.

Solana tokenized stocks 24-hour volumes, USD. Source: Jupiter Aggregator

Tokenized stocks on Solana traded over $113 million in 24 hours, according to Jupiter Aggregator data. However, the relatively thin liquidity in the automated market-making pools raised concerns, especially as multiple issuers compete for similar products. Still, some of those tokens launched only recently, which might explain the low number of holders in most cases.

Blockchains ranked by DeFi Total Value Locked (TVL), USD. Source: DefiLlama

The Total Value Locked (TVL) on the Solana network dropped 11% over the past month, while the Ethereum layer-2 Base reduced the gap. Negative highlights on Solana TVL include a 19% decline in Kamino, a 20% trim by Binance Staked SOL, and a 17% decline in Raydium. The tokenization platform xStocks, on the other hand, posted 31% growth in TVL.

Solana weekly DEX volumes & DApps revenue, USD. Source: DefiLlama

Decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes on Solana fell to $10 billion per week from $30 billion in early February, coinciding with a downtrend in decentralized application (DApp) revenues. Thus, regardless of the successful launch of tokenized tech stocks and equity indexes, demand for SOL on blockchain processing remains subdued.

Solana’s dependence on Pump.fun and increased competition in tokenized launchesMore concerningly, 30% of DApp revenue on Solana came from the token launch platform Pump.fun, which depends heavily on memecoin activity. A CoinGecko report revealed that 80% of the 18.7 million tokens launched in less than 48 hours, while 55% of the addresses involved lost up to $1,000 according to Dune data.

SOL perpetual futures annualized funding rate. Source: Laevitas

Demand for bullish leverage on SOL futures increased on Friday, pushing the funding rate to its highest level in June. The current 10% level is far from displaying excessive confidence, as the 6% to 12% range is typically deemed neutral. Still, the 14% gains since the $64 low on Thursday managed to reverse the bearishness marked by negative funding rates.

Part of SOL investors’ optimism stems from anticipation of airdrops on the network, although the timing of those tokens' launch remains uncertain. Highlights include OnRe reinsurance with $200 million in TVL, Bulk perpetual DEX with an aggregate open interest of $325 million, and Loopscale lending platform at $79 million in TVL.

It might be premature to claim that SOL is bound to reclaim the $80 mark, last seen on June 1, given increased competition in tokenized stock trading from Hyperliquid and centralized exchanges on competing blockchains. OKX, for instance, formed a strategic partnership with the NYSE parent company using Ethereum-based systems.

This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph's Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research.

The market for weight-loss drugs, led by GLP-1 medicines like Wegovy, is on a rapid northbound trajectory. One good way to capitalize on it is to invest in pharmaceutical companies that currently lead this niche or have the potential to establish a strong foothold. However, it isn't just drugmakers that may profit from the rapid rise of the GLP-1 category. Other companies across the healthcare delivery funnel could also see increased sales and profits thanks to this trend, and CVS Health (CVS 0.26%), a leading pharmacy chain, is one of them. The company recently announced a GLP-1 program that had Wall Street buzzing, as some analysts think the move makes the stock more attractive. Should investors consider buying CVS Health's shares right now?

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Making GLP-1 medicines more accessible Weight-loss drugs haven't been easy for patients to obtain. One of the main reasons for that is cost. GLP-1 medicines are expensive. Even with recent price drops, they can cost several hundred dollars per month -- a meaningful hit to many patients' budgets. And since insurance coverage for these therapies for weight loss has been spotty at best, many are left having to forego them, even when they need them. Further, some physicians have been somewhat hesitant to prescribe GLP-1s to patients due to coverage issues and other factors. And even when patients start taking these medicines, a meaningful number experience uncomfortable side effects that make their weight loss journeys challenging.

Enter CVS Health. The company recently announced a program to help patients through all this, available at its more than 9,000 pharmacies across the U.S. CVS Health will offer virtual visits priced at $49 with clinicians who can evaluate patients and prescribe GLP-1 medicines. The drugs will cost as little as $25 per month for patients with insurance coverage, $50 per month for eligible Medicare patients, or will start at $149 monthly for those without insurance. The pharmacy giant will also provide one-on-one professional support and access to over-the-counter products to help people manage side effects.

This initiative could attract many patients to the company's platform and help boost revenue in its retail pharmacy division. Allen Lutz, an analyst at Bank of America (BAC 0.53%), recently raised his price target on the stock to $110 from $100 following these developments. The company's shares are currently trading at about $104 each, so the new price target implies a modest upside from current levels.

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Is CVS Health stock a buy? CVS Health has performed well over the past 18 months, after several years of challenges. The company's financial results have improved as it has made significant headway in containing costs within its Medicare Advantage division, where rising expenses were eroding its profits and margins. In the first quarter, CVS Health's revenue grew by a healthy 6% year over year to $100.4 billion, while its adjusted earnings per share rose 14% to $2.57. CVS Health also increased its guidance for the full fiscal year 2026.

The healthcare giant's ability to successfully weather the storm it faced in recent years and bounce back speaks volumes about its resilience as a business. And on top of that, CVS Health also has outstanding long-term prospects. The company's well-known brand name, extensive network of retail locations, and diversified healthcare business spanning pharmacy services, insurance, primary care, and more enable it to remain with patients throughout much of their care journey.

That's exactly what it is doing with its new GLP-1 program: offering consultations, medicines, and insurance coverage for eligible patients, as well as one-on-one follow-up with professionals and over-the-counter medications to help manage side effects. The diversified nature of CVS Health's business grants the company a strong competitive advantage and may help it capitalize on the healthcare sector's expansion over the next few decades, especially as the world's population ages.

Lastly, CVS Health is also a solid dividend stock, with a forward yield currently of 2.5%, compared to the S&P 500's average of 1.1%. The company has increased its payouts by 56.5% over the past decade. All these are good reasons why it's worth it for long-term income seekers to purchase CVS Health's shares.