Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Need investment income? From a distance, it looks like income seekers are just out of luck right now. The S&P 500's trailing dividend yield currently stands at a record low of just over 1%.

Dig deeper, though. The index's overall yield is only this low because a small handful of very large, non-dividend-paying tech companies' stocks now account for a massive share of the S&P 500's market value. There are still plenty of index stocks making solid, sizable dividend payments. Fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's (MCD +1.02%) is one of them.

Image source: Getty Images.

Not a permanent headwind In light of the stock's 20% price pullback from its late-February peak, most investors clearly don't agree with this call. But understandably so. The current economic backdrop (and inflation in particular) does not favor this company's product and price points.

As CEO Christopher Kempczinski commented on the global economy during May's Q1 earnings conference call, "It's certainly not improving, and it may be getting a little bit worse." To this end, last quarter's same-store sales growth of 3.8% was a relative disappointment, as lower-margin "value" items have become an increasingly important part of its menu.

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Now look at the bigger picture. This is nothing McDonald's hasn't seen and survived before. Given the cyclical nature of economic headwinds, the restaurant chain is likely to come out of this one at least as strong as it was when it began, making the stock's slide since early March a great long-term buying opportunity.

Resilience worth owning It's still not a growth stock by any means. McDonald's remains a slow-and-steady value name. That's just the nature of the well-saturated fast-food restaurant business.

Even so, this ticker's recent weakness has made it an even more compelling income stock, boosting its forward-looking dividend yield to 2.8%. And that's based on a dividend that's now been raised for 49 consecutive years, underscoring the durability of this company's business.

James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2028 $320 calls on McDonald's and short January 2028 $340 calls on McDonald's. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin is under renewed scrutiny after blockchain investigator ZachXBT made new allegations. According to ZachXBT, some deposit addresses allegedly linked to KuCoin were used in a $250 thousand crypto theft tied to the malicious software, Atomic Stealer, on August 18, 2025.

Deposit addresses at the heart of the controversyIn research shared via Telegram, ZachXBT pinpointed one wallet involved in the theft and identified five deposit addresses he claims are tied to KuCoin. He suggested that purchased intermediary KYC (Know Your Customer) verification might have been used on these accounts, where personal identification was acquired from third parties. However, these claims have not been independently verified in court or acknowledged in any official KuCoin statement.

Mini glossary: KYC is the customer identification process required by financial platforms. AML refers to regulatory controls to prevent money laundering.

The documents shared by ZachXBT also include a message reportedly from KuCoin Customer Service and Support Team. The message stresses that users have the right to legal and regulatory recourse but warns that false or unlawful claims could themselves be subject to legal action.

The message attributed to KuCoin emphasizes respect for users’ right to legal recourse, yet cautions that unfounded or unlawful statements can trigger legal consequences.

The debate broadened after crypto community member DNBWIZARD posted screenshots about the case on the X platform. DNBWIZARD accused KuCoin of threatening legal action. KuCoin has not issued a public response, nor has it confirmed the authenticity of the circulated message.

KuCoin has long operated as a major global centralized crypto exchange. The company was already in headlines earlier in 2025 due to its involvement in a legal case in the United States.

Spotlight returns to US legal battlesThe US Department of Justice revealed in January 2025 that KuCoin admitted to unlicensed money transmission and agreed to pay penalties exceeding $297 million. Prosecutors allege KuCoin’s lack of robust AML and KYC controls enabled suspicious transactions to pass through its platform.

This emerged following criminal charges brought against KuCoin and two of its founders in March 2024. Authorities argued the exchange had processed billions of dollars in suspicious and illicit funds between 2017 and 2024.

IssueDateDetailsNew theft allegationAugust 18, 2025$250 thousand lost, 5 addresses allegedly linked to KuCoinUS settlementJanuary 2025Penalty exceeding $297 millionFirst wave of chargesMarch 2024Alleged suspicious fund flows from 2017 to 2024Echoes of earlier investigationsThe new claims draw parallels with previous cases, where stolen crypto assets have been traced through KuCoin deposit addresses. Earlier this year, ZachXBT revealed that a fake Ledger Live app was used to steal at least $9.5 million from over 50 victims, with more than 150 KuCoin deposit addresses cited in the laundering of those assets.

ZachXBT previously stated that in the fake Ledger Live app theft of at least $9.5 million, the funds were traced through over 150 KuCoin-linked deposit addresses.

In a separate probe, assets allegedly stolen by an entity identified as AudiA6 also ended up in KuCoin-associated addresses. According to ZachXBT, recovering such funds typically requires coordination between law enforcement and crypto exchanges.

At the close of 2025, KuCoin expanded its regulatory footprint in Europe by securing a MiCA license via its Austrian subsidiary. However, Austrian regulators later barred the subsidiary from onboarding new clients due to compliance staffing concerns.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

ByteDance is aiming to complete the design of a new in-house central processing unit (CPU) by early next year at the latest, with plans for mass production and wider deployment in the second half of 2027, according to a South China Morning Post report citing people familiar with the matter.

The TikTok parent company is developing the chip to support its expanding artificial intelligence infrastructure as it seeks greater control over core computing hardware, the SCMP report said.

An early version of the proprietary CPU has reportedly already been used internally since late 2025, one of the sources told SCMP. However, due to strong demand for computing capacity, the tape-out stage, the final step in chip design before manufacturing, could be accelerated.

To support development and help secure foundry capacity, ByteDance is also collaborating with US chipmaker Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM, XETRA:QCI), according to the report.

Wedbush analysts said the report underscores growing pressure from compute shortages and rising costs, which they view as incentivising ByteDance to accelerate internal chip development efforts.

They noted that ByteDance is targeting mass production of the CPU in the second half of 2027 and may lean on Qualcomm for assistance, adding that this follows earlier reports linking the two companies on chip development.

“We certainly see the current shortage of compute (and rising pricing) as creating an incentive for ByteDance to accelerate internal efforts to build CPUs,” Wedbush wrote.

“At the same time, chip design doesn't alleviate the foundations of current supply shortfalls (fabs and raw materials) and successful design efforts to date have seemingly required multiple generations of parts, with failures at least equaling success stories,” the analysts added, according to SCMP’s cited commentary.

After a significant slump following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Moderna (MRNA +0.53%) share prices have ripped higher over the past year, surging nearly 150%. Various factors have driven Moderna's rebound, including regulatory progress on one of its most anticipated products.

Yet even as this news, plus additional promising announcements, suggests a further recovery ahead for this pandemic-era favorite, keep in mind how much of this "comeback potential" is already priced into one of the hottest biotech stocks.

Image source: Getty Images.

Why Moderna is surging higher On June 18, Moderna disclosed how a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee voted unanimously that the benefits of its mRNA-based flu vaccine, mRNA-1010, outweigh the risks among patients aged 50 or over. The FDA could approve mRNA-1010 as soon as Aug. 5. The candidate is also currently under regulatory review in Australia, Canada, and the European Union.

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Other news has also lifted sentiment. The company's recent investor day also included a surprise announcement that it is gearing up to develop an in vivo CAR-T candidate. Success with this endeavor could help Moderna diversify into respiratory, oncology, and rare-disease treatments.

Tread carefully amid the hype There's substance to the market's bullish shift on Moderna, but things have arguably gotten out of hand. After its hot run, the company now has a market cap of around $26.7 billion. As Moderna is currently unprofitable, this valuation is clearly based upon the future potential of its non-COVID-19 products. However, the estimated total addressable market for flu vaccines is only around $9.5 billion. Moderna will likely need to gain dominant market share for this to translate into sales and earnings that help justify the stock's current valuation.

Even when factoring in future potential with CAR-T and other treatments, many of these early products remain years away from commercialization. In the meantime, as Moderna continues to burn through its cash position to fund its post-COVID-19 comeback, the company could be at increased risk of a dilutive equity offering. Even if you're bullish on Moderna's long-term rebound potential, you may want to wait until some of the latest hype fades before buying.

Thomas Niel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Moderna. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

By securing shares in elite dividend payers, long-term investors can set up a powerful compounding machine that creates a robust portfolio foundation. If you're hunting for top dividend stocks to buy and hold for the long run, here are two names to consider.

1. Bank of America Bank of America (BAC 1.30%) has paid regular dividends to its shareholders for 38 consecutive years. Its current yield hovers around 2% The institution remains a key pillar in the global financial ecosystem.

The bank benefits from a massive deposit base and a digital consumer banking network that is practically impossible for smaller competitors to replicate. Because its commercial and consumer banking services are woven deeply into the fabric of the global economy, the business generates reliable cash flows no matter what the broader economy is doing.

Image source: Getty Images.

Bank of America's business model balances interest-earning retail assets with lucrative, fee-generating divisions like global wealth management, trading, and investment banking.

When interest rates are higher for longer, a large chunk of Bank of America's fixed-rate loans, securities, and bonds mature and reprice into higher, current-market yields. Higher rates initially squeeze margins because the bank has to pay customers more to keep their deposits.

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Periods of high or fluctuating interest rates drive high macroeconomic volatility. This volatility spikes client activity, boosting Bank of America's global markets and equities trading divisions, which offsets lending margin compression. The bank also benefits from expanding assets under management and rising advisory fees in its global and investment management division when markets are active. Businesses and everyday consumers might pull back on speculative borrowing during tight credit environments, but they continue relying heavily on the institution's standard transactional, clearing, and asset management platforms.

Bank of America's recent financial performance showed a strong $30.3 billion in quarterly revenue alongside $8.6 billion in net income. Not only were those increases of 7% and 17%, respectively, compared to the previous year, but they also marked the bank's strongest quarterly earnings performance in nearly 20 years. For long-term investors looking to anchor their portfolios, now could be an ideal time to accumulate shares of this dividend payer.

2. Chevron Chevron (CVX 0.91%) certainly stands out as an elite income generator, boasting an exceptionally attractive dividend yield of around 4% at the time of this writing. Chevron has increased its dividend for 39 consecutive years.

Rather than operating purely as a speculative explorer, Chevron controls a massive, fully integrated energy ecosystem that covers everything from upstream oil and gas extraction to downstream refining and chemicals. This diversified model generates immense free cash flow, allowing the company to support its aggressive shareholder return programs through all phases of the commodity cycle.

Chevron owns and operates wholly owned and joint-venture refineries that convert raw crude into finished petroleum products like gasoline, aviation fuel, and lubricants. It also operates substantial petrochemical ventures, such as the Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) joint venture with Phillips 66 (PSX 2.58%), to manufacture plastics and additives.

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Because Chevron runs an integrated global model, it enjoys a built-in balance sheet cushion that pure-play drilling companies completely miss out on. When crude oil prices face temporary market corrections, the company's downstream refining margins often expand due to lower input costs, balancing out the bottom line.

This scale gives the energy company access to an exceptional asset portfolio, including low-cost production acreage in the Permian Basin and premium global liquefied natural gas projects. It uses this diversified cash engine to maintain tight control over capital expenditures. This built-in hedge means the company can comfortably sustain its multidecade track record of annual dividend increases.

© cdwheatley / Getty Images

Carnival (NYSE: CCL | CCL Price Prediction) and Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) just closed earnings cycles that explain why the cruise trade has fractured. Carnival delivered its sixth straight EPS beat on June 23, 2026. Royal Caribbean extended a four-quarter beat streak back in April. One stock trades like a coiled recovery. The other trades like the operator can do no wrong.

Record Yields Carry Carnival. Premium Ecosystem Carries Royal Caribbean. Carnival posted adjusted EPS of $0.41 against $0.35 a year ago, with revenue of $6.66 billion, up 5.3%. Customer deposits hit a record $9.0 billion, and the fleet is 93% booked for 2026. CEO Josh Weinstein framed it bluntly: “twelfth consecutive quarter of record net yields”, achieved despite nearly 30% higher fuel costs. Carnival is leaning on Celebration Key and pricing integrity in the Mediterranean rather than discounting.

Royal Caribbean delivered adjusted EPS of $3.60 against a $3.20 consensus, a 12.59% beat, with revenue climbing 11.3% to $4.45 billion. Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 38.2% from 35.1%, and load factor reached 109%. Jason Liberty leaned into the brand stack, citing “another year of double-digit revenue and earnings growth.”

Coiled Spring Versus a Stock Priced for Perfection Lens Carnival Royal Caribbean Forward EPS Guide ~$2.22 $17.10 to $17.50 Trailing P/E 13 19 EV/EBITDA 8.9 14.43 5-Yr Price Change 11.93% 287.68% Carnival is paying down a $24.9 billion debt stack, reinstated the dividend at $0.15 per quarter, and authorized a $2.5 billion buyback. Royal Caribbean is funding Icon VI, Icon VII, Royal Beach Club Santorini, Celebrity River Cruises, and the Discovery Class platform, repurchasing 2.9 million shares for $836 million in Q1 alone. Two different bets.

Sticky Inflation Is the Real Tiebreaker Headline PCE re-accelerated to 4.07% YoY in May 2026, with energy ripping 24.26%. Royal Caribbean has 59% of fuel hedged, but its premium clientele still feels services inflation at 3.76%. I will keep an eye on whether Carnival’s 2027 booking curve, which Weinstein said is “running ahead of prior year levels”, holds up if energy stays hot.

Why I Lean Toward the Coiled Carnival Setup On the setup, Carnival screens as the more interesting risk-reward. Shares sit at $29.19 while the operational story keeps compounding, and the analyst target sits at $35.6. Royal Caribbean has earned its premium, but at $321.44 and a 19 P/E, a single soft WAVE update could sting. Royal Caribbean offers defensive quality anchored by a fortress ecosystem, while Carnival offers more operating leverage as debt drains and bookings extend.

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

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Key Takeaways ZTO's earnings estimates for 2026 have been revised higher, signaling solid broker confidence.ZTO expects its 2026 parcel volume to be between 42.37 billion and 43.52 billion (up 10-13% year/year growth).ZTO has gained in the past year and outperforms its industry, but lags its peers like SNDR and EXPD. ZTO Express (ZTO - Free Report) performed well in the past year and has the potential to sustain the momentum in the future. The positive sentiment surrounding ZTO Express stock is evident from the fact that the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the full-year 2026 earnings has been revised upward in the past 90 days. The consensus mark for full-year 2027 earnings has also been projected downward in the past 90 days.

The favorable estimate revisions indicate brokers’ confidence in the stock.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Given this backdrop, the question now arises whether it is worth buying, holding, or selling the ZTO Express stock at current prices. Let us delve deeper to find out.

Tailwinds Working in Favor of ZTO StockZTO Express’ top line continues to benefit from the strong performance of the core express delivery services unit. Notably, revenues from the core express delivery business increased 22.5% year over year in first-quarter 2026, owing to 13.2% growth in parcel volume and an 8.2% increase in parcel unit price. Key account revenue, generated by direct sales organizations, grew 92.2% year over year, owing to an increase in e-commerce return parcels. Based on current market and operating conditions, ZTO Express expects its 2026 parcel volume guidance in the range of 42.37 billion to 43.52 billion (reflecting 10-13% year over year growth).

ZTO Express’s efforts to reward its shareholders even in the present uncertain scenario are noteworthy. ZTO’s board has approved a new share repurchase program in March 2026, authorizing the repurchase of up to $1.5 billion of its shares over the next 24 months, effective from March 20, 2026, through March 20, 2028. ZTO Express anticipates funding these repurchases utilizing its existing cash balance. Such shareholder-friendly efforts boost investor confidence and positively impact the company’s bottom line.

Impressive Valuation Picture for ZTO ExpressZTO Express looks cheap from a valuation standpoint. Considering the forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio (P/E-F12M), ZTO Express is trading at a discount compared to the industry.

The stock has a forward 12-month P/E-F12M of 10.31X compared with 16.40X for the industry over the past five years. The company’s forward 12-month P/E-F12M ratio is also below the median level of 13.47X over the past five years. These factors indicate that the stock’s valuation is attractive. ZTO Express has a Value Score of A.

ZTO P/E Ratio (Forward 12 Months) Vs. Industry Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

ZTO Stock’s Price PerformanceShares of ZTO Express have gained 24% over the past year, outperforming the Zacks  Transportation - Equipment and Leasing industry’s  16.7% increase. However, the company fared unfavorably when compared with that of other industry players, Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (EXPD - Free Report) and Schneider National, Inc. (SNDR - Free Report) .

ZTO Stock’s One-Year Price Comparison Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Time to Buy ZTO StockApart from being attractively valued, the upbeat performance of the core express delivery services segment is a positive for ZTO Express. The uptick was driven by an increase in parcel volume and an increase in parcel unit price. ZTO Express expects its 2026 parcel volume guidance to be in the range of 42.37 billion-43.52 billion, reflecting an increase of 10-13% year over year. ZTO Express’s efforts to reward its shareholders look encouraging.

We believe that the positives surrounding the stock (as highlighted throughout the write-up) outweigh the concerns regarding higher selling, general and administrative expenses, which are pushing up operating expenses and hurting the bottom line, coupled with the highly competitive domestic express delivery market. We, therefore, suggest investors add ZTO Express stock to their portfolios for healthy returns. The company’s Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) further supports our thesis. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Key Takeaways Oracle added four Fusion Agentic Applications for supply chain and manufacturing automation. ORCL introduced inventory optimization tools to improve planning and reduce manual intervention. Oracle Cloud Applications revenues rose 10% in Q4 FY2026, with more than 300 Fusion customers going live. Oracle (ORCL - Free Report) is deepening its push into agentic enterprise software with four new Fusion Agentic Applications for Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain and Manufacturing. Announced on June 29, 2026, the new applications include tools for inventory planning, supplier qualification, production readiness and Kanban administration, enabling enterprises to automate exception-based supply chain decisions within existing Fusion workflows. Oracle also introduced multi-echelon inventory optimization and an Inventory Optimization Advisor Agent, helping planners balance inventory availability with carrying costs while reducing manual intervention.

Rather than positioning AI as a standalone capability, Oracle is embedding agentic intelligence into core supply chain operations where inventory management, supplier performance and production planning directly influence business outcomes. The latest capabilities are expected to improve operational efficiency, strengthen supply chain resilience and enhance decision-making across manufacturing and procurement workflows. As enterprises increasingly prioritize measurable returns from AI investments, deeper automation within Fusion Cloud Applications could strengthen Oracle's value proposition and support broader enterprise adoption.

The launch comes as Oracle's applications business continues to gain traction. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, Oracle Cloud Applications revenues increased 10% year over year to $4.1 billion, while SaaS deferred revenues grew 16%. Oracle also brought more than 300 Fusion customers live during the quarter, highlighting continued enterprise demand for the platform. Oracle expects cloud revenues to grow 58-64% in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, suggesting that continued innovation across Fusion Applications could support customer expansion and sustained cloud growth.

Oracle's AI Push Faces Stronger CompetitionOracle is experiencing intensifying competition from SAP (SAP - Free Report) and Workday (WDAY - Free Report) , both of which are deepening agentic capabilities within their platforms. SAP has expanded its Joule platform with collaborative agents spanning supply chain, procurement and finance, moving the company beyond a conversational assistant toward autonomous execution. Workday is similarly advancing its Illuminate platform with agentic capabilities targeting finance and workforce processes, extending its automation across HR and finance applications.

As SAP and Workday deepen their agentic footprint, Oracle's continued investment in Fusion Agentic Applications will be important to sustaining its competitive position in enterprise software.

ORCL’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesShares of Oracle have plunged 24.2% in the year-to-date (YTD) period, underperforming the Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s appreciation of 12.8%.

ORCL’s 6-Month Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, ORCL stock is currently trading at a trailing 12-month Price/Earnings ratio of 17.92X, which is lower than the Zacks Computer - Software industry average of 19.01X. Oracle carries a Value Score of C.

ORCL’s Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ORCL’s fiscal 2027 earnings is pegged at $8.03, which suggests 5.24% growth over the figure reported in fiscal 2026.

ORCL currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

© monsitj / iStock via Getty Images

The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (NASDAQ:IGV) closed Friday at $88.20, down 16.5% year to date and 18.9% over the past year, despite the broader AI trade still drawing capital. IGV’s slide accelerated this month after top holding Oracle posted its worst week since the 2001 dot-com bust, dropping 19.4% in five sessions on debt and free-cash-flow concerns. With a 0.39% expense ratio, IGV remains the cleanest single-ticker proxy for U.S. software, but the next 12 months hinge on two specific signals.

The Fund’s Current Position IGV tracks the S&P North American Expanded Technology Software Index and is market-cap-weighted, which concentrates exposure in the AI-software winners that have driven both its prior run and its current drawdown. The top six holdings span the full valuation spectrum: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT | MSFT Price Prediction) at a 22 P/E, Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) at a 25 P/E, Palantir at 127, and Palo Alto Networks at 267. That dispersion is the whole story: when the AI narrative compresses, the high multiples take the elevator down while the cheaper names cushion only so much.

Macro Signal: The 10-Year Treasury Yield The single most important macro factor for IGV over the next year is the 10-year Treasury yield, currently at 4.40% and sitting in the 79th percentile of its 12-month range. Software multiples are the most duration-sensitive in the equity market because cash flows skew far into the future. The yield’s spike to 4.67% on May 19 coincided with IGV’s worst month of the year. The Fed has held the upper bound at 3.75% since December 2025, meaning the long end is doing the policy tightening that the Fed has paused.

Watch the daily FRED series DGS10. A sustained break above 4.50% would likely pressure the names with no earnings cushion: Adobe, Palantir, and Palo Alto. A move back below 4.15%, the early-March low, would do the opposite. Check it weekly, and around every BLS jobs report and CPI release, since those prints drive most of the curve’s repricing.

Fund-Specific Signal: AI Capex Credibility The fund-specific factor that matters most is whether the hyperscaler AI capex cycle remains self-funding. Oracle alone spent $55.7 billion in TTM capex against negative $23.7 billion in free cash flow and $130 billion in debt. Microsoft’s quarterly capex hit a multi-billion-dollar sum, up sharply year over year, with an a fast-scaling AI run rate. That is the bull case. The bear case showed up in Oracle’s stock this month: when investors question the financing math, the multiple resets fast.

Monitor two specific items. First, hyperscaler commercial RPO disclosures each quarter, Microsoft’s commercial RPO was reported as a record figure last quarter, and any sequential deceleration signals demand cooling before revenue prints. Second, free-cash-flow guidance on the next earnings calls. Intuit and Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) trade at 9 and 8 forward P/Es respectively, which gives IGV some ballast, but the top-heavy weighting means Oracle and Microsoft set the tone.

What This Means Going Forward If the 10-year yield holds below 4.50% and the September-quarter earnings season shows hyperscaler RPO growth holding above 80%, IGV’s drawdown likely marks a multiple reset rather than a structural break. The single most actionable trigger is Oracle’s Q1 FY27 report, the company guided 27% to 29% revenue growth, and any miss would test whether the AI-software bid has truly stabilized.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Key Takeaways Digital Realty will acquire Blackstone's stake in three Northern Virginia data centers valued at $7.8B.DLR expects the deal to boost Core FFO per share in 2027 and 2028 as assets stabilize.The portfolio is fully leased under 15-year agreements with investment-grade hyperscale customers. Digital Realty (DLR - Free Report) announced that it has agreed to acquire Blackstone-affiliated funds’ equity interest in three hyperscale data centers in Northern Virginia, increasing its ownership of high-quality assets in the world’s largest data center market. The portfolio comprises two facilities in Manassas and one in Sterling, with a combined 288 megawatts of IT capacity. The transaction values the portfolio at $7.8 billion.

Digital Realty will pay Blackstone $3.5 billion for its combined 64% equity interest, including $1.2 billion in cash and $2.3 billion in Digital Realty shares. The company is acquiring Blackstone’s 80% interest in the two Manassas facilities and its 50% stake in the Sterling property. Two of the data centers are expected to stabilize in the first half of 2027, while the third is expected to stabilize in the first half of 2028.

The acquired assets are backed by 15-year leases with customers. All three data centers are fully leased to three separate investment-grade hyperscale customers, carrying a blended average AA- credit rating, and include annual rent escalators of 3.6%. Digital Realty said that the deal will increase its exposure to newly developed capacity in Northern Virginia, a region that continues to attract strong demand from hyperscale cloud providers. The company also noted that it will continue working with Blackstone on other joint ventures in Northern Virginia, Paris and Frankfurt.

Digital Realty’s chief financial officer, Matt Mercier, said the acquisition is expected to be accretive to Core funds from operations (Core FFO) per share in both 2027 and 2028 as development is completed and rental income begins. He added that the transaction is expected to support contractual organic rent growth and improve the quality of Digital Realty’s portfolio through long-term leases with leading hyperscale customers in newly built facilities. According to Mercier, the company’s recent execution and strategic transactions position it to continue its growth trajectory.

ConclusionOverall, the acquisition strengthens Digital Realty's position in the world's largest hyperscale data center market by increasing its ownership of high-quality, fully leased assets that offer long-term cash flows. As of March 31, 2026, the company has 309 data centers in more than 55 metros, with decent occupancy reflecting the company’s global presence.

While the transaction requires a sizable capital commitment, its expected Core FFO accretion, enhanced exposure to AI- and cloud-driven demand, and stronger portfolio quality reinforce Digital Realty's long-term growth outlook.

In the past six months, shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have gained 17.5% compared with the industry's growth of 13%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Stock to ConsiderSome better-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are Gladstone Land (LAND - Free Report) and Apple Hospitality REIT (APLE - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LAND’s 2026 FFO per share is pinned at 45 cents. This indicates year-over-year growth of 15.38% for 2026.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for APLE’s 2026 FFO per share is pegged at $1.58. This implies year-over-year growth of 3.95% for 2026.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.

Survey: 88% of enterprises plan to adopt stablecoins within the next year, with cross-border payment costs reduced by an average of 35%.

Payment infrastructure company Cybrid has released a new survey report indicating stablecoins are rapidly gaining traction in enterprise payment scenarios. The survey found that 42% of participating enterprises already use stablecoins for cross-border payments, while 88% said they are likely or very likely to adopt stablecoins within the next 12 months—only 2% of firms stated they will continue to rely entirely on traditional payment systems. According to the report, enterprises using stablecoins save an average of 35% on cross-border payment costs, with firms processing over $100 million in monthly payments achieving an average cost reduction of 47%. Payroll and contractor payments represent the most prominent use case, followed by supplier payments, customer payments, investment and revenue management, and treasury management, among others. Additionally, 71% of respondents identified a clear regulatory framework as the primary factor driving further mainstream adoption of stablecoins, outranking considerations such as infrastructure provider credibility and system integration. The survey was conducted from April to May this year, covering 468 senior executives from tech, financial services, and e-commerce sectors in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

2 hours ago

FalconX secures EU MiCA license, allowing it to offer compliant crypto services to institutional clients in Europe.

Institutional digital asset broker FalconX announced it has obtained the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license issued by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), enabling it to provide compliant digital asset trading, custody, liquidity and related institutional services across the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA). FalconX stated that this license allows it to operate across EU member states under a unified regulatory framework, eliminating the need for individual country-specific licenses. Currently, the firm serves over 2,000 institutional clients worldwide, including asset management firms, hedge funds, banks and family offices, with cumulative transaction volumes exceeding $2.5 trillion and over $8 billion in institutional financing disbursed. FalconX noted that as the MiCA regulatory framework is fully implemented, institutional clients’ demand for compliant trading, custody and liquidity services continues to grow, and regulatory credentials are becoming a key competitive advantage in Europe’s digital asset market.

2 hours ago

Guo Wengui sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection with a fraud case involving over $1 billion.

A US court has sentenced Miles Guo (also known as Ho Wan Kwok) to 30 years in prison. In 2024, a jury convicted Guo on multiple charges including racketeering, fraud, and money laundering, with his formal sentencing now issued. Prosecutors stated that Guo defrauded over $1 billion from global victims through a series of related scam schemes spanning five years. Notably, in 2021, he promoted the cryptocurrency project Himalaya Coin (H-Coin), claiming the tokens were backed by 20% gold reserves and promising to cover all investors’ losses, raising approximately $500 million in total. Additionally, the court previously ordered the forfeiture of nearly $900 million in Guo’s illegal proceeds, as well as his luxury mansion in New Jersey and multiple high-end vehicles. Guo had close ties to Steve Bannon, a former senior advisor to US President Donald Trump; Bannon was arrested in 2020 aboard Guo’s yacht.

2 hours ago

The first-half 2026 funding rankings have been released, with Kalshi and Polymarket raising a combined $1.8 billion.

According to statistics, the 14 largest global funding rounds in the first half of 2026 raised a total of $4.3 billion, with prediction markets, AI, and payment sectors drawing the most investor interest. Specifically, prediction market platform Kalshi topped the list with a $1.2 billion funding round, while Polymarket secured $600 million—together, the two raised $1.8 billion, accounting for over 40% of the total capital of the top 14 rounds. In the AI space, Replit, Exa AI, and OpenRouter closed funding rounds of $400 million, $250 million, and $113 million respectively. For blockchain projects, Canton Network, Arc, and Morpho raised $355 million, $222 million, and $175 million respectively. Meanwhile, payment, RWA, infrastructure, and compliance projects including Rain, Slash, Goldcom, Alpaca, and Elliptic also featured on the list.

2 hours ago

Open Standard launches stablecoin Open USD, with over 140 institutions including Visa, BlackRock, and Coinbase participating.

Open Standard has announced the launch of Open USD (OUSD), a new stablecoin for global fund flows, noting that over 140 enterprises have joined its ecosystem, including financial, payment, and crypto industry players such as Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, American Express, BlackRock, BNY, DBS, Coinbase, OKX, MetaMask, Aave, Ripple, Fireblocks, Solana, and Polygon. According to the introduction, Open USD follows three core design principles: supporting zero-cost, large-scale minting and redemption for enterprises; returning all reserve asset yields to partners after deducting a small management fee; and being governed by a board of directors composed of independent firm Open Standard and its partners, rather than controlled by a single issuer. Open Standard states that Open USD will officially launch later this year, with the goal of building an open, low-cost, high-throughput stablecoin infrastructure with a sharing economy mechanism to meet the needs of the internet economy and global enterprise-level payments.

2 hours ago

Pump.fun is discontinuing support for its tokenized agent issuance feature, stating it will focus on optimizing retail user trading experience.

Pump.fun announced it will immediately cease support for its Tokenized Agent token issuance feature. The feature will no longer be available for new token launches, though projects that have already activated it will remain unaffected. The platform noted that over recent months, consistent community feedback has pointed out that excessive issuance options have sparked unnecessary user vs. user (PVP) competition. Moving forward, Pump.fun will prioritize issuance models and product features that explicitly enhance retail trading experiences.

2 hours ago

THORChain Podcast #198: Live Monero Demo ft. jpthor & KentonC137 | May 14, 2026 | Watch the full episode on YouTube

By Raynalytics

TL;DRJP ran a live Monero demo on a 7-node THORChain chainnet with real funds, executing the first end-to-end decentralized $RUNE to $XMR swap with full vault auditability across signing and non-signing nodes.The implementation uses a deterministic view key (SHA-512 of "thorchain view key") plus on-chain key images and per-transaction signing keys to make every Monero inbound, outbound, and vault balance publicly auditable.Monero runs as a Rust sidecar alongside Bifrost, built on Luke Parker's Serai signing stack and the Monero Oxide wallet library, plumbed into THORChain by Boone.JP and Chad disagree on running multiple Asgard vaults versus a single vault for Monero, a question to be resolved before the mainnet rollout.The code is functional today, but mainnet is gated on more stress testing. When it ships, expect a guarded launch with small pools.Where things stand (June 2026): This recap revisits JP's live demo from May 14. In the weeks since, Chad Barraford confirmed on THORSday #209 that Monero now works end-to-end on the chainnet test environment, with real $XMR swaps, liquidity adds and removes, and churns all confirmed. A live $XMR launch is targeted for roughly a month after THORChain's trading restart, barring a bug that forces a v3.20 change, with Zcash ($ZEC) one to two weeks behind. Mainnet is not live yet.

IntroductionThis was not a typical podcast episode. JP joined Kenton and ran a fully live Monero implementation on a real-fund chainnet: seven nodes churning, two Asgard vaults, key gens, key signings, the works. By the end of the call, JP had executed the first end-to-end decentralized $RUNE to $XMR swap, audited the transaction with a key image and a signing key, and confirmed his receiving wallet got paid. This was THORChain producing the proof that years of Monero integration work actually delivers.

What follows is a recap of the architecture, the audit primitives, the live result, and the open questions still on the table before mainnet.

1. The Live Demo: Seven Nodes, Real Funds, Real SwapJP began by tearing down his existing chainnet and redeploying it from scratch. The deploy spooled up seven THORChain nodes and one genesis vault, then churned into a six-active-node, two-Asgard-vault configuration. He added 0.5 $XMR and 500 $RUNE to each active vault, waited for confirmations, then fired off a 100 $RUNE to $XMR swap back to his own Monero wallet.

It worked. The signing nodes generated the transaction, produced a key image and a transaction signing key, propagated those to the non-signing nodes for verification, then settled the outbound. JP pasted his recipient address and the transaction key into a Monero block explorer's proof-of-payment tool and confirmed receipt.

"Real money, real funds. I love it when a plan comes together." (JP)Across all seven nodes, signing, non-signing, and standby, the reported $XMR balance converged. The on-chain vault state matched the actual Monero wallet state, and gas accounting was correct. After the swap, the protocol began an unhalted churn, generating two new Asgard vaults and migrating funds in multiple rounds without breaking auditability.

2. How THORChain Audits Monero Without a Privacy BackdoorThe core challenge with Monero on a transparent chain is making the vault state verifiable, since Monero hides addresses and amounts by default. JP's solution rests on three primitives.

Deterministic view key. Every THORChain Monero vault uses the same private view key, derived from SHA-512("thorchain view key"). It is global and public, so anyone can see inbounds to any THORChain Monero vault and confirm the amounts. Standard Monero wallets never expose their view key. THORChain's vaults do, by design.

Key images. A view key alone does not reveal when outputs are spent. For every inbound, THORChain kicks off a key image ceremony, essentially a 2/3 threshold ceremony similar to a key signing ceremony. The resulting key image is stored on-chain. When that key image later appears as spent on the Monero blockchain, anyone can audit the vault's debits.

Transaction signing keys. For every outbound a signing subset produces, they also generate a transaction signing key and propagate it to the non-signing nodes. Plug the transaction key plus the recipient address into a Monero proof tool, and the destination and amount are verifiable. This is how the rest of the network confirms the signers did what they were supposed to, and did not reroute funds.

Put together, these three primitives let anyone audit every Monero inbound, every spent output, and every outbound on every THORChain vault, in real time. As Kenton summarized it on the call:

"THORChain doesn't become more private by adding Monero. THORChain is actually bringing more publicity to the Monero transactions that occur on THORChain. Anything private has to happen on the Monero chain itself." (Kenton)JP agreed:

"THORChain actually honestly doesn't know that Monero is a privacy chain. THORChain thinks Monero is just literally Bitcoin." (JP)The audit model is what makes the integration possible. Without it, JP noted, the nodes could just steal.

3. Architecture: A Rust Sidecar Built on Serai and Monero OxideMonero is the first chain client where THORChain runs a dedicated sidecar process alongside the Go-based Bifrost. The sidecar is written in Rust because it needs to host the FROST signing engine for Monero, and because the entire Rust Monero stack is more mature than any Go equivalent. Bifrost orchestrates: it tells the sidecar when to key gen, when to key sign, with what amount and to what address. The sidecar executes.

The foundation is Luke Parker's work. Luke, the lead developer of Serai, built both the modular FROST stack THORChain depends on for threshold key generation and signing, and Monero Oxide, the Rust-based Monero wallet library THORChain uses for everything from view key derivation to vault address generation to transaction construction, decoy selection, and fee computation.

"All the Monero stuff is based on Luke's work. We just kind of plumbed it into THORChain's semantics." (JP)Boone did the plumbing. JP credited Boone explicitly for taking Luke's libraries and adapting them to THORChain's Bifrost architecture.

THORChain also runs a fork of the Monero TS wallet library, published on the THORChain GitHub, which adds 255-byte TX extras. That is the change that lets THORChain memos ride alongside Monero transactions. Any wallet integrating Monero with THORChain needs roughly three lines of code to adopt the same pattern, and 255-byte memos are already valid on the Monero base layer, JP noted, which most integrators do not realize.

4. Handling Monero's QuirksMonero behaves differently from Bitcoin in ways the implementation has to absorb.

10-block lock per UTXO. Every Monero output is locked for 10 blocks after receipt, roughly 20 minutes. The signers track lock state per UTXO and refuse to sign until the spendable balance is available. THORChain does not see the lock directly; it just schedules the outbound and the signers say "talk to me in nine blocks." If one vault is fully locked, THORChain reschedules the transaction to the other active vault. Streaming swaps are not affected, JP confirmed, because Chad recently shipped a feature that begins the streaming swap clock as soon as the deposit kicks off confirmation counting.

Gas budget. Monero gas accounting is hard, so THORChain hardcodes a 120,000-unit budget per outbound, about 42 cents at current prices. Real transactions usually come in closer to 4 cents, so there is a roughly 10x buffer. Simple, predictable, slightly overpaid.

Zero-output change. Every Monero transaction must have two outputs (the real destination plus a dummy from a decoy ring). When THORChain does not actually need a change output, it produces a zero-amount second output and ignores it on the receiving side. This applies to consolidations, migrations, and any one-recipient outbound.

Consolidation strategy. JP proposes consolidating 10 UTXOs down to 5 at a time rather than larger batches. Gas scales linearly with UTXOs, and so does signing time. Keeping consolidations bounded keeps both manageable.

Birthday-based scanning. Each Monero vault saves its creation block height on-chain. Sidecars scan from that birthday forward rather than from Monero genesis. A rescan mode lets any node rebuild its sidecar inventory from scratch by pulling addresses, birthdays, key images, and the view key from THORChain itself. JP says he has tested it ad nauseam.

Old vault refunds. If someone sends Monero to a retired vault, THORChain cannot auto-refund because it cannot identify the sender address. The funds flow to the latest active vault instead, available for a manual treasury refund if the sender produces their transaction private key to prove ownership.

5. Single Vault or Multiple? An Open DebateThe most consequential open question from the episode: should THORChain run one Monero vault or many?

JP's position is to run multiple Asgard vaults, the same way Bitcoin and Ethereum work today. Multiple vaults give the network redundancy when 10-block UTXO locks tie up one vault's spendable balance, and they limit the impact of any single signer set going offline. The trade-off is more key gens, more key image ceremonies, and unproven scalability of FROST Monero across all 100 nodes simultaneously.

Chad's position is to run a single vault. With one vault, every node is a signer, which lets the implementation skip the multi-vault key image generation overhead and simplify the protocol surface area.

Kenton pushed back on the disconnect directly, telling JP that he and Chad clearly need to sort this out: Chad is saying one vault, JP is saying multiple. JP indicated multiple is more aligned with how the other chain clients already work, and that moving to a DKLS-based ECDSA TSS library could eventually make single-vault designs viable. He will continue the conversation with Chad before mainnet, and Kenton suggested running both configurations on mainnet for a few weeks each to observe behavior. The decision is open.

6. AI-Assisted Development, and the "Vibe Coded" QuestionJP addressed criticism that the Monero implementation is "vibe coded" head-on. His view: AI tooling (Claude, Codex, GPT 5.5) lets him work an order of magnitude faster than five years ago, when the team spent a year building the original Bitcoin Bifrost. Tasks that used to require hand-grepping logs across 100 nodes now take minutes when AI can crawl them.

But the workflow is not hands-off. JP described it as juggling, with constant supervision required: one slip and the whole thing crashes down. He uses separate AI conversations per stack component and trains each with project-specific skills.

"The code only works if it's correct. If it didn't work, then you would not see these correct numbers. Gas accounting would be wrong, the balances wouldn't match." (JP)Kenton's framing: it does not matter whether the code starts as vibe-coded or hand-written. What matters is whether it gets reviewed, tested, and verified to work. By that test, the Monero implementation is human-approved code regardless of how the first draft was produced.

7. Future-Proofing for FCMP++ and CarrotAn audience question raised the upcoming Monero hardfork, which introduces FCMP++ (Full-Chain Membership Proofs Plus Plus) and the Carrot addressing protocol. Carrot adds outgoing view keys, forward secrecy, and other privacy and usability features while maintaining backward compatibility with existing Monero addresses.

JP's expectation is that the upgrade should be plug-and-play for THORChain. Luke Parker's Serai and Monero Oxide stacks will absorb the changes upstream. When the hardfork ships, THORChain will pause Monero trading, upgrade its sidecar dependencies, and unpause, with no expected protocol-level rework on THORChain's side and no expected long downtime.

What to WatchMore stress testing on chainnet. JP planned to run automated scripts that throw every edge case at the implementation: bad memos, wrong gas, old vault refunds, mismatched routing. If solvency holds after sustained abuse, the path to mainnet is clear.JP and Chad converging on vault architecture. Single vault or multiple is unresolved and material. Watch for a follow-up between them.Chainnet to stagenet to mainnet rollout. The chainnet code is the mainnet code, and the deploy pattern is identical. Mainnet is a confidence question, not a code question.A guarded launch when live. Expect small pools and small trades at first. JP and Kenton both flagged that Monero could need several months on mainnet before it is fully battle-tested.FCMP++ and Carrot hardfork handling. Monero's hardfork is on the near-term horizon. The plan is a brief THORChain pause for sidecar upgrades, then resume."We could launch this on mainnet tomorrow. It just depends on how confident we are that we're not going to hit a bug." (JP)More THORChain data, check out raynalytics.net

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Key Takeaways ABBV gained nearly 11% in a week as multiple developments boosted long-term growth confidence.AbbVie's $10.9B Apogee deal strengthens its immunology portfolio and future competitive position.ABBV expanded Skyrizi and Rinvoq opportunities while advancing neuroscience and oncology growth. Shares of AbbVie (ABBV - Free Report) have gained nearly 11% in the past week, translating to roughly $43 billion in market value. The upside was driven not by a single catalyst but by several positive developments that fueled investor confidence in the company’s long-term growth prospects.

The momentum began after AbbVie unveiled its $10.9 billion acquisition of clinical-stage biotech Apogee Therapeutics. The transaction is intended to strengthen the company's immunology franchise for the next decade and beyond, while enhancing its long-term competitive position against Dupixent, the blockbuster immunology therapy jointly marketed by Sanofi (SNY - Free Report) and Regeneron (REGN - Free Report) . More importantly, the acquisition appears to have eased one of the market's biggest concerns — how AbbVie plans to sustain growth once its current blockbuster therapies, Skyrizi and Rinvoq, eventually mature.

The Apogee acquisition is only one component of AbbVie's broader strategy to reinforce its leadership in immunology. At the same time, the company continues to expand the commercial reach of its existing products through new regulatory approvals that extend their addressable markets.

Last week, AbbVie secured approvals in both the United States and Europe to expand the label for Skyrizi, allowing its use in pediatric patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The expanded indication broadens the drug’s addressable patient population and further strengthens one of the company's key growth drivers in immunology.

More recently, an EMA advisory committee recommended approving Rinvoq for two new autoimmune indications — alopecia areata and vitiligo — in the European Union. If approved by the European Commission, the expanded label would further reinforce AbbVie's long-term growth prospects in immunology while diversifying Rinvoq's revenue opportunity.

AbbVie’s Growth Story Goes Beyond ImmunologyWhile immunology remains AbbVie's primary growth engine, the company is also generating meaningful momentum across other therapeutic areas. Its neuroscience franchise continues to expand and is becoming an increasingly important contributor to revenue growth. One of the key drivers is Vyalev, the company's Parkinson's disease therapy, which is expected to surpass $1 billion in annual global sales despite launching in the United States only last year.

AbbVie is also strengthening its oncology portfolio. Last month, the company secured approval for Decnupaz to treat adults with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN), a rare and aggressive blood cancer. The oncology franchise remains anchored by Venclexta and Elahere, providing another avenue for sustained long-term growth.

ABBV’s Stock Performance, Valuation and EstimatesShares of AbbVie have slightly underperformed the industry year to date, as seen in the chart below.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, AbbVie is trading at a discount to the industry. Based on the price/earnings (P/E) ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 16.73 times forward earnings, lower than its industry’s average of 18.77.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

EPS estimates for 2026 and 2027 have declined in the past 30 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

AbbVie currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

HomeIndustriesInternet/Online ServicesTech StocksTech StocksAmazon plans to utilize forward-deployed engineers to help corporate clients build agentic workflowsJune 30, 2026, 1:41 p.m. ET

Packages aren’t the only thing Amazon.com is delivering: The company is now sending engineers directly to clients in order to bolster artificial-intelligence adoption.

On Tuesday, Amazon AMZN announced a $1 billion initiative to build out a forward-deployed-engineer organization, which seeks to help customers quickly build and scale agentic AI solutions — systems where AI tools reason, plan and execute multistep tasks with limited human involvement.

Micron Technology (MU, Financials) said it will commit $250 million to support Trump Accounts, a savings initiative aimed at helping children and families build

Micron (MU - Free Report) could be a solid choice for investors given the company's remarkably improving earnings outlook. While the stock has been a strong performer lately, this trend might continue since analysts are still raising their earnings estimates for the company.

The upward trend in estimate revisions for this chipmaker reflects growing optimism of analysts on its earnings prospects, which should get reflected in its stock price. After all, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements. Our stock rating tool -- the Zacks Rank -- is principally built on this insight.

The five-grade Zacks Rank system, which ranges from a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) to a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive externally-audited track record of outperformance, with Zacks #1 Ranked stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 2008.

Consensus earnings estimates for the next quarter and full year have moved considerably higher for Micron, as there has been strong agreement among the covering analysts in raising estimates.

The chart below shows the evolution of forward 12-month Zacks Consensus EPS estimate:

12 Month EPS

Current-Quarter Estimate RevisionsThe earnings estimate of $31.29 per share for the current quarter represents a change of +932.7% from the number reported a year ago.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Micron has increased 39.94% over the last 30 days, as seven estimates have gone higher compared to no negative revisions.

Current-Year Estimate RevisionsThe company is expected to earn $72.83 per share for the full year, which represents a change of +778.5% from the prior-year number.

There has been an encouraging trend in estimate revisions for the current year as well. Over the past month, 11 estimates have moved up for Micron versus no negative revisions. This has pushed the consensus estimate 22.38% higher.

Favorable Zacks RankThe promising estimate revisions have helped Micron earn a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The Zacks Rank is a tried-and-tested rating tool that helps investors effectively harness the power of earnings estimate revisions and make the right investment decision.

You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Our research shows that stocks with Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and 2 (Buy) significantly outperform the S&P 500.

Bottom LineInvestors have been betting on Micron because of its solid estimate revisions, as evident from the stock's 10.6% gain over the past four weeks. As its earnings growth prospects might push the stock higher, you may consider adding it to your portfolio right away.

A bipartisan group of United States lawmakers has opened national security investigations into whether five major pharmaceutical companies, including Merck and AbbVie, were involved in clinical trials conducted in China that may have supported the country’s military capabilities, according to a Reuters report.

The inquiry, led by Republican Representative John Moolenaar of Michigan, chair of the House Select Committee on China, focuses on whether the drugmakers conducted adequate due diligence and maintained sufficient data protection standards at trial sites in China.

In letters dated Monday and first reported by Reuters on Tuesday, lawmakers requested detailed information from Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK, XETRA:6MK) and Abbvie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) by July 17, including documentation on research practices, safeguards, and oversight mechanisms.

The scrutiny also extends to Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY), Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE, XETRA:PFE), and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY, XETRA:RM, OTC:BMYMP), which received similar requests from the committee.

Lawmakers specifically asked for information related to clinical trial locations in China, including sites in the Xinjiang region and military-affiliated hospitals, and raised broader concerns about whether sensitive biomedical data could be accessed or repurposed in ways that pose national security risks.

Merck stated that patient safety and ethical integrity are central to its clinical research operations and said it adheres to global regulatory standards governing clinical trials. AbbVie declined to comment. Pfizer confirmed receipt of the letter but did not provide further comment. Bristol Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to the Reuters report.

The Chinese embassy in Washington rejected the premise of the investigation, saying in an email that there is “nothing credible” in the committee’s actions and reiterating opposition to what it described as efforts to politicize trade and technology issues.

The developments add to growing US-China tensions over scientific collaboration, particularly in sectors involving sensitive data and dual-use technologies, where commercial research may intersect with national security concerns.

The companies’ shares initially moved lower following the news, but were little changed by the early afternoon.

Jim Cramer recently spotlighted Honeywell Aerospace (NASDAQ:HONA) on a Mad Dash segment, the newly independent aerospace company created after Honeywell Technologies (NASDAQ:HON | HON Price Prediction) completed its spinoff on June 29, 2026. Cramer says he plans to own both Honeywell Aerospace and Honeywell Technologies in his charitable trust.

His argument for the new Honeywell Aerospace business is straightforward: “People want a new aerospace play. They love aerospace. They don’t like Boeing,” he said. Boeing (NYSE:BA) was last quoted near $216.95, against analysts’ average price target of $270.

Honeywell Aerospace: The New Aerospace Pure-Play Cramer called the aerospace operation “top flight” and pushed back on Wall Street’s caution. He flagged that Jefferies rates the aerospace unit a hold, but said he disagrees and intends to own it personally. He also disclosed a personal angle, noting a friendship with one of the aerospace leaders, whom he described as a former neighbor. Honeywell Aerospace is led by President and CEO Jim Currier with Josh Jepsen as CFO.

On growth, Cramer pointed to management’s framework of roughly 9% compound annual growth through 2030, then added that he would “go a little bit higher than that,” framing the guidance as conservative. The underlying business supports the case.

In its final quarter as a segment inside the parent company, Aerospace Technologies generated $4.322 billion in Q1 2026 revenue with 4% organic growth, a 1.1x book-to-bill ratio, and 6% order growth. The prior quarter showed even more torque, with $4.520 billion in revenue and 13% organic growth, including 10% growth in Defense & Space.

Honeywell Technologies: The Automation Story Cramer Still Wants to Own The remaining Honeywell Technologies entity is the automation-focused parent, led by CEO Vimal Kapur. Cramer said he likes the automation business and its leadership and is keeping HON in his trust alongside HONA. Honeywell has a market capitalization of roughly $73.57 billion, a forward P/E of 22, and a share price of $224.46, vs. an analyst price target of $247.69.

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

Honeywell delivered Q1 2026 adjusted EPS of $2.45 against a $2.32 consensus, its fourth straight earnings beat, with segment margin expanding 90 basis points to 23.3% and orders rising 7% organically on a backlog of $38.30 billion. Management reaffirmed full-year guidance of $38.8 billion to $39.8 billion in sales and adjusted EPS of $10.35 to $10.65.

Kapur framed the rationale on the call: “All of the acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs and simplification efforts over the last several years have positioned both aerospace and automation for bright futures as independent, leading companies.”

What Investors Should Watch Next Cramer’s bullish view rests on two key ideas. First, he believes investors looking for aerospace exposure beyond Boeing now have a large, standalone pure-play in Honeywell Aerospace. Second, he thinks management’s long-term growth outlook through 2030 could prove conservative.

Commercial aftermarket demand remains strong, and the U.S. Department of War’s FY 2027 budget request includes a $3 billion increase for Weapon System Sustainment, a $14.9 billion investment in munitions, and higher funding for aircraft flying hours, which supports demand for avionics, auxiliary power units (APUs), and engine systems that Honeywell Aerospace supplies.

The biggest near-term question is execution. Cramer noted Jefferies’ Hold rating, while Honeywell has warned that temporary supply-chain constraints could limit production in the short term. As a newly public company, investors will be watching the first few quarters of standalone results and any updated long-term guidance from management to see whether the company’s growth outlook begins to exceed its initial targets.

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

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Key Takeaways Intuit reported strong fiscal Q3 2026 results and raised its fiscal 2026 revenue growth outlook to 13-14%.Block is expanding Square and Cash App, supported by strong gross profit growth and new merchant wins.XYZ faces macro and competition risks, while INTU contends with cost pressures and tax software competition. Intuit Inc. (INTU - Free Report) and Block (XYZ - Free Report) operate in the fintech space, offering digital financial tools for consumers and businesses. Intuit focuses on tax and accounting software, while XYZ specializes in payments and financial services.

Intuit leverages its broad ecosystem, QuickBooks, TurboTax, Credit Karma and Mailchimp to build a comprehensive platform for consumers, small businesses and professionals. Meanwhile, Block excels through the dual ecosystem of Square and Cash App, serving merchants and consumers.

Let’s weigh the pros and cons of each to find out which stock deserves a spot in your portfolio.

The Case for IntuitIntuit is a global fintech company that powers products such as TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, Mailchimp and Intuit Enterprise Suite. The company focuses on helping consumers manage taxes and personal finances while enabling businesses to run end-to-end operations. It reported strong third-quarter fiscal 2026 results, with revenue growth of 10.4%. As a result, the company expects revenue growth of approximately 13-14% for fiscal 2026.

Intuit’s Global Business Solutions segment is a key driver of its business ecosystem. This segment's Online Ecosystem provides a seamless platform for accounting, payroll, payments and analytics. In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, Global Business Solutions revenues grew 15.3% to $3.29 billion, including Online Ecosystem revenues, which rose 18.7%. For fiscal 2026, management expects the segment’s revenues to grow approximately 16%.

Intuit's Consumer segment features Credit Karma, TurboTax and ProTax, together creating year-round financial tools. Management noted that average revenue per user (ARPU) is approximately 30% higher for customers using both TurboTax and Credit Karma than for those using TurboTax alone. In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, the Consumer segment revenues grew 7.5%. For fiscal 2026, management expects Consumer Group revenue growth of 10%, including TurboTax at 7%, Credit Karma at 19% and ProTax at 4%.

Intuit maintains a disciplined capital distribution strategy, committed to boosting shareholder value via consistent dividend hikes and share repurchases. The company has increased its dividend five times over the past five years, with a 15.61% annualized growth rate. Supported by strong operating fundamentals, we expect dividends to remain sustainable in the future. It also repurchased $1.6 billion of stock in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 and received board approval for a new $8 billion repurchase authorization.

However, Intuit has its share of challenges, as its performance is partly tied to the health of small businesses, lending conditions and consumer tax filing dynamics. A slowdown in consumer spending or credit demand could impact its growth. The company’s high costs and expenses remain a major concern. The competitive landscape in tax preparation and enterprise accounting creates pricing pressure, particularly during large contract renewals.

The Case for BlockBlock continues to grow its comprehensive fintech platform, with its Square, Cash App and Afterpay ecosystems offering end-to-end solutions across payments, commerce, banking, investing and lending. XYZ’s first-quarter 2026 results reflected decent top-line performance and strong gross profit growth. Its net revenues increased 4.9% year over year, while the gross profit climbed 27.1%, with Cash App rising 38.3% and Square increasing 9.4%.

Square, Block’s merchant-facing ecosystem, remains strong. In the first quarter of 2026, Square Gross Payment Volume (GPV) rose 13.2% year over year. Additionally, the company partners with more than 140 independent sales organizations (ISO) to complement its direct sales and extend reach to new sellers. This month’s merchant wins, including Ladurée Canada, Sofive Soccer Centers, Coffee Dose and Baker St Café, demonstrate its growing penetration across restaurants, specialty food, sports centers and retail businesses.

Block’s momentum is driven mainly by Cash App, which has grown beyond peer-to-peer payments into a multi-service financial hub for digitally native users. Cash App is broadening its role in users’ financial lives through payments, banking, commerce and bitcoin transactions. Cash App remains focused on making transactions faster, more convenient and more personalized. This month, it launched Cash App Tags, NFC-enabled physical payment accessories that let customers pay with a single tap without a phone or a card.

In early June, Block announced the launch of Afterpay on Cash App Card, making Buy Now, Pay Later (“BNPL”) available to eligible Cash App Card customers. The feature targets American earners with variable incomes and customers who are underserved by the current financial system. It is being rolled out to Cash App’s roughly 59 million monthly transacting active users. Block stands to benefit from increased card usage and merchant volume while capturing BNPL fees.

While Block faces headwinds, including sensitivity to macroeconomic conditions, intensifying competition and a younger-user base concentration, its diversified revenue streams, solid fundamentals and ongoing product innovation counterbalance those risks, positioning the company for durable growth and making it an attractive fintech investment.

How Do Zacks Estimates Compare for INTU & XYZ?The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Intuit’s fiscal 2026 sales and EPS implies a year-over-year increase of 13.48% and 18.41%, respectively. EPS estimates have been trending northward over the past week.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Meanwhile, the consensus estimates for Block’s 2026 sales and EPS indicate a year-over-year rise of 8.29% and 64.14%, respectively. EPS estimates have been trending upward over the past week.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Valuation: INTU vs. XYZIn terms of forward 12-month Price/Sales (P/S), INTU stock is trading at 3.08X, above XYZ, which is currently trading at 1.68X. Although XYZ is trading above its one-year median of 1.53X, INTU is trading below its one-year median of 8.11X.

From a valuation perspective, we note that Intuit shares are trading at a premium to Block.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Price Performance: INTU vs. XYZOver the past month, shares of XYZ have outperformed INTU and the S&P 500 composite.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

INTU vs. XYZ: Which Stock Is the Better Buy?Both Intuit and Block remain dominant players in the fintech space. Intuit’s advantage lies in its scale and broad financial-software ecosystem, which makes it a reliable market leader. Block is solidifying its role as an innovation leader by growing the Square and Cash App ecosystems. However, Intuit’s rising costs and expenses are a significant concern, while competitive pressures can weigh on pricing, particularly during large contract renewals.

Given Block’s rising earnings estimates, cheaper valuation and recent stronger stock performance, it appears the smarter, lower-risk buy for investors.

Currently, INTU carry Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), while XYZ sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

General Dynamics (GD - Free Report) could be a solid choice for investors given its recent upgrade to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). This rating change essentially reflects an upward trend in earnings estimates -- one of the most powerful forces impacting stock prices.

The Zacks rating relies solely on a company's changing earnings picture. It tracks EPS estimates for the current and following years from the sell-side analysts covering the stock through a consensus measure -- the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

The power of a changing earnings picture in determining near-term stock price movements makes the Zacks rating system highly useful for individual investors, since it can be difficult to make decisions based on rating upgrades by Wall Street analysts. These are mostly driven by subjective factors that are hard to see and measure in real time.

As such, the Zacks rating upgrade for General Dynamics is essentially a positive comment on its earnings outlook that could have a favorable impact on its stock price.

Most Powerful Force Impacting Stock PricesThe change in a company's future earnings potential, as reflected in earnings estimate revisions, has proven to be strongly correlated with the near-term price movement of its stock. That's partly because of the influence of institutional investors that use earnings and earnings estimates for calculating the fair value of a company's shares. An increase or decrease in earnings estimates in their valuation models simply results in higher or lower fair value for a stock, and institutional investors typically buy or sell it. Their transaction of large amounts of shares then leads to price movement for the stock.

Fundamentally speaking, rising earnings estimates and the consequent rating upgrade for General Dynamics imply an improvement in the company's underlying business. Investors should show their appreciation for this improving business trend by pushing the stock higher.

Harnessing the Power of Earnings Estimate RevisionsEmpirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock movements, so it could be truly rewarding if such revisions are tracked for making an investment decision. Here is where the tried-and-tested Zacks Rank stock-rating system plays an important role, as it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions.

The Zacks Rank stock-rating system, which uses four factors related to earnings estimates to classify stocks into five groups, ranging from Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) to Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive externally-audited track record, with Zacks Rank #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .

Earnings Estimate Revisions for General DynamicsThis defense contractor is expected to earn $16.59 per share for the fiscal year ending December 2026, which represents no year-over-year change.

Analysts have been steadily raising their estimates for General Dynamics. Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company has increased 1.9%.

Bottom LineUnlike the overly optimistic Wall Street analysts whose rating systems tend to be weighted toward favorable recommendations, the Zacks rating system maintains an equal proportion of "buy" and "sell" ratings for its entire universe of more than 4,000 stocks at any point in time. Irrespective of market conditions, only the top 5% of the Zacks-covered stocks get a "Strong Buy" rating and the next 15% get a "Buy" rating. So, the placement of a stock in the top 20% of the Zacks-covered stocks indicates its superior earnings estimate revision feature, making it a solid candidate for producing market-beating returns in the near term.

You can learn more about the Zacks Rank here >>>

The upgrade of General Dynamics to a Zacks Rank #2 positions it in the top 20% of the Zacks-covered stocks in terms of estimate revisions, implying that the stock might move higher in the near term.

Roblox Corp (NYSE:RBLX) stock is headed for a third-straight gain, up 1.6% to trade at $55.19, at last glance. Though the video game name fell to a two-year low of $40.15 on May 13, with the round-number $40 level stepping up as support. Despite a 32% year-to-date deficit, a bull signal is now flashing on the charts. 

RBLX just crossed above its 80-day moving average for the first time in at least 21 trading days. Per Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, this event has happened six times in the last 10 years, after which RBLX was higher one month later 83% of the time, averaging a large 19.2% gain.

From its current perch, a similar move higher would put the shares at $65.78. This level coincides with significant buildup of call open interest (OI) at the front-month standard July expiration, which could act as a magnet. 

Furthermore, short interest has been heavily building, up 20% in the most recent reporting period. The 30.27 million shares sold short and represents 4.8% of the stock's available float. Should a strong rebound occur, an unwinding of this pessimism could provide added tailwinds.

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Pentair plc (PNR - Free Report) could be a solid addition to your portfolio given its recent upgrade to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). An upward trend in earnings estimates -- one of the most powerful forces impacting stock prices -- has triggered this rating change.

The Zacks rating relies solely on a company's changing earnings picture. It tracks EPS estimates for the current and following years from the sell-side analysts covering the stock through a consensus measure -- the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Since a changing earnings picture is a powerful factor influencing near-term stock price movements, the Zacks rating system is very useful for individual investors. They may find it difficult to make decisions based on rating upgrades by Wall Street analysts, as these are mostly driven by subjective factors that are hard to see and measure in real time.

Therefore, the Zacks rating upgrade for Pentair basically reflects positivity about its earnings outlook that could translate into buying pressure and an increase in its stock price.

Most Powerful Force Impacting Stock PricesThe change in a company's future earnings potential, as reflected in earnings estimate revisions, and the near-term price movement of its stock are proven to be strongly correlated. The influence of institutional investors has a partial contribution to this relationship, as these big professionals use earnings and earnings estimates to calculate the fair value of a company's shares. An increase or decrease in earnings estimates in their valuation models simply results in higher or lower fair value for a stock, and institutional investors typically buy or sell it. Their bulk investment action then leads to price movement for the stock.

For Pentair, rising earnings estimates and the consequent rating upgrade fundamentally mean an improvement in the company's underlying business. And investors' appreciation of this improving business trend should push the stock higher.

Harnessing the Power of Earnings Estimate RevisionsAs empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock movements, tracking such revisions for making an investment decision could be truly rewarding. Here is where the tried-and-tested Zacks Rank stock-rating system plays an important role, as it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions.

The Zacks Rank stock-rating system, which uses four factors related to earnings estimates to classify stocks into five groups, ranging from Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) to Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive externally-audited track record, with Zacks Rank #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .

Earnings Estimate Revisions for PentairFor the fiscal year ending December 2026, this company is expected to earn $5.35 per share, which is unchanged compared with the year-ago reported number.

Analysts have been steadily raising their estimates for Pentair. Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company has increased 0.1%.

Bottom LineUnlike the overly optimistic Wall Street analysts whose rating systems tend to be weighted toward favorable recommendations, the Zacks rating system maintains an equal proportion of "buy" and "sell" ratings for its entire universe of more than 4,000 stocks at any point in time. Irrespective of market conditions, only the top 5% of the Zacks-covered stocks get a "Strong Buy" rating and the next 15% get a "Buy" rating. So, the placement of a stock in the top 20% of the Zacks-covered stocks indicates its superior earnings estimate revision feature, making it a solid candidate for producing market-beating returns in the near term.

You can learn more about the Zacks Rank here >>>

The upgrade of Pentair to a Zacks Rank #2 positions it in the top 20% of the Zacks-covered stocks in terms of estimate revisions, implying that the stock might move higher in the near term.

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