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Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP Securities Litigation Partner James (Josh) Wilson Encourages Investors Who Suffered Losses In HDFC Bank Limited To Contact Him Directly To Discuss Their Options

If you purchased or acquired securities in HDFC Bank Limited between July 17, 2023 and May 26, 2026 and would like to discuss your legal rights, call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310).

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New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - October 11, 2026) - Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, is investigating potential claims against HDFC Bank Limited (""HDFC Bank Limited" or the "Company") (NYSE: HDB) and reminds investors of the October 13, 2026 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action that has been filed against the Company.

Faruqi & Faruqi is a leading national securities law firm with offices in New York, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors since its founding in 1995. See www.faruqilaw.com.

As detailed below, the complaint alleges that the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by making false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose that: (1) HDFC Bank camouflaged payments as marketing spend to pay higher interest to a state firm in order to induce deposits; (2) these activities were approved by senior management; (3) these activities likely violated regulations and the Company's own policies, including those that prohibit payments that could constitute improper inducement; (4) as a result of the foregoing, the Company's interest income and operating expenses were overstated; and (5) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

On March 18, 2026, HDFC filed a letter with the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, reporting the resignation of Mr. Atanu Chakraborty from his roles as part-time Chairman and Independent Director of HDFC, with his resignation letter stating that "[c]ertain happenings and practices within the bank, that I have observed over last two years, are not in congruence with my personal Values and Ethics." On this news, the price of HDFC's American Depositary Shares ("ADS") fell $2.09, or 7.28% to close at $26.62 per share on March 18, 2026, on unusually heavy trading volume.

On May 27, 2026, The Indian Express published an article entitled "HDFC Bank 'camouflaged' crores as marketing spend to pay higher interest to state firm," reporting that HDFC Bank had made covert payments of approximately "Rs 45 crore," or approximately $4.7 million USD, to the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation ("MSRDC") to induce MSRDC to make large deposits with the Company, with the differential interest disguised as sponsorship payments, and that an internal probe concluded that over ten top officials bore responsibility, including HDFC's CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan. On this news, HDFC's ADS price fell $1.02, or 4.1%, to close at $23.78 per share on May 27, 2026, on unusually heavy trading volume.

The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not.

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding HDFC Bank Limited's conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others.

To learn more about the HDFC Bank Limited class action, go to www.faruqilaw.com/HDB or call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310).

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Investors Regarding the HDFC Bank Limited Securities Class Action Lawsuit:

What is the HDFC Bank Limited securities fraud lawsuit about?

The lawsuit alleges that HDFC Bank Limited engaged in a scheme to disguise payments as marketing expenditures in order to pay above-market interest rates to a state-owned entity, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, to induce that entity to make large deposits with the bank. The complaint further alleges that these activities were approved by senior management, including HDFC Bank's CEO, and that they likely violated applicable regulations as well as the Company's own internal policies prohibiting improper inducements. As a result of this alleged conduct, the lawsuit contends that HDFC Bank's reported interest income and operating expenses were materially misstated. Defendants' positive public statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were allegedly materially misleading and lacked a reasonable basis during the Class Period. The case centers on two disclosure events - a chairman's resignation citing ethical concerns in March 2026, and a May 2026 investigative report - which allegedly caused significant declines in the price of HDFC Bank's American Depositary Shares.

Who may be eligible to participate in the lawsuit?

Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired HDFC Bank Limited American Depositary Shares traded on the NYSE under the ticker symbol HDB between July 17, 2023 and May 26, 2026, inclusive, may be eligible to participate in this securities class action lawsuit. The class period encompasses the full timeframe during which Defendants allegedly made materially misleading statements about the Company's business, operations, and financial results. Eligibility to participate in any potential recovery is not limited to those who apply to serve as lead plaintiff; class members who take no active role in the litigation may still share in any recovery that is obtained. Investors are encouraged to review their trading records for the relevant period to determine whether they purchased shares during the Class Period.

What is a lead plaintiff, and how can I seek appointment?

A lead plaintiff is a court-appointed representative who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation, including making key decisions about litigation strategy and the selection of lead counsel. Any class member who suffered a loss on purchases of HDFC Bank ADS during the Class Period may move the court for appointment as lead plaintiff, and the court will typically appoint the movant with the largest financial interest who otherwise satisfies the requirements of applicable law. The deadline to file a motion for appointment as lead plaintiff is [deadline], and investors wishing to seek this role must act before that date. Importantly, investors are not required to seek appointment as lead plaintiff in order to be eligible to participate in any class recovery - the vast majority of class members recover without taking on this role.

Why should investors contact Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP?

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP has represented investors in securities litigation for decades and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for shareholders. Investors who purchased HDFC Bank Limited securities during the Class Period may contact the firm to discuss their legal rights, potential claims, and the lead plaintiff process at no cost or obligation.

Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/318352

Source: Faruqi & Faruqi LLP

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What happened Lucid Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: LCID) drew $400 million on October 6, 2026, under delayed draw term loan facilities with Ayar Third Investment Company. The company said Ayar Third Investment Company is an affiliate of the Public Investment Fund. After the draw, about $2.1 billion was outstanding and about $400 million of borrowing capacity remained under the DDTL. The filing shows Lucid added debt through an existing facility.

The filing says the DDTL key terms are incorporated by reference from Form 8-Ks filed on August 5, 2024, November 5, 2025 and April 14, 2026.

Key numbers Metric Latest Change Source DDTL draw $400 million SEC 8-K Outstanding principal under the DDTL approximately $2.1 billion SEC 8-K Additional borrowing capacity remaining approximately $400 million SEC 8-K Read more: Lucid Group (LCID) stock analysis and investment case Why it matters OptimistFi's case is that Lucid can turn its revenue ramp into sharply lower cash burn before the balance sheet forces a recapitalization. The current outstanding balance is about 5.25 times the remaining borrowing capacity, using OptimistFi's calculation from the filing's figures. That ratio means the facility is already mostly used, so the company has more debt drawn than room left under the same agreement.

That leaves Lucid with leverage already on the balance sheet, not just a financing option it can ignore. The filing therefore leaves the case mixed.

The counterweight is that about $400 million of additional borrowing capacity still remains, which leaves Lucid with room to keep drawing on the facility. For investors, the filing gives a concrete debt baseline beside later operating cash generation.

Browse: stock research on every company OptimistFi covers

What's next Lucid still has about $400 million of additional borrowing capacity under the DDTL, and another draw would reduce that cushion. If Lucid leaves the remaining capacity unused, the debt balance stays at about $2.1 billion instead of moving higher. Any later draw would increase the debt balance again, while no further draw would leave this filing as the latest balance-sheet marker. That makes the remaining room under the DDTL the immediate number to watch.

Any further borrowings would use what remains of the same facility, not a separate pool of capital.

More from OptimistFi LCID stock: the Lucid Group thesis, its status and the next test to watch Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE: LEVI) Raises Profit as Wholesale Outruns DTC Park Aerospace Corp. (NYSE: PKE) Expands Profit as Sales Rise Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ: HELE) Lifts Profit as Cash Flow Rebounds Stock research on every company OptimistFi covers Latest stock research and investment-case updates OptimistFi: evidence-first equity research Sources SEC 8-K — Form 8-K reporting Lucid's $400 million DDTL draw on October 6, 2026 and approximately $400 million of remaining borrowing capacity. Read the full OptimistFi thesis on Lucid Group, Inc.: https://optimistfi.com/stocks/LCID

See what would break the Lucid Group, Inc. thesis and track it live on the OptimistFi Thesis-Break Engine.

Browse every company OptimistFi covers at optimistfi.com/stocks, or read the latest evidence-first research.

The full Lucid Group, Inc. investment case, its status and the next test to watch live on the Lucid Group, Inc. thesis page.

Originally published on OptimistFi, evidence-first equity research. More at optimistfi.com.

A lot of investor attention is focused on Elon Musk's electric vehicle company, Tesla (TSLA +2.05%), which is developing humanoid work robots called Optimus, expected to be commercially available late next year. Investors may also be aware that Agility Robotics, a company working on similar tech, is expected to go public soon. A bunch of factories and warehouses are using autonomous automation to improve efficiency.

The one robotics name practically no one's talking about that everyone should know, however, is an up-and-comer called Symbotic (SYM +1.35%). Here's a closer look.

Image source: Getty Images.

Symbotic's story If the name seems vaguely familiar, it's likely because it has such close ties to mega-retailer Walmart (WMT +0.71%). Walmart is arguably the chief reason the company as we know it exists at all; in fact, nearly a decade ago, the retailer needed a way to optimize merchandise handling at a handful of its distribution centers.

Walmart tapped then-nascent Symbotic and then, early last year, sold its separately developed Advanced Systems and Robotics to the robotics specialist. Walmart is also a major shareholder and Symbotic's single biggest customer.

It's not its only customer, though. Having seen the benefits of Symbotic's AI-enabled warehouse automation, Albertsons, Target, and others are now getting on board the artificial intelligence automation train as opportunity, money -- and production capacity -- allow.

As of June, Symbotic's backlog stood at $22.5 billion. That's more than 30 times that same quarter's revenue, and nearly 10 times this year's expected top line of $2.8 billion, which is projected to grow 30% to $3.63 billion next year (and pushing the company deeper into the black as a result). At their current paces, Symbotic's backlog is likely to continue expanding for a while before it finally starts shrinking.

It's all a testament to the impact of warehouse automation, of course. While long-dreamed-of, it's only now that this technology is reliable enough to do all it's needed to do at least as accurately and as quickly as humans can.

To this end, Symbotic's top products are articulated arms that know exactly what and where to pick, place, and pack, and rolling self-driven flatbeds that can carry hundreds of pounds' worth of goods from one part of a warehouse to another. Although not as exciting as humanoid robots like those being developed by Tesla, Symbotic's solutions are practical, particularly in high-volume physical settings.

And the opportunity is significant. An outlook from Global Market Insights suggests the worldwide warehouse robotics market alone is poised to grow at an average annual rate of 23.1% through 2034, reaching $117.3 billion.

Room for upside It's not that nobody's noticed. SYM shares have seen a handful of bullish runs since going public in 2022, and they're still up since then. They've performed pretty poorly since late last year, though, as the market tries to figure out what the future holds for Symbotic and how ready it is to navigate it.

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Nevertheless, it wouldn't be wrong to add it to your watch list if not your portfolio. The analyst community remains bullish, even if the crowd isn't right now, with a consensus price target of $62.86, which is 45% above this ticker's current price.

Shares of membership-based retailer Costco Wholesale (COST -0.10%) closed at a record $1,094.32 on May 19. As I write, they trade near $942, about 14% below that peak.

Drops like this aren't new to Costco, and they've usually worked out for buyers. Counting from 2010 and using closing prices adjusted for dividends, Costco shares had fallen at least 14% from a record close nine times before this latest slide. A year after each drop first hit 14%, the stock was higher in seven of those.

Costco's latest sales update might give buyers a new reason to look, too. On Wednesday, Oct. 7, the retailer said that its comparable sales excluding gas and currency climbed 7.6% in September, up from 5.4% in August. And this eases the main worry I had about the business a week ago.

Image source: The Motley Fool. Image source: The Motley Fool.

Past dips have mostly paid offFor all nine drops, the median return a year after the stock first stood 14% below its record was around 21%, and the best, in 2021, was about 58%.

The two exceptions both came in 2022. A year after the stock's January and May drops, shares were down around 1% and 3%, respectively.

And it wasn't because the company stumbled. In fiscal 2022, which ended Aug. 28, 2022, Costco's comparable sales excluding gas and currency climbed around 11%, and its earnings per share grew about 17%. The stock fell anyway. In other words, its price-to-earnings ratio shrank.

It's worth noting that the record before 2010 is weaker. From 2000 through 2009, seven drops this big left the stock higher a year later just twice, in a stretch that included the dot-com bust and the 2008 financial crisis.

Did September stop the slowdown?Costco's September report covered the five weeks ending Oct. 4, 2026, which started its fiscal 2027. Net sales climbed 13% year over year to around $30 billion.

But the number I follow most closely is comparable sales excluding gas and currency. It covers sales at warehouses and online businesses operating for over a year and removes swings in fuel prices and exchange rates, giving a clearer idea of how much more members are buying. That measure rose 7.6% in September, its fastest rate since May's 8% gain. In between, it slowed every month, slipping to 5.4% in August after 7% in June and 6.6% in July.

Some of the pickup comes from Labor Day, which was a week later than in 2025. Costco said the timing added a bit over 0.5 percentage points to September's comparable sales, after costing August a little less than 0.75 points. But even with both months adjusted for the holiday, the underlying rate rose from around 6% to about 7%.

The U.S. business did even better, with adjusted comparable sales up 8% in September against 5.6% in August. And the U.S. rise came on top of 5% adjusted growth in September 2025, so this wasn't just an easy comparison.

In my Oct. 4 piece, I wrote a September result around 7% might mean the slowdown had leveled off. It beat that.

Today's price looks more like 2022Costco's earnings per share grew 14% in fiscal 2026 (ended Aug. 30, 2026) to $20.76. At roughly $942, shares cost about 45 times those earnings.

The starting valuation differed a lot among those nine past drops, and it seems to have mattered. Based on the previous fiscal year's earnings per share, the six drops that began under 40 times earnings were all followed by gains a year later, running from about 19% to 58%. The three that started over 40 times earnings (the two in 2022 and one in 2025) saw one gain of about 14% and two small losses.

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Sure, nine drops is a small sample, so I wouldn't read too much into that split. But today's price-to-earnings ratio of around 45 looks far more like the 2022 starting points, at about 43 and 46 times earnings, than the cheaper ones before them.

The sales slowdown I worried about a week ago reversed in September, which makes the case for the business stronger. The stock's valuation, though, is around where it was.

In the end, I think Costco's track record after big drops and its improving sales trend make the stock worth a look today. But because shares still cost around 45 times earnings, I'd buy gradually over the coming months rather than all at once. And I wouldn't count on a gain as big as the ones that followed the cheaper drops.

SummaryIBM remains a Buy despite a pullback and ongoing deal delays, with Q3 results on Oct. 21 as the next key catalyst.Delayed mainframe and software deals are expected to close mostly by year-end, with at least half needing closure by Q3 to support guidance.IBM maintains its 100 bps operating margin expansion target, leveraging productivity gains even as revenue growth slows and Confluent acquisition weighs on margins.Free cash flow guidance of $10.9B for H2 is ambitious, hinging on strong Q4 execution; dividend appears secure even if targets are missed. Getty Images

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has slipped about 5% since I last wrote about it on Aug. 28, from around $239 to $220.51 as of Oct. 10. What's interesting is that no earnings report came out in between, so the stock fell

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

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

Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, today announced the first presentation of one-year results from the pivotal Phase 2b/3 BRUNELLO trial evaluating remigromig (MK-3000, formerly EYE103), an investigational, potentially first-in-class tetravalent, tri-specific antibody designed to activate the Wingless-related integration site (Wnt) pathway, for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME). Results were presented today at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) 2026 Annual Meeting in New Orleans: BRUNELLO - 1-Year Pivotal Trial Results of Remigromig (MK-3000, formerly EYE103) for the Treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema; D. D'Amico.

In the BRUNELLO study, both remigromig dose arms met the primary endpoint independently, demonstrating non-inferiority in mean change from baseline in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at one year compared with monthly 0.5mg ranibizumab. Mean BCVA gains at Year 1 were +9.1 letters (95% CI, 8.1-10.1; p=0.0129, multiplicity-adjusted) with remigromig 0.5 mg and +8.7 letters (95% CI, 7.7-9.8; p=0.0222, multiplicity-adjusted) with remigromig 0.8 mg, compared with +11.8 letters with ranibizumab (95% CI, 10.7-12.8). Differences between treatment groups were within the prespecified non-inferiority margin and were not considered clinically meaningful. No secondary endpoints demonstrated superiority to ranibizumab.

While both doses of remigromig were generally well tolerated, adverse events related to proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) occurred more frequently with remigromig than with ranibizumab (6.7% and 6.1% with remigromig 0.5 mg and 0.8 mg, respectively, versus 0.9%), inclusive of new-onset PDR.1 In addition, higher rates of treatment discontinuations due to adverse events were observed in the remigromig treatment arms compared with ranibizumab (4.9% and 4.5% with remigromig 0.5 mg and 0.8 mg, respectively, versus 0.9%). Additional analyses are underway to further characterize these findings. PDR rates may reflect natural disease progression in DME patients since remigromig focuses on repair and maintenance of the blood-retinal barrier rather than directly suppressing new vessel growth. PDR cases were generally manageable with standard-of-care treatment.

“Although anti-VEGF therapies remain the foundation of treatment for diabetic macular edema, up to two thirds of patients fail to achieve clinically meaningful vision gains after one year, underscoring the need to explore new biological pathways,” said Donald J. D’Amico, M.D., chair of Ophthalmology at Weill Cornell Medicine, Ophthalmologist-in-Chief, New York-Presbyterian Hospital and presenting author of the BRUNELLO study. “These findings ‒ which demonstrate for the first time that a biologic targeting the Wnt pathway can achieve visual acuity comparable to an established anti-VEGF therapy ‒ support continued evaluation of this novel approach as we look forward to additional Phase 3 results from the BAROLO study.”

“Despite important advances in care, up to 40% of patients with diabetic macular edema have persistent disease activity after six months of treatment, meaning that they do not respond or only partially respond to therapy, underscoring the need for new therapeutic approaches,” said Dr. David Guyer, founder, chief executive officer and president of EyeBio, a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck. “The BRUNELLO study provides important evidence that activating the Wnt pathway, which is involved in the repair and maintenance of the blood-retinal barrier, may offer a potential new way to help patients with DME and expand treatment options for retinal specialists and their patients.”

“The BRUNELLO results represent an important milestone for people living with diabetic macular edema, a leading cause of vision loss among people living with diabetes, which impacts nearly 1.6 million people in the U.S.,” said Dr. Dean Y. Li, president, Merck Research Laboratories. “As the first new mechanism of action in more than 20 years to demonstrate non-inferior visual acuity compared with standard-of-care anti-VEGF therapy in a pivotal DME study, remigromig has the potential to expand treatment options for retinal specialists and patients. We thank the patients, caregivers and investigators whose participation made this study possible.”

The BRUNELLO trial data further strengthens Merck’s advancing ophthalmology pipeline, which is aimed at promoting retinal recovery by addressing specific retinal diseases associated with vascular leakage and neovascularization, including DME, neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (NVAMD) and macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO).

Results from BRUNELLO will be discussed with regulatory authorities. Remigromig is also being evaluated in the ongoing pivotal Phase 2b/3 BAROLO study (NCT06957080) in patients with DME and in a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study (SUPER TUSCAN) in patients with NVAMD and RVO (NCT07205887).

The company is also developing MK-8748 (also known as Tiespectus, EYE201), a novel investigational bispecific antibody with a dual mechanism that directly activates the Tie2 pathway and inhibits VEGF with the goal of stabilizing retinal and choroidal blood vessels and reducing fluid accumulation in the macula. MK-8748 is currently being studied in two pivotal Phase 2b/3 trials for the treatment of NVAMD, TORRONTES (NCT07496567) and MALBEC (NCT07440225), and in two pivotal Phase 3 studies for the treatment of DME, SANGIOVESE (NCT07705555) and SYRAH (NCT07705607).

About the BRUNELLO trial

BRUNELLO is a randomized, double masked pivotal Phase 2b/3 trial (NCT06571045) evaluating the safety and efficacy of two dose levels (0.5 mg and 0.8 mg) of intravitreal (IVT) remigromig (MK-3000, formerly EYE103) versus active control 0.5mg ranibizumab in adults with DME. The trial enrolled 984 participants who were randomized 1:1:1 to receive low and high dose regimens of remigromig or ranibizumab every four weeks for the first year. In the second year, the frequency of treatment for participants will shift based on a personalized treatment interval (PTI) algorithm. The primary endpoint is mean change in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) from baseline to week 52 in the study eye of the participants, using standardized Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) vision testing. The key secondary endpoints at week 52 are mean change from baseline in BCVA (superiority of remigromig vs. ranibizumab), and mean change from baseline in Central Subfield Thickness (CST) (superiority of remigromig vs. ranibizumab).

About Remigromig

Remigromig (MK-3000, formerly EYE103) is an investigational, potentially first-in-class tetravalent, tri-specific antibody designed to activate the Wingless-related integration site (Wnt) pathway, which is involved in the repair and maintenance of the blood-retinal-barrier. Remigromig is being studied in patients with certain retinal diseases including diabetic macular edema (DME) and neovascular age-related macular degeneration (NVAMD). Remigromig is administered by intravitreal injection.

About diabetic macular edema

Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a serious retinal condition and a leading cause of vision loss for people with diabetes. An estimated 1.6 million people are living with DME in the United States. DME occurs when damaged blood vessels leak into the retina, resulting in swelling in the macula, the central region of the retina crucial for precise vision necessary for everyday activities. The prevalence of DME is anticipated to rise with the increasing incidence of diabetes. While currently available treatments have helped to improve outcomes, a significant number of patients, up to 40%, do not respond or only partially respond to therapy, underscoring the need for new treatment approaches.

About Merck

At Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, we are unified around our purpose: We use the power of leading-edge science to save and improve lives around the world. For more than 130 years, we have brought hope to humanity through the development of important medicines and vaccines. We aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world – and today, we are at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. We foster a diverse and inclusive global workforce and operate responsibly every day to enable a safe, sustainable and healthy future for all people and communities. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA

This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA (the “company”) includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. There can be no guarantees with respect to pipeline candidates that the candidates will receive the necessary regulatory approvals or that they will prove to be commercially successful. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the company’s ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the company’s patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.

The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and the company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s Internet site (http://www.sec.gov/).

1 PTs indicative of PDR: diabetic retinopathy (if LLT ‘proliferative diabetic retinopathy’), vitreous hemorrhage, iris neovascularization, retinal neovascularization, glaucoma (if LLT ‘neovascular glaucoma’), neovascularization

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261010000066/en/

Apple revealed in a regulatory filing that it has reached an agreement to bring on team members and technology from personalized audio startup Huxe, in what’s commonly known as a reverse acqui-hire deal.

As first reported in MacRumors, Apple disclosed to the European Commission that it has agreed to make employment offers to “certain employees of Huxe AI,” and to “receive a non-exclusive license to Huxe’s intellectual property rights.”

Reverse acqui-hires emerged in recent years as a way for larger companies to hire key team members and license technology from startups without acquiring the startups outright — presumably allowing them to build up AI talent and tech without drawing as much antitrust scrutiny. (Confusingly, these deals have both been referred to as “reverse acqui-hires” and as plain old “acqui-hires.”)

In the case of Huxe, the startup was founded by developers who’d previously worked on the AI-generated podcast features in NotebookLM (recently renamed Gemini Notebook). But Huxe announced on May 21 that it was shutting down, with the team posting on the Huxe website that the company would be removing its app from the Apple and Google stores, halting service, and deleting user data.

“The team is moving on to new things, and we won’t be continuing development of the product,” the company said. It also thanked its users, saying, “The fact that you used it, told friends about it, sent us your suggestions and your ideas, made it feel like we built it together.”

On June 9, shortly after Huxe’s announcement, Apple notified the European Commission of its deal.

The filing does not say who received employment offers or if they accepted. Nor does it disclose anything about Apple’s plans.

Possibly related: Huxe’s shutdown announcement came just a day after Spotify unveiled AI-powered podcast generation features of its own, so Apple could be hoping to add similar functionality to its Podcasts app. Tech executives seem enamored with the idea that personalized audio can replace regular podcasts (and maybe even parent-child interaction?), though it’s not clear how many normal listeners agree.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

Anthony Ha is TechCrunch’s weekend editor. Previously, he worked as a tech reporter at Adweek, a senior editor at VentureBeat, a local government reporter at the Hollister Free Lance, and vice president of content at a VC firm. He lives in New York City.

You can contact or verify outreach from Anthony by emailing [email protected].

Here in Florida, dollar weeds can overrun a lawn in a single rainy month. Credo Technology Group Holding (CRDO +2.21%) has been growing at a similar clip in the data center networking space. Revenue more than tripled in fiscal 2026, and management expects another jump of more than 85% this year.

That's what happens when you sell picks and shovels in the biggest gold rush in tech. Actually, scratch that metaphor: Credo sells the extension cords.

Nvidia and its AI accelerators get the market-moving glory, but somebody has to wire tens of thousands of GPUs together and keep those connections from glitching. That's Credo's job. Its active electrical cables (AECs) handle short hops inside server racks, and a growing optical lineup covers longer distances.

Three years from now, Credo's position will hinge on two factors: the pace of AI infrastructure spending and the success of a crowded product pipeline.

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A check-engine light for AI clusters Credo's real specialty is reliability. AI clusters suffer from "link flaps," which are network connections that blink off and on without fully failing. A single flap can force operators to reset an entire cluster, losing hours of valuable computing work. In last month's Q1 2027 earnings call, Credo CEO Bill Brennan said that some customers have lost 10% to 20% of their GPU utilization to this problem.

So Credo adds smart software to its high-performance hardware. The PILOT platform monitors every link in real time. Brennan compares it to adding a yellow check-engine light to networks that used to show only green or red. One customer cut the computing cluster bring-up time from approximately seven weeks to five days. When a month of idle AI hardware can cost hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue, that kind of speed sells itself.

Three years of new toys Today, Credo is mostly a copper-cable company with a fast-growing optical side business. By fiscal 2028, it plans to add microLED cables that reach 30 meters, gearbox chips that help AI processors tap more memory, and dense optics for in-rack networks. Brennan describes Credo as "agnostic to the medium." It doesn't care whether your bits travel by copper or by light, as long as they ride on Credo gear.

Meanwhile, the hyperscalers keep shoveling cash into the furnace. Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta Platforms expect to spend about $745 billion on capital expenditures in 2026, up from $413 billion last year. Following that trend, analysts see Credo's revenue climbing from about $1.3 billion in fiscal 2026 to $3.9 billion in fiscal 2028.

What could go wrong Customer concentration is the largest risk. The two biggest customers accounted for 61% of first-quarter revenue. Chip giants Broadcom (AVGO +0.39%) and Marvell Technology (MRVL +0.25%) compete for many of the same contracts. And co-packaged optics could shrink the pluggable-component market where Credo earns most of its money.

Credo's growth doesn't come cheap, either. Shares trade at 77 times trailing earnings and 25 times sales on Oct. 9. Growth-friendly metrics look kinder: the PEG ratio sits around 0.4, and the stock trades at about 22 times fiscal 2028 earnings estimates.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

The verdict So where will Credo be in 2029?

Probably a much bigger business, with a broader product menu and a less lopsided customer list. The stock is a separate question. At this price, investors are betting the AI data center boom keeps rolling for years. If it does, Credo should keep spreading like a weed. If it doesn't, the share price could wilt.

Anders Bylund has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Broadcom, Marvell Technology, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

SpaceX (SPCX +1.25%) went public at $135 per share on June 12, reached a record high of $211.39 four days later, but now trades at about $160. The aerospace and AI company initially attracted significant attention from growth-oriented investors. Still, concerns about its capital-intensive expansion plans, steep losses, and sky-high valuation weighed on its stock.

Image source: Getty Images.

Why haven't I bought SpaceX yet? SpaceX has plenty of irons in the fire. Its Starlink satellite internet service is growing rapidly, and its recent acquisition of T-Mobile's 800 MHz spectrum could turn it into a mobile powerhouse. Its namesake spacecraft business could expand significantly as it ramps up Starship launches, the largest rocket ever built. Its fragmented AI business (which includes X, Grok, and Cursor) could also flourish as it launches new products and services.

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However, I wouldn't touch SpaceX's stock until its AI business stabilizes. In the first half of 2026, the AI segment's operating loss widened year over year from $2.46 billion to $3.73 billion, wiping out Starlink's operating profit of $2.84 billion. It expects the AI segment's losses to widen further as it ramps up its infrastructure investments. Those capital-intensive bets might eventually pay off, but they'll cast a dark cloud over its stock if interest rates keep rising.

With a market cap of $2.2 trillion, SpaceX trades at 49 times this year's sales. I wouldn't pay that premium unless it can prove its AI business isn't just a money pit.

Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends T-Mobile US. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Abbott (ABT +1.13%) currently trades for less than $100 a share. A conservative base-case model suggests the healthcare stock could be worth around $210 per share a decade from now. The best part is that doubling doesn't require anything close to optimistic assumptions; it's grounded in Abbott's recent history.

This high upside potential from a low-risk, high-quality dividend stock is why I just added Abbott to my portfolio this week.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

A history lessonIn 2016, Abbott generated nearly $21 billion in sales and $2.20 per share of adjusted earnings. This year, the healthcare company expects to report about $47 billion in sales and $5.53 of earnings at the mid-point of its current guidance range. That's a 9.7% compound annual earnings-per-share growth rate over the past decade.

Acquisitions helped Abbott deliver a nearly double-digit compound annual earnings growth rate over the past decade. In 2017, it bought both St. Jude Medical and Alere for $25 billion and $5.8 billion, respectively. These deals enhanced its operations and earnings (both were accretive in the first full year). The company also bought Exact Sciences earlier this year for $21 billion, a move that is boosting its 2026 results.

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Abbot's share price has followed its revenue and earnings higher. It's up 130% over the last 10 years (8.7% annualized total return). That doesn't include dividends. Add in Abbott's steadily rising dividend, and the total return with dividends reinvested is more than 175% (10.7% annualized). Abbott has increased its dividend for 54 consecutive years, qualifying it as a Dividend King (a company with 50 or more years of annual dividend increase).

The math to $210 (or more) by 2036I considered several scenarios when evaluating Abbott for my portfolio. I settled on a base case in which Abbott Labs grows its earnings at a 8% compound annual rate over the next decade. I chose that more conservative rate because acquisitions played a meaningful role in driving growth over the past 10 years. Under this conservative scenario, Abbott's earnings would grow to about $11.93 per share by 2036. Assuming a 17.5x valuation multiple (Abbott currently trades at about 18x forward earnings), that would put its share price at around $210.

That doesn't include Abbott's dividend, which currently yields 2.5%, more than double the S&P 500's level of around 1%. The company would likely continue to grow that payout at a mid-to-high single-digit annual rate (it hiked its dividend by 6.8% this year and has grown it by 70% since 2020).

Abbott fits perfectly with my current financial plan. I'm seeking more resilient, income-focused holdings to set me up for an early retirement if AI ever disrupts my job. Abbott checks every box. It provides durable, steadily rising dividend income backed by a diversified portfolio of healthcare technologies, including diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals, and branded generic medicines. It's the exact type of defensive holding I'm seeking to provide more ballast.

Further, Abbott provides a strong defense without giving up any offensive upside. With a 2.5% dividend yield and earnings growing conservatively at 8% annually, Abbott could generate double-digit annual returns over the next 10 years. That strong return doesn't require any large acquisitions to boost its results. Meanwhile, faster acquisition-driven growth would position Abbott to generate even higher returns. For example, a 9%+ earnings growth rate with a slightly higher valuation multiple would push the stock price toward $250 by 2036.

I also like that the downside risk is low. The company does have risks, including integrating Exact Sciences and managing the heavier debt load from that all-cash deal. However, even if growth slowed and its valuation multiple continued to fall, Abbott should still be worth more in a decade than it is today while also providing a steadily rising income stream.

Abbott's history says it has a bright futureAbbott has historically grown its earnings at a nearly 10% compound annual rate over the last decade. It doesn't need to grow that fast in the future to deliver a very favorable outcome for shareholders, as 8% annual earnings-per-share growth could double its share price by 2036, with its steadily rising, high-yielding dividend adding to the total return. That's exactly the lower-risk, higher-upside investment I'm seeking to make these days, which is why I just added Abbott to my portfolio. I expect to build this position into a meaningful part of my financial independence plan.

AST SpaceMobile (ASTS -10.48%) is a tough stock to value. The developer of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites has a market cap of $15.3 billion, which is 90.5 times its expected 2026 revenue. It had more than $3.7 billion in total liquidity at the end of June, but it doesn't generate any revenue from its commercial contracts.

So how should investors value AST SpaceMobile? AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird satellites provide broadband cellular connections for government and commercial customers. It's successfully launched 13 of those satellites so far.

Image source: Getty Images.

AST SpaceMobile currently generates all of its revenue from government and defense contracts, as well as prepayments from AT&T, Verizon, and other telecom companies, rather than from its commercial satellite operations.

But next year, AST plans to expand its constellation to 45 satellites, enabling it to provide continuous direct-to-cell broadband coverage for its telecom customers. It's already working with over 60 carriers to reach more than 3 billion wireless subscribers, and it plans to eventually expand its constellation to more than 248 satellites to convert its backlog -- which reached $1.3 billion in its latest quarter -- into actual revenue.

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If AST achieves those goals, analysts expect its revenue to surge more than tenfold from $169 million in 2026 to $1.73 billion in 2028. So, rather than valuing AST based on its near-term revenue, investors should value it for the future growth of its satellite constellation.

Leo Sun has positions in Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AST SpaceMobile. The Motley Fool recommends Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Famed growth investor Cathie Wood has been a longtime fan of Elon Musk and Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX +1.25%). She gained renown for spotlighting Tesla before it exploded into the trillion-dollar company it is today, and her firm, Ark Invest, sold private access to SpaceX before it went public.

For the first time since SpaceX went public in June, Wood cut her position by roughly 55,000 shares. What does that mean for retail investors?

Why Cathie Wood loves SpaceX Cathie Wood and her team have written many pages extolling SpaceX and its part in the "space economy," and they're bullish on the company's Starlink satellite broadband business. Starlink is the dominant industry player, and it's growing quickly. It's also the only SpaceX segment that's profitable.

Ark Invest's Cathie Wood. Image source: Getty Images.

The firm estimates that reusable rockets will create a $160 billion market opportunity, and it embraces the idea of putting data centers into space, which it says will be 25% less costly than on Earth. SpaceX's rocket-launching business is still unprofitable, but Ark envisions costs decreasing and revenue increasing over the next several years. SpaceX revenue increased 29% year over year in the second quarter.

In the second quarter, Starlink revenue increased 66% year over year, and operating income rose 79%. Subscriber count doubled to 12 million, and Starlink now has more than 11,000 satellites in space, about two-thirds of all satellites in space, and is powering broadband Internet across the world. It has signed deals with major airlines for in-flight web access, including American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic. It has contracts with the U.S. government for secure satellite services.

SpaceX's position in Ark Invest's ETFs Ark Invest has positions in SpaceX in four of Wood's exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and its venture fund:

Ark Disruptive Innovation ETF, 6.9% Ark Autonomous Tech & Robotics ETF, 9.1% Ark Next Generation Technology ETF, 4.4% Ark Space & Defense Innovation ETF, 11.8% Ark Venture Fund, 7.1%

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On Oct. 6, Ark Invest sold 54,873 shares of SpaceX stock from the Next Generation Technology ETF, or 0.4% of its position. That's a tiny amount of what the ETF owns, and it doesn't indicate any decline in its confidence in SpaceX.

In general, when Ark Invest sells a stock like this, it's doing some reshuffling. It might need to rebalance the portfolio in response to stock movements, or it might need some cash for another opportunity.

SpaceX is one of Ark Invest's largest positions, and it's unlikely the fund manager will sell much of the stock, but I'd still keep an eye out for further sales.

A larger or repeated sale would be a different signal, particularly if it came alongside any slowdown at Starlink, which is still carrying the company’s profitability while rocket launches and the AI business lose money.

Ideally, the instances are limited, but people do occasionally say things they don't mean. It's one of the flaws of being, well, human.

Perhaps it was a case of voicing something into the universe that wasn't meant when, at the White House earlier this year, ExxonMobil (XOM +0.26%) CEO Darren Woods labeled Venezuela "uninvestable." Not surprisingly, that remark invited a rebuke from President Donald Trump, who threatened to block ExxonMobil from participating in any potential opportunities in Venezuela if it didn't soften its stance.

ExxonMobil's plans in Venezuela are unlikely to mean much for the energy patch in the near term. Image source: Getty Images.

It appears cooler heads are prevailing. ExxonMobil, one of the largest energy companies by market cap, is reportedly in talks to invest in several oilfields in Venezuela nearly two decades after the oil giant departed the country amid then-President Hugo Chavez's nationalization of the petroleum industry. Still, the company's previous warning about Venezuela is on some investors' minds.

Why ExxonMobil's Venezuela stance matters to energy investors Due in part to the war in Iran and the lingering conflict in Ukraine, oil prices are elevated, helping energy rank 2026's best-performing sector. Said another way, constrained supply is fostering an environment in which oil prices and the related equities, including ExxonMobil, are soaring.

The other side of that coin is that if the oil market suddenly becomes awash in fresh supply, prices could slump. That'd be a relief to consumers, but it's not a desirable situation for energy investors. Don't bank on Venezuela imminently being a source of new supply to force oil prices lower while weighing on stocks such as ExxonMobil.

Daily output in the South American nation reached 1.2 million barrels in August, well ahead of the levels seen prior to U.S. forces capturing former President Nicolas Maduro, but that's barely more than a third of the all-time high of 3.5 million barrels per day seen in December 1997.

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Following years of Venezuela allowing energy infrastructure to languish, it will take years and sizable investments by Western oil majors before the country's production levels get anywhere close to their lost glory. In simple terms, Exxon and its peers could invest billions of dollars in Venezuela right now, and they still wouldn't be able to lift the country's output to the point where global oil prices materially slide in the near term.

Exxon doesn't need Venezuela As is the case in life, there's a difference between "need" and "want" for companies, and that's true of ExxonMobil in relation to Venezuela. Take the comparison of ExxonMobil and its most direct rival, Chevron (CVX +0.20%). Chevron remained operational in Venezuela for years after competitors left, but these two energy stocks are moving in lockstep this year.

Data by YCharts.

One takeaway from that scenario is that markets are willing to reward ExxonMobil on par with Chevron even without the former possessing a tangible "Venezuela premium." It doesn't need one to generate compelling long-term returns.

ExxonMobil's enviable perches in Guyana and the Permian Basin are the bedrocks of long-term production growth, and the company previously forecast $25 billion in annual earnings growth by 2030, excluding Venezuela. So think of Venezuela as a potential cherry atop the ExxonMobil sundae, not the sundae itself.

Over the last five years, as of this writing, Kraft Heinz's (KHC -0.93%) stock price has dropped 40%, with shares now trading under $22.

On the surface, that may sound like a rebound candidate, based on what Kraft Heinz sells. After all, its products, from Kraft Mac & Cheese to Maxwell House coffee, are staples for many homes. Even at less than $22 per share, however, there's a simple reason I still wouldn't buy Kraft Heinz stock.

Image source: Getty Images.

The investable budget Everyone only has so many investable dollars, and if you're investing in one company, that money isn't going into another. With Kraft Heinz, that creates an opportunity cost. As you invest in the owner of the Jell-O and Oscar Mayer brands, you may not be investing in a higher-growth company that offers more significant share price appreciation opportunities. That's because Kraft Heinz is updating its product line after falling behind in keeping up with changing consumer tastes. That disconnect with consumers is showing up in the revenue totals; in its 2026 second-quarter earnings report, Kraft Heinz reported organic net sales of $6.2 billion, a 1.3% decrease from the prior-year period.

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Granted, for income investors, the 7.2% dividend yield the company offers looks attractive, and while it does seem to be in a financial position to continue its payouts, over the years, continued large stock price declines can negate dividend payouts. Also, Kraft Heinz has a high debt load of $19 billion compared to total cash of $2.6 billion, which is always a risk factor for a dividend cut, as the money from those dividend payouts may be needed to pay down debt at some point. In 2019, Kraft Heinz cut its dividend payout by 36% to strengthen its balance sheet.

Given the opportunity cost, I'd pass on Kraft Heinz, as there are other, likely better, investments I'd rather make.

Jack Delaney has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Kraft Heinz. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Berkshire Hathaway just spent nearly $200 million buying into a homebuilder whose CEO admits conditions have deteriorated, margins are shrinking, and almost half of visitors can't qualify for a mortgage. What does Warren Buffett's successor see that the market clearly…

On Oct. 1 and 2, as mortgage rates rose toward a three-year high, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A | BRK-A Price Prediction)(NYSE:BRK-B) bought roughly 2.42 million more shares of Lennar (NYSE:LEN) for about $193 million, according to a Form 4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Berkshire now holds about 29 million Class A and Class B shares, a stake of roughly 12% worth about $2.2 billion.

Days later, Freddie Mac put the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 7.40%, its highest since November 2023 and the seventh straight weekly increase. Lennar closed Friday at $76.68, down 33.23% over the past year, after Barron’s flagged its worst drop since 2024. Short-seller Hunterbrook has also published a critical report on Lennar’s transactions with Millrose Properties (NYSE:MRP).

Berkshire hasn’t explained the purchase. My read: it is buying a homebuilder engineered to survive a long slump, at a price that already assumes one (we sorted Berkshire’s holdings by valuation and pulled the cheapest dividend payers into a free report).

America’s Biggest Builder Is Bleeding Margin Lennar’s third quarter was rough. Revenue fell 8.5% to $8.05 billion, and adjusted EPS of $1.23 missed the $1.30 consensus. Net income dropped 51.96%. Gross margin on home sales slipped to 15.8% from 17.5% a year earlier, even with incentives near 12% of price. Management cut full-year deliveries to 80,000 to 81,000 homes.

Stuart Miller, Lennar’s chief executive, said conditions had “deteriorated since our last earnings call.” The buyer’s math explains why. The 10-year Treasury yield hit 5.22% this week, and consumer sentiment came in at 51.7. In many Lennar markets, “almost 50% of our visitors cannot immediately qualify.”

Why Lennar Owns Almost None of Its Land Land is what bankrupted builders in 2008. They bought lots at peak prices, then wrote them down when demand collapsed. Lennar owns roughly 2% of its homesites and controls about 476,000 through third parties, mainly land bankers such as Millrose. Homebuilding debt is just 16.6% of total capital.

That turns Lennar into something closer to a manufacturer. Build time fell to a record 116 days, and construction costs are down 14% since late 2023. Miller says the entire margin gap comes from land contracted under older, costlier assumptions. Accepting thin margins, he argued, “we are buying volume” and “buying time,” working through a land challenge that is “finite” and “visible.”

The weak spot is the same structure. Land-light still costs money: option fees are rising as land-bank holding periods stretch, and deposits and pre-acquisition costs have reached $7.3 billion. That is exactly where Hunterbrook aimed its criticism.

Signals That Will Test Berkshire’s Conviction Lennar guided fourth-quarter gross margin to 15.5% to 16.0%, with 19,500 to 20,500 new orders. That outlook assumed mortgage rates near 6.8%. Rates are now well above that.

Keep an eye on three numbers in the next earnings report. If orders land inside guidance with rates above 7%, the volume machine is doing its job. If margin slips below 15.5%, it means rates are hitting faster than Lennar can work off old land. And if deposits keep rising while land-bank purchases are paused, the off-balance-sheet risk is getting bigger instead of contracting.

Berkshire’s money tells you a patient investor likes the design. It does not tell you the housing market has hit bottom. For the families who can’t qualify today, the trigger is the same one Lennar needs: lower rates.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Conventional computers process information using bits, often represented as lines of binary code (0 or 1). Quantum computers use qubits to perform certain calculations in fundamentally different ways. Through a property known as superposition, qubits can exist in multiple states at the same time.

Quantum computing technology is promising to transform drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, cybersecurity, and more. Given its various use cases, McKinsey estimates the quantum computing market could reach between $43 billion and $71 billion by 2035.

That opportunity has attracted enormous attention to pure-play quantum developers such as Rigetti Computing (RGTI -0.78%). Smart investors understand the difference between a revolutionary technology and buying a stock at an attractive valuation.

As of this writing (Oct. 8), Rigetti commands a market capitalization of roughly $4.7 billion despite generating relatively little revenue and no profits. Let's consider what Rigetti could look like in five years to assess if now is a good opportunity to buy the stock.

Image source: Getty Images.

Rigetti has promising technology, but lots of competition Rigetti specializes in superconducting quantum computers, an approach also being explored by technology giants such as Alphabet and IBM. This strategy centers on building quantum processors with modular chiplets, enabling multiple components to work together as systems scale.

Rigetti also operates its own fabrication facility and provides access to quantum computing through cloud-based services. This vertical integration gives the company considerable control over its technology stack.

Rigetti has also garnered the attention of major artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure suppliers such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise, with which it is developing hybrid quantum-classical computing workflows. While these developments are encouraging, Rigetti faces stiff competition from IonQ, D-Wave Quantum, IBM, Google, and other quantum developers pursuing different technological approaches. Given the nascent state of quantum computing, no one knows which architecture will ultimately dominate.

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Rigetti's financials reveal a glaring problem Rigetti generated just $5.1 million in revenue during the second quarter while reporting an operating loss of $28.1 million. The company's net loss reached $52.6 million, although most of it was attributable to noncash accounting adjustments.

The company finished June with approximately $541 million in cash and investments and no debt besides some minor operating leases. That's reassuring, given that quantum computing requires substantial spending on research and development (R&D) and engineering.

Nevertheless, the company trades at a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 394. That's an unsustainable valuation for any business, let alone one without consistent profitability.

That leads me to my next concern: liquidity. Rigetti has been issuing stock over the past year to help fund the operation. If the company's outstanding share count continues to balloon to fund research, existing investors will own progressively smaller percentages of the business. This means the technology could succeed without shareholders necessarily enjoying equally spectacular returns.

RGTI Shares Outstanding (Quarterly) data by YCharts

Where could Rigetti stock be in 2031? Let's consider two scenarios. Suppose Rigetti generates $500 million in annual revenue by 2031 and commands a more mature valuation of 10 times sales. That produces a $5 billion market capitalization. In other words, Rigetti could increase annual revenue by nearly 7x compared to its trailing-12-month sales and still trade around today's valuation.

Now, imagine quantum computing becomes a major commercial opportunity by the next decade, and Rigetti evolves into a key supplier. If the company reaches $1 billion in revenue and still trades at 10 times sales, the company's market capitalization would reach $10 billion. This implies roughly 113% upside from today's level. With shares currently trading around $14, that bullish scenario implies a future stock price around $30.

While the math shows Rigetti's stock could double, both scenarios require exceptional execution and broader adoption of quantum computing within a relatively tight time frame. This is precisely why I wouldn't chase Rigetti simply because quantum computing sounds like an exciting opportunity.

This analysis is meant to show how Rigetti's valuation already prices in significant commercial success. For investors willing to tolerate volatility and uncertainty, Rigetti stock could be a speculative hold rather than a compelling long-term buy at today's price. For investors seeking broader exposure to artificial intelligence (AI) and who want to participate in the potential upside of quantum computing, blue chip stocks like Alphabet or IBM are a better bet.

A decade ago, shares of Adobe (ADBE +0.51%) closed at about $109. Today, they trade near $243 as I write. That's a rise of about 123%, enough to turn a $10,000 investment into about $22,300.

It seems OK until you compare it to the market. In the same period, $10,000 in an S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.59%) index fund (with dividends reinvested) rose to around $42,100, a gain of about 321%.

And because Adobe doesn't pay a dividend, its stock price is the full return.

In other words, the creative software company has returned less than half as much as the broad market over the last decade. But its business kept growing all along. I think the gap boils down to how much investors were paying for Adobe's profits -- not the profits themselves.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

The lag is all from the past five yearsIn the first half of the decade, Adobe was one of the market's big winners. The stock closed at a record $688.37 in November 2021, more than six times its October 2016 price.

An S&P 500 index fund climbed around 138% over the same stretch.

Since then, the two have switched places. The index fund is up about 77% from that November 2021 close, but Adobe stock is about 65% off its peak.

Shares have dropped about 31% in 2026 alone, from roughly $350 when last year ended.

Much of this year's slide came as investors worried that artificial intelligence (AI) might disrupt software companies. AI agents could take over some of the work businesses pay for one seat at a time, and Adobe sells many of its subscriptions that way. By mid-January, Adobe was already among the S&P 500's worst performers of 2026 as software stocks sold off on these fears.

Earnings kept risingShowing how much Adobe grew under the surface, the company made $3.01 a share on a non-GAAP (adjusted) basis in fiscal 2016. Five years later, that number was $12.48, and revenue had almost tripled, from $5.85 billion to $15.79 billion. For this fiscal year, management's target calls for adjusted earnings per share between $24.45 and $24.50, on around $26.6 billion in revenue. That's about eight times the fiscal 2016 level.

True, growth has slowed. Adjusted earnings per share compounded at around 33% a year from fiscal 2016 to fiscal 2021, versus about 14% a year since then if Adobe reaches this year's target.

Part of the fall in the stock's valuation was arguably deserved. But the slowdown hasn't become a decline. Revenue has grown 12% to 13% year over year in all three quarters Adobe has reported this fiscal year.

And in the fiscal third quarter of 2026 (the period ended Aug. 28, 2026), Adobe's adjusted earnings per share rose 15% over the year-ago quarter, to $6.13. Annualized recurring revenue from its AI-first products grew more than 150%.

The valuation is where the decade went. In October 2016, investors paid around 36 times Adobe's fiscal 2016 adjusted earnings per share. At the November 2021 high, the stock cost about 55 times its fiscal 2021 adjusted earnings.

Today's price is around 10 times this year's adjusted earnings target.

In other words, earnings per share are on track to grow about eightfold, while the price of each dollar of those earnings has fallen by about 73%. Together, these two numbers explain the stock's 123% gain.

What does 10 times earnings ask of Adobe?I'd say a valuation of around 10 times adjusted earnings asks very little of Adobe. It's the sort of price the market tends to put on a business it expects to stall or shrink.

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Adobe's earnings per share are still growing at a double-digit rate. If its valuation multiple just stays around 10 times adjusted earnings, shares may climb about as fast as earnings per share from here.

Sure, the risk is that AI one day does to Adobe's growth what the market fears. Management's own target already calls for total annualized recurring revenue to climb 10.2% this year, a little slower than revenue. If that rate keeps falling toward the low single digits, today's price-to-earnings ratio might turn out to be fair.

In the end, I think the past decade says more about the price investors paid in 2021 than about the business. Back then, Adobe stock cost over 50 times adjusted earnings and needed almost everything to go right. Today it needs much less.

I'd consider buying Adobe stock today. But with AI's long-term impact on Adobe's customers still unknown, I'd start with a small position.

SummaryT-Mobile is rated BUY with Moderate–High Confidence, offering 30–40% upside to a $220 YE2028 fair value.TMUS trades at ~9.7x 2026E adj. FCF, with a 2.8% dividend yield and robust share buybacks supporting per-share value creation.Growth is moderating, but TMUS remains the industry leader in cash flow growth, leveraging network advantages and efficiency initiatives.Key risks include intensifying competition, rising churn, and the need for disciplined capital allocation amid elevated debt levels. Getty Images

Summary BUY | Confidence: Moderate to High (75%)

T-Mobile (TMUS) closed trading at $167.65 per share (+1.04% on the day) as of market close today, October 7, 2026.

While TMUS no longer screens as cheap versus peers (nor

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

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

As electricity demand rises and energy security becomes more important, the Department of Energy is creating a pathway for advanced small modular reactors, microreactors, and the specialized fuel they need. As nuclear energy stages a comeback, investors have an excellent opportunity to invest in the growing nuclear industry.

BWX Technologies (BWXT +1.13%) doesn't need to wait for the next generation of reactors to succeed. The company has spent decades manufacturing critical nuclear components and nuclear fuel for the U.S. Navy. Its latest $189 million contract reminds us that BWXT can win by doing what it has long done best. 

Image source: Getty Images.

BWX Technologies has been working on compact nuclear reactors for decades Nuclear energy is enjoying a comeback, and small modular reactor (SMR) developers have been a top focus for investors. That's because SMRs could change how nuclear energy is deployed and provide off-grid power for data centers and industrial operators.

Companies like Oklo, NuScale, and X-Energy are actively working with regulators to create a pathway for these next-generation nuclear technologies. While SMRs could change nuclear energy, the technology won't be widely available commercially until the 2030s.

The concept of small, modular nuclear power is rooted in the Navy, where space constraints and durability requirements demanded compact reactor cores. U.S. Navy submarines, including Virginia-class attack vessels and Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, rely on these specialized naval reactors to operate for decades without refueling. BWX Technologies has spent decades manufacturing these compact reactor components for the U.S. military.

BWXT is the only company that manufactures fuel for the U.S. Navy BWXT holds a unique position as the only company licensed to manufacture both naval nuclear reactor components and specialized fuel for the entire U.S. Navy fleet of submarines and aircraft carriers.

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Unlike commercial SMRs, which utilize low-enriched uranium (LEU) or high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), the naval program uses weapons-grade, highly enriched uranium containing roughly 93% uranium-235.

Because of the sensitive nature of this nuclear fuel, regulatory oversight is stringent, and a special security clearance is required. Through its Nuclear Fuel Services subsidiary in Erwin, Tennessee, BWXT processes this fuel and fabricates reactor cores, giving the company an unrivaled industrial base.

BWXT's recent contract win builds on its strong backlog On Oct. 1, the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program awarded BWXT a contract worth about $189 million for Nuclear Fuel Services to manufacture and deliver naval reactor fuel through August 2027. This fuel directly supports propulsion systems aboard active and next-generation vessels, including Virginia-class attack submarines, incoming Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines, and Gerald R. Ford-class supercarriers.

BWX Technologies is in an enviable position as the only nuclear component and fuel supplier for the U.S. Navy and has been working on compact reactors for decades. Its massive defense backlog helps insulate it from economic downturns and provides revenue visibility for years to come.

For investors looking for exposure to the growing nuclear industry, BWX Technologies is a more compelling option than speculative SMR start-ups right now.

Synopsys Today

$509.99 +12.24 (+2.46%)

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Electronic design automation (EDA) company Synopsys NASDAQ: SNPS has recently experienced a resurgence in investor sentiment. Through mid-September, Synopsys shares were down more than 20% year-to-date (YTD). Since hitting its September low, the stock has surged more than 30%, putting shares in the green for the year.

Several key developments have aided the stock’s recovery, including an over $1 billion deal with Amazon NASDAQ: AMZN and a development deal with OpenAI. These events signal a potential inflection point in the stock’s trajectory, as Synopsys has so far been a chronic underperformer during the AI investment wave.

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Understanding Synopsys’ UnderperformanceSynopsys’ poor 2026 performance has been a microcosm of its longer-term underperformance during the AI investment era. From the beginning of 2023 through its September low, Synopsys shares returned just 15%. The stock’s recent surge lifts this figure to approximately 56%, but this is still far from impressive. Over the same period, the S&P 500’s return is approximately 110%, and the S&P 500 tech sector has returned around 225%.

Synopsys, Inc. (SNPS) Price Chart for Saturday, October, 10, 2026

Synopsys’ underperformance has been due to several factors. This includes weakness at Intel’s NASDAQ: INTC Foundry business, which has faced delays and has struggled to secure large contracts for its most advanced nodes. This hurts Synopsys’ intellectual property (IP) business because it invested significantly in developing these chips, but it only receives payment once customers commit to Intel’s technology.

There has also been a fear among some investors that AI tools could supplant current EDA tools, hurting demand longer-term. Luckily for Synopsys, the firm’s latest developments push back on these risks.

Synopsys Unlocks New IP Demand With AmazonSynopsys has signed an over $1 billion deal with Amazon, primarily based around its IP business. The deal includes a $1 billion license fee that allows Amazon to use Synopsys’ IP across multiple generations of its Graviton, Trainium, and Nitro chips. On top of this, Synopsys will receive a customization fee and royalties, which are part of its new application optimized IP (AoIP) business model. Synopsys’ traditional standards-based IP model only includes licensing and nonrecurring engineering fees.

With the AoIP model, Synopsys’ goal is that royalties, where it receives payment for each chip produced, will exceed license fees long-term. This provides much more upside to each AoIP agreement. The Amazon deal also helps mitigate the weakness at Intel’s Foundry because Amazon is already deploying its custom chips at scale, providing more certainty around royalty revenue. However, this applies to future generation chips, meaning royalties will not kick in for over a year from now.

By fiscal year 2030 (FY2030), Synopsys expects to generate $1 billion in AoIP revenue. Importantly, it bases this forecast only on current contracts and commitments, implying room for long-term upside potential. This deal demonstrates the importance of Synopsys’ IP for businesses pursuing long-term custom chip roadmaps. Additionally, the new AoIP model shows the company is exerting pricing power through customization and royalties, a strong positive signal.

OpenAI and Synopsys Partner to Accelerate Chip DevelopmentThe company’s deal with OpenAI also has significant implications. Together, the two firms will develop GPT-Synopsys, “a specialized model for chip design that brings together OpenAI's frontier AI with Synopsys' trusted EDA tools and chip design expertise.” Essentially, the companies will train a model that can operate Synopsys’ EDA tools, thereby accelerating the chip development process.

This is important because chip design involves running many experiments and then iterating until engineers find the best design. This creates a bottleneck where humans can only run so many experiments at once. By allowing engineers to autonomously explore a much greater range of designs, OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman argues that companies can shave weeks or months off the design process.

Synopsys argues that this will expand its total addressable market because AI will use more of its EDA tools. This could also accelerate its IP business, as companies can bring newer chips into production faster. The deal also directly pushes back on the idea that AI models will displace EDA tools, as OpenAI itself clearly sees a need to leverage Synopsys’ expertise.

Synopsys Raises Outlook After Finding New Growth VectorsAmid these developments, Synopsys significantly raised its long-term guidance. Through FY2030, it now expects revenue to increase by a mid-teens compound annual growth rate, up from "double digits" before. The firm also targets an adjusted operating margin of 50% by FY2030, a significant improvement from its prior mid-40% expectation. This implies a large expansion over the coming years, with Synopsys guiding for a 41.5% adjusted operating margin in fiscal year 2026.

Synopsys’ deal with Amazon and its partnership with OpenAI represent two new ways the firm can benefit from AI development. Looking into 2027, it will be important to monitor whether Synopsys sees an uptick in its EDA growth through the OpenAI deal, and if the company can secure more large AoIP customers outside of Amazon. Should the company continue to gain momentum in these areas, it could provide considerable tailwinds for its financials and share price.

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

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

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Despite some gains over the last few months, PayPal (PYPL +0.93%) stock has been a huge underperformer over the last five years. The company's share price has fallen roughly 79% over the stretch. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite indexes have risen 79% and 90%, respectively.

On the other hand, PayPal has continued to generate substantial profits -- and it's making a big push to return cash to shareholders. With the company now paying a dividend and moving forward with a large share repurchasing plan, where will PayPal stock be in five years?

Image source: Getty Images.

What's PayPal doing with dividends and buybacks? Last October, PayPal announced that it would begin paying a dividend. The company started its quarterly dividend at $0.14 per share and has maintained it at that level, with management stating it targets a long-term payout ratio of roughly 10%. In other words, the company plans to return roughly 10% of its non-GAAP (adjusted) net income to shareholders as cash payouts.

Whether that means the company will be paying a variable dividend tied to that level -- which could result in lower distributions if earnings slip -- remains to be seen. However, there's a good chance that management will maintain the current dividend in the near term, and it plans to deliver steady payout increases in conjunction with earnings growth. PayPal's dividend currently yields roughly 1.1%.

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While dividends are now a priority for PayPal, returning cash to shareholders through stock buybacks is a much bigger part of the company's capital return policy. Management has said it expects to return between 70% and 80% of free cash flow (FCF) to shareholders, with the vast majority going toward stock buybacks. Companies typically retire shares when they buy back their own stock, thereby boosting earnings per share and supporting the stock price.

With PayPal making efforts to reenergize growth, continuing with efficiency initiatives to improve profitability, and returning cash to shareholders, the beaten-down stock could wind up seeing strong rebound momentum over the next five years. On the other hand, there's another potential catalyst that could send the stock higher.

PayPal might not be a stand-alone company five years from now Over the last year, reports have swirled suggesting that PayPal could be an acquisition target. With the company trading at just 10 times this year's expected earnings, the fintech player looks cheaply valued and could attract real interest from multiple prospective buyers.

While the company has been facing some substantial competitive pressures, PayPal still has strong foundations and resources in the fintech space that could create strong synergies if folded into another fintech business or a technology company with a substantial focus on the consumer market. With that in mind, I think there's a very good chance that PayPal will be acquired within the next five years.

Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends PayPal. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: short December 2026 $62.50 calls on PayPal. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Through decades of investing, Warren Buffett has made more than a few interesting investments. Some stocks Buffett bought in the 1980s remain in Berkshire Hathaway's large stock portfolio today, even though Buffett has now officially left the company.

Even Buffett will admit that he's made mistakes, despite his incredible track record. Wells Fargo (WFC +1.85%) is an interesting case study in Buffett's investments.

Buffett began buying the large bank stock in 1989. But after an extraordinary scandal at the bank, Berkshire eventually exited the position in 2022. Here's what bank investors can learn from this.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

It was initially a love affair At their core, Buffett and Berkshire are value investors who seek to purchase stocks trading below their intrinsic value. In a 1990 letter to shareholders, Buffett wrote, "Lethargy bordering on sloth remains the cornerstone of our investment style."

In the same letter, Buffett also noted that the company had increased its stake in Wells Fargo to just below 10% that year. The savings and loan crisis had just begun a few years prior, making investors incredibly bearish on the banking sector, an environment that Buffett and his team thrived in and took advantage of:

As one huge loss after another was unveiled -- often on the heels of managerial assurances that all was well -- investors understandably concluded that no bank's numbers were to be trusted... Wells Fargo is big -- it has $56 billion in assets -- and has been earning more than 20% on equity and 1.25% on assets. Our purchase of one-tenth of the bank may be thought of as roughly equivalent to our buying 100% of a $5 billion bank with identical financial characteristics. But were we to make such a purchase, we would have to pay about twice the $290 million we paid for Wells Fargo.

Wells Fargo would remain a core part of Berkshire's portfolio for nearly three decades. However, in 2016, media outlets began reporting on a major scandal at the bank, in which employees had opened roughly 2 million deposit and credit card accounts without customers' consent. The scandal blew up, putting Wells Fargo in the reputational and regulatory hot seat.

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In the years after the scandal, the bank would go on to fire many employees and replace top executives and board members. Wells Fargo would also pay billions in fines, undertake a lengthy overhaul of its regulatory infrastructure, and be subject to an asset cap for seven years.

The cap prevented the bank from expanding its balance sheet, a key way banks make money. Buffett began to openly criticize Wells Fargo in 2017, trimming his position.

By 2020, the Oracle of Omaha was calling it a "total disaster," and by 2022, Berkshire had exited the stock. Some reports suggest that Buffett became frustrated with Wells Fargo's board when they ignored his advice and hired banking veteran Charlie Scharf to run the bank.

Several lessons to learn from Buffett's experience with Wells Fargo The interesting thing about Wells Fargo after Buffett exited the stock is that Scharf did a good job of turning the bank around and correcting its regulatory deficiencies.

WFC data by YCharts

In fairness to Buffett, the bank may have gotten some help from the Trump administration, which quickly ended many of the remaining consent orders and the bank's asset cap in 2025. It would have happened eventually, but likely not as quickly.

Scharf also made many operational changes at the bank, and Buffett may not have shared in his long-term vision. Wells Fargo's returns also lagged behind its peers for some time as it dealt with regulatory issues.

The first lesson for bank investors is that reputation is immensely important in the sector. Businesses and consumers are less likely to do business with a bank when it suffers reputational damage.

Another lesson is where Buffett may have missed the mark. Even though the stock certainly struggled during periods when it was dealing with regulatory issues, when Scharf came aboard, he frequently spoke about opportunities to make the bank more efficient and to scale capital-light businesses.

Scharf laid out a turnaround plan and executed it. Having followed the bank during this time, I thought he made a clear, compelling case for the stock and ultimately proved that he was the right man for the job.

Buffett's typical investing style is to buy stocks when they are out of style, as long as the thesis makes sense, so I was confused why he was so keen to exit at the time.

I can certainly understand Buffett's frustration. He had held Wells Fargo for years amid the regulatory mess, and it was impossible to tell when the asset cap and other consent orders would be lifted, so he may have felt he couldn't see what the long-term future would look like.

But the other lesson is one Buffett frequently preached throughout his career: Find beaten-down stocks and see if there is a viable long-term turnaround plan. This is one of the most challenging parts of investing, but it can also be the most rewarding.

SummaryCredo Technology is rated a cautious Buy with a FY2029 target of $274, implying 26% upside.CRDO's core AI connectivity business is delivering triple-digit revenue growth, with Q1 FY2027 revenue up 115% year-over-year.OmniConnect, CRDO's new memory-connectivity platform, presents significant optional upside but is not yet included in valuation due to limited deployment visibility.Stock-based compensation remains high at 18% of revenue, warranting close monitoring alongside optical revenue targets and OmniConnect adoption. sankai/E+ via Getty Images

At $216.83, Credo Technology (CRDO) trades at 34.4x FY2027 earnings, but only 22.4x FY2028 and 17.4x FY2029. This is happening because Credo is growing very fast. Revenue is expected to grow 87% in FY2027 and 55% in FY2028. The

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

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

OUTFRONT Media Inc. (NYSE:OUT – Get Free Report)’s stock price crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.35 and traded as high as $30.16. OUTFRONT Media shares last traded at $30.0090, with a volume of 1,084,310 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of OUTFRONT Media from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of OUTFRONT Media from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on OUT

OUTFRONT Media Stock Performance The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.59 and a beta of 1.53. OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.30. OUTFRONT Media had a return on equity of 37.44% and a net margin of 12.66%. The company had revenue of $522.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $509.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that OUTFRONT Media Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

OUTFRONT Media Increases Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. This is a boost from OUTFRONT Media’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. OUTFRONT Media’s payout ratio is presently 94.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at OUTFRONT Media In other OUTFRONT Media news, EVP Matthew Siegel sold 25,000 shares of OUTFRONT Media stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.84, for a total value of $696,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 264,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,375,512. The trade was a 8.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Mark Emilio Bonanni sold 3,385 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.82, for a total transaction of $100,940.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 10,420 shares in the company, valued at $310,724.40. This trade represents a 24.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its stake in OUTFRONT Media by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 22,314,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $537,779,000 after acquiring an additional 486,192 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in OUTFRONT Media by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,211,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,603,000 after purchasing an additional 133,960 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in OUTFRONT Media during the 2nd quarter valued at $56,839,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in OUTFRONT Media by 13.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 872,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,120,000 after buying an additional 105,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of OUTFRONT Media in the second quarter valued at $18,702,000.

About OUTFRONT Media (Get Free Report)

OUTFRONT Media Inc is an out-of-home advertising company that provides brands and agencies with advertising space across physical and digital displays. Its offerings include traditional and digital billboards, urban panels, street furniture, transit advertising, and other display formats designed to reach consumers in public spaces.

The company’s advertising inventory is used across major metropolitan areas and transportation systems in the United States. OUTFRONT combines its media assets with audience measurement, data and analytics, creative services, and digital advertising capabilities to help advertisers plan, deliver, and evaluate campaigns.

OUTFRONT Media was formed from the former CBS Outdoor Americas business and adopted its current name in 2014 following its separation from CBS Corporation.

Recommended Stories Five stocks we like better than OUTFRONT Media Alphabet Introduces Gemini Agent—Can It Trigger a Breakout? Palantir’s Rally Puts Wall Street in Catch-Up Mode Ahead of November Earnings Tilray Finds a Path to Growth Without Waiting on U.S. Cannabis Reform Arista Networks Plugs Into All-Time Highs Receive News & Ratings for OUTFRONT Media Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for OUTFRONT Media and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.

SpaceX (SPCX +1.25%) finally got Starship to orbit. On Sept. 28, on its 14th test flight, the huge rocket's upper stage reached orbit for the first time and deployed 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites.

Yet the growth stock closed around 2% lower that day.

I don't think the market missed anything. Reaching orbit showed Starship can deliver satellites. But both halves of the rocket ended the flight in the ocean, and the economics SpaceX has promised rest on getting them back and flying them again. That test is still ahead, and it's the one more likely to change SpaceX's numbers.

Image source: Getty Images.

Both stages ended in the oceanThe Super Heavy booster splashed down in the Gulf, where its flight termination system was triggered as a planned safety demonstration. The ship splashed down in the northern Pacific after controllers shortened its time in orbit because one of its engines had shut down early.

But a rocket used up on every launch isn't the vehicle SpaceX has been describing to investors.

Bret Johnsen, SpaceX's chief financial officer, said in August that Starship aims to quadruple payload capacity and cut launch costs tenfold compared to Falcon 9. The company's initial public offering (IPO) prospectus is just as clear about how. It says having reusable first and second stages is "critical to reducing launch costs and increasing launch cadence."

The booster half is partly proven: SpaceX has caught Super Heavy boosters with its launch tower on three past test flights and reflown two of them. It's never caught a ship.

Starlink pays for the launchesI'd say cheaper launches could help Starlink more than the launch business. Notably, SpaceX books no revenue from launching its own satellites. Instead, these launch costs are added to the satellites' cost on the balance sheet and then expensed as depreciation in the connectivity segment.

And this expense keeps rising. In the second quarter of 2026, connectivity depreciation and amortization was $805 million, up 41% year over year and above the first quarter's $783 million. Still, the segment's operating income rose 79% year over year to $1.7 billion, faster than its 66% revenue growth, so its margins are widening. Every satellite launched on a reused rocket could carry a lower cost onto the books -- plus less depreciation against this profit for years to come.

How many flights does Starlink need?Each V3 satellite is designed for 1 terabit per second of downlink capacity, about a tenfold increase over a V2 satellite. SpaceX expects one Starship to eventually carry up to 60 of them, according to its IPO prospectus, so Flight 14's 26 satellites were under half a full load.

Musk has said V3 satellites won't noticeably improve service until the network has roughly 1,000 of them, which he expects around the second quarter of 2027. At 26 per flight, that's about 37 more Starship launches. Even at 60 per flight, it's at least 17. The program has made 14 flights in its entire history.

Building a new ship and booster for each of these flights might get really costly, so reuse is arguably what makes that many launches doable on that schedule.

And capacity matters because of how Starlink is growing. Subscribers doubled year over year to 12.0 million by the end of June, while average revenue per user dropped from $85 a month to $66. Put simply, Starlink is gaining customers that pay less on average, and more customers need more capacity.

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The first reflight could be months awayOn Aug. 20, Musk wrote on X that a ship catch would likely happen in a few months, with the first ship reflight late this year or early next. Flight 15 might include the first catch attempt.

Then again, Musk's dates slip. On the Aug. 4 earnings call, he said SpaceX would try to catch the ship on Flight 14.

At around $168 as I write, SpaceX has a market value over $2.2 trillion -- a valuation of more than 70 times sales, using annualized second-quarter revenue. A price like that already assumes Starship becomes the cheap, reusable rocket SpaceX describes.

Reaching orbit didn't prove that. A catch and a reflight would go a long way toward it. Until a Starship upper stage flies again, I think investors are paying for a cost advantage SpaceX hasn't shown yet.