Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Over the quarter, the BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust increased its exposure to pharmaceuticals and biotechnology firms. Within the pharmaceuticals subsector, the Trust initiated positions in GSK and Vertex Pharmaceuticals, due to positive fundamentals and progress in a rare disease program, respectively. Elsewhere, the Trust reduced its exposure to medical devices & supplies companies, which included locking in profits.

McDonald's demonstrates resilience amid macro headwinds, outperforming chain restaurant peers despite a ~15% YTD decline from its peak. I reiterate my buy rating as MCD offers compelling value at 21.9x FY26 P/E and 20.0x FY27 P/E, now at the lower end of peer valuations. Dividend strength is evident, with a 2.6% yield and a decade of consistent growth, positioning MCD as a viable alternative to cash.

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SummaryMcDonald’s (MCD) earns a soft buy rating after a sustained sell-off and successful pivot back to value-focused offerings. MCD’s valuation remains rich, with a TTM GAAP PE of 23.39 and levered FCF growth of 20% required to justify current prices. Recent value initiatives, including $5 dinner meals and under $3 menu items, have reignited sales growth despite economic headwinds. While not cheap, MCD’s strong brand and franchise model position it to navigate both lower- and higher-income consumer shifts. tupungato/iStock Editorial via Getty Images

McDonald’s (MCD) is among those companies I like to keep an eye on simply to have a feel for the economy. In recent years, McDonald’s decision to raise prices, eventually resulting in stalled and shrinking sales, provided

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, but may initiate a beneficial Short position through short-selling of the stock, or purchase of put options or similar derivatives in MCD over 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.

On June 22, 2026, McDonald's Corp (MCD) shares fell 3.0% to $270.10, continuing a downward trend that has seen the stock drop 10.5% year-to-date. Over the last

BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Syngenta Group China today announced plans to partner with McDonald’s China and McCain China in building a more resilient and sustainable potato supply chain in China, so consumers can enjoy fries of the highest quality.

The three parties today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to transform local potato farming, supply and processing through scaling sustainable practices and smart technologies, at the 4th China International Supply Chain Expo.

Within the pilot framework, Syngenta Group China will explore a science-based potato planting approach that addresses soil health, customized crop stewardship, precision fertigation, integrated pest management, intelligent field monitoring and sustainable agricultural practices. The initiative draws on the company’s full suite of agronomic inputs, digital farming solutions, and its nationwide network of MAP (Modern Agriculture Platform) technical service centers.

“Agriculture today faces mounting pressure from yield and resource constraints, requiring a shift from volume expansion to resilience building,” said SU Fu, President of Syngenta Group China. “Syngenta aims to bring innovative technologies and modern farming services to potato farmers, safeguarding their incomes and reinforcing the entire value chain. It's an example of our commitment to bring breakthroughs for farmers in every field, to deliver higher yields with lower impact.”

“McDonald’s dedication to consistent taste and quality begins with potato cultivation right from the farm,” said Jim SHI, Chief Supply Chain Officer of McDonald’s China. “By leveraging Syngenta’s input expertise and sustainable solutions, we strive to bring premium fries to Chinese consumers sustainably and reliably.”

“McCain and McDonald’s have long partnered in China based on our shared value of quality and long-termism,” said LIU Linlin, Managing Director of McCain China. “This tripartite MOU marks our collective pledge to further advance the high-quality development for China’s potato sector -- sustainable agricultural technologies, shared gains for farmers and partners, plus digital traceability and quality insurance for fries.”

About Syngenta Group

Syngenta Group is one of the world’s biggest agricultural innovation companies, employing over 50,000 people in more than 90 countries. Syngenta Group is focused on developing technologies and farming practices that empower farmers, so they can make the transformation required to feed the world’s population while preserving our planet. Syngenta Group’s bold scientific discoveries deliver better benefits for farmers and society on a bigger scale than ever before. Guided by its Sustainability Goal, Syngenta Group supports farmers to grow healthier plants in healthier soil with a higher yield.

Syngenta Group, which is registered in Shanghai, China, and has its management headquarters in Switzerland, draws strength from its four business units: Syngenta Crop Protection, headquartered in Switzerland; Syngenta Seeds, headquartered in the United States; ADAMA®, headquartered in Israel; and Syngenta Group China.

For Syngenta Group photos and videos, please visit the Syngenta Group Media Library.

To find out more about how our innovation is empowering farmers around the world, read our stories and follow-us on social media.

Data protection is important to us. You are receiving this publication on the legal basis of Article 6 para 1 lit. f GDPR (“legitimate interest”). However, if you do not wish to receive further information about Syngenta Group, just send us a brief informal message and we will no longer process your details for this purpose. You can also find further details in our privacy statement.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as “expect,” “would,” “will,” “potential,” “plans,” “prospects,” “estimated,” “aiming,” “on track” and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. For Syngenta Group, such risks and uncertainties include, amongst others, risks relating to legal proceedings, regulatory approvals, new product development, increasing competition, customer credit risk, general economic and market conditions, refinancing risk, interest rate fluctuations and access to capital markets, compliance and remediation, evolving environmental and sustainability regulations, changes in agricultural policies or subsidy regimes, intellectual property rights, implementation of organizational changes, impairment of intangible assets, consumer perceptions of genetically modified crops and organisms or crop protection chemicals, climatic variations, fluctuations in exchange rates and/or grain prices, supply chain disruptions, (geo)political risks, trade restrictions, sanctions, and export controls, natural disasters, and breaches of data security or other disruptions of information technology. Syngenta Group assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors.

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Starbucks (SBUX +1.80%) may be on the verge of a major expansion, one that investors should note.

The global coffee giant currently operates more than 40,000 stores in 88 markets on six different continents (it has yet to establish an outpost in Antarctica).

More than 22,000 of those stores are outside the U.S. and Canada, a number that could increase substantially in the coming years, according to the company's CEO.

At the Evercore Consumer and Retail Conference in New York this week, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said the company can grow aggressively outside the U.S., claiming it could double its store count in other countries. He said that in China alone, the company will go from 8,000 stores today to 20,000 stores "in short order."

Niccol also said Starbucks is looking to open an additional 10,000 stores in the U.S., particularly in underpenetrated areas in the middle of the country, as today the company has a coastal bias.

Image source: Getty Images.

The company began as a single store in Seattle in 1971, selling whole bean coffee, tea, and spices.

The turnaround seems to be working Starbucks' share price is up 20% so far in 2026, after several difficult years when it moved sideways to slightly down, due to flagging sales and a loss of customers who were tired of the coffee chain's long waits and inconsistent product quality, among other problems.

Niccol, a former CEO at Chipotle, was hired in 2024 to turn the business around, and he seems to be having some success this year.

Among other changes in his "Back to Starbucks" strategy, Niccol cut almost 2,000 corporate workers from its payroll and closed hundreds of underperforming locations. He also had the company invest in stores to increase the timeliness and quality of orders.

In the second quarter (ended March 29), the company increased revenue 9% year over year to $9.5 billion and boosted earnings 14.5% to $0.50 a share. Both figures beat Wall Street's expectations, sending the stock higher. The quarter was the second consecutive period that the company saw traffic growth at its locations. Management also increased full-year guidance for 2026.

The stock is up about 5% since the second quarter results were announced.

Today's Change

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1.80

%) $

1.82

Current Price

$

102.87

Niccol's turnaround is just a few quarters old, of course, but it looks like the strategy is gaining traction, and the market recognizes it. If his plan to double the international store count comes to fruition, investors might be very happy they invested $1,000 in the stock today.

Investors with an interest in Insurance - Property and Casualty stocks have likely encountered both Essent Group (ESNT - Free Report) and Cincinnati Financial (CINF - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, Essent Group is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Cincinnati Financial has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that ESNT's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

ESNT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.22, while CINF has a forward P/E of 19.96. We also note that ESNT has a PEG ratio of 1.65. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. CINF currently has a PEG ratio of 3.73.

Another notable valuation metric for ESNT is its P/B ratio of 0.98. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, CINF has a P/B of 1.69.

These metrics, and several others, help ESNT earn a Value grade of B, while CINF has been given a Value grade of C.

ESNT has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than CINF, so it seems like value investors will conclude that ESNT is the superior option right now.

, /PRNewswire/ -- Cincinnati Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: CINF) – Cincinnati Financial Corporation's board of directors added a 15th seat, appointing Lisa M. Franchetti to the board and as a member of its audit committee, effective immediately.

Admiral Franchetti retired from the U.S. Navy in 2025, after a nearly 40-year career marked by leadership at every operational level, culminating in her service as the 33rd Chief of Naval Operations from November 2023 to February 2025. As Chief of Naval Operations, Franchetti led a force of more than 600,000 personnel, advanced the Navy's strategic modernization and warfighting readiness initiatives, and focused on fleet growth, emerging technologies and workforce development. She is the first woman to hold the role and to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Prior to becoming the Navy's top officer, she served as Vice Chief of Naval Operations and as Director for Strategy, Plans and Policy on the Joint Staff. Her career also includes command of the destroyer USS Ross, Destroyer Squadron 21, two carrier strike groups, U.S. Naval Forces Korea and the U.S. Sixth Fleet, where she oversaw complex joint operations.

Following her Navy career, she founded Franchetti Strategic Solutions LLC, a strategic consulting firm specializing in national security advising, global strategic planning and operational transformation strategies. Passionate about developing the next generation of leaders, she served as 2026 Fellow at the University of Chicago and will be a Distinguished Practitioner at Northwestern University in 2027.

Franchetti holds a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University, a master's degree from the University of Phoenix and is a Distinguished Graduate of the Naval War College.

Stephen M. Spray, president and chief executive officer, commented: "Lisa's extensive experience in strategic planning and leadership at the highest federal levels make her an ideal candidate for our board. I know she'll immediately bring a valuable perspective to board discussions as our directors work together to enhance the value we create for shareholders now and into the future."

About Cincinnati Financial
Cincinnati Financial Corporation offers primarily business, home and auto insurance through The Cincinnati Insurance Company and its two standard market property casualty companies. The same local independent insurance agencies that market those policies may offer products of our other subsidiaries, including life insurance, fixed annuities and surplus lines property and casualty insurance. For additional information about the company, please visit cinfin.com.

Mailing Address:                         

Street Address:

P.O. Box 145496                               

6200 South Gilmore Road

Cincinnati, Ohio 45250-5496                 

Fairfield, Ohio 45014-5141

Safe Harbor
Our business is subject to certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements contained herein, are based upon our current estimates, assumptions and plans that are subject to uncertainty. These statements are made subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words like "seek," "expect," "will," "should," "could," "might," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "intend," "likely," "future," or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made; we assume no obligation to update such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:

Insurance-Related Risks

Risks and uncertainties associated with our loss reserves or actual claim costs exceeding reserves Increased frequency and/or severity of claims or development of claims that are unforeseen at the time of policy issuance Unusually high levels of catastrophe losses due to risk concentrations or changes in weather patterns, environmental events, war or political unrest, terrorism incidents, cyberattacks, civil unrest or other causes; and our ability to manage catastrophe risk Risks associated with analytical models in key areas such as underwriting, pricing, capital management, reserving, investments, reinsurance, and catastrophe risk management Inadequate estimates or assumptions, or reliance on third-party data used for critical accounting estimates Events or conditions that could weaken or harm our relationships with our independent agencies and hamper opportunities to add new agencies, resulting in limitations on our opportunities for growth Mergers, acquisitions, and other consolidations of agencies that result in a concentration of a significant amount of premium in one agency or agency group and/or alter our competitive advantages Our inability to manage business opportunities, growth prospects, and expenses for our ongoing operations Changing consumer insurance-buying habits The inability to obtain adequate ceded reinsurance on acceptable terms, for acceptable amounts, and from financially strong reinsurers; and the potential for nonpayment or delay in payment by reinsurers Domestic and global events, such as the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East, future pandemics, inflationary trends, changes in U.S. trade and tariff policy, and disruptions in the banking and financial services industry, resulting in insurance losses, capital market or credit market uncertainty, followed by prolonged periods of economic instability or recession, that lead to: Securities market disruption or volatility and related effects such as decreased economic activity and continued supply chain disruptions that affect our investment portfolio and book value Significant or prolonged decline in the fair value of securities and impairment of the assets Significant decline in investment income due to reduced or eliminated dividend payouts from securities Significant rise in losses from surety or director and officer policies written for financial institutions or other insured entities or in losses from policies written by Cincinnati Re or Cincinnati Global An unusually high level of claims in our insurance or reinsurance operations that increase litigation-related expenses Decreased premium revenue and cash flow from disruption to our distribution channel of independent agents, consumer self-isolation, travel limitations, business restrictions and decreased economic activity The inability of our workforce, agencies, or vendors to perform necessary business functions Financial, Economic, and Investment Risks

Declines in overall stock market values negatively affecting our equity portfolio and book value Downgrades in our financial strength ratings Interest rate fluctuations or other factors that could significantly affect: Our ability to generate growth in investment income Values of our fixed-maturity investments and accounts in which we hold bank-owned life insurance contract assets Our traditional life policy reserves Economic volatility and illiquidity associated with our alternative investments in private equity, private credit, real property, and limited partnerships Failure to comply with covenants and other requirements under our credit facilities, senior debt, and other debt obligations Recession, prolonged elevated inflation, or other economic conditions resulting in lower demand for insurance products or increased payment delinquencies The inability of our subsidiaries to pay dividends consistent with current or past levels impacting our ability to pay shareholder dividends or repurchase shares General Business, Technology, and Operational Risks

Ineffective information technology systems or failing to develop and implement improvements in technology Difficulties with technology or data security breaches, including cyberattacks, could negatively affect our, or our agents', ability to conduct business; disrupt our relationships with agents, policyholders, and others; cause reputational damage, mitigation expenses, data loss, and expose us to liability Difficulties with our operations and technology that may negatively impact our ability to conduct business, including cloud-based data information storage, data security, remote working capabilities, and/or outsourcing relationships and third-party operations and data security Disruption of the insurance market caused by technology innovations – such as driverless cars – that could decrease consumer demand for insurance products Delays, inadequate data developed internally or from third parties, or performance inadequacies from ongoing development and implementation of underwriting and pricing models and methods, including usage-based insurance methods, automation, artificial intelligence, or technology projects and enhancements expected to increase our efficiency, pricing accuracy, underwriting profit, and competitiveness Intense competition, and the impact of innovation, emerging technologies, artificial intelligence and changing customer preferences on the insurance industry and the markets in which we operate, could harm our ability to maintain or increase our business volumes and profitability Inability to defer policy acquisition costs for any business segment if pricing and loss trends would lead management to conclude that the segment could not achieve sustainable profitability Unforeseen departure of certain executive officers or other key employees that could interrupt progress toward important strategic goals or diminish the effectiveness of certain longstanding relationships with insurance agents and others Our inability, or the inability of our independent agents, to attract and retain personnel Events, such as a pandemic, an epidemic, natural catastrophe, or terrorism, which could hamper our ability to assemble our workforce, work effectively in a remote environment, or other failures of business continuity or disaster recovery programs Regulatory, Compliance, and Legal Risks

Actions of insurance departments, state attorneys general or other regulatory agencies, including a change to a federal system of regulation from a state-based system, that: Impose new obligations on us that increase our expenses or change the assumptions underlying our critical accounting estimates Place the insurance industry under greater regulatory scrutiny or result in new statutes, rules, and regulations Restrict our ability to exit or reduce writings of unprofitable coverages or lines of business Increase assessments for guaranty funds, other insurance‑related assessments, or mandatory reinsurance arrangements; or that impair our ability to recover such assessments through future surcharges or other rate changes Increase our provision for federal income taxes due to changes in tax laws, regulations, or interpretations Increase other expenses Limit our ability to set fair, adequate, and reasonable rates Restrict our ability to cancel policies Impose new underwriting standards Place us at a disadvantage in the marketplace Restrict our ability to execute our business model, including the way we compensate agents Adverse outcomes from litigation, environmental claims, mass torts or administrative proceedings, including effects of social inflation and third-party litigation funding on the size and frequency of litigation awards Events or actions, including unauthorized intentional circumvention of controls, which reduce our future ability to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Effects of changing social, global, economic, and regulatory environments Additional measures affecting corporate financial reporting and governance that can affect the market value of our common stock Risks and uncertainties are further discussed in other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K, Item 1A, Risk Factors, Page 30.

SOURCE Cincinnati Financial Corporation

Key Takeaways CL is using pricing actions and productivity initiatives to offset tariffs and cost pressures.Colgate is driving growth through premium innovation, including launches and brand relaunches.CL is investing in digital, analytics and AI to enhance innovation and optimize marketing execution. Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL - Free Report) is effectively leveraging its pricing power to support growth and mitigate external cost pressures. The company’s productivity program centers on cost savings and efficiency initiatives designed to strengthen its operational foundation. CL’s pricing strategy includes competitive pricing, value-based tactics and price segmentation to address diverse consumer needs while optimizing value.

Colgate’s strong brand equity continues to remain a major competitive advantage, enabling it to maintain positive pricing momentum and resilient volume performance despite a sluggish global consumption environment and significant inflationary pressures. Management emphasized that the strength of its global brands allowed the company to deliver both pricing and volume growth across most categories and divisions, particularly in emerging markets.

Sustained investments in advertising, omnichannel demand generation, digital capabilities and science-based innovation continue to strengthen consumer trust and brand loyalty, supporting Colgate’s ability to offset rising raw material, logistics and tariff-related costs through pricing and premium product innovation. The company is benefiting from key pricing actions, coupled with its funding-the-growth program and other productivity moves, aimed at driving efficiency and expanding margins.

Colgate continues to prioritize innovation as a key driver of growth across categories, geographies and price tiers. Management highlighted that premium innovation is fueling momentum, with launches such as Colgate Miracle Repair serum, EltaMD UV Skin Recovery, and relaunches of Colgate Total, Sanex, Protex, Suavitel, and Hill’s therapeutic lines. Such initiatives are helping strengthen brand health and expand household penetration by bringing consumer-perceived value at every price point.

Beyond Oral Care, Colgate’s skincare brands, including EltaMD and PCA Skin, remain growth engines, supported by consumer trade-ups to premium offerings. The company is also accelerating investment in digital, data, analytics and AI to sharpen its innovation model and optimize marketing execution. Such efforts are likely to continue driving sustained growth and profitability.

CL’s Price Performance, Valuation and EstimatesColgate’s shares have 16.6% in the past six months compared with the industry’s 1.4% growth.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, CL trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 23.16X compared with the industry’s average of 18.27X.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CL’s 2026 and 2027 EPS indicates year-over-year growth of 3.3% and 6%, respectively. The company’s EPS estimate for 2026 has decreased a penny in the past 30 days but the same for 2027 has risen a penny.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Colgate currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Stocks to Consider in the Consumer Staples SpaceThe Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (CHEF - Free Report) , which is a distributor of specialty food products in the United States, currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Chefs' Warehouse current financial-year sales indicates growth of 8.3% from the prior-year level. CHEF delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 28.9%, on average.

Nomad Foods Limited (NOMD - Free Report) , which manufactures and distributes frozen foods, currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Nomad Foods’ current financial-year sales is expected to rise 0.5% from the year-ago reported figure. NOMD delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 8.6%, on average.

Medifast, Inc. (MED - Free Report) , which is a leading manufacturer and distributor of clinically-proven healthy living products and programs, currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. MED delivered an average earnings surprise of 65.5% in the last reported quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Medifast’s current financial-year sales indicates a decline of 26% from the year-ago number.

On June 24, 2026, we present a DCF analysis for Colgate-Palmolive Co (CL), a company that has shown a year-to-date price increase of 17.1% and a modest 5.7% inc

Royal Caribbean (RCL - Free Report) has recently been on Zacks.com's list of the most searched stocks. Therefore, you might want to consider some of the key factors that could influence the stock's performance in the near future.

Shares of this cruise operator have returned +26.6% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +1.6% change. The Zacks Leisure and Recreation Services industry, to which Royal Caribbean belongs, has gained 11.7% over this period. Now the key question is: Where could the stock be headed in the near term?

Although media reports or rumors about a significant change in a company's business prospects usually cause its stock to trend and lead to an immediate price change, there are always certain fundamental factors that ultimately drive the buy-and-hold decision.

Revisions to Earnings EstimatesHere at Zacks, we prioritize appraising the change in the projection of a company's future earnings over anything else. That's because we believe the present value of its future stream of earnings is what determines the fair value for its stock.

We essentially look at how sell-side analysts covering the stock are revising their earnings estimates to reflect the impact of the latest business trends. And if earnings estimates go up for a company, the fair value for its stock goes up. A higher fair value than the current market price drives investors' interest in buying the stock, leading to its price moving higher. This is why empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

For the current quarter, Royal Caribbean is expected to post earnings of $3.91 per share, indicating a change of -10.7% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged over the last 30 days.

The consensus earnings estimate of $17.27 for the current fiscal year indicates a year-over-year change of +10.4%. This estimate has changed -0.1% over the last 30 days.

For the next fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $19.86 indicates a change of +15% from what Royal Caribbean is expected to report a year ago. Over the past month, the estimate has remained unchanged.

With an impressive externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool -- the Zacks Rank -- is a more conclusive indicator of a stock's near-term price performance, as it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions. The size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for Royal Caribbean.

The chart below shows the evolution of the company's forward 12-month consensus EPS estimate:

12 Month EPS

Revenue Growth ForecastEven though a company's earnings growth is arguably the best indicator of its financial health, nothing much happens if it cannot raise its revenues. It's almost impossible for a company to grow its earnings without growing its revenue for long periods. Therefore, knowing a company's potential revenue growth is crucial.

In the case of Royal Caribbean, the consensus sales estimate of $4.81 billion for the current quarter points to a year-over-year change of +6%. The $19.63 billion and $21.06 billion estimates for the current and next fiscal years indicate changes of +9.4% and +7.3%, respectively.

Last Reported Results and Surprise HistoryRoyal Caribbean reported revenues of $4.45 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +11.3%. EPS of $3.6 for the same period compares with $2.71 a year ago.

Compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.45 billion, the reported revenues represent a surprise of +0.14%. The EPS surprise was +12.5%.

Over the last four quarters, Royal Caribbean surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. The company topped consensus revenue estimates just once over this period.

ValuationWithout considering a stock's valuation, no investment decision can be efficient. In predicting a stock's future price performance, it's crucial to determine whether its current price correctly reflects the intrinsic value of the underlying business and the company's growth prospects.

While comparing the current values of a company's valuation multiples, such as price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S), and price-to-cash flow (P/CF), with its own historical values helps determine whether its stock is fairly valued, overvalued, or undervalued, comparing the company relative to its peers on these parameters gives a good sense of the reasonability of the stock's price.

The Zacks Value Style Score (part of the Zacks Style Scores system), which pays close attention to both traditional and unconventional valuation metrics to grade stocks from A to F (an A is better than a B; a B is better than a C; and so on), is pretty helpful in identifying whether a stock is overvalued, rightly valued, or temporarily undervalued.

Royal Caribbean is graded C on this front, indicating that it is trading at par with its peers. Click here to see the values of some of the valuation metrics that have driven this grade.

Bottom LineThe facts discussed here and much other information on Zacks.com might help determine whether or not it's worthwhile paying attention to the market buzz about Royal Caribbean. However, its Zacks Rank #3 does suggest that it may perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

U.S. stock futures are signaling a strong end to the holiday-shortened week. Wall Street is looking to rebound from last night's sudden selloff after the Federal Reserve signaled it still sees interest rate hikes later this year.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and Nasdaq-100 (NDX) are up more than 200 points apiece as the tech sector pops, while S&P 500 (SPX) futures are also confidently higher. Elsewhere, jobless claims rose past estimates last week, while oil prices move lower again, last seen down 2.1% at $75.17 per barrel.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

Defense stock eyes another rebound attempt before earnings.  Unpacking Nike's post-earnings history ahead of next week.  Plus, INTC lands Apple deal, and two sectors enjoying lower oil prices.

5 Things You Need to Know Today The Cboe Options Exchange saw more than 3.2 million call contracts and 1.9 million put contracts traded on Wednesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio remained at 0.59, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.59.  Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) shares are up 9% premarket, after President Donald Trump announced the company landed a deal with Apple (AAPL) to design and build chips in the U.S. Intel stock sports a 228% year-to-date gain and could test its May 11 record high of $132.75 today.  Travel stocks are enjoying a lift from cooling oil prices, with American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) gaining 2.1% ahead of the open. The stock finished near a six-month high yesterday, but remains flat for the year.  Vacationing favorite Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) is pointed 2% higher in premarket trading as oil continues to fall. The stock is looking to continue its uptrend after rebounding off its 52-week low of $232.10 on May 20.  Investors are tuning in to more than the Fed interest rate decision this week. 

Nikkei's Record Finish Led Asia Higher Japan’s Nikkei jumped 1.7% to fresh record highs on Thursday after the U.S.-Iran peace deal, while the South Korean Kospi surged 2.3% as tech continued to recover. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 1.6% and 0.4%, respectively.

European bourses are seeing mixed trading. London’s FTSE 100 down 1% after the Bank of England (BoE) kept interest rates unchanged at 3.75%, while the German DAX is inching up 0.04%, and the French CAC 40 is down 0.1%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Today

RCL

Royal Caribbean Cruises

$323.96 +14.43 (+4.66%)

As of 09:53 AM Eastern

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

52-Week Range$232.10▼

$366.50Dividend Yield1.85%

P/E Ratio19.63

Price Target$345.58

The cruise industry is rising, and Royal Caribbean Cruises NYSE: RCL is sailing along with it.

The Miami-based company, which reported double-digit increases in this year’s first three months, is projecting further growth through the end of this year.

Get RCL alerts:

Analysts are positive on the direction of the stock. And the company is investing in the future with new destinations and a giant, new ship.

The combination of strong results and forward confidence is what most growth-oriented investors want to see.

But after a remarkable runup in share price over the past few years, is the timing right to get into the stock, or has the easy money already been made?

Royal Caribbean Delivers Another Strong QuarterSo far this year, the numbers are convincing. Royal Caribbean reported that net income in the first three months came in at $950 million, or $3.48 per diluted share, an increase of nearly 30% year-over-year.

Adjusted earnings were $1 billion, or $3.60 per share, topping analysts’ projections, thanks to strong demand and last-minute bookings coming in better than expected. Costs also ran slightly below forecast. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) were $1.7 billion from $1.4 billion in the year-ago period.

Overall revenue also saw a notable increase, rising 11% year-over-year, though slightly below analysts’ expectations. For the first quarter, revenue hit $4.45 billion, up from $4 billion a year earlier, and just under the $4.46 billion that analysts had projected.

Importantly, there was little sign that Royal Caribbean was filling its ships through aggressive discounting, which can help it hit revenue targets but erode profit margins in the process. Royal Caribbean’s numbers showed premium pricing holding firm and onboard spending, such as excursions, restaurants, and spa services, adding to the bottom line.

Management Expects Growth to ContinueWith the first quarter results, management continued to project growth for the year. 2025 was already impressive as the company reported adjusted net income of $4.3 billion, or earnings per share of $15.64, an increase of over 30% from the year before. Adjusted EBITDA was $7 billion, up 18% for the year.

Growth for this year is already evident. The company said passengers carried for the first quarter rose to 2.5 million, from 2.24 million a year earlier. Passenger cruise days were up to 14.9 million from 13.8 million. And the increase in passengers is expected to continue.

For full-year 2026, the company said it’s now looking at adjusted earnings per share in a range of $17.10 to $17.50 per share, representing likely double-digit growth. On a constant-currency net yield basis—an important measure in the industry to gauge revenue efficiency—the company is expecting growth of 1.5% to 2.5% for the full year.

Expansion Plans Support Long-Term StrategyPlans for further growth are also moving ahead. Royal Caribbean, already one of the world’s largest cruise vacation brands, has a fleet of 69 ships and is adding to that number. The company recently began work on a seventh Oasis-class ship, the largest class of cruise vessels, signaling confidence that demand for premium ocean travel will remain strong well into the next decade.

In addition, the company is pushing into more branded experiences that passengers can’t find with other cruise lines or by staying at premium, all-inclusive resorts. It is increasingly investing in private island destinations and branded experiences, including a hotel to help service Antarctica.

Analysts Still See More UpsideWall Street generally likes what it sees. Even with a significant increase in the price of the stock, analysts generally believe the earnings story has more room to run. The stock is up 12% this year and 16% over the past 12 months.

Of the 21 analysts following the stock, the overall consensus rates it a Moderate Buy. Fifteen analysts have tagged it a Buy, five suggest Hold, and one recommends Sell. With an average 12-month price target of $345.53, investors are looking at just over a 10% jump assuming the target is met. Other analysts, however, are tagging the target as high as $425, while the lowest price target is $280.

Valuation Leaves Less Room for ErrorRoyal Caribbean Cruises Dividend PaymentsDividend Yield1.93%

Annual Dividend$6.00

Dividend Increase Track Record1 Year

Annualized 5-Year Dividend Growth35.02%

Dividend Payout Ratio36.61%

Next Dividend PaymentJul. 2

RCL Dividend History

That potentially limited one-year upside is precisely the factor that investors should consider. The recovery story, post-pandemic, has already played out. Royal Caribbean shares are up a whopping 250% over the past five years.

The dividend yield sits just below 2%, which means this is not a stock to buy for income. It’s a company whose value depends on earnings growth, brand strength, and continued execution.

Risks for the industry are also ever-present. Cruises are planned for months in advance, which means any demand slowdown can show up in bookings well before it hits earnings. If U.S. consumers pull back on discretionary spending, whether because of job concerns, credit stress, or general uncertainty, premium bookings can compress very quickly.

Current projections have already been scaled back slightly for 2026 compared with the guidance the company gave at the start of the year. Changes and uncertainties in the global outlook, potential currency fluctuations, and evolving booking patterns led to the adjustment.

Growth Story Remains Strong, But Risks PersistStill, a leading company with revenue growth in the double digits, adjusted earnings per share of $3.60 beating guidance, and a healthy full-year outlook is not easy to ignore. These achievements are not simple for a company already operating from near-record highs.

And for growth investors comfortable with cycles, Royal Caribbean is among the better-run alternatives. The company’s pricing power, branded destination strategy, and continued earnings growth make it one of the more attractive stories in the travel sector.

But the current valuation already reflects the good news. Competition in the consumer discretionary sector from other major cruise lines, including Carnival NYSE: CCL and Norwegian Cruise Line NYSE: NCLH, is always steep. And the future spending power of consumers is forever prone to change. The question for investors is whether this is a stock whose ship has already sailed.

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

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Royal Caribbean (RCL +4.41%) stock tumbled nearly 10% in early trading this morning -- then made it all back. As of 1 p.m. ET, Royal Caribbean stock is trading almost exactly where it closed last night -- $309 per share. So why the sudden sell-off before investors changed their mind?

Well, you can blame Carnival Corporation (CCL +2.47%) for that.

Image source: Getty Images.

Carnival Corporation earnings Despite being only half Royal Caribbean's size by market capitalization, rival Carnival Corporation boasts annual revenues ($27 billion), 50% higher than Royal Caribbean's ($18.4 billion). So it's still considered something of a bellwether for cruise stocks. Accordingly, when Carnival reports bad earnings, investors may be tempted to take out their wrath on Royal Caribbean stock as well.

But here's the strange thing: Carnival reported earnings this morning... and the news wasn't bad.

Q2 adjusted earnings of $0.41 per share beat analyst forecasts, as did quarterly revenue of $6.7 billion. Revenue set a new record for Carnival, and earnings were up 20% year over year.

Today's Change

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4.41

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323.19

What's next for Royal Caribbean All that said, Carnival did warn investors that its earnings this year might come in a bit light. Analysts were looking for Carnival to earn $1.42 per share (adjusted) in Q3, but Carnival promised only $1.35. Through the end of the year, guidance for $2.22 per share may create a narrower miss; Wall Street only needs to see $2.23 for the year.

Presumably, this is the thing that spooked Royal Caribbean investors this morning: the worry that if Carnival's going to underperform this year, then Royal Caribbean might, too. Q4's still a ways away, however, and if the worst Carnival's going to do is miss by one penny... maybe Royal Caribbean investors don't have much to worry about after all.

Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Carnival Corp. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The 2028 & 2029 Collection Includes More Than 230 Voyages and Over 60 Overnight Stays Aboard Oceania Cruises' Intimate, Luxurious Ships

, /PRNewswire/ -- Oceania Cruises® has unveiled its new 2028 & 2029 Collection of Voyages, featuring more than 230 itineraries across the globe. Sailings range from seven to 180 days and include more than 60 overnight port stays. Opening for bookings today, June 17, 2026, this double launch of two full future seasons gives guests and travel advisors greater time and flexibility to plan their journeys well ahead.

Vista Sailing in Malta Iconic cities such as Tokyo, New York and Amsterdam frame these journeys, weaving together sun-drenched islands, lesser-known gems and new favorites waiting to be discovered. The collection spans an extraordinary range of ports, from the ancient ruins of Ephesus to the remote Japanese harbor towns of Ishigaki and Miyazaki, the volcanic drama of Iceland's Húsavík and the pristine wilderness of Alaska's Icy Strait Point. Along the way, guests can drift through the Indonesian archipelago, follow the blaze of autumn foliage along the St. Lawrence River and explore the dramatic fjords of Milford Sound.

"This new, expansive collection reflects our passion for immersive travel opportunities and offers guests the chance to explore a little further with more depth thanks to more than 60 overnight stays. Launching sailings for 2028 and 2029 underscores our commitment to giving guests and travel advisors the confidence and time to plan the journeys that truly matter," said Jason Montague, Chief Luxury Officer of Oceania Cruises. "From the historic harbors of the Mediterranean to the remote fjords of New Zealand, each sailing reflects our belief that the world's greatest destinations deserve to be experienced, not simply visited."

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2028 & 2029 COLLECTION:

More than 60 Overnight Stays Across Two Seasons: Featured throughout the 2028 & 2029 Collection, these include extended time in well-loved cities such as Copenhagen, Lisbon, Bangkok and Bali, as well as smaller ports like Seville and Malé. Late-evening departures and overnight stays – hallmarks of Oceania Cruises – invite deeper discovery and connection to life ashore. From Alaska's Last Frontier to Japan's Hidden Ports on Oceania Riviera™: Oceania Riviera returns to Alaska in summer 2028 before transitioning to Asia-focused sailings, including a greater emphasis on Japan beyond the expected. Itineraries feature rarely visited ports including Kagoshima, Ishigaki and Miyazaki – destinations inaccessible to larger ships – alongside calls in Tokyo and Osaka. Oceania Aurelia™ Debuts her Inaugural World Cruises: Welcoming fewer than 500 guests, Oceania Aurelia will sail her inaugural 180-Day Around the World voyages in 2028 and 2029, sailing from Miami and Los Angeles, respectively, before concluding in New York. Oceania Allura™ Extends the Mediterranean Winter Season: Oceania Allura returns for a second Mediterranean winter season in 2028 and 2029, exploring Greece, Turkey, Italy and Spain from November through March during cooler, calmer months. With more than 80 Mediterranean itineraries, this marks Oceania Cruises' most diverse range of sailings in the region to date. REGIONS:

Europe
Oceania Cruises' extensive European seasons span from the Mediterranean to Northern Europe, including Oceania Aurelia's inaugural Baltic and Scandinavia sailings. From Greek island-hopping and Aegean shores to Norway's fjords, the royal capitals of Stockholm and Copenhagen, and Amsterdam's canals, these itineraries offer deeper exploration of Europe's most storied regions.

Caribbean, Panama Canal & Mexico
Oceania Sonata™ and Oceania Vista® anchor the collection's Caribbean sailings, with round-trip Miami departures and extended Panama Canal crossings ranging from seven-day island escapes to multi-week voyages through Central America and Mexico.

Asia
Oceania Marina™ and Oceania Riviera cover Asia across both seasons, with an emphasis on Japan's smaller coastal ports alongside its great cities. Sailings are complemented by overnight stays in Bangkok and Singapore and sailings through the Indonesian archipelago, including Komodo Island.

South Pacific, Australia & New Zealand
Oceania Marina explores Australia and New Zealand, with multiple 14-day voyages including scenic cruising through the striking fjords of Milford Sound and calls in Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Auckland and beyond.

Canada & New England
Autumn foliage, colonial history and the raw beauty of the Bay of Fundy define the Canada and New England season. Sailings include the 11-day Autumnal Allure & Maritimes, aboard Oceania Vista, with calls in Portland, Saint John, Halifax and Quebec City, and the Maritimes Harvest Passage sailing, which includes Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

Transoceanic
Seven repositioning crossings connect oceans as enticing journeys in their own right. Highlights include the 15-day Canary Isles Autumn Passage from Lisbon to Miami, aboard Oceania Sonata™, with calls in Madeira, Tenerife and San Juan.

The Best Value in Luxury Cruising
Guests can book with confidence through Oceania Cruises' Best Value Guarantee. Should a new offer become available before departure, guests may take advantage of it with no administrative fees – either by adjusting their reservation prior to final payment or receiving the added value as shipboard credit, stateroom upgrade or future cruise credit. This flexibility, combined with Your World Included™ amenities such as specialty dining, complimentary WiFi, and pre-paid shipboard gratuities, ensures exceptional value without compromise.

About Oceania Cruises®
Oceania Cruises® is the world's leading destination- and culinary-focused luxury cruise line, celebrated for its port-rich voyages and authentic cultural and culinary experiences. The line's intimate, luxurious ships feature an adults-only environment, with a high proportion of spacious rooms and suites, calling on more than 600 marquee and boutique ports in more than 100 countries across seven continents, with destination-intensive itineraries ranging from seven to 180 days. Aboard the designer-inspired ships, guests enjoy personalized service supported by a strong crew-to-guest ratio, alongside The Finest Cuisine at Sea®, prepared by one of the highest chef-to-guest ratios at sea. Oceania Cruises® is also recognized as one of the world's most awarded cruise lines, with accolades spanning luxury, dining, service and destination experiences. Oceania Cruises® has five Sonata Class ships on order scheduled for delivery in 2027, 2029, 2032, 2035 and 2037. Oceania Cruises® is a wholly owned subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH).

SOURCE Oceania Cruises

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) remains the worst-performing cruise stock YTD, underperforming peers despite a brief recovery earlier in 2026. The quality of its earnings outlook downgrade as well as an elevated net debt-to-EBITDA ratio at a time of macroeconomic uncertainties work against the stock. However, the recent crash in oil price, positive market multiples and possibility of an upwards earnings surprise bode well for NCLH.

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The Award Recognized Exemplary Quality, Cost, and Delivery Performance from U.S. Manufacturing that Powers the Next Generation of AI-Cluster Computing

TEMPE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: BHE) today announced it has been named HPE’s Manufacturing Partner of the Year for 2026, recognizing Benchmark’s exemplary quality, cost, delivery performance, and customer service in helping HPE rapidly scale next-generation AI infrastructure.

The award was presented during HPE’s Partner Summit in Houston, Texas, which brought together HPE’s largest global suppliers to align on HPE’s priorities and growth plans for 2026 and beyond. Benchmark was selected from among leading manufacturing competitors.

Recognized for Supporting HPE’s Most Important AI Programs

What distinguished Benchmark was not only its strong, continued performance in quality, cost, and delivery, but also its critical role in helping HPE ramp U.S. production of some of its highest-profile AI platforms. This includes blade-level assembly, testing, and validation for high-power, liquid-cooled server blades, further expanding Benchmark’s role as a key global manufacturing partner to HPE.

“The Manufacturing Partner of the Year award is a tremendous honor and reflects the trust HPE has placed in Benchmark to help scale next‑generation AI infrastructure,” said David Moezidis, President and CEO of Benchmark. “This recognition highlights the exceptional work of our team and underscores Benchmark’s ability to deliver the quality, scale, and responsiveness required to support the world’s most advanced computing platforms.”

Benchmark’s programs have significant visibility within HPE and are central to the company’s strategy for supporting the next generation of AI computing. The Company’s ability to execute these complex, high-profile programs with experienced U.S.-based engineering and manufacturing helped set it apart from other suppliers and contributed directly to the award. Benchmark credited this achievement to its Winona, Minnesota team, along with support from its global network, demonstrating the capabilities of our cross-functional and production teams that support HPE programs every day.

For more information on Benchmark's capabilities and role in AI-driven computing, visit www.bench.com.

About Benchmark Electronics, Inc.

Benchmark provides comprehensive solutions across the entire product lifecycle by leading through its innovative technology and engineering design services, leveraging its optimized global supply chain, and delivering world-class manufacturing services in the following industries: commercial aerospace, defense, advanced computing, next-generation communications, industrial, medical, and semiconductor capital equipment. Benchmark operates in eight countries and its common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BHE.

About HPE

HPE (NYSE: HPE) is a leader in essential enterprise technology, bringing together the power of AI, cloud, and networking to help organizations achieve more. As pioneers of possibility, our innovation and expertise advance the way people live and work. We empower our customers across industries to optimize operational performance, transform data into foresight, and maximize their impact. Unlock your boldest ambitions with HPE. Discover more at www.hpe.com.

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Vultr leverages HPE and NVIDIA to support a global AI cloud platform designed to help customers move faster in the AI era

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HPE Discover Las Vegas 2026--HPE (NYSE: HPE) today announced Vultr, the world’s largest privately held hyperscaler, has selected HPE and NVIDIA for large-scale AI datacenter deployments designed to support rapidly growing enterprise demand for private cloud and AI workloads.

Vultr has selected the NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 by HPE connected with NVIDIA Spectrum-X Ethernet networking, part of the NVIDIA AI Computing by HPE portfolio, to power its next-generation AI infrastructure environments designed for enterprise-scale AI workloads. These deployments combine HPE’s AI factory capabilities with NVIDIA accelerated computing, networking, and software to deliver a scalable, production-ready AI platform optimized for high-performance model training and inference.

The deployments will support Vultr’s next phase of global AI infrastructure expansion and reinforce the company’s strategy to advance its cloud provider strategy. As an expansion of Vultr’s broader cloud offerings, future facilities will incorporate rack-scale systems powered by NVIDIA accelerated computing and high-performance networking technologies, in addition to HPE’s unique liquid cooling technology, services, and expertise.

“HPE, Vultr, and NVIDIA are building AI infrastructure designed for the future of AI and the agentic enterprise,” said Antonio Neri, president and CEO, HPE. “Vultr represents a new generation of AI cloud providers, and the company’s selection of HPE validates the importance of AI data center architectures designed to support the next wave of global AI growth.”

Enterprises, cloud providers and other organizations continue to turn to HPE as a key provider of AI infrastructure as they invest in large-scale GPU environments. HPE is delivering AI factory architecture with NVIDIA for Vultr, including compute, networking, and operational platforms designed to support hyperscale-class AI clusters. Drawing on decades of experience building and operating some of the world’s largest supercomputing environments, HPE will provide the specialized AI services, deployment expertise, and lifecycle support required to design, integrate, optimize, and sustain complex enterprise-scale AI projects.

"As a powerful extension of our global cloud infrastructure platform, Vultr is deploying dedicated AI infrastructure focused on GPU architecture and AI inference to accelerate customer innovation while maintaining cost efficiency,” said J.J. Kardwell, CEO, Vultr. “AI infrastructure remains significantly underbuilt globally, and enterprises increasingly require high-performance AI compute integrated seamlessly at the edge. We are expanding our capabilities with a focus on supporting enterprise demand for decentralized, latency-sensitive workloads across Vultr’s extensive global network.”

Vultr continues to make large-scale infrastructure investments that require high-performance AI systems, networking, and data center expertise to support the rapid expansion of its GPU-as-a-service capabilities that will power enterprise AI and private cloud deployments. New developments will include a large-scale NVIDIA Spectrum-X™ Ethernet networking featuring 400GbE and 800GbE interconnects, optical transceivers, and NVIDIA Spectrum-X Ethernet switches and SuperNICs, engineered to support dense, large-scale AI clusters and GPU rack-scale connectivity across new AI data center environments.

Recent HPE News:

HPE introduces CPU server with NVIDIA-Vera CPU, purpose-built for Agentic AI HPE transforms distributed AI factories into intelligent AI grid powered by NVIDIA HPE accelerates secure, scalable production-ready AI through new innovations with NVIDIA About HPE

HPE (NYSE: HPE) is a leader in essential enterprise technology, bringing together the power of AI, cloud, and networking to help organizations achieve more. As pioneers of possibility, our innovation and expertise advance the way people live and work. We empower our customers across industries to optimize operational performance, transform data into foresight, and maximize their impact. Unlock your boldest ambitions with HPE. Discover more at www.hpe.com.

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HPE Morpheus Software provides virtualization for the agentic enterprise with new agentic orchestration and unified control plane for AI and traditional enterprise workloadsGreenLake Intelligence advances agentic AIOps for hybrid IT with new capabilities to observe and govern AI factories, agents, and workloadsHPE is partnering with ServiceNow to turn real-time, full-stack insights into autonomous, AI-driven service delivery with GreenLake IntelligenceCitrix and HPE to deepen strategic collaboration with Citrix Desktop-as-a-Service planned for GreenLake using HPE Morpheus SoftwareHPE Private Cloud extends standardized, air-gapped operations from edge to datacenter for regulated and sovereign environments LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HPE Discover Las Vegas 2026 – HPE (NYSE: HPE) today announced expanded capabilities across GreenLake to deliver unified operations for the agentic enterprise through innovations across agentic AIOps, private cloud, and software for AI infrastructure. Through GreenLake, HPE provides customers with a unified operating model that addresses rising virtualization costs, modernizes for emerging AI workloads, and simplifies operational complexity.

“As enterprises scale AI, they need a simpler way to govern AI infrastructure and modernize operations across hybrid environments without fragmentation or unpredictable costs,” said Fidelma Russo, EVP, President and GM, Hybrid Cloud and CTO at HPE. “The latest advancements in GreenLake give enterprises a proven, unified path for agentic hybrid operations today and a foundation for future autonomous operations.”

GreenLake delivers agentic AI-powered operating experience across AI factories and hybrid environments

GreenLake Intelligence provides an agentic AI framework for hybrid cloud and AI operations. A centralized agent registry, intelligent planning and orchestration capabilities, and secure governance controls help organizations manage and coordinate AI agents across infrastructure, applications, and operational workflows.

The HPE OpsRamp Operations Copilot provides new observability for agents and LLMs, enabling organizations to monitor AI utilization, govern token-based consumption, and understand operational costs across agents, multi-vendor AI factories, and workloads. The copilot proactively identifies issues through full-stack telemetry correlation and agentic root-cause analysis. HPE is partnering with ServiceNow to turn real-time, full-stack insights into autonomous, AI-driven service delivery. By integrating GreenLake Intelligence—through the OpsRamp Operations Copilot—with ServiceNow’s autonomous AI workforce, HPE and ServiceNow are creating a single source of truth for agentic IT operations from full-stack observability of AI infrastructure to end-to-end autonomous service delivery. HPE Morpheus Software offers an enterprise-grade, full-featured alternative to existing virtualization platforms and now combines self-service provisioning with integrated observability and operations capabilities for hybrid cloud environments. Enterprises can provision and manage VM and container workloads, correlate telemetry with AI-powered insights, and operate with confidence, all under a single per-socket subscription. The latest Morpheus capabilities include:

The new HPE Morpheus Orchestration Copilot, part of GreenLake Intelligence, eliminates the costly, error-prone nature of multi-step, multi-tool manual workflows for provisioning and orchestration of infrastructure and workloads. Enterprises can leverage their preferred AI tools with built-in governance and security guardrails through a bring-your-own-model architecture. The copilot acts, automating and orchestrating infrastructure and workload provisioning end-to-end, while enabling resource-constrained teams to move faster with confidence. New HPE Morpheus Central, delivered through GreenLake, provides centralized visibility, governance, and management across multiple HPE Morpheus deployments. Software-defined networking (SDN), now generally available for HPE Morpheus, enables zero-trust security, multitenancy, consistent policy enforcement, and VXLAN overlay networking, while reducing provisioning time by up to 60%. Intent-based, closed-loop network automation is available in HPE Morpheus through HPE Juniper Apstra integration, continuously validating live network state, eliminating configuration drift, and automating policy enforcement at scale. Stretched cluster capabilities, also generally available, enable metro-grade resilience across two active sites with synchronous replication and automated failover. HPE Zerto Software enables live workload migration from VMware environments to HPE virtual machines with continuous data protection. Citrix and HPE to deepen strategic collaboration on private cloud and virtualization solutions

Citrix and HPE are planning to expand their strategic collaboration on private cloud and virtualization solutions, with an initial focus on delivering Citrix Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) on GreenLake for customers seeking on-premises and sovereign deployments. The companies also plan for Citrix DaaS and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops to be integrated with HPE Morpheus Software—VM Essentials as a key virtualization platform and for HPE CloudOps to provide unified orchestration, automation, and observability across GreenLake hybrid deployments.

HPE de-risks virtualization migrations and enables service providers to build private cloud services

Announced at HPE Partner Growth Summit 2026, HPE is introducing new programs for customers and service providers.

A new platform migration program for virtualization enables partners to help customers reduce financial risk and avoid double-paying during migrations. New HPE Morpheus Software—VM Essentials customers can receive up to one free year of licenses for VM Essentials, a year of HPE Zerto for $1 to support non-disruptive migration to HPE virtual machines, and 0% interest on software through HPE Financial Services. HPE CloudOps Software for cloud service providers helps cloud service providers (CSPs) build, operate, and monetize differentiated private cloud services with multi-tenancy, self-service, SDN, policy-based governance, and cost management. The HPE Cloud Commit program further enhances value with preferential pricing and services tied to committed spend. HPE Private Cloud extends unified and air-gapped operations from edge to datacenter

From edge to datacenter and across VMs to containers, the HPE Private Cloud portfolio now delivers a single control plane built on HPE Morpheus and standardized, integrated air-gapped deployment for disconnected, regulated, or sovereign environments.

HPE Private Cloud PC3000 is updated to support air-gapped deployment across edge and core deployments. New VMware vSphere 9 validation helps HPE Private Cloud PC3000 customers remain current without requiring a platform transition, while HPE Morpheus delivers unified management of HPE virtual machines (VMs) and containers on a single platform. HPE Private Cloud PC7000 helps organizations modernize datacenter operations across managed, large-scale, and mission-critical environments.

By incorporating the latest updates across HPE Morpheus, HPE Private Cloud PC7000 offers infrastructure-as-code with Terraform support, automated private cloud operations, and validation for VMware vSphere 9. The air-gapped deployment of HPE Private Cloud PC7000 now includes readiness for Department of Defense Impact Level 4 (IL4) certification. IL4 provides a robust security foundation that enables the air-gapped deployment to meet the requirements for secure design and development, configuration hardening, and vulnerability management and aligns with leading national and international security compliance standards. To help enterprises navigate the unpredictable economics of the current commodity pricing environment, GreenLake Flex Solutions offers flexible pay-as-you-go consumption, and new capabilities simplify hybrid infrastructure operations. A new integrated interface brings together hybrid observability, IT sustainability insights, and consumption analytics, giving GreenLake Flex customers a single place to access all tools and capabilities. Customers can now buy leading third-party software solutions from the GreenLake ecosystem directly through the GreenLake Marketplace.

Availability

HPE OpsRamp Operations Copilot within GreenLake Intelligence is available today. GreenLake Intelligence and ServiceNow integrations will be rolled out across 2026 and 2027. The latest updates to HPE Morpheus Software are rolling out across Q2 and Q3 2026. HPE CloudOps Software for cloud service providers is available today. HPE Private Cloud air-gapped for PC3000 and PC7000 will be available in Q3 2026. Additional new capabilities within HPE Private Cloud will be generally available in Q3 2026. GreenLake Marketplace with direct transactability between customers and ISVs is available today. Additional Resources

Press Release: HPE fuels partner growth with new incentives, partner-led offers, and unified program Blog: Introducing HPE CloudOps Software for Cloud Service Providers Blog: GreenLake Marketplace launches end-to-end commerce capabilities Blog: Unleash AI pushes enterprise AI beyond the pilot phase ServiceNow, the ServiceNow logo, and other ServiceNow marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ServiceNow, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

About HPE

HPE (NYSE: HPE) is a leader in essential enterprise technology, bringing together the power of AI, cloud, and networking to help organizations achieve more. As pioneers of possibility, our innovation and expertise advance the way people live and work. We empower our customers across industries to optimize operational performance, transform data into foresight, and maximize their impact. Unlock your boldest ambitions with HPE. Discover more at www.hpe.com.

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Hewlett Packard Enterprise is a pure-play AI infrastructure leader, benefiting from a structural shift as corporate demand for turnkey server solutions surges. HPE's Q2 2026 revenue soared 40% year-over-year to $10.68B, with net profit rebounding to $624M, confirming the unleashed, previously delayed demand. The easing of supply chain bottlenecks in 2026 enabled HPE to rapidly monetize pent-up corporate AI demand, driving strong profitability and margin restoration.

Veeam brings Data and AI Trust capabilities to HPE Private Cloud offerings, delivering validated designs for HPE Private Cloud AI, partner-ready packaging for modern virtualization, and expanded collaboration through Veeam’s new Data and AI Trust Maturity Model

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HPE Discover--Veeam® Software, the Data and AI Trust Company, today at HPE Discover announced expanded joint innovation to help organizations modernize and scale private cloud – from AI-ready infrastructure and validated designs to repeatable, partner-ready packaging for faster deployments. Building on the companies’ alliance and the Data Resilience by Design – a framework that makes resilience the foundation for secure, governed and recoverable data – Veeam and HPE are advancing new capabilities focused on accelerating private cloud adoption with simpler architectures, safer AI data pipelines, and faster time-to-value.

“AI will transform the enterprise, but only if leaders can trust the data that powers it. That trust starts with resilience – knowing data is protected, recoverable, and governed end-to-end," said John Jester, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at Veeam.

Share “Private cloud is evolving fast as customers want cloud agility with greater control, stronger governance, and the ability to operationalize AI closer to their data,” said John Jester, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at Veeam. “AI will transform the enterprise, but only if leaders can trust the data that powers it. That trust starts with resilience – knowing data is protected, recoverable, and governed end-to-end. Together with HPE, Veeam is bringing that trust layer to private clouds with validated designs and partner-ready solutions to help customers protect and govern their data, reduce risk across AI pipelines, and accelerate business outcomes without sacrificing performance or agility.”

HPE Private Cloud AI: New Validated Designs for AI-Ready Private Cloud Deployments

Veeam and HPE will release new validated designs for HPE Private Cloud AI to help customers deploy secure, AI-ready private environments. HPE Private Cloud AI is a turnkey AI factory co-engineered with NVIDIA as part of the NVIDIA AI Computing by HPE portfolio and is designed to deliver a complete, secure AI workbench with a unified data lakehouse, deployable models, and agentic use cases. With data sovereignty requirements expanding globally and AI ethics expectations moving from policy statements to operational mandates, organizations need practical architectures that protect data, strengthen recoverability, and improve confidence in AI data handling.

“Enterprises are choosing private cloud to meet performance and sovereignty requirements while putting the right guardrails in place for AI,” said Patrick Osborne, SVP of technology acceleration for hybrid cloud, HPE. “With these new validated designs for HPE Private Cloud AI and our expanded collaboration with Veeam, we’re giving customers a ready-to-run path to deploy AI closer to their data, combining proven infrastructure with stronger governance and greater confidence in how AI data is prepared, handled, and protected as they move from pilots to production.”

The validated designs will include:

Veeam Data Platform and Veeam Kasten, both part of the Veeam DataAI™ Command Platform, supporting operational continuity for virtualized and Kubernetes-based workloads that power AI initiatives Safe data ingestion to help organizations prepare and ingest data for AI use cases with stronger controls and confidence in data handling complementing HPE AI Essentials that manages the model development and deployment lifecycle These validated designs reduce deployment complexity and help customers move from AI pilots to production faster, while maintaining operational safeguards appropriate for enterprise private cloud.

Resilient HPE Private Cloud: Repeatable, Partner-Ready Private Cloud

In support of HPE’s recent unified private cloud announcement, HPE and Veeam are enabling partners with sizing tools and smart templates to more easily position and deliver resilient private cloud deployments using HPE Private Cloud PC3000 with HPE Morpheus Software VM Essentials. The goal is to help partners standardize designs, streamline scoping, and accelerate delivery so customers can expand private cloud footprints with greater predictability and reduced operational overhead with Veeam and HPE Private Cloud.

To further simplify adoption and modernization, Veeam is also providing a practical migration guide for moving vSphere VMs to virtual machines on HPE Morpheus. HPE Private Cloud using the Veeam Data Platform helps customers and partners plan and execute transitions as they evolve their private cloud strategies, while maintaining the resilience and recoverability required for business-critical workloads.

Expanding the Private Cloud Roadmap to Include Security, Governance, and AI Trust

As AI shifts from assistive tools to autonomous agents acting on enterprise data at machine speed, organizations face a growing gap between confidence in AI readiness and the ability to produce audit-ready evidence that data pipelines, access controls, governance, and recovery can stand up to board, audit, and regulatory scrutiny. AI confidence is high, but confidence alone does not scale, which is why Veeam and HPE are focused on helping customers operationalize AI trust, not just aspire to it.

The Veeam DataAI Command Platform is the industry's first unified data and AI trust infrastructure for the agentic era. The platform unifies key domains, including DataAI Security, DataAI Governance, DataAI Compliance, DataAI Privacy, and DataAI Resilience, powered by the DataAI Command Graph – Veeam's intelligence layer powering the entire platform which includes hundreds of connectors across every cloud, SaaS application, and on-premises environment.

Building on Data Resilience by Design, the companies are expanding their collaboration to connect resilience outcomes – protection, recoverability, and clean restore – with the governance and controls required for trusted AI. To help close this execution gap, HPE Services will serve as a pilot partner for Veeam’s new Data and AI Trust Maturity Model, a research-informed and customer-validated framework that gives leaders a clear, objective way to assess where they truly stand, benchmark progress, and prioritize the capabilities required to strengthen trust readiness across four core pillars: Understood, Secured, Resilient, and Unleashed.

Through this collaboration, Veeam and HPE will help customers move from AI experimentation to trusted execution – improving visibility and governance, reducing risk across AI data pipelines, and ensuring the ability to recover clean, trusted data when it matters most.

Veeam at HPE Discover 2026

Veeam (Booth #2039) is an exclusive sponsor of the HPE Virtualization and CloudOps Hub at HPE Discover 2026, underscoring the companies’ continued commitment to advancing private cloud innovation for modern virtualized workloads and AI-ready environments.

For more information on the Veeam and HPE alliance visit https://www.veeam.com/solutions/alliance-partner/hpe.html or www.veeam.com.

About Veeam Software

Veeam® Software is the Data and AI Trust Company, specializing in helping organizations ensure their data and AI are fully understood, secured, and resilient to enable the acceleration of safe AI at scale. As the market leader in both data resilience and data security posture management, Veeam is built for the convergence of identity, data, security, and AI risk.

Veeam delivers deep contextual intelligence across every data asset, identity, and AI model. The company governs access for both humans and AI agents, automates privacy, compliance, and remediation processes, and protects and recovers organizations from modern threats – including ransomware, disasters, AI errors, and ensuring the restoration of clean, trusted data. Veeam empowers organizations to move beyond simply protecting data, enabling them to activate and unlock its full potential.

Headquartered in Seattle with offices in more than 30 countries, Veeam protects over 550,000 customers worldwide, including 82% of the Fortune 500, who trust Veeam to keep their businesses running. Learn more at www.veeam.com or follow Veeam on LinkedIn @veeam-software and X @veeam.

Spending on artificial intelligence (AI) is not slowing down. Companies that are addressing the growing demand for computing hardware and software are reporting strong revenue and earnings.

Three companies that recently delivered strong earnings results -- Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE +0.26%), Micron Technology (MU 0.77%), and Palantir Technologies (PLTR 0.59%) -- all exceeded Wall Street expectations. Let's take a look at what is driving their growth and whether the momentum makes them solid buys for a long-term investor.

Image source: Getty Images.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Investment is pouring into AI-optimized data centers to support mission-critical workloads across training and inferencing. These data centers need fast networking equipment to connect and transmit data between thousands of chips. This is opening up a new growth avenue for HPE, one of the leaders in enterprise services and technology infrastructure.

Its latest quarter showed accelerating demand. Revenue grew 40% year over year, up from 18% in the previous quarter. Strong revenue drove a massive earnings beat, with adjusted earnings per share of $0.79 -- above analyst estimates of $0.53. After orders more than doubled, management now expects to hit its 2028 earnings target two years early.

HPE's recent acquisition of Juniper Networks strengthens its competitive position. Juniper's advanced networking and AI-driven automation capabilities will complement HPE's servers and storage business, creating a full-stack AI infrastructure offering. Management indicated that cross-selling products is already leading to larger deals.

Given these trends and management's raised outlook for the year, HPE stock may have room to run. It trades at a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 14, which looks cheap relative to analysts' estimates calling for earnings to grow at an annualized rate of 29% over the next several years.

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Micron Technology Micron has been one of the hottest stocks in the market this year, driven by a severe memory bottleneck for AI workloads. Memory demand has historically been highly cyclical, but investors are betting that AI is creating a more sustainable long-term growth trajectory.

The chipmaker's February-ended quarter showed revenue nearly tripling year over year to $24 billion. Demand was strong across all memory products, including DRAM, NAND, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM). The sharp increase in selling prices for these products boosted the company's earnings per share to $12.20, far exceeding analyst estimates of $9.

This is a highly competitive market, with Samsung and SK Hynix also experiencing demand for their memory products. But Micron has gained share in the data center storage market for four straight years. The insatiable demand for memory across multiple markets, including on-device AI processing in consumer devices, has management optimistic about its multiyear prospects.

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However, I'm less bullish on Micron stock the higher it climbs. With the stock's forward earnings multiple now at 17, it is almost trading in line with Nvidia's valuation. Yet memory is still a cyclical market, where additional manufacturing capacity or a slowdown in AI infrastructure spending could weigh on Micron's profits and share price. At these valuation levels, I would rather consider more durable chip companies, such as Nvidia or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.

Palantir Technologies Palantir is a fast-growing supplier of enterprise and government AI software platforms. It creates a digital copy of a company's operations from its data and workflows, seamlessly integrated with Palantir's Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP). This effectively allows businesses to quickly spot areas to cut costs and improve efficiency.

The proof of Palantir's value to organizations is in the numbers. Total revenue grew 85% year over year in the first quarter, reaching $1.63 billion -- beating estimates of $1.54 billion. This performance marked Palantir's fastest growth rate yet as a public company.

The company ended the quarter with 1,007 customers, up 31% over the year-ago quarter. Lower growth relative to revenue indicates that existing customers continue to spend more, thereby widening the company's competitive moat. The more customers integrate Palantir into their operations, the stickier it becomes.

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This is a highly profitable business, generating an impressive 44% profit margin, and it's still early in its growth story. This is why the stock commands a premium valuation of 89 times forward earnings. It's expensive, but this multiple aligns with its current growth and analyst projections for 51% annualized earnings growth in the coming years. If it delivers on those expectations, the stock could still outperform.

For new and old investors, taking full advantage of the stock market and investing with confidence are common goals. Zacks Premium provides lots of different ways to do both.

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

Zacks Premium also includes the Zacks Style Scores.

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

Based on their value, growth, and momentum characteristics, each stock is assigned a rating of A, B, C, D, or F. The better the score, the better chance the stock will outperform; an A is better than a B, a B is better than a C, and so on.

The Style Scores are broken down into four categories:

Value ScoreValue investors love finding good stocks at good prices, especially before the broader market catches on to a stock's true value. Utilizing ratios like P/E, PEG, Price/Sales, Price/Cash Flow, and many other multiples, the Value Style Score identifies the most attractive and most discounted stocks.

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

Momentum ScoreMomentum investors, who live by the saying "the trend is your friend," are most interested in taking advantage of upward or downward trends in a stock's price or earnings outlook. Utilizing one-week price change and the monthly percentage change in earnings estimates, among other factors, the Momentum Style Score can help determine favorable times to buy high-momentum stocks.

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

How Style Scores Work with the Zacks Rank The Zacks Rank is a proprietary stock-rating model that harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions, or changes to a company's earnings expectations, to help investors build a successful portfolio.

It's highly successful, with #1 (Strong Buy) stocks producing an unmatched +24% average annual return since 1988. That's more than double the S&P 500. But because of the large number of stocks we rate, there are over 200 companies with a Strong Buy rank, plus another 600 with a #2 (Buy) rank, on any given day.

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

That's where the Style Scores come in.

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

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

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

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

Stock to Watch: Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE - Free Report) Headquartered in Spring, TX, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company was formed as a result of the split of Hewlett-Packard Company into two separate entities – one focusing on the enterprise-facing hardware and service business and the other focusing on the consumer-facing computer and printer segments.

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

Additionally, the company could be a top pick for growth investors. HPE has a Growth Style Score of B, forecasting year-over-year earnings growth of 75.8% for the current fiscal year.

Eight analysts revised their earnings estimate higher in the last 60 days for fiscal 2026, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $1.00 to $3.41 per share. HPE also boasts an average earnings surprise of +16%.

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

Key Takeaways DELL is riding strong demand for AI-optimized servers, with earnings estimates rising sharply.MPWR lifted its Enterprise Data growth outlook as AI and server application sales accelerated.HPE is expanding AI, cloud and networking offerings as orders, backlog and cash flow improve. The artificial intelligence (AI)-driven marvelous bull story of U.S. stock markets for the past three and a half years is showing no sign of abatement. The four major U.S. hyperscalers raised their AI capital expenditure budget to $750 billion in 2026. This figure is set to cross $1 trillion next year and is likely to rise further beyond 2027. 

As a result, AI infrastructure stocks are flourishing on Wall Street with more vigor. Here, we have identified three AI infrastructure giants (market capital >$50 billion) with a top Zacks rank for investment. These stocks boast a strong short-term price upside. Moreover, they have a solid long-term (3-5 years) earnings per share (EPS) growth rate, which will ensure a long-term northbound journey. 

The companies are: Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL - Free Report) , Monolithic Power Systems Inc. (MPWR - Free Report) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (HPE - Free Report) . Each of our picks currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The chart below shows the price performance of our three picks year to date.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Dell Technologies Inc.Dell Technologies has been benefiting from astonishing server sales powered by AI chips. The massive growth potential of the global AI-optimized server market is noteworthy. In May 2026, FORTUNE BUSINESS INSIGHTS estimated that “the global AI server market size was valued at $194.62 billion in 2025. The market is projected to grow from $262.22 billion in 2026 to $2,847.32 billion by 2034, exhibiting a CAGR of 34.73% during the forecast period.”

Innovative ProductsDell Technologies is benefiting from strong demand for AI-optimized servers driven by the ongoing digital transformation and heightened interest in generative AI applications. Its PowerEdge XE9680 AI-optimized server is much in demand. 

DELL’s advanced AI-optimized servers, including the PowerEdge XE9780 and 9780L platforms supporting up to 256 NVIDIA HGX B300 GPUs per rack, the XE9712 with NVIDIA GB300 NVL72, and the XE7745 supporting NVIDIA RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell GPUs, are noteworthy. 

In fiscal fourth-quarter 2026, DELL launched the PowerEdge XE9712 supporting NVIDIA's NVL72 GB200. It launched the Dell Infrastructure Rack Sobel system, IR7000 and 5000 in both 21-inch and 19-inch versions, providing up to 96 GPUs in a rack and 786 GPUs in a scalable unit. The strong demand trend bodes well for the company’s long-term prospects.

Solid Long-Term EPS Growth Rate Dell Technology has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 47.4% and 81.2%, for the current year (ending January 2027). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 42.2% over the last 30 days. DELL currently has a long-term EPS growth rate of 26.4%, well above the S&P 500’s long-term EPS growth rate of 17.6%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Reasonable ValuationDespite a robust rally this year, the DELL stock still looks reasonably priced. It trades at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 22.40, in line with the industry average. It also trades at a price/sales (P/S) multiple of 2.03, in line with the industry average.

Strong Short-Term Price UpsideThe short-term average price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 12.3% from the last closing price of $427.78. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $290-$700. This indicates a maximum upside of 63.6% and a maximum downside of 32.2%. The risk/reward ratio is 1:2. 

Monolithic Power Systems Inc.Monolithic Power Systems continues to benefit from rising demand for power management solutions tied to AI infrastructure and cloud computing deployments. MPWR continues to broaden its addressable market through targeted technology acquisitions and product portfolio expansion. 

AI Infrastructure MomentumFirst-quarter 2026 Enterprise Data revenues increased 97.7% year over year and 12.6% sequentially due to higher sales for AI and server applications. MPWR raised its Enterprise Data growth floor expectation to nearly 85% year over year from prior expectations of roughly 50%.

Automotive remains a long-term growth driver as semiconductor content rises across ADAS, infotainment and connectivity applications. Beyond automotive, MPWR is broadening its exposure to robotics, building automation and portable AI devices.

MPWR highlighted that its monolithic power architecture enables single-piece silicon solutions versus multi-chip competitor approaches in AI and high-density applications. The company also expanded manufacturing goals beyond its prior $4 billion capacity target and now aims to reach $6 billion of capacity in the near future.

Solid Long-Term EPS Growth Rate Monolithic Power Systems has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 32.8% and 35.3%, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 11.1% over the last 60 days. MPWR currently has a long-term EPS growth rate of 27.8%, well above the S&P 500’s long-term EPS growth rate of 17.6%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Reasonable ValuationDespite an impressive northward journey this year, the MPWR stock still looks reasonably priced. It trades at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 63.94, in line with the industry average.

Strong Short-Term Price upsideThe short-term average price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 27.4% from the last closing price of $1,423.76. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $1,575-$2,000. This indicates a maximum upside of 40.5% and no downside. The risk/reward ratio is extremely favorable.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.Hewlett Packard Enterprise is executing well on its mix shift toward higher-value networking, cloud and AI, supported by the Juniper acquisition, integration running ahead of plan and Catalyst cost synergies. Customer spend on AI inferencing, private cloud and network modernization is driving record orders and backlog, with improved HPE’s profitability and higher free cash flow.

Impressive Business ExecutionHPE continues to simplify the portfolio and concentrate investment behind markets tied to networking, cloud and AI, which management views as long-duration drivers of enterprise technology spend. 

The fiscal 2026 segment realignment, which combined Server, Hybrid Cloud and Financial Services into Cloud & AI, is intended to sharpen accountability around integrated solutions and consumption models.

HPE launched new autonomous, agentic AI operations capabilities and raised its cumulative Networks for AI order target to at least $2 billion by the end of fiscal 2026, reflecting confidence in AI-driven demand for high-performance networking.

HPE is expanding its enterprise AI offerings to make it easier for customers to develop, fine-tune and deploy models across data centers, edge environments and public clouds. The company continues to build turnkey AI factory solutions and Private Cloud AI offerings co-engineered with NVIDIA, aimed at accelerating time to value for inferencing, retrieval augmented generation and model tuning. 

Solid Long-Term EPS Growth Rate Hewlett Packard Enterprise has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 31.3% and 75.8%, for the current year (ending October 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 40.9% over the last 30 days. HPE currently has a long-term EPS growth rate of 32%, significantly above the S&P 500’s long-term EPS growth rate of 17.6%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Attractive ValuationDespite a year-to-date rally, the HPE stock still looks lucrative. It trades at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 14.20, almost half the industry average of 28.00. It trades at a price/sales (P/S) multiple of 1.65, well below the industry average of 9.11. It also trades at a price/book (P/B) multiple of 2.53, lower than the industry average of 7.17.

Huge Short-Term Price upsideThe short-term average price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 40.3% from the last closing price of $48.92. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $52-$80. This indicates a maximum upside of 63.5% and no downside. The risk/reward ratio is extremely favorable.

Three Dividend Aristocrats, three different setups.