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DMC Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR – Free Report) by 47.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,556 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,042 shares during the quarter. DMC Group LLC’s holdings in Palantir Technologies were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Palantir Technologies by 0.4% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 189,817,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,146,030,000 after purchasing an additional 757,322 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Palantir Technologies by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 102,385,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,198,990,000 after buying an additional 1,126,418 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Palantir Technologies by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 54,200,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,599,882,000 after buying an additional 805,047 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Palantir Technologies in the 4th quarter worth $5,149,641,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,415,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,984,281,000 after buying an additional 616,297 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.65% of the company’s stock.

Palantir Technologies Stock Performance PLTR stock opened at $174.33 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $418.93 billion, a PE ratio of 149.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.62. Palantir Technologies Inc. has a one year low of $106.37 and a one year high of $207.52. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $150.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.63.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Palantir Technologies had a net margin of 49.01% and a return on equity of 30.57%. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 92.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year. Insider Buying and Selling at Palantir Technologies In other news, insider Shyam Sankar sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.70, for a total transaction of $5,449,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 642,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,081,780.20. This trade represents a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeffrey Buckley sold 1,250 shares of Palantir Technologies stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.29, for a total value of $217,862.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 56,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,920,761.09. This represents a 2.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders sold 721,508 shares of company stock valued at $117,070,093. Company insiders own 9.53% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Palantir Technologies Here are the key news stories impacting Palantir Technologies this week:

Positive Sentiment: Expanded PwC alliance strengthens Palantir’s enterprise AI reach. Palantir and PwC expanded their strategic partnership to help organizations scale AI, transform mergers and acquisitions, and modernize ERP systems. PwC’s consulting network could help Palantir secure more corporate customers and larger deployments. PwC and Palantir Expand Strategic Alliance Positive Sentiment: Army contract adds support for the government business. Palantir won a prime agreement to deliver eight TITAN tactical intelligence ground-station systems to the U.S. Army, reportedly valued at about $192 million. The award expands Palantir’s role in defense intelligence and reinforces demand for its software and data platforms. What Does Palantir Winning Army Work Mean for AI Growth? Positive Sentiment: Technical momentum remains constructive. Palantir recently moved above its 20-day moving average and flashed a “golden cross” signal, which technical investors may interpret as evidence of continued short-term strength. The company’s latest reported quarter also featured 92.8% year-over-year revenue growth and earnings above analyst expectations. Neutral Sentiment: Investor commentary remains broadly bullish but speculative. Articles highlight Palantir as a potential AI software and cybersecurity winner, while management continues to promote secure, customized AI deployments. These views may support sentiment but do not represent new financial guidance. Negative Sentiment: Premium valuation leaves little room for disappointment. Palantir’s market capitalization is above $400 billion and its price-to-earnings ratio is around 149, making the stock vulnerable to profit-taking or any slowdown in growth and margins. Analysts note that its rapid expansion is already reflected in the share price. Is Palantir’s AI Growth Worth the Premium Valuation? Negative Sentiment: Competitive and insider-selling concerns persist. Google’s expanding government AI offerings could pressure Palantir’s public-sector opportunity. Michael Burry also renewed his bearish criticism of Palantir’s valuation and business model. Separately, a director sold $244,915 of stock under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, a modest negative sentiment signal. What’s Bugging Palantir’s Stock? Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Palantir Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Palantir Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Palantir Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. President Capital upgraded Palantir Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $25.50 to $133.00 in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Palantir Technologies in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.19.

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Palantir Technologies is a software company that develops data integration, analytics and operational decision-making platforms for government and commercial customers. Founded in 2003 by a team that included Alex Karp and Peter Thiel, Palantir has grown into a provider of enterprise-scale software designed to help organizations integrate disparate data sources, build analytic models and drive operational workflows. The company went public in 2020 and continues to position its products around large, complex data projects where security, provenance and real-time collaboration are important.

Palantir’s product portfolio centers on a small number of core platforms.

See Also Five stocks we like better than Palantir Technologies AI Token Costs Are Changing the Hardware vs. Software Debate 3 ETFs That Could Move as Rate Expectations Shift 3 Stocks With September Catalysts Investors Shouldn’t Ignore Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Stock Falls on Weak Comps Despite Margin Gains Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PLTR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR – Free Report).

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Micron shares have already rewritten what investors thought possible for a memory stock, but the next leg higher hinges on a single question about contract pricing that the upcoming earnings report will either answer or obliterate.

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AI-driven memory demand has repriced an entire corner of semiconductors this year, and the debate now is what would carry Micron shares even higher. The distance between Friday’s close and the target under discussion is small relative to the ground already covered. Whether contract pricing holds through the next several quarters is the real question.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) stock closed Friday at $1,016.59, up 256% year to date. Record DRAM pricing and AI datacenter memory demand drove the move, and Micron rode the same cycle lifting every supplier.

Meanwhile, SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) stock ended the week at $1,740, up 633% year to date. Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) shares closed at $467.46, up 172% and trailing only SanDisk in the group. For a broader view of the market, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) was up 13% over the same stretch; in comparison, the Roundhill Memory ETF (CBOE:DRAM) has rallied 121% in 2026 so far.

Memory Cycle Drives the Repricing Micron’s fiscal Q3 2026 revenue landed at $41.46 billion, up 345.7% year over year, with GAAP gross margin at 84.6% and a company-record $18.3 billion in free cash flow. The company’s fiscal Q4 2026 guidance calls for revenue of $50 billion, plus or minus $1 billion, and non-GAAP EPS of $31, plus or minus a dollar. That would extend a five-quarter run of record results.

CEO Sanjay Mehrotra stated, “DRAM and NAND industry demand continues to significantly exceed industry supply.” Management at Micron said that tight conditions could persist beyond calendar 2027, a claim that underpins the entire re-rating. Micron’s signed Strategic Customer Agreements (SCA) carry minimum-price contract revenue of approximately $100 billion across 14 of 16 deals, backed by $22 billion in cash deposits and letters of credit.

HBM4 shipments to Micron’s lead accelerator customer are ramping twice as fast as HBM3E 12-high, and the company has already booked more than $1 billion in HBM4 revenue. That mix shift is the single most important driver behind the margin story that turned Micron shares into a mega-cap trade.

Peers Reveal the Cycle Trade The peer group frames this move as a cycle bet, with company-specific execution playing a supporting role. SanDisk delivered fiscal Q4 2026 revenue of $8.96 billion, up 371.6% year over year, and guided fiscal Q1 2027 revenue to $10.30 billion to $10.80 billion. Its heavier NAND exposure has produced the largest gain in the group.

SanDisk’s own commitments echo Micron’s. Signed New Business Model contracts cover more than 50% of fiscal 2027 bits and roughly two-thirds of fiscal 2028 bits, with total minimum revenue of $93.9 billion assuming floor pricing.

Western Digital, now a pure-play HDD name, posted fiscal Q4 2026 revenue of $3.747 billion and guided fiscal Q1 2027 to $4.1 billion, plus or minus $100 million. CEO Irving Tan stated, “As global data creation continues to accelerate, we enter fiscal year 2027 with continued confidence in the durability of demand.” All three names rallied together because the same demand curve lifted every supplier’s contract book.

Micron Stock’s Potential Path to $1,250 Getting MU stock to $1,250 requires only a modest additional move relative to what Micron shares have already covered. Analyst consensus points that direction, with an average target of $1,513.11 and 44 buys against 4 holds. If HBM4 shipments continue tracking above plan and DRAM floors hold, Micron’s earnings power justifies further multiple expansion.

Estimate revisions back that up. Consensus fiscal-year 2027 EPS for Micron has climbed from $102.7224 ninety days ago to $155.0252, and analysts pushed 29 fiscal-year 2026 EPS estimates higher over the past 30 days against a single cut.

Polymarket traders remain more cautious. Their September 2026 Micron market prices $1,260 at a 16% probability and $1,200 at 25%. Contract activity isn’t underwriting a fast move through the target level.

What to Watch Next The bear case is straightforward. Micron’s management flagged “a meaningful moderation in the rate of price increases” in fiscal Q4, and any real crack in DRAM or NAND contract pricing would drag Micron and every peer in the complex. Investors sizing their exposure at these levels are underwriting the memory cycle itself, and their positions should account for a Micron beta of 2.22.

Micron reports its fiscal Q4 2026 later this month, and its guide will do the heavy lifting on whether $1,250 comes into view. Traders can watch for updates on HBM4 ramp progress, additional SCA closings, and any commentary on fiscal 2027 pricing, exactly the kind of new-high setup our free breakout rulebook was written for. Investors holding gains this large should keep their MU stock allocation sized to the cycle risk embedded in current prices, since the same forces that lifted the group can unwind together just as quickly.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Key Takeaways Amgen shares fell after Novartis' pelacarsen study missed its primary cardiovascular endpoint.Amgen's olpasiran is in phase III testing, with cardiovascular outcomes data still pending.Investors remain cautious about olpasiran's commercial opportunity until its outcomes data become available. Shares of Amgen (AMGN - Free Report) were down 5% in after-hours trading on Friday after Novartis (NVS - Free Report) announced that the phase III Lp(a)HORIZON study evaluating the latter’s investigational drug pelacarsen in patients with elevated lipoprotein (a) Lp(a) and established cardiovascular disease (CVD) did not meet its primary endpoint.

Year to date, shares of Amgen have rallied 36.3% compared with the industry’s rise of 11.1%.

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What Did NVS Study Show?The double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III Lp(a)HORIZON study is a cardiovascular outcomes study that assessed whether pelacarsen can reduce the incidence of four-point major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in 8,323 patients with elevated lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] levels and established cardiovascular disease.

Per Novartis, the study failed to meet its primary endpoint of reducing the risk of cardiovascular events compared with placebo in patients with elevated Lp(a) and established cardiovascular disease.

Treatment with pelacarsen substantially lowered Lp(a) levels, consistent with previous studies. However, this reduction did not translate into a lower risk of cardiovascular events in the overall study population. The primary endpoint was a composite of cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke and urgent coronary revascularization requiring hospitalization.

Novartis secured global rights from Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS - Free Report) to develop, manufacture and commercialize pelacarsen under a licensing and collaboration agreement.

Shares of Novartis and Ionis declined following the announcement of the news on Friday.

AMGN Stock FallsThe above study results are particularly relevant to Amgen because the company is developing olpasiran, an investigational siRNA therapy designed to reduce Lp(a) synthesis in the liver. Olpasiran is currently being evaluated in the phase III OCEAN(a)-Outcomes study in patients with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and elevated Lp(a).

It can be inferred that the setback faced by Novartis raises the risk profile around the broader Lp(a)-lowering field, including Amgen's Lp(a) program. The key concern is whether lowering Lp(a) can ultimately translate into fewer cardiovascular events. It remains to be seen how olpasiran performs in late-stage studies, as its phase III outcomes data are still pending.

Though Amgen's olpasiran is a different modality from pelacarsen, investors appear to remain cautious about the potential commercial opportunity for olpasiran until its cardiovascular outcomes data become available.

Per Amgen, if successfully developed, olpasiran has the potential to address an area of significant unmet medical need.

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

Crow s Nest Holdings LP reduced its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (NYSE:TSM – Free Report) by 17.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 185,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 40,000 shares during the quarter. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing accounts for 26.7% of Crow s Nest Holdings LP’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Crow s Nest Holdings LP’s holdings in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing were worth $88,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quattro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Strategic Advocates LLC raised its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 257.7% during the 1st quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 93 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. 16.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Trading Up 0.0% Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing stock opened at $429.07 on Monday. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. has a 1-year low of $237.90 and a 1-year high of $479.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $420.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $398.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 2.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.39.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The semiconductor company reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $39.89 billion during the quarter. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a return on equity of 39.25% and a net margin of 50.31%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. will post 16.52 earnings per share for the current year. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Cuts Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 10th will be paid a $1.0854 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 10th. This represents a $4.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling In related news, VP Bor-Zen Tien acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $74.39 per share, for a total transaction of $223,170.00. Following the purchase, the vice president owned 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $297,560. The trade was a 300.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Shyue-Shyh Lin bought 2,000 shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, July 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $71.71 per share, with a total value of $143,420.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president directly owned 28,269 shares in the company, valued at $2,027,169.99. This represents a 7.61% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders bought 19,512 shares of company stock valued at $1,450,270 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.11% of the company’s stock.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing News Summary Here are the key news stories impacting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing this week:

Positive Sentiment: TSMC is developing a three-hectare laboratory aimed at speeding supplier validation and addressing its advanced-packaging bottleneck. Because the facility is intended to improve production efficiency rather than add another multibillion-dollar fab, investors may view it as a relatively capital-efficient way to support growing AI-chip demand. TSMC Jumps as a Three-Hectare Lab Attacks Its Packaging Bottleneck Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs says the AI spending cycle may still be in its early stages, supporting the outlook for TSMC’s leading-edge manufacturing and packaging businesses. Goldman Sachs Says the AI Trade Is Barely Started Positive Sentiment: Citi identified TSMC as a stock to watch if Apple’s next premium iPhones, including a potential foldable model, command higher prices. More expensive devices could support Apple’s component spending and TSMC’s high-end chip demand. Apple’s New Foldable iPhone Could Cost $2,000 Positive Sentiment: Coverage points to rising demand for specialized cleaning chemicals and other materials required by advanced AI-chip fabs, reinforcing the view that TSMC’s strong margins are supported by a broad semiconductor supply chain. TSMC’s 67.7% Margin Now Needs Twice the Cleaning Chemistry Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary describes TSMC as a “picks-and-shovels” beneficiary of the AI buildout and argues that its customer diversification and manufacturing position may make it more attractive than many major technology stocks. TSMC Is a Better Buy Than Any of the Magnificent Seven Stocks Neutral Sentiment: Senior Vice President Shu-Hua Fang disclosed a purchase of 2,000 shares, increasing personal ownership by 32.23%. The insider buying is supportive sentiment, though the transaction was disclosed well after the purchase and is small relative to TSMC’s market value. SEC insider trading filing Negative Sentiment: One valuation analysis estimates TSMC may be about 9% above fair value, while its planned investments in Arizona and Europe increase capital requirements. Investors may therefore remain sensitive to execution risks, returns on new capacity, and any slowdown in AI spending. TSMC Could Be 9% Above Fair Value As Capex Plans Grow Analysts Set New Price Targets Several analysts recently commented on TSM shares. Weiss Ratings raised Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen cut Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $490.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $523.22.

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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is a leading pure-play semiconductor foundry that provides wafer fabrication and related services to the global semiconductor industry. Founded in 1987 by Morris Chang and headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, TSMC manufactures integrated circuits on behalf of fabless and integrated device manufacturers, offering contract chip production across a broad set of technologies and products.

TSMC’s service offering covers logic and mixed-signal process technologies, specialty processes for radio-frequency, power management and embedded memory, and advanced nodes used in mobile, high-performance computing and AI applications.

Read More Five stocks we like better than Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing AI Token Costs Are Changing the Hardware vs. Software Debate 3 ETFs That Could Move as Rate Expectations Shift 3 Stocks With September Catalysts Investors Shouldn’t Ignore Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Stock Falls on Weak Comps Despite Margin Gains Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TSM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (NYSE:TSM – Free Report).

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Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its position in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO – Free Report) by 2,043.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,416,634 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 1,350,533 shares during the quarter. Broadcom comprises about 1.3% of Fayez Sarofim & Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Fayez Sarofim & Co’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $535,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Broadcom in the second quarter valued at approximately $92,522,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Broadcom by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 58,737,097 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $18,179,719,000 after acquiring an additional 894,564 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Broadcom in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,302,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Broadcom by 129.3% in the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 110,048 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,061,000 after acquiring an additional 62,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Broadcom by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 10,503 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,968,000 after acquiring an additional 1,545 shares in the last quarter. 76.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Broadcom Stock Performance NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $357.89 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $383.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $377.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $1.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 45.71 and a beta of 1.44. Broadcom Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.96 and a twelve month high of $495.00.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 2nd. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $3.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.10. Broadcom had a net margin of 42.94% and a return on equity of 48.33%. The firm had revenue of $29.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. Broadcom’s quarterly revenue was up 85.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Broadcom Inc. will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Broadcom Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 21st. Broadcom’s payout ratio is currently 33.21%.

Key Headlines Impacting Broadcom Here are the key news stories impacting Broadcom this week:

Positive Sentiment: Investor interest in Broadcom’s AI opportunity remains strong. AI semiconductor revenue surged 221% year over year to $16.7 billion, while management raised its AI revenue outlook to approximately $115 billion for fiscal 2027 and $230 billion for fiscal 2028. Several analysts and commentators view the selloff as a buying opportunity. The Path to $230 Billion: Broadcom Outlines the Next Phase of Its AI Growth Story Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to see substantial upside despite some target reductions. Truist maintained a buy rating with a $520 target, while other firms cited targets ranging from $575 to $600. Macquarie upgraded Broadcom to Outperform, citing strong custom-chip growth and reduced concerns about customers developing chips internally. These Analysts Increase Their Forecasts On Broadcom Following Upbeat Q3 Earnings Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity provided another bullish trading signal: investors purchased roughly 373,000 call options, about 26% above average call volume. Broadcom also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, payable September 30 to eligible shareholders. Neutral Sentiment: Broadcom beat quarterly expectations with adjusted earnings of $3.32 per share versus a $3.22 consensus and revenue of $29.59 billion. The company’s long-term AI demand commentary was strong, but investors are focused on whether supply, power, land and data-center construction constraints can limit near-term shipments. Broadcom CEO Says AI Demand Could Be Significantly Higher Negative Sentiment: The main pressure remains Broadcom’s fourth-quarter revenue outlook of $34.8 billion, slightly below Wall Street’s roughly $35.0 billion expectation. The modest guidance miss, concerns about margin compression and customer concentration—including major AI customers—caused the initial sell-the-news reaction despite excellent AI growth. Negative Sentiment: Third Point disclosed that it exited its remaining Broadcom position during the second quarter. Although the holding was relatively small, the sale adds to caution around elevated valuation and expectations for the AI-chip cycle. Insider Buying and Selling In other Broadcom news, Director Gayla Delly sold 1,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.38, for a total transaction of $728,368.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 31,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,072,413.88. The trade was a 5.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Justine Page sold 1,602 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.86, for a total value of $598,923.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,514,884.36. The trade was a 8.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 61,644 shares of company stock valued at $24,016,214 over the last ninety days. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities analysts have issued reports on AVGO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Broadcom in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Lake Street Capital upgraded shares of Broadcom to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $515.00 price target (up from $500.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Broadcom from $500.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Broadcom from $550.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Broadcom presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $500.60.

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Broadcom Company Profile (Free Report)

Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company’s semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia.

On the semiconductor side, Broadcom’s portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon.

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Key Takeaways SMG plans to acquire Black Kow, adding organic amendments, mature manure and specialty soils.SMG aims to scale Black Kow nationwide through innovation and increased household penetration.Fiscal 2027-2029 targets include 2-4% sales growth, 5-8% EPS growth, and free cash flow above $275M. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (SMG - Free Report) is expanding its media and soil amendment portfolio as part of its multi-year SMG 2.0 growth plan by acquiring the Black Kow brand. The planned acquisition is built on SMG’s existing agreement, under which the company has been the exclusive producer, distributor and marketer of Black Kow since January 2026, with an option to buy. The company has announced its intention to exercise the option, with an expected close in October. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

The acquisition helps the company progress with its multi-year SMG 2.0 growth plan that is focused on achieving mid-range financial targets. Black Kow’s acquisition will aid innovation through revitalization of product lineups to drive premium growth by integrating it seamlessly into SMG’s core lawn and garden business. The portfolio will now additionally include organic amendments, mature manure and specialty soils.

Management expects the transaction to contribute to topline sales while maintaining the margin profile established by the company. The acquisition also underscores SMG’s disciplined capital allocation approach, with management describing it as a low-risk investment that is expected to support leverage ratio targets and be accretive to earnings per share beginning in the first year.

SMG plans to scale the Black Kow brand, a trusted 57-year-old name in the soil amendment category, through innovation and expand its availability nationwide by increasing household penetration. The deal also supports the company’s fiscal 2027-2029 growth algorithm, which targets 2-4% annual net sales growth, 50-100 basis points of adjusted gross margin improvement, 5-8% adjusted EPS growth, and free cash flow above $275 million.

SMG shares have lost 4.5% in the past year against the industry’s 11.5% growth.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

SMG’s Zacks Rank & Key PicksSMG currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold)

Some better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Neo Performance Materials Inc. (NOPMF - Free Report) , Carpenter Technology Corporation (CRS - Free Report) and Avient Corporation (AVNT - Free Report) .

While NOPMF currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), CRS and AVNT carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NOPMF’s 2026 earnings is pegged at $1.4 per share, indicating a 185.71% year-over-year increase. NOPMF’sshares have gained 84.1% over the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CRS’ fiscal 2027 earnings is pegged at $12.92 per share, indicating a rise of 20.07% year over year. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 8.39%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVNT’s current-year earnings is pinned at $3.2 per share, indicating a 13.48% year-over-year increase. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 3.4%. AVNT’sshares have gained 14.6% over the past year.

Key Takeaways CVS Health's Aetna turnaround gained traction as first-half adjusted operating income rose more than $2B. CVS Health raised 2026 Health Care Benefits adjusted operating income guidance to $5.03-$5.37B. Claims Assist Manager and Clinical Collaboration are helping CVS improve claims and provider coordination. CVS Health (CVS - Free Report) is executing a multi-year plan to restore Aetna, its insurance business, to target margins. The strategy focuses on disciplined pricing, better medical cost management, clinical programs and operational improvements. The benefits became more visible in the first half of 2026. Health Care Benefits adjusted operating income increased more than $2 billion year over year. In the second quarter, the medical benefit ratio (MBR) improved to 87.4% from 89.9% a year earlier. 

The company raised its 2026 Health Care Benefits adjusted operating income outlook to $5.03-$5.37 billion. This is more than $1 billion above its previous guidance. The company now expects a full-year MBR of about 89.75%, within a range of 89.5-90.0%. Aetna’s profitability is expected to improve further over the next couple of years as the business moves toward its target margins.

Operational initiatives are also supporting the recovery. Aetna’s Claims Assist Manager is designed to reduce processing time for complex manually reviewed claims by more than 20%. CVS is also expanding its Aetna Clinical Collaboration program to improve coordination with healthcare providers. These efforts should help CVS rebuild Aetna’s profitability while strengthening member and provider engagement.

Peer UpdateMcKesson (MCK - Free Report) continues to expand its community-based specialty platform through the U.S. Oncology Network and related assets. In first-quarter fiscal 2027, Oncology & Multispecialty revenues increased 33% and adjusted operating profit rose 41%. Prescription Technology Solutions continues to benefit from demand for access and affordability programs across therapeutic categories. McKesson also began supporting the CMS Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program, where 95% of submitted prior authorization requests receive a determination within 30 minutes. 

Align Technology (ALGN - Free Report) continues to broaden the clinical reach of the Invisalign portfolio beyond traditional adult and teen alignment. The Invisalign Palatal Expander, Invisalign First and Invisalign with Mandibular Advancement featuring Occlusal Blocks expand treatment options for growing patients and more complex cases. In the second quarter, teen and growing-patient treatment starts increased 7.2% year over year to 240,000 cases. 

Align is also extending the portfolio through DSP touch-up cases, patient-specific financing options and products with fewer or no additional aligners.

CVS’ Price Performance, Valuation and EstimatesOver the past three months, CVS Health shares have risen 0.8% compared with the industry’s 11.9% growth. 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

CVS shares are trading at a forward five-year price-to-sales ratio of 0.29, lower than the industry average of 0.50. The stock has a Value Score of A.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The consensus estimate for the company’s 2026 earnings has been showing a bullish trend. 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

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

Key Takeaways Workday shares gained 49.7% in three months as Q2 revenues rose 12.8% and non-GAAP EPS climbed 24.4%.AI products topped $100M in new ACV, while agentic AI ARR neared $600M after rising more than 200%.Workday raised fiscal 2027 non-GAAP margin guidance to 31%, as backlog and 97% retention support visibility. Workday, Inc. (WDAY - Free Report) shares have gained 49.7% in the past three months, sharply outpacing the broader market. The move puts the durability of the advance in focus as investors weigh stronger operating results against the speed of the recent share-price move.

Subscription growth, rising AI monetization and expanding margins provide fundamental support. Valuation, competitive pressure, longer sales cycles and implementation complexity remain important checks on how much of that operating improvement can translate into further upside.

Workday's 49.7% Rally Meets Stronger Q2 ResultsIn the second quarter of fiscal 2027, revenues increased 12.8% year over year to $2.65 billion. Non-GAAP earnings rose 24.4% to $2.75 per share. Both topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate, which called for revenues of $2.63 billion and earnings of $2.62 per share.

Subscription services generated $2.47 billion, up 13.9%, and represented about 93% of total revenues. That mix gives Workday a recurring-revenue base alongside the recent share-price advance.

WDAY's AI Adoption Is Turning Into Contract ValueAI products generated more than $100 million of new annual contract value in the quarter and accounted for more than 25% of total new ACV. Agentic AI annual recurring revenues approached $600 million, rising more than 200% year over year and 20% sequentially.

More than 5,500 customers were using at least one organic Workday agent, up more than 35% from the prior quarter. More than half of net new wins included one or more AI solutions, and more than 200 customers had signed up for Flex Credits.

Workday's Backlog and Retention Support VisibilityTwelve-month subscription revenue backlog increased 14.2% to $9.03 billion, while total subscription backlog rose 8% to $27.4 billion. Those contracted commitments add visibility to Workday's recurring subscription model.

Gross revenue retention held near 97%. Expansion among existing customers drove roughly 60% of subscription revenue growth, while the remaining 40% came from customers added after the start of the comparable prior-year period.

WDAY's Margin Gains Add Weight to the RallyNon-GAAP operating margin expanded to 31.1% from 29%, with non-GAAP operating income rising 21% to $824 million. Workday attributed the improvement to revenue growth outpacing headcount growth and moderated operating expenses.

Management raised fiscal 2027 non-GAAP operating margin guidance to 31% and expects at least two additional percentage points of expansion in fiscal 2028. The targets matter because total costs and expenses still increased 11% in the July quarter.

Workday's Valuation Tests How Much Upside Is LeftWorkday's forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio is 4.17, slightly above the sub-industry's 4.07 but below its five-year median of 6.73.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Oracle Corporation (ORCL - Free Report) is a peer in human capital management (HCM), keeping competitive pressure on similar enterprise workflows. SAP SE (SAP - Free Report) is another HCM peer, adding to pricing and product competition. Longer sales cycles and complex implementations can also constrain growth and valuation support over time.

WDAY's Mixed Style Scores Temper the Momentum CaseThe near-term setup looks balanced. Operating momentum is improving, but competition, execution and valuation still matter when assessing whether the rally can extend.

WDAY carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), which points to a middle-of-the-road short-term setup rather than a top-rated signal. Its Growth Score of A is favorable, but the Value Score of D and Momentum Score of F are weak. The VGM Score of C leaves the combined style profile mixed. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Key Takeaways Nasdaq completed its acquisition of Dasseti, expanding its institutional investment-technology capabilities. Dasseti's AI automates due diligence and monitoring, reducing manual processes for institutional investors. NDAQ can leverage Dasseti's 17,000-manager ecosystem and $34 trillion in AUM to broaden client relationships. Nasdaq, Inc. (NDAQ - Free Report) has completed its acquisition of Dasseti, an AI-powered due diligence and monitoring platform serving investment consultants, institutional investors and asset managers. Announced in July 2026 and completed on Sept. 2, the transaction expands Nasdaq’s institutional investment-technology capabilities, although financial terms were not disclosed.

Dasseti helps institutional investors automate the evaluation and ongoing monitoring of investment managers and funds. Its technology streamlines due-diligence questionnaires, RFPs and monitoring workflows, using AI to reduce manual processes and organize investment-related information more efficiently. Nasdaq plans to integrate Dasseti into eVestment, extending the platform beyond manager research and selection into due diligence and ongoing monitoring.

The acquisition also gives Nasdaq access to Dasseti’s ecosystem of roughly 17,000 asset managers and general partners representing $34 trillion in AUM, creating opportunities to broaden relationships with institutional clients. Nasdaq Ventures previously invested in Dasseti in 2022, providing Nasdaq with familiarity with the platform before the acquisition.

The deal is strategically positive for NDAQ because it strengthens the company’s Data & Technology Solutions franchise and supports its shift toward higher-value data, analytics, AI and workflow technology. By combining eVestment’s institutional investment data with Dasseti’s due-diligence and monitoring capabilities, Nasdaq can offer clients a more comprehensive investment-management workflow and potentially create additional recurring technology and data revenues through cross-selling. The key opportunity is not the near-term financial contribution from Dasseti, but its potential to make eVestment more deeply embedded in clients’ investment processes and enhance Nasdaq’s long-term growth in institutional data and technology.

What About Its Peers?Cboe Global Markets, Inc.’s (CBOE - Free Report) acquisitions have largely focused on building out market-data, analytics and trading-technology capabilities. For example, Cboe acquired Hanweck, FT Options and Trade Alert, combining volatility analytics, options data and real-time trading intelligence. Cboe says the acquisitions were designed to integrate complementary datasets and technology, strengthening its market-data offering and giving clients tools across the trading lifecycle. Cboe recently shifted toward core derivatives, data and emerging-market opportunities, while divesting non-core businesses such as Cboe Canada and Australia.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc.’s (ICE - Free Report) strong example of an acquisition is Black Knight, which was completed in September 2023 for approximately $11.8 billion. Black Knight added mortgage software, data and analytics capabilities to ICE, complementing its earlier acquisitions of Ellie Mae, Simplifile and MERS and helping ICE build an end-to-end digital mortgage ecosystem. The combination brought together loan-origination, servicing, closing, consumer-engagement and data/analytics capabilities, allowing ICE to automate more of the mortgage lifecycle and generate additional recurring, technology-driven revenues.

NDAQ’s Price PerformanceShares of NDAQ have gained 2% in the past year, outperforming the industry.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

NDAQ’s OvervaluationThe stock is overvalued compared with its industry. It is currently trading at a price-to-earnings multiple of 21.43, higher than the industry average of 21.42.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Estimate Movement for NDAQThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for NDAQ’s third-quarter and fourth-quarter 2026 EPS has moved up 3% and 2.8%, respectively, in the past 60 days. The same for full-year 2026 and 2027 EPS has moved up 4.8% and 5.6%, respectively, in the past 60 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

AI-themed tokens have recently seen renewed capital rotation. Bittensor [TAO] is in the middle of fresh market demand. In fact, the market cap of AI coins jumped by 5% to $19 billion while trading volume skyrocketed by 18% to $3.97 billion.

Amid this sector-wide capital flow, TAO has shown strong upside pressure, extending its upsurge after previously flipping $250 to reach a high of $277. The coin has not reached these levels since June.

As of this writing, Bittensor was trading around $272, up 13.4% on the daily charts. At the same time, market cap crossed $3 billion while the trading volume rose 164% to $558 million. 

TAO pumped strongly as it went live on Raydium. The integration connected decentralized AI infrastructure with Solana’s DeFi capital. Since Raydium leverages Solana’s user base, with the integration, TAO now has a wider user base. 

One area that TAO benefits the most is integration with memecoin  launchpads, especially StonkFun. In fact, after it went live, a Bittensor memecoin was launched on Solana called BUTT. 

BUTT’s market cap rose to over $6 million. However, BUTT’s holders had to swap to TAO first, which in turn drove the price for TAO. 

Demand for Bittensor on the rise again Incentivized by the expanded reach, investors have increased capital deployment significantly. On the Spot side, for example, the market has recorded a positive delta for five consecutive days. 

Source: Coinalyze Coinalyze data showed that Bittensor recorded 265k in buy volume with the buy/sell delta rising to 24k. This indicated buyer dominance on the Spot market.

On the derivatives side, traders have also increased participation. In fact, the altcoin’s Open Interest surged $428 million, marking a four-month high.

Source: CoinGlass With OI rising to May levels, it suggests traders have opened new positions, both shorts and longs, a clear sign of increased speculation.

Historically, strong speculative demand and Spot accumulation have strengthened momentum, leading to more gains on the price charts.

Is the uptrend sustainable? Bittensor is under strong bullish pressure amid renewed market interest and capital rotation. The expanded user base with the memecoin launch on Raydium has strengthened the uptrend.

A look at the MACD showed that the momentum indicator formed a bullish crossover and climbed to 10. At the same time, the Awesome Oscillator rose to 22, holding green for two consecutive days.

Source: Tradingview Rising MACD and AO reflect buyer dominance in the market. Often, such a setup has resulted in some more gains.

Therefore, if the market conditions hold, Bittensor will close above $280 and eye the $300 resistance level. However, if the speculation around Raydium integration fades, TAO will retrace to $234.

Final Summary TAO surged 13%, to reach a three-month high of $277, then retraced to $267 at press time. The main catalysts were Raydium’s integration and the launch of BUTT memecoin, which brought in more demand. 

Petco Health and Wellness Today

WOOF

Petco Health and Wellness

$2.70 0.00 (0.00%)

As of 09/4/2026 04:00 PM Eastern

$2.24▼

$3.9627.00

$3.42

At a surface level, Petco Health and Wellness NASDAQ: WOOF looks like a company that would be a solid defensive stock for times like these. 

Data from the American Pet Products Association forecasts that Americans will spend $165 billion on their pets in 2026, an increase of 4.4% from 2025.

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That low single-digit growth didn't show up in WOOF's latest revenue numbers, which were flat year over year (YOY). But does that justify a 4% drop in the company's stock price? 

The report had some positives, and even more importantly, the market has been pricing the stock for failure for so long that it may be setting up an opportunity for risk-tolerant investors.

The Good and the Bad From Petco's EarningsIn the second quarter of Petco's 2027 fiscal year, the company booked net sales of $1.49 billion, essentially flat against the year-ago period, with comparable sales up 0.6%. That marked the second straight quarter of positive comps.

Management pinned some of the topline softness on a rockier-than-expected rollout of a relaunched membership program. Specifically, point redemptions came in heavier than anticipated right out of the gate, pulling sales forward and creating a short-term drag.

That could be a sign of a stressed consumer. However, Petco said sales were tracking ahead of its internal targets before the relaunch hit.

On the bottom line, the story looks better. Gross profit rose to $591.1 million, a 39.7% margin, up 37 basis points from a year ago. But that came with a caveat. About $6.8 million of that improvement came from a net benefit tied to IEEPA tariff refunds. If that gets stripped out, the normalized gross margin was roughly flat YOY.

Operating income still climbed 11.1% to $47.8 million, and net income more than doubled to $38.7 million from $14 million in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $122.2 million versus $113.9 million a year ago, or $115.4 million on a normalized basis excluding the tariff item.

Petco also made real progress on its balance sheet. First-half free cash flow improved to $60.8 million, up from just $9.9 million over the same stretch in 2025, and total debt fell to $1.48 billion from $1.59 billion a year earlier.

After the quarter closed, the company voluntarily prepaid another $75 million of debt, bringing total prepayments to $170 million over the past nine months as it works toward a leverage target of 2x net debt to Adjusted EBITDA.

Petco's Turnaround Strategy Is Gaining TractionCEO Joel Anderson framed the results as evidence that the company's "Reach for the Sky" turnaround strategy is gaining traction, particularly in consumables, while CFO Sabrina Simmons pointed to the prepayment as a sign of the company balancing growth investment against deleveraging.

Petco left its full-year guidance unchanged, calling for net sales flat to up 1.5% and adjusted EBITDA of $415 million to $430 million, while guiding Q3 sales growth of 0.4% to 1.0% and adjusted EBITDA of $100 million to $103 million. Management also flagged initiatives for the back half of the year—including a rollout of Hill's Pet Nutrition fresh dog food and continued growth in cat products—as levers to reaccelerate the top line.

WOOF May Be Forming a BottomIt's always tough to call a bottom for a stock. That said, the WOOF chart suggests the worst may already be priced in. Since May 2026, the stock has found support near $2.50, which is close to its closing price on Sept. 4.

But there are concerns. WOOF has been finding support near the descending 200-day moving average, which has marked resistance.

Complicating things further is the lack of institutional ownership. Only about 6% of the WOOF float is sold short, but with a lack of institutional buyers, traders can have an outsized influence on price action. That was the case on the day after the earnings report, when the stock was down over 4% with nearly five times the normal trading volume.

Petco Health and Wellness Stock Forecast Today12-Month Stock Price Forecast:
$3.42
26.67% Upside

Reduce
Based on 9 Analyst Ratings

Current Price$2.70High Forecast$5.00Average Forecast$3.42Low Forecast$2.11Petco Health and Wellness Stock Forecast Details

How to Approach Petco After EarningsAnalyst coverage of WOOF is light, and ratings from the group tracked by MarketBeat are mixed. Out of nine analysts, two have a Sell rating, and the consensus rating is Reduce.

However, the consensus price target of $3.42 offers 32% upside. For that upside to materialize, the company will need to show strong improvement, not only with margins but with its growth investments.

The bottom line is, as much as WOOF seems like the right stock for the right time, there are better options for investors with a speculative itch to scratch.

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

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Super Micro has outpaced the S&P 500 this year, yet its peers left it far behind, and a key cash flow problem explains why the $50 price target remains out of reach for now.

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AI infrastructure was the dominant equity story of 2026, and the leaderboard inside that theme separates the three biggest server names sharply. For the bigger-picture context, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) is up 13% year to date through Friday’s close while the iShares U.S. Technology ETF (NYSE ARCA:IYW) has rallied 26% in 2026 so far. Amid that backdrop, three AI-server providers have posted very different results.

Notably, Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI | SMCI Price Prediction) stock closed Friday at $39.59, up 35% year to date. Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) stock ended at $524.14, up 320% year to date. Meanwhile, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) stock finished at $52, up 118% year to date.

That ranking reads as a market verdict on margin quality and cash generation, since AI-server demand itself remains historically strong across all three names. The $50 threshold in the title sits above where sell-side analysts currently see fair value, and the rating mix leans toward hold rather than buy, though the same buildout is lifting a wider set of suppliers we broke down in a free report on the AI infrastructure names beyond the chipmakers.

What Drove Super Micro’s Year Super Micro Computer did most of its year’s work in a single August window. The company reported Q4 FY2026 non-GAAP EPS of $1.70 against a $0.9575 consensus, on revenue of $11.12 billion that grew 93.2% year over year. Non-GAAP gross margin jumped to 17.6% from 10.1% the prior quarter.

CEO Charles Liang disclosed more than $60 billion in new orders during the quarter and record backlog entering fiscal 2027. Super Micro’s management guided its FY2027 revenue to a range of $65 billion to $72 billion, well above FY2026’s $39.1 billion. That combination of margin recovery and forward book is what pulled SMCI stock off of its April low of $27.

Why the Diversified Peers Ran Further Dell Technologies is the standout of the group. Dell reported Q2 FY2027 non-GAAP EPS of $7.04 on revenue of $46.97 billion, booked $60.9 billion in AI orders during the quarter, and lifted full-year revenue guidance to $192 billion with AI-server revenue guided to $74 billion. The company also produced $2.2 billion in operating cash flow and returned a record $4.3 billion to shareholders in the quarter.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise reported Q3 FY2026 non-GAAP EPS of $1.11 on revenue of $12.21 billion, with networking revenue up 74.9% year over year. Furthermore, HPE raised its FY2026 non-GAAP EPS guidance to $3.75 to $3.85 and framed FY2027 free cash flow at a minimum of $5 billion. Both peers turned AI demand into cash this year, while Super Micro Computer’s FY2026 operating cash flow came in at negative $6.8 billion on a $12.9 billion inventory build.

What Would Push SMCI to $50 Getting SMCI stock from $39.59 to $50 asks the market to pay a higher multiple than sell-side analysts currently model. The path runs through the fiscal 2027 report cycle. Super Micro’s Q1 FY2027 guidance calls for revenue of $14.5 billion to $15.5 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $1.01 to $1.10, and the company needs to land in the upper half of both ranges while defending the Q4 gross-margin step-up.

Cash is the second lever. Super Micro Computer’s fiscal 2026 operating cash flow of negative $6.8 billion is the counterweight to the margin story, and CFO David Weigand pointed to improved backlog terms as the mechanism for repairing it. Stronger DCBBS mix, cleaner working capital, and closure on the board’s independent review of export-control-related transactions would each support a rerating toward the $50 mark.

What to Watch Super Micro’s Q1 FY2027 report is the next real test, and it arrives with a guide that leaves little room to disappoint on either revenue or gross margin. Investors sizing their exposure to SMCI stock can watch for a repeat of the Q4 gross-margin step-up and for the first signs that operating cash flow is turning.

Investors can check for updates on the board’s independent review, which remains an open item and a clear overhang. Position-sizing matters here given SMCI stock’s beta near 2 and a 52-week range that runs from $19.48 to $58.78. Keeping one’s Super Micro Computer share positions modest is a reasonable approach until the cash-conversion cycle improves.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Key Takeaways Ares Management shares have gained 28.8% in six months, outperforming the industry and the S&P 500.Ares Management AUM rose 17% to $671.3B, while fee-paying AUM climbed 17% to $409.9B as of June 30, 2026.ARES' rising expenses and debt, plus a 27.11X P/E, point to near-term pressure and a premium valuation. Shares of Ares Management (ARES - Free Report) have jumped 28.8% in the past six months, outperforming the industry's 15.3% growth. In the same time frame, the S&P 500 has rallied 13.1%.

Also, the company’s shares have fared better than its peers like Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (AMP - Free Report) and Federated Hermes (FHI - Free Report) . In the past six months, Ameriprise Financial and Federated Hermes shares have gained 21.5% and 12.8%, respectively.

6-Month Price Performance

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Does ARES stock have more upside left despite recent price strength? Let us find out by looking at its fundamentals and growth prospects.

Key Factors Supporting Ares ManagementStrong AUM growth: Ares Management’s expanding assets under management (AUM) continues to strengthen its recurring fee base and support long-term revenue growth. Total AUM rose 17% year over year to $671.3 billion as of June 30, 2026, while fee-paying AUM increased 17% to $409.9 billion. This builds on a 26.9% AUM compound annual growth rate (CAGR) during 2019-2025 and reflects sustained demand for private credit, growing fundraising through the wealth management channel, and higher insurance-related allocations. With investor interest in private credit, real assets, and secondaries remaining strong, Ares Management’s $170 billion of available capital provides significant capacity for further investment and fundraising. Continued capital deployment and fundraising should support additional growth in AUM and fee-paying AUM.

AUM Growth Trend

Image Source: Ares Management

Organic Expansion: Ares Management’s growing fee-paying asset base continues to provide a strong foundation for organic revenue and earnings growth. Revenues increased at a 21.2% CAGR during 2019-2025, supported by sustained growth in management and performance fees. This momentum continued in the first half of 2026, with the company benefiting from continued expansion across its investment platforms as well as contributions from the GCP International acquisition. Management expects organic fee-related earnings (FRE) to grow 16-20% or more annually and realized income to increase more than 20% annually over the medium term. Continued fundraising, capital deployment and scaling of private credit and real assets strategies should support fee-paying AUM growth and provide further upside to recurring management fee revenues.

Strategic Acquisitions: Ares Management’s strategic acquisitions continue to strengthen its investment capabilities, diversify its product offerings and expand its addressable market. The February 2026 acquisition of BlueCove enhanced Ares Management's systematic fixed-income capabilities, while the GCP International acquisition expanded its real assets and digital infrastructure platform. Earlier acquisitions, including Landmark Partners, Black Creek Group and SSG Capital Holdings, added scale in secondaries, U.S. real estate and Asian private credit.

By adding complementary capabilities and broadening distribution channels, these transactions enhance Ares Management’s ability to capture growing investor demand across alternative asset classes while creating additional opportunities for AUM, fee-paying assets and long-term revenue growth.

Shareholder Returns: Ares Management’s strong earnings and cash generation support continued shareholder returns through dividends and potential share repurchases. The company declared a second-quarter 2026 dividend of $1.35 per share, more than 20% higher than the year-ago level, while management targets long-term annual dividend growth of more than 20%. Additionally, the board renewed its $750-million Class A share repurchase authorization through March 2027.

Although no shares were repurchased in the first half of 2026, the authorization provides flexibility to return excess capital to shareholders while maintaining capacity to fund growth initiatives. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $5.94 per share for 2026 and $7.34 per share for 2027, indicating year-over-year growth of 24.8% and 23.5%, respectively, supporting the company’s ability to sustain and grow shareholder distributions.

Earnings Estimate

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Ares Management Near-Term HeadwindsAres Management’s rising operating expenses and elevated debt levels could weigh on near-term financial performance and financial flexibility. Total expenses increased at a 21.5% CAGR during 2019-2025, with the upward trend continuing in the first half of 2026, driven primarily by higher compensation and benefits, investments in fundraising and platform expansion, and acquisition and integration costs related to GCP International and BlueCove.

At the same time, corporate debt obligations increased to $4.58 billion as of June 30, 2026, from $3.94 billion at the end of 2025, while cash and cash equivalents were $557.1 million. The company also had $1.62 billion drawn on its revolving credit facility, with $885 million remaining available. Continued spending on platform expansion and integration, coupled with elevated debt obligations, could put pressure on near-term profitability and liquidity, particularly if economic conditions deteriorate.

Ares Management Valuation AnalysisIn terms of its valuation, Ares Management stock is currently trading at a trailing 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 27.11X, compared with the industry average of 17.64X. This indicates that ARES is currently trading at a premium to its industry.

Price-to-Earnings TTM

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Ares Management also trades at a premium compared with Ameriprise Financial and Federated Hermes. At present, Ameriprise Financial and Federated Hermes trade at a trailing 12-month P/E of 13.01X and 11.6X, respectively.

Final Thoughts in ARESDespite Ares Management’s robust AUM growth, expanding fee-paying asset base and continued strategic progress across its core investment platforms, the stock’s current risk-reward profile appears balanced.

The company continues to benefit from healthy fundraising, strong capital deployment, and solid earnings momentum, which should support long-term revenue growth and shareholder returns. However, elevated operating expenses and acquisition-related costs remain key concerns. In addition, rising corporate debt and greater utilization of its revolving credit facility could constrain financial flexibility.

Continued investments in platform expansion may also weigh on near-term profitability, particularly if AUM growth slows, fundraising conditions soften, or expense growth remains elevated. Moreover, the stock’s premium valuation leaves limited room for execution missteps and warrants a cautious stance at current levels.

Given these factors, prospective investors may prefer to wait for a more attractive entry point.

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

Key Takeaways Archer launched its No Roads tour after completing more than 70 test flights in August.The tour will test Midnight across multiple routes, airports and operating environments with FAA coordination.Archer plans to use the campaign to prepare for eIPP flights, LA28 and planned passenger services. Archer Aviation Inc. (ACHR - Free Report) is expanding its real-world flight activity as it moves closer to planned air taxi operations. On Sept. 3, 2026, Archer launched its No Roads flight tour, a multi-city campaign beginning in Northern California and expected to extend to Los Angeles, Texas and Florida. The initiative follows more than 70 test flights completed in August and a recent piloted roundtrip between Salinas and Monterey, CA.

The tour is designed to take the Midnight aircraft across a broader set of locations. Planned destinations include Hollister, Monterey, San Martin, San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco, CA, with flights being coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration. Operating across multiple locations could provide Archer with additional experience in handling different routes, airports and operating environments before broader passenger operations begin.

The higher flight tempo could also offer another test of Midnight’s ability to support repeated operations. Archer designed the aircraft for high-frequency, short-distance trips with limited charging time between flights. Its flight-test campaign is also gathering safety-critical information to support certification. Increasing flight activity across multiple routes should help Archer evaluate aircraft performance as it prepares for early operations.

For Archer, the flight tour could represent another step in the transition from aircraft development toward operational execution. The company plans to use the campaign to support preparations for flights under the eVTOL Integration Pilot Program and its role at the LA28 Games. Successful execution across several markets could strengthen Archer’s operating readiness ahead of planned passenger services.

Other eVTOL Makers Expanding Flight-Test ActivityThe electric air mobility industry is moving deeper into flight testing as developers work toward certification and commercial deployment. Companies like Joby Aviation, Inc. (JOBY - Free Report) and Eve Holding, Inc. (EVEX - Free Report) are also expanding flight programs to validate aircraft performance and prepare for future operations.

Joby Aviation has flown its first FAA-conforming aircraft and conducted piloted flights across the San Francisco Bay Area as it prepares for early eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (“eIPP”) operations.

Eve Holding has advanced its full-scale prototype into flight testing, completing dozens of flights while preparing for transition-flight evaluation and further certification work.

Earnings Estimates for ACHR StockThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 and 2027 earnings per share suggests a year-over-year decline of 52.38% and growth of 15.63%, respectively.

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ACHR Stock Is Trading at a DiscountArcher is trading at a discount relative to the industry, with a trailing 12-month price-to-book of 2.3X compared with the industry average of 5.89X.

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ACHR Stock Price PerformanceOver the past three months, ACHR shares have declined 0.3% compared with the industry’s 1.7% fall.

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

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7 September 2026 | 13:26 ARB has rallied roughly 111% from around $0.078 in early August, but the sharp rejection below $0.21 now makes revenue, activity and support levels decisive.

Key Takeaways Robinhood Chain created a DAO-income channel. ARB has no automatic revenue distribution. RWA figures show scale, not guaranteed liquidity. $0.154 is the immediate support level. ARB’s gain stood apart from the broader market move ARB traded near $0.165 on the Coinbase daily chart on September 7 at around 09:50 UTC, after rising from an early-August area around $0.078. The advance reached $0.206 before reversing, leaving the token about 19.6% below its recent high at the time of the chart capture.

Arbitrum (ARB/USD) price gaining 111% since early August. CoinGecko data showed ARB up about 90% over seven days, while total crypto market capitalization had gained about 2.4% over the same period. That performance gap suggests traders were also responding to Arbitrum-specific developments.

Robinhood Chain introduced a new income stream for ArbitrumDAO One important factor is the commercial structure behind Robinhood Chain. The network launched on public mainnet on July 1 as a dedicated Arbitrum chain that settles to Ethereum. Under the Arbitrum Expansion Program, 10% of its protocol net revenue is allocated to the ecosystem: 8% to the ArbitrumDAO treasury and 2% to the Arbitrum Developer Guild.

The distinction between net revenue and gross transaction fees matters. Not every fee paid by a Robinhood Chain user becomes DAO income. Still, the agreement gives ArbitrumDAO a measurable economic interest in the chain’s activity. ArbitrumDAO’s Robinhood Chain factsheet says the treasury share is routed through the AEP fee router and included in regular DAO financial reporting.

Robinhood’s stock-token products, lending services and liquidity applications operate on that infrastructure. This earlier look at how Robinhood Chain’s transactions connect to Arbitrum explains why the relationship matters beyond a standard technology partnership.

In a late-August update, the Arbitrum Foundation said Robinhood Chain had generated more than $800,000 in revenue over the preceding seven days. The figure showed that the arrangement was already producing activity worth monitoring, although a one-week run rate cannot establish long-term income. The Foundation’s update annualized that pace at roughly $42 million.

DAO income does not automatically become ARB income Robinhood Chain can strengthen the DAO treasury, but ARB does not currently give holders an automatic right to that revenue. There is no built-in buyback, dividend or distribution mechanism tied to the AEP payments.

A larger treasury can fund ecosystem spending, but only through future DAO decisions. It can support grants, security work, liquidity programs and product development, while making governance over those assets more consequential. The rally can therefore be read as a bet on ecosystem growth and governance value, rather than a direct revenue-yield trade.

That is also the key risk in the current narrative. Sustained Robinhood Chain revenue would improve the DAO’s position, but the market will eventually need to see how that income is used if it is to support a higher long-term valuation for ARB.

Arbitrum’s first-half figures gave traders fresh evidence The Arbitrum Foundation’s first-half 2026 report, published on September 2, showed that the DAO already had several income sources beyond the Robinhood arrangement. It reported $6.19 million in total first-half income from transaction fees, Timeboost, Arbitrum Expansion Program licence fees and treasury income, with gross margins of 97% across those revenue streams.

The report also listed $125 million in non-ARB treasury assets as of June 30. Arbitrum processed 478 million transactions during the first half of the year and averaged more than $70 billion in monthly stablecoin transfer volume, according to the Foundation’s progress update.

These figures do not show that the report caused ARB’s rally but they show that the DAO’s income is diversified and that Robinhood Chain is joining an ecosystem with an established activity base.

RWA data shows scale, but not necessarily liquidity RWA.xyz lists $972.96 million in distributed asset value and $24.55 million in represented asset value on Arbitrum. The platform recorded 9,706 RWA holders and $398.58 million in 30-day transfer volume.

Its 4,678 listed tokenized assets show the breadth of Arbitrum’s RWA footprint, but issuance does not automatically mean those assets trade actively. Many tokenized funds, debt instruments and securities are designed for long-term holding, restricted to eligible investors or traded through limited venues. The better evidence of growing use will be continued increases in holders, transfers and fee-paying activity.

RWA dashboards also use different methodologies. DeFiLlama puts Arbitrum’s active RWA market capitalization at $822.92 million, below RWA.xyz’s broader distributed and represented asset values. The difference is a reminder that tokenized-asset totals should be read as indicators of network scale, not as a single definitive measure of liquidity.

DeFiLlama also puts Arbitrum’s DeFi TVL at about $1.42 billion, alongside $3.59 billion in stablecoin market capitalization, $118.8 million in daily DEX volume and $734.8 million in daily perpetuals volume. Stablecoin totals can vary across dashboards because providers classify bridged, represented and native assets differently.

The latest data from growthepie shows 1.3 million transactions and 87,700 daily active addresses on Arbitrum. Those figures show that the network has an active user base, but they cannot determine how much of that activity came from Robinhood Chain, RWAs or other applications.

Infrastructure upgrades add to the institutional case Arbitrum’s recent technical work also fits the institutional-use narrative. ArbOS Elara, activated on August 20, added larger contract-size limits and programmable compliance controls for dedicated chains, alongside changes to fee and data-availability infrastructure. The Foundation has also outlined research into using zero-knowledge proofs to speed up settlement while retaining optimistic-rollup safeguards. Arbitrum’s August update described both developments.

Neither development proves a direct cause of the latest ARB move. They do help explain why a financial firm or tokenization issuer may view Arbitrum as infrastructure for a dedicated, regulated or high-volume product.

That fundamental backdrop explains why the breakout attracted attention. The chart now shows whether buyers are prepared to defend it.

Arbitrum (ARB/USD) daily price chart with Fibonacci levels and RSI indicator. ARB price levels to watch after the rejection The Fibonacci retracement is drawn from the $0.07028 swing low in July to the $0.20606 September rally high visible on the daily chart. ARB slipped below the 23.6% retracement at $0.17401, turning it into the first level buyers need to reclaim.

ARB price levels to watch

Key Fibonacci resistance and support zones

Price level

Why it matters

$0.206

Recent rally high and the main upside barrier.

$0.191–$0.206

The recent rejection zone where selling emerged.

$0.174

23.6% Fibonacci retracement; first resistance to reclaim.

$0.154

38.2% retracement and the first major support.

$0.138

50% retracement and the next downside level.

$0.122

61.8% retracement and deeper structural support.

$0.099

78.6% retracement near the longer-term average cluster.

A daily close above $0.174 would show that buyers have recovered the first lost Fibonacci level. That would reopen the path toward $0.191 and then $0.206. If daily closes hold above $0.154 but remain below $0.174, ARB would be consolidating after the rapid advance rather than confirming a new leg higher.

A close below $0.154 would put $0.138 in view, followed by $0.122. A deeper decline would bring the $0.099 retracement into focus. That area sits near the 200-day moving average at $0.09927; the 50- and 100-day averages are lower, near $0.093 and $0.088.

The chart showed volume rising during the breakout. Whether volume returns on a reclaim of $0.174, or grows on a break below $0.154, will help show which side has control after the first major pullback.

What would validate the rally from here? The rally coincided with a new DAO-income channel and stronger evidence of Arbitrum’s financial activity. The next evidence traders need is recurring revenue, not another headline.

Robinhood Chain’s reported net revenue should continue to appear in DAO financials, while RWA holders, transfer volume and broader network activity should keep growing alongside asset values. On the chart, ARB needs to hold $0.154 and reclaim $0.174 to show that the current move is becoming a defended trend rather than a short-lived repricing of future potential.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

Author

Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coindoo and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.

Investments in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure aren't showing any signs of slowing down. Industry bellwether Nvidia recently noted that the top five hyperscalers are on track to spend $800 billion in capital expenditure this year, followed by a significant jump to $1.3 trillion in 2027.

Nvidia management pointed out that the massive $2 trillion revenue backlog that hyperscalers are sitting on will encourage them to accelerate the AI infrastructure build-out. This is great news for Seagate Technology (STX +6.34%) investors, who have seen their investment in the data storage specialist more than triple in 2026, as of this writing.

Seagate stock has surged 208% so far this year. Investors can still buy this fast-growing company at an attractive valuation, and doing so could prove to be the smart move, given the potential upside it offers over the next three years.

Let's take a closer look at Seagate's catalysts and check why this AI stock is poised to soar higher.

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Seagate's growth rate is about to accelerateSeagate released its fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter results (for the quarter ended July 3) on July 29. The company's annual revenue increased by 34% to $12.2 billion. Even better, its earnings per share jumped by 92% year over year to $15.58.

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Seagate has been cashing in on the booming demand for storage in AI data centers. The company estimates that data storage demand could increase from 1.1 zettabytes (ZB) in 2024 to 2.4 ZB in 2028, clocking a compound annual growth rate of mid-20% during the forecast period, driven by AI-fueled demand. As a result, Seagate estimates that its total addressable market could jump from $13 billion in 2024 to $23 billion in 2028.

However, Seagate's growth rate in the previous fiscal year suggests that the end market is growing much faster than the company's expectations. That's not surprising, as AI data centers have been gobbling up hard-disk drive (HDD) capacity to store the massive amounts of data needed for AI model training, inference, and agentic AI applications.

The low-cost nature of HDDs sold by Seagate explains why these drives are reportedly sold out until the end of 2027, at least. The shortage of HDDs has led to higher prices. Market research firm TrendForce estimates that HDD prices increased by 10% sequentially in the second quarter. Further price increases can't be ruled out, as the major hyperscalers investing heavily in AI infrastructure are still struggling to procure sufficient storage capacity.

So, it is easy to see why Seagate anticipates stronger growth in the first quarter of fiscal 2027. The company's revenue guidance of $4.1 billion indicates a potential 56% increase from the year-ago period. Even better, the company projects a 180% year-over-year increase in adjusted earnings per share in the current quarter to $7.30 at the midpoint.

Seagate, therefore, is on track to clock a much bigger increase in revenue and earnings in the current quarter. What's more, Seagate's phenomenal growth is poised to continue into 2028, as management noted on the latest earnings call that "the vast majority of our nearline exabytes are now allocated into calendar 2028."

Seagate's customers are now looking to secure supply for 2029 and beyond, suggesting that the strong demand for AI-driven storage is here to stay. That's not surprising, as Seagate notes that data centers now account for 90% of its shipments.

Also, it is worth noting that Seagate is now benefiting from larger price increases due to the widening supply and-demand gap. Management points out that it is pricing its "increased output at a very good price right now," and added that the company won't shy away from capitalizing on the favorable demand-supply environment by hiking prices further.

As such, it is easy to see why analysts are forecasting Seagate's fiscal 2027 revenue to increase at a stronger pace of 54% to $18.78 billion, followed by robust growth over the next couple of years as well.

STX Revenue Estimates for Current Fiscal Year data by YCharts

The favorable pricing environment should pave the way for more upsideWe have seen that the favorable HDD demand and pricing environment is here to stay. The heavy investments in AI data centers, Seagate's ability to capitalize on them through long-term contracts, and the pricing power it enjoys will translate into healthy earnings-per-share growth.

Consensus estimates are projecting a 130% increase in Seagate's earnings per share in fiscal 2027 to $35.78. Importantly, Seagate is projected to maintain solid earnings growth over the next couple of years.

STX EPS Estimates for Current Fiscal Year data by YCharts

The good part is that investors can buy this tech stock at just 22 times forward earnings, a discount to the tech-laden Nasdaq-100 index's forward earnings multiple of 24. If Seagate's earnings per share indeed jump to $78.29 after three years and it trades in line with the Nasdaq-100 index's multiple at that time, its stock price could reach $1,879.

That's 121% higher than where Seagate stock is right now. So, this tech stock can still double on the back of solid earnings growth, which is why it makes sense to buy it while it trades at an attractive valuation.

Ark Invest, Cathie Wood's investment firm, has traded in and out of Tesla (TSLA -5.92%) stock for nearly a decade. It turns out, however, that the firm might have been better off never selling down its position.

In 2016, for example, Ark Invest acquired its first stake in Tesla at roughly $13 per share. In 2017, the firm purchased the stock every quarter at prices between $17 and $22 per share. In 2018, the buying continued through the first three quarters of the year at prices ranging from $20 to $22 per share.

In the fourth quarter of 2018, however, Ark Invest unloaded 5 million Tesla shares at roughly $21.50 per share, nearly cutting its stake in half. With Tesla stock now trading at nearly $400 per share, slashing its Tesla stake so early in the company's growth journey was clearly a mistake.

Over the years that followed, Wood would authorize many additional acquisitions and dispositions of Tesla stock. Some of the trades paid off. Others were regrettable. Still, Wood clearly understood the electric vehicle (EV) company's growth potential earlier than most investors or analysts.

Now, Wood is buying even more Tesla stock. After the company released its last quarterly report, Ark Invest plowed $50 million into Tesla stock, adding 160,000 shares to its holdings.

Wood remains exceptionally bullish on Tesla even at a $1.2 trillion market cap. Investors should be asking themselves why.

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Here's why Cathie Wood remains a major Tesla bull Tesla's valuation today clearly does not hinge on the company's ability to compete as an auto manufacturer. Tesla's EV sales declined in both 2024 and 2025. Sales have stabilized thus far in 2026, but growth rates are still likely to be far lower than what the company achieved in years prior.

Despite struggling EV sales, Tesla stock still trades at 12 times sales. That's a big premium to other EV stocks such as Rivian (RIVN -1.07%) and Lucid Group (LCID +1.74%), as well as traditional automakers including Ford (F +1.46%) and General Motors (GM +0.83%). That premium is largely tied to opportunities that, while related to EV manufacturing, have completely different economics. The biggest of those opportunities is the robotaxi market, which Cathie Wood predicts will grow into an industry worth as much as $10 trillion worldwide over the long term.

"We think $8 trillion to $10 trillion for the entire autonomous taxi opportunity throughout the world, from almost nothing," is possible, Wood told investors last March. "That's how quickly AI is going to cause these things to happen."

Image source: Tesla

By 2030, Wood predicts Tesla will have a share price of $2,600, with its robotaxi business accounting for 90% of that value. In short, Wood's investment thesis is heavily reliant not only on global robotaxi adoption, but also on Tesla's ability to take a large share of that emerging pie.

It's hard to argue that Tesla won't compete aggressively in the robotaxi market. The company's vertical integration is second to none. And on Sept. 3, the company announced a major Cybercab event that revealed that it would allow outside operators to purchase fleets of Cybercabs and operate them as robotaxi networks, with Tesla taking a cut of every ride. Tesla's ability to control manufacturing costs should allow it to scale faster than the competition.

Whether the robotaxi market will grow as Wood expects it to is a completely different question. Many of the factors that will impact its trajectory are outside Tesla's control, given that the expanding use of such self-driving vehicles will require many layers of regulatory approval and a significant degree of consumer acceptance. But the recent debut of the long-delayed Cybercab even proves that Wood's long-term Tesla thesis remains intact, even if plenty of execution risk remains.

Microsoft Corp. NASDAQ: MSFT shares closed at approximately $497 on Sept. 2, which is almost exactly where the stock started 2026. But for investors who owned MSFT at the start of the year, the current price is a relief.

Microsoft Today

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MSFT staged a record-setting post-earnings rally that erased months of losses in a single session. Before that rally, MSFT was down nearly 30% for the year on AI-spending anxiety, fears of the impact of artificial intelligence on software companies, and concerns over Copilot adoption.

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None of those have turned out to carry much weight, but that was little solace for shareholders. Net-net, the market still appears to be discounting Microsoft's growing Azure business.

In its most recent earnings report, Azure's growth accelerated, the backlog swelled, and management guided even higher. That means MSFT's post-earnings rally wasn't driven by new information about the quality of the business. The market is simply catching up to information that had been building for months.

MSFT Gets a Boost From Accelerating Azure GrowthThe bear case on Microsoft all year rested on one idea: cloud growth was cooling as AI infrastructure spending outpaced returns. That thesis took a direct hit in the Q4 2026 report. Azure and other cloud services revenue grew 43%, up from 40% in the prior quarter, and Azure crossed $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time. Management then guided to roughly 45% Azure growth for the current quarter.

That acceleration matters more than the raw growth number. A business decelerating from 46% to 40% tells one story about maturation. A business accelerating from 40% to 43%, with guidance pointing higher still, tells a different one entirely: demand is outrunning even Microsoft's aggressive infrastructure buildout, not shrinking against it.

Microsoft's $678 Billion Backlog Challenges AI Spending ConcernsCommercial remaining performance obligations (RPOs) rose 84% year-over-year to $678 billion. CFO Amy Hood noted the sequential growth came from customers outside the frontier AI labs.  That matters because it undercuts another common bearish argument: that Microsoft's cloud demand is a mirage propped up by a handful of AI labs burning venture capital.

That backlog represents signed commitments from a broad customer base, locked in ahead of revenue recognition. When a number that large accelerates that fast, it's telling you something the stock price, chopping sideways for a year, was not.

MSFT Valuation Hasn't Caught Up With Earnings GrowthEven after the post-earnings surge, Microsoft trades at roughly 26x forward earnings—below its own five-year average multiple. That's happening even as forward earnings per share (EPS) estimates have climbed steadily all year, and even as the company just posted its strongest quarter of the fiscal year in its most important growth driver.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Price Chart for Monday, September, 7, 2026

Normally, a stock re-rates upward when growth accelerates, and estimates rise in tandem. Microsoft's multiple compressions alongside rising estimates is the market saying, in effect, "we don't trust this growth to persist." That's a psychological stance, not a fundamentals-driven one—and it's the exact gap that tends to close, one way or another; once enough quarters confirm the trend.

Microsoft's AI Spend Remains the Biggest Risk to the Bull CaseIf Azure guidance holds at 45%+ and the backlog keeps converting into recognized revenue, a below-average multiple on an accelerating hyperscaler starts to look like the market hasn't finished repricing the stock. Investors who anchored to the "AI spend without payoff" narrative earlier in the year now have concrete, recent evidence that the payoff phase has begun.

However, investors should weigh the most significant risk. Capital expenditures (CapEx) are still enormous. Microsoft revised its 2026 CapEx outlook to roughly $175 billion by lengthening the assumed useful life of its data center assets.

If Azure growth stalls even briefly, or if the AI-lab-adjacent demand Hood described proves less durable than the broader commercial backlog suggests, the "shrug" the stock delivered this year could turn into something sharper.

For now, the more interesting question isn't whether Microsoft's fundamentals are strong—the quarter answered that decisively. It's why a stock sitting on 43% cloud growth, an 84% backlog surge, and rising earnings estimates is still valued below its own historical average. That gap between what the business is doing and what the multiple says investors believe about it is the actual story.

The Flat Chart May Signal a Sentiment ShiftWhat investors believe about a business can stay wrong for a long time. But eventually, the fundamentals make a case that's too strong to ignore. Microsoft investors who were pricing in decelerating cloud growth for most of 2026 got a data point in July that should have forced a real update to that belief.

However, the muted forward multiple suggests plenty of investors haven't fully made that update yet. Whether that gap closes with the stock re-rating higher or with fundamentals eventually validating the market's caution is a question worth tracking before Microsoft reports earnings in late October.

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Colony Family Offices LLC lifted its position in shares of NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA – Free Report) by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,627 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,732 shares during the quarter. NVIDIA makes up about 0.6% of Colony Family Offices LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Colony Family Offices LLC’s holdings in NVIDIA were worth $2,927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NVDA. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in NVIDIA in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in NVIDIA during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in NVIDIA by 47.9% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 207 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of NVIDIA in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Phillip James Consulting Co. bought a new stake in shares of NVIDIA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 65.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research firms recently commented on NVDA. Robert W. Baird set a $500.00 target price on NVIDIA and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Citic Securities upped their price target on NVIDIA from $242.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on NVIDIA from $300.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of NVIDIA in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of NVIDIA in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.83.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on NVDA Insider Activity at NVIDIA In other NVIDIA news, Director Mark Stevens sold 63,501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.06, for a total transaction of $13,974,030.06. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,558,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,003,202,926.20. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Teter sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.88, for a total value of $6,536,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,687,660 shares in the company, valued at $585,587,360.80. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 1,563,501 shares of company stock worth $335,380,530 over the last three months. 3.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NVIDIA Stock Performance NVIDIA stock opened at $230.36 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $202.19. The company has a quick ratio of 3.85, a current ratio of 4.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. NVIDIA Corporation has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $236.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 2.22.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The computer hardware maker reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $96.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.27 billion. NVIDIA had a net margin of 63.66% and a return on equity of 96.04%. The company’s revenue was up 105.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that NVIDIA Corporation will post 9.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NVIDIA Announces Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. NVIDIA’s dividend payout ratio is 12.64%.

NVIDIA announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 20th that permits the company to buyback $80.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the computer hardware maker to repurchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Headlines Impacting NVIDIA Here are the key news stories impacting NVIDIA this week:

Positive Sentiment: Hugging Face expands NVIDIA’s AI ecosystem: The acquisition gives NVIDIA access to Hugging Face’s open-source platform, which hosts millions of models, applications and datasets used by more than 18 million developers. Investors view the deal as a way to deepen CUDA adoption, strengthen NVIDIA’s software moat and position the company as an AI platform provider rather than solely a chip supplier. Management says Hugging Face will remain open to the broader AI ecosystem. Why NVIDIA’s defensive move to acquire Hugging Face is about much more than chips Positive Sentiment: New consumer AI revenue channel: Lenovo and Acer are expected to launch Windows PCs powered by NVIDIA’s RTX Spark chip in October. Local AI processing could expand NVIDIA’s addressable market while reducing reliance on cloud data centers. HP also announced new OmniBook PCs using RTX Spark technology. NVIDIA sets October launch for RTX Spark AI PCs Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and demand remain strong: Needham and Rosenblatt reaffirmed Buy ratings with price targets of $300 and $390, respectively. Recent earnings showed revenue growth above 100%, a 63.7% net margin and results ahead of consensus, while management’s long-term outlook continues to imply robust AI infrastructure spending. NVIDIA’s equity investments in companies such as OpenAI, CoreWeave and Nebius have also grown substantially, reinforcing its influence across the AI supply chain. NVIDIA has built a $99 billion equity portfolio Neutral Sentiment: Competitive and valuation considerations: NVIDIA remains dominant, but AMD, Broadcom and Intel are pursuing AI and server opportunities. Rising memory and optical-networking costs could pressure gross margins even if they confirm that demand exceeds supply. Negative Sentiment: Insider selling adds a cautionary signal: Director Mark Stevens sold roughly 648,500 shares in two transactions, while EVP Timothy Teter sold 30,000 shares. The sales were disclosed under planned transactions and represent small portions of their remaining holdings, limiting their significance but potentially weighing on sentiment. About NVIDIA (Free Report)

NVIDIA Corporation, founded in 1993 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a global technology company that designs and develops graphics processing units (GPUs) and system-on-chip (SoC) technologies. Co-founded by Jensen Huang, who serves as president and chief executive officer, along with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, NVIDIA has grown from a graphics-focused chipmaker into a broad provider of accelerated computing hardware and software for multiple industries.

The company’s product portfolio spans discrete GPUs for gaming and professional visualization (marketed under the GeForce and NVIDIA RTX lines), high-performance data center accelerators used for AI training and inference (including widely adopted platforms such as the A100 and H100 series), and Tegra SoCs for automotive and edge applications.

Featured Articles Five stocks we like better than NVIDIA AI Token Costs Are Changing the Hardware vs. Software Debate 3 ETFs That Could Move as Rate Expectations Shift 3 Stocks With September Catalysts Investors Shouldn’t Ignore Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Stock Falls on Weak Comps Despite Margin Gains

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Global Financial Private Client LLC boosted its stake in shares of NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA – Free Report) by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,664 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,331 shares during the quarter. NVIDIA accounts for approximately 1.8% of Global Financial Private Client LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Global Financial Private Client LLC’s holdings in NVIDIA were worth $6,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in shares of NVIDIA in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in NVIDIA during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in NVIDIA by 47.9% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 207 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NVIDIA in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Phillip James Consulting Co. purchased a new stake in shares of NVIDIA in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. 65.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NVIDIA In related news, EVP Timothy S. Teter sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.88, for a total value of $6,536,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,687,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $585,587,360.80. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mark A. Stevens sold 885,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.17, for a total transaction of $186,000,450.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,207,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,094,412,146.07. This trade represents a 14.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,563,501 shares of company stock valued at $335,380,530. Corporate insiders own 3.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In NVDA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $300.00 price objective on shares of NVIDIA and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of NVIDIA in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on NVIDIA from $307.00 to $346.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Craig Hallum raised their price target on NVIDIA from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of NVIDIA in a report on Monday, August 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NVIDIA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.83. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on NVDA

NVIDIA Price Performance NVDA stock opened at $230.36 on Monday. NVIDIA Corporation has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $236.54. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $210.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.19. The company has a quick ratio of 3.85, a current ratio of 4.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 2.22.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The computer hardware maker reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $96.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.27 billion. NVIDIA had a return on equity of 96.04% and a net margin of 63.66%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 105.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that NVIDIA Corporation will post 9.1 EPS for the current year.

NVIDIA declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 20th that permits the company to repurchase $80.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the computer hardware maker to purchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

NVIDIA Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. NVIDIA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.64%.

Key Stories Impacting NVIDIA Here are the key news stories impacting NVIDIA this week:

Positive Sentiment: Hugging Face expands NVIDIA’s AI ecosystem: The acquisition gives NVIDIA access to Hugging Face’s open-source platform, which hosts millions of models, applications and datasets used by more than 18 million developers. Investors view the deal as a way to deepen CUDA adoption, strengthen NVIDIA’s software moat and position the company as an AI platform provider rather than solely a chip supplier. Management says Hugging Face will remain open to the broader AI ecosystem. Why NVIDIA’s defensive move to acquire Hugging Face is about much more than chips Positive Sentiment: New consumer AI revenue channel: Lenovo and Acer are expected to launch Windows PCs powered by NVIDIA’s RTX Spark chip in October. Local AI processing could expand NVIDIA’s addressable market while reducing reliance on cloud data centers. HP also announced new OmniBook PCs using RTX Spark technology. NVIDIA sets October launch for RTX Spark AI PCs Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and demand remain strong: Needham and Rosenblatt reaffirmed Buy ratings with price targets of $300 and $390, respectively. Recent earnings showed revenue growth above 100%, a 63.7% net margin and results ahead of consensus, while management’s long-term outlook continues to imply robust AI infrastructure spending. NVIDIA’s equity investments in companies such as OpenAI, CoreWeave and Nebius have also grown substantially, reinforcing its influence across the AI supply chain. NVIDIA has built a $99 billion equity portfolio Neutral Sentiment: Competitive and valuation considerations: NVIDIA remains dominant, but AMD, Broadcom and Intel are pursuing AI and server opportunities. Rising memory and optical-networking costs could pressure gross margins even if they confirm that demand exceeds supply. Negative Sentiment: Insider selling adds a cautionary signal: Director Mark Stevens sold roughly 648,500 shares in two transactions, while EVP Timothy Teter sold 30,000 shares. The sales were disclosed under planned transactions and represent small portions of their remaining holdings, limiting their significance but potentially weighing on sentiment. NVIDIA Profile (Free Report)

NVIDIA Corporation, founded in 1993 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a global technology company that designs and develops graphics processing units (GPUs) and system-on-chip (SoC) technologies. Co-founded by Jensen Huang, who serves as president and chief executive officer, along with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, NVIDIA has grown from a graphics-focused chipmaker into a broad provider of accelerated computing hardware and software for multiple industries.

The company’s product portfolio spans discrete GPUs for gaming and professional visualization (marketed under the GeForce and NVIDIA RTX lines), high-performance data center accelerators used for AI training and inference (including widely adopted platforms such as the A100 and H100 series), and Tegra SoCs for automotive and edge applications.

Featured Articles Five stocks we like better than NVIDIA AI Token Costs Are Changing the Hardware vs. Software Debate 3 ETFs That Could Move as Rate Expectations Shift 3 Stocks With September Catalysts Investors Shouldn’t Ignore Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Stock Falls on Weak Comps Despite Margin Gains Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NVDA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA – Free Report).

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Nvidia Corp. (NVDA, Financials) CEO Jensen Huang thinks artificial intelligence just crossed a major line. His words were simple: “AGI has arrived.”

Huang made the comment following OpenAI's launch of GPT-6 Astra, its latest model.

Whether Astra truly qualifies as artificial general intelligence will be debated. For Nvidia investors, there is a more immediate question.

How much computing power will the next generation of AI require?

Astra was trained using more than 100,000 Nvidia Grace Blackwell systems, putting Nvidia hardware at the center of another major model launch.

That is where Huang's comment starts to matter financially.

If AI models continue getting larger and more capable, companies building them may need even more GPUs, networking equipment and data-center infrastructure.

Nvidia has already benefited enormously from that spending.

The challenge now is keeping demand growing from an increasingly enormous base. GPT-6 Astra gives investors another reason to believe the AI infrastructure race is not finished yet.

Check the Warning Signs for

NVDA

now!

Netflix has shed more than a third of its value while the broader market climbs, yet one Wall Street analyst sees a path back that would leave today's sellers deeply regretting their exits.

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Netflix currently trades at $78.25 while the average Wall Street price target sits at $93.66. That leaves a gap of roughly 20% between the current quote and consensus.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX | NFLX Price Prediction) is the world’s largest subscription streaming service, guiding 2026 revenue to $51.0B to $51.4B with an ad-supported tier on track to roughly double. Wall Street has watched the name closely as it flipped from streaming’s untouchable growth story to a battleground stock in the span of nine months. Consensus isn’t even the aggressive read here: BMO Capital Markets carries a Street-high target of $135 on the shares.

What Went Wrong Between January and Summer Netflix has shed over a third of its value in a year, down 37.77% over 12 months and 16.54% year to date. The unraveling accelerated when Netflix announced an all-cash acquisition of Warner Bros. at $27.75 per share in late 2025, pausing buybacks and hitching the story to a $42.2B bridge facility. Q3 2025 earnings then missed on a $619 million Brazilian tax charge that compressed operating margin to 28.2%.

The saga got messier. Netflix terminated the original WBD agreement in Q1 2026 and paid a $2.80B breakup fee, which hit free cash flow through higher cash taxes. Free cash flow fell to $1.53B in Q2 from $2.27B a year earlier. The S&P 500, meanwhile, is up 12.94% year to date. Netflix moved sharply in the opposite direction.

Why the Sell-Side Is Still on Board BMO Capital Markets’ Brian Pitz carries the Street-high $135 target, which implies roughly 73% upside from current levels. His Outperform thesis rests on three pillars: an ad-tier monetization super-cycle, a content moat that protects churn and pricing power, and structural margin expansion as advertising and password-sharing revenue flow directly to operating income.

Management has given analysts real numbers to underwrite. Netflix reiterated 13% to 14% full-year revenue growth, roughly $6 billion of incremental revenue, and about $12.5B of free cash flow for 2026. Ad revenue is tracking to ~$3B this year. Q2 buybacks of $4.7B were the largest quarterly repurchase in company history, with $27.1B still authorized.

CFO Spence Neumann framed the runway plainly on the Q2 call: “We’re entertaining an audience approaching a billion people, with still lots of room to grow into our addressable market on every measure.”

Coverage skews bullish. Of the analysts polled, 7 rate the stock Strong Buy, 29 Buy, and 15 Hold, with no active Sells. Recent 30-day revisions have leaned negative as models digest WBD-related noise, but no house has capitulated on the story.

Where Netflix Stands Against Streaming Peers Netflix fell largely alone. The rest of the streaming complex is a mixed bag.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) trades at $105.31 against an average target of $128.18, implying roughly 22% upside. Shares are down 6.71% year to date, cushioned by the Experiences segment. Ratings skew positive with 6 Strong Buy and 24 Buy against 2 Hold and 1 Sell. Real upside, but a fraction of what BMO sees at Netflix.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) trades at $28.25 with an average target of $29.82, or roughly 6% implied upside. WBD is now the subject of a Paramount Skydance merger after Netflix walked, and analyst posture is cautious with 2 Buy, 16 Hold, and 1 Strong Sell. The pending deal caps the story.

Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) trades at $155.59 versus a $162.33 target, roughly 4% implied upside. Roku is up 43.41% YTD, showing exactly the momentum Netflix lost. Coverage sits at 1 Strong Buy, 9 Buy, 15 Hold, and 1 Strong Sell.

The largest analyst-implied upside in this group sits with Netflix, whether measured against the $93.66 average or BMO’s $135. Peers have re-rated with the market. Netflix has lagged behind that reset.

What the Numbers Actually Say Netflix trades at $78.25 with an average 12-month target of $93.66 across covering analysts, implying roughly 20% upside, while BMO’s $135 Street-high implies roughly 73%. The stock is down 16.54% year to date and 37.77% over 12 months, against a 12.94% YTD gain and 18.65% one-year return for the S&P 500. Analyst targets are one data point among many.

Forward EPS consensus sits at $3.5844 for 2026 and $3.8184 for 2027, on revenue of $51.22B and $57.01B. Trailing P/E is 25 and forward P/E is 22. Multiples have compressed while the growth trajectory has held.

Where I Land on Netflix Right Now Netflix looks compelling here if management delivers on the 2026 plan (guided revenue, $12.5B of free cash flow, ~$3B in ad revenue) and if the WBD situation either resolves at reasonable terms or gets abandoned again without further balance sheet damage. The path back to consensus is unglamorous: execute, scale ads, and let the $27.1B remaining buyback authorization keep shrinking the share count.

The bear case rests on the WBD chapter being a strategic mistake priced with real integration and financing risk, or if competitive pressure from Disney, YouTube, and Amazon compresses margins from the current 33.4% operating rate. A $1B debt maturity later in 2026 and ongoing tax disputes add overhang.

My lean: this looks more like a rare value setup for a name that seldom offers one, provided the WBD situation resolves without another surprise. The BMO $135 case requires the entire bull thesis to fire, but even the consensus $93.66 offers a defensible re-rating path from here.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Free Report) by 5.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 688,542 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,213 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $174,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blueline Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Matrix Trust Co raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 56.2% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 946.7% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 55.0% during the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 203 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Johnson & Johnson this week:

Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains supportive. JNJ received an upgrade that helped it reach a new 12-month high, while the broader analyst view is rated “Moderate Buy.” UBS also began coverage, potentially increasing institutional attention. Johnson & Johnson Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade Johnson & Johnson Receives Average Rating of Moderate Buy Positive Sentiment: Johnson & Johnson’s 64-year record of dividend growth remains a key support for income-oriented investors. Strong profitability and the company’s diversified healthcare portfolio help sustain the dividend despite competitive pressure on a major drug. Johnson & Johnson Is Boring Which Makes Its Dividend Nearly Perfect Neutral Sentiment: Management will discuss the business at the Deutsche Bank Healthcare Summit on September 17. The event could provide updates on pharmaceuticals, litigation and forward guidance, but it is not itself a change to earnings expectations. Johnson & Johnson to Participate in the Deutsche Bank 2026 Healthcare Summit Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking and valuation risk are elevated after JNJ gained about 60% over the past year versus roughly 21% for the S&P 500. Analysts question whether the current price already discounts growth above management’s near-term outlook. Was JNJ Stock Rally Actually Its Own? Is Johnson & Johnson Stock Priced For More Growth Than It Has Guided? Negative Sentiment: An executive vice president sold 33,597 shares worth approximately $9.2 million, reducing his holdings by 56.9%. The sale may reinforce short-term concerns about insider conviction, although it does not change JNJ’s fundamentals. SEC insider transaction filing Negative Sentiment: An analyst lowered the FY2026 EPS forecast, adding pressure to expectations. Talc litigation also remains unresolved despite a proposed path toward settlement, while the Louisiana verdict continues to focus attention on legal liability and potential costs. Johnson & Johnson dividend and competition analysis Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance NYSE JNJ opened at $275.12 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $663.01 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $261.98 and a 200-day moving average of $245.08. Johnson & Johnson has a 52-week low of $173.33 and a 52-week high of $281.07. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.06. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 32.42%. The business had revenue of $25.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. Johnson & Johnson’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.600-11.750 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets In related news, EVP Vanessa Broadhurst sold 23,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.27, for a total transaction of $5,792,778.58. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 23,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,779,963.81. This trade represents a 50.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer Taubert sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.36, for a total transaction of $3,950,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 194,451 shares in the company, valued at $51,210,615.36. This represents a 7.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 97,569 shares of company stock valued at $25,476,044 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes JNJ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $260.00 target price on Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Argus set a $300.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $265.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $272.83.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on JNJ

(Free Report)

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.

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Blue Edge Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Free Report) by 18.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,069 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,464 shares during the quarter. Blue Edge Capital LLC’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $3,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fayez Sarofim & Co lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 5.7% in the second quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 688,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,869,000 after acquiring an additional 37,213 shares during the period. Redwood Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.6% during the second quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 5,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $881,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Johnson & Johnson by 615.1% during the second quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,679,000 after acquiring an additional 9,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.1% in the second quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 29,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson News Summary Here are the key news stories impacting Johnson & Johnson this week:

Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains supportive. JNJ received an upgrade that helped it reach a new 12-month high, while the broader analyst view is rated “Moderate Buy.” UBS also began coverage, potentially increasing institutional attention. Johnson & Johnson Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade Johnson & Johnson Receives Average Rating of Moderate Buy Positive Sentiment: Johnson & Johnson’s 64-year record of dividend growth remains a key support for income-oriented investors. Strong profitability and the company’s diversified healthcare portfolio help sustain the dividend despite competitive pressure on a major drug. Johnson & Johnson Is Boring Which Makes Its Dividend Nearly Perfect Neutral Sentiment: Management will discuss the business at the Deutsche Bank Healthcare Summit on September 17. The event could provide updates on pharmaceuticals, litigation and forward guidance, but it is not itself a change to earnings expectations. Johnson & Johnson to Participate in the Deutsche Bank 2026 Healthcare Summit Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking and valuation risk are elevated after JNJ gained about 60% over the past year versus roughly 21% for the S&P 500. Analysts question whether the current price already discounts growth above management’s near-term outlook. Was JNJ Stock Rally Actually Its Own? Is Johnson & Johnson Stock Priced For More Growth Than It Has Guided? Negative Sentiment: An executive vice president sold 33,597 shares worth approximately $9.2 million, reducing his holdings by 56.9%. The sale may reinforce short-term concerns about insider conviction, although it does not change JNJ’s fundamentals. SEC insider transaction filing Negative Sentiment: An analyst lowered the FY2026 EPS forecast, adding pressure to expectations. Talc litigation also remains unresolved despite a proposed path toward settlement, while the Louisiana verdict continues to focus attention on legal liability and potential costs. Johnson & Johnson dividend and competition analysis Insider Activity at Johnson & Johnson In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 33,597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.74, for a total value of $9,230,439.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,991,308.78. The trade was a 56.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer Taubert sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.36, for a total transaction of $3,950,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 194,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,210,615.36. This trade represents a 7.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 97,569 shares of company stock valued at $25,476,044 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders. Johnson & Johnson Trading Down 0.0% NYSE:JNJ opened at $275.12 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $663.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.24. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $173.33 and a 1 year high of $281.07.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.06. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 32.42%. The company had revenue of $25.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.600-11.750 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.34 per share. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes Several brokerages have recently weighed in on JNJ. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $282.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $284.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $270.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Leerink Partners upgraded Johnson & Johnson from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Argus set a $300.00 price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $272.83.

Get Our Latest Report on JNJ

Johnson & Johnson Profile (Free Report)

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.

Recommended Stories Five stocks we like better than Johnson & Johnson AI Token Costs Are Changing the Hardware vs. Software Debate 3 ETFs That Could Move as Rate Expectations Shift 3 Stocks With September Catalysts Investors Shouldn’t Ignore Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Stock Falls on Weak Comps Despite Margin Gains Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JNJ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Free Report).

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Target (TGT +0.26%) has raised its dividend for 55 consecutive years, spanning seven bear markets (a market drop of at least 20% from peak to trough) and multiple recessions. That's the kind of resiliency that income investors love to see.

The stock has climbed about 69% since the beginning of the year and no longer looks cheap on a price-to-earnings (P/E) basis. But that rebound is backed by real progress in sales and profitability, which in turn supports the dividend. With the stock still yielding about 2.8%, it could still be a solid buy, considering the turnaround underway in the business.

Image source: Target.

Target's improving sales are driving the stock higher Target is getting back to growth after a couple of years of weak results. Sales decline from fiscal 2024 through fiscal 2026 (ending in January). Multiple factors were to blame, including cautious consumer spending and inflation.

This year has been a different story. Net sales grew 5% year over year in the second quarter, with comparable sales up 3.8% amid solid increases in traffic. Management is guiding for full-year sales to grow about 5%. This followed a major effort to reset stores, such as expanding its fresh-produce selection and adding more space for impulse buys like snacks and candy.

Despite the stronger sales trends, there's still room for improvement. Management noted that home and apparel goods are still not where they need to be. Still, CEO Michael Fiddelke said they see their efforts "resonating with guests," which is building momentum.

Premium Feature

Moneyball Superscore

67/100

Today's Change

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0.26

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164.44

Why the stock is still a buy for income investors Target recently raised its quarterly dividend 1.8% to $1.16 per share. It says a lot about the company's durability that it kept increasing the dividend even while sales were under pressure over the last three years.

Importantly, the company's margins and free cash flow look poised to increase. Over the past year, it paid out 46% of free cash flow in dividends, leaving room to sustain the dividend if traffic softens. Its dividend payout looks very safe, with free cash flow up 51% year-over-year on a trailing 12-month basis.

Adjusted earnings rose 20% year over year in the second quarter, excluding tariff refunds. That strength reflects growth in higher-margin revenue streams, including advertising, and better in-stock levels for frequently purchased items.

Overall, Target appears to be executing well. Over time, investors should expect improving earnings and free cash flow to support continued dividend increases. The stock is fairly valued at a forward P/E of about 16, but for investors who are primarily interested in the dividend, Target is still a solid stock to buy and hold.