Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Fox Tungsten Ltd (TSX-V:FOXT, OTC:HPYCF, FRA:1HC) is racing to prove its North American asset can become the West's answer to a tungsten shortage that shows no sign of easing.

With two drills turning on a high-grade tungsten resource in British Columbia, a fully funded treasury of about $15 million, and a preliminary economic assessment targeted for the second quarter of 2027, CEO Stephen Gray is trying to move faster than the market can catch up to the story.

That story has changed shape fast. Six months ago, the company was still called Happy Creek Minerals. Now it is Fox Tungsten, with a new name, a rebuilt leadership team, and a resource base it is racing to grow before it locks in its development plan.

The timing lines up with a structural shift in the metal itself: tungsten prices have jumped more than 500% over the past year as China, which controls roughly 80% of global supply, tightens its export restrictions, and Washington moves to secure what little domestic supply exists. In August, the US Department of Commerce moved to restrict exports of tungsten waste and scrap without a license, part of a broader push under the Defense Production Act to secure domestic supply of critical minerals deemed essential to national defense.

A rebuilt company The past several months have transformed the company from the ground up. Since rebranding, the team rebuilt the C-suite and welcomed new faces in the field. That overhaul was paired with a financing round earlier this year that raised $12.7 million, mostly through flow-through funding, leaving the company fully funded for its current work program. "It was a great vote of confidence from the market," Gray said.

With two drills currently turning at the Fox project, the company is running what Gray calls the largest drill program it has ever undertaken, roughly doubling the number of metres ever drilled on the deposit in a single season.

The 20,000-metre program is split across three priorities: about 60% is directed at resource growth at Fox, 30% at earlier-stage, greenfield-style exploration with larger stepouts, and the remaining 10% at the company's Silverboss target.

Gray frames the strategy as two parallel tracks. One is tightly focused stepout drilling meant to grow the existing resource and feed into an updated resource estimate, in support of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) targeted for the second quarter of 2027. The other is a broader hunt to understand just how large the deposit's full mineralized system might be.

That exploration push has already turned up a new zone at Fox North that was previously unknown. Meanwhile, stepout drilling at the RC zone is showing early signs that the deposit's three separate zones may connect into one larger mineralized system, though assay results are still pending.

"It is very exciting to see progress on both fronts," Gray said. "The RC zone is being successfully extended to the south, which supports our hypothesis that we can connect our three separate zones into one larger mineralized system."

Drilling at Fox is expected to continue until late October, with final assays anticipated around Christmas. Only then, Gray said, can the PEA work begin in earnest, though early-stage planning, including scoping metallurgical testing needs, is already underway.

Riding a structural shift in tungsten Tungsten has long been an overlooked commodity for resource investors, but that is changing fast. Prices have climbed by more than 500% over the past year, a move Gray attributes to a combination of geopolitical tension and a genuine supply and demand imbalance.

“There simply is not enough tungsten available to meet demand,” the CEO said. “We know that because Chinese tungsten prices are also high. If there were a large hidden supply glut in China, we would not be seeing those price levels."

Gray believes tungsten still requires investor education, and he has a preferred way of illustrating just how rich the Fox deposit is. At roughly 1% tungsten, the grade might not sound remarkable at first glance, especially next to something like a 1% copper deposit. But translated into metal-equivalent terms at current spot prices, Gray said, 1% tungsten is roughly equivalent to 20 grams per tonne gold or 25% copper.

"That puts the quality of the asset into perspective," he said. "We have an incredibly high-grade asset in a great location with the right commodity."

For Gray, the rebrand itself has already paid off in terms of clarity. "At a glance, people can understand what the company is about: it is about Fox, it is about tungsten, and it is about what we believe is the highest-grade tungsten resource in the world."

Looking ahead, Gray's focus is on turning exploration success into a real business. "We have successfully identified the deposit, completed the initial resource drilling, established our camp, and got the drills turning. The next step is to turn that exploration success into something tangible."

Pizza chain Papa John's (PZZA -17.85%) stock crashed 15.9% through 1:25 p.m. ET Thursday despite beating analyst forecasts for Q2 earnings this morning.

Analysts had expected Papa John's to earn $0.44 per share on $482 million in sales, numbers the company edged out when it reported $0.46 per share in profit and $482.4 million in sales.

So why are investors disappointed today?

Image source: Getty Images.

Papa John's Q2 earnings: by the numbers Sales beat expectations, but nonetheless declined 5% year over year, with same-store sales down closer to 6%. (A net of 41 new restaurant openings in the quarter explained the difference.)

Earnings were even worse. Although Papa John's beat expectations here, too, the "$0.46" profit noted above was only a pro forma figure. Earnings calculated under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) were barely half that -- $0.24 per share -- and down 14% from last year's Q2.

Accentuating the positive, Papa John's emphasized its 1.5% increase in same-store sales for its international business (which makes the 9% decline in comps among North American restaurants look even worse).

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What's next for Papa John's stock? None of the above is what really upset investors, however. Knowing that Papa John's has been a buyout candidate for Qatari-backed Irth Capital Management, investors were hoping for a quick payout and a nice premium should Papa John's accept the Qatari offer. Today, management dashed that hope, confirming that Papa John's has decided to remain independent and try to turn its business around on its own.

"While our transformation is taking longer than anticipated," explained CEO Todd Penegor, "we continue to execute our strategy with discipline and focus and are seeing encouraging progress." Unfortunately, to pay for that progress, Papa John's is also suspending its dividend effective next quarter.

Cue sell-off.

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

U-Haul Holding Company (UHAL) Q1 2027 Earnings Call August 6, 2026 11:00 AM EDT

Company Participants

Sebastien Reyes - Director of Investor Relations
Edward Shoen - Chairman of the Board, President & CEO
Jason Berg - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Steven Ramsey - Thompson Research Group, LLC
Steven Ralston - Zacks Investment Research, Inc.
Andy Liu - Wolfe Research, LLC
Jeffrey Kauffman - Citizens Bank
James Wilen - Wilen Investment Management Corp.

Presentation

Operator

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to U-Haul Holding Company's First Quarter Fiscal 2027 Investor Call. [Operator Instructions] I will now hand the conference over to Sebastien Reyes. Sebastien, please go ahead.

Sebastien Reyes
Director of Investor Relations

Good morning. Welcome to the U-Haul Holding Company First Quarter Fiscal 2027 Investor Call. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that certain of the statements during this call, including, without limitation, statements regarding revenue, expenses, income and general growth of our business may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. .

Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Certain factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. For a discussion of the risks and uncertainties that may affect the company's business and future operating results, please refer to the company's public SEC filings and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, which is on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

I'll now turn the call over to Joe Shoen, Chairman of U-Haul Holding Company.

Edward Shoen
Chairman of the Board, President & CEO

Good morning, and welcome. We continue to have our work

Key Takeaways Jacobs' AI-related work reached 11% of adjusted net revenues, spanning key infrastructure markets.Advanced Facilities growth and a $28.9B backlog position Jacobs for AI infrastructure demand.Digital expansion boosts growth, but larger projects raise execution and cash conversion risks. Jacobs Solutions Inc. (J - Free Report) is turning Artificial Intelligence infrastructure into a meaningful growth engine. Fiscal third-quarter results showed that the opportunity now extends beyond data centers into semiconductors, power, industrial water and digital services.

The breadth of that exposure could support a longer growth runway than a single-market data-center cycle. It also raises the importance of execution as Jacobs takes on larger, more complex programs with demanding schedules and supply chains.

Jacobs’ AI Revenue Exposure Reaches 11%Businesses directly related to the Artificial Intelligence build-out represented 11% of adjusted net revenues in the fiscal third quarter, up about 100 basis points sequentially. The measure includes data centers, semiconductors, energy and power, water and digital services tied to those projects.

That mix reduces dependence on one type of Artificial Intelligence spending. Data centers require chip capacity, transmission infrastructure, cooling systems and digital tools, allowing Jacobs to participate at several points in the investment cycle.

J’s Advanced Facilities Business AcceleratesLife Sciences and Advanced Manufacturing adjusted net revenues increased 24.2% year over year to $476 million. Gross revenues in the category surged 116.6% to $1.63 billion, reflecting strong data-center and semiconductor activity as well as a larger amount of pass-through work.

Peer activity points to broad sector demand. Fluor Corporation (FLR - Free Report) reported new awards across data centers and power markets in its first-quarter 2026 update. AECOM (ACM - Free Report) also entered the year with record backlog and pipeline, highlighting continued spending across infrastructure and design services.

Jacobs Expands Beyond Design ServicesJacobs is widening its role from advisory and design into digital twins and full program delivery. That expanded scope can increase the value of each client relationship and position the company earlier in project planning and later in execution.

Its repeat sole-source engineering, procurement and construction management contract for Hut 8’s planned one-gigawatt Beacon Point campus illustrates the potential scale. Jacobs is also applying design elements from an earlier Hut 8 project and using a data-center digital twin to help reduce commissioning risk and shorten the path to operation.

J’s Backlog Can Extend the AI OpportunityTotal backlog reached a record $28.9 billion, up 27.3% year over year. The quarterly gross revenue book-to-bill ratio was 1.5, while the trailing 12-month ratio stood at 1.4.

Net revenues and gross profit embedded in backlog increased 11% and 14%, respectively. Continued bookings across data centers, semiconductors and supporting infrastructure could keep artificial intelligence-related work contributing beyond the current fiscal year.

Jacobs Faces Scale-Related Execution RisksLarge programs carry procurement, subcontractor, scheduling and commissioning risks. Delays, scope changes or inaccurate cost estimates can pressure margins and cash collection, particularly when multiple suppliers and jurisdictions are involved.

Pass-through revenues can also increase quarterly volatility. Jacobs generated gross revenue growth of 34.5% in the quarter, while adjusted net revenue growth was 8.3%, showing how client-funded materials and subcontracting can widen the gap between reported and underlying growth.

J’s Ratings Reflect Momentum but Mixed FundamentalsThe bottom line is that Artificial Intelligence infrastructure gives Jacobs a credible path to faster growth, broader client relationships and greater revenue visibility. The opportunity remains investable, but execution and cash conversion will determine how much of that demand reaches earnings.

Jacobs currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), which supports a constructive near-term view. Its Momentum Score of B aligns with favorable price and estimate trends, while the Growth Score of D and VGM Score of D point to a less consistent profile across styles. Investors may therefore view the theme positively without overlooking valuation, project risk and financial discipline. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Installed Building Products, Inc. (IBP) Q2 2026 Earnings Call August 6, 2026 10:00 AM EDT

Company Participants

Ryan Ricketts - Director of Investor Relations & Financial Planning
Jeffrey Edwards - Chairman, CEO & President
Michael Miller - CFO, Executive VP of Finance & Director
Brad Wheeler - Chief Operating Officer

Conference Call Participants

Susan Maklari - Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division
Richard Reid - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division
Stephen Kim - Evercore ISI Institutional Equities, Research Division
Philip Ng - Jefferies LLC, Research Division
Keith Hughes - Truist Securities, Inc., Research Division
Ethan Roberts - Stephens Inc., Research Division
Kenneth Zener - Seaport Research Partners
Michael Dahl - RBC Capital Markets, Research Division
Adam Baumgarten - Vertical Research Partners, LLC
Kurt Yinger - D.A. Davidson & Co., Research Division

Presentation

Operator

Greetings. Welcome to the Installed Building Products Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call.

[Operator Instructions] Please note, this conference is being recorded.

I will now turn the conference over to Ryan Ricketts, Managing Director, Investor Relations. Thank you, Ryan. You may begin.

Ryan Ricketts
Director of Investor Relations & Financial Planning

Good morning, and welcome to Installed Building Products second quarter 2026 earnings conference call.

Earlier today, we issued a press release on our financial results for the 2026 second quarter, which can be found in the Investor Relations section of our website.

On today's call, management's prepared remarks and answers to your questions may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current beliefs and expectations and are subject to factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described today. Please refer to our SEC filings for cautionary statements and risk factors. We undertake no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events, except as required by federal

Key Takeaways Imperial Oil beat Q2 earnings estimates as higher price realizations boosted profit and revenues rose YoY.IMO lowered 2026 refinery throughput and utilization guidance after downtime and a temporary rail issue.Imperial Oil increased operating cash flow YoY and returned C$421 million via dividends. Imperial Oil Limited (IMO - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $3.27, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.99 and increased from the year-ago quarter’s $1.34, driven by higher price realizations.

Revenues of $11.6 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11.8 billion. However, the top line increased significantly from the year-ago quarter’s level of $8.1 billion, backed by strong performance in both the Upstream and Downstream segments.

During the quarter, Imperial Oil returned C$421 million to its shareholders through dividend payments.

On July 31, 2026, the Calgary-based integrated oil and gas company declared a quarterly dividend of 87 Canadian cents per share on its outstanding common shares, payable on Oct. 1 to its shareholders of record as of Sept. 4.

IMO’s Q2 Segmental InformationUpstream: Revenues of C$5.5 billion increased from the prior-year level of C$3.8 billion. The segment reported a net income of C$1.3 billion compared with C$664 million in the year-ago quarter.

The company recorded average upstream production of 414,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels per day (boe/d) in the second quarter, which decreased from the prior-year level of 427,000 boe/d. Moreover, the figure missed our expectation of 416,000 boe/d.

IMO recorded total gross bitumen production at Kearl averaged 257,000 barrels per day (182,000 barrels Imperial Oil's share), down from 275,000 barrels per day (195,000 barrels Imperial Oil's share) in the second quarter of 2025.

The company also posted gross bitumen production at Cold Lake, averaging 149,000 barrels per day (bpd), which was an increase from 145,000 bpd in the second quarter of 2025.

IMO’s share of gross production from Syncrude averaged 73,000 bpd, down from 77,000 bpd in the second quarter of 2025. Lower volumes at Syncrude were caused by extreme rainfall.

Bitumen price realizations totaled C$95.79 per barrel compared with C$65.82 in the year-ago period. IMO received an average realized price of C$141.10 per barrel for synthetic oil compared with the prior-year quarter’s C$87.85. For conventional crude oil, it received C$85.52 per barrel compared with C$39.31 in the corresponding period of 2025.

Downstream: Revenues of C$17.8 billion increased from the prior-year level of C$12.4 billion. Net income totaled C$787 million compared with C$322 million in the year-ago period.

The company recorded petroleum product sales of 446,000 bpd, compared to 480,000 bpd in the second quarter of 2025. The figure beat our expectation of 410,000 bpd. The refinery throughput in the second quarter averaged 331,000 bpd, down from the prior-year quarter’s level of 376,000 bpd. Moreover, the figure missed our estimate of 357,000 bpd. Imperial Oil recorded lower refinery throughput, primarily due to planned turnaround impacts. The capacity utilization of 76% was down from the year-ago level of 87%. The figure also missed our estimate.

Chemical: Revenues of C$447 million increased from C$356 million in the second quarter of 2025. Net income totaled C$65 million compared with C$21 million in the year-ago period.

IMO’s Total Costs & CapexTotal expenses of C$13.2 billion increased from the year-ago quarter’s C$10 billion.

In the quarter under review, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s capital and exploration expenditures totaled C$531 million, up from the year-ago quarter’s C$473 million.

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

Financial Performance for IMOCash flow from operating activities was C$2.7 billion compared with C$1.5 billion in the year-ago quarter.

As of June 30, 2026, Imperial Oil had cash and cash equivalents of C$2.8 billion. Total debt of the company amounted to C$3.96 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 13.9%.

IMO’s Outlook for 2026Imperial Oil lowered its 2026 refinery guidance, reducing expected throughput from 395,000-405,000 barrels per day to 370,000-380,000 barrels per day and refinery utilization from 91%-93% to 85%-88%. The revised outlook reflects the impact of unplanned downtime and a temporary rail logistics issue at the Strathcona refinery, which the company expects to resolve by the end of the year.

Important Earnings at a GlanceWhile we have discussed IMO’s second-quarter results in detail, let us take a look at three other key reports in this space.

Fort Worth, TX-based oil and gas exploration and production company Range Resources Corporation (RRC - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 79 cents per share, up 19.7% from 66 cents a year ago. Range Resources’ bottom line topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 56 cents by 41.1%. Strong quarterly results are driven by higher production and improved price realization.

The company’s net debt was $880.8 million at June 30, 2026, down 28% from $1.22 billion at year-end 2025. Range Resources repurchased $78 million of shares and paid $24 million in dividends during the quarter.

Houston, TX-based oil and gas storage and transportation company Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 37 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 31 cents by 19.35%. Earnings increased 32.1% from 28 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Strong quarterly results benefited from broad-based segment growth, led by higher natural gas transportation and gathering volumes. Natural gas transport volumes rose 7%, while gathering volumes increased 26%.

As of June 30, 2026, Kinder Morgan reported $89 million in cash and cash equivalents. Kinder Morgan’s net debt stood at $32.03 billion at quarter-end. The net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio improved to 3.6X from 3.8X at the end of 2025.

Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of break-even, outperforming the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 3 cents per share. The bottom line improved from the year-ago quarter's adjusted loss of 6 cents, primarily driven by stronger performance in its Completion Services segment and year-over-year improvement in the Drilling Products and Other operations.

This Houston, TX-based oil and gas drilling company’s total revenues of $1.23 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.15 billion by 7%. The top line also increased about 0.7% year over year, driven by improved activity and pricing in the Completion Services segment, along with higher revenues from Drilling Products and Other operations.

As of June 30, 2026, PTEN had cash and cash equivalents of $203.2 million and long-term debt of $1.23 billion. Its debt-to-capitalization was 28.5%.

Shares of Figma Inc (NYSE: FIG) are down more than 14% in premarket trading on Thursday as investors appear to be having doubts about its heavy investments in AI.

On Wednesday, August 5, the design software firm published its second quarter earnings report, including $426.9 million in operating expenses—nearly double year over year (YOY).

The largest chunk of expenses came from research and development, at $167.3 million for the quarter, compared to $83.1 million the year before. 

Figma further reported a $117.3 million GAAP loss from operations. 

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While Figma touted a 48% YOY revenue increase to $370.1 million, it wasn’t enough to calm investors, who have become easily spooked by fears of AI overinvestment. 

The stock drop came despite Figma executives’ hinting at AI’s potential to reduce overhead.

In Figma’s postearnings call, CFO Praveer Melwani said the company is “hiring fewer people today than we originally had planned. And that’s because we’ve been able to augment the team that we have with AI and tools, and it’s seen modernization of processes across the board.” 

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Fiserv’s Debit Network Talks Raise a Bigger Question for Visa and MastercardFiserv NASDAQ: FISV reported second-quarter results that were in line with its guidance, while lowering its full-year revenue and margin outlook as Argentina-related pressures, delayed client implementations, hardware sales trends and additional technology spending weigh on its second-half expectations.

Chief Executive Officer Takis Georgakopoulos, who recently assumed the role, said the company generated more than $1 billion in free cash flow during the quarter and continued to see growth in its Clover payments platform. Clover gross payment volume rose 9%, while Clover revenue increased 13% after adjusting for anticipation and non-recurring revenue, according to the company.

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3 Tech ETFs That Could Bounce Back After the AI Selloff“This unfortunately is a transition year with noise,” Georgakopoulos said during the company’s earnings call. He said the updated outlook reflects the company’s “most accurate assessment” of client timelines and near-term operating conditions, rather than a structural change to its business.

Second-Quarter Results and Segment Performance Total second-quarter adjusted revenue was $4.96 billion, down 4% from a year earlier, while organic revenue declined 5%. Recurring revenue grew 2% and represented 84% of adjusted revenue, according to Chief Financial Officer Paul Todd.

Block’s Pivot to Profits and AI Is Turning HeadsAdjusted operating income totaled nearly $1.6 billion, producing an adjusted operating margin of 31.8%. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.84, and free cash flow reached $1.1 billion, representing 112% conversion. Todd said foreign-exchange rates in Latin America reduced adjusted EPS by $0.07 year over year.

Fiserv’s Merchant Solutions segment reported adjusted and organic revenue declines of 1%. Small-business volume grew 2%, with the company citing the anniversary of its CCV acquisition as a factor in the lower growth rate compared with the first quarter. Enterprise transactions rose 8%.

Clover revenue increased 2% on a reported basis. Excluding higher non-recurring revenue in the second quarter of 2025, Clover revenue would have increased 11%, Todd said. Excluding attrition, Clover revenue would have grown 13%. Clover GPV grew 9% as reported and 11% excluding a gateway conversion.

Merchant Solutions adjusted operating income declined 14% to $781 million, and the segment’s adjusted operating margin was 30%.

Financial Solutions adjusted and organic revenue each declined 8%, primarily reflecting higher non-recurring revenue in the year-earlier period. Within the segment, payment platform transactions increased 5%, while consumer payment platform transactions fell 1% as growth in Zelle was offset by slower Bill Pay activity. Global accounts on file increased 4%, and overall accounts and positions, including fintech, grew 6%.

Financial Solutions adjusted operating income fell 27% to $912 million, with an adjusted operating margin of 38.7%.

Updated 2026 Outlook Fiserv now expects full-year organic revenue growth in a range of negative 1% to flat, compared with its prior expectations for stronger second-half growth. Adjusted revenue is expected to decline between 1.5% and 0.5% for the full year. The company expects adjusted operating margin of 31% to 31.5% and adjusted EPS of $7.20 to $7.40.

For the second half, Fiserv expects adjusted revenue growth of about 2%, including a low-single-digit decline in the third quarter followed by mid-single-digit growth in the fourth quarter.

About 2 percentage points of second-half impact from delays in newly contracted revenue and enterprise client ramps. About 1 percentage point of impact from lower key-product and other revenue, including hardware. About 1 percentage point of impact from Argentina anticipation revenue. About 1 percentage point of impact from divestitures. Todd said the company expects to recognize the “vast majority” of delayed revenue, but at a later date. Georgakopoulos cited one large client whose planned September or October launch was delayed as the client undergoes a merger or acquisition process.

Argentina anticipation revenue reduced second-quarter adjusted revenue growth by 90 basis points and adjusted operating margin by 60 basis points, Todd said. Fiserv also cited softer expected hardware sales in its merchant business, following elevated hardware sales over the prior two years.

The company plans to invest more than $100 million incrementally in technology infrastructure during the second half, particularly within Financial Solutions. The investment will focus on infrastructure and cybersecurity, with the company aiming to improve platform stability, resiliency and client service.

Portfolio Review, Technology Strategy and Client Wins Georgakopoulos said Fiserv is expanding its review of businesses, products and capital commitments. The company has decided to divest its student loan servicing and managed ATM businesses and to exit unprofitable small-business and fuel segments in India. One of the two previously announced divestitures closed Aug. 5, and the other is expected to close in the third quarter.

The company plans to use divestiture proceeds for a combination of capital returns and debt reduction. Fiserv ended the quarter with gross debt-to-adjusted EBITDA below 3.2 times and continues to target approximately 3 times leverage by year-end.

Georgakopoulos said the review will extend beyond lower-growth businesses to assess whether individual products are best-in-class and whether Fiserv has the ability to compete effectively in each area. He said the company would consider alternatives for products where it does not see a clear path to compete, while seeking to avoid disruption to clients.

Fiserv said it has completed the identification phase of Project Elevate, its effort to identify at least $500 million in savings opportunities, and is prioritizing the largest initiatives. The company remains committed to about 50 basis points of annual adjusted operating-margin expansion beginning in 2027 and more than 200 basis points of total expansion from Project Elevate by 2029.

On the product front, the company said Western Alliance Bank went live on Clover, bringing the number of top 100 U.S. banks working with the platform to nearly 40. Its partnership with TD in Canada continues to expand, with Fiserv planning to convert TD’s existing merchant portfolio beginning in 2027. Fiserv also said Clover Practice Pay merchants have approximately 20% higher average volumes than its average small-business merchant.

In Financial Solutions, UW Credit Union selected Fiserv’s DNA platform as its future core banking system, while Flagstar Bank selected Finxact as the foundation of its core modernization strategy. Fiserv said Finxact positions and accounts grew more than 75% and noted that more than 100 financial institutions have shown interest in its agentOS offering since its announcement.

Fiserv also announced a strategic partnership with Mastercard to integrate Mastercard Merchant Cloud into Fiserv Commerce Hub. Georgakopoulos said the integration is expected to take a couple of quarters and is intended to expand the companies’ combined capabilities in enterprise payments.

About Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV)Fiserv, Inc, founded in 1984 and headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin, is a global provider of financial services technology. The company develops and delivers integrated solutions for payments, processing, risk and compliance, customer and channel management, and business insights and optimization. Serving thousands of clients, Fiserv supports banks, credit unions, securities broker-dealers, leasing and finance companies, and retailers.

Fiserv’s core offerings include account processing systems that automate deposit, lending and transaction processing for financial institutions, as well as digital banking platforms that enable mobile and online banking services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

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Key Takeaways ONDS gained 20.7% as the DZYNE acquisition and higher 2026 revenue outlook fueled momentum.DZYNE is expected to add about $191 million in 2026 revenues and $300 million in 2027.Ondas faces high valuation, integration risks and near-term losses despite strong orders and backlog. Ondas Inc. (ONDS - Free Report) has delivered a 20.6% gain in the past month, outperforming the Wireless National industry (down 20.9%) and the S&P 500 composite (up 2.4%). The strong M&A activity including acquistion of DZYNE Technologies, LLC (July 6) and subsequent outlook raise are likely to have acted as the catalyst.

Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Ondas has also outperformed some of its peers in the drone space. Red Cat Holdings (RCAT - Free Report) is down 6.2%, while Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS - Free Report) and AeroVironment (AVAV - Free Report) have gained 9.9% and 3.4%, respectively.

Yet, despite this strong run, the stock remains well below the 52-week high of $15.28, closing its last day at $8.87. This raises a key question for investors: has the easy money already been made, or does Ondas still offer meaningful upside?

Let’s do a deep dive.

ONDS: DZYNE Sets the Tone for GrowthDZYNE is the latest name in Ondas’ long list of acquisitions. The deal is valued at $875.8 million, comprising $200 million in cash and roughly $675 million in stock. DZYNE further expands Ondas’ reach across c-UAS, multi-domain ISR, precision strike, mission intelligence and autonomous systems. Both World View and DZYNE will operate within the company’s newly launched business division, Ondas Sentinel.

Ondas, through rapid M&A, has built a multi-domain autonomy platform spanning Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance or ISR, c-UAS, loitering munitions/strike systems, unmanned ground vehicles and stratospheric sensing via World View acquisition.

Following this development, Ondas now expects 2026 revenues to be at least $525 million from the previous forecast of $390 million. DZYNE is expected to contribute approximately $191 million in revenues in 2026 and $300 million in 2027.

This increase also reflects contributions from the Omnisys (adds AI-powered battlefield orchestration software to its autonomous defense systems portfolio) acquisition announced in May 2026. ONDS also announced the $125 million acquisition of Cyberhawk, a provider of drone-based infrastructure inspection and AI-powered asset intelligence, in June 2026. In the first quarter, the company completed five acquisitions (World View, INDO Earth, Rotron Aerospace, Bird Aero and Mistral Inc).

Recently, Mistral secured a $50 million-plus contract from the U.S. Army for tactical Lethal Unmanned Systems (“LUS”) under a previously awarded $982 million multi-year Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract. Mistral's total awards, under the LUS program, to date have surpassed $240 million, including the new contract along with the initial $190.8 million award.

Ondas is eyeing the fast-growing precision strike segment within the defense space and the acquisitions of Mistral, DZYNE and Rotron strengthen its ability to deliver a wider portfolio of precision-strike solutions.

Further, on July 22, management noted that the company had secured $70 million in new orders across its defense, security and autonomous technology portfolio over the past four weeks.  As of June 22, 2026, Ondas noted that second-quarter-to-date order activity stood at more than $150 million.

ONDS: Challenges Far From OverDespite the impressive growth story, Ondas carries substantial risks. Extensive M&A amplifies risks, as so many acquisitions in such a short period can create integration overload and execution risks, as achieving targets depends on timely integration and conversion of backlog into revenues.

Profitability remains concerning. Ondas faces rising operating costs as it invests in personnel and infrastructure capabilities to capture additional market opportunities. Amid rising costs, management expects adjusted EBITDA losses to stay elevated in the second quarter of 2026, likely marking the peak loss period. Beyond that, ONDS expects improvement throughout the year, driven by higher revenues, gross profit and operational scale.

Notably, management pulled forward the OAS EBITDA profitability target to the first quarter of 2027 — roughly six months ahead of the earlier target. Expectations for company-wide adjusted EBITDA profitability were unchanged, with the target being the first quarter of 2028. The key factor driving this is the company’s progress at the product level.

Nonetheless, the path to profitability remains heavily dependent on flawless execution. Any delays in integration and order conversion could push the profitability timeline further out. Increasing competition in the already crowded drone space is another headwind.

The drone industry is experiencing rapid growth, with the unmanned aerial vehicle drones market expected to witness a CAGR of 9.3% from 2026 to 2031, according to a report from Mordor Intelligence. Competition has intensified with drone companies such as Red Cat, Kratos Defense and AeroVironment striving hard to capture a larger share.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Given these factors, analysts have downgraded their earnings estimates for ONDS’ second quarter over the past 60 days.

ONDS: Valuation Leaves Room for DebateONDS is trading at a forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio of 6.13X, a slight discount compared with the Zacks Wireless National industry’s 7.1X.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

 
The forward 12-month price/sales multiple for KTOS, AVAV and RCAT stand at 5.24X, 3.72X and 5.58X, respectively.

ONDS Investment View: Stay PutAt present, ONDS carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Ondas is moving forward with strong momentum in orders and backlog, but much depends on its ability to execute and integrate recent acquisitions effectively.

While the long-term opportunity remains compelling, the near-term profitability issues justify a balanced, wait-and-watch stance.

Investors already holding can remain invested and ride the M&A wave, but new investors would be better off waiting for a more attractive entry point.

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

Key Takeaways Coca-Cola sees India and China as major long-term growth opportunities across Asia Pacific.Affordability, cold-drink equipment and distribution investments are expanding consumer reach.Value-focused packaging and targeted innovation aim to protect U.S. share amid spending pressure. The Coca-Cola Company’s (KO - Free Report) long-term growth story increasingly hinges on its ability to capitalize on high-growth emerging markets while navigating a more mature and value-conscious U.S. market. Although management acknowledged that lower-income consumers in North America remain under pressure, the company believes its diversified global footprint, affordability initiatives and revenue growth management capabilities position it to sustain balanced growth. The strategy appears to be paying off, with broad-based momentum across geographies supporting management’s raised 2026 outlook.

Emerging markets remain the centerpiece of Coca-Cola’s expansion strategy. Management highlighted Asia Pacific, particularly India and China, as significant long-term opportunities, where investments in affordability, cold-drink equipment and distribution are aimed at expanding the consumer base. India currently accounts for seven of the company’s top 10 brands, while strong volume growth in both India and China reflects continued execution despite near-term pressure on price/mix. Coca-Cola also reported broad-based growth across Latin America, Africa and Asia Pacific, underscoring that its growth engine is becoming increasingly diversified beyond developed markets.

That said, the United States remains an important profit driver, and management acknowledged that lower-income consumers continue to face spending pressure. Coca-Cola is addressing this through value-focused packaging, affordable price points and targeted innovation rather than relying solely on pricing. While these initiatives should help preserve market share, sustained momentum in emerging markets is likely to play a larger role in offsetting any moderation in U.S. demand. If the company continues executing its balanced strategy of expanding consumer reach in developing economies while protecting profitability in mature markets, emerging market growth should remain a key cushion against a slowing U.S. environment.

Can PEP and KDP’s Global Expansion Counter U.S. Weakness?PepsiCo Inc. (PEP - Free Report) and Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (KDP - Free Report) are betting on international expansion to cushion slowing U.S. demand and drive long-term growth.

PepsiCo continues to lean on its broad international footprint to counter softer demand in North America, where consumers remain pressured by inflation and are becoming increasingly value conscious. The company is investing aggressively in emerging markets through expanded distribution, localized product innovation and affordable pack sizes to drive household penetration and long-term consumption. With faster-growing regions such as Asia, Latin America and parts of Africa contributing a larger share of incremental growth, PepsiCo is better positioned to offset weakness in its mature U.S. beverage and snack businesses while sustaining balanced top-line performance.

Keurig Dr Pepper is also strengthening its international presence to diversify beyond its largely North America-centric business, although its emerging-market exposure remains more limited than larger global peers. The company is expanding select beverage brands in international markets while continuing to invest in premium offerings, innovation and distribution partnerships. However, given its heavier reliance on the U.S. market, KDP remains more exposed to slowing domestic consumer spending, making continued international expansion an important avenue for enhancing long-term growth and reducing dependence on mature markets.

The Zacks Rundown for Coca-ColaKO’s shares have risen 10.7% in the past three months compared with the industry’s growth of 4.4%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, Coca-Cola is trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 25.35X, higher than the industry’s 19.51X.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KO’s 2026 and 2027 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 9.7% and 6.7%, respectively. Earnings estimates for 2025 and 2026 have moved northward in the past seven days.
 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Coca-Cola currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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SummaryAmazon surpassed a $3 trillion market cap, driven by record Q2 2026 results and robust fundamentals, not just multiple expansion.Q2 revenue reached $200.61 billion (+20% YoY), AWS grew 36.7% YoY, and operating income soared 43% YoY to $27.5 billion with a 13.7% margin.CapEx guidance increased to $220 billion for 2026, but management emphasized demand is locked in, with a $496 billion AWS backlog growing triple digits YoY.I remain bullish as AWS, AI, and advertising scale rapidly; FCF inflection is the next catalyst, and $3 trillion is a milestone, not a ceiling. hapabapa/iStock Editorial via Getty Images

The $3 trillion club just added its newest member. On August 3rd, shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) closed at a fresh all-time high and pushed the company's market cap above $3 trillion for the

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of AMZN either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Disclaimer: I am not an investment advisor or professional. This article is my own personal opinion and is not meant to be a recommendation of the purchase or sale of stock. The investments and strategies discussed within this article are solely my personal opinions and commentary on the subject. This article has been written for research and educational purposes only. Anything written in this article does not take into account the reader’s particular investment objectives, financial situation, needs, or personal circumstances and is not intended to be specific to you. Investors should conduct their own research before investing to see if the companies discussed in this article fit into their portfolio parameters. Just because something may be an enticing investment for myself or someone else, it may not be the correct investment for you.

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On Thursday, Jefferies analyst Blayne Curtis cut his price target on SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) to $1,750 from $3,000, a reduction of $1,250, while maintaining a Buy rating. 

SNDK stock is down after earnings. See the chart and price action here.  The cut followed fiscal fourth-quarter results in which SanDisk posted substantial upside for the quarter, but September-quarter guidance disappointed on several fronts that Jefferies flagged as central to the reset. 

NAND PricingModerating NAND pricing sits at the core of the downgrade. SanDisk guided to only modest average selling price gains for the September quarter, a slowdown that Jefferies and peers view as a meaningful deceleration from the pricing surges that fueled the stock’s rally over the past year. 

Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson, working from similar data, noted long-term and supply-commitment agreements cover only about half of SanDisk’s bits, while uncontracted NAND parts are seeing price increases above 20% — a gap that has fed skepticism about how conservative the company’s own guidance really is.

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Lower Margin GuidanceLower gross-margin guidance compounded the concern. Management guided to essentially stable margins for the September quarter rather than the continued expansion investors had priced in, even though the 83% to 85% range still landed ahead of Street consensus. 

Jefferies’ target cut reflects a view that the combination of cooling ASP momentum and flattening margins signals the NAND pricing cycle may be losing the steam that drove SanDisk’s roughly 3,000% run over the past year, according to CNBC.

Other AnalystsOther desks moved in narrower steps. Morgan Stanley’s Joseph Moore held an Overweight rating with a matching $1,750 target, and Evercore’s Amit Daryanani trimmed his target to $2,800 from $3,100 while keeping Outperform, arguing five new supply agreements provide stronger multiyear visibility. 

Wedbush kept a $2,000 target and an Outperform rating, betting the NAND supply gap won’t close before 2028.  Evercore views SanDisk’s upcoming analyst day as the next catalyst for detail on capital allocation and the High Bandwidth Flash opportunity.

SNDK Stock Price Activity: SanDisk stock was down 7.18% at $1253.58 at the time of publication Thursday, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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Key Takeaways HPE expanded its NVIDIA partnership with integrated AI infrastructure, private cloud and cloud management.HPE AI Factory combines infrastructure, GreenLake and NVIDIA technologies for enterprise AI deployment.HPE's AI strategy differs from DELL and SMCI through integrated platforms and cloud software. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE - Free Report) and NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report) have expanded their collaboration to provide enterprises with an integrated AI infrastructure portfolio spanning hardware, software and cloud management. The partnership is designed to simplify AI deployment while enabling organizations to scale generative AI, agentic AI and high-performance computing workloads.

At the core of the collaboration is HPE AI Factory with NVIDIA, a turnkey AI infrastructure solution that combines HPE's compute, storage, networking and GreenLake platform with NVIDIA's GPUs, CPUs, networking technologies and AI Enterprise software. The integrated offering allows enterprises to build and manage AI environments through a unified platform.

The companies have also jointly engineered HPE Private Cloud AI, which enables customers to deploy generative AI and agentic AI applications securely in on-premises or hybrid cloud environments. The solution comes with pre-integrated hardware and software, reducing deployment complexity while providing enterprise-grade capabilities.

HPE is further strengthening its AI hardware portfolio with AI-optimized servers such as the HPE ProLiant Compute DL394 Gen12, powered by NVIDIA's Vera CPU for reinforcement learning, AI agents, inference and large-scale data processing. The company also offers systems based on NVIDIA's Blackwell and Rubin architectures.

To accelerate AI workloads, HPE integrates NVIDIA's Blackwell, HGX and RTX Pro GPUs alongside Spectrum-X Ethernet, InfiniBand networking, BlueField DPUs and ConnectX SuperNICs across its AI infrastructure portfolio. HPE also incorporates NVIDIA Agent Toolkit, Nemotron models, NeMo and OpenShell into HPE Private Cloud AI, enabling enterprises to build, govern and monitor AI agents with enhanced security and observability.

How Competitors Fare Against HPECompanies including Super Micro Computer (SMCI - Free Report) and Dell Technologies (DELL - Free Report) are also collaborating with NVIDIA to strengthen their offerings. Super Micro Computer's competitive advantage lies in its modular Building Block architecture that enables rapid product customization by reusing components across thousands of server configurations.

Supported by more than 3,200 research and development engineers, SMCI quickly integrates new processors from NVIDIA, AMD, Intel and ARM. This rapid product development shortens time-to-market, lowers engineering costs and enables faster global shipments, making Super Micro Computer particularly attractive for customers seeking immediate AI deployment.

Dell Technologies, meanwhile, is pursuing a broader ecosystem strategy through its Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA. Rather than focusing solely on servers, Dell is expanding across compute, storage, networking, automation and software. Dell recently introduced PowerEdge R9822 and M9822 servers powered by NVIDIA Vera CPUs for Agentic AI workloads.

Although all three companies are leveraging NVIDIA's latest AI technologies, their competitive strategies differ. HPE is betting on integrated enterprise AI platforms that combine infrastructure with cloud software and managed services. Dell is building a broad AI ecosystem spanning infrastructure, software and industry-specific deployments. Super Micro Computer remains focused on speed, modular engineering and rapid commercialization of next-generation AI hardware.

HPE’s Price Performance, Valuation and EstimatesHPE shares have rallied 121.6% in the year-to-date period, outperforming the Zacks Computer - Integrated Systems industry appreciation of 104.7%.

HPE YTD Performance Chart
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, HPE trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 1.44, below the industry’s 5.33. The discounted valuation is also reflected by the Zacks Value Score of B.

HPE Forward 12-Month (P/S) Valuation Chart
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HPE’s fiscal 2026 margin reflects year-over-year growth of 75.8%. Estimates have remained unchanged for the past 60 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

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

(Photo by Ahmet Okur/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Anadolu via Getty Images

Adobe is launching a ChatGPT plugin featuring all 70 of its creative and productivity tools that handle creation of video, images, audio and more.

“We’re building ChatGPT to connect our users with the best capabilities for the task at hand,” said OpenAI product lead Vibhor Chhabra in a statement. “Adobe’s categoriy-leading creative and productivity tools help people express their creativity, communicate and be more productive…”

The new app brings together three ChatGPT Adobe apps released in December for photo-editing heavyweight Photoshop, social-media-focused Express and PDF document maker Acrobat Pro, along with dozens of other Adobe programs, including video-editing program Premiere, photo-management tool Lightroom, design tools Illustrator and InDesign, and its Stock stock-photo service.

The deal also includes direct access to Firefly, Adobe’s own in-house AI service released three years ago that is built on copyright-safe public-domain and Adobe-owned stock images. Firefly is now a standalone app and incorporated into many other Adobe programs.

The functions are accessed directly through the ChatGPT interface, but users have to start a new chat, type @Adobe and select Adobe from the menu. Users can access the tools as a guest or go more deeply with an Adobe account log-in.

Among Adobe-provided examples of what will be possible is batch processing of photos. Type into the chatbot the desired look, tweak lighting and color, add or subtract elements, and resize or expand images.

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Videos can be reformatted from horizontal aspect ratios for distribution in vertical outlets such as YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. It’s a function that a number of specialized services provide for enterprises such as major TV networks trying to quickly generate social-media posts from their live sports content.

ChatGPT can also be used as a search function in users’ Creative Cloud asset libraries, finding assets by even such loose categories as style or mood. Users can take all the resulting output and further tweak it directly in Adobe apps.

“Over the past few months, we’ve expanded access to Adobe’s tools across leading AI chatbot platforms, including ChatGPT, Claude and (Microsoft’s) Copilot, with Slack and (Google) Gemini coming soon,” Adobe said in a blog post. “The Adobe plugin in ChatGPT builds on that work by bringing the power of our creative and productivity apps together in one unified plugin that draws on the same tools and capabilities that power our own agents in Adobe apps.”

ChatGPT helped ignite the still-hot AI frenzy when it launched as a chatbot nearly four years ago. Since then, owner OpenAI has pivoted away from its original consumer focus to more enterprise-oriented approaches through its Codex and ChatGPT Work. The company no longer says it has more than 1 billion users, but claims “hundreds of millions" of regular users.

Adobe has been one of the highest-profile victims of the “vibe coding” revolution fueled by Codex and Anthropic’s Claude Code, which many believed would allow relatively easy duplication of Adobe’s sophisticated software, and per-seat licensing business model. Others hit by the stampede out of software included heavyweights such as ServiceNow, Applovin, and Salesforce. Even enterprise security companies were temporarily hit, but have since largely recovered.

Wall Street investors sent Adobe shares tumbling from a 2021 high of $661 per share to as little as $202 in mid-June, when CFO Dan Durn announced his departure for a similar position at chipmaker Marvell. Shares have since perked up along with those of other software stocks, but in March, long-time CEO Shantanu Narayen said he would step down once a replacement had been found while remaining chairman.

The company also announced plans to shift to a freemium mode similar to that offered by competitors.

The ChatGPT announcement recapitulates comments made by NVidia CEO Jensen Huang at Adobe’s marketing-focused Summit in Las Vegas last spring, where he joined Narayen in a sweetly nostalgic conversation about their shared history as immigrant kids who went on to run huge tech companies.

AI, Huang said, would soon allow him to use all the capabilities of Photoshop and other sophisticated Adobe tools at a level previously only available to specialists with years of training and experience. That, he said, would open the software’s power to millions of new users.

Key Takeaways Cisco's fiscal Q4 revenues are seen up 14.9%, with AI infrastructure demand supporting growth.Intrusion's Q2 revenues are seen down 19.8%, as investors await updates on the VigilAigent deal.RADCOM cut its 2026 revenue outlook to $57-$63M after customer deployment delays shifted purchases. Accelerated investments in enterprise digitalization, AI-led network upgrades, higher demand for cloud computing, big data, network security and next-generation connectivity solutions are reshaping the outlook for participants in the  Zacks Computer - Networking industry.

The proliferation of AI workloads and hyperscale data centers is accelerating investments in high-speed interconnects, optical networking and Ethernet switches. With the explosive growth in data traffic, demand for advanced routing, switching and network optimization solutions is expected to remain strong. Further, growing deployments of fiber networks, Wi-Fi 7 and secure networking solutions are expanding the addressable market. AI workloads require a major upgrade to observability infrastructure. There is a greater need for continuous monitoring of hybrid environments and tighter security amid rising attacks. This is likely to favor prospects for prominent industry players.

Nonetheless, cautious IT spending amid heightened uncertainty over global macroeconomic conditions and volatile supply-chain dynamics due to tariff troubles continues to be concerning for the participants.

The Computer Networking industry is housed within the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector. For the second quarter of 2026, the tech sector’s earnings are expected to be up 93.6% as per the latest Earnings Preview report

A few major networking companies are scheduled to report their quarterly results in the coming days. Let's see how things might have shaped up for these players, including Cisco Systems (CSCO - Free Report) , RADCOM Ltd (RDCM - Free Report) and Intrusion Inc (INTZ - Free Report) , before their announcements.

Networking Stocks to WatchCisco Systems is slated to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results on Aug. 12, after the closing bell. In the last reported quarter, the company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2 cents.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal fourth-quarter revenues sits at $16.85 billion, up 14.9%. It generated revenues of $14.67 billion in the prior-year quarter. The consensus mark for earnings is currently pinned at $1.17 per share, indicating an increase of 18.2% from the year-ago quarter.

The company is benefiting from the demand for AI Infrastructure solutions, with hyperscaler demand acting as a key catalyst. In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers came in at $1.9 billion, taking year-to-date total to $5.3 billion. The company raised expected hyperscaler AI orders to $9 billion and expected AI infrastructure revenues from hyperscalers to about $4 billion for fiscal 2026.

Cisco’s networking portfolio, led by Silicon One, AI native security solutions and operating systems, is likely to have cushioned the fiscal fourth-quarter performance.

Within its core Networking segment, Cisco has been witnessing robust traction across the enterprise data center switching business, as customers prepare their infrastructure for agentic applications and AI inferencing. Acacia business has also been witnessing strong growth as hyperscalers deploy both 400G and 800G coherent optics, with 800G pluggables gaining significant traction.  

Cisco Systems, Inc. Price and EPS SurpriseHowever, our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Cisco this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

CSCO has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Intrusion is scheduled to report second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 11, after the market close. In the last reported quarter, the company reported a loss of 18 cents per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 9 cents.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter revenues sits at $1.5 million, down 19.8%. It generated revenues of $1.87 million in the prior-year quarter. The consensus mark for the bottom line is currently pinned at a loss of 10 cents, the same as the year-ago quarter.

The key development in the quarter was the closing of the acquisition of VigilAigent on June 29. VigilAigent is a cybersecurity managed security service provider from Tego Cyber. The transaction adds nearly $3.5 million in annual recurring revenues, more than 80 reseller partners and an installed base of 1,000 clients. Investors would be looking for updates on the recent acquisition as well as management’s outlook for consolidated revenues, costs and cash generation during the second half of 2026.

On the last earnings call, management had highlighted increasing sales momentum supported by expanding Shield installed base and growing adoption of the P.O.S.S.E. program (via partnership with PortNexus).

Intrusion has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #3.

RADCOM is scheduled to report second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 12, before the market opening. In the last reported quarter, the company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a cent per share.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter revenues sits at $12 million, down 32.1%. It generated revenues of $17.7 million in the prior-year quarter. The consensus mark for earnings is currently pinned at 20 cents per share, indicating a decline of 20% from the year-ago quarter.

The company recently reported preliminary results for the second quarter and expects revenues to be roughly $12 million. Its quarterly revenue estimates are affected by delays in customer deployment that deferred purchasing decisions. Component cost inflation and supply issues are affecting buyers’ purchasing decisions. However, RDCM added that it did not face cancellations or competitive losses and considers these dynamics as timing considerations rather than demand changes.

The company expects the delays to affect the timing of revenues for the remainder of 2026 and reduced its 2026 revenue outlook to $57-$63 million. Notably, RADCOM expects to remain profitable (on a non-GAAP basis), including these revenue headwinds, in 2026.

RDCM has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). 

World's largest cruise company reinforces GHG intensity goal with new 25% reduction target by 2029, raising previous goal by five percentage points and accelerating timeline by one year

New target follows company achieving original 2030 goal five years early thanks to its comprehensive decarbonization strategy

, /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL), the world's largest cruise company, announced a new sustainability target to achieve a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity by 2029, measured on an available lower berth days basis compared to its 2019 baseline. After successfully reaching its 2030 goal five years ahead of schedule – cutting GHG emissions intensity by 20% in 2025 – the company raised its original target an ambitious five percentage points and accelerated its timeline to achieve the goal a full year early in 2029. The efficiency work behind that milestone is also showing up on the bottom line with fuel-efficiency gains on track to save the company roughly $650 million in 2026 alone versus 2019 levels.

Carnival Corporation's progress, detailed in its newly published 2025 Sustainability Report, is driven by a comprehensive decarbonization strategy focused on operational improvements, energy efficiency investments and low-GHG power generation. Together, these efforts have delivered sustained emissions reductions over nearly two decades. Since 2008, the company has reduced its GHG emissions intensity by 44%, meaning emissions associated with each guest sailing have been cut roughly in half during that period.

"Achieving our 2030 GHG reduction goal five years early is a significant milestone that reflects years of disciplined investment, innovation and operational focus across our global fleet," said Josh Weinstein, CEO of Carnival Corporation. "But we're not treating it as a finish line. Our new 2029 target ensures we're continuing to improve every part of the equation, from using less fuel to advancing the tools, technologies and infrastructure that will help us lower emissions even further over time. That's good for the planet, good for our business and gives us real confidence in the road ahead."

To achieve its 2029 target, Carnival Corporation's decarbonization strategy prioritizes lowering energy use today while developing the flexibility to pursue multiple fuel pathways in the future:

Operational Improvements & Energy Efficiency Investments
One way Carnival Corporation reduces its GHG emissions intensity is by continuously improving ship operations and adopting technologies that lower energy use across its fleet. Together, these efforts help reduce fuel consumption, drive performance and support the company's ongoing emissions reduction goals, while maintaining the award-winning guest experiences its cruise lines are known for.

Operational enhancements, including smart itinerary planning and voyage optimization tools, help identify the most fuel-efficient routes and sailing patterns. Carnival Corporation is also integrating technologies that reduce energy demand, improve hydrodynamic performance and capture energy that would otherwise be wasted. These efforts range from Power Saver Packs that reduce HVAC and lighting loads to waste heat recovery systems and Air Lubrication Systems that help ships move more efficiently through the water. Complementing these initiatives, seven new ships scheduled to join the fleet through 2033 are expected to deliver more than 20% greater efficiency per passenger than current ships.

Low-GHG Power Generation
At the same time, Carnival Corporation is investing in a range of low-GHG technologies and solutions, recognizing that no single approach alone will deliver net-zero ship operations. This includes a growing fleet of LNG-powered ships, expanded shore power capabilities that allow ships to connect to local electrical grids while in port, increased biofuel use as more supply comes online and peak energy use shaving with battery storage systems. Together, these investments are advancing lower-emission operations today while building flexibility to adopt future energy solutions as they mature.

Carnival Corporation's decarbonization strategy is a cornerstone of its climate action efforts and is one of its many planet-focused initiatives, which also include programs to advance a circular economy model, support biodiversity and conservation, and promote sustainable tourism. To learn more about Carnival Corporation's purpose and its commitment to sustainability, visit Our Impact.

This release may include claims related to our GHG emissions reductions, goals, initiatives, accomplishments and progress reports. Supporting data for such GHG emissions claims, including data verification information, is published annually in our Sustainability Reports on carnivalcorp.com/impact.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q:  How did Carnival Corporation reduce its carbon emissions intensity by 20% since 2019?

      Snippet answer: Carnival Corporation achieved a 20% reduction in carbon emissions intensity in 2025 (vs. its 2019 baseline) through fleet transformation, operational efficiencies and investments in energy-efficient and low-GHG technologies. A significant contributor has been its fleet transformation strategy, introducing LNG-powered and more energy-efficient ships while retiring its less-efficient vessels.

A:   Carnival Corporation achieved a 20% reduction in carbon emissions intensity in 2025 (vs. its 2019 baseline) through a combination of fleet transformation, operational efficiencies and investments in energy-efficient and low-GHG technologies. A significant contributor has been the company's strategic fleet restructuring, which introduced a new generation of more energy-efficient ships, pioneered 11 LNG-powered cruise vessels, and retired 27 older, less efficient ships since 2019. Boldly investing in next-generation ship technology while advancing energy-saving systems and optimizing operational performance has greatly improved fuel efficiency and lowered per-guest GHG emissions. This achievement builds on nearly two decades of progress. Since 2008, the company has reduced its GHG emissions intensity by 44%, cutting per-guest emissions nearly in half in that time.

Q:  What operational improvements is Carnival Corporation making to cut its carbon emission intensity?

Snippet answer: Carnival Corporation is cutting its carbon emission intensity through a range of operational refinements and technology investments – from smart itinerary routing, strategic destination development, robotic hull cleaning and more. Together they help squeeze greater efficiency out of every voyage while still delivering award-winning guest experiences.

A:   One way Carnival Corporation is cutting its carbon emission intensity is by using less fuel – the result of hundreds of operational refinements and technology investments that squeeze more energy efficiency out of every voyage while still delivering its cruise lines' award-winning guest experiences. A few examples include:

Smart routing: Advanced voyage optimization, weather routing and itinerary planning tools find the most fuel-efficient path between ports with no trade-off in guest experience. Strategic destination development: Exclusive destinations like its new Celebration Key in The Bahamas enable more efficient itineraries and sailing patterns while leveling up the guest experience. Clean hulls: Robotic hull inspection and cleaning reduce drag and improve performance, lowering fuel use fleetwide. Q:   What energy efficiency investments is Carnival Corporation making to cut fuel use?

Snippet answer: Carnival Corporation is cutting fuel use through Power Saver Packs (HVAC, LED, energy management), Air Lubrication Systems and Azipod propulsion – plus seven new ships arriving through 2033 that are 20%+ more efficient.

A:   Carnival Corporation is cutting fuel use through fleet-wide energy-efficiency investments. Power Saver Packs – including HVAC upgrades, LED lighting and advanced energy management systems – are now installed on about 80% of the company's ships, shaving annual shipboard energy demand by about 535,000 megawatt-hours versus 2019. Air Lubrication Systems on 13 ships reduce propulsion energy needs by around 5%, while Azipod propulsion on more than 40 ships can trim fuel use by up to 10%. Seven new ships scheduled for delivery through 2033 will be over 20% more efficient than the ships they replace.

Q:   What low-GHG technologies is Carnival Corporation using across its fleet?

Snippet answer: Carnival Corporation uses a range of low-carbon technologies across its fleet – including LNG propulsion, shore power, biofuels and battery energy storage – because no single solution alone can deliver net-zero ship operations.

A:   Carnival Corporation is investing in a range of low-carbon technologies and solutions to reduce GHG emissions, including LNG propulsion, shore power, biofuels and battery energy storage – because no single solution alone will deliver net-zero ship operations. The company now operates 11 LNG-powered ships, about 21% of fleet capacity, with seven more scheduled for delivery through 2033. Shore power capability has expanded to 74% of the fleet, letting ships switch off engines and connect to local electrical grids in port when the infrastructure allows – something they did during roughly 1,460 port calls in 2025. As part of its 2030 sustainability goals, the company aims to achieve 80% fleetwide shore power connection capability by 2030, a target it is well on its way to reaching. Carnival Corporation is also growing fleetwide biofuel use and operates a 10 MWh battery energy storage system aboard AIDAprima (the largest in the cruise industry). Together, these investments advance lower-GHG operations while building flexibility for future energy solutions.

About Carnival Corporation
Carnival Corporation is the largest global cruise company and among the largest leisure travel companies, with a portfolio of world-class cruise lines – AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn. Carnival Corporation Ltd. trades under the ticker symbol CCL on the NYSE and is a member of the S&P 500.

For more information, please visit www.carnivalcorp.com, www.aida.de, www.carnival.com, www.costacruises.com, www.cunard.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.pocruises.com, www.princess.com, and www.seabourn.com.

SOURCE Carnival Corporation Ltd.

By PYMNTS  |  August 6, 2026

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Etsy CEO Kruti Patel Goyal said during a second-quarter earnings call Thursday (Aug. 6) that the company is applying artificial intelligence in three distinct ways: making Etsy more personal, making Etsy more discoverable, and learning how the next generation of shopping will work through native conversational tools.

Traffic from AI agent platforms remained under 1% of Etsy’s total, although it converts at a higher rate and larger average order size. Machine learning also helped expand Etsy’s ad take rate this quarter by improving relevance and seller budget pacing.

Most companies talking about AI and commerce right now are chasing agentic shopping traffic, the orders that arrive when an outside AI assistant sends a buyer to a marketplace. Etsy’s leadership spent part of the call explaining why that traffic barely matters yet.

Where Etsy Is Employing AI Patel Goyal broke Etsy’s AI strategy into three buckets. Agentic traffic was the smallest of the three by volume. She said the bigger opportunity sits inside Etsy’s own platform, where AI already shapes what buyers see every time they open the app.

Etsy’s clearest AI wins are happening in search and personalization, not in outside agent traffic. The company has built richer buyer profiles covering more than 65 million shoppers, feeding real-time personalization into search results, home feed content and marketing outreach, Patel Goyal said. The system creates a compounding effect, as the more a buyer engages, the more relevant each subsequent visit becomes.

That personalization layer is showing up directly in revenue. Etsy’s overall take rate reached 25.9%, up 130 basis points year over year. Roughly 80 of those basis points came from the divestiture of Reverb rather than organic gains, Chief Financial Officer Lanny Baker said on the call. The rest came from Etsy ads, where machine learning is improving relevance and seller budget pacing.

Etsy’s third AI bucket, native conversational tools, is still in early testing. Its gifting assistant lets buyers describe an occasion or a person in natural language rather than typed search terms, an approach Patel Goyal described as a way to capture shopping intent earlier and more precisely than traditional search allows.

Buyer Growth Turns Positive for the First Time Since 2023 The quarter gave Etsy something it hadn’t had in years: proof that the AI strategy is producing results. Etsy’s active buyer count grew by 350,000 sequentially to approximately 87 million, roughly stable year over year after a long stretch of decline. More significantly, gross buyer additions accelerated. Both habitual and repeat buyer cohorts, the platform’s most valuable customers, grew sequentially for the first time since 2023, Patel Goyal said.

Mobile app engagement is driving much of that shift. App GMS growth accelerated to 12.5% year over year, with the app now representing 47% of Etsy’s total GMS, Baker said. Visits per monthly active user and orders per visit both increased year over year, a pattern Baker attributed to fresher, more diverse content replacing recently viewed listings in the app’s feed.

Young buyers are entering the funnel through different channels than before. Etsy shifted marketing investment toward YouTube and TikTok, including a partnership with pop singer Olivia Rodrigo that combined an in-person activation with an exclusive merchandise collaboration, Patel Goyal said. The shift drove a fivefold increase in visits from millennial and Generation Z audiences on those platforms during the first half of 2026.

What Else Stood Out

The company closed the sale of Depop, its secondhand fashion marketplace, to eBay on July 30, generating $1.4 billion in cash proceeds, and used part of that capital to accelerate share buybacks during the quarter. Etsy has no current plans to launch live shopping, Patel Goyal said, although there has been “real innovation” in the space from competitors, according to Baker. The company is watching the channel rather than building it. Trailing 12-month gross merchandise sales per active buyer rose 2.8% year over year. Average order value was driven up partly by sellers raising listing prices and partly by Etsy’s search improvements surfacing higher-quality inventory. Seller retention improved alongside seller growth, with the company describing a healthier seller base overall compared to the prior year. Topline Results and Third-Quarter Outlook Etsy reported second-quarter Etsy marketplace GMS of $2.6 billion, up 7.5% year over year. Revenue reached $668 million, up 9.3% for the Etsy marketplace on a standalone basis, with a take rate of 25.9%.

For the third quarter, Etsy guided Etsy marketplace GMS to a range of $2.53 billion to $2.58 billion, representing 4% to 6% year-over-year growth, with a take rate of approximately 26%. The company raised its full-year 2026 outlook to mid-single-digit GMS growth, up from a prior low-single-digit forecast.

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Key Takeaways AMC generated free cash flow while improving profitability through cost discipline and guest spending.AMC reduced debt, lowered interest costs and boosted liquidity to fund premium theater investments.AMC aims to build on stronger cash generation as the box office recovery supports long-term growth. AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.’s (AMC - Free Report) record second-quarter 2026 free cash flow marks a turning point in its recovery story. As stronger operating performance translates into healthier cash generation, investors are increasingly asking whether the company now has the financial flexibility to support its next phase of growth.

The company generated $190.1 million in free cash flow alongside record revenues and adjusted EBITDA, driven by a stronger movie slate, market share gains, higher spending per guest and disciplined cost management. AMC demonstrated meaningful operating leverage, converting incremental revenues into substantially higher profitability while continuing to keep expenses under control.

The stronger cash position is also improving AMC's financial foundation. During the quarter, the company refinanced debt, reduced borrowings through equity conversion and extended major debt maturities to 2029, while lowering future interest expenses. With $778 million in cash, AMC is positioned to invest in high-return opportunities, including premium large-format screens, theater upgrades and initiatives that enhance customer engagement through its loyalty and subscription programs.

Although AMC has not yet achieved sustainable full-year free cash flow positivity, management believes that milestone is within reach as leverage declines and financing costs ease. If the box office recovery remains strong and blockbuster releases continue to attract audiences, improving cash flow could provide the financial foundation for AMC's next stage of profitable growth.

How Does AMC Compare With Its Peers?AMC's improving cash flow stands out against other major theater operators such as Cinemark Holdings (CNK - Free Report) and Marcus Corporation (MCS - Free Report) , both of which are also benefiting from the recovery in theatrical attendance. Cinemark has maintained a relatively stronger balance sheet and consistently generated positive cash flow by focusing on premium experiences, disciplined capital allocation and cost efficiency. CNK’s healthier financial position provides greater flexibility to invest in theater upgrades while returning capital to its shareholders.

Marcus Corporation, meanwhile, has emphasized operational efficiency and selective investments across its theater portfolio while benefiting from a diversified business model that includes hotels and resorts. Although its scale is smaller than AMC's, Marcus Corporation has maintained a conservative financial profile that supports steady cash generation. AMC, however, is narrowing the gap by reducing debt, lowering interest costs and generating record free cash flow. If it sustains this momentum, the company could gain greater financial flexibility to accelerate growth initiatives and compete more effectively with peers.

AMC’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesShares of AMC have surged 99.3% in the past six months compared with the industry’s 0.5% growth.

AMC’s Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, AMC trades at a forward price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of 0.43X, below the industry’s average of 2.88X.

MC’s P/S Ratio (Forward 12-Month) vs. Industry
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The consensus estimate for AMC’s 2026 loss per share indicates a 77.1% year-over-year improvement.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

AMC’s Zacks RankAMC currently holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Key Takeaways Sea Limited's Q2 earnings estimate implies 17.6% growth, with revenues expected to rise 36.82%.Shopee investments and higher credit-loss provisions likely pressured margins and earnings.AI adoption and Shopee's strong Brazil execution likely boosted efficiency, engagement and market share. Sea Limited (SE - Free Report) is scheduled to report second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 11.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SE’s second-quarter earnings is pegged at $1.00 per share, unchanged over the past 30 days but revised down by 3 cents over the past 60 days. The estimate indicates year-over-year growth of 17.6% from the 85 cents per share reported in the year-ago quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $7.34 billion, suggesting year-over-year growth of 36.82%.

Sea Limited’s earnings missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, delivering an average negative surprise of 15.51%.

Let us see how things have shaped up for the upcoming announcement.

Factors Likely to Shape SE’s Q2 ResultsSea Limited’s aggressive investments in logistics, fulfillment, ShopeeVIP, AI capabilities and user acquisition are expected to have weighed on profitability in the second quarter of 2026. Management has reiterated that 2026 is a year for prioritizing growth-oriented investments aimed at further strengthening competitive advantage; however, they have also acknowledged that these initiatives are still in the early stages of improving unit economics. As a result, higher operating expenses are likely to have pressured Shopee’s margins during the quarter under review, even as revenue growth remained healthy.

Sea Limited’s rapidly expanding digital lending business is expected to have increased financial risk in the second quarter of 2026. While asset quality remained stable, the company continued to aggressively grow its loan portfolio across existing customers, new user segments and off-Shopee lending. This expansion was accompanied by a sharp rise in provision for credit losses, indicating higher costs associated with scaling the credit business. These elevated provisioning expenses likely continued to pressure earnings in the quarter under review despite strong lending growth.

However, Sea Limited’s growing AI adoption and strong execution in Brazil are anticipated to have supported second-quarter 2026 performance. AI-powered search, recommendations and content tools improved purchase conversion rates by 14%, while AI chatbots handled around 80% of customer queries, reducing customer service costs by roughly 30%. Meanwhile, Brazil remained Shopee’s fastest-growing profitable market, supported by improved delivery times, new fulfillment centers and rapid ShopeeMall expansion. Together, these initiatives are likely to have enhanced operating efficiency, customer engagement and market share in the upcoming announcement.

What Our Model Says About Sea Limited StockOur proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for SE this time around. According to the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here.

Sea Limited currently has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Stocks to ConsiderHere are some companies worth considering, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat earnings in their upcoming releases:

Analog Devices (ADI - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +2.37% and carries a Zacks Rank #2. ADI shares have gained 39.3% in the year-to-date period. ADI is set to report its third-quarter fiscal 2026 results on Aug. 19. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Applied Materials (AMAT - Free Report) presently has an Earnings ESP of +1.52% and a Zacks Rank #2. AMAT shares have surged 107.9% in the year-to-date period. AMAT is set to report its third-quarter fiscal 2026 results on Aug. 13.

Kingsoft Cloud (KC - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +12.5% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. KC shares have returned 21% in the year-to-date period. KC is slated to report its second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 19.

Key Takeaways Accenture will build a unified data foundation for real-time insights and faster decisions. AI and analytics will target revenue growth, cost optimization and supply-chain responsiveness. Generative AI tools and new operating models aim to scale transformation and expand EBITDA margins. Accenture (ACN - Free Report) entered into a multi-year collaboration with Dabur India Limited, one of India’s leading FMCG companies, to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence (“AI”) and build a future-ready digital enterprise. The initiative aims to strengthen decision-making, enhance business agility and create new opportunities for profitable growth by embedding AI across Dabur.

The collaboration builds on Dabur’s ongoing investments in cloud technologies and digital core modernization. As part of the engagement, Accenture will help establish a scalable and unified data foundation by integrating internal, external, structured and unstructured data into a centralized data lake. This approach is expected to enable standardized, automated and reliable data flows across the enterprise. The enhanced data infrastructure will support the deployment of control towers and digital dashboards, providing real-time visibility into key performance indicators and enabling faster, more informed responses to changing market conditions.

This initiative will leverage advanced analytics and AI to identify revenue growth opportunities, optimize costs, improve supply-chain responsiveness and enhance end-to-end visibility across key business functions, including finance, procurement, marketing and sales. Dabur also plans to introduce generative AI-powered conversational interfaces and digital assistants to simplify data access, generate actionable insights and support faster, data-driven decision-making for business users.

The collaboration will prioritize high-impact, outcome-driven use cases aimed at delivering measurable business value through spend optimization, operational efficiency and EBITDA margin expansion. In addition, Accenture will support Dabur in redesigning talent capabilities, operating models and governance frameworks to ensure sustainable AI-led transformation at scale.

From Accenture’s perspective, the partnership reinforces its position as a leading provider of AI-driven digital transformation services for the consumer goods sector. By helping Dabur modernize the data ecosystem and integrate AI into core business processes, Accenture further strengthens its portfolio of large-scale enterprise transformation engagements. The collaboration also provides an opportunity to showcase its expertise in cloud, data, analytics and generative AI, while deepening the long-term relationship with a leading FMCG company and creating a strong reference for similar AI-transformation initiatives across the industry.

The initiative marks the next phase of Dabur’s multi-year digital transformation journey with Accenture and is expected to enable it to operationalize AI at scale, improve business resilience and support long-term, purpose-driven growth.

Taking a Look at Accenture’s Other AI-Oriented DealsAccenture entered into a long-term strategic partnership with UniCredit, one of Europe’s foremost pan-European banking groups, and International Business Machines Corporation (IBM - Free Report) to build the technology foundation for supporting UniCredit’s continued growth across 13 European markets where it operates.

Through this collaboration, the three companies will develop a new banking technology operating model that provides UniCredit with greater control over its technology roadmap while combining the reliability of mission-critical systems with the agility of modern digital platforms. This approach is designed to foster continuous innovation and enhance operational flexibility.

Under the agreement, Accenture will acquire IBM’s majority stake in the joint venture responsible for managing a substantial portion of UniCredit’s technology infrastructure. IBM will also deliver modernized technology platforms to UniCredit, including IBM Z systems, software and consulting services. The collaboration marks the start of a multi-year transformation initiative aimed at modernizing the bank’s core systems and evolving its operating model.

Earlier this year, Accenture inked a deal with ServiceNow (NOW - Free Report) by introducing a joint AI-powered cybersecurity offering aimed at helping enterprises modernize their risk management operations. The new solution combines managed security services built on the ServiceNow AI Platform with Accenture's AI-driven migration capabilities, addressing two major challenges organizations face when replacing legacy cybersecurity systems — high costs and implementation complexity. The partnership with ServiceNow comes at a time when cybersecurity threats are becoming more severe and expensive.

Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesAccenture has lost roughly 36% so far this year compared with a 17% decline in its industry.

YTD Price ComparisonImage Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, ACN trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 1.49, way below the industry’s 11.87.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

See how the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ACN’s earnings has been revised over the past 90 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

ACN’s Zacks RankACN currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

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

Key Takeaways WIX trades at 1.6X forward sales, below its five-year median, while double-digit growth supports the case.Wix.com's Base44, Harmony and Headless broaden growth beyond websites into AI-led apps and business tools.WIX's gross margin fell to 67% as marketing costs surged, while Partners and commerce trends stayed soft. Wix.com Ltd. (WIX - Free Report) combines double-digit growth with a forward-sales valuation below its historical norm. Base44, Harmony and a smaller share count strengthen the long-term case.

The trade-off is execution. Elevated AI marketing costs, commerce volatility and softer Partners trends could delay the margin benefits investors expect from the company’s expanding product portfolio.

WIX Valuation Sits Below Its Historical NormWIX trades at 1.6X forward 12-month sales, below its five-year median of 3.5X and the cited multiples for its sub-industry, sector and the S&P 500. That discount may attract investors seeking growth at a less demanding sales valuation.

The broader valuation picture is less forgiving. An enterprise-value-to-EBITDA multiple of 69.4X and a negative reported net margin indicate that future operating leverage still carries substantial weight in the investment thesis.

Wix Growth Broadens Beyond Website CreationBase44 moves Wix into natural-language software and application development, while Harmony combines AI with visual website creation. Wix Headless also connects AI-generated frontends with payments, bookings, commerce, customer relationship management and analytics, potentially increasing the attachment of business applications.

Competition is moving quickly. GoDaddy Inc. (GDDY - Free Report) has placed Airo at the center of its AI strategy, with Airo reaching a $50 million annualized bookings run rate in the second quarter of 2026. Shopify Inc. (SHOP - Free Report) is expanding Sidekick and agentic commerce tools, reinforcing the need for Wix to convert product innovation into durable customer growth.

WIX Cash Flow Gets a Per-Share TailwindWix repurchased roughly 17.6 million shares for about $1.6 billion, reducing its equity base by nearly 30%. A lower share count can increase free cash flow per share when total cash generation is stable or rising.

Balance-sheet capacity deserves equal attention. Wix ended the second quarter with approximately $960.9 million in cash and cash equivalents and $1.63 billion in short- and long-term debt, leaving less room for execution errors after the large capital return.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Wix Execution Risks Argue for PatienceSecond-quarter non-GAAP gross margin fell to 67% from 70% a year earlier. Non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses increased 67% to $173.1 million as Wix accelerated paid advertising for Base44 and supported higher AI inference costs tied to free users.

Management expects Base44’s non-GAAP gross margin to reach approximately 60% in the second half of 2026, but it plans to reinvest the related savings into marketing. Partners' softness, a moderately longer acquisition-payback target and a commerce wind-down that is expected to pressure gross payment volume growth for four more quarters keep execution risk elevated.

WIX's Mixed Scores Support a Watchful StanceThe valuation discount, expanding AI portfolio and reduced share count support the case for monitoring WIX. The spending profile, debt load and dependence on Base44 margin delivery make patience more appropriate than treating the sales multiple as a stand-alone buy signal.

WIX currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Its Momentum Score of A and a VGM Score of B are constructive, but the Value Score of C and Growth Score of C indicate less consistent support across investment styles. The combination favors a watchful stance while investors track demand, marketing efficiency and second-half margin execution. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Key Takeaways Toyota Q1 earnings missed estimates as higher labor costs, depreciation and R&D expenses pressured profit.TM expects FY2027 retail sales of 11.18M vehicles, with operating income projected to decline 9.7%.TM forecasts FY2027 sales of 54 trillion yen, R&D spending of 1.6 trillion yen and capex of 2.3 trillion yen. Toyota Motor Corporation (TM - Free Report) reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings of $7.57 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.28% and increased from $4.47 reported in the year-ago quarter. Revenues remained nearly flat year over year at $84.9 billion.

Profitability was pressured by model mix, labor costs, depreciation and R&D expenses.

Toyota had consolidated cash and cash equivalents of ¥10.34 trillion ($64.34 billion) as of June 30, 2026. Long-term debt was ¥26.08 trillion ($162.3 billion), up from ¥25.62 trillion as of March 31, 2026.

TM’s Segmental ResultsThe Automotive segment’s net revenues for the fiscal first quarter increased 8.8% year over year to ¥12.01 trillion ($75.36 billion). Operating profit came in at ¥719.9 billion ($4.51 billion), which declined 21% from the year-ago period.

The Financial Services segment’s net revenues rose 23.2% from the prior-year quarter to ¥1.4 trillion ($8.78 billion). The segment registered an operating income of ¥275.7 billion ($1.72 billion), which rose 24% from the first quarter of fiscal 2026.

All Other businesses’ net revenues totaled ¥469.9 billion ($2.94 billion) in the reported quarter, which increased 37% year over year. The unit generated an operating profit of ¥16.3 billion ($512.5 million), which rose 118% year over year.

Toyota’s FY27 GuidanceFor fiscal 2027, Toyota projects total retail vehicle sales of 11.18 million units, indicating a decline from 11.28 million units sold in fiscal 2026. Fiscal 2027 sales are expected to total ¥54 trillion compared with ¥50.68 trillion recorded in fiscal 2026. Operating income is projected to be ¥3.4 trillion, indicating a contraction of 9.7% year over year.

Pretax profit is estimated to be ¥4.57 trillion, implying a decline from ¥5.12 trillion generated in fiscal 2026. R&D expenses are envisioned to be ¥1.6 trillion compared with ¥1.52 trillion spent in fiscal 2026. Capex is forecast at ¥2.3 trillion compared with ¥2.39 trillion spent in fiscal 2026.

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

Key Releases From Auto SpaceGeneral Motors Company (GM - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $3.57 per share, up 41.3% year over year. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.13 by 14.06%. Revenues increased 1.9% to $48.03 billion and surpassed the consensus estimate of $46.56 billion by 3.15%. Strong pricing, lower costs and disciplined incentives supported results. General Motors raised its full-year adjusted EBIT guidance to $14-$16 billion from $13.5-$15.5 billion. Adjusted earnings are now projected at $12-$14 per share, up from the prior range of $11.50-$13.50.

Tesla, Inc. (TSLA - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 33 cents per share, which declined 17.5% year over year. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 50 cents by 34%. Revenues advanced 25.5% to $28.24 billion and surpassed the consensus estimate of $25.81 billion by 9.41%. Tesla expects 2026 capital expenditures to exceed $25 billion and rise further over the next two to three years.

Genuine Parts Company (GPC - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $2.15 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.10 by 2.38%. The bottom line increased 2.4% from $2.10 in the year-ago quarter. Revenues rose 6% year over year to $6.54 billion and surpassed the consensus estimate of $6.39 billion by 2.36%. Genuine Parts reaffirmed its 2026 adjusted earnings guidance of $7.50-$8 per share and total sales growth outlook of 3-5.5%. Genuine Parts ended June with $2.3 billion of liquidity, including $559 million in cash.

Key Takeaways WWD fell 13.9% despite 21.2% sales growth, an earnings beat and higher fiscal 2026 guidance.Aerospace and Industrial sales rose 19% and 26%, but pricing and China benefits boosted margins.Free cash flow fell 12% as capex surged 125%, while WWD trades at 39.7X forward earnings. Woodward, Inc. (WWD - Free Report) shares fell 13.9% in one week even after the company posted double-digit sales growth, topped earnings expectations and raised fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings guidance.

The pullback may look attractive, but the quarter also contained benefits that may not repeat. Normalizing pricing, heavier capital spending and the China on-highway exit make the durability of margins and cash flow the central issue.

WWD's One-Week Slide Contrasts With Strong EarningsThird-quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings increased 43.2% to $2.52 per share. The result beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.39 by 5.4%, showing that operating leverage and pricing still supported profit growth.

Sales rose 21.2% to $1.11 billion but missed the consensus mark by 0.4%. Woodward raised adjusted earnings guidance to $9.30-$9.50 per share while leaving its outlook for 20%-23% sales growth unchanged, creating a solid but not uniformly positive earnings picture.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Woodward's Growth Engines Remain IntactAerospace sales climbed 19% to $709 million. Commercial original equipment manufacturer sales rose 34%, while commercial services advanced 24% as aircraft production and current-generation engine service activity remained supportive.

Industrial sales increased 26% to $401 million. Marine transportation, gas-fired power for data centers and liquefied natural gas infrastructure supported growth across the segment's primary markets.

Parker-Hannifin Corporation (PH - Free Report) supplies flight controls, engine systems, hydraulics and thermal solutions across commercial and defense aerospace, placing it in overlapping end markets. Eaton Corporation plc (ETN - Free Report) offers aerospace fuel, hydraulic, conveyance and actuation products plus aftermarket services, providing another reference point for component demand.

WWD's Margin Tailwinds are Set to FadeAerospace margin reached 24%, but a retroactive contract pricing adjustment added about 100 basis points. Excluding that item, the margin was about 23%, closer to Woodward's fiscal 2026 segment target of roughly 23.5%.

China on-highway operations added about 90 basis points to Industrial margin. Companywide pricing is expected to normalize to 3%-5% after reaching about 8% for fiscal 2026, leaving productivity and volume to carry more of the future margin improvement.

Woodward's Cash Conversion Still Needs WorkQuarterly free cash flow declined 12% to $87 million as capital expenditures increased 125% to $60 million. Woodward is also carrying higher inventory, while receivables were above expectations because of collection timing.

Nine-month free cash flow still rose 23% to $196 million, but full-year guidance remained $300-$350 million despite higher earnings guidance. Spending is expected to rise toward the approximately $290 million capital plan, keeping conversion under scrutiny.

WWD's China Exit Clouds the 2027 SetupChina on-highway operations generated $40 million of third-quarter sales, above Woodward's prior expectation. The company expects little revenue from the business in the fourth quarter as the wind-down concludes.

That step-down will make fiscal 2027 Industrial comparisons harder. Core Industrial sales, which exclude China on-highway, rose 19% to $361 million, suggesting the broader transportation, power generation and oil and gas portfolio retains momentum.

WWD's Mixed Signals Favor PatienceThe 13.9% pullback has improved the entry price, but it has not removed execution or valuation risk. WWD still trades at 39.7X forward earnings, while margin normalization, supply-chain constraints and elevated investment could limit near-term upside.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), a VGM Score of C, a Growth Score of B, a Momentum Score of A and a Value Score of D. The growth and momentum readings are favorable, but the weaker value and combined scores support patience until valuation or cash conversion improves.

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

© Courtesy of Archer Aviation

Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY | JOBY Price Prediction) stock is rallying Thursday, with shares up 9% to $8.47 by midday after the electric air taxi maker raised its full-year 2026 revenue outlook alongside Joby’s Q2 FY2026 report released after Wednesday’s close. The move puts JOBY stock at its highest level in about a month following a bruising stretch. Shares were still down 41% year to date (YTD) through Wednesday’s close.

The rally stands out because the broader tape is soft. Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ), which tracks the NASDAQ 100, is down 0.4% to $714.46. It appears, then, that today’s move is a stock-specific story rather than a sector or benchmark tailwind.

Guidance Raise Fuels the Move Joby Aviation lifted its full-year 2026 revenue outlook to a range of $115 million to $125 million, up from the prior $105 million to $115 million range. The upgrade was powered by Joby’s Blade passenger business, which contributed about $36.2 million in Q2 revenue with seats flown up more than 50% year over year (YoY).

Furthermore, Joby Aviation’s Q2 revenue landed at $38.6 million versus the $30.4 million consensus, a 27.2% beat. On the bottom line, GAAP EPS came in at -$0.25 against a -$0.2345 estimate. Joby’s management pointed to about $2.3 billion in cash and short-term investments as of June 30.

CEO JoeBen Bevirt provided confident commentary:

With meaningful progress on certification, partnerships, infrastructure and commercial readiness, we are unlocking the third dimension of mobility and turning electric vertical flight from an extraordinary technology into an everyday reality, giving people their time back and fundamentally changing the way we move.

Joby Aviation reported its strongest quarterly progress yet in the fifth and final stage of FAA type certification, with five aircraft flying and 12 more in production. The company’s manufacturing joint venture with Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) remains central to scale plans.

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Peers Sit Out the eVTOL Rally Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR) stock is roughly flat at $5.21, refusing to piggyback on Joby’s guidance raise. Archer has its own news flow this week, including a new aviation-AI model called ZEE that predicts aircraft movements across airport surfaces, and a piloted round-trip Midnight flight between Salinas and Monterey. However, with no customer, contract value, or commercialization timeline disclosed for ZEE, and its own Q2 earnings due August 10 after the close, Archer shares are on hold ahead of the report. ACHR stock is down 31% YTD.

EHang Holdings (NASDAQ:EH) stock is drifting lower, down 1% to $5.30, with no fresh company-specific catalyst. EHang shares have been the group’s worst performer, down 61% YTD, after a Q1/Q2 2026 revenue miss earlier this summer.

What to Watch Separately Thursday, Joby Aviation announced a new 45,000-square-foot Texas hub at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport, its first significant eVTOL presence in Texas. The facility supports first eIPP flights expected in September in Texas, with the company still targeting first passengers in 2026. Joby’s partnership with Atoms, the industrial-AI and infrastructure company founded by Travis Kalanick, on multimodal transportation hubs adds another data point on commercial readiness.

Investors can watch for whether JOBY stock holds above the $8 level into Friday’s close and how Archer Aviation’s August 10 earnings reshape the sector narrative. Any color from management on FAA Stage 4 progress or Toyota production ramp could set the next leg for the group. Stay tuned, as momentum traders may keep Joby Aviation stock active through the afternoon.

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

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JACKSON, Mich., Aug. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of Consumers Energy, the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy, has declared a quarterly dividend on the utility's preferred stock. 

The following dividend is payable Oct. 1, 2026, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Sept. 2, 2026: $1.125 per share on the $4.50 preferred stock (NYSE: CMS_pb).

Additional dividend information, including the tax status of Consumers Energy's dividend distributions, can be obtained through the Tax Information section of CMS Energy's website.

CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS) is a Michigan-based energy provider featuring Consumers Energy as its primary business. It also owns and operates independent power generation businesses.

For more information on CMS Energy, please visit our website at cmsenergy.com.
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SOURCE CMS Energy

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