Goldman Sachs (GS - Free Report) has been one of the most searched-for stocks on Zacks.com lately. So, you might want to look at some of the facts that could shape the stock's performance in the near term.
Over the past month, shares of this investment bank have returned +2%, compared to the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +0.4% change. During this period, the Zacks Financial - Investment Bank industry, which Goldman falls in, has gained 2.2%. The key question now is: What could be the stock's future direction?
While media releases or rumors about a substantial change in a company's business prospects usually make its stock 'trending' and lead to an immediate price change, there are always some fundamental facts that eventually dominate the buy-and-hold decision-making.
Revisions to Earnings EstimatesHere at Zacks, we prioritize appraising the change in the projection of a company's future earnings over anything else. That's because we believe the present value of its future stream of earnings is what determines the fair value for its stock.
We essentially look at how sell-side analysts covering the stock are revising their earnings estimates to reflect the impact of the latest business trends. And if earnings estimates go up for a company, the fair value for its stock goes up. A higher fair value than the current market price drives investors' interest in buying the stock, leading to its price moving higher. This is why empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
For the current quarter, Goldman is expected to post earnings of $15.59 per share, indicating a change of +27.3% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has changed +13.1% over the last 30 days.
The consensus earnings estimate of $68.83 for the current fiscal year indicates a year-over-year change of +34.1%. This estimate has changed +15.5% over the last 30 days.
For the next fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $72.1 indicates a change of +4.8% from what Goldman is expected to report a year ago. Over the past month, the estimate has changed +8.8%.
With an impressive externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool -- the Zacks Rank -- is a more conclusive indicator of a stock's near-term price performance, as it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions. The size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) for Goldman.
The chart below shows the evolution of the company's forward 12-month consensus EPS estimate:
12 Month EPS
Revenue Growth ForecastWhile earnings growth is arguably the most superior indicator of a company's financial health, nothing happens as such if a business isn't able to grow its revenues. After all, it's nearly impossible for a company to increase its earnings for an extended period without increasing its revenues. So, it's important to know a company's potential revenue growth.
For Goldman, the consensus sales estimate for the current quarter of $17.01 billion indicates a year-over-year change of +12.1%. For the current and next fiscal years, $69.53 billion and $70.85 billion estimates indicate +19.3% and +1.9% changes, respectively.
Last Reported Results and Surprise HistoryGoldman reported revenues of $20.34 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +39.5%. EPS of $20.98 for the same period compares with $10.91 a year ago.
Compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $16.49 billion, the reported revenues represent a surprise of +23.31%. The EPS surprise was +44.99%.
The company beat consensus EPS estimates in each of the trailing four quarters. The company topped consensus revenue estimates three times over this period.
ValuationWithout considering a stock's valuation, no investment decision can be efficient. In predicting a stock's future price performance, it's crucial to determine whether its current price correctly reflects the intrinsic value of the underlying business and the company's growth prospects.
Comparing the current value of a company's valuation multiples, such as its price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S), and price-to-cash flow (P/CF), to its own historical values helps ascertain whether its stock is fairly valued, overvalued, or undervalued, whereas comparing the company relative to its peers on these parameters gives a good sense of how reasonable its stock price is.
As part of the Zacks Style Scores system, the Zacks Value Style Score (which evaluates both traditional and unconventional valuation metrics) organizes stocks into five groups ranging from A to F (A is better than B; B is better than C; and so on), making it helpful in identifying whether a stock is overvalued, rightly valued, or temporarily undervalued.
Goldman is graded D on this front, indicating that it is trading at a premium to its peers. Click here to see the values of some of the valuation metrics that have driven this grade.
Bottom LineThe facts discussed here and much other information on Zacks.com might help determine whether or not it's worthwhile paying attention to the market buzz about Goldman. However, its Zacks Rank #1 does suggest that it may outperform the broader market in the near term.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH - Free Report) is one of the stocks most watched by Zacks.com visitors lately. So, it might be a good idea to review some of the factors that might affect the near-term performance of the stock.
Shares of this cruise operator have returned -8% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +0.4% change. The Zacks Leisure and Recreation Services industry, to which Norwegian Cruise Line belongs, has lost 6.6% over this period. Now the key question is: Where could the stock be headed in the near term?
While media releases or rumors about a substantial change in a company's business prospects usually make its stock 'trending' and lead to an immediate price change, there are always some fundamental facts that eventually dominate the buy-and-hold decision-making.
Revisions to Earnings EstimatesRather than focusing on anything else, we at Zacks prioritize evaluating the change in a company's earnings projection. This is because we believe the fair value for its stock is determined by the present value of its future stream of earnings.
We essentially look at how sell-side analysts covering the stock are revising their earnings estimates to reflect the impact of the latest business trends. And if earnings estimates go up for a company, the fair value for its stock goes up. A higher fair value than the current market price drives investors' interest in buying the stock, leading to its price moving higher. This is why empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
Norwegian Cruise Line is expected to post earnings of $0.39 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of -23.5%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate has changed -0.8%.
For the current fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $1.71 points to a change of -19% from the prior year. Over the last 30 days, this estimate has changed +0.3%.
For the next fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $2.02 indicates a change of +18% from what Norwegian Cruise Line is expected to report a year ago. Over the past month, the estimate has changed +1%.
Having a strong externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool, the Zacks Rank, offers a more conclusive picture of a stock's price direction in the near term, since it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions. Due to the size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, Norwegian Cruise Line is rated Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
The chart below shows the evolution of the company's forward 12-month consensus EPS estimate:
12 Month EPS
Revenue Growth ForecastEven though a company's earnings growth is arguably the best indicator of its financial health, nothing much happens if it cannot raise its revenues. It's almost impossible for a company to grow its earnings without growing its revenue for long periods. Therefore, knowing a company's potential revenue growth is crucial.
For Norwegian Cruise Line, the consensus sales estimate for the current quarter of $2.63 billion indicates a year-over-year change of +4.4%. For the current and next fiscal years, $10.13 billion and $10.8 billion estimates indicate +3.1% and +6.6% changes, respectively.
Last Reported Results and Surprise HistoryNorwegian Cruise Line reported revenues of $2.33 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +9.6%. EPS of $0.23 for the same period compares with $0.07 a year ago.
Compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.34 billion, the reported revenues represent a surprise of -0.5%. The EPS surprise was +53.33%.
Over the last four quarters, Norwegian Cruise Line surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times. The company topped consensus revenue estimates times over this period.
ValuationNo investment decision can be efficient without considering a stock's valuation. Whether a stock's current price rightly reflects the intrinsic value of the underlying business and the company's growth prospects is an essential determinant of its future price performance.
Comparing the current value of a company's valuation multiples, such as its price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S), and price-to-cash flow (P/CF), to its own historical values helps ascertain whether its stock is fairly valued, overvalued, or undervalued, whereas comparing the company relative to its peers on these parameters gives a good sense of how reasonable its stock price is.
As part of the Zacks Style Scores system, the Zacks Value Style Score (which evaluates both traditional and unconventional valuation metrics) organizes stocks into five groups ranging from A to F (A is better than B; B is better than C; and so on), making it helpful in identifying whether a stock is overvalued, rightly valued, or temporarily undervalued.
Norwegian Cruise Line is graded A on this front, indicating that it is trading at a discount to its peers. Click here to see the values of some of the valuation metrics that have driven this grade.
ConclusionThe facts discussed here and much other information on Zacks.com might help determine whether or not it's worthwhile paying attention to the market buzz about Norwegian Cruise Line. However, its Zacks Rank #3 does suggest that it may perform in line with the broader market in the near term.
PepsiCo is rated 'sell' as the turnaround remains unproven, with core North American segments still struggling and gross margins under pressure. Recent sales growth was driven solely by international markets and currency effects, while North America saw declining volumes and ineffective pricing strategies. PEP's leverage is concerning, with $42B net debt and a high FCF multiple of 25–26x, leaving little room for deleveraging or capital flexibility.
Since the advent of modern-day artificial intelligence platforms, Nvidia (NVDA -1.52%) has been the chip provider of choice thanks to its dominance in data center graphics processing units (GPUs). Even computing powerhouses like Intel and Advanced Micro Devices were on the fringe of the market. Mobile processor maker Qualcomm (QCOM -2.07%) wasn't even part of the discussion.
Now, that's changing. The often-overlooked mobile technology name recently inked deals to supply three hyperscalers -- including Microsoft (MSFT -0.74%) and Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META -2.91%) -- with artificial intelligence (AI) processing chips. All told, Qualcomm expects to do at least $15 billion worth of data center business in its fiscal 2029, up from none a year ago. For perspective on that figure, the company reported revenue of $44.3 billion for its fiscal 2025, which ended in September.
Qualcomm's budding presence in the AI data center business is not only undeniable, but meaningful.
It's also an opportunity for volatility-tolerant investors.
Qualcomm makes a well-deserved splash It shouldn't come as a complete surprise. Qualcomm has been alluding to this next evolution of its high-performance, energy-efficient mobile processing tech (you've probably heard of its popular Snapdragon processor) for some time now. However, it plainly confirmed its plans to enter the AI data center business in October of last year, when it "announced the launch of its next-generation AI inference-optimized solutions for data centers: the Qualcomm AI200 and AI250 chip-based accelerator cards, and racks." It then expanded its AI portfolio last month, introducing the Dragonfly AI300 inference accelerator, which was designed with agentic AI in mind.
That's also when the company confirmed that its Dragonfly C1000 data center central processing unit (CPU) will "power Meta's next-generation server fleet, underscoring the growing importance of high-performance, power-efficient compute in large-scale scale-out environments" as part of a multi-generation collaboration. Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform, in the meantime, will utilize Qualcomm's HBC (high-bandwidth compute) chips alongside the AI200 and AI250 beginning next year, as the combination of this hardware becomes available at scale.
Image source: Getty Images.
This tech isn't a mere replication of solutions that are already available from rival chipmakers. There's a very specific reason Meta and Microsoft are interested enough to give Qualcomm's solutions a shot when it's the least-proven name in the business. That reason is efficiency, or more specifically, lower operating costs.
By directly connecting processing cores to high-bandwidth memory, Qualcomm says its hardware can deliver on the order of 4 to 8 times more computing performance per watt compared to existing GPU-based architectures, addressing one of the AI industry's chief challenges at this time.
Growth ahead on many fronts Qualcomm's still something of an outsider within AI data center computing circles. However, the company's forecast for a minimum of $15 billion worth of artificial intelligence data center revenue in fiscal 2029 (which ends in September 2029) isn't outrageous in the least. The outlook from Precedence Research suggests that the global AI processor market is poised to grow from a little less than $58 billion last year to more than $146 billion by 2029, en route to a total of $550 billion in 2035. Qualcomm would only need to capture about one-tenth of the projected market to reach its 2029 target.
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The fact that its technology is built to handle the relatively new demands of agentic AI matters, too. Precedence Research's study also asserts that the agentic artificial intelligence market is on pace to grow from less than $8 billion last year to more than $32 billion in 2029, although it doesn't anticipate that this sliver of the artificial intelligence industry will outright explode until the first half of the 2030s. For 2034, its expected market size is just under $200 billion.
All that being said, it's arguable that investors are overlooking -- and therefore undervaluing -- Qualcomm's future on the automotive and the Internet of Things (IoT) fronts. The company's expectations that both its automobile-related and IoT (wearables, robotics, security systems, industrial automation, etc.) will more than double in size over the coming four years are realistic as well.
Qualcomm expects its revenues from sources beyond its mobile handset business to grow by an average of 40% per year through 2029, making it one of the hotter growth names of the next chapter of the AI revolution.
Data source: Morningstar. Chart by author.
This might help: Although the majority of analysts only rate QCOM stock as a hold right now, their consensus price target of $228.57 is 33% above the ticker's current price. That's not a bad way to start out a new trade in this recently discounted stock. Just keep in mind that its volatility is likely to linger for at least a while longer.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) will release its second quarter earnings report after the closing bell on Thursday, July 23.
Analysts expect the Santa Clara, California-based company to report quarterly earnings of 22 cents per share, versus a loss of 10 cents per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for Intel’s quarterly revenue is $14.45 billion. It reported $12.86 billion last year, according to Benzinga Pro.
On July 21, Intel and Fortinet announced a strategic collaboration to develop Fortinet Security Processor 6.
Intel shares fell 2.7% to close at $102.62 on Wednesday.
Benzinga readers can access the latest analyst ratings on the Analyst Stock Ratings page. Readers can sort by stock ticker, company name, analyst firm, rating change or other variables.
Let’s have a look at how Benzinga’s most-accurate analysts have rated the company in the recent period.
Considering buying INTC stock? Here’s what analysts think:
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Shares of Nvidia (NVDA -1.52%) and Intel (INTC +0.10%) have enjoyed contrasting fortunes on the stock market over the past year. While Intel stock has jumped by more than 4x during this period, Nvidia's gains have been way lower at just 20%.
Investors have been buying Intel stock hand over fist to capitalize on the company's turnaround. The semiconductor giant has been cutting its losses, and its chips have been gaining traction in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers to support inference and agentic AI workloads. Nvidia, on the other hand, continues to deliver impressive growth, but concerns about the growing competition in AI chips seem to have dented investor confidence.
Does this mean Intel is the better semiconductor stock to buy and hold for the next three years due to its resurgence? Or will Nvidia's dominant presence in this market help it regain its mojo and deliver stronger gains than Intel? Let's find out.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Nvidia's growth is significantly better than Intel's Nvidia reportedly controls 80% of the AI accelerator market, which includes graphics cards, server processors, and custom AI chips. Intel failed to make a mark in AI graphics processing units (GPUs) when they were in high demand, while Nvidia ran away with the market thanks to its early inroads in this space. This explains why Nvidia's growth has been much better than Intel's.
Data by YCharts
The situation isn't expected to change much over the next three years. That's because Nvidia has diversified beyond GPUs. It is going to sell its Vera server central processing unit (CPU) as a stand-alone product, anticipating $20 billion in revenue from this product alone in 2026. Nvidia is therefore now entering a market that Intel dominates.
Mercury Research estimates that Intel controlled just over two-thirds of server CPUs in Q1 this year. However, it has been losing ground to AMD in this market, and Nvidia's arrival could make things worse for Intel. For some perspective, Intel's data center and AI (DCAI) segment revenue was $5.1 billion in Q1, growing by 22% from the year-ago period. That translates into an annual run rate of just over $20 billion.
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Nvidia is already forecasting $20 billion in stand-alone server CPU sales this year. Moreover, Nvidia sees a $200 billion addressable opportunity in the server CPU market, and its 2026 server CPU forecast indicates it is poised to make a big dent in this market. Meanwhile, Nvidia is also making solid progress in fast-growing AI niches such as physical AI. At the same time, the company has already lined up potential revenue of $1 trillion from sales of its Vera Rubin and Blackwell AI processors in 2026 and 2027.
All this explains why analysts are expecting Nvidia to grow faster than Intel over the next three years.
Data by YCharts
A simple reason why Nvidia can deliver more upside than Intel Intel's stunning surge over the past year has made it expensive. The stock is trading at 110 times forward earnings, which is way higher than Nvidia's forward earnings multiple of 23. We have already seen that Nvidia's growth rate will be higher than Intel's for the next three years, and that's going to filter down to its bottom line as well.
Data by YCharts
Assuming Nvidia trades at 25 times earnings after three years and its earnings per share reach $15.98 (as shown in the chart above), its stock price could jump to $400. That's nearly double its current stock price. But if Intel trades at a similar valuation and delivers $2.45 in earnings per share, its stock price would land at $71. That's lower than Intel's current stock price, suggesting it will need to trade at a higher valuation.
So, Nvidia looks like the better AI stock to buy right now compared to Intel, considering its impressive growth and cheaper valuation.
Intel (INTC) shares are more than 25% below its all-time high but up over 330% year-over-year. Tom White shows how substantial the really has been over recent months to help investors prepare for the legacy tech company's earnings after Thursday's close.
Intel is slated to report earnings after the closing bell today, with traders anticipating a sizable move from the chipmaker's stock following the results.
This article was written by Doug Nathman, with research by his team at Trefis.
If you are an Adobe (ADBE) shareholder, the past year has been quite tumultuous. The stock has lost 38% of its value and is currently trading approximately 39% lower than its 52-week peak. This type of performance often leads to doubts about the narrative.
But what if the market is misinterpreting the story? What if the very factor that is causing short-term worry, a conscious shift that management claims “lowers our second half ARR growth expectations,” is actually laying the groundwork for the stock's next prolonged rise? Adobe is making a substantial, calculated wager: prioritizing immediate, predictable revenue loss for an expansive acquisition of new users. And initial indications are that this strategy is yielding results.
Adobe sign with logo mounted on building exterior, San Francisco, California, September 18, 2025. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
Gado via Getty Images
How substantial is this user acquisition?
The figures are nearly staggering. Over the last year, Adobe’s “Creative Freemium” monthly active users (MAU), those utilizing free versions of products like Firefly and Express, have surged from 50 million to 90 million. This increase comes in addition to its established user base, where Acrobat and Express MAU rose from over 700 million to more than 850 million. This is not a minor increase; it resembles a deluge. Management describes the traffic to its site as “gushing” and is redirecting that influx away from immediate paywalls and toward seamless, free experiences.
The approach is straightforward: introduce the tools to hundreds of millions of new creators and professionals, allow them to develop a habit, and subsequently monetize that involvement over time. It’s a tried-and-true strategy, similar to the one that turned Adobe Reader into a ubiquitous platform that has enjoyed decades of success.
The signs are apparent: early monetization is occurring.
A large user base is beneficial, but it doesn’t generate revenue. The pivotal question is whether these free users will ultimately transition to paying customers. Here, the company is pointing to genuine revenue figures. Adobe’s “AI-first” annual recurring revenue (ARR) has experienced a “3x year-over-year increase” exceeding $500 million. This growth is driven by the very AI tools supporting the freemium initiative. The mechanism is already in motion. For example, ARR for Firefly rose about 50% from one quarter to the next.
This indicates that the funnel is functioning. Users are drawn in by a free tool, become engaged with the AI features, and a significant portion of them start to pay for it. While the company’s recent results have stirred debate, we’ve examined whether the stock is genuinely flawed or simply drastically marked down.
What’s the drawback?
This strategy entails a genuine, short-term cost. To fully commit to user acquisition, Adobe opted to “defer previously established Creative Cloud second half line optimizations,” a courteous way of stating it is postponing price increases for its core professional products. This, in conjunction with the transition to a slower-converting freemium model, is the reason the company revised its ARR growth projections. It’s a trade-off: reduced assured revenue now in exchange for a chance at a significantly larger future revenue stream.
The market detests uncertainty, and this transition fosters it. Management acknowledges that the complete return from this strategic pivot “will unfold, I believe, over 2027.” That’s quite a wait. However, for investors with a similar timeframe, that presents an opportunity. The company is expanding its competitive edge, drawing in the next generation of creators who might have otherwise chosen different paths. The gamble is that by the time the market appreciates the full worth of this vast, engaged user base, the stock will have already initiated its steady ascension.
What constitutes the strongest evidence of an opportunity becoming reality?
Such an opportunity only holds value once it begins to manifest in the numbers, and the first concrete indication arises in management's outlook. The instant a company can foresee new revenue streams, it raises its forecasts, and an increased forecast that the market is already favoring is among the clearest signs that a narrative like this is materializing. Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Parker Hannifin (PH), and Ross Stores (ROST) are currently signaling exactly that. Our Guidance Momentum screen monitors every S&P 500 entity where an ascending forecast is already coinciding with real price momentum, allowing you to seek the next opportunity like this one while it is still in its early stages. And if you prefer to own the entire sector rather than risking it on a single stock, a software ETF such as IGV encompasses the entire industry.
What is the intelligent way to support a narrative like this?
A growth story of such credibility warrants action, but engaging through a single stock means accepting all the fluctuations that one firm encounters along the way. The more prudent strategy is to maintain a collection of stocks where the long-term case is as compelling, ensuring that the continuous upside is preserved and no isolated surprise can derail it. This approach is how patient investments compound.
The Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio assesses the comprehensive quality across thousands of stocks, retains the 30 strongest, and re-balances them according to rules that prevent any one position from jeopardizing the entire portfolio.
, /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Hertz Global Holdings ("Hertz" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: HTZ). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at [email protected] or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.
The investigation concerns whether Hertz and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
On June 24, 2026, Hertz issued a press release "announc[ing] that its wholly-owned indirect subsidiary, The Hertz Corporation ('Hertz Corp.'), intends to offer, subject to market and other conditions, $300 million in aggregate principal amount of Exchangeable Senior First-Lien Secured PIK Notes due 2030 (the 'Notes') in a private offering to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers[.]" The press release specified that "Hertz Corp. intends to use the net proceeds received from the offering of the Notes for general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment of outstanding indebtedness."
On this news, Hertz's stock price fell $2.06 per share, or 40.71%, to close at $3.00 per share on June 24, 2026.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Analysts expect the company to report quarterly earnings of $4.40 per share, up from $4.08 per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for American Express quarterly revenue is $19.7 billion. It reported $17.86 billion last year, according to Benzinga Pro.
On Wednesday, American Express and ALL Accor announced a new global partnership featuring elite status match and points transfer.
With the recent buzz around American Express, some investors may be eyeing potential gains from the company’s dividends too. As of now, AXP has an annual dividend yield of 1.09%, which is a quarterly dividend amount of 95 cents per share ($3.80 a year).
So, how can investors exploit its dividend yield to pocket a regular $500 monthly?
To earn $500 per month or $6,000 annually from dividends alone, you would need an investment of approximately $550,660 or around 1,579 shares. For a more modest $100 per month or $1,200 per year, you would need $110,202 or around 316 shares.
To calculate: Divide the desired annual income ($6,000 or $1,200) by the dividend ($3.80 in this case). So, $6,000 / $3.80 = 1,579 ($500 per month), and $1,200 / $3.80 = 316 shares ($100 per month).
Note that dividend yield can change on a rolling basis, as the dividend payment and the stock price both fluctuate over time.
How that works: The dividend yield is computed by dividing the annual dividend payment by the stock’s current price.
For example, if a stock pays an annual dividend of $2 and is currently priced at $50, the dividend yield would be 4% ($2/$50). However, if the stock price increases to $60, the dividend yield drops to 3.33% ($2/$60). Conversely, if the stock price falls to $40, the dividend yield rises to 5% ($2/$40).
Similarly, changes in the dividend payment can impact the yield. If a company increases its dividend, the yield will also increase, provided the stock price stays the same. Conversely, if the dividend payment decreases, so will the yield.
AXP Price Action: Shares of American Express fell 0.6% to close at $348.74 on Wednesday.
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Both American Express (NYSE:AXP | AXP Price Prediction) and Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) report Q2 2026 results before market open on Friday, July 24, 2026, with Verizon's earnings call confirmed for 8:30 AM ET.
International Business Machines Corp. cut its full-year sales outlook, including for its software unit, after reporting a dip in demand for its mainframe business. Shares still rose after the closing bell.
International Business Machines Corp (NYSE:IBM) shares were set to open about 2% lower on Thursday after the technology company reported second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that missed Wall Street expectations while lowering its full-year constant currency revenue growth forecast.
For the quarter, IBM reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.93, below the $2.97 expected by analysts, while revenue rose 1% year-over-year to $17.16 billion, missing the LSEG consensus estimate of $17.58 billion.
The company now expects full-year constant currency revenue growth of 4% to 5%, down from its previous outlook, while maintaining its expectation for free cash flow to increase by about $1 billion year-over-year in 2026. IBM also said it aims to expand its full-year pre-tax margin by about one percentage point through productivity improvements.
Software revenue increased 5% to $7.8 billion, led by 11% growth in Hybrid Cloud, including Red Hat (NYSE:RHT), and a 19% increase in Data. Automation revenue rose 4%, while Transaction Processing declined 8%.
Consulting revenue was flat at $5.3 billion, or up 1% in constant currency, with both Strategy and Technology and Intelligent Operations posting flat reported growth.
Infrastructure revenue declined 7% to $3.8 billion, reflecting a 42% drop in IBM Z revenue and a 10% decline in Hybrid Infrastructure, partially offset by 37% growth in Distributed Infrastructure. Financing revenue increased 12% to $200 million.
"We are confident in IBM's strategy and portfolio, and in our ability to capture growth opportunities ahead,” IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said in a statement.
“We fundamentally believe that we are in the early innings of a structural shift for business, and that our portfolio - across software, infrastructure, and consulting - is well-positioned to help our clients tap the value, and manage the challenges, of an AI-driven future.”
Jefferies analysts wrote that the revenue miss was primarily driven by weaker-than-expected software performance, with software revenue growing 5% versus the firm's expectation for 10% growth. The analysts noted that consulting was broadly in line with expectations, while infrastructure revenue also came in weaker than anticipated.
The analysts said management attributed the software shortfall to customers accelerating spending on supply-constrained servers, storage and memory ahead of expected price increases, which reduced near-term software spending. They added that roughly one-third of the delayed mainframe deals had already closed during the first three weeks of the third quarter, supporting management's view that the weakness was largely a timing issue rather than a structural change in demand.
Jefferies also noted that IBM's updated guidance reflects a range of possible outcomes. The low end of the company's 4% to 5% constant currency revenue growth forecast assumes little recovery in delayed transactions during the second half of the year, while the high end assumes most of those deals are completed. The analysts said the burden now shifts to third-quarter execution, with investors looking for evidence that the delayed business materializes.
The firm added that IBM's recurring software revenue base and unchanged free cash flow guidance provide support for the investment case, but it would wait for more of the delayed transactions to appear in reported results before becoming more constructive. Jefferies maintained its $260 price target on the stock.
, /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of International Business Machines Corporation ("IBM" or the "Company") (NYSE: IBM). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at [email protected] or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.
The investigation concerns whether IBM and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
On July 14, 2026, IBM released its financial results for the second quarter of 2026. IBM announced a disappointing quarter that it attributed to "a shortfall in our Z performance and the associated software stack, primarily in Transaction Processing." IBM also disclosed that it had "faltered," and "did not adapt and move quickly enough" so that "numerous large deals failed to close on the timelines we expected, driving the majority of our shortfall."
On this news, IBM's stock price fell $73.16 per share, or 25.21%, to close at $217.07 per share on July 14, 2026.
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Diane King Hall touches on the top earnings moving markets after Thursday's opening bell. RTX Corp. (RTX) and Lockheed Martin (LMT) added muscle to the defense trade while Southwest Airlines (LUV) and American Airlines (AAL) fell following their reports and added fuel pressures.
Lending support to his choice, UnitedHealth, on July 16, reported better-than-expected second-quarter results and raised its full-year 2026 earnings guidance. Adjusted earnings came in at $6.38 per share, topping the analyst consensus estimate of $4.86. Revenue increased to $112.03 billion from $111.62 billion a year earlier and exceeded Wall Street expectations of $110.83 billion.
Jenny Van Leeuwen Harrington, chief executive officer of Gilman Hill Asset Management, LLC, said Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (NYSE:AMBP) has an 8.5% yield.
Wells Fargo analyst Gabe Hajde, on July 15, maintained Ardagh Metal Packaging with an Equal-Weight rating and raised the price target from $4 to $5.
Don’t forget to check out our premarket coverage here
Liz Young Thomas, SoFi head of investment strategy, picked Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (NYSE:RSP)
Joseph M. Terranova, senior managing director for Virtus Investment Partners, recommended NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA).
According to recent news, NVIDIA expanded its NVIDIA Agent Toolkit by adding Omniverse libraries that help AI agents prepare 3D content for physical AI simulations. Announced at SIGGRAPH on Monday, the update adds tools for RTX sensor simulation, GPU-accelerated physics and simulation-ready asset validation, with the libraries now available on GitHub.
Price Action Ardagh Metal Packaging shares gained 0.4% to close at $4.71 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group shares fell 1.2% to settle at $431.31 during the session. Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF slipped 0.03% on Wednesday. Nvidia shares gained 2.3% to close at $212.06 during the session. Photo via Shutterstock
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AR Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT – Free Report) by 11.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. AR Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $4,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 68,427.2% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,140,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,224,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,136,020 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,225,317,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 573.1% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,504,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $861,947,000 after buying an additional 1,281,087 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,738,802 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,860,457,000 after buying an additional 928,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 8,359.6% during the 4th quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 513,754 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $294,314,000 after buying an additional 507,681 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. HSBC boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $850.00 to $1,100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Caterpillar from $1,043.00 to $1,218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $670.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $1,050.00 to $1,155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $980.57.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on CAT
Caterpillar Stock Down 0.0% Caterpillar stock opened at $889.79 on Thursday. Caterpillar Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $405.46 and a fifty-two week high of $1,073.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.83 billion, a PE ratio of 44.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s 50-day moving average is $929.39 and its 200-day moving average is $801.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.81.
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.65 by $0.89. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.21% and a net margin of 13.33%.The firm had revenue of $17.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Caterpillar Inc. will post 24.87 earnings per share for the current year.
Caterpillar Increases Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. This is a positive change from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 32.45%.
Insider Activity at Caterpillar In other news, insider Denise C. Johnson sold 12,605 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $907.91, for a total value of $11,444,205.55. Following the transaction, the insider owned 49,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,236,615.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 15,674 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $918.71, for a total value of $14,399,860.54. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 52,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,631,913.85. This represents a 22.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,773 shares of company stock valued at $87,642,635. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.
Trending Headlines about Caterpillar Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:
Positive Sentiment: Analysts have been raising their outlook on Caterpillar, with one report saying the stock’s fair value estimate was lifted to $970.37 as investors continue to focus on strong demand in construction, energy, data centers, and infrastructure. Caterpillar Stock Fair Value Edges Higher After Analysts Lift Targets Positive Sentiment: Caterpillar was highlighted in several pieces as a stock with AI exposure and reliable dividend growth, which can attract investors looking for both growth and defensive characteristics. These Stocks Offer AI Exposure and Dividend Payouts Positive Sentiment: The company is also being discussed as a “solid defensive play” thanks to its long dividend-increase streak and stable yield, which may help support the stock during uncertain markets. A Boring Dividend Growth Strategy Becomes a Solid Defensive Play (CAT) Positive Sentiment: Caterpillar also announced it will release second-quarter 2026 results on August 4, keeping attention on upcoming earnings that could provide another catalyst for the shares. Caterpillar Inc. to Announce Second-Quarter 2026 Financial Results on August 4 Neutral Sentiment: A local article noted Caterpillar is renovating a recently purchased Texas property, which appears to be a routine real-estate and facilities update rather than a major stock-moving event. Caterpillar embarks on renovations after purchasing property in Texas Caterpillar Company Profile (Free Report)
Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company’s product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.
In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.
Read More Five stocks we like better than Caterpillar Could Truth API Become Trump Media’s First Meaningful Revenue Driver? Small Caps Are Crushing the S&P 500—3 Stocks Still Worth Buying Moog Is More Than a Missile Maker, and Wall Street Is Noticing A Boring Dividend Growth Strategy Becomes a Solid Defensive Play Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CAT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT – Free Report).
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Key Takeaways Stocks like AGX, CIEN, HUBS and SMTC were screened for strong liquidity and asset efficiency.The screen narrowed 7,700 stocks to 12, with these four meeting strict efficiency and growth criteria.Each stock also boasts higher asset utilization than its industry average and solid growth attributes. Liquidity measures a company’s capability to meet short-term debt obligations. Investors seeking strong portfolio returns should benefit from adding stocks with sound liquidity, which encourages business growth. Stocks with high liquidity levels have always been in demand, owing to their potential to provide maximum returns.
Investors may want to consider adding four top-ranked stocks — Argan, Inc. (AGX - Free Report) , Ciena Corporation (CIEN - Free Report) , HubSpot (HUBS - Free Report) and Semtech Corporation (SMTC - Free Report) — to their portfolios to boost returns.
However, it is important to exercise caution. While high liquidity can indicate that a company is efficiently managing its short-term obligations, it may also suggest underutilization of resources. In some cases, companies with excess liquidity may not be deploying their assets effectively, which could limit growth potential.
Hence, one may consider a company’s efficiency level in addition to its liquidity while identifying prospective winners. A balanced assessment of both liquidity and efficiency can help identify truly promising investment opportunities.
Measures to Identify Liquid StocksCurrent Ratio: It measures current assets relative to current liabilities. The ratio gauges a company’s potential to meet short and long-term debt obligations. A current ratio — the working capital ratio — below 1 indicates that the company has more liabilities than assets. A high current ratio does not always suggest that the company is in good financial shape. It may also indicate that the firm failed to utilize its assets significantly. Hence, a range of 1-3 is considered ideal.
Quick Ratio: Unlike the current ratio, the quick ratio — the “acid-test ratio” or “quick assets ratio” — indicates a company’s ability to pay short-term obligations. It considers inventory, excluding current assets, relative to current liabilities. A quick ratio of more than 1 is desirable, like the current ratio.
Cash Ratio: This is the most conservative ratio among the three, considering cash, cash equivalents and invested funds relative to current liabilities. It measures a company’s ability to meet existing debt obligations using the most liquid assets. Though a cash ratio of more than 1 may suggest sound financials, a higher number may indicate inefficiency in cash utilization.
A ratio greater than 1 is always desirable, but it may not always represent a company’s financial condition.
Screening ParametersTo pick the best of the lot, we have added asset utilization — a widely used measure of a company’s efficiency — as one of the screening criteria. Asset utilization is the ratio of total sales in the past 12 months to the last four-quarter average of total assets. Though this ratio varies across industries, companies with a ratio higher than that of their industry can be considered efficient.
We added our proprietary Growth Score to the screen to ensure these liquid and efficient stocks have solid growth potential.
Current Ratio, Quick Ratio, and Cash Ratio between 1 and 3: While liquidity ratios greater than 1 are desirable, significantly high ratios may indicate inefficiency.
Asset utilization is more significant than the industry average: A higher asset utilization than the industry average indicates a company’s efficiency.
Zacks Rank equal to #1 (Strong Buy): Only Strong Buy-rated stocks can get through. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Growth Score less than or equal to B: Back-tested results show that stocks with a Growth Score of A or B handily beat other stocks when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 (Buy).
These criteria have narrowed the universe of more than 7,700 stocks to only 12.
Here are four of the 12 stocks that qualified the screen:
Argan offers comprehensive construction and related services to the power industry through its operations at Gemma Power Systems and Atlantic Projects.
Driven by favorable project timings in the Power segment, AGX reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenues of $291 million, up 50% year over year. It ended the quarter with a backlog of $2.8 billion. The Power segment remained the top contributor, accounting for 78% of total revenues.
Increasing demand for energy infrastructure, driven by electrification trends, data center expansion, electric vehicles and grid reliability needs, is creating strong opportunities, positioning Argan well for long-term growth. The company expects to add a “handful” of new projects over the next 10-18 months and believes it can execute 10-12 concurrent jobs.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AGX’s fiscal 2027 earnings stands at $12.60 per share, unchanged over the past seven days. The company has a Growth Score of A and a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 40.49%, on average.
Ciena, headquartered in Hanover, MD, is a leading provider of optical networking equipment, software and services. Fiscal second-quarter 2026 revenues rose 39.5% year over year to $1.57 billion, driven by cloud demand and higher adoption of optical networking solutions.
Networking Platforms remained the largest contributor, generating $1.27 billion in revenues and representing 81.1% of total sales. Within the segment, Optical Networking revenues increased to $1.10 billion from $773.6 million a year ago, while Routing and Switching revenues advanced to $174.2 million from $92.7 million.
For fiscal third-quarter 2026, management expects revenues of $1.625 billion (+/- $50 million). Adjusted gross margin is projected at 45% (+/-50 bps), while adjusted operating margin is expected between 19% and 20%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CIEN’s fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $6.52 per share, unchanged in the past seven days. The company has a Growth Score of A and a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 19.45%, on average.
HubSpot is an AI-driven customer relationship management (CRM) platform. The integration of advanced AI tools and state-of-the-art features, such as AI assistance, AI agents, AI insights, and ChatSpot, across its entire product suite and customer platform is delivering greater value to customers. HubSpot added more than 10,800 net new customers during the first quarter, bringing the total customer count to 299,458.
The company is gaining from upmarket momentum as customers consolidate their go-to-market stack. Another major driver is multi-hub adoption and platform consolidation, followed by pricing tailwinds. For 2026, management estimates revenues between $3.7 billion and $3.708 billion, up 18% year over year on a reported basis.
The software-as-a-service vendor’s first-quarter 2026 revenues improved to $881 million, up 23% from the year-ago quarter. Subscription revenues increased 23% year over year to $862.3 million.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HUBS’ 2026 earnings stands at $13.11 per share, unchanged in the past seven days. The company has a Growth Score of A and a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 4.97%, on average.
Semtech Corporation is a semiconductor company that builds high-performance chips for AI data center networking, IoT connectivity and intelligent connected devices.
As for any semiconductor company right now, the most powerful growth driver for Semtech is its data center business. This business delivered record revenues of $71.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, growing 39% year over year. Rising hyperscaler demand for high-speed connectivity solutions, particularly in 800G linear pluggable optics and next-generation 1.6T optical and copper interconnects, bodes well.
The traction seen in LoRa (long range) wireless technology is another catalyst. LoRa revenues grew 14% in the first quarter, and the company expects it to reach an all-time high with more than 15% sequential growth in the fiscal second quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SMTC’s fiscal 2027 earnings stands at $2.66 per share, unchanged in the past seven days. The company has a Growth Score of B and a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 6.81%, on average.
Dover Corporation (DOV - Free Report) came out with quarterly earnings of $2.74 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.72 per share. This compares to earnings of $2.44 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +0.74%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this company would post earnings of $2.27 per share when it actually produced earnings of $2.28, delivering a surprise of +0.44%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times.
Dover, which belongs to the Zacks Manufacturing - General Industrial industry, posted revenues of $2.19 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.01%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $2.05 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters.
The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.
Dover shares have added about 9.9% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 9.6%.
What's Next for Dover?While Dover has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?
There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.
Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.
Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Dover was favorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to outperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $2.89 on $2.2 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $10.62 on $8.66 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.
Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Manufacturing - General Industrial is currently in the top 23% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.
Another stock from the same industry, Crane (CR - Free Report) , has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on July 28.
This maker of aerospace, electronics and engineered industrial products is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.66 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +11.4%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.8% higher over the last 30 days to the current level.
Crane's revenues are expected to be $706.06 million, up 22.3% from the year-ago quarter.
Hormel Foods remains a "Buy," leveraging strong brand power and a strategic focus on margin-accretive growth. HRL delivered Q2 net sales up 2.5% and adjusted diluted EPS up 14.3% year-over-year, beating consensus. Shares trade at a forward P/E of 15.8, a 13% discount to the estimated fair value P/E of 18 ($28/share).
T-Mobile (TMUS - Free Report) came out with quarterly earnings of $3.13 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.49 per share. This compares to earnings of $2.84 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +25.70%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this wireless carrier would post earnings of $2.06 per share when it actually produced earnings of $2.7, delivering a surprise of +31.07%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times.
T-Mobile, which belongs to the Zacks Wireless National industry, posted revenues of $22.79 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.21%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $21.13 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters.
The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.
T-Mobile shares have lost about 6% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 9.6%.
What's Next for T-Mobile?While T-Mobile has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?
There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.
Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.
Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for T-Mobile was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $2.87 on $23.19 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $10.53 on $94 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.
Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Wireless National is currently in the bottom 18% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.
Another stock from the same industry, ATN International (ATNI - Free Report) , has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026.
This provider of telecommunications services is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.12 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +150%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 14.3% lower over the last 30 days to the current level.
ATN International's revenues are expected to be $183.2 million, up 1.1% from the year-ago quarter.
No Space For Panic: T-Mobile Shrugs Off The Starlink ThreatT-Mobile US NASDAQ: TMUS executives said the company delivered another strong quarter in the second quarter of 2026, citing postpaid account growth, higher service revenue, broadband momentum and improving customer satisfaction as key drivers of the business.
President and CEO Srini Gopalan described the quarter as “extraordinary,” saying the company continued to execute on a strategy built around “the best network, the best value, and the best experience all in one place.” He pointed to a record net promoter score of 46, which he said was the highest NPS in wireless among the three largest U.S. carriers.
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The SpaceX IPO Frenzy Is Creating 2 Very Different Bets“This differentiation is why we outgrow the industry time and time again, and we did it again in Q2,” Gopalan said.
Postpaid Growth and Revenue Momentum T-Mobile said it added 277,000 postpaid net accounts during the quarter. Gopalan said the company continued to gain postpaid household share across the top 100 markets as well as in smaller markets and rural areas.
AST SpaceMobile’s June Launch Plan Puts Its 2026 Satellite Goal Back in FocusHe highlighted smaller markets and rural areas as a significant opportunity, noting that they represent about 40% of the population and that T-Mobile has “just 24% total share of households” in those areas. He also said the integration of UScellular, which T-Mobile acquired last year, is “going great.”
Gopalan said postpaid average revenue per account rose 2% year over year, while customer lifetime values increased by “healthy double digits” from a year earlier. He added that port-in ARPAs continued to exceed port-out ARPAs by about 20%, and that more than 60% of customers on new accounts selected premium plans.
Financially, Gopalan said postpaid service revenue rose 13% year over year, total service revenue increased 9%, and core adjusted EBITDA grew 12%. He also cited an “industry-leading free cash flow margin of 25%.”
Guidance Reaffirmed, Free Cash Flow Outlook Raised CFO Peter Osvaldik said the second-quarter performance “reinforces” T-Mobile’s full-year outlook. The company continues to expect postpaid account net additions of 950,000 to 1,050,000 for 2026.
Osvaldik said T-Mobile expects roughly 250,000 postpaid account additions in the third quarter, reflecting a temporary increase in account churn tied to a planned rate plan modernization. He said the effect on postpaid phone churn is expected to be lower because the impact is concentrated more in accounts with fewer lines.
T-Mobile’s key guidance points included:
Full-year service revenue of approximately $77 billion, representing 8% growth. Third-quarter service revenue of approximately $19.3 billion, up 6% year over year. Postpaid ARPA growth of 2.5% to 3% for the year. Full-year core adjusted EBITDA of $37.1 billion to $37.5 billion, representing 10% growth at the midpoint. Third-quarter core adjusted EBITDA of approximately $9.4 billion, up 8% year over year. Full-year cash capital expenditures of approximately $10 billion. The company raised its adjusted free cash flow guidance by $200 million at the midpoint to a range of $18.4 billion to $18.8 billion, which Osvaldik said was primarily driven by lower cash income taxes.
Osvaldik also said T-Mobile repurchased an incremental $2.5 billion of stock in the second quarter and through July 17. Since beginning its share repurchase program in late 2022, he said the company has repurchased 253 million shares and reduced total shares outstanding to 1.07 billion.
Broadband, Fiber and Network Investments Gopalan said T-Mobile’s 5G broadband product remains a major growth area and has “rapidly become a premium broadband offering.” He said the company’s latest generation router, combined with its network, delivers download speeds roughly equivalent to fiber-to-the-home when both are used over Wi-Fi, which he said is how most customers experience broadband.
In response to analyst questions, Osvaldik said total broadband additions were in the “upper 400,000 range” for the quarter and that the company again saw strong ARPUs. Executives reiterated that fixed wireless access is operated under a “fallow capacity model,” in which T-Mobile uses available network capacity after accounting for expected mobile usage.
Gopalan and President of Marketing, Strategy and Products André Almeida said the company does not view low Earth orbit satellite broadband as a near-term threat to its fixed wireless product. Almeida said two-thirds of T-Mobile’s broadband customers are in the top 100 markets, where satellite capacity is more constrained, and said the company’s broadband net promoter score is higher than other broadband categories, including fiber.
On fiber, Almeida said T-Mobile’s joint ventures are performing in line with expectations. He said the company is reaching close to 20% penetration within the first 12 months of deploying fiber in each area. Gopalan emphasized that T-Mobile is “not chasing some vanity number of homes passed” and is focused on creating equity value.
Pricing, Device Subsidies and Customer Value Asked about the balance between volume growth and pricing, Gopalan said T-Mobile evaluates the trade-off through customer lifetime value. He said the company is carefully balancing subscriber volume and value creation, supported by improved network perception and stronger customer economics.
Osvaldik added that, excluding the effects of acquisitions and the company’s fiber joint venture, postpaid ARPA grew 3.7% year over year in the second quarter. He said that showed “the underlying strength of the business.”
On device subsidies, Gopalan said T-Mobile is not moving away from subsidies entirely, but is broadening its value proposition beyond “purely a free phone.” He said smartphone prices are rising because of memory price increases and that T-Mobile does not intend to increase subsidy levels, meaning customers will have to pay more for devices.
Gopalan also highlighted customer engagement initiatives, including the 10-year anniversary of T-Mobile Tuesdays and the company’s “Member Month” campaign. He said T-Life ended the quarter with more than 30 million monthly active users.
Spectrum, AI and Satellite Strategy T-Mobile executives repeatedly emphasized future spectrum opportunities, including Upper C-band and 2.7 GHz spectrum expected in 2027 and 2028. Osvaldik said the company is maintaining a capital envelope that considers those opportunities, which he said could further strengthen network leadership and create additional 5G broadband capacity.
Gopalan said the company views upcoming spectrum availability as a chance to “drive further differentiation and cement our network leadership.” He compared the moment to T-Mobile’s earlier decision to lead in 5G standalone deployment.
President of Technology John Saw said T-Mobile has not seen a material surge in mobile network traffic from AI workloads, noting that much current AI demand is concentrated in wireline transport networks and data centers. Still, he said the company has prepared for future AI traffic through 5G Advanced capabilities such as uplink carrier aggregation, uplink MIMO and transmit switching.
On direct-to-device satellite service, Gopalan said satellite connectivity remains complementary to T-Mobile’s cellular network, accounting for only a very small share of usage. He said the company continues to progress toward a long-form agreement for a direct-to-device joint venture and expects most future activity to be sourced through that venture, while still allowing individual operators to have agreements with other parties.
About T-Mobile US (NASDAQ:TMUS)T-Mobile US is a national wireless carrier that provides mobile voice, messaging and data services to consumers, businesses and wholesale customers across the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The company operates a nationwide mobile network and offers device sales, equipment financing and support services through retail stores, online channels and distribution partners. T-Mobile positions its products around bundled service plans, device offerings and value-added features for both individual and enterprise customers.
Product offerings include postpaid and prepaid wireless plans under the T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile brands, as well as connectivity solutions for small and large businesses.
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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The AI wave will soon hit public markets with Anthropic and OpenAI set to go public later this year. However, you don't have to wait to invest. This report shows seven AI stocks that you can buy today while the big model providers get ready to go public.
On July 23, 2026, Dow Inc (DOW) released its 8-K filing, announcing its financial results for the second quarter of 2026, highlighting a significant rebound in
Dow Inc. (DOW - Free Report) came out with quarterly earnings of $1.44 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.25 per share. This compares to a loss of $0.42 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +15.20%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this materials science would post a loss of $0.39 per share when it actually produced a loss of $0.14, delivering a surprise of +64.1%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times.
Dow Inc., which belongs to the Zacks Chemical - Diversified industry, posted revenues of $12.09 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.41%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $10.1 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters.
The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.
Dow Inc. shares have added about 33.7% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 9.6%.
What's Next for Dow Inc.?While Dow Inc. has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?
There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.
Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.
Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Dow Inc. was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $1.07 on $11.2 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $2.71 on $43.85 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.
Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Chemical - Diversified is currently in the top 39% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.
DuPont de Nemours (DD - Free Report) , another stock in the same industry, has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on August 4.
This specialty chemicals maker is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.76 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -47.6%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 5.8% higher over the last 30 days to the current level.
DuPont de Nemours' revenues are expected to be $1.82 billion, down 44.2% from the year-ago quarter.
SummaryFastly (FSLY) is rated a buy, driven by diversified demand across AI, cybersecurity, and IoT, not just AI hype. FSLY’s programmable edge computing and consumption-based model appeal to AI developers, though pricing may deter some compared to Cloudflare. FSLY’s 17.90% levered free cash flow margin and attractive price/sales ratio offset concerns about negative net income due to stock-based compensation. Risks include potential AI spending slowdowns, IoT adoption deceleration, and competitive threats, but FSLY’s diversified exposure lowers risk versus pure AI plays. Alistair Berg/DigitalVision via Getty Images
Thesis Fastly (FSLY) is rated as a buy owing to strong but relatively diversified demand for its products and services. The AI boom has driven Fastly’s prospects in recent months, but Fastly is not solely
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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of GOOG 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.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Ten months ago, Oracle (ORCL -1.68%) looked unstoppable. The company had become one of Wall Street's biggest AI winners as investors bet its cloud infrastructure business would play a central role in powering AI workloads. The stock surged to record highs, briefly pushing co-founder Larry Ellison's net worth above $400 billion.
Today, the story looks very different. Oracle shares have fallen by more than 50% from their peak, wiping roughly $213 billion from Ellison's personal fortune as the market has begun to question the company's aggressive AI data center spending.
The stock is now sitting at levels it hasn't seen since April 2025. So is this a good buying opportunity?
Why Oracle fell Demand for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure remains strong. The company continues to sign large infrastructure contracts and expand its data center capacity. In fact, its remaining performance obligations reached a record $638 billion as of May 31, the end of its fiscal 2026.
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The problem is that building AI data centers isn't cheap. Oracle dramatically increased capital spending to expand its cloud infrastructure. Capital expenditures topped $21 billion in fiscal 2026, up from about $7 billion a year earlier, and management says it expects to spend more than $25 billion in fiscal 2027. That begs the question: Will those investments generate attractive returns quickly enough to justify these mounting costs?
Those concerns intensified after S&P Global Ratings downgraded Oracle's credit rating to BBB-, just one notch above junk status. That's not a trivial development, because a lower credit rating translates into higher borrowing costs, which will make its already capital-intensive expansion strategy even more expensive. Investors are right to have concerns.
The long-term case remains intact Despite the sell-off, Oracle's underlying business hasn't suddenly broken. The cloud infrastructure unit remains one of the fastest-growing parts of the company, and demand for AI computing capacity continues to outstrip supply across much of the industry.
Image source: Getty Images.
Oracle has also carved out a unique competitive position. Rather than competing directly against Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Alphabet's Google Cloud, Oracle increasingly partners with them.
That strategy broadens the company's addressable market while reinforcing its dominance in enterprise databases. Oracle's large backlog of signed cloud contracts also provides it with significant revenue visibility over the coming years.
Is it a buy? If you're looking for a stock that will rebound and surge over the next quarter, Oracle may not be your best choice. Investor sentiment regarding the company has clearly deteriorated, and concerns surrounding its AI infrastructure spending aren't likely to disappear overnight.
If you have a long time horizon as an investor, however, this is not a stock to ignore. Oracle is making enormous investments because management believes AI infrastructure demand will continue growing for years. If that thesis proves correct, today's elevated spending could eventually translate into significantly higher cloud revenue and cash flow.
Of course, there's still risk. If enterprise AI adoption slows, Oracle could find itself in possession of billions of dollars of expensive infrastructure that takes longer than expected to generate attractive returns.
That's why I wouldn't call Oracle a screaming bargain. But I also wouldn't dismiss it because of a difficult 10-month stretch. The market has gone from pricing Oracle as though nothing could go wrong to assuming almost everything will. Reality will likely fall somewhere in between.
Jeff Siegel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, and S&P Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL | ORCL Price Prediction | ORCL Price Prediction) has quietly become one of the most important AI infrastructure companies on the planet, yet the stock chart tells a different story.
Shares closed at $127.05 on Monday, down 34.18% year to date and 47.24% over the past year. Meanwhile, remaining performance obligations exploded to $638 billion, up 363% year over year.
Can Oracle reclaim its 52-week high and push to $400 by 2027?
Why Oracle Shares Are Stuck Despite an AI Backlog Explosion The market has punished Oracle for one reason: cash burn. Capital expenditures ran $55.663 billion on a trailing basis, producing free cash flow of negative $23.686 billion. Add $218.703 billion in total liabilities and plans to raise roughly $40 billion in FY2027, and you can see why investors flinched.
Shares fell 30.81% in the past month alone and are barely off the 52-week low of $120.03. With a beta of 1.712, Oracle amplifies every mood swing about AI capex.
One popular Reddit thread summed it up bluntly: “The market has decided capex is sin.” The concern is valid. Yet the same spending booked the backlog.
Wall Street Sees 96% Upside. Our Model Says 54% The consensus is loud. Eight strong buys, 29 buys, five holds, and one sell yield 86% bullish sentiment and an average analyst target of $249.24. Our model is more measured, pegging a base case of $195.11 with 53.57% upside at 90% confidence, an optimistic case of $350.76, and a conservative floor of $168.99.
Analysts anchored to pre-selloff multiples and have not marked their models to the reality of a mega-cap with 1.7 beta. The base case is right. The bull case needs execution.
The Path to $400 Per Share Reaching $400 from today’s price of $127.05 would require a gain of 214.8%. With forward EPS of $9.30, a price of $400 implies a forward P/E of 43. Our base case of $195.11 already implies 17x, meaning $400 requires 26x of additional multiple expansion.
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Is that achievable? Only if the RPO conversion story becomes undeniable. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure grew 93% YoY in Q4 and the multicloud AI database jumped 404%. CEO Clay Magouyrk noted “AI infrastructure revenue grew 243% year over year” with “demand that exceeds supply.”
Safra Catz projected OCI revenue reaching $144 billion by FY2030. If AI-linked EPS growth (currently 21.9% YoY) compounds and investors treat Oracle like a hyperscaler rather than a legacy database vendor, a 40x multiple on rising forward earnings becomes conceivable.
The primary risk: another leg of capex-driven cash burn that spooks bondholders and forces a dilutive equity raise.
Where Oracle Trades Today vs Its Earnings Power At $127.05 against forward EPS of $9.30, Oracle trades at a 14x forward multiple. That is cheap for a business growing revenue 20.6% YoY with a PEG of 0.714.
Shares sit 27% below the 52-week high of $341.82 and just above the low of $120.03. Over the past decade the stock returned 258.98%. The valuation gap is real. Whether it closes depends on whether the RPO becomes revenue on schedule.
Is $400 Realistic? The bold target: $400, a 214.8% gain from today. For it to work, Oracle must convert a meaningful slice of the $638 billion RPO into recognized revenue on schedule, sustain OCI growth above 60%, and restore free cash flow so the market stops flinching at every capex line.
What derails it: a dilutive equity raise that forces the multiple back into legacy-software territory. We’ve outlined the blueprint for how Oracle could reach $400 in 2027.
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Following Advanced Micro Devices’ (NASDAQ: AMD) latest agreement with the artificial intelligence (AI) firm Anthropic, Wells Fargo’s (NYSE: WFC) Aaron Rakers announced that his confidence in his above-consensus price target for AMD stock has been further reinforced.
Specifically, the Wall Street analyst explains that the deal – despite being widely expected – strengthened the forecast that the blue-chip chipmaker’s revenue from graphics processing units (GPUs) will hit $40.6 billion in 2027.
Rakers added that the MI455X and Helios rack-scale systems, worth billions of dollars, might push expectations for AMD toward $50 billion before reiterating the ‘Overweight’ – ‘Buy’ – rating and the $615 stock price target for the next 12 months.
Analysts predict AMD stock price in the next 12 months Zooming out reveals that Wells Fargo’s recommendation for the semiconductor giant falls largely in line with the wider attitude on Wall Street, even if its share price forecast is significantly above the consensus.
Indeed, AMD stock is overall considered a ‘Strong Buy’ with 28 positive, 8 ‘Hold,’ and no negative ratings, per the data Finbold retrieved from TipRanks on July 23.
Notably, despite the recommendation, the chipmaker’s shares are, on average, expected to drop 1.99% from their latest close at $552.33 to $541.31 within the next 12 months.
Wall Street sets AMD stock price target for the next 12 months. Source: TipRanks Examining the individual notes reveals that the apparently bearish price target is most likely a result of older forecasts – aggregators tend to take into account all institutional predictions issued within the most recent three months.
Still, Blayne Curtis from Jefferies estimated AMD stock would find itself at $515 – a 6.76% downside from the latest close – despite issuing a ‘Buy’ recommendation as recently as July 16, demonstrating that not all bulls are confident the semiconductor giant’s rally can continue.
Is AMD stock headed for a massive breakout? Lastly, Advanced Micro Devices shares’ performance since 2026 indicates the equity might soon face a breakout. Year-to-date (YTD), AMD is up 147.16% but has, despite significant volatility, remained relatively stagnant since early June.
AMD stock price YTD chart. Source: Google Under the circumstances, it appears that the stock is undergoing an accumulation phase with its next direction remaining somewhat uncertain: though the large-scale agreement with Anthropic appears like a bullish catalyst, it could also trigger a sell-off due to rising skepticism among investors toward AI.
Featured image via Shutterstock
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Dividend stocks are compounding machines. The combination of income and growth that these investments provide can really add up over the years.
Energy infrastructure giant Enbridge (ENB +0.11%) is a prime example. It has turned a $50,000 investment made three decades ago into more than $1.1 million today. The low-risk dividend stock has plenty of fuel to continue enriching investors going forward. Here's how much you'd need to invest in the Canadian pipeline and utility company to become a millionaire in 30 years.
Image source: Getty Images.
Enbridge has been a terrific investment over the past three decades. The energy infrastructure company has generated an average annualized total return of 13.5%. A major driver is its high-yielding, steadily rising dividend. Enbridge has increased its payout every year for more than three decades (in Canadian dollars). That growing dividend income has driven the bulk of its total return over the past 30 years:
ENB data by YCharts
However, you don't need a big upfront investment or a 13.5% annualized return from an investment in Enbridge to grow into $1 million in three decades. Another path to $1 million is to invest $5,000 into Enbridge upfront and an additional $500 each month. At that investment rate, Enbridge would only need to deliver a 10% annualized total return to reach over $1 million in three decades. That more conservative 10% annualized return matches the historical returns of dividend growth stocks over the past 50 years.
An achievable return Enbridge currently pays a 5% dividend yield. That's half the required return from dividend income alone. Enbridge would only need to grow its earnings by around 5% per year to boost its total return to 10% annualized, assuming its share price rises with its earnings.
That earnings growth rate aligns with Enbridge's current outlook. The company expects to grow its distributable cash flow per share at an annual rate of around 5% after this year. That should support dividend growth of up to 5% each year. Enbridge backs its near-term growth forecast with a massive 37 billion Canadian dollar ($26.8 billion) backlog of commercially secured expansion projects that it expects will enter service through 2030. Projects include new oil and gas pipelines, gas utility expansions, and renewable energy projects.
Enbridge is currently pursuing another CA$50 billion ($35.5 billion) of investment opportunities through the end of the decade. This includes new gas infrastructure, liquids pipelines, lower-carbon projects, gas utility projects to support AI data centers, and more renewable energy capacity. The company is in a strong position to continue growing for decades as it supports rising energy demand, especially for cleaner energy sources such as gas and renewables. Enbridge is also investing in lower-carbon new energy technologies, including hydrogen, renewable natural gas, and carbon capture and sequestration, to drive future growth. The company's scale and steady shift toward cleaner energy give it a very long growth runway.
A potentially enriching investment Enbridge has a long history of growing shareholder value. The company should continue compounding investor wealth in the decades ahead, driven by its high-yielding dividend and steadily rising earnings. That makes it a lower-risk path to long-term wealth creation.
Coca-Cola (KO -1.18%) might be the textbook example of consistency in the stock market. The company boasts an iconic name known worldwide and continues to shower its shareholders with cash year in and year out.
Coca-Cola is royalty among dividend investors. I mean that literally. Its 64 consecutive annual dividend hikes make it a Dividend King, a rare club of companies with at least five decades of uninterrupted payout growth.
But that rock-solid steadiness investors love about Coca-Cola can work against it when the price isn't right. And at a hefty 25 times 2026 earnings estimates, investors can do better than Coca-Cola right now. This other stock offers a similarly impressive track record with nearly double the dividend yield and with monthly payouts to boot.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Pivoting from soda to real estate Real estate is a timeless investment, especially for generating income. But investors can't easily buy or sell commercial real estate.
That's where real estate investment trusts (REITs) come in. These are publicly traded companies that acquire and lease properties, then pay out most of their taxable income to investors as non-qualified dividends.
Realty Income (O +0.21%) is one of the world's top REITs. The company boasts a global portfolio of 15,571 properties, primarily leased to single-tenant businesses in consumer-facing industries. Think along the lines of grocery and convenience stores, home improvement stores, fast-food restaurants, drug stores, and automotive repair shops. Realty Income also uses a net lease model, which typically makes the tenant responsible for the property's taxes, insurance, and maintenance.
A better dividend at a compelling valuation
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Stability is the entire point of Realty Income's business model. The company has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years, a streak that includes two real estate market crises: the 2008-2009 recession and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. If Realty Income can raise its dividend in both situations, investors can feel pretty good about the dividend moving forward.
The financials back that up, too. The current dividend is only 73% the company's guided 2026 distributable cash profits.
Like Coca-Cola, Realty Income doesn't grow very fast. The company's lifetime dividend growth rate of only 4.2% reflects that. Fortunately, the stock trades at a far more reasonable valuation than Coca-Cola does right now.
Whereas investors can value most companies using retained earnings, they can value Realty Income and other REITs using funds from operations (FFO). It's a non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) metric for REITs, since these companies are required to pay out their taxable earnings to investors.
Realty Income trades at less than 15 times its 2026 FFO guidance. Despite Realty Income's modest growth, that's an appealing price for a top-notch dividend stock, especially considering its rare monthly payout schedule.
Wall Street watches a company's quarterly report closely to understand as much as possible about its recent performance and what to expect going forward. Of course, one figure often stands out among the rest: earnings.
Life and the stock market are both about expectations, and rising above what is expected is often rewarded, while falling short can come with negative consequences. Investors might want to try to capture stronger returns by finding positive earnings surprises.
Now that we know how important earnings and earnings surprises are, it's time to show investors how to take advantage of these events to boost their returns by utilizing the Zacks Earnings ESP filter.
The Zacks Earnings ESP, ExplainedThe Zacks Earnings ESP, or Expected Surprise Prediction, aims to find earnings surprises by focusing on the most recent analyst revisions. The basic premise is that if an analyst reevaluates their earnings estimate ahead of an earnings release, it means they likely have new information that could possibly be more accurate.
With this in mind, the Expected Surprise Prediction compares the Most Accurate Estimate (being the most recent) against the overall Zacks Consensus Estimate. The percentage difference provides the ESP figure. The system also utilizes our core Zacks Rank to provide a stronger system for identifying stocks that might beat their next quarterly earnings estimate and possibly see the stock price climb.
Bringing together a positive earnings ESP alongside a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better has helped stocks report a positive earnings surprise 70% of the time. Furthermore, by using these parameters, investors have seen 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest.
Stocks with a #3 (Hold) ranking, which is most stocks covered at 60%, are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. But stocks that fall into the #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy) ranking, or the top 15% and top 5% of stocks, respectively, should outperform the market. Strong Buy stocks should outperform more than any other rank.
Should You Consider Molson Coors Brewing?The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Molson Coors Brewing (TAP - Free Report) earns a #3 (Hold) 14 days from its next quarterly earnings release on August 6, 2026, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $1.54 a share.
Molson Coors Brewing's Earnings ESP sits at +1.28%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $1.54 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.52. TAP is also part of a large group of stocks that boast a positive ESP. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.
TAP is part of a big group of Consumer Staples stocks that boast a positive ESP, and investors may want to take a look at Monster Beverage (MNST - Free Report) as well.
Slated to report earnings on August 6, 2026, Monster Beverage holds a #3 (Hold) ranking on the Zacks Rank, and its Most Accurate Estimate is $0.60 a share 14 days from its next quarterly update.
For Monster Beverage, the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.59 is +2.61%.
TAP and MNST's positive ESP metrics may signal that a positive earnings surprise for both stocks is on the horizon.
Find Stocks to Buy or Sell Before They're ReportedUse the Zacks Earnings ESP Filter to turn up stocks with the highest probability of positively, or negatively, surprising to buy or sell before they're reported for profitable earnings season trading. Check it out here >>
With 163 days left until January 2027, Polymarket does not yet have a dedicated January 2027 bracket for Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR | PLTR Price Prediction). The most liquid forward-looking market is the July 2026 monthly, where the highest-probability strike is $144 at 10%, followed by $102 at 9% and $108 at 8%. The distribution is unusually wide, running from $72 to $150, signaling that traders are bracing for volatility rather than one clear direction into year-end. Near-term, the week-of-July 20 market centers on $123 at 83% probability, matching today’s price of $123.56 after a -6.86% session.
Fundamentals and Recent Earnings Palantir delivered Q1 2026 revenue of $1.63B, up 85% YoY, with adjusted EPS of $0.33, beating expectations by roughly 18% based on a $0.28 consensus estimate. Management raised FY26 revenue guidance to $7.650B to $7.662B, implying approximately 71% growth. CEO Alex Karp highlighted that Palantir’s Rule of 40 score reached 145%. The company reported strong profitability metrics, including a 60% adjusted operating margin, while maintaining a large liquidity position. Despite exceptional growth, the valuation remains elevated, leaving the stock vulnerable to any slowdown in execution or guidance reduction.
The Q2 2026 report lands August 3, 2026, after the market closes. Q3 2026 arrives in early November. A Q4 report will not print before early February 2027, meaning two earnings catalysts fall inside the window.
PLTR has experienced significant volatility, falling from December 2025 levels around $187.75 to about $133.25 by June 2026 after reaching a 52-week high of $207.52. Year-to-date, shares are down roughly 25%, with a 52-week trading range of $106.37 to $207.52.
Final Assessment Polymarket’s July 2026 bracket implies a base outcome near $144, aligned with the AI base case of $143.97 by late January 2027. Reaching that level requires a clean Q2 beat, sustained U.S. commercial acceleration above 120% growth, and stable sector sentiment. Risks include multiple compression from the 139 P/E and post-earnings 30-day fade patterns seen in prior quarters.
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Palantir (PLTR -0.30%) is not trying to win the race and build the smartest AI model. It wants to control the operating layer connecting those models to enterprise data, workflows, permissions, and actions. That overlooked strategy could create a powerful moat, but only if Palantir can outrun competition and justify its demanding valuation.
Stock prices used were the market prices of July 14, 2026. The video was published on July 22, 2026.
Rick Orford has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Rick Orford is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through their link, they will earn some extra money that supports their channel. Their opinions remain their own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.
Investors are piling into the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) as top stocks in the industry bounce back. DRAM jumped to $59.23, up by 20% from its lowest level this month.
The Roundhill Memory ETF jumped as top companies in the memory sector bounced back. In South Korea, Samsung Electronics stock rose by over 12% from its lowest point this month. SK Hynix rose to 1,919,000, up by 14% from its lowest point this month.
Other top companies in the industry have bounced back. This includes popular companies like Micron, SanDisk, Kioxia, and Seagate Technologies.
The ongoing rally is happening as companies start buying the dip, with many analysts remaining bullish on the sector. In a recent note, analysts at UBS said:
“Demand for compute continues to exceed available supply, while capacity constraints along the supply chain are unlikely to ease quickly.”
The analysts added that they were not seeing any panic in the semiconductor and memory industries, with hyperscalers continuing their spending spree.
This view was confirmed last night when Alphabet published its financial results, noting that it would boost its capital expenditure this year to $205 billion. Most of these funds will go towards its data center spending.
Most analysts have maintained a bullish outlook for some of the biggest memory companies. For example, the average target for Micron stock among analysts is $1,268, up sharply from the current $960. The most optimistic analysts are from DA Davidson, Susquehanna, and Barclays, who have a target of $2,000.
All Wall Street analysts tracking SanDisk have a bullish rating on the company, with the average target being at $1,820, up moderately from the current $1,600. Susquehanna’s Mehdi Hosseini expects it to jump to $3,250.
These metrics explain why investors are buying the DRAM ETF. ETF Db data shows that the fund has had over $10 billion in inflows in the last month. Its three-month inflows jumped to nearly $24 billion, bringing its assets under management to $23 billion.
DRAM ETF inflows Key earnings ahead as risks remainThe next few weeks will be important for the DRAM ETF as some of its top constituents and clients publish their earnings. Alphabet has already published its numbers, while other big-tech companies like Amazon, Meta Platforms, Apple, and Microsoft will release their numbers next week. These results will provide further clues about whether they are boosting their spending.
Micron and Samsung Electronics have already announced their reports, with their revenues soaring by triple digits. Seagate Technology and SK Hynix will release their earnings on July 28 and 29, respectively.
Japan’s Kioxia will release the numbers on July 31st, while SanDisk will publish its numbers on August 5. Other constituent companies include Western Digital, GigaDevice, and Nanya Technology, which will also release their numbers soon.
Still, the DRAM ETF faces three major risks as we have written before. The biggest one is its substantial concentration, with three of the biggest companies accounting for over 70% of the fund.
Another risk is that the memory industry is highly cyclical, as we saw in 2023. Periods of high demand lead to increased production, which in turn drives prices lower. In 2023, most companies saw a significant decline in revenue.
Further, there is a risk that some of the top hyperscalers will start reducing their spending in the coming months or years, which will hit demand.
There is also a risk that the ongoing DRAM ETF rebound is a dead-cat bounce, a situation where a falling asset rebounds a bit and then resumes the downtrend.
84.6%. That is Micron’s GAAP gross margin in fiscal Q3 2026, up from 37.7% in the same quarter a year ago. The figure was reported when Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU | MU Price Prediction) filed its Q3 FY26 results on June 24, 2026. Memory chip companies are supposed to live and die by cycles. A gross margin near 85% is what software businesses print. That is the reveal.
What It Means Gross margin is the cleanest read on pricing power a manufacturer can offer, and Micron’s just went vertical. The sequential progression tells the whole story: 44.7% in Q4 FY25, 56.0% in Q1 FY26, 74.4% in Q2 FY26, and 84.6% in Q3 FY26. That is a company that has repriced its book of business around AI memory scarcity, well beyond a normal upcycle.
The revenue base carrying those margins is real. Q3 FY26 revenue landed at $41.46 billion, beating the $35.25 billion consensus by 17.60% and rising 345.7% year over year from $9.30 billion. Non-GAAP diluted EPS came in at $25.11, ahead of the $20.28 consensus. Operating income of $33.32 billion grew 1,436.1% year over year, roughly four times faster than revenue. That is the fingerprint of operating leverage that only shows up when fixed costs get overwhelmed by pricing.
Where is it coming from? Cloud Memory revenue hit $13.77 billion, Core Data Center $11.52 billion, Mobile and Client $11.52 billion, and Automotive and Embedded $4.63 billion. HBM4, Micron’s high-bandwidth memory product for AI accelerators, is in high-volume shipments to a lead customer, with HBM4E targeting volume production in calendar 2027. Free cash flow reached $18.30 billion in the quarter alone, up 995.4% year over year.
Market Reaction MU closed the most recent trading session at $970.82 on July 21, 2026, up 12.17% on the day from $865.46. Year to date, the stock is up 240.36%, from $285.23 on December 31, 2025. Over the past year, shares are up 758.78% from $113.05. The one-month picture is more muted, with the stock down 14.38% from $1,133.82 on June 18, 2026, a sign that the rally has taken some heat off recently even as the fundamentals keep accelerating.
Bull Case Jim Cramer has been vocal on Micron for years, and the Q3 numbers give that stance a firm footing. Three points anchor the case.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Micron Technology didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
First, the margin story is set to keep climbing. Q4 guidance points to revenue of $50.0 billion plus or minus $1.0 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $31.00 plus or minus $1.00, and gross margin near 86%. That is guidance, not reported, but it lines up with the direction of travel.
Second, the durability profile is changing. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra told investors that “Micron’s record fiscal Q3 financial results and even stronger outlook for Q4 reflect the strategic value of memory in the AI era” and that “multi-year Strategic Customer Agreements will significantly enhance the durability and predictability of Micron’s strong financial performance”. Long-dated contracts against a historically cyclical product line take some of the whip out of the tail.
Third, capital return is showing up alongside the growth. The company paid a $0.15 quarterly dividend on July 21, 2026 and repurchased $650 million of stock in the nine months ended May 28, 2026. For retirement-focused holders, that combination of cash return and reinvestment (Q3 capex ran $7.83 billion, up 166.37% year over year) is what a durable compounding story looks like.
Retail is not universally on board. The most persistent bearish Reddit post over the last month, “Micron will peak and leave all you retail with heavy bags,” has climbed from 305 to 400 upvotes on r/investing. Skepticism at a $1 trillion-plus market cap is healthy. The counterweight is that the reported numbers, not sentiment, are what will price this stock.
Bottom Line An 84.6% gross margin is what happens when a supply-constrained producer meets AI-scale demand. Micron’s market cap has scaled with the results, and Q4 guidance points higher on every line that matters. The next catalyst is the fiscal Q4 FY26 earnings report, where management has set the bar at $50 billion in revenue and $31.00 in non-GAAP EPS. Cramer’s conviction has one number to lean on. It happens to be the loudest number in the memory business.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Micron Technology didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
The brief acknowledgment wasn’t about courtesy. Instead, it offered a glimpse into what could become one of Tesla’s biggest challenges as it ramps up its AI ambitions: securing enough advanced memory to power the next generation of AI infrastructure.
An Unexpected Thank-YouWhile discussing Tesla’s plans to develop custom AI chips, Musk unexpectedly singled out Micron.
“I’d actually also like to thank Micron for giving us memory allocation,” Musk said before adding that memory pricing has become “pretty insane” as demand continues to surge.
Public companies rarely use earnings calls to thank suppliers by name, making the comment stand out amid broader discussions about Tesla’s AI roadmap. The comment stood out not just because Tesla CEOs rarely single out suppliers during earnings calls, but because it highlighted an increasingly important part of the AI supply chain: memory.
TSM Got A Shout Out, Too“I think things are going really well on the chip front. Yeah. Again, I’d like to thank TSMC and Samsung, and Micron for their support,” he said. The second acknowledgment reinforced Tesla’s growing reliance on leading chip suppliers. But it was Micron’s earlier, standalone mention that may have been the more revealing clue for investors.
Tesla’s AI Ambitions Depend On More Than ChipsMusk’s comments came as he outlined Tesla’s plans for Terafab, a proposed semiconductor development facility designed to accelerate the creation of custom AI chips for Optimus.
According to Musk, Tesla wants to bring together logic, memory, lithography mask development, packaging and testing under one roof to dramatically shorten chip development cycles. He even suggested he does not believe “such a building exists anywhere on Earth.”
That vision, however, depends on access to advanced memory.
Unlike conventional computing workloads, AI systems require enormous amounts of high-speed memory to train and run increasingly sophisticated models. Musk’s acknowledgment suggests Tesla is feeling the same supply constraints that have affected much of the AI industry over the past two years.
Why Investors Should Pay AttentionFor investors, Micron’s mention may have been one of the most revealing moments of Tesla’s earnings call.
Rather than focusing solely on vehicles or even AI processors, Musk drew attention to another piece of the AI hardware ecosystem that is becoming increasingly difficult to secure.
As Tesla pushes deeper into robotics, autonomous driving and custom AI silicon, the company’s competitive advantage may depend not only on designing better chips but also on securing the memory needed to run them. Musk’s brief thank-you to Micron served as a reminder that in the AI race, the next bottleneck may not be the processor itself—it could be the memory sitting beside it.
Image via Shutterstock
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SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intuitive (NASDAQ: ISRG), a global technology leader in minimally invasive care and the pioneer of robotic-assisted surgery, will outline its vision for how artificial intelligence (AI) can help shape the future of surgical care and address key healthcare challenges at the Society of Robotic Surgery's (SRS) annual conference in Hollywood, Florida.
Key Takeaways Rising P/E ratios often signal investor confidence, earnings strength and further upside potential. The screen identifies stocks with accelerating earnings growth and sustained price momentum. AIM, HAS, FOX, COR and ISRG pair rising P/Es with strong earnings performance. Investors often opt for the stock-picking approach that involves stocks with a low price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. This strategy is based on the notion that the lower the P/E ratio is, the higher the stock value. The reasoning behind this is straightforward — when a stock's current market price does not adequately reflect its higher earnings, it suggests potential for growth.
But there is more to this whole P/E story. Because not just low P/E, stocks with a rising P/E can also fetch strong returns. In this regard, investors can bet on the likes of AIM ImmunoTech (AIM - Free Report) , Hasbro (HAS - Free Report) , Fox (FOX - Free Report) , Cencora Inc. (COR - Free Report) and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG - Free Report) .
Rising P/E: A Useful ToolThe concept is that as earnings rise, so should the price of the stock. As forecasts for expected earnings come in higher, strong demand for the stock should continue to push up its prices. After all, astock's P/E gives an indication of how much investors are ready to shell out per dollar of earnings.
Suppose an investor wants to buy a stock with a P/E ratio of 30. This means that he is willing to shell out $30 for only $1 worth of earnings as he expects earnings of the company to rise at a faster pace in the future owing to strong fundamentals.
So, if the P/E of a stock is rising steadily, it means that investors are assured of its inherent strength and expect some strong positives out of it.
Also, studies have revealed that stocks have seen their P/E ratios jump over 100% from their breakout point in the cycle. So, if you can pick stocks early in their breakout cycle, you can end up seeing considerable gains.
The Winning StrategyIn order to shortlist stocks that are exhibiting an increasing P/E, we chose the following as our primary screening parameters.
EPS growth estimate for the current year is greater than or equal to last year’s actual growth
Percentage change in last year’s EPS should be greater than or equal to zero
(These two criteria point to flat earnings or a growth trend over the years.)
Percentage change in price over four weeks greater than the percentage change in price over 12 weeks
Percentage change in price over 12 weeks greater than percentage change in price over 24 weeks
(These two criteria show that price of the stock is increasing consistently over the said timeframes.)
Percentage price change for four weeks relative to the S&P 500 greater than the percentage price change for 12 weeks relative to the S&P 500
Percentage price change for 12 weeks relative to the S&P 500 greater than the percentage price change for 24 weeks relative to the S&P 500
(Here, the case for consistent price gains gets even stronger as it displays percentage price changes relative to the S&P 500.)
Percentage price change for 12 weeks is 20% higher than or equal to the percentage price change for 24 weeks, but it should not exceed 100%
(A 20% increase in the price of a stock from the breakout point gives cues of an impending uptrend. But a jump of over 100% indicates that there is limited scope for further upside and that the stock might be due for a reversal.)
In addition, we place a few other criteria that lead us to some likely outperformers.
Zacks Rank less than or equal to 2: Only companies with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) can get through.
Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50,000: High trading volume implies that the stocks have adequate liquidity.
Just these few criteria narrowed down the universe from over 7,700 stocks to just 62.
Here are five out of the 62 stocks:
AIM ImmunoTech: The Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) AIM ImmunoTechis an immuno-pharma company. It is focused on the research and development of therapeutics to treat multiple types of cancers and immune-deficiency diseases. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The average four-quarter earnings surprise of AIM is 52.66%.
Hasbro: The Zacks Rank #2 company designs, manufactures and markets games, toys and licensed products.
The average four-quarter earnings surprise of HAS is 23.60%.
Fox: The Zacks Rank #2 company produces and distributes news, sports and entertainment content.
The average four-quarter earnings surprise of FOX is 38.99%.
Cencora: The Zacks Rank #2 company is one of the largest pharmaceutical distribution and healthcare solutions providers globally.
The average four-quarter earnings surprise of COR is 1.59%.
Intuitive Surgical: The Zacks Rank #2 company designs, manufactures and markets the da Vinci surgical system, Ion endoluminal system and related instruments and accessories.
The average four-quarter earnings surprise of ISRG is 16.53%.
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--U.S. pending home sales fell 1.3% week over week to their lowest level in three months during the four weeks ending July 19. That's according to a new report from Redfin, the real estate brokerage powered by Rocket. The decline in homebuying demand comes as weekly average mortgage rates rise to a 11-month high of 6.55%. Additionally, home prices are stubbornly high, sitting just about $900 shy of their all-time peak. The topsy turvy U.S. economy, including the resurgen.
Although rent growth has accelerated, the share of listings offering an incentive remains elevated
The typical U.S. asking rent rose to $1,965 in June, up 2.2% annually, according to the Zillow Observed Rent Index. 39.7% of rentals on Zillow offered a concession in June, up from 35.2% a year ago. Sun Belt renters have more options and more deals than the rest of the country, the direct result of a years-long building boom. , /PRNewswire/ -- Fewer apartments are sitting empty, rents are climbing, and yet the deals keep coming. According to the Zillow® June Rental Report, the typical U.S. asking rent rose to $1,965, up 2.2% compared to a year ago, and nearly 2 in 5 rental listings came with a concession attached. For property managers, that means pricing power isn't back yet.
A concession is a move-in discount, commonly a free month's rent, waived fees or free parking. For renters who land a freebie, the real cost of renting can be softer than the asking price suggests. The 2.2% annual rent growth in June is a slight acceleration from the previous month. Yet the increase in concessions — 39.7% of rental listings on Zillow offered one in June, up from 35.2% a year ago — softens the blow for renters.
The backdrop is a rental market that has added significant new inventory over the past few years, giving renters more choices. Meanwhile, the cost of buying a home remains high, keeping many in the rental market longer. That combination is driving both trends: enough demand to keep absorption elevated and sufficient supply to keep the rental vacancy rate elevated.
"The payoff from the construction boom is showing up clearly for renters right now," said Orphe Divounguy, senior economist at Zillow. "Supply is the most direct lever to keep rents in check over the long term. Markets that invested in new housing are rewarding renters with more choices, more concessions and more competitive pricing. Renters in areas that did not are feeling it, as rents continue to increase fast and affordability is slow to improve."
The rental market is expected to tighten
Rent growth has been consistent this spring: April, May and June all posted stronger month-over-month gains than the same months in 2025.
The rapid climb in the number of available rental units is slowing, in large part because the apartment construction wave that flooded the market is finally receding: building completions fell further in the second quarter, while net absorption continued to increase.
With demand holding steady and the flow of new apartments slowing, conditions are expected to tighten gradually across the country. That means the elevated concession rates renters are seeing today reflect a market still working through its inventory. As that process plays out, deals are expected to become less common even as rent growth stays measured.
Where deals are most common
The markets with the highest concession rates are where the most new apartments were built and where renters have the most options today. Charlotte (67.1%), Denver (65.9%) and Dallas (64.6%) top the list. Rents have declined in San Antonio (-1.8% to $1,416), Austin (-1.7% to $1,653) and Denver (-1.3% to $1,930) over the past year. In these markets, renters are seeing the direct benefit of the new supply that has come online.
Where the market is tightest, rents are rising fastest. San Francisco leads the nation in rent growth, up 8.2% annually to $3,301, with just 24.9% of listings offering a concession. San Jose rents rose 6.2% to $3,729, while Chicago rents climbed 5.2% to $2,275. For renters in these markets, the window to negotiate is considerably narrower.
Single-family rents increase twice as much as apartment rents
Single-family rents rose 3% year over year to $2,320, roughly double the 1.5% gain for multifamily units, now at $1,789. A disproportionately larger increase in the number of apartment units gave renters in that segment more options to choose from, also pulling down rent growth when compared to single-family rentals.
Looking ahead, rent growth is expected to remain moderate. Zillow forecasts single-family rents to rise 3.1%, and multifamily rents to increase 2% for 2026, roughly in line with 2025. For renters, that means the deals available today are unlikely to disappear overnight, but as new supply is absorbed, conditions could begin to gradually tighten.
Metro
Concession
Share
Concession
Year over Year
(YoY)
Typical Rent,
Zillow Observed
Rent Index
(ZORI)
Rent YoY
Income
Needed
United States
39.7 %
4.5 %
$1,965
2.2 %
$78,600
New York, NY
17.2 %
1.3 %
$3,573
4.5 %
$142,933
Los Angeles, CA
32.5 %
2.9 %
$2,927
1.5 %
$117,090
Chicago, IL
23.3 %
2.6 %
$2,275
5.2 %
$91,014
Dallas, TX
64.6 %
9.2 %
$1,673
0 %
$66,938
Houston, TX
54.0 %
7.2 %
$1,648
-0.1 %
$65,918
Washington, DC
54.8 %
4.2 %
$2,448
0.1 %
$97,916
Philadelphia, PA
31.8 %
3.0 %
$1,928
3.6 %
$77,128
Miami, FL
27.8 %
2.7 %
$2,695
1.2 %
$107,784
Atlanta, GA
58.2 %
5.3 %
$1,854
1.9 %
$74,159
Boston, MA
29.5 %
4.8 %
$3,210
2.6 %
$128,416
Phoenix, AZ
61.0 %
6.0 %
$1,733
0 %
$69,339
San Francisco, CA
24.9 %
8.9 %
$3,301
8.2 %
$132,059
Riverside, CA
29.9 %
3.1 %
$2,539
2.3 %
$101,570
Detroit, MI
25.3 %
2.8 %
$1,518
3.2 %
$60,713
Seattle, WA
52.4 %
6.7 %
$2,269
1.4 %
$90,763
Minneapolis, MN
40.0 %
0.4 %
$1,727
3.4 %
$69,061
San Diego, CA
37.4 %
4.1 %
$2,991
1.7 %
$119,620
Tampa, FL
52.5 %
11.3 %
$2,020
-0.7 %
$80,812
Denver, CO
65.9 %
4.4 %
$1,930
-1.3 %
$77,188
Baltimore, MD
37.7 %
1.0 %
$1,936
2.2 %
$77,433
St. Louis, MO
28.9 %
6.5 %
$1,459
4.0 %
$58,369
Orlando, FL
55.2 %
5.7 %
$1,972
0.7 %
$78,874
Charlotte, NC
67.1 %
6.0 %
$1,750
0.5 %
$69,989
San Antonio, TX
56.9 %
6.1 %
$1,416
-1.8 %
$56,633
Portland, OR
48.0 %
6.2 %
$1,805
0.4 %
$72,214
Sacramento, CA
31.8 %
2.8 %
$2,308
2.0 %
$92,327
Pittsburgh, PA
25.8 %
5.1 %
$1,523
3.6 %
$60,921
Cincinnati, OH
32.6 %
12.6 %
$1,583
2.8 %
$63,306
Austin, TX
64.3 %
3.6 %
$1,653
-1.7 %
$66,132
Las Vegas, NV
57.1 %
15.5 %
$1,748
0.3 %
$69,910
Kansas City, MO
34.8 %
7.7 %
$1,545
3.4 %
$61,803
Columbus, OH
48.8 %
11.0 %
$1,528
1.5 %
$61,100
Indianapolis, IN
46.9 %
9.0 %
$1,558
2.5 %
$62,327
Cleveland, OH
24.7 %
2.0 %
$1,474
4.0 %
$58,967
San Jose, CA
23.7 %
-13.2 %
$3,729
6.2 %
$149,179
Nashville, TN
64.0 %
6.4 %
$1,810
0.4 %
$72,418
Virginia Beach, VA
21.8 %
-4.9 %
$1,878
5.5 %
$75,104
Providence, RI
11.4 %
-0.1 %
$2,172
3.5 %
$86,872
Jacksonville, FL
50.2 %
3.1 %
$1,708
1.2 %
$68,316
Milwaukee, WI
18.3 %
-4.5 %
$1,552
4.2 %
$62,085
Oklahoma City, OK
29.7 %
3.3 %
$1,393
2.8 %
$55,708
Raleigh, NC
64.1 %
4.6 %
$1,689
0.3 %
$67,559
Memphis, TN
43.3 %
8.4 %
$1,435
0.7 %
$57,386
Richmond, VA
47.4 %
7.7 %
$1,772
3.3 %
$70,863
Louisville, KY
44.5 %
11.1 %
$1,385
2.3 %
$55,404
New Orleans, LA
19.3 %
7.2 %
$1,617
0.8 %
$64,679
Salt Lake City, UT
64.2 %
8.2 %
$1,638
0.6 %
$65,513
Hartford, CT
20.7 %
0.6 %
$2,013
3.1 %
$80,518
Buffalo, NY
10.1 %
2.9 %
$1,461
3.1 %
$58,435
Birmingham, AL
39.2 %
14.8 %
$1,462
1.2 %
$58,497
*Table ordered by market size
About Zillow Group
Zillow Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: Z and ZG) is reimagining real estate to make home a reality for more and more people.
As the most visited real estate app and website in the United States, Zillow connects hundreds of millions of consumers with innovative technology, trusted agents and loan officers, and seamless digital solutions. With industry-leading tools and resources, Zillow supercharges real estate professionals so they can grow their businesses and deliver exceptional client experiences. For renters and housing providers, Zillow offers not only a robust marketplace but a set of end-to-end products and services to streamline applications, leases, payments and more.
Zillow's ecosystem spans the entire home journey — from dreaming and shopping to renting, buying, selling and financing.
Zillow Group's affiliates, subsidiaries and brands include Zillow®, Zillow Premier Agent®, Zillow Home Loans®, Zillow Rentals®, Zillow® New Construction, Trulia®, StreetEasy®, Out East®, HotPads®, Follow Up Boss®, ShowingTime®, dotloop® and Zillow® Closing.
Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco's logo during the CERAWeek energy conference 2026 in Houston, Texas, U.S., March 24, 2026. REUTERS/Danielle Villasana Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
CompaniesLONDON, July 23 (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco has offered additional crude cargoes for loading from Egypt's Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir, according to five trading sources, signalling a potential shift in export routes as Houthi threats to shipping raise risks for oil movements through the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb strait.
The cargoes are being offered on a spot basis, two of the sources said, supplementing supplies to Aramco's term buyers. While Aramco already supplies some customers in Europe and North America from Sidi Kerir, the additional volumes suggest the Saudi producer is seeking greater flexibility in reaching its markets as security risks persist along the Red Sea route.
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Aramco declined to comment.
Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar and Robert Harvey, Editing by Louise Heavens
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Philip Morris International delivered record Q2 2026 net revenues of $11.19 billion, with 15.2% adjusted EPS growth and expanding margins. Smoke-free products now comprise 42% of PM's revenues, with IQOS and ZYN driving global share gains and margin expansion. I remain bullish on PM, citing robust earnings growth, a 3% dividend yield, and clear capital allocation optionality post-deleveraging.
This is a fair market value price provided by Massive. Learn more.
52-Week Range$142.11▼
$199.78Dividend Yield3.05%
P/E Ratio26.99
Price Target$201.44
The economy isn’t the stock market, but there are times when the two align. That's one way to look at Philip Morris' NYSE: PM Q2 2026 earnings report. The company delivered a beat on revenue and earnings, driven by strength in its smoke-free business and better-than-expected performance in its legacy nicotine products.
This shouldn’t be a surprise in an uneven economy. Philip Morris sells nicotine products in a category where demand has historically remained resilient, even when consumers are under pressure.
Get PM alerts:
PM climbed after the report, even though the company lowered its earnings-per-share (EPS) outlook for the full year and the current quarter. The company, however, reiterated its outlook for organic revenue growth of 5% to 7%.
Philip Morris Earnings Beat Keeps Growth Story IntactThe headline numbers were solid. Revenue of $11.19 billion beat analysts’ expectations for $10.61 billion and was higher than the $10.14 billion in Q2 2025. Adjusted EPS of $2.20 was also above the estimate of $2.04 and above the $1.91 adjusted EPS from the prior year quarter.
A closer look at the EPS guidance may explain why investors are looking past the report. Philip Morris guided to adjusted EPS between $8.26 and $8.41 per share. That’s down 10 cents from both ends on its prior guidance of $8.26 to $8.51. However, even at the low end, it marks a 7.5% year-over-year (YOY) increase.
That's stronger growth than some models have factored in, suggesting the stock is undervalued. On the other hand, PM is up 20% year-to-date, and skeptics may believe that much of that future earnings growth is priced in.
Smoke-Free Products Keep Doing the Heavy LiftingThe quarter's real story is how much of that growth is coming from products that didn't exist in Philip Morris's portfolio a decade ago. International smoke-free net revenue grew 13.7% organically in the first half, with gross profit up 16.9% and gross margin expanding 190 basis points to 70%.
That's significantly more profitable than its legacy cigarette business, even though combustibles are hardly fading. International combustible gross profit still grew 6.1% organically in H1, with pricing power alone contributing 9.2% growth in the category.
IQOS remains the anchor of that smoke-free push, now sold in 80 markets, with the heated tobacco unit adjusted in-market sales growth of 11.3% in H1, excluding Japan and Poland, two markets facing temporary headwinds. Management pointed to a Kantar BrandZ ranking as one of 2026's most valuable global brands as evidence the platform still has room to run. Meanwhile, VEEV, the company's e-vapor brand, posted 72% shipment growth and became the top closed-pod brand in Europe with a 21.3% share, overtaking both of its nearest competitors during the past year.
ZYN, the nicotine pouch brand at the center of Philip Morris's U.S. growth story, shipped 2.9 billion pouches in Q2, up 25% sequentially from Q1, with a U.S. retail value share of 57.1%. The company is leaning further into that momentum, launching a ZYN Ultra range and new flagship dry flavors in June, with additional nicotine-strength variants due in Q3, backed by a new "When it clicks" ad campaign. ZYN also holds the first and only Modified Risk Tobacco Product authorization in its category, covering 20 SKUs, which the company is using as a differentiator against competitors.
Pricing Power Adds to the Growth StoryOf the 9.8% net revenue growth in the first half of 2026, pricing across both combustibles and smoke-free products contributed 5.9 percentage points. A favorable mix shift toward smoke-free products added another two points internationally.
That means roughly 80% of organic revenue growth is coming from the company charging more and selling a richer mix of products, not simply moving more volume. Total shipment volume was essentially flat in the half at 389.4 billion units, though it returned to positive growth in Q2, up 2.5% year-over-year, with SFP shipments climbing 7.5% in the quarter.
Overall MarketRank™82nd Percentile
Analyst RatingModerate Buy
Upside/Downside3.1% Upside
Short Interest LevelHealthy
Dividend StrengthStrong
News Sentiment0.91 Insider TradingN/A
Proj. Earnings Growth10.04%
See Full Analysis
This is an important distinction for anyone modeling out the next few years. Pricing power historically compounds more reliably than volume growth for tobacco and nicotine companies, since regulatory and health pressures tend to cap unit growth over the long run. Philip Morris's own guidance for 2026 reflects revenue and EPS that model above the flat-to-low-single-digit volume trends the industry has seen for years.
Management also reiterated its targeting a sixth consecutive year of currency-neutral volume growth, a streak that would have seemed unlikely for a cigarette company a decade ago.
On the U.S. side specifically, sequential improvement was notable, with net revenues climbing 38% from Q1 to Q2 and adjusted gross profit up 46% over the same period, even as the company continues to invest heavily in ZYN's portfolio expansion. Management framed this as an early step in what it called a "substantial U.S. smoke-free opportunity," suggesting more investment — and potentially more short-term margin pressure — is still to come as new product variants roll out through Q3.
Investors should also note management's continued commitment to shareholder returns even amid this reinvestment phase. The company projected roughly $13.5 billion in operating cash flow for the year, underscoring that the company’s growth investments aren't coming at the expense of the balance sheet.
Is Philip Morris Stock Ready to Break Out After Earnings?Investors may feel like it’s Groundhog Day as PM stock is at a level that has provided resistance over the last two years. This pattern of retracing a path back to a level of resistance is usually a bullish sign, but it requires patience, which PM shareholders have had to have.
Nevertheless, the stock looks ready to break out, and at least one analyst agrees. BTIG Research initiated coverage of Philip Morris on July 21, setting a price target of $216. That’s well above the consensus price target of $197.
Investors in Philip Morris also get to enjoy the company’s dividend, which has a yield of 3.03% as of July 21 and has increased its payout for 17 consecutive years. This was the fourth consecutive quarter at the prior payout rate, so it’s likely that there will be an increase in the next quarter or two.
Should You Invest $1,000 in Philip Morris International Right Now?Before you consider Philip Morris International, you'll want to hear this.
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Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.
Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.
Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.
Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.
NEW YORK, July 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bernstein Liebhard LLP announces that a shareholder has filed a securities class action lawsuit on behalf of investors (the “Class”) who purchased or acquired the common stock of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Regeneron” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: REGN) between August 1, 2025 and May 15, 2026, inclusive. Should You Join The Regeneron Class Action Lawsuit : Do you, or did you, own shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN)?
