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, /PRNewswire/ -- Sonae (Euronext Lisbon: SON), a Portuguese-based multinational managing a diversified portfolio of businesses across retail, real estate, telecommunications, technology and innovation, achieved record turnover of €11.4 billion in 2025, growing 14.2% year-on-year. This performance reflects the solid growth of its retail businesses and investment in acquisitions over the past two years.

As a result of the Group's growth, significant operational efficiency gains and investment in the expansion of its global portfolio, underlying EBITDA reached €1.1 billion, increasing 23.6% compared to 2024, total EBITDA rose 17.6% to €1.2 billion, and net result attributable to shareholders increased 11% to €247 million. Sonae's share price delivered a strong performance, rising 76% in 2025.

Cláudia Azevedo, CEO of Sonae, states: "We are confident in the strength of our portfolio, which is well positioned for long-term value creation. It is balanced both geographically and across sectors, with all businesses holding relevant market positions and strong value propositions, benefiting from exposure to markets with solid structural tailwinds. We look to the future with confidence and optimism."

In the retail sector, Sonae Group's brands hold leading positions in their respective segments across several European markets, operating a network of more than 2,500 owned stores, with 128 new stores opened in the last year. In food retail, MC is the market leader in Portugal through the Continente brand, operating hypermarket, supermarket and convenience formats.

In the health and beauty segment, the Group is a market leader in Spain through Druni and Arenal, a 50/50 partnership between MC and the Casp family, and in Portugal through Wells. In electronics retail, Sonae owns Worten, the market leader in Portugal, with operations in Spain, as well as in several countries through its services and repair company iServices. In fashion retail, the Group owns Salsa, a denim specialist present in around 50 countries.

In the pet care segment, Musti operates in seven geographies and is the market leader in the Nordic and Baltic countries.

Through Sierra, Sonae also operates globally in the real estate sector, developing and managing shopping centres and real estate projects, including in the office and residential segments. Sierra also has a partnership with Bankinter for the management of ORES, which invests in real estate assets in Iberia. Additionally, Sierra is part of the controlling group of ALLOS, the leading shopping centre operator in Latin America. In October, Sierra acquired the Real Estate Management division of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, becoming the second-largest third-party shopping centre manager in Germany.

The Group also holds investments in technology companies through its subsidiary Bright Pixel, which invests in companies and start-ups with solutions for the retail, telecommunications and cybersecurity sectors.

Through its Sparkfood unit, Sonae also operates in the supply of natural extracts and active ingredients for human, pet and plant care.

Find out more at www.sonae.pt.

This article highlights eight companies on track to achieve Dividend King status, requiring 50+ consecutive years of dividend increases. The companies featured are not expected to reach Dividend King status until at least 2032, but are progressing steadily. The series aims to spotlight recognizable businesses with strong dividend growth histories, supporting long-term income-focused investment strategies.

Key Takeaways GEF raised its dividend 10.7%, with payments set for July 1, 2026, to shareholders of record as of June 17.GEF's adjusted free cash flow rose to $179.3M in Q2'26 from $86.6M a year earlier.Greif ended Q2 with $286.1M in cash, $1.01B in debt and aims to keep leverage below 2.0X. Greif, Inc. (GEF - Free Report) announced a 10.7% hike in its quarterly dividend payout. This is in sync with its long-standing commitment to returning capital to shareholders.

Details of GEF’s Quarterly Dividend HikeGreif will pay the new quarterly dividend of 62 cents on its Class A Common Stock and 93 cents per share on its Class B Common Stock on July 1, 2026, to shareholders of record as of June 17, 2026. The raised dividend takes the company’s dividend yield from the current 3.5% to 3.9%.

Greif has a three-year dividend growth rate of 3.8%. It has a payout ratio of 57.8%.

Greif’s industry peer Sonoco Products Company (SON - Free Report) has a quarterly dividend of 54 cents. Sonoco has a payout ratio of 37.1%. Sonoco’s current indicated annual dividend is one of the highest in the industry at $2.16.

GEF’s another peer AptarGroup, Inc. (ATR - Free Report) has a quarterly dividend of 48 cents. AptarGroup has a payout ratio of 33.5%. AptarGroup’s current indicated annual dividend is $1.92.

GEF’s Cash Position & Balance SheetAt the end of second-quarter fiscal 2026, the adjusted free cash flow improved to $179.3 million from $86.6 million, aided by working capital management and lower cash interest tied to the company’s reduced leverage. Greif ended the quarter with $286.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, and a total debt of $1.01 billion.

The increased dividend reflects the company’s strength in free cash flow generation and its balance sheet while investing in high-return organic growth opportunities. Greif remains committed to maintaining leverage below 2.0X.

Greif Stock’s Price PerformanceGEF shares have gained 17.7% in the past year against the industry's 12% decline.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

GEF’s Zacks Rank & Stock to ConsiderThe company currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). 

A better-ranked stock from the Industrial Products sector is Tennant Company (TNC - Free Report) . TNC sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Tennant has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 40.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TNC’s 2026 earnings is pinned at $5.15 per share. The company’s shares have gained 19.4% in a year.

HARTSVILLE, S.C., June 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sonoco Products Company (NYSE: SON), a global leader in high-value sustainable packaging, has returned to the FORTUNE 500 list, a ranking of the largest U.S. companies by revenue. Coming in at #489, Sonoco had sales of $7.8 billion in 2025. With 22,000 teammates, the Company serves customers across paper and metal packaging markets around the world.

“This is a proud moment for Sonoco and a testament to our operational strength and market leadership,” said Howard Coker, president and CEO. “Returning to the Fortune 500 reflects the hard work of our employees around the world and a focused strategy built on innovation and operational excellence. We are committed to delivering unmatched value for our customers and shareholders while advancing packaging solutions that help build a more sustainable future.”

Companies on the FORTUNE 500 list represent roughly two-thirds of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employ more than 30 million people worldwide. Both public and private companies are eligible for the FORTUNE 500 designation.

In addition to Fortune 500 placement, Sonoco earned industry recognition in 2025–2026 from FORTUNE, Newsweek and USA TODAY for corporate responsibility and climate leadership.

For more information about Sonoco awards and accolades, visit sonoco.com/about/awards-accolades.

About Sonoco
Founded in 1899, Sonoco (NYSE: SON) is a global leader in value-added, sustainable metal and paper consumer and industrial packaging. The Company had net sales of $7.5 billion from continuing operations in 2025 and has approximately 22,000 employees working in 265 operations in 37 countries, serving some of the world’s best-known brands. Guided by our purpose of Better Packaging. Better Life., we strive to foster a culture of innovation, collaboration and excellence to provide solutions that better serve all our stakeholders and support a more sustainable future. Sonoco was proudly named one of the World’s Most Admired Companies by Fortune in 2026 as well as one of America’s Most Admired and Responsible Companies by Fortune and Newsweek and by USA TODAY’s list of America’s Climate Leaders in 2025. For more information on the Company, visit our website at www.sonoco.com.

Key Takeaways Greif will raise uncoated recycled paperboard prices by $60 per short ton on July 6, 2026.URB price hike reflects rising input and transportation costs and growing demand.Greif plans a minimum 6.5% increase for tube, core and protective packaging products on July 13, 2026. Greif, Inc. (GEF - Free Report) announced a price increase of $60 per short ton for all grades of uncoated recycled paperboard (URB) products, effective July 6, 2026. The price hike for URB products was driven by rising input and transportation costs, along with growing demand.

Greif will implement a minimum 6.5% price hike on all tube and core, as well as protective packaging products, effective July 13, 2026. The price increase is due to rising costs of the primary raw materials contained in those products. Higher transportation costs and increased demand across end markets have also aided the price hike for Greif.

GEF’s peer Sonoco Products Company (SON - Free Report) also implemented a $60-per-ton price increase for all grades of URB in the United States and Canada, effective July 8, 2026. The company also hiked prices for all converted paperboard products 7%. The price hike was driven by solid demand across Sonoco’s markets, strong utilization of its paper mill network and elevated inflationary pressures.

GEF’s Focus on Portfolio OptimizationGreif is optimizing and shaping its product portfolio to reduce the impacts of cyclical trends and focus on higher-margin offerings. The company’s four new reportable segments are now focused on specific material solutions.

GEF has set a target of delivering adjusted EBITDA of $1 billion by fiscal 2027. The company expects the low end of adjusted EBITDA to be $610 million for fiscal 2026, indicating an increase of 19% from the $511 million reported in fiscal 2025.

The company’s optimization Initiatives over the next three years are expected to eliminate $100 million in structural costs from the business through a combination of SG&A rationalization, network optimization and operating efficiency gains. The company has also set the goal of $500 million of free cash flow by fiscal 2027.

Greif’s Q2 PerformanceGreif posted adjusted earnings of $1.10 per Class A share in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, up 61.8% from a year ago. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.16 by 5.2%. Net sales were $1.07 billion, down 0.5% year over year but beating the consensus mark of $1.07 billion by 0.4%.

GEF Stock’s Price PerformanceGreif shares have gained 3.5% in the past year against the industry's 9.4% decline.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Greif’s Zacks Rank & Stock to ConsiderThe company currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks from the Industrial Products sector are Tennant Company (TNC - Free Report) and Helios Technologies Inc. (HLIO - Free Report) . TNC and HLIO sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Tennant has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 40.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TNC’s 2026 earnings is pinned at $5.15 per share. The company’s shares have gained 15.4% in a year.

Helios Technologies has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 15.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HLIO’s 2026 earnings is pinned at $2.89 per share. The company’s shares have skyrocketed 141.3% in a year.

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 20th, 2026

Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG – Free Report) by 6,206.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,316 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,200 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Encore Capital Group were worth $398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECPG. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 97.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 33,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 16,634 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 263.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 68,860 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,361,000 after purchasing an additional 49,892 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,929 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 2.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 90,910 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 7.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 78,465 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,690,000 after purchasing an additional 5,672 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets ECPG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Northland Securities set a $70.00 price target on Encore Capital Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Citizens Jmp raised their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Encore Capital Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.50.

View Our Latest Research Report on ECPG

Insider Activity In other news, insider Ryan B. Bell sold 7,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.04, for a total value of $499,849.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 48,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,325,656.80. This trade represents a 13.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.54% of the company’s stock.

Encore Capital Group Stock Performance Shares of Encore Capital Group stock opened at $80.75 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.69. The company has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.10. Encore Capital Group Inc has a 1 year low of $29.69 and a 1 year high of $81.77.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The asset manager reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $1.17. The business had revenue of $473.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $423.14 million. Encore Capital Group had a net margin of 14.52% and a return on equity of 28.19%. Encore Capital Group’s quarterly revenue was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($9.42) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Encore Capital Group Company Profile (Free Report)

Encore Capital Group, Inc is a global specialty finance company that focuses on the purchase and management of nonperforming consumer receivables. Through its subsidiaries, the company acquires charged-off debt portfolios from credit card issuers, banks, and other financial institutions, and seeks to recover outstanding balances through a combination of customer outreach, payment arrangements, and, where appropriate, legal collection efforts. Encore’s business model emphasizes compliance with regulatory and industry standards to ensure ethical and transparent debt-recovery practices.

Headquartered in San Diego, California, Encore operates across North America and Europe.

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Favorable purchasing conditions continue in U.S. marketGlobal portfolio purchases of $363 million, including $316 million in U.S.Global collections up 19% to record $718 million Earnings per share of $3.86 SAN DIEGO, May 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ECPG), an international specialty finance company, today reported consolidated financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026.

“Encore delivered another quarter of strong performance in Q1 as our industry leadership and operational improvement remain on full display,” said Ashish Masih, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our business continues to thrive with solid first quarter portfolio purchases of $363 million and record collections of $718 million, which were up 19% compared to a year ago. This collections performance helped earnings increase sharply, with first quarter earnings per share of $3.86 up 100% compared to $1.93 per share a year ago.”

“Our MCM business in the U.S. continues to deliver very strong results. Capitalizing on the ongoing attractive market opportunity in the U.S. driven by ample portfolio supply, MCM portfolio purchases in the first quarter were $316 million, one of our strongest portfolio purchasing quarters ever. MCM also delivered record collections of $556 million in the first quarter, up 23% compared to Q1 a year ago. This exceptional collections performance is the result of strong execution and continued significant portfolio purchasing as well as the deployment of new technologies, enhanced digital capabilities and continued operational innovation.”

“Our Cabot business in Europe delivered a solid first quarter. Portfolio purchases of $47 million were consistent with Cabot’s recent historical trend while collections of $161 million were up 7% compared to the first quarter last year.”

“As a result of our strong start to the year, we are raising our global collections guidance and now expect our full-year 2026 collections to be approximately $2.8 billion, reflecting year-over-year growth of 8%. Additionally, we are raising our earnings guidance and now expect our earnings per share in 2026 to increase 19% to $13.00. Our guidance for portfolio purchasing remains unchanged from our view in February as we continue to anticipate our global portfolio purchases this year to be within a range from $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion. As always, we remain committed to the critical role we play in the consumer credit ecosystem and to helping consumers restore their financial health,” said Masih.

In the first quarter, the company repurchased $20 million of its shares of common stock.

Financial Highlights for the First Quarter of 2026:

 Three Months Ended March 31,(in thousands, except percentages and earnings per share)2026
 2025
 ChangePortfolio purchases(1)$362,841 $367,851 (1)%Average receivable portfolios(2)$4,404,473 $3,864,450 14%Estimated Remaining Collections (ERC)$9,825,266 $8,862,661 11%Collections$718,414 $604,807 19%Revenues$475,411 $392,775 21%Operating expenses$291,419 $263,432 11%Net income$86,243 $46,796 84%Earnings per share$3.86 $1.93 100% ______________________

(1)  Includes U.S. purchases of $315.8 million and $316.4 million, and Europe purchases of $47.0 million and $51.5 million in Q1 2026 and Q1 2025, respectively.

(2)  Represents the average of receivable portfolios for the quarter (sum of receivable portfolios at the beginning and end of the quarter divided by 2).

Conference Call and Webcast

Encore will host a conference call and slide presentation today, May 6, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific / 5:00 p.m. Eastern time, to present and discuss first quarter results.

Members of the public are invited to access the live webcast via the Internet by logging in on the Investor Relations page of Encore's website at encorecapital.com. To access the live conference call by telephone, please pre-register using this link. Registrants will receive confirmation with dial-in details.

For those who cannot listen to the live broadcast, a replay of the webcast will be available on the Company's website shortly after the call concludes.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This news release includes certain financial measures that exclude the impact of certain items and therefore have not been calculated in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). The Company has included information concerning adjusted EBITDA because management utilizes this information in the evaluation of its operations and believes that this measure is a useful indicator of the Company’s ability to generate cash collections in excess of operating expenses through the liquidation of its receivable portfolios. Adjusted EBITDA has not been prepared in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to, or more meaningful than, net income and net income per share as indicators of the Company’s operating performance. Further, this non-GAAP financial measure, as presented by the Company, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is below.

About Encore Capital Group, Inc.

Encore Capital Group is an international specialty finance company that provides debt recovery solutions and other related services for consumers across a broad range of financial assets. Through its subsidiaries around the globe, Encore purchases portfolios of consumer receivables from major banks, credit unions, and utility providers.

Encore partners with individuals as they repay their debt obligations, helping them on the road to financial recovery and ultimately improving their economic well-being. Encore is the first and only company of its kind to operate with a Consumer Bill of Rights that provides industry-leading commitments to consumers. Headquartered in San Diego, Encore is a publicly traded NASDAQ Global Select company (ticker symbol: ECPG) and a component stock of the Russell 2000, the S&P Small Cap 600 and the Wilshire 4500. More information about the company can be found at http://www.encorecapital.com.

Forward Looking Statements

The statements in this press release that are not historical facts, including, most importantly, those statements preceded by, or that include, the words “will,” “may,” “believe,” “projects,” “expects,” “anticipates” or the negation thereof, or similar expressions, constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Reform Act”). These statements may include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our future operating results (including purchases and collections), performance, supply and pricing, liquidity, business plans or prospects. For all “forward-looking statements,” the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Reform Act. Such forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company and its subsidiaries to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors are discussed in the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the most recent report on Form 10-K, as it may be amended from time to time. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Contact:

Bruce Thomas
Encore Capital Group, Inc.
Vice President, Global Investor Relations
[email protected]

SOURCE: Encore Capital Group, Inc.

FINANCIAL TABLES FOLLOW

ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP, INC.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition
(In Thousands, Except Par Value Amounts)
(Unaudited)
     March 31,
2026 December 31,
2025Assets   Cash and cash equivalents$227,204  $156,784 Receivable portfolios, net 4,437,415   4,371,532 Property and equipment, net 79,292   82,080 Other assets 177,163   193,113 Goodwill 529,487   536,291 Total assets$5,450,561  $5,339,800 Liabilities and Equity   Liabilities:   Accounts payable and accrued liabilities$252,277  $230,261 Borrowings 4,033,301   4,001,293 Other liabilities 130,175   131,496 Total liabilities 4,415,753   4,363,050 Commitments and Contingencies   Equity:   Convertible preferred stock, $0.01 par value, 5,000 shares authorized, no shares issued and outstanding —   — Common stock, $0.01 par value, 75,000 shares authorized, 21,499 and 21,688 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025, respectively 215   217 Additional paid-in capital —   — Accumulated earnings 1,167,038   1,104,640 Accumulated other comprehensive loss (132,445)  (128,107)Total stockholders’ equity 1,034,808   976,750 Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity$5,450,561  $5,339,800          The following table presents certain assets and liabilities of consolidated variable interest entities (“VIEs”) included in the condensed consolidated statements of financial condition above. Most assets in the table below include those assets that can only be used to settle obligations of consolidated VIEs. The liabilities exclude amounts where creditors or beneficial interest holders have recourse to the general credit of the Company.

 March 31,
2026 December 31,
2025Assets   Cash and cash equivalents$50,115 $40,256Receivable portfolios, net 1,177,046  1,151,221Other assets 4,392  3,540Liabilities   Accounts payable and accrued liabilities 2,986  3,101Borrowings 783,444  791,182Other liabilities 1,352  2,774 ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP, INC.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income
(In Thousands, Except Per Share Amounts)
(Unaudited)
   Three Months Ended
March 31,  2026   2025 Revenues   Portfolio revenue$390,019  $345,218 Changes in recoveries 62,740   21,464 Total debt purchasing revenue 452,759   366,682 Servicing revenue 20,638   22,547 Other revenues 2,014   3,546 Total revenues 475,411   392,775 Operating expenses   Salaries and employee benefits 114,541   105,932 Cost of legal collections 89,221   68,013 General and administrative expenses 39,629   41,018 Other operating expenses 34,833   34,252 Collection agency commissions 6,337   6,873 Depreciation and amortization 6,858   7,344 Total operating expenses 291,419   263,432 Income from operations 183,992   129,343 Other expense   Interest expense (73,050)  (70,530)Other income 790   1,647 Total other expense (72,260)  (68,883)Income before income taxes 111,732   60,460 Provision for income taxes (25,489)  (13,664)Net income$86,243  $46,796     Earnings per share:   Basic$3.97  $1.96 Diluted$3.86  $1.93     Weighted average shares outstanding:   Basic 21,728   23,879 Diluted 22,320   24,269  ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP, INC.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Unaudited, In Thousands)   Three Months Ended March 31,  2026   2025 Operating activities:   Net income$86,243  $46,796 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:   Depreciation and amortization 6,858   7,344 Other non-cash interest expense, net 2,537   3,544 Stock-based compensation expense 4,575   3,424 Changes in recoveries (62,740)  (21,464)Other, net 4,681   1,737 Changes in operating assets and liabilities   Other assets 4,892   (3,499)Accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other liabilities 35,280   7,401 Net cash provided by operating activities 82,326   45,283 Investing activities:   Purchases of receivable portfolios, net of put-backs (359,463)  (362,712)Collections applied to receivable portfolios 328,395   259,589 Purchases of property and equipment (4,856)  (6,990)Other, net 8,517   9,835 Net cash used in investing activities (27,407)  (100,278)Financing activities:   Payment of loan and debt refinancing costs (1,109)  (255)Proceeds from credit facilities 358,021   246,426 Repayment of credit facilities (304,185)  (185,831)Repurchase and retirement of common stock (20,092)  (10,004)Other, net (14,026)  (9,999)Net cash provided by financing activities 18,609   40,337 Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 73,528   (14,658)Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (3,108)  1,910 Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 156,784   199,865 Cash and cash equivalents, end of period$227,204  $187,117     Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:   Cash paid for interest$37,343  $41,303 Cash paid for income taxes, net of refunds 860   1,247 Supplemental schedule of non-cash investing activities:   Receivable portfolios transferred to real estate owned$1,020  $1,040  ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP, INC.
Supplemental Financial Information
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Metrics  Adjusted EBITDA    Three Months Ended
March 31,(in thousands, unaudited) 2026   2025 GAAP net income, as reported$86,243  $46,796 Adjustments:   Interest expense 73,050   70,530 Interest income (1,094)  (1,546)Provision for income taxes 25,489   13,664 Depreciation and amortization 6,858   7,344 Stock-based compensation expense 4,575   3,424 Acquisition, integration and restructuring related expenses(1) 1,465   248 Adjusted EBITDA$196,586  $140,460 Collections applied to principal balance(2)$269,469  $244,300  ________________________

(1)  Amount represents acquisition, integration and restructuring related expenses. We adjust for this amount because we believe these expenses are not indicative of ongoing operations; therefore, adjusting for these expenses enhances comparability to prior periods, anticipated future periods, and our competitors’ results. 
(2)  Amount represents (a) gross collections from receivable portfolios less (b) debt purchasing revenue, plus (c) proceeds applied to basis from sales of real estate owned (“REO”) assets and, when applicable, other receivable portfolios. A reconciliation of “collections applied to receivable portfolios, net” to “collections applied to principal balance” is available in the Form 10-Q for the period ending March 31, 2026.

Momentum investors typically don't time the market or "buy low and sell high." In other words, they avoid betting on cheap stocks and waiting long for them to recover. Instead, they believe that "buying high and selling higher" is the way to make far more money in lesser time.

Who doesn't like betting on fast-moving trending stocks? But determining the right entry point isn't easy. Often, these stocks lose momentum once their valuation moves ahead of their future growth potential. In such a situation, investors find themselves loaded up on expensive shares with limited to no upside or even a downside. So, going all-in on momentum could be risky at times.

A safer approach could be investing in bargain stocks with recent price momentum. While the Zacks Momentum Style Score (part of the Zacks Style Scores system) helps identify great momentum stocks by paying close attention to trends in a stock's price or earnings, our 'Fast-Paced Momentum at a Bargain' screen comes handy in spotting fast-moving stocks that are still attractively priced.

Encore Capital Group (ECPG - Free Report) is one of the several great candidates that made it through the screen. While there are numerous reasons why this stock is a great choice, here are the most vital ones:

Investors' growing interest in a stock is reflected in its recent price increase. A price change of 7.7% over the past four weeks positions the stock of this provider of debt-management and recovery services well in this regard.

While any stock can see a spike in price for a short period, it takes a real momentum player to deliver positive returns for a longer time frame. ECPG meets this criterion too, as the stock gained 43.8% over the past 12 weeks.

Moreover, the momentum for ECPG is fast paced, as the stock currently has a beta of 1.33. This indicates that the stock moves 33% higher than the market in either direction.

Given this price performance, it is no surprise that ECPG has a Momentum Score of A, which indicates that this is the right time to enter the stock to take advantage of the momentum with the highest probability of success.

In addition to a favorable Momentum Score, an upward trend in earnings estimate revisions has helped ECPG earn a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Our research shows that the momentum-effect is quite strong among Zacks Rank #1 and #2 stocks. That's because as covering analysts raise their earnings estimates for a stock, more and more investors take an interest in it, helping its price race to keep up. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Most importantly, despite possessing fast-paced momentum features, ECPG is trading at a reasonable valuation. In terms of Price-to-Sales ratio, which is considered as one of the best valuation metrics, the stock looks quite cheap now. ECPG is currently trading at 0.95 times its sales. In other words, investors need to pay only 95 cents for each dollar of sales.

So, ECPG appears to have plenty of room to run, and that too at a fast pace.

In addition to ECPG, there are several other stocks that currently pass through our 'Fast-Paced Momentum at a Bargain' screen. You may consider investing in them and start looking for the newest stocks that fit these criteria.

This is not the only screen that could help you find your next winning stock pick. Based on your personal investing style, you may choose from over 45 Zacks Premium Screens that are strategically created to beat the market.

However, keep in mind that the key to a successful stock-picking strategy is to ensure that it produced profitable results in the past. You could easily do that with the help of the Zacks Research Wizard. In addition to allowing you to backtest the effectiveness of your strategy, the program comes loaded with some of our most successful stock-picking strategies.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.

Encore Capital Group, Inc. (ECPG) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

May 11, 2026 07:17 ET  | Source: Encore Capital Group, Inc.

SAN DIEGO, May 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Encore Capital Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECPG) (the “Company”) today announced its intention to offer, subject to market and other conditions, $550.0 million aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes due 2032 (the “notes”) in a private offering to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and outside the United States to non-U.S. persons (within the meaning of Regulation S under the Securities Act).

The notes will be senior secured obligations of the Company, and will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior secured basis by substantially all material subsidiaries of the Company. The obligations of the Company and the guarantors will be secured, together with the Company’s other senior secured indebtedness, by substantially all of the assets of the Company and the guarantors. The interest rate and other terms of the notes will be determined at the pricing of the offering.

The Company intends to use the proceeds from this offering, together with drawings under its revolving credit facility, to (a) redeem its outstanding $500.0 million of 9.250% senior secured notes due 2029 in full, including payment of the premium due as part of the redemption price and estimated accrued interest payable on the redemption date, (b) redeem €200.0 million of its €415.0 million outstanding senior secured floating rate notes due 2028, including payment of estimated accrued interest payable on the redemption date and (c) pay estimated fees, expenses and the initial purchasers’ discounts for the offering.

Depending on the capital markets, the Company continuously considers additional financings, including offerings of additional senior secured notes in different currencies and with fixed or floating interest rates, to fund its operations and to refinance existing debt obligations.

The offer and sale of the notes have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act, and the notes may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, the notes nor will there be any sale of the notes in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, sale or solicitation would be unlawful. Any offer of the securities will be made only by means of a private offering memorandum.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the completion, timing and size of the proposed offering, the intended use of the proceeds, and the terms of the notes being offered. Forward-looking statements represent Encore’s current expectations regarding future events and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking statements. Among those risks and uncertainties are market conditions, including market interest rates, the trading price and volatility of Encore’s common stock and risks relating to Encore’s business, including those described in periodic reports that Encore files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Encore may not consummate the proposed offering described in this press release and, if the proposed offering is consummated, cannot provide any assurances regarding the final terms of the notes or its ability to effectively apply the net proceeds as described above. The forward-looking statements included in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release, and Encore does not undertake to update the statements included in this press release for subsequent developments, except as may be required by law.

Contact Information

Bruce Thomas, Investor Relations
[email protected]

May 11, 2026 18:54 ET  | Source: Encore Capital Group, Inc.

SAN DIEGO, May 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Encore Capital Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECPG) (the “Company”) today announced the pricing of its offering of $750.0 million aggregate principal amount of 6.625% senior secured notes due 2032 (the “notes”), which was upsized to $750.0 million from $550.0 million, at an issue price of 100.00% in a private offering to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and outside the United States to non-U.S. persons (within the meaning of Regulation S under the Securities Act).

The notes will be senior secured obligations of the Company, and will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior secured basis by substantially all material subsidiaries of the Company. The obligations of the Company and the guarantors will be secured, together with the Company’s other senior secured indebtedness, by substantially all of the assets of the Company and the guarantors. The notes will accrue interest at a rate of 6.625% per annum, payable semi-annually in arrears on June 1 and December 1 of each year, beginning on December 1, 2026. The notes will mature on June 1, 2032 unless earlier repurchased or redeemed by the Company.

The Company intends to use the proceeds from this offering, together with drawings under its revolving credit facility, to (a) redeem its outstanding $500.0 million of 9.250% senior secured notes due 2029 in full, including payment of the premium due as part of the redemption price and estimated accrued interest payable on the redemption date, (b) redeem €200.0 million of its €415.0 million outstanding senior secured floating rate notes due 2028, including payment of estimated accrued interest payable on the redemption date and (c) pay estimated fees, expenses and the initial purchasers’ discounts for the offering. The offering and the use of proceeds therefrom does not change the guidance for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2026 that the Company provided on May 6, 2026.

Depending on the capital markets, the Company continuously considers additional financings, including offerings of additional senior secured notes in different currencies and with fixed or floating interest rates, to fund its operations and to refinance existing debt obligations.

The offer and sale of the notes have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act, and the notes may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, the notes nor will there be any sale of the notes in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, sale or solicitation would be unlawful. Any offer of the securities will be made only by means of a private offering memorandum.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the completion, timing and size of the proposed offering, the intended use of the proceeds and the terms of the notes being offered. Forward-looking statements represent Encore’s current expectations regarding future events and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking statements. Among those risks and uncertainties are market conditions, including market interest rates, the trading price and volatility of Encore’s common stock and risks relating to Encore’s business, including those described in periodic reports that Encore files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Encore may not consummate the proposed offering described in this press release and, if the proposed offering is consummated, cannot provide any assurances regarding the final terms of the notes or its ability to effectively apply the net proceeds as described above. The forward-looking statements included in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release, and Encore does not undertake to update the statements included in this press release for subsequent developments, except as may be required by law.

Contact Information

Bruce Thomas, Investor Relations
[email protected]

Encore Capital Group (ECPG - Free Report) closed the last trading session at $82.33, gaining 5.2% over the past four weeks, but there could be plenty of upside left in the stock if short-term price targets set by Wall Street analysts are any guide. The mean price target of $104.33 indicates a 26.7% upside potential.

The mean estimate comprises three short-term price targets with a standard deviation of $4.04. While the lowest estimate of $100.00 indicates a 21.5% increase from the current price level, the most optimistic analyst expects the stock to surge 31.2% to reach $108.00. It's very important to note the standard deviation here, as it helps understand the variability of the estimates. The smaller the standard deviation, the greater the agreement among analysts.

While the consensus price target is a much-coveted metric for investors, solely banking on this metric to make an investment decision may not be wise at all. That's because the ability and unbiasedness of analysts in setting price targets have long been questionable.

However, an impressive consensus price target is not the only factor that indicates a potential upside in ECPG. This view is strengthened by the agreement among analysts that the company will report better earnings than what they estimated earlier. Though a positive trend in earnings estimate revisions doesn't give any idea as to how much the stock could surge, it has proven effective in predicting an upside.

Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Here's What You Should Know About Analysts' Price TargetsAccording to researchers at several universities across the globe, a price target is one of many pieces of information about a stock that misleads investors far more often than it guides. In fact, empirical research shows that price targets set by several analysts, irrespective of the extent of agreement, rarely indicate where the price of a stock could actually be heading.

While Wall Street analysts have deep knowledge of a company's fundamentals and the sensitivity of its business to economic and industry issues, many of them tend to set overly optimistic price targets. Are you wondering why?

They usually do that to drum up interest in shares of companies that their firms either have existing business relationships with or are looking to be associated with. In other words, business incentives of firms covering a stock often result in inflated price targets set by analysts.

However, a tight clustering of price targets, which is represented by a low standard deviation, indicates that analysts have a high degree of agreement about the direction and magnitude of a stock's price movement. While that doesn't necessarily mean the stock will hit the average price target, it could be a good starting point for further research aimed at identifying the potential fundamental driving forces.

That said, while investors should not entirely ignore price targets, making an investment decision solely based on them could lead to disappointing ROI. So, price targets should always be treated with a high degree of skepticism.

Here's Why There Could be Plenty of Upside Left in ECPGThere has been increasing optimism among analysts lately about the company's earnings prospects, as indicated by strong agreement among them in revising EPS estimates higher. And that could be a legitimate reason to expect an upside in the stock. After all, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

For the current year, two estimates have moved higher over the last 30 days compared to no negative revision. As a result, the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased 8.7%.

Moreover, ECPG currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), which means it is in the top 5% of more than 4,000 stocks that we rank based on four factors related to earnings estimates. Given an impressive externally-audited track record, this is a more conclusive indication of the stock's potential upside in the near term. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .

Therefore, while the consensus price target may not be a reliable indicator of how much ECPG could gain, the direction of price movement it implies does appear to be a good guide.

While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One company value investors might notice is Encore Capital Group (ECPG - Free Report) . ECPG is currently holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 5.46, while its industry has an average P/E of 7.65. Over the last 12 months, ECPG's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.37 and as low as 4.14, with a median of 5.49.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. ECPG has a P/S ratio of 0.93. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.41.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Encore Capital Group's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, ECPG looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.

Here are three stocks with buy rank and strong value characteristics for investors to consider today, June 1:

Pagaya Technologies Ltd. (PGY - Free Report) : This product-focused technology company carries a Zacks Rank #1, and has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 12.2% over the last 60 days.

Pagaya has a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 4.68, compared with 8.90 for the industry. The company possesses a Value Score of A.

Green Dot Corporation (GDOT - Free Report) : This financial technology and bank holding company carries a Zacks Rank #1, and has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 12.8% over the last 60 days.

Green Dot has a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 7.68, compared with 26.40 for the industry. The company possesses a Value Score of A.

Encore Capital Group, Inc. (ECPG - Free Report) : This specialty finance company providing debt recovery solutions carries a Zacks Rank #1, and has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 7.4% over the last 60 days.

Encore Capital has a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 6.14, compared with 11.90 for the industry. The company possesses a Value Score of B.

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

Learn more about the Value score and how it is calculated here.

Issued on behalf of Salazar Resources Ltd.

, /PRNewswire/ -- USANewsGroup.com News Commentary — The global copper market just flipped from surplus to deficit, and the numbers are hard to ignore. The International Copper Study Group now forecasts a 150,000 metric ton shortfall for 2026, driven by mine disruptions and surging electrification demand that existing production simply cannot match[1]. Making it worse: the pipeline of new projects that could fill the gap is shrinking, not growing. In Chile, the world's top copper jurisdiction, permitting timelines have stretched to 12 years, effectively locking the next wave of large-scale porphyry developments in regulatory limbo before a single shovel hits the ground[2]. That bottleneck is quietly reshaping where capital flows, concentrating it into the shrinking pool of permitted, development-ready assets still advancing through the pipeline: Salazar Resources (TSXV: SRL) (OTCQB: SRLZF), Solaris Resources (NYSE-A: SLSR) (TSX: SLS), NGEx Minerals (TSX: NGEX) (OTCQX: NGXXF), Lundin Mining (TSX: LUN) (OTCPK: LUNMF), and Foran Mining (TSX: FOM) (OTCQX: FMCXF).

Wood Mackenzie's head of copper research warns that limited production growth and fragmented global inventories now leave the market exposed to even minor disruptions, with copper already trading near $13,000 per metric ton[3]. The math is straightforward: average lead times from discovery to first production exceed 17 years, which means permitted porphyry assets with drill-proven scale are not just attractive; they are the only realistic conduit for capital chasing a supply gap that today's mines cannot close on their own[4].

Salazar Resources (TSXV: SRL) (OTCQB: SRLZF) has consolidated 100% ownership of its Santiago copper-gold project in southern Ecuador, bringing together a target that three decades of exploration data say could be significant. The 2,350-hectare concession sits in the Western Cordillera of the Ecuadorian Andes, where historical drilling, airborne geophysics, and recent surface sampling have outlined a coincident geochemical and geophysical anomaly measuring roughly 3 km by 2 km. The critical detail: the core of the interpreted porphyry system at depth has never been drill-tested.

Previous operators touched only the near-surface lithocap. Newmont drilled three shallow holes in the 1990s and hit broad copper-gold mineralization, including 323 metres grading 0.23% copper and 0.40 g/t gold in one hole, and 268 metres grading 0.24% copper and 0.43 g/t gold in another. Those results are encouraging on their own, but what makes Santiago stand out is that the mineralization was widening and strengthening toward the bottom of the holes, suggesting something larger sits below.

A 2019 airborne MobileMT geophysical survey added another layer of confirmation, identifying a large, coherent conductivity anomaly beneath the lithocap consistent with a sulphide-rich porphyry system. A follow-up surface sampling campaign in 2021 and 2022 collected 1,477 rock chip samples across the property. Within the 599-sample anomalous core zone, 47% returned copper values above 250 ppm and 34% returned gold above 0.11 g/t, with individual samples reaching as high as 21.1 g/t gold and 0.9% copper. High-grade epithermal veins on the property added further appeal, with rock chip samples returning up to 28.1 g/t gold and 252 g/t silver.

Santiago is one of several advancing projects for the company. Salazar Resources recently completed the acquisition of four copper-gold exploration properties from Silvercorp Metals, and earlier this year identified a high-priority copper-gold porphyry target at its Monja Project, where the best rock chip sample returned 4.77% copper and 1.12 g/t gold. On the development side, Salazar Resources holds a 25% carried interest in the El Domo copper-gold mine, now under construction on a US$284 million budget with production targeted for July 2027.

With a pipeline that spans early-stage exploration through near-production development, Salazar Resources is building exposure across multiple stages of the mining value chain in one of South America's most active copper-gold jurisdictions. The company maintains a wholly owned portfolio of projects in Ecuador, backed by a local team with a track record that includes involvement in several of the country's major discoveries.

Read this and more news for Salazar Resources at: https://usanewsgroup.com/2026/03/18/a-3-billion-partner-is-building-this-copper-gold-mine-salazar-keeps-25/

Other industry developments and happenings in the market include:

Solaris Resources (NYSE-A: SLSR) (TSX: SLS) received technical approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment for its Warintza Project in southeastern Ecuador, a major permitting milestone following an extensive multi-year government review. The approval also triggers the second tranche of US$50 million under the company's US$200 million financing agreement with Royal Gold, strengthening the balance sheet as Solaris Resources advances toward a fully permitted project targeted by end-2026.

"This approval is a critical milestone for the Warintza Project and an important validation of the technical quality, environmental stewardship and responsible development approach undertaken by our team," said Matthew Rowlinson, President and CEO of Solaris Resources. "The EIA review involved rigorous technical evaluation and close collaboration with regulators over an extended period."

The next steps include a government-led Free, Prior and Informed Consultation process with formal consultation expected to commence shortly, leading to the granting of Mining Exploitation Agreements. Warintza is one of the most significant undeveloped copper assets globally, and the EIA technical approval positions Solaris Resources as uniquely advanced among copper development projects heading into a potential construction decision.

NGEx Minerals (TSX: NGEX) (OTCQX: NGXXF) reported strong drill results from its Phase 4 program at the 100%-owned Lunahuasi copper-gold-silver project in San Juan, Argentina, with drillhole DPDH059 intersecting 335.15 metres at 4.08% CuEq, including 19.50 metres at 18.96% CuEq. Two additional holes returned 294.10 metres at 2.41% CuEq and 109.00 metres at 3.37% CuEq, with multiple high-grade intervals confirming the scale and grade continuity of the Saturn zone.

"Today's news release includes holes 56 and 59, drilled in different directions through the Saturn zone, and hole 58 which is helping to define a new zone at the northern limit of the current drill pattern that was first intersected by hole 43 last season," said Wojtek Wodzicki, President and CEO of NGEx Minerals. "Together they demonstrate the significant size and grade of Saturn, which is our largest defined zone to date, as well as the continued upside potential we have to discover and delineate new zones."

With nearly 23,000 metres drilled across 21 completed holes, NGEx Minerals has expanded its Phase 4 target from 25,000 metres to 30,000 metres, with the program expected to conclude around the first week of May.

Lundin Mining (TSX: LUN) (OTCPK: LUNMF) filed a technical report for its Vicuña Project in Argentina and Chile, confirming results from the February 2026 Preliminary Economic Assessment on what could become a top-five global copper, gold, and silver operation. The staged development plan outlines average annual production of 400,000 tonnes copper, 700,000 oz gold, and 22 Moz silver over the first 25 full years, with a 70-plus-year mine life and an after-tax NPV of $9.5 billion at base-case metal prices, rising to $28.8 billion at recent spot prices.

Stage 1 capital is estimated at $7.1 billion, with an after-tax IRR of 14.8% across all project stages and average annual free cash flow of $2.2 billion during the first 25 full years. The project's first-quartile cost profile includes a cash cost of negative $0.20 per pound of copper net of by-product credits. Lundin Mining holds a 50% interest in the Vicuña district through a joint arrangement with BHP, with a potential sanctioning decision targeted as early as year-end 2026, supported by ongoing detailed design and engineering work for Stage 1.

Foran Mining (TSX: FOM) (OTCQX: FMCXF) reported mill commissioning progress at its 100%-owned McIlvenna Bay copper-zinc-gold-silver project in Saskatchewan, with overall construction reaching approximately 91% completion at the end of February 2026, on schedule and within budget for mid-2026 commercial production. The company has built a surface ore stockpile of approximately 271,000 tonnes, completed cold commissioning activities including the first idle run of the ball mill, and successfully energized an 85 km, 110 kV transmission line connecting the project to renewable hydroelectric power ahead of schedule.

"February marked a pivotal milestone for Foran, with McIlvenna Bay surpassing 90% completion and entering cold commissioning on schedule," said Dan Myerson, Executive Chairman and CEO of Foran Mining. "We are now in the final stages of operational readiness as we prepare to introduce first ore to the mill, a milestone strategically timed with the recent energization of our renewable hydropower line."

Underground development advanced approximately 505 metres in February, with bulk mining blasting of the second stope underway and backfilling processes initiated. The McIlvenna Bay deposit holds an indicated mineral resource of 38.6 Mt grading 2.02% CuEq, positioning Foran Mining as a near-term critical minerals producer supporting the global energy transition.

FURTHER READING: MORE IN-DEPTH INFORMATION AVAILABLE HERE  

CONTACT:
USA NEWS GROUP
[email protected]
(604) 265-2873

DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this publication should be considered as personalized financial advice. We are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular financial situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized financial advice. Please consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decision. This is a paid advertisement and is neither an offer nor recommendation to buy or sell any security. We hold no investment licenses and are thus neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice. The content in this report or email is not provided to any individual with a view toward their individual circumstances. USA News Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Market IQ Media Group, Inc. ("MIQ"). This article is being distributed for Baystreet.ca media Corp, who has been paid a fee for an advertising campaign. MIQ has not been paid a fee for Salazar Resources Ltd. advertising or digital media, but the owner/operators of MIQ also co-owns Baystreet.ca Media Corp. ("BAY") There may also be 3rd parties who may have shares of Salazar Resources Ltd. and may liquidate their shares which could have a negative effect on the price of the stock. This compensation constitutes a conflict of interest as to our ability to remain objective in our communication regarding the profiled company. Because of this conflict, individuals are strongly encouraged to not use this publication as the basis for any investment decision. The owner/operator of MIQ/BAY own shares of Salazar Resources Ltd and reserve the right to buy and sell, and will buy and sell shares of Salazar Resources Ltd. at any time without any further notice commencing immediately and ongoing. We also expect further compensation as an ongoing digital media effort to increase visibility for the company, no further notice will be given, but let this disclaimer serve as notice that all material, including this article, which is disseminated by MIQ on behalf of BAY has been approved by Salazar Resources Ltd. Technical information relating to Salazar Resources Ltd. has been reviewed and approved by Kieran Downes, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and a consulting geologist to Salazar, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information cited from the linked-to news releases.; this is a paid advertisement, we currently own shares of Salazar Resources Ltd. and will buy and sell shares of the company in the open market, or through private placements, and/or other investment vehicles. While all information is believed to be reliable, it is not guaranteed by us to be accurate. Individuals should assume that all information contained in our newsletter is not trustworthy unless verified by their own independent research. Also, because events and circumstances frequently do not occur as expected, there will likely be differences between the any predictions and actual results. Always consult a licensed investment professional before making any investment decision. Be extremely careful, investing in securities carries a high degree of risk; you may likely lose some or all of the investment.
 

SOURCES:

https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/global-research/commodities/copper-outlook  https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/copper-supply-lags-demand-as-permitting-delays-lower-grades-policy/  https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/investing/market-outlook/2026/04/02/market-outlook-copper-rises-as-tensions-ease-and-supply-stays-tight/  https://mine.nridigital.com/mine_apr26/chile_mine_permitting  Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2838876/5958291/USA_News_Group_Logo.jpg

Viant Technology Inc. (DSP) M&A Call Transcript

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Viant Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: DSP) today announced it will release its first quarter 2026 financial results after U.S. markets close on Monday, May 11, 2026. Viant will host a conference call and webcast that day at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time) to discuss business and financial performance. First Quarter 2026 Results and Conference Call Date: Monday, May 11, 2026     Time: 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time / 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time     Webcast: https://i.

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)---- $DSP #AdTech--Viant Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: DSP) today announced the successful completion of the acquisition of TVision Insights.

Viant Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:DSP) will release earnings for its first quarter after the closing bell on Monday, May 11.

Analysts expect the Irvine, California-based company to report quarterly earnings of 7 cents per share, up from 3 cents per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for Viant Technology's quarterly revenue is $84.81 million (it reported $70.64 million last year), according to Benzinga Pro.

On May 5, Viant Technology announced the successful completion of the acquisition of TVision Insights.

Shares of Viant Technology rose 2.4% to close at $12.04 on Friday.

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 DSP stock? Here’s what analysts think:

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IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Viant Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: DSP), a leader in AI-powered programmatic advertising, today reported financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2026. "Viant delivered record first quarter results, exceeding the high end of our guidance range across both the top and bottom lines for the quarter," said Tim Vanderhook, Co-Founder and CEO, Viant. "Our continued success is amplified by our recent landmark acquisition of TVision, which further transforms.

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IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)---- $DSP #AdTech--Viant announced a partnership with Ad Fontes Media, becoming the only DSP to enable news reliability-based targeting within news inventory on CTV.

In the news release, SEMIFIVE and ICY Tech Achieve Successful Tape-out of 8nm eMRAM-Based Edge AI SoC, Targeting First Commercialization in Asia, issued 07-May-2026 by SEMIFIVE over PR Newswire, we are advised by the company that changes have been made. The complete, corrected release follows:

SEMIFIVE and ICY Tech Achieve Successful Tape-out of 8nm eMRAM-Based Edge AI SoC, Targeting First Commercialization in Asia Enabling on-device inference with up to 2 billion (2B) parameters, accelerating expansion into ultra-low-power edge AI markets such as AI PCs and humanoid robots

, /PRNewswire/ -- SEMIFIVE, a leading global provider of custom AI semiconductor (ASIC) solutions, and ICY Tech, a Chinese AI semiconductor company, today announced the successful tape-out of next-generation Edge AI SoC jointly developed utilizing Samsung Foundry's 8nm (8LPU) embedded Magnetic Random Access Memory (eMRAM) technology. This marks a significant milestone toward the first commercial deployment of 8nm eMRAM technology in Asia.

This collaboration represents SEMIFIVE's first ASIC design project leveraging eMRAM technology. By integrating eMRAM into an Edge AI accelerator, the company aims to reinforce its technical leadership in the ultra-low-power, high-performance inference market.

Compared to SRAM, eMRAM features a smaller bit cell, enabling higher data density within the same area. Unlike DRAM, it does not require periodic refresh operations, significantly reducing power consumption. With its non-volatile characteristics that retain data even when power is removed, eMRAM is widely regarded as a "universal memory" particularly well-suited for environments with constraints on power and area, such as edge devices.

Originating from the Applied Magnetism Center of the School of Physics at Peking University, ICY Tech brings deep insight and extensive experience in magnetism and spintronics for AI inference scenarios. Additionally, the company possesses globally leading, uniquely patented accelerator designs for high-bandwidth readout and in-situ matrix-vector multiplication (GEMV).

SEMIFIVE is a key Design Solution Partner (DSP) in the Samsung Foundry SAFE™ ecosystem and a global AI ASIC specialist with a proven track record of successfully delivering advanced custom semiconductor projects ranging from AI/HPC to Edge AI. The company provides comprehensive engineering services from spec consulting to mass production, serving a broad range of customers including fabless companies, service providers, and system OEMs.

For this project, SEMIFIVE provided comprehensive ASIC design services and transformed, ICY Tech's novel architecture into production-ready silicon. By integrating ICY Tech's Processing Near Memory (PNM) technology with SEMIFIVE's proprietary SoC design platform, the two companies developed an optimized architecture capable of high-speed, on-device inference for models with up to 2B parameters in edge environments. This enables operation— without any network connectivity. At the 2B-parameter scale, practical AI tasks such as text summarization, translation, and conversational inference become feasible on-device, a capability that has been challenging to achieve with conventional SRAM-based edge AI chips due to physical limitations in die area and power.

This architecture is designed for edge devices operating in offline environments, including AI PCs, private AI agents, and humanoid robots. Target applications encompass robotics (physical AI), automotive semiconductors (such as autonomous driving and digital cockpits), and smart devices.

"This collaboration is a highly challenging project to bring a spintronics-based AI inference architecture into silicon using Samsung Foundry's 8nm (8LPU) process. By fully integrating the non-volatile and ultra-low-power characteristics of eMRAM into AI accelerators, we believe this will set a new milestone for edge AI semiconductors," said Yves Zhu, CEO of ICY Tech. "With SEMIFIVE's proven comprehensive ASIC design capabilities, ICY Tech's accelerator architecture design expertise, and Samsung Foundry's advanced node technology, we are confident this project will establish a new standard for performance and power efficiency that surpasses the limitations of existing architectures in the global AI inference market."

"In the AI era, semiconductors are rapidly shifting from off-the-shelf components to custom-built solutions tailored to specific needs. As the Edge AI market expands, the architectures requested by customers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and diverse," said Brandon Cho, CEO and co-founder of SEMIFIVE. "As ASIC design involving next-generation memories like eMRAM gains momentum, the role of a specialized partner managing the entire process becomes vital. As a key partner in the Samsung Foundry SAFE™ ecosystem, SEMIFIVE has successfully executed numerous AI, HPC, and Edge AI projects. Through our partnership with ICY Tech, we are proud to expand our portfolio into cutting-edge memory-based ASIC design."

MRAM/eMRAM

Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM) is a next-generation memory technology that utilizes Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ) elements. It combines the non-volatile characteristics of NAND Flash, retaining data even when power is removed, with high-speed performance comparable to DRAM. With write speeds over 1,000 times faster than flash memory and significantly lower power consumption, MRAM is emerging as a core technology for AI semiconductors and low-power edge devices. In particular, embedded MRAM (eMRAM) refers to MRAM technology integrated directly into system semiconductors such as SoCs and MCUs. It is widely regarded as a next-generation on-chip memory solution to replace conventional embedded Flash (eFlash).

Unlike traditional DRAM, MRAM is a type of resistive memory. While DRAM is based on electrical charge storage, MRAM relies on the resistance changes within the MTJ unit cell. DRAM has achieved significant advancements in density, bandwidth, and power efficiency. However, it requires continuous refresh operations to retain data, consuming standby power even when not actively in use. In contrast, MRAM can preserve data for extended periods without refreshing operations. For this reason, it is gaining attention as a "universal memory" with the potential to fundamentally transform current computing architectures.

About SEMIFIVE

SEMIFIVE Inc. (KOSDAQ: 490470) is a pioneer of platform based SoC design, working with customers to implement innovative ideas into custom silicon in the most efficient way. Our SoC platforms offer a powerful springboard for new chip designs and leverage configurable domain-specific architectures and pre-validated key IP pools. We offer comprehensive spec-to-system capabilities with end-to-end solutions so that custom SoCs can be realized faster, with reduced cost and risks for key applications such as data center or AI-enabled IoT. With a strong partnership with Samsung Foundry as a leading SAFE™ DSP partner, as well as the larger ecosystem, SEMIFIVE provides a one-stop shop solution for any SoC design needs. For more information, please visit www.semifive.com.

About ICY Tech

ICY Technology is a specialized chip R&D company dedicated to redefining conventional computing through physics-native computing and magnetic computing. Incubated at the Applied Magnetism Center of Peking University, the company combines full-stack strengths in magnetism, spintronics, device engineering, IC design, and algorithm-hardware co-optimization to bring MRAM-based weight-stationary architectures and ultra-high-bandwidth readout schemes into system-level deployment for AI inference. It has developed the SpinPU®-E family of "magnetic logic computing" products for high-bandwidth AI inference, as well as the SpinPU®-M family of "magnetic probabilistic computing" products for quantum-inspired classical computing. Compared with traditional SRAM- and DRAM-based approaches, ICY Technology aims to fundamentally break the limits of edge-side large-model deployment in area, energy efficiency, and cost through higher density, lower static power, and much stronger on-chip bandwidth, building core technological barriers for robotics and edge intelligent hardware. Since its establishment in 2023, the company has completed four rounds of market-driven financing and has led or played a principal role in two major provincial- and ministerial-level R&D programs focused on high-bandwidth magnetic computing. ICY Technology is headquartered in Beijing, with an R&D center in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin and a testing center in Weihai.

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SOURCE SEMIFIVE

Smarter insights, stronger monetization and clearer signals for CTV and programmatic

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Viant Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: DSP), a leader in CTV and AI-powered programmatic advertising, today announced the launch of its enhanced Publisher Solutions, a centralized tool set that provides seamless access to critical insights and monetization intelligence across the Viant advertising platform. These solutions are designed to enable advertisers to access higher-quality and better-addressable inventory at scale, while providing publishers greater transparency into supply quality and enhancing their ability to monetize their inventory. Unlike many competitive solutions that introduce additional fees, Viant Publisher Solutions are available at no cost to publisher partners.

“Viant’s Direct Access framework gives us a way to collaborate more closely, improve signal quality, and unlock incremental revenue opportunities without additional platform fees," said Vijay Rao, Senior Vice President of Partnerships at Tubi.

ShareViant Publisher Solutions features all-new SupplyIQ, a detailed, publisher-specific dashboard which includes key performance data around Direct Access, Household ID (HHID), and IRIS_ID to form a unified framework focused on improving signal fidelity, supply path efficiency, audience addressability and content intelligence. These inputs directly influence how the Viant ad platform values inventory, allocates spend, and optimizes campaign performance.

“Today’s programmatic ecosystem requires deeper alignment between premium supply and brand advertisers,” said Tim Vanderhook, CEO, Viant Technology. “With Viant Publisher Solutions, we are creating a more transparent and efficient marketplace, giving publishers control and insight into their inventory while enabling advertisers to access premium, signal-rich supply that drives real, measurable outcomes.”

Viant operationalizes these capabilities, giving publishers a single place to manage and maximize their integration with Viant’s ad platform. By strengthening key inputs such as identity, content, supply path, and signal coverage, publishers can directly impact how effectively the DSP bids— creating a clear and measurable link between adoption and monetization outcomes. Viant Publisher Solutions have already been broadly adopted across the programmatic ecosystem, representing some of the most-watched streaming content in the world, with continued expansion throughout 2026.

“As a publisher, creating more direct relationships with DSPs is increasingly important to maximize both transparency and monetization,” said Vijay Rao, Senior Vice President of Partnerships at Tubi. “Viant’s Direct Access framework gives us a way to collaborate more closely, improve signal quality, and unlock incremental revenue opportunities without additional platform fees.”

There are four core features of Viant Publisher Solutions:

SupplyIQ: Viant's SupplyIQ reporting solution ensures that Viant only bids on inventory that meets the signal quality thresholds required to drive advertiser outcomes. By continuously evaluating signal coverage, SupplyIQ gives Viant's bidder a clear, accurate view of supply and deprioritizes inventory that cannot be evaluated with confidence. Publishers who want to maximize their eligibility for Viant demand can use SupplyIQ's reporting layer to understand exactly how their inventory appears to the DSP and where improvements will directly impact monetization.Direct Access: Viant's Supply Path Optimization (SPO) framework connects advertisers to premium CTV and digital inventory through the most direct and cost-efficient paths available. By eliminating unnecessary intermediary hops, Direct Access reduces auction noise and ensures a greater share of every advertiser dollar goes toward working media, not fees. Unlike competing SPO programs that charge publishers a percentage of advertiser spend, Viant charges publishers nothing. Currently, 85% of CTV spend on the Viant platform is transacted through Direct Access.Household ID: Viant’s publisher Household ID (HHID) integration enables publishers to sync their first-party data into Viant’s deterministic identity framework, increasing addressability and measurement capabilities. Advertisers benefit from more accurate audience targeting, cross-device frequency management, and improved attribution.IRIS_ID: Viant’s content identification and targeting solution allows publishers to map their video content to standardized IRIS Content IDs, unlocking new monetization strategies based on content-level signals. Advertisers can now target and measure campaigns at the content level, improving contextual alignment and engagement.Built for Transparency, Efficiency, and Performance

Viant is addressing the fundamental inefficiencies in programmatic advertising by helping to ensure advertisers access more addressable, signal-rich inventory - improving campaign performance while maximizing the share of every dollar that goes toward working media. Publishers are motivated by a direct link between signal quality and monetization: the better their inventory is represented within the Viant ad platform, the more effectively Viant bids on it. This incentive structure continuously raises the quality and transparency of supply across the open internet, ultimately driving stronger performance for buyers and sellers alike.

"In CTV, transparency and innovation are not just nice to have; they are the foundation of effective advertising. Viant delivers on both, and their Household ID and identity framework gives Molson Coors the future-proofed foundation to power our marketing effectiveness and digital transformation ambitions in 2026 and beyond," said Brad Feinberg, Vice President, Media & Marketing Operations, Molson Coors Beverage Company.

Viant Publisher Solutions are available to Viant’s partners now at no cost. For more information, visit viantinc.com/solutions/publisher.

About Viant

Viant Technology (NASDAQ: DSP) is an exclusively buy-side, AI-powered advertising platform purpose-built for CTV. Viant uniquely combines proprietary content intelligence, household-level identity resolution, and person-level attention signals to connect advertisers with real customers and drive measurable outcomes across the open internet. Through its award-winning AI solutions, Viant is building the future of autonomous advertising, where AI doesn't just assist the campaign, it delivers real results. Learn more at viantinc.com.

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