On the heels of its blockbuster IPO, SpaceX announced that it plans to acquire AI coding startup Cursor in an all-stock deal worth $60 billion by the third quarter of 2026. The deal would double the net worths of Cursor’s four young billionaire cofounders, Michael Truell, 25, Aman Sanger, 25, Sualeh Asif, 25, and Arvid Lunnemark, 26. Forbes estimates they will be worth $2.7 billion each.
They aren’t the only ones poised for a windfall from the deal. Early investors including Andreessen Horowitz (which reportedly owns a roughly 10% stake, worth $6 billion) and Thrive (which owns about 7%, worth $4.2 billion, per a source familiar) stand to win big from the deal too.
Cursor has come a long way in a short span of time. Founded in 2022 by four MIT friends and 30 Under 30 alumni, the startup started out as a coding tool for developers. After AI behemoth Anthropic launched Claude Code, Cursor found itself on the defensive, shifting to “war time” mode, as Forbes reported in March.
It appears to have worked. In early June, Cursor crossed $4 billion in annualized revenue, fending off stiff competition from both Anthropic and OpenAI, Forbes reported. Its revenue grew from $2 billion in February to $3 billion in late April. The uptick in revenue is in part due its new product Cloud Agents, which works on complex programming tasks for hours in the background.
Cursor first teamed up with SpaceX in April, when the rocket maker obtained the right to acquire it for $60 billion, or pay $1.5 billion in breakup fees and $8.5 billion in computing resources if the deal didn’t go through. SpaceX, which also acquired xAI in February, had been struggling to improve the capabilities of its models as AI researchers left en masse. But it has a ton of compute, thanks to its gigantic Colossus supercomputer. For the past few months, the two companies have been jointly training a new AI model that will be released in Cursor and xAI’s Grok, SpaceX said in a post.
Now let’s get into the headlines.
BIG PLAYS
On Friday, Anthropic abruptly disabled its new AI model, Fable 5, after the U.S. government issued an order to ban foreign nationals from accessing it, citing national security concerns. The directive came after government officials learned of a way to jailbreak the powerful model’s safeguards. Fable 5, a more secure version of Anthropic’s Mythos family of models, had been in restricted access for months and was launched just days earlier to millions of people. A group of tech leaders including Amazon CEO Andy Jassy had flagged concerns over the model’s security risks to senior Trump officials last week, Reuters reported.
“You have to make a judgment call on these things,” Anthropic’s Chief Commercial Officer Paul Smith told Forbes just hours before the order was issued. “The safest you can be is to not let people use something. And then it’s totally safe. But then how is that helping the mission?”
Also notable: OpenAI’s spending reached $34 billion last year amid a neck-in-neck race with rival Anthropic to dominate the AI market, the Financial Times reported. The giant’s costs far outweigh the $13 billion in revenue it booked in 2025.
SHOW ME THE MONEY
SpaceX’s historic IPO made scores of stakeholders ultra-wealthy. The rocket maker and AI company started trading just before noon on Friday at $150 per share, implying an eye-popping $2 trillion valuation. CEO Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire. Early investors like Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Antonio Gracias’ Valor Equity Partners’ stakes in the company are worth $67 billion and $71 billion, respectively. As of Tuesday afternoon, SpaceX’s market cap had skyrocketed to $2.8 trillion, surpassing Amazon as the world’s fifth largest company by market value.
AI DEAL OF THE WEEK
Jeff Bezos’ AI venture Project Prometheus raised $12 billion in funding at a $41 billion valuation. Bezos runs the company as co-CEO with Vik Bajaj, a cofounder of Alphabet’s life sciences research lab Verily and a Stanford University professor. The nascent startup is building AI tools to help engineers design and manufacture physical products faster. It plans to use the funding to buy up compute, according to CNBC.
DEEP DIVE
If you’re interested in renting an apartment in one of Equity Residential’s 300 properties, chances are you’ll soon be chatting with Ella to set up an apartment tour or answer questions about a lease.
But Ella isn’t human. It’s an AI assistant that answers the phones and responds to hundreds of emails around the clock. It’s still sending quick replies after all the humans have gone home, when most inquiries typically come in.
Ella is so helpful that some people don’t realize they’re talking to a bot.
“Customers were calling in asking for Ella and saying, ‘We just love her work ethic.’ They wanted to make sure she was going to get her commission,” says Kristin Hupfer, a senior vice president of customer experience at Equity Residential. The firm discloses that Ella is an AI chatbot the first time it communicates with a person through email, phone or text, Hupfer says.
Ella has been a gamechanger for the Chicago-based property manager, which owns buildings in New York, San Francisco and Seattle. Back in 2018, the firm’s staff struggled to keep up with the influx of hundreds of requests from prospective tenants each week. That in turn meant losing customers to rivals and keeping units idle. Then in 2019, it started working with New York-based EliseAI, the developer of Ella. Now the bot handles 1.5 million texts, emails and phone calls every year, allowing Equity Residential to save $20 million in payroll costs, Hupfer says (no layoffs, she clarifies, just not replacing staff who left). The real estate firm owns two buildings in Jersey City that don’t need a human staff member at all because they can be managed from a nearby community and Ella handles all the administrative tasks.
Today one in six apartments in the U.S. and 90 percent of the country’s largest property managers use EliseAI’s tools to respond to questions about a unit, renew leases and triage maintenance requests. It can even use smart locks to let renters into an apartment for a tour, or determine that a request to fix a broken A/C unit in the summer should be prioritized.
Read the full story on Forbes.
MODEL BEHAVIOR
Anthropic’s AI models are incredibly powerful. That is, unless you’re an AI researcher developing frontier large language models that could eventually compete against them. Anthropic disclosed last week that its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models deliberately become less helpful if they detect another AI research lab using them. Rather than outright refusing to produce an answer, the models secretly modify user prompts to change its own responses.
US Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, says President Donald Trump "can't point to where we're better off" after the war in Iran. Speaking on "Balance of Power: Evening Edition," Senator Warren also discusses Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's military budget request, her criticisms of Kevin Warsh as chair of the Federal Reserve, the state of housing and the SpaceX IPO.
Images of SpaceX rockets are displayed on screens in Times Square after the launch of the company’s initial public offering on June 12. (Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images)
Investors were eager to trade SpaceX options on their first day of trading Tuesday as the company’s shares gained almost 5% to $201.80, putting them 50% above the initial public offering price of $135 last week.
CNBC's Jim Cramer said Tuesday that investors flocking to SpaceX are betting on Elon Musk's ability to create transformative businesses — not the company's current earnings power.
"The stock is called SpaceX, but it might as well be called Elon Musk," the "Mad Money" host said.
SpaceX has quickly become one of the world's most valuable companies following its blockbuster IPO on Friday. Shares surged almost 5% Tuesday, pushing the rocket company's valuation above several technology heavyweights, including Amazon, and briefly surpassing Microsoft. The rally has intensified questions about whether SpaceX's roughly $2.5 trillion market value is justified.
Cramer argued, however, that conventional valuation methods miss what many investors are buying.
"There is no way this company, which could see losses for many years, deserves such a high valuation on its own. It only gets there because it's run by Musk," he said.
While Musk recently projected that SpaceX could generate $1 trillion in annual revenue by 2030, Cramer argued that the stock's appeal extends far beyond any single forecast. Instead, he thinks investors are assigning value to Musk's track record of building category-defining businesses and his ability to turn ambitious ideas into commercial opportunities.
"When you buy SpaceX here, you're really buying Elon Musk's brain," Cramer said. "I think the cult of Musk is for real."
To support that view, Cramer pointed to the breadth of SpaceX's businesses and growth initiatives, including its Starlink satellite internet network, reusable rocket operations, and long-term data center ambitions. Adding to that opportunity set, SpaceX announced Tuesday that it will acquire AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion in stock, deepening its push into artificial intelligence and software development tools. While the company currently operates at a loss and many of these opportunities have yet to fully materialize, Cramer said they could ultimately become significant drivers of future growth.
Cramer suggested that some investors view SpaceX similarly to how previous generations viewed Berkshire Hathaway under Warren Buffett — a way to gain exposure to a business leader they believe can continue creating value for decades.
While skeptics continue to question the stock's valuation, Cramer noted that betting against the rally has been costly so far.
"While you're sitting here trying to justify SpaceX's valuation, the buyers are relentlessly pushing it up, and I bet they keep going," he said.
Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX +4.36%) stock saw another day of strong gains in Tuesday's trading, with the stock rising 4.8% in the daily session. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 fell 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite was off 1.2%. Notably, SpaceX stock had been up as much as 17.2% earlier in the day's trading.
Bullish momentum for SpaceX has continued following the company's initial public offering (IPO) on June 12, and news that the tech specialist has finalized a $60 billion deal to acquire artificial intelligence (AI) company Cursor has spurred positive valuation moves. In addition to general excitement surrounding the stock, recent comments from CEO Elon Musk and investment analysts have helped push the company's share price higher.
Image source: Getty Images.
SpaceX soars on AI news SpaceX stock has been red hot following its IPO last week, and the company's share price moved higher today following the announcement that the company had secured its $60 billion acquisition of Cursor. While SpaceX is best known for its rocket launching and Starlink mobile and internet communication services, the company has actually positioned AI compute services as central to its long-term growth strategy.
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What's next for SpaceX? Cursor provides coding and other AI technologies that look poised to help SpaceX increase its competitive positioning compared to Anthropic and OpenAI, and the closing of the deal seemingly represents another promising strategical step for Elon Musk's company. SpaceX has identified AI compute as its single biggest growth market, and integrating Cursor could help the company accelerate its expansion ambitions. SpaceX looks richly valued after its post-IPO rally, but it's possible that the tech company will wind up delivering sales and earnings growth that pave the way for continued valuation growth.
Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Key Takeaways SpaceX has been one of the most exciting IPOs ever, with its performance since its debut notably strong. Outside of SpaceX, Anthropic is another huge IPO that investors can't overlook. IPO activity post-pandemic has fluctuated significantly, primarily driven by economic uncertainty, rising interest rates, and inflation, all of which have impacted investor sentiment.
But the tide has shifted in a positive direction over the past few years, with 2026’s lineup, which includes SpaceX (SPCX - Free Report) and Anthropic, likely the most exciting year we’ve seen in decades concerning debuts.
Don’t Forget About AnthropicAnthropic has officially submitted its confidential draft S-1 prospectus with the SEC, setting up one of the largest tech IPOs in history. The company is expected to target a valuation clearing $1 trillion, building on the momentum of a massive Series H funding round that valued it at $965 billion.
The public listing is anticipated to potentially come as early as this fall, likely reflecting the biggest market story of the back half of 2026. The company's enterprise-focused AI ecosystem is its primary growth engine, with annualized revenue skyrocketing to a staggering $47 billion.
Notably, Anthropic is solidifying its position as a dominant force in corporate AI and critical infrastructure. Driven by the commercial success of enterprise tools like Claude Code, the company is scaling aggressively. To sustain this explosive compute demand, Anthropic has also secured a massive $15 billion-a-year data center lease with SpaceX alongside cloud partnerships with Amazon and Google.
SpaceX SoarsSpaceX (SPCX - Free Report) has officially debuted, with shares soaring post-IPO. The appetite for exposure among investors has been notably fierce, as displayed by the recent price action. The company's Starlink satellite internet segment is its primary profit engine, with over 10 million subscribers.
Notably, SpaceX is aggressively transforming into an AI and infrastructure giant. After absorbing Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI in a stock-based deal earlier this year, SpaceX spent a staggering $12.7 billion on AI infrastructure in 2025 alone. It is also partnering with Tesla on a chip-making project called ‘Terafab’ to build its own AI hardware.
By combining orbital dominance with cutting-edge artificial intelligence, SpaceX is positioning itself as more than just a space exploration company. It is positioning itself as the infrastructure layer for the future of computing, both on Earth and beyond.
Buying AI coding agent Cursor in a $60 billion deal and renting out data-center capacity gives the company a launchpad to land more enterprise customers.
SpaceX options on their first day of trading showed about a 15% chance for the stock to rise by 50% and a similar possibility that it loses half its value in the next three months, according to Susquehanna.
The stock saw the fifth-highest call volume of the day, Susquehanna strategist Chris Murphy wrote in a note Tuesday.
"The largest trades increasingly looked like hedges tied to future supply risk," Murphy wrote. "Upside calls reflect demand for another sharp move higher, while downside puts reflect concern around lock-up supply, valuation risk, and the possibility that the initial post-listing enthusiasm fades. The result is a difficult trading setup. The tails look too expensive to buy, but they also look too dangerous to sell."
SpaceX's stock rose for another day after its initial public offering on Friday — it's up about 50% from its IPO price — and its market cap has surpassed Amazon and is close to Microsoft's valuation. The options reflect a vigorous debate about whether the company can live up to the initial enthusiasm.
Current pricing implies about a 15% probability that SpaceX rises another 50% by September, while also implying roughly a 13% chance the stock falls 50%, Murphy wrote.
Investors are "trading the story, they're trading the action, they're trading the excitement, they're trading Elon Musk, but at some point the rubber meets the road in terms of the fundamentals having to match up with that excitement," Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at One Point BFG Wealth Partners, said on CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia."
"If they can deliver, then the upside is certainly there, but the valuation is so enormous that the company is going to really have to show itself in growing into that valuation," he added. "I think that that's going to take at least a couple of years."
EchoStar SATS has a sizeable stake in the newly public SpaceX (SPCX) – one that’s being largely underappreciated by market participants, says New Street’s senior analyst David Barden.
In a recent note to clients, Barden raised his price target on the telecommunications firm to $165, indicating potential upside of an exciting 40% on its previous close.
The bullish call arrives at a time when EchoStar stock is struggling to reclaim its year-to-date high, currently down some 15% versus its peak in late May.
David Barden is positive on SATS for one simple reason: its stake in SpaceX alone makes it worth more than the market is giving it credit for in 2026.
Following the recent sale of wireless spectrum to AT&T and SpaceX, EchoStar owns roughly 262 million shares of billionaire Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence (AI) and space infrastructure giant.
Valuing SPCX shares at $161 each (the price at which they closed their debut session on Nasdaq), that stake alone is now worth over $42 billion.
But SATS shares at nearly $121 at writing are enormously “discounting” the SpaceX exposure – pricing the behemoth at a much lower $86 only, the New Street analyst told clients.
“We believe owning SpaceX stock via EchoStar at these levels is an attractive proposition.”
SATS’ fundamentals remain strong in 2026Beyond its SPCX holdings, EchoStar shares remain attractive, as the company maintains a core telecommunications infrastructure that generates steady cash flow.
It exited Q1 with over 6 million pay-TV subscribers, comprising 4.8 million on Dish TV and 1.79 million on Sling TV, as well as its Boost Mobile brand.
That said, Barden actually adjusted estimates for SATS’ legacy assets amid ongoing FCC spectrum auctions.
On Tuesday, he trimmed the AWS-3 spectrum valuation to $3 per MHz-POP from $3.62, reducing the expected value of EchoStar’s standalone business from $10 billion to about $8.3 billion.
From an investment perspective, what’s also worth mentioning is that SATS stock looks headed to now challenge its 20-day moving average (MA), with a clear break above $124 expected to boost bullish momentum in the near-term.
Moreover, much like New Street Research, the derivatives market is keeping bullish on EchoStar for the remainder of 2026, especially since it isn’t particularly expensive to own at about 2.2x sales.
According to Barchart, the put-to-call ratio on options contracts expiring mid-October sits at 0.24 currently, indicating a very strong bullish skew.
Crucially, while not as bullish as David Barden, other Wall Street analysts remain constructive on EchoStar for the next 12 months as well.
The consensus rating on SATS sits at “Moderate Buy” currently, with the mean price target of $143 signaling potential upside of nearly 20% from here.
Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) has completed its initial public offering (IPO) and now all eyes are on the company's next move.
Musk's Mars AmbitionsOne of Musk's goals has been to reach Mars, colonize it and build a city on it. This goal was also part of a performance target for the world's richest man, as revealed by SpaceX's IPO paperwork.
Here's What Prediction Market Is SayingWhile Musk has made reaching Mars one of his biggest goals, prediction markets are not very confident about the trillionaire being able to achieve it.
Data from Kalshi, a federally authorized betting platform, shows that over $101,000 has been bet on the contract "Will Elon Musk visit Mars in his lifetime?"
According to bettors, the probability of Musk reaching Mars in his lifetime is just 13%.
Disclaimer: Kalshi and Benzinga have an existing data collaboration agreement.
What Will Musk Get?If Musk is able to help SpaceX establish a permanent human settlement on Mars with at least one million residents, along with the company hitting a $7.5 trillion valuation, he stands to receive 200 million super-voting restricted shares.
The goal is still a long time away, with Musk himself admitting that it was a long way off.
In February, Musk revealed that SpaceX's Mars timeline was slipping by "five to seven years," so the company could focus on lunar missions first.
Prediction Market Bets On Starlink IPOJust days after SpaceX wrapped up its IPO, the prediction market is now betting on Starlink's IPO. Bettors have placed a very low probability on Starlink going public before June 2027.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock.com
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX +4.36%) blasted off on its market debut on Friday, climbing 19%, then advanced by an additional 19% on its second trading day. All of this has brought SpaceX to a market cap of $2.5 trillion, placing it among the world's largest tech companies.
The SpaceX IPO was the biggest ever, as the company raised $75 billion. But the operation just became even bigger. The company's underwriters exercised an overallotment option early this week, allowing them to buy more than 83 million extra shares -- and this operation brought the total raised to $85.7 billion.
It's clear that many investors are excited about SpaceX, and this could be due to the fact that it operates in the three exciting growth areas of space, artificial intelligence (AI), and connectivity -- and it may also be linked to the idea that Elon Musk, known for huge ambitions, leads the company. Considering all of this, is SpaceX starting an Nvidia-style run? Let's find out.
Image source: Getty Images.
A 1,000% gain So, first, let's zoom in on the performance of Nvidia, the world's No. 1 AI chip designer. The company has seen earnings soar in recent years thanks to this dominance, and as a result, investors have piled into the stock. Nvidia shares have advanced 1,000% over five years. The company represented one of the best ways to bet on the AI boom, and this bet has proven itself to be a winning one.
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Unlike SpaceX, however, Nvidia's share price didn't skyrocket right out of the gate. The company went public back in 1999, but for many years, the stock traded for just a few dollars. It only took off within the past few years amid the excitement about AI -- and as Nvidia's revenue and profit surged.
SpaceX isn't a brand-new company. Like Nvidia, it's been around for decades developing its technology, but so far, its financial picture looks quite different from that of the AI chip giant. While Nvidia is generating more than $215 billion in annual revenue and $120 billion in net income, SpaceX's investments to support its technology developments -- particularly in the AI business -- pushed the company to a loss last year. In 2025, SpaceX's capital expenditures in the AI unit reached $12 billion, and though the company reported total revenue of $18 billion, it finished the year with a loss of $4.9 billion.
Starlink's key role SpaceX is earlier along the growth path than Nvidia, and it's still not clear if and when it may reach certain goals -- such as the development of data centers in space and the transport of people and materials to Mars. Right now, the company's connectivity business, Starlink, is driving revenue, as it brought in $11.4 billion last year on that total of $18 billion. Starlink offers satellite-based internet services and has seen its subscriptions explode higher from customers around the world. It's grown subscriber numbers from 2.3 million in 2023 to more than 10 million as of this March.
But SpaceX's goals are so far-reaching and depend so greatly on innovation and the development of new technology that it might take quite some time for the company to attain them -- and generate significant levels of revenue and profitability. So it's unlikely that the earnings picture, alone, will drive stock performance in the quarters to come.
That said, many investors are buying shares of SpaceX because they believe in the company's ability to reach certain milestones over time -- and they aim to get in early on the stock so that they might fully benefit down the road. It's a risk, and that makes SpaceX a buy for the aggressive investor -- but not for the cautious investor.
Now, let's consider our question: Based on all of this, could SpaceX be starting an Nvidia-style run? In the coming weeks and even months, it's possible. Investors are excited about SpaceX's programs and the possibilities that eventually could result in explosive growth. But if the upcoming earnings reports disappoint or if the company faces any technology setback, it could weigh heavily on stock performance. It's important to keep this in mind before rushing to buy this hot stock post-IPO.
SpaceX’s new options market exploded on Tuesday, giving traders a fresh and far riskier way to bet on the rocket company’s post-IPO surge.
The contracts began trading only days after SpaceX’s blockbuster Nasdaq debut, and demand was immediate.
Call options, which profit when a stock rises, dominated early activity. But the pricing also showed something more complicated than simple excitement.
Wall Street is now bracing for a huge move in either direction, with traders seeing room for another sharp rally while also preparing for a painful reversal.
SpaceX priced its IPO at $135 a share last week, already making it one of the most closely watched listings in market history.
Since then, the stock has climbed roughly 50%, lifting the company’s market value past Amazon and briefly above Microsoft during Tuesday’s trading.
That speed matters, as normally, a stock needs time to settle after going public.
In SpaceX’s case, investors have rushed in almost immediately, helped by the company’s rare mix of space launches, Starlink, defence contracts, artificial intelligence ambitions, and Elon Musk’s personal following.
The rally has also created pent-up demand among investors who either received small IPO allocations or missed out entirely. For them, options offer another route in.
An option is a contract that gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a stock at a fixed price before a set date.
A call is a bet on upside. A put is protection, or a bet, against downside. With SpaceX moving so fast, both sides have become expensive.
The scale of Tuesday’s options debut was striking. Around 1.8 million SpaceX options contracts changed hands, far above Meta’s previous first-day options record in 2012.
Calls outpaced puts, showing that bullish demand remained strong even after the stock’s dramatic run.
Susquehanna said SpaceX had the fifth-highest call volume of any stock that day.
Data from Trade Alert indicates that SpaceX options were the third-most heavily traded single-stock contracts overall, behind only Tesla and Nvidia.
“It’s unusual in history for companies to have options trade so quickly,” Mike Khouw, chief strategist at YieldMax ETFs, told Yahoo Finance.
“This is the third busiest single stock options contract trading today.”
The bigger story was not just volume. It was what the options prices implied about future movement.
Susquehanna estimated that the market was pricing roughly a 15% chance that SpaceX rises another 50% over the next three months.
It was also pricing a similar chance that the stock loses half its value over the same period.
That is what traders mean when they talk about “tails.” It refers to extreme outcomes at either end of the range.
In this case, the market is saying SpaceX could keep ripping higher, or crack sharply, and neither outcome looks remote.
Also read- SpaceX stock soars after IPO: Will it follow the Circle, Figma, Klarna path?
That two-sided risk is why derivatives strategists are sounding cautious, even as volume booms.
“The tails look too expensive to buy, but they also look too dangerous to sell,” Chris Murphy, a strategist at Susquehanna, said in comments cited by CNBC.
The line captures the problem facing traders. Buying options is costly because implied volatility is high. Implied volatility is the market’s estimate of how violently a stock may move.
But selling options can be even riskier, because a sharp move either way could leave sellers exposed to steep losses.
On the upside, call buyers are betting SpaceX can repeat the kind of momentum seen in Tesla during its most speculative phases.
On the downside, put demand reflects concern about valuation, lock-up expiry risk, and the possibility that early excitement fades once more shares become available.
Reuters reported that one large September trade appeared to hedge against the stock falling below $205, likely linked to future share supply after IPO lock-up restrictions ease.
Sceptics say the valuation already leaves little room for error.
“Investors rarely make money buying stocks valued at over 100x revenue,” short seller Jim Chanos told Yahoo Finance, while still acknowledging that Starlink is “a real business.”
SpaceX shares rose 4% in premarket trading on Wednesday, as the Elon Musk-led company extended a remarkable rally that's seen the stock surge around 62% since a blockbuster IPO on Friday.
Consistent gains for SpaceX this week pushed its market cap above Amazon on Tuesday, and it briefly surpassed Microsoft to become the fourth-largest company by valuation in the U.S.
SpaceX had a market cap of $2.65 trillion at close on Tuesday.
Investors are betting big on the promise of founder and CEO Musk's ability to drive long-term returns.
Musk posted on X on Sunday that the company "might be able to reach approximately" $1 trillion revenue in 2030.
SpaceX posted a $4.9 billion net loss in 2025, and it lost $4.28 billion in the first quarter of this year.
The lofty valuation for the company that has become dominant in satellites through its Starlink service and reusable rockets has raised questions about the its ambitious growth plans.
Investors are "trading the story, they're trading the action, they're trading the excitement, they're trading Elon Musk, but at some point the rubber meets the road in terms of the fundamentals having to match up with that excitement," Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at One Point BFG Wealth Partners, said on CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia."
"If they can deliver, then the upside is certainly there, but the valuation is so enormous that the company is going to really have to show itself in growing into that valuation," he added. "I think that that's going to take at least a couple of years."
CHEVY CHASE, Md., June 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL), the nation’s leading builder of luxury homes, today announced a select number of move-in ready townhomes are now available in its Chevy Chase Crossing community, located just a 10-minute drive from Washington, D.C. The Sales Center is open daily at 3530 Manor Rd in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Chevy Chase Crossing offers new luxury townhomes ranging from approximately 2,400 to over 3,600 square feet. Two collections of modern home designs feature rooftop terraces, two-car garages, open kitchens and great rooms, luxurious primary bedroom suites and spacious secondary bedrooms, convenient bedroom-level laundry rooms, flex rooms, and elevator options. Homes are priced from $1.12 million.
“Chevy Chase Crossing offers the rare opportunity to own a beautiful new Toll Brothers home that is move-in ready, with design options selected by a professional designer at the Toll Brothers Design Studio,” said Nimita Shah, Division President of Toll Brothers in D.C. Metro. “Our quick move-in homes are an incredible option for buyers who want to begin living in their new dream home as soon as possible.”
Located along the future Purple Line transit station, Chevy Chase Crossing offers unmatched accessibility to major commuting routes, including I-495 and Connecticut Avenue. Residents will enjoy proximity to Chevy Chase Lake retail, Bethesda Row, The Shops at Wisconsin Place, and Chevy Chase Pavilion, as well as abundant dining, entertainment, and recreational options. The community is also assigned to highly rated Montgomery County Public Schools.
For more information on Chevy Chase Crossing, call 866-232-1718 or visit ChevyChaseCrossing.com.
About Toll Brothers
Toll Brothers, Inc., a Fortune 500 Company, is the nation’s leading builder of luxury homes. The Company was founded in 1967 and became a public company in 1986 with common stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “TOL.” Toll Brothers builds new homes and communities in over 60 markets across the United States, serving first-time, move-up, active-adult, and second-home buyers. The Company also operates its own architectural, engineering, mortgage, title, land development, smart home technology, landscape, and building components manufacturing businesses.
Toll Brothers was named the #1 Most Admired Home Builder in Fortune magazine’s 2026 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies®, the ninth year the Company has achieved this honor. Toll Brothers has also been named Builder of the Year by Builder magazine and is the first two-time recipient of Builder of the Year from Professional Builder magazine. For more information visit TollBrothers.com.
RENO, Nev., June 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL), the nation's leading builder of luxury homes, today announced the final opportunity for home shoppers to purchase a new home at Regency at Caramella Ranch, a premier 55+ active-adult community in South Reno, Nevada. Fewer than 15 homes remain available at the community, located at 2433 Gary Mayo Court in Reno.
Regency at Caramella Ranch is a staff-gated 55+ community with mountain and city views in a prime South Reno location offering an exceptional lifestyle for active adults. Luxury single-level home designs range from approximately 1,680 to 2,760+ square feet with 2 to 3 bedrooms, 2- to 3-car garages, and covered patios for indoor/outdoor living. Flexible home design options include dual primary bedroom suites, offices, dens, and more. Remaining move-in ready and quick move-in homes are priced from the upper $600,000s.
The community provides a low-maintenance lifestyle with access to a wide range of resort-style amenities, including an expansive clubhouse featuring an onsite Lifestyle Director who maintains a schedule of recreational and social events, an indoor lap pool, spa, and fitness center. Outdoor amenities include a multi-tiered resort-style pool, pickleball courts, bocce courts, an amphitheater, and an all-seasons wraparound lounge deck for enjoying the panoramic mountain and city views.
"Regency at Caramella Ranch is an extraordinary community, and we are thrilled to announce the final opportunity for home shoppers to purchase one of the remaining luxury homes to enjoy the perfect combination of luxury living and a vibrant lifestyle, all in a highly desirable location with no state income tax," said Donna O'Connell, Division President of Toll Brothers in Reno. "This community has been meticulously designed with thoughtful details, exceptional amenities, and stunning views, making it a truly special place to call home. We invite prospective home shoppers to tour and experience Regency at Caramella Ranch before it is too late."
Located within an hour of Lake Tahoe and just minutes from The Summit Mall, golf courses, fine dining, and entertainment, Regency at Caramella Ranch offers convenient access to all that Reno has to offer.
For more information, visit TollBrothers.com/NV or call 855-400-8655.
About Toll Brothers
Toll Brothers, Inc., a Fortune 500 Company, is the nation’s leading builder of luxury homes. The Company was founded in 1967 and became a public company in 1986 with common stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “TOL.” Toll Brothers builds new homes and communities in over 60 markets across the United States, serving first-time, move-up, active-adult, and second-home buyers. The Company also operates its own architectural, engineering, mortgage, title, land development, smart home technology, landscape, and building components manufacturing businesses.
Toll Brothers was named the #1 Most Admired Home Builder in Fortune magazine’s 2026 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies®, the ninth year the Company has achieved this honor. Toll Brothers has also been named Builder of the Year by Builder magazine and is the first two-time recipient of Builder of the Year from Professional Builder magazine. For more information visit TollBrothers.com.
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Anthropic is far from the first first Silicon Valley giant to trigger US government export controls. Apple turned the prospect of a 1999 export limit on the Power Mac G4 into an ad campaign. JOHN G. MABANGLO / AFP via Getty Images Sometimes, the US government's concerns that a powerful new tech product could fall into the wrong hands can be a marketing opportunity. Just look at Steve Jobs and Apple back in 1999.
In August of that year, Jobs, who was then Apple's interim-CEO, took the stage to unveil the company's new desktop "supercomputer": the Power Mac G4. Jobs called it "the most powerful personal computer ever brought to market," CBS News reported at the time.
The only issue was all that computing power technically meant that the device crossed the threshold that would trigger US export controls limiting which countries Apple could ship the computer to.
Jobs highlighted the distinction in the wake of the computer's unveiling.
"The Power Mac G4 is so fast that it is classified as a supercomputer by the US government, and we are prohibited from exporting it to over 50 nations worldwide," Jobs said the Apple Expo, CNN reported in September 1999.
The restriction Apple faced at the time stemmed from a Government Accountability Office report that called 50 countries a concern "for military or proliferation reasons," with seven others facing near-embargo restrictions on computer exports.
Jobs told the audience that the new Macs, capable of operating at up to one gigaflop, could not be exported to the nations in that report, including China, Iraq, and North Korea.
Now — as Anthropic faces US export restrictions for its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 AI models — Jobs' computer unveiling and subsequent marketing have renewed relevance.
Behind the scenes, Apple pushed to ease the US restrictions (and was eventually successful). In public, Apple leaned into the US government's concerns in an ad campaign recently resurfaced by Tom's Hardware.
Fable isn't the first.
In 1999 the department of defense blocked exports of the PowerMac G4 for crossing the 1 gigaflop threshold.
Steve Jobs turned it into an ad. pic.twitter.com/yHoyJjpSke
— Justin Schroeder (@jpschroeder) June 13, 2026 The commercial showed tanks surrounding the Power Mac G4 as a voiceover declares that, "For the first time in history, a personal computer has been classified as a weapon by the US government."
The commercial ended with a jab at Intel-powered PCs: "Well, they're harmless," the voiceover said.
Apple's 1999 run-in with export controls was an earlier example of Washington treating cutting-edge commercial technology as a national-security concern.
Today, there's an AI-flavored twist that's landed Anthropic into very real hot water. Over the weekend, the Trump administration ordered Anthropic to restrict foreign nationals' access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models, citing national security concerns related to a possible jailbreak to get around safeguards.
Anthropic disabled the AI models for all customers while it works to clear up what it described as a misunderstanding from the White House. The company has disputed the severity of the issue that was originally flagged to the White House.
Anthropic has long championed its focus on AI safety, and earlier this year said its Mythos Preview model was too powerful to release widely due to its hacking abilities, instead offering early access to selected partners to help bolster cybersecurity safeguards.
The severity of the White House's Anthropic order means it's not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison (pun intended) to Steve Jobs and Apple in 1999. After all, Apple was still able to launch and sell its Power Mac G4s.
But if Anthropic manages to smooth over its latest clash with the US government and re-launch its Fable 5 and Mythos models, Jobs and Apple demonstrated decades ago that having a product so powerful it raises government export concerns doesn't have to be all bad.
Read next
Ben Shimkus You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Ben Shimkus is a reporter for the Business News desk. He writes about cars, transportation, retail, and jobs. Ben's reporting has appeared in Rolling Stone, The Verge, Automotive News, USA Today, AutoBody News, LGBTQ Nation, TopSpeed, and Out Magazine. He's also held staff writing positions at The U.S. Sun and the Daily Mail. He graduated from NYU with a Master's in journalism in 2024. Email Ben at [email protected] or message him privately on Signal at bshimkus.41.
Apple (AAPL, Financials) is facing another regulatory headache in Europe, this time in Italy. Italy's competition regulator opened a probe into Apple's cloud services to review whether the company is following interoperability rules under the European Union's Digital Markets Act.
Put simply, regulators want to know whether Apple is making it fair and practical for rival services to work with its ecosystem.
The investigation is still at an early stage, and no penalty has been announced. But for Apple, it adds to a growing list of European regulatory challenges around how its platforms operate.
For investors, this is not likely to move earnings right away. The bigger issue is whether repeated EU scrutiny forces Apple to change parts of its services business or raises compliance costs over time.
The next thing to watch is whether Italian regulators ask Apple to make changes to its cloud practices.
Apple AAPL faces a new antitrust probe in Italy over whether its iOS and iPadOS systems give iCloud an unfair edge over rival cloud storage services.
Italy's competition regulator said it is investigating whether Apple limits the ability of third-party cloud providers to work with key hardware and software features under the European Union's Digital Markets Act. The issue centers on full device backups, where the regulator said rival cloud services appear unable to use the same iOS and iPadOS components available to Apple's own iCloud.
The case is notable because it is Italy's first investigation under the DMA, a law designed to stop major tech platforms from using control of operating systems and app ecosystems to disadvantage competitors. The regulator said its findings will be sent to the European Commission, which has broader enforcement power under the law.
Apple's Indian supplier Tata Electronics on Tuesday said a state pollution control board has dropped its scrutiny of the company's iPhone components plant after it addressed concerns about contamination.
The first half of 2026 is drawing to a close, and shares of Apple (AAPL +0.95%) have turned in a disappointing performance so far.
The 9% jump in Apple stock this year is underwhelming compared to the 15% jump seen in the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite index. However, the stock's fortunes could turn around in the second half of the year, driven by the arrival of a foldable iPhone that should help Apple tap into a fast-growing smartphone niche.
Let's look at the reasons why this new product could become a major catalyst for Apple.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Apple's rumored foldable iPhone is arriving at the right time Recent leaks suggest that Apple could indeed launch a foldable iPhone in September this year. There are references to foldable features in the beta code of Apple's latest smartphone software -- iOS 27. Meanwhile, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman predicts that Apple could launch the foldable iPhone in just two colors, while noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities suggests the same.
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Given that leaks about Apple's products tend to be accurate, it won't be surprising to see it indeed launch a foldable iPhone this year. Moreover, it is high time Apple moved into this space. After all, several competitors, including Samsung, have been offering foldable phones for a long time. Apple has been late to this niche, but this may just be the right time to enter the foldable smartphone market.
According to IDC, the foldable smartphone market grew by an estimated 10% in 2025, accelerating from the 3.9% jump seen in 2024. The research firm expects a much larger jump of almost 30% in foldable smartphone sales in 2026. What's more, IDC anticipates foldable smartphone shipments to jump by 21.1% in 2027, 13.6% in 2028, and 9.3% in 2029.
That's why Apple needs to enter this space without any further delay. Moreover, Apple's position as one of the leading smartphone vendors globally will put it in a solid position to unlock a new growth opportunity in foldables. IDC points out that Apple controlled 21% of the global smartphone market in Q1, just behind Samsung's 21.2% market share.
However, Apple's shipments increased by 4.4% year over year, outpacing Samsung's 2.9% growth. Meanwhile, the overall smartphone market declined by 2.9% in Q1, suggesting that Apple's strong brand value is driving sales in a difficult market.
Adding a foldable iPhone to the product portfolio could drive stronger sales growth. Also, Apple is expected to price the foldable iPhone at $1,999, as reported by Forbes. Apple's strategy of targeting a niche user base with this high-margin product could give its bottom line a nice boost.
The tech giant's earnings growth could exceed expectations Apple's earnings are expected to grow by 17% in the current fiscal year (which ends in September), followed by slower growth of 10% in fiscal 2027. However, the premium pricing of the foldable iPhone and a potential jump in Apple's share of this fast-growing space could help outperform expectations.
IDC forecasts that Apple could corner 22% of the foldable smartphone market this year, and its market share could increase to 34% by 2029. The premium pricing of the foldable iPhone could help Apple grow earnings faster than market expectations. That could set this tech stock up for solid gains in the second half of the year, and in the long run.
WICHITA, Kan., June 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Legend Senior Living, a Wichita-based senior housing provider, has welcomed Apple Blossom Senior Living in Moon Township, Pennsylvania as the newest community in its growing portfolio, marking another significant step in the company's strategic growth across the Commonwealth.
With the addition of Apple Blossom Senior Living, Legend now operates 78 senior living residences across eight states and brings its personalized approach to senior living to even more families throughout Pennsylvania.
Located in Moon Township near Pittsburgh, Apple Blossom Senior Living offers a full continuum of lifestyle and care options, including Independent Living cottages, as well as Personal Care and Memory Care options. The community is known for its welcoming environment, personalized support, and commitment to helping older adults live with purpose, dignity, and independence.
"The addition of Apple Blossom represents an exciting milestone for Legend as we continue to expand our presence in Pennsylvania," said Matt Buchanan, President and Co-CEO of Legend Senior Living. "Pennsylvania has become an increasingly important market for us, and Apple Blossom is a wonderful addition to our growing family of communities. We are honored to serve the residents who call Apple Blossom home and look forward to building upon the strong reputation and relationships that already exist within the community."
This expansion further strengthens Legend's position as a leading provider of senior living services throughout Pennsylvania, where the company has continued to invest in communities that offer exceptional experiences for residents and families.
Residents of Apple Blossom Senior Living can expect a seamless transition and continued commitment to quality care, meaningful engagement, and personalized services. Legend's family-led approach emphasizes individualized support, strong relationships, and creating environments where older adults can thrive physically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually.
About Legend Senior Living
Legend Senior Living is a privately held senior housing and services company based in Wichita, Kansas. Legend owns and operates more than 75 residences — spanning Independent Living, Assisted Living, Memory Care and Personal Care — in Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Founded more than 25 years ago, Legend Senior Living remains family-owned and family-led, with a long-standing reputation for operational excellence, innovative programming, and resident-centered care.
www.legendseniorliving.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Rebecca Butler
Vice President of Marketing & Brand Strategy
Legend Senior Living [email protected]
Phone: 316-616-6288
Apple Blossom Senior Living
www.appleblossomseniorliving.com
125 Apple Blossom Way
Moon Township, PA 15108
412-539-6446
Seth Fiegerman, Bloomberg AI Team Leader, joined Paul Sweeney and Scarlet Fu on Bloomberg Intelligence to discuss SpaceX's deal to takeover Cursor in a deal that values the artificial intelligence coding startup at $60 billion. -------- Watch Bloomberg Radio LIVE on YouTube Weekdays 7am-6pm ET Saturday & Sunday 7am-10am ET WATCH HERE: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/BloombergRadio Subscribe to our Podcasts: Bloomberg Daybreak: http://bit.ly/3DWYoAN Bloomberg Surveillance: http://bit.ly/3OPtReI Bloomberg Intelligence: http://bit.ly/3YrBfOi Balance of Power: http://bit.ly/3OO8eLC Bloomberg Businessweek: http://bit.ly/3IPl60i Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app: Apple CarPlay: https://apple.co/486mghI Android Auto: https://bit.ly/49benZy Visit our YouTube channels: Bloomberg Podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/bloombergpodcasts Bloomberg Television: https://www.youtube.com/@markets Bloomberg Originals: https://www.youtube.com/bloomberg Quicktake: https://www.youtube.com/@BloombergQuicktake
Apple’s plan to change a privacy feature that lets paying customers hide their real email addresses when creating online accounts could make it easier for apps and websites to block anonymous sign-ups.
Apple’s Hide My Email is an iCloud+ feature that generates anonymous email addresses under the @icloud.com domain, which then forward messages to a person’s real email address. The reason these privately generated email addresses work is because they cannot be distinguished from regular Apple users, whose email addresses also use the @icloud.com domain.
Apple said in a note to developers on Monday that in the coming weeks the company will move its anonymously generated email addresses to @private.icloud.com, effectively making it easier for apps and websites to know that an email address is private and block users from signing up.
Existing addresses will continue to function and forward mail without interruption, Apple said in the note to developers. The company added that app and email providers would have to update their filtering to ensure that emails to customers who rely on the feature continue to go through.
Several Apple users on Reddit criticized the change to the email domain, saying it would make it more difficult to use the service.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment from TechCrunch about the change, or explain why it made the change.
Earlier this year, TechCrunch reported that Apple turned over the real account information of a user who generated an anonymized email address using Hide My Email to send an allegedly threatening email to the girlfriend of the FBI director Kash Patel.
The Trump administration has made efforts over the past year to unmask anonymous accounts, including those of Trump’s critics, by using subpoenas to demand that tech companies turn over information about their users.
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Since its April 29 initial public offering, PSUS has been on an aggressive buying spree.
The portfolio will also feature four newly acquired, undisclosed companies set to be revealed in the firm’s upcoming second-quarter report.
Chasing ‘Old-Fashioned’ ValueWhile the broader market fixates on semiconductor hype and emerging startup IPOs, Ackman is finding immense value in established mega-caps. Speaking at the All-In Liquidity Summit with NYSE, he noted that market momentum has unfairly shifted away from foundational tech leaders.
“A lot of attention has been taken away from companies that people think are almost old-fashioned,” Ackman explained to the summit crowd.
“Meta is an old-fashioned company today. Microsoft is an old-fashioned company today, and therefore, they’re less interesting. That’s not where the excitement is. The result of that is, you know, those stocks are very cheap,” he explained.
Ackman capitalized on this shifting sentiment, pointing out that his fund is now heavily invested in the “highest quality durable growth companies in the world,” which he believes are trading near historic valuation lows.
The ‘Double Discount’ OpportunityDespite its high-quality underlying portfolio, the PSUS stock, which is a closed-end listed fund, has lagged since its debut, currently trading at a roughly 20% discount to its net asset value (NAV) due to what Ackman attributes to short-term IPO technical factors.
However, the billionaire investor views this slump as a rare entry point. “A buyer of the stock at today's price is acquiring the current portfolio at a double discount,” Ackman stated.
To prove his conviction, Ackman and his Pershing Square affiliates have gone “all-in,” acquiring more than 10 million shares—totaling over $500 million—in the open market and IPO. “We have put our money where our mouth is,” he declared.
PSUS Drops Over 5% Since ListingThe stock has declined by 5.69% since its listing in April. However, it was up 4.26% over the last five sessions and 4.25% lower over the last month. It was up by 3.05% in premarket on Tuesday.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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The Threads app icon on a smartphone in this illustration taken October 27, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
June 16 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab said on Tuesday its Threads app had reached 500 million monthly active users, nearly three years after the social network platform was launched as a competitor to Elon Musk's X.
The social media company also announced new customization and community features on the platform.
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Here are some details:
Threads is rolling out "Your Algo", a feature that lets users privately control the content they see in their feeds. It is available in the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Meta is expanding its Communities feature, allowing users to discover and participate in topic-focused groups more easily.
The company said communities have become a major driver of engagement on Threads. Meta is adding a dedicated Communities hub and new discovery tools designed to help users find conversations centered on specific interests.
The milestone comes as Meta continues to expand Threads' advertising business, putting the platform in more direct competition with X for digital advertising dollars.
Meta launched Threads in July, 2023.
Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Mike Schroepfer, former CTO of Meta and founding partner of Gigascale Capital - a venture firm making early-stage bets on companies focused on climate impact - says SpaceX is the only company capable of building orbital data centers. He also shares how ocean data centers are 100x cheaper than orbital ones.
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, XETRA:FB2A, SIX:FB) has rolled out new AI-powered search capabilities across its apps as part of a broader push into AI-native products, with Bank of America analysts saying the update could mark an early step toward a larger search and monetization opportunity within the company’s ecosystem.
Bank of America wrote in a note that Meta’s new “AI Mode” search feature on Facebook allows users to find answers based on public posts across Meta platforms, including Groups and Reels. The feature uses Meta AI, powered by the MuseSpark large language model, to generate responses grounded in publicly shared user content, which the company says is intended to surface real-world perspectives and experiences rather than conventional web-based search summaries.
Alongside the search update, Meta introduced new AI creative tools, including photo and video editing features such as collage templates and automated video montage generation from camera roll content. The company also added AI-driven photo presets that allow users to modify attributes such as clothing, hair, and accessories.
Bank of America described the launch as an “interesting initiative” that leverages real-time public content to improve search relevance, particularly for queries related to products, services, and experiences where Meta’s social graph could provide differentiated context.
The firm added that incremental search activity could also generate new intent signals, potentially improving ad relevance and targeting within Meta’s advertising ecosystem.
The analysts believe that AI-enabled search could represent a long-term growth avenue if Meta is able to drive adoption at scale across its user base.
In a scenario analysis, Bank of America estimated that if Meta’s roughly 3.5 billion daily active users averaged one additional query per day through AI Mode, the feature could generate around 1.3 trillion annual queries. If 20% of those queries were commercial in nature and monetized through advertising, the firm suggested this could translate into approximately 50 billion ad clicks and roughly $15 billion in incremental revenue at a $0.30 cost-per-click assumption, or about 5% of consensus 2027 revenue estimates.
The firm also noted that AI Mode could serve as an entry point into more agentic use cases over time, potentially allowing Meta to play a larger role across the consumer journey from intent formation through to transaction within its closed ecosystem.
Bank of America maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on Meta, pointing to continued product innovation in AI as a key driver of future engagement and monetization.
The firm highlighted upcoming catalysts including consumer agentic product launches, more advanced large language models, the Connect conference in September 2026, and additional detail on Meta’s enterprise AI strategy.
Shares of Meta were little changed at $596 in the early afternoon on Tuesday, down almost 10% so far this year.
It’s hard to be genuinely bullish on stock markets these days, even as the AI revolution moves ahead and models like Claude Code and Claude Mythos look to transform the way we think about the software. Indeed, the powerful new AI tools sparked the SaaS-pocalypse, and the big question is whether we’ll be in for more AI-driven apocalypses in other parts of the economy as the new technology looks to threaten business models while creating new opportunities for investors.
Any way you look at it, the degree of uncertainty is at a high point with the rise of new kinds of AI models, many of which might need to stay behind closed doors for a while longer before the right safety guardrails can be put into place.
Add concerns about the closed models falling into the wrong hands, and perhaps more profoundly disruptive frontier technologies might hover in the background for a while longer, at least until the technology is guaranteed to be behind lock and key.
If the latest and greatest technology becomes less available to everyday users, the big question is what could happen next in the AI boom and whether investors will grow fatigued with the AI trade. Despite the profound, real applications of models like Mythos, questions linger about whether the massive CapEx being spent by hyperscalers will prove a smart investment.
At the same time, there are a lot of smart people (Michael Burry is just one) who view the AI boom as a bubble and one that could burst. History certainly seems to suggest such a revolutionary technological bull run won’t end all too well.
Meta Platforms: A historic discount in a hot AI market? But, in my view, I think it’s hard to paint a bubbly picture with too broad a brush, especially when you’ve got a company like Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction) trading for 18.0 times forward price-to-earnings (P/E) with more than enough cash to spend aggressively.
While Meta’s newest model, Muse Spark, may face an uphill battle as a slew of other models compete for consumer engagement, I do think that the behind-the-scenes wins are most powerful for a company like Meta. In terms of invisible AI or monetization in the background, I think a company like Meta really does stand tall.
Perhaps the big money lies internally (think digital labor and automation) and not just in selling chatbots and agentics to consumers. Add the tremendous opportunity to sell agentics to the enterprise, and I think the market might be missing something with Meta as it moves fast, stays agile, and maintains its optionality.
Finally, it’s hard to know what the next big leap will be as frontier research goes above and beyond scaling. With a supercharged research team and deep pockets, I think owning Meta just makes sense, if not as a play on Zuckerberg’s leadership, perhaps as another major diversifier for an AI portfolio looking to have as many horses in the race as possible.
With Meta’s recent AI reorganization hitting suddenly and causing internal volatility, perhaps investors are too quick to dismiss the firm as it adopts a leaner, more aggressive strategy than some of its peers in the space. Add new AI features rolled into existing products, including Facebook’s AI Mode, into the equation, and it certainly does feel like Meta is taking a page out of the playbook of firms that have already found early wins in this AI boom.
The bottom line So, is AI a bubble or the real deal? The technology itself is very real. But in terms of the stocks playing the revolution, I’d argue that there exist ample opportunities as well as traps.
As an investor, it’s vital to put in the due diligence to ensure one’s betting on an appropriately-priced secular winner, rather than overpaying after a cyclical AI gainer that might already have a supercycle priced in. In terms of opportunities, perhaps the hyperscalers and not the crowded picks-and-shovels plays are where the generational moats are.
I keep hitting the buy button on Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction), and the louder the market panics about the company’s $125 billion to $145 billion capital expenditure plan, the more shares I add. The stock sits at $593.48, down 9.94% year to date and 12.75% over the past year. To me, that is a sale tag on the most profitable advertising business ever assembled.
The thesis is simple. Mark Zuckerberg is reallocating capital away from human overhead and into compute infrastructure that compounds. He is directing resources into high-yield compute infrastructure that compounds returns. That changes the unit economics of every ad served to 3.56 billion daily users across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Threads.
The Receipts First, the cash machine is healthy under the hood. In fiscal 2025, Meta generated $115.8 billion in operating cash flow and still produced $46.1 billion in free cash flow after spending $69.7 billion on capital expenditures. The company self-funded the entire AI buildout from operations and returned $31.6 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks in the same year. No debt raise required.
Second, the engine is accelerating. Q1 2026 revenue came in at $56.3 billion, up 33.08% year over year, with EPS of $10.44 against a $6.6587 estimate. That was the fifth consecutive EPS beat. Ad impressions rose 19% while average price per ad climbed 12%. Volume and pricing are expanding together, which only happens when a platform owns its customers. The Q1 operating margin held at 41%.
Third, I am paying a fair multiple for that quality. Meta trades at a P/E of 21 with a forward P/E of 18, a PEG of 0.819, return on equity of 32.9%, and an operating margin of 40.6%. Analyst consensus price target sits at $827.32, with 49 Buy and 8 Strong Buy ratings against zero Sell calls. That is a quality compounder valued like a value stock.
The Honest Risk Reality Labs lost $19.2 billion in 2025 and another $4.03 billion in Q1 2026. Capex guidance climbing to $125 to $145 billion stacks depreciation pressure on top of that. Add youth-related litigation with trials scheduled in 2026 and EU advertising rules, and there are real ways this thesis takes damage. What keeps me buying is that the core ad business is funding all of it while still throwing off tens of billions in free cash, and CFO Susan Li was explicit that 2026 operating income will land above 2025.
Why The Buy Button Stays Active Zuckerberg told investors “Spark is just one step on that scaling ladder, and we are already training even more advanced models.” I believe him because the cash flow statement believes him. The advertising monopoly funds the AI buildout, the AI buildout sharpens the ad targeting, and 3.56 billion people show up every day to feed both flywheels.
So long as the ad engine keeps printing and Zuckerberg keeps converting operating cash into compute, my finger stays on the buy button.
ToplineThreads, Meta’s text-based social media platform that Forbes previously reported surpassed Elon Musk’s X in daily active users, reached a milestone of 500 million monthly active users three years after launch, the company said Tuesday.
Forbes previously reported in September that Threads had surpassed X in its number of daily active users. (Photo Illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Key FactsThreads, launched in 2023 and considered a competitor to X after Musk’s controversial takeover of Twitter, has grown rapidly and surpassed X in terms of daily active users in September, Forbes reported at the time.
Meta credited its “communities” feature for the platform surpassing the 500 million monthly active users milestone, which allows users to join spaces where they can discuss topics with others, like the NBA, books or movies.
Meta said Tuesday it would enhance the “communities” feature, advancing it out of the beta stage while updating visuals and adding a communities hub to the main menu of users’ feeds.
Meta also said it would unveil “Your Algo,” a feature that lets users indicate what topics they would like to see more or less of.
when did threads surpass x?Threads surpassed X in terms of daily active users on mobile devices worldwide in September, according to Similarweb data shared with Forbes at the time. Then, Threads barely edged out X, recording 130.2 million average daily users over X’s 130.1 million for the week ending Sept. 21. But since then, Threads has held a larger lead, with Threads logging 135.7 million average daily active users as of April, ahead of X’s 126.9 million average daily active users, according to Similarweb data. X has held a lead over Threads in the United States, though, recording 21.3 million average daily active users in the United States in April, ahead of Threads’ 18.3 million average daily active users.
how has threads built a large user base?Threads benefits from close integration with Meta’s flagship platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Mark Mahaney, senior managing director and internet research analyst at Evercore ISI, previously told Forbes Threads’ integration with Instagram, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in September has 3 billion monthly active users, is a “big advantage,” because Meta can “siphon you off from that massive platform over to Threads.” Threads may also be better than X at showing users targeted ads, Mahaney said, because Threads may already know information about its users from Meta’s other platforms, which he also said may be a “negative development for the attractiveness of X to advertisers.”
key backgroundThe close competition between X and Threads for users is the latest in a longstanding rivalry between tech billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. The two have traded barbs as early as 2016, when Zuckerberg said he was “deeply disappointed” a SpaceX rocket carrying a Facebook satellite exploded. SpaceX called the explosion an “anomaly,” while Musk, years later, said the incident was “my fault for being an idiot.” Musk also suggested Zuckerberg has a “limited” understanding of artificial intelligence in a 2017 jab. The launch of Threads caused tensions to resurface, and the two publicly discussed fighting in a cage match organized by UFC president Dana White, which has never materialized. “I’m up for a cage match if he is lol,” Musk tweeted in 2023 in response to a tweet about Threads’ impending launch. Musk backed out, claiming he needed surgery, and Zuckerberg said if Musk ever gets “serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me.” Musk criticized Threads as “just Instagram minus pics, which makes no sense,” while lawyers representing Twitter threatened to sue Meta shortly after Threads’ release for allegedly stealing trade secrets.
forbes valuationMark Zuckerberg, CEO and co-founder of Meta, is worth $203.6 billion as of Tuesday morning, according to Forbes estimates, making him the No. 7 richest person in the world. He owns about 13% of Meta’s stock. Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and first trillionaire, is worth $1.4 trillion, Forbes estimates as of Tuesday morning. Musk, the co-founder of companies including SpaceX and Tesla, became the world’s first trillionaire last week when SpaceX went public.
further readingThreads Finally Passes X—Zuckerberg’s 2-Year-Old Platform Passes Musk’s In Daily Users (Forbes)
Musk’s Net Worth Hits $1.4 Trillion—SpaceX Passes Amazon As Fifth-Largest Company (Forbes)
Key Takeaways Reddit posted Q1 2026 revenue growth of 69%, with advertising revenue rising 74% year over year. Reddit expanded its Shopify integration globally, streamlining ads, product syncing and tracking. META Q1 ad revenues increased 33%, but rising AI costs and regulatory scrutiny remain challenges. Reddit (RDDT - Free Report) and Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) are leading social media platforms that monetize user engagement through digital advertising. While RDDT is an emerging social media platform, gaining traction with community-driven advertising, Meta leads the broader social networking space through platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
RDDT or META — Which of these Digital Advertising stocks has the greater upside potential? Let’s find out.
The Case for RDDT StockReddit is benefiting from strong demand in its advertising business, which has become a key growth driver of the company’s impressive financial performance and future growth prospects. In the first quarter of 2026, Reddit reported total revenues of $663 million, up 69% year over year, with advertising revenues growing even faster at 74% to $625 million. This marks Reddit’s seventh consecutive quarter of revenue growth above 60%, underscoring the sustained momentum in its ad business.
Growth can be attributed to the company’s expanding portfolio, strong user engagement, including rising daily and weekly active users, gains in Average Revenue Per User and the expansion of advertiser tools such as Dynamic Product Ads (DPAs), Reddit Pixel and CAPI.
Reddit’s expanded partnership with Shopify remains noteworthy. In May 2026, Reddit expanded its Shopify integration globally, making it easier for merchants to launch DPAs and connect storefronts directly to Reddit’s advertising platform. The update includes streamlined account linking, automated product catalog syncing and a codeless Reddit Pixel for conversion tracking. Reddit also highlighted new retail research showing strong shopping intent among its users, with advertisers seeing higher returns on ad spend compared with other social platforms. The company highlighted that retail ad investment has grown significantly, reinforcing its position as a key destination for product discovery and purchase decisions.
Reddit’s investments in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools remain noteworthy. The launch and adoption of Reddit Max, an automated, AI-powered campaign tool, enabled advertisers to achieve a 17% reduction in cost per action and a 25% increase in conversion rate in the first quarter of 2026. About 50% of Max campaign advertisers now use AI-powered creative features, and brands like Cozy have reported a 35% higher ROAS and a 28% lower cost per acquisition with these tools.
The Case for META StockMeta Platforms’ focus on integrating AI into its platforms, which include Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads, is driving user engagement to boost ad revenues. In the first quarter of 2026, Meta’s Advertising revenues were $55.02 billion, which increased 33% year over year.
A key factor behind this momentum is Meta Platform’s ongoing investment in AI to enhance both user and advertising engagements. AI is heavily dependent on data, of which META has a trove, driven by its more than 3.56 billion daily users. Meta Platforms continues to see strong engagement trends on Instagram Reels, with watch time up 10% and Facebook video time up 8% globally in the first quarter of 2026. AI-translated videos are now watched weekly by more than 500 million users on Facebook and Instagram. Threads continue to grow with more than 150 million daily active users.
Meta Platforms’ generative AI advertising tools are gaining strong traction, with more than 8 million advertisers using at least one GenAI ad creative tool in the first quarter of 2026. Video generation tools improved conversion rates by more than 3%, while adoption among small and medium businesses has been particularly strong.
Price Performance and Valuation of RDDT and METAIn the trailing 12-month period, shares of Reddit have gained 35.9%, whereas shares of Meta Platforms have plunged 14.9%. The outperformance in Reddit can be attributed to strong ad revenue growth, powered by automation and AI, the company’s expanding portfolio and strong user engagement.
Despite a strong portfolio and client base, Meta Platforms is facing rising costs in AI infrastructure, which are increasing expenses. Reality Labs continues to operate at a loss. The benefits from Meta AI and its agents are still in progress, and overall scrutiny from regulations and lawsuits is high.
RDDT and META Stock Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Valuation-wise, RDDT and META shares are currently overvalued, as suggested by a Value Score of F and C, respectively.
In terms of the forward 12-month Price/Sales, RDDT shares are trading at 9.37X, which is higher than META’s 5.44X.
RDDT and META Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
How Do Earnings Estimates Compare for RDDT & META?The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RDDT’s 2026 earnings is pegged at $4.83 per share, which has been unchanged over the past 30 days. This indicates an 84.35% year-over-year rise.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for META’s 2026 earnings is pegged at $33.01 per share, which has increased 0.21% over the past 30 days. This indicates a 40.53% increase year over year.
RDDT and META’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters. However, RDDT’s average surprise of 67% is higher than META’s surprise of 12.31%.
ConclusionWhile both Reddit and Meta Platforms stand to benefit from the booming digital advertising market, Reddit offers greater upside potential given its rapid revenue growth, surging advertiser base and expanding engagement tools.
Despite its dominant position in the digital advertising market, Meta Platforms faces rising costs in AI infrastructure that are increasing expenses and growing regulatory pressures that could weigh on its advertising growth. Stiff competition further limits its upside potential.
Both Reddit and Meta Platforms currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Meta Platforms is recommended as a buy due to its AI-driven strategy, which is driving digital advertising market share gains and operational outperformance. META's Advantage+ and upcoming Spark and GEM models are delivering superior ROAS, fueling 24%+ ad revenue growth and projected market share leadership over Google. Despite compressed valuation—forward P/E ~17.6x, EV/S ~5.3x—concerns over elevated AI capex and free cash flow are outweighed by robust growth and improving margins.
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth. Bloomberg/Getty Images The vibes are off at Meta, its top leadership said internally.
Meta chief technology officer Andrew "Boz" Bosworth said morale at the tech giant is near an all-time low as recent mass layoffs and internal AI initiatives roil many longtime employees.
Morale is "maybe not the worst it's ever been in 20 years here, but it's probably up there. It's definitely up there," Bosworth said during an internal "Tuesdays with Boz" chat on June 2, four people who were on the call told Business Insider.
"I can think Cambridge Analytica was probably the worst," Bosworth added in reference to the scandal about millions of Facebook users' data being used to target voters during the 2016 election.
He then added that morale is "probably one of the worst it's ever been."
Meta declined to comment for this story.
It's been a difficult year for many Meta employees. Meta laid off 10% of staff in May, citing the need to offset its huge AI investments.
Meta reassigned roughly another 10% of its workforce to train its AI models. Some staff referred to joining the mandatory task force as being "drafted" and viewed the work largely as data-labeling, Business Insider previously reported.
In April, Meta also faced employee backlash over an initiative to track their mouse movements and keystrokes to improve Meta's AI models.
Meta leadership said it has begun taking steps to improve morale. On Monday, Bosworth sent a memo to staff about how Meta needs to "be the best place for the best people to do their best work," and that he hoped to "rekindle the best of the culture" that people joined, according to a copy obtained by Business Insider, which was first reported by Wired.
"We must provide our people the support to do things the right way for the long term, including taking smart risks when the situation calls for it and to be recognized for it," the memo read.
Meta will commit to transparency from its leadership and its employees' personal and career development, Bosworth's post added.
Meta will allow people reassigned to the AI task force to reapply for other jobs within Meta if they want to, and it is increasing budgets for travel, events, and snacks, Wired reported.
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Charles Rollet is BI's tech correspondent in San Francisco. Prior to joining BI, Charles worked at TechCrunch covering startups and VC. Charles is based in the Bay Area, where he enjoys hiking with his dogs. You can contact Charles securely on Signal at charlesrollet.12 or +1-628-282-2811.
Exclusive Meta Mark Zuckerberg More AI Layoffs Big Tech Business
Apple is preparing for a huge wave of new product releases, including camera- and AI-equipped AirPods and glasses that will launch the company into the red-hot AI device market — and into head-on competition with Meta’s own AI-enabled camera sunglasses.
Apple’s new AirPods mark the next step in its development of what it calls Visual Intelligence, technology that can analyze images and provide instant context, according to Bloomberg News.
The AI-juiced earbuds will closely resemble current AirPod Pro models, but with tiny cameras embedded in the stems.
Apple is preparing camera and AI-equipped AirPods. Getty Images Rather than capturing photos or video, the device’s computer-vision cameras would serve as sensors, supplying Siri with visual context – such as helping improve navigation during turn-by-turn walking directions.
The tech giant is also planning to launch its first smart glasses as soon as late 2027, Bloomberg reported. Code-named N50, the shades will compete with products from Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta and will feature more advanced cameras capable of capturing photos and video.
Meta – which has its own AI and camera tech embedded in Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses – has come under criticism as creeps and wannabe pickup artists have reportedly used them to record their come-ons to unsuspecting women, posting the pervy results in video form online.
Privacy advocates have also issued warnings about the potential dangers of wearable AI tech.
Apple’s AI AirPods will have external lights that can alert people around the wearer when data is being sent from the earbuds to the cloud, according to Bloomberg.
Early versions of Meta’s smart glasses have been able to take pictures and shoot videos. NurPhoto via Getty Images The new AirPods are intended to become Apple’s first AI-centric wearable device.
The release is set to come around the same time as a next-gen foldable phone and a new iPhone model to mark the product line’s 20th anniversary.
Apple intends the upcoming slate of offerings to be its largest debut of new products yet, Bloomberg reported.
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Early versions of Meta’s smart glasses have been able to take pictures and shoot videos. With the addition of AI, they can answer questions and respond with text on one lens for “Display” models or via audio built into the stems of non-Display models.
Apple has already made Visual Intelligence a centerpiece of its revamped Siri and iOS 27, integrating the feature directly into the Camera app.
The aim is to allow users to ask Siri questions about objects and their surroundings. A user looking at a selection of ingredients, for instance, could ask the assistant what to make for dinner.
The new AirPods are intended to become Apple’s first AI-centric wearable. Bloomberg via Getty Images The AirPods initiative is part of a broader push into AI-powered hardware from Apple.
Apple is also developing an AI-focused pendant equipped with a camera that could be worn on clothing or as a necklace — but probably not like the device that controls space and time in the “Black Mirror” episode “Bête Noire.”
The new products could provide tailwinds during the first full year of John Ternus’ tenure as chief executive officer after he succeeds to the role in September.
The AirPods, code-named B798, were originally targeted for a 2026 release, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The timetable slipped in part because of Apple’s prolonged challenges in artificial-intelligence software development. The company also needed to build visual AI models capable of identifying objects in a user’s environment.
Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $600.21, demonstrating a +1.13% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.57% for the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.64%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 1.15%.
Coming into today, shares of the social media company had lost 2.9% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 2.85%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.14%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Meta Platforms in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $7.11, indicating a 0.42% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $60.13 billion, indicating a 26.56% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $33.01 per share and a revenue of $253.28 billion, representing changes of +40.53% and +26.03%, respectively, from the prior year.
It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Meta Platforms. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.6% downward. Meta Platforms is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
In terms of valuation, Meta Platforms is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 17.98. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 18.65, which means Meta Platforms is trading at a discount to the group.
It is also worth noting that META currently has a PEG ratio of 0.93. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Internet - Software industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.05 as trading concluded yesterday.
The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 93, finds itself in the top 39% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
SummaryCompaniesParents say 12-year-old girl who died by suicide had secret Instagram accountItalian families sue Meta, TikTok over alleged harm to minorsCompanies deny allegations and say they take safeguarding stepsFirst such case in Italy as social media under new scrutiny in EuropeASTI, Italy, June 17 (Reuters) - In the span of just a few months, Irene Roggero Ugues watched her daughter Rossella's behaviour change as social media fed her an increasing stream of self-harm content, before the 12-year-old died by suicide.
Only after Rossella's death did Irene and her husband unlock her devices. They found that she had been using social media far more than they had known, including maintaining a secret Instagram profile called 'Just a dead pers0n' with a zero instead of an o.
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In September, 2023, they said, Rossella began searching for depressive material which mirrored how she felt. Social media algorithms kept pushing it back to her, and just five months later she was dead.
"At some point, it seemed to take on a life of its own, growing until it overwhelmed the cheerful, sociable side of her — the brighter part," Irene told Reuters in a private room at a café in central Asti, her hometown in northern Italy.
Rossella's parents are among a number of families in Italy that have brought a lawsuit against Instagram-and-Facebook-owner Meta (META.O), opens new tab, and its biggest social media rival TikTok. In the first collective action in Italy to directly challenge social media companies and their algorithms, the families are seeking tighter limits on minors' access and greater awareness of risks.
Both companies deny the lawsuit's allegations that their services are harmful to young people, and say they take steps to protect young users by removing harmful content, limiting exposure to risky material and helping families manage children's accounts.
"We know parents worry about the safety of their teens online, which is why we're consistently making changes to help protect teens," a Meta spokesperson said, citing its "Teen Accounts" and built-in safeguards.
"We strongly disagree with these allegations, which ignore our longstanding commitment to supporting young people."
TikTok said its efforts include strict enforcement of guidelines aimed at protecting users' mental and behavioural health, adding that it removes more than 99% of content that violates those rules.
"We also continue to invest in safety measures to diversify recommended content, block potentially harmful searches and connect vulnerable users with support resources," a TikTok spokesperson said, citing local suicide prevention help lines.
Asked specifically about the role that Instagram may have played in Rossella's case, Meta told Reuters that it would not comment directly during the litigation, but that young people’s mental health is shaped by a wide range of factors. The impact of social media platforms depends on how they are used, the safeguards in place to protect users, and the level of parental involvement, it said.
A SUDDEN ILLNESSSpeaking slowly and choosing her words carefully, Irene said Rossella's tragedy unfolded like a sudden, devastating "illness" that left her parents powerless.
Without the algorithm, she says, "the progression of her distress — or psychosis, or whatever it was that I still cannot define — might have unfolded more naturally."
Scrutiny of digital platforms is intensifying across Europe, with Britain announcing plans this week to ban social media for children under 16. In the United States, a U.S. ruling found Meta and Alphabet's Google negligent in designing platforms deemed harmful to young people.
European Union regulators are stepping up enforcement of the Digital Services Act, pressing online platforms to better protect minors and curb harmful content.
"The goal is not to dismiss the benefits of social media, but to remove the technological and marketing mechanisms that make it harmful to the most vulnerable users," said lawyer Stefano Commodo, who is leading the case with the Italian association of parents MOIGE.
Item 1 of 5 Irene Roggero Ugues, whose 12-year-old daughter took her own life in 2024, holds a mobile phone displaying a photograph of her daughter during an interview with Reuters at a cafe in Asti, Italy, May 28, 2026. Roggero Ugues said her daughter had been exposed to self-harm content on social media. REUTERS/Claudia Greco
[1/5]Irene Roggero Ugues, whose 12-year-old daughter took her own life in 2024, holds a mobile phone displaying a photograph of her daughter during an interview with Reuters at a cafe in Asti, Italy,... Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Read more
PARENTS CANNOT KEEP UP: THE LIMITS OF CONTROLParents say safeguards provided by the platforms fall short, noting that children can easily find online tutorials showing how to bypass filters or avoid time limits by switching devices.
"Monitoring social media use is a full-time job. It would require parents to spend all their time doing it, and that is simply unrealistic," said Valentina Muraglie, who sits on the board of Italy's association of large families.
Her own son Antonio put aside his collection of Harry Potter books and replaced reading with scrolling as a teenager. Now in his 20s, he finds it hard to read in depth, which she blames on social media algorithms that sucked away his attention.
"Once he had a phone in his hand, at 16, little by little books started to disappear," she told Reuters. "Within a few years he stopped reading altogether."
The World Health Organization warns that problematic social media use - marked by addiction-like behaviour - is increasing among adolescents and is linked to lower well-being, poor sleep and broader health risks.
Studies published in JAM Paediatrics, a U.S. medical journal, point to measurable differences in brain development among heavy social media users, particularly teenagers whose brains are still developing.
The Italian case argues that social media platforms use reward mechanisms modelled on slot machines to foster dependency, by repeatedly triggering dopamine, a brain chemical linked to pleasure and reward.
"Each 'like' or notification triggers dopamine release, tying users to the platform in a way that resembles addiction," said Tonino Cantelmi, a plaintiffs' advisor and director of the School of Specialisation in Cognitive-Interpersonal Psychotherapy in Rome.
Families bringing the case say brain scan studies of social media users show activity in areas of the brain associated with addiction.
Asked about the scientific evidence on addiction presented in court, spokespeople from Meta and TikTok declined to comment on the litigation, while repeating their earlier comments on the companies' records on mental health.
Some psychologists caution against drawing simple conclusions about the effects of social media on adolescents.
"The healthiest approach when dealing with adolescents is to accept that we are unprepared," Federico Tonioni, head of the Web Psychopathology Centre at Rome's Gemelli hospital, said.
He added he could not conclude that his patients would suffer less in a world without social networks, warning against over-reliance on parental control.
"If there is something dangerous, it is control over children. Young people need to be listened to. Control is not a healthy form of presence. The healthiest distance is trust."
Irene Roggero Ugues said she joined the lawsuit to help ensure that other parents are made aware of risks that she did not learn about until after it was too late to save Rossella.
"We underestimated certain risks and didn't know they existed, but others can still act. There's no point keeping this to myself, and I don't think Rossella would mind."
Reporting by Sara Rossi in Asti, Giselda Vagnoni and Matteo Negri in Rome, additional reporting by Alex Fraser in Asti and Gabriele Pileri in Rome Writing by Giselda Vagnoni Editing by Adam Jourdan and Peter Graff
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
On the June 12 episode of The Ramsey Show, a debt-free single woman with a roughly $250,000 net worth called in asking whether to buy 10 to 100 shares of SpaceX at about $162 each because a friend told her the stock was “going to skyrocket.” Dave Ramsey’s answer doubled as a personal finance lesson for anyone tempted by a hot single-stock tip: “I am not investing in SpaceX. I’m not buying single stock in that company. As much as I’m rooting for it, I could just keep doing what I’m doing, invest in mutual funds and stay boring.”
One housekeeping note before the math: SpaceX is not listed on a U.S. exchange, so most retail investors cannot simply buy shares the way the caller described. The closest public-market proxy is Elon Musk’s other company, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction), which recently made a $2 billion equity investment in SpaceX and is building a chip fab at Gigafactory Texas with SpaceX.
The verdict: Ramsey is right, and the math is the reason Ramsey’s position is correct for the caller, and the case rests on opportunity cost. He framed it plainly: the claim behind any single-stock bet is that it will so badly beat the broad market that locking up the money is worth the risk. He reminded the caller that the U.S. market has roughly doubled every seven years, meaning a $5,000 index purchase has historically tended to become about $10,000 over that span without anyone touching it.
Real numbers back up the “boring” path. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) is up 23% over the past year, 75% over five years, and 257% over ten years. It does that work for a 0.09% expense ratio, holding 500 companies across eleven sectors. The fund’s top ten names, including NVIDIA at 8% and Tesla at 2%, already capture the AI and electrification story most retail investors are chasing.
If you want more growth tilt, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) returned 35% over the past year and 568% over ten years. Co-host George Kamel’s point lands here: a good growth-stock mutual fund will absorb SpaceX over time once it goes public, so patient investors get a piece anyway without taking single-stock risk today.
The variable that actually decides this: your play-money cushion What actually changes the answer is how big the bet is relative to everything else — not age or income, but cushion size. Ramsey ran his “kitchen table test”: imagine putting the $5,000 on the table and watching it burn. Would you still be okay? She said yes, and Ramsey allowed it “could be a fun ride for you.” Kamel drew the line at the cushion size: he wouldn’t stop someone with a $1 million-plus net worth and 20 years of mutual fund investing from playing with $5,000, but told this caller “I think you’re still building.”
Both hosts capped speculative single-stock positions at 5% to 10% of a total portfolio. On $250,000, that ceiling is roughly $12,500 to $25,000 total across every speculative bet combined, not per stock. A $5,000 SpaceX position would fit inside that band, but only if no other lottery tickets are already in the account. Ramsey also referenced the Dogecoin run-up around Elon Musk’s SNL appearance as the cautionary version of this story.
The Tesla example shows why concentration is dangerous even when the company succeeds. Tesla trades at 402 times earnings and 245 times free cash flow, with a 4% net margin and 5% return on equity. The stock is down 10% year to date even after a 27% one-year gain. Single names move like that. Index funds rarely do.
What to actually do this week Add up every speculative position you already own (crypto, single stocks, options) and divide by your total invested assets. If that number is above 10%, do not add SpaceX, Tesla, or any other single name until the ratio comes down. Run Ramsey’s kitchen table test on the exact dollar figure you are considering. If burning it would force you to change your retirement date, the bet is too big. Compare the expected hold period against a plain index alternative. $5,000 doubling to roughly $10,000 in seven years in an S&P 500 fund is the hurdle any single stock has to beat after taxes. If SpaceX eventually IPOs, check whether your existing growth fund already holds it before buying separately. As Kamel noted, the fund will likely do that work for you. The boring portfolio is boring because it works. A speculative single stock is allowed to be in the picture only after the boring part is doing the heavy lifting.
Goldman Sachs has maintained its $375 Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock price target and reiterated a ‘Neutral' rating on the electric vehicle maker despite raising its second-quarter 2026 vehicle delivery forecast.
I’m going to put the verdict at the top. Our Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction) work points to a stock trading right at fair value heading into the back half of 2026. The 24/7 Wall St. price target for Tesla is $417.62, against a current price of $420.55.
That implies -0.7% downside over the next 12 months. Our recommendation is hold, with a 90% confidence level, meaning we view this as one of our higher-conviction neutral calls.
24/7 Wall St. Price Target Summary Metric Value Current Price $420.55 24/7 Wall St. Price Target $417.62 Upside/Downside -0.7% Recommendation HOLD Confidence Level 90% How Tesla Got Back to $420 Tesla is up 26.39% over the past year but down 8.58% year to date after a January peak near $475. Shares are now 16% off the 52-week high of $498.83 and well above the $288.77 52-week low.
The fundamental story improved sharply in Q1 2026. Tesla posted non-GAAP EPS of $0.41 against a $0.3592 estimate, with revenue of $22.387 billion growing 15.78% year over year. Automotive gross margin rebuilt to 21.1% from 16.2%, and FSD active subscriptions hit 1.28 million, up 51%. R
eddit chatter, however, has fixated on SpaceX IPO speculation rather than the core auto business, with sentiment swinging from 90 (very bullish) on June 9 to 57 (neutral) by June 16.
The Case for $480+ Bulls have a clean story. Q2 2026 deliveries are tracking the 425,000-475,000 band that Polymarket prices at 67.1% combined probability. Cybercab, Tesla Semi, and Megapack 3 all hit volume production this year, and Gen 3 Optimus was unveiled in Q1. Free cash flow of $1.444 billion in Q1, up 117.47% YoY, plus $44.743 billion in cash, funds the entire AI roadmap without dilution.
Prediction markets see $435 as the modal June touch (41.3%) and assign a 55% probability to closing above $450 by month-end. Our bull-case 12-month scenario lands at $481.77, a 14.56% return, if FSD wins China approval and Robotaxi expands cleanly into seven new cities.
Goldman Sachs has a neutral rating on Tesla shares with a $375 price target.
What Could Go Wrong The bear case starts with valuation. Tesla trades at a trailing P/E of 369 and a forward multiple of 196. Q4 2025 revenue fell 3.14% YoY, full-year operating income dropped 38.45%, and net income fell 46.79%. Operating expenses jumped 37% in Q1 on AI R&D and CEO award stock-based comp, and energy storage revenue slipped 12%. Insiders are net sellers across 46 recent transactions.
Bulls would counter that the 2025 weakness reflects a pre-launch lull before Cybercab, Semi, and Optimus arrive. Fair point. But our bear scenario still maps to $362.58, a -13.78% return, if FSD approvals slip and the auto multiple compresses.
Tesla Price Prediction 2026-2030 I’m sticking with hold. The 24/7 Wall St. price target of $417.62 at 90% confidence says Tesla is fairly priced for what we can underwrite today.
The setup turns more constructive if Q2 deliveries come in above 475,000 or if China grants FSD approval. The thesis weakens if operating margin stays stuck below 5% and inventory days keep drifting higher from the current 27.
Looking further ahead, here is where our model projects Tesla could trade, assuming current growth trajectories and base-case execution hold.
Year 24/7 Wall St. Price Target 2026 $421.53 2030 $472.51 These projections assume Tesla executes on Cybercab, Optimus, and Robotaxi scaling without margin disruption. Significant upside could come from a successful xAI integration or global FSD approvals, while a delayed Optimus ramp or sustained tariff pressure would skew us toward the bear scenario.
Two U.S. senators are asking the nation's traffic safety regulator to examine Tesla's self-published crash statistics for its “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) driver-assistance system, following a Reuters investigation last month that found the EV maker was exaggerating its safety claims.
Shares of Tesla (TSLA 1.55%) reached their all-time intraday peak of $498.83 on Dec. 22, 2025, giving it a market cap of around $1.67 trillion.
On June 12, Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX +4.83%), more widely known as SpaceX, held its initial public offering and closed the session with a market cap of $2.11 trillion.
Here's why SpaceX is soaring, and which growth stock is the better buy now.
Image source: Getty Images.
Private investors hold the majority of SpaceX's value SpaceX raised $75 billion by selling 555.6 million shares at a price per share of $135. The float, which is the shares available for public trading, is less than 5% of the shares outstanding, meaning the vast majority of SpaceX is still owned by insiders who were awarded shares as compensation or institutions that bought in during pre-IPO funding rounds. The float should increase gradually as SpaceX is allowing those insiders to sell some shares well before the usual 180-day lockup period ends.
With so much demand for shares and a relatively small available supply, SpaceX's valuation could continue to run up, at least in the short term. But those market dynamics could also inflate it with a lot of hot air, which could compress once the float makes up the majority of outstanding shares. Even with Elon Musk still owning around 19% of Tesla as of April, Tesla's float is now about 75% of the shares outstanding.
Today's Change
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Tesla and SpaceX have sky-high valuations A few years ago, Tesla was raking in free cash flow at margins that led the auto industry. But the electric vehicle (EV) market has since taken a hit. Consumer adoption of the technology has been slower than expected, and President Donald Trump's "big beautiful bill" removed the tax incentives that made EVs more affordable, putting another headwind on demand. Tesla's first-quarter deliveries were up just 6.3% year over year, while its energy storage product deployments fell 15.4%.
Aggressive investments in its efforts to build a robotaxi network, enhance its self-driving software, and develop marketable humanoid robots (Optimus), among other endeavors, are driving surging capital expenditures that are taking a sledgehammer to Tesla's profitability. The current consensus estimates among analysts is that it will earn just $2.06 per share in 2026, and $2.50 per share in 2027 on sales of $118.45 billion. That gives it a staggering forward price-to-earnings ratio of 162.4. For context, Tesla's all-time high annual EPS was $4.30 in 2023.
SpaceX's valuation is even more lofty. In 2025, its revenue increased by 33.2% to $18.67 billion, and net income went from $791 million in 2024 to a $4.94 billion net loss in 2025. With its market cap topping $2.5 trillion as of the close of trading Monday, that gives it a price-to-sales ratio of about 134 relative to its 2025 revenue.
When Tesla's earnings were soaring, it would have been the obvious choice over SpaceX for investors interested in companies offering proven profitability. But now, Tesla and SpaceX are both carrying values that depend far more on their anticipated growth potential than on what they are delivering today. So the answer to the question of which is the better buy may come down to which end markets you're more excited about.
Undeniable potential Tesla's robotaxi network could end up being more valuable than its passenger vehicle business -- especially as legacy automakers and pure-play EV competitors continue to release more advanced models. Utility-scale energy storage is another massive growth market as the tech sector looks for ways to alleviate the artificial intelligence energy bottleneck. And while Tesla has talked extensively about using its Optimus robots in residential settings, the bigger opportunity may be in factory operations.
SpaceX's main revenue driver is its Starlink network of low-Earth-orbit satellites that provide broadband connectivity and wireless internet to commercial, governmental, and residential customers. SpaceX also works with government agencies and commercial customers to launch payloads into space using its reusable Falcon 9 booster.
It also owns xAI, the maker of the Grok large language models, and social media platform X. AI could be a key driver of SpaceX's near-term growth, including through the deployment of data centers in space as early as 2028.
SpaceX's Earth ambitions are bold, but they pale in comparison to the company's stated mission: "To build the systems and technologies necessary to make life multiplanetary, to understand the true nature of the universe, and to extend the light of consciousness to the stars."
A merger could be on the way Investors may not need to choose between SpaceX and Tesla for long. I fully expect the companies to at least attempt to merge as soon as next year.
The current regulatory environment in the U.S. is extremely business-friendly, so if there were ever a time to propose such a megamerger, it would be now. What's more, both SpaceX and Tesla could benefit if CEO Musk were putting all of his efforts into one combined company rather than splitting his focus.
Tesla and xAI already collaborate on Tesla's Full Self-Driving technology, and xAI's Grok is integrated into Tesla vehicles and Optimus robots. Meanwhile, xAI buys energy storage systems from Tesla, and the companies are collaborating on a chip manufacturing initiative called Terafab.
To top it all off, Tesla was an early investor in xAI, which SpaceX merged with earlier this year. So the longer-term plan all along seems to have been to eventually unite all of Musk's companies under one umbrella.
The combined market cap of SpaceX and Tesla as of the close of trading Monday was about $4 trillion -- behind Nvidia, Alphabet, and Apple for the fourth-most-valuable company in the world.
SpaceX has a big advantage over Tesla in that it has few real competitors, whereas Tesla faces mounting competition from other EV makers, automakers incorporating self-driving features into their vehicles, and pure-play autonomous vehicle rivals like Alphabet-owned Waymo.
However, even with more competition, Tesla has a much clearer path to consistent profitability if the adoption of its autonomous vehicles and robots grows. SpaceX, by contrast, still needs to prove it can expand without relying on the capital markets to raise money.
Tesla stock TSLA moved lower on Tuesday even as analysts grew more optimistic about the company's near-term vehicle deliveries.
Shares of the electric vehicle maker fell about 2% in early trading to $402.39, while the broader market was rallying, with the S&P 500 higher by roughly 1.6%.
The decline came as SpaceX, Elon Musk's rocket and artificial intelligence company, continued its post-IPO surge.
SpaceX shares rose about 8% to $208.39, giving the company a market value of approximately $2.8 trillion.
By comparison, Tesla's market capitalization stood near $1.3 trillion.
Despite the stock's decline, Goldman Sachs expressed increased confidence in Tesla's second-quarter vehicle deliveries.
The bank reiterated its Neutral rating and maintained a $375 price target while raising its second-quarter 2026 delivery forecast to 420,000 vehicles from 405,000 previously.
That forecast now sits above the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 400,000 vehicles.
Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney said monthly and weekly sales data across key regions, including the United States, Europe, and China, suggest Tesla's second-quarter deliveries are tracking ahead of market expectations.
"We believe that Tesla’s 2Q26 vehicle deliveries are likely tracking ahead of consensus," Delaney wrote.
According to Goldman Sachs, Europe has been one of Tesla's strongest-performing regions during the quarter.
The firm said European registration data through May showed year-over-year growth of roughly 85% to 90%, while countries reporting June daily data indicated a strong start to the month, with deliveries rising about 20%.
Goldman Sachs noted that part of the increase reflects favorable comparisons against weak results in the prior year period.
Tesla's European deliveries declined 29% year over year during the second quarter of 2025, creating a relatively low comparison base.
Elsewhere, the bank said Chinese sales data from the China Passenger Car Association points to high single-digit year-over-year growth through May.
Other Asia-Pacific markets have also reported encouraging results. South Korea and Australia have both delivered strong sales performance on both a year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter basis through May.
In the United States, however, deliveries remain weaker. According to Motor Intelligence data cited by Goldman Sachs, US deliveries through May were tracking down by the mid-teens percentage range compared with a year earlier.
Growth remains a key questionImproving delivery trends would be welcome news for Tesla after two consecutive years of declining electric vehicle sales.
Wall Street currently expects Tesla to deliver approximately 1.7 million vehicles in 2026, up from roughly 1.6 million in 2025.
However, analysts caution that growth is far from guaranteed.
Tesla faces difficult comparisons later in the year after delivering a record 497,000 vehicles during the third quarter of last year.
Those results were boosted by consumers rushing to purchase vehicles before the expiration of the federal $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit.
The removal of that incentive has weighed on broader industry demand, although Tesla's sales have generally held up better than many competitors.
Investors remain focused on AIWhile vehicle deliveries remain important, many investors are increasingly valuing Tesla based on its artificial intelligence ambitions rather than its automotive business alone.
Tesla launched its AI-trained robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, about a year ago and has since expanded operations into a few more cities.
Investors continue to watch closely for signs of broader robotaxi deployment, believing that a larger autonomous-driving network could unlock a significant new revenue stream for the company.
Another closely watched catalyst is Optimus, Tesla's humanoid robot program.
Investors are anticipating the unveiling of the third-generation Optimus robot, which could arrive later this summer.
The Netherlands' transportation minister on Tuesday denied the country's influential RDW authority had relied on statistics submitted by Tesla as the basis of its approval of the company's "Full Self Driving (supervised)" software for use on Dutch roads.
