Key Highlights SanDisk announces fiscal Q4 2026 results after trading ends on August 5 Options market anticipates a 25% price movement following the earnings announcement Analysts project Q4 revenue reaching $8.42 billion, representing 343% year-over-year growth Earnings per share forecasted at $34.67 versus $0.29 in the prior-year quarter SNDK shares have soared 578% year-to-date, propelled by NAND pricing strength and AI infrastructure storage needs SanDisk (SNDK) prepares to unveil its fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 financial results following the market close on August 5. Shares are presently hovering near $1,636, with the consensus analyst price target of $2,052.50 suggesting potential upside of 27.46%.
Sandisk Corporation, SNDK
SNDK has emerged as a top-tier performer in equity markets this year, recording a remarkable 578% advance year-to-date. This exceptional climb reflects escalating NAND flash memory prices coupled with surging storage requirements across AI-focused data center infrastructure.
Derivatives markets signal heightened volatility expectations. Options pricing suggests a potential 25.08% movement in either direction post-announcement. This considerably exceeds the company’s typical post-earnings volatility of 8.75% recorded across the previous four quarterly reports.
The Street’s consensus revenue forecast for the fourth quarter stands at $8.42 billion — representing a staggering 343% year-over-year increase. Earnings per share are anticipated to reach $34.67, a dramatic improvement from the $0.29 reported in the comparable quarter last year.
Looking at the full fiscal 2026 picture, analysts are modeling EPS of $64.52, marking a substantial acceleration from the $1.78 delivered in fiscal 2025. Such explosive earnings expansion typically captures significant investor interest.
SanDisk’s previous quarterly disclosure provided encouraging signals. When Q3 numbers were released on April 30, the stock rallied 8.3%. Revenue soared 251% year-over-year to $5.95 billion, while adjusted EPS hit $23.41 alongside an impressive gross margin of 78.4%.
Enterprise Data Center Revenue Critical Investors should concentrate on data center segment performance this reporting period. Enterprise solid-state drive revenue climbed approximately seven-fold year-over-year in the previous quarter, advancing 233% sequentially to reach $1.467 billion. Market participants are eager to determine whether this trajectory persisted through Q4.
Hyperscale cloud provider spending patterns will command attention as well. Any indications regarding order trends from major cloud infrastructure operators could trigger significant share price reactions.
NAND flash pricing dynamics and profitability metrics represent another critical area. Should NAND prices have maintained their upward trajectory throughout the quarter, this would likely support continued gross margin improvement.
Wall Street Outlook and Ratings Susquehanna analyst Mehdi Hosseini, who holds a five-star ranking, recently adjusted his price objective to $3,050 from $3,250 after identifying modeling errors in his firm’s financial projections. This adjustment was purely technical in nature rather than reflecting a fundamental shift in perspective — he maintained his Buy recommendation and continues to express optimism regarding SanDisk’s multi-year growth trajectory linked to AI-powered flash storage adoption.
According to TipRanks data, SNDK maintains a Strong Buy consensus rating derived from 14 Buy recommendations and three Hold ratings. The mean price target of $2,052.50 indicates approximately 27% appreciation potential from present trading levels.
The organization has also scheduled its Investor Day event for August 13, potentially offering additional transparency regarding fiscal 2027 projections and strategic priorities. Executive commentary surrounding the upcoming fiscal year outlook will represent a crucial element for market participants to monitor during the earnings conference call.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is up 9% in July, but crypto analyst Benjamin Cowen said the gains are likely temporary and August and September could erase them, just as they did in 2018 and 2022.
Why Cowen Says Bitcoin Is Stuck Between Two Key LevelsCowen said in a youtube video that Bitcoin is ping-ponging between the bear market resistance band above and the 200-week moving average below, with neither level breaking convincingly in either direction.
Every approach to the resistance band has produced a rejection, and every dip toward the 200-week moving average has produced a bounce.
He said this setup mirrors 2018 almost exactly. Both years saw a low in February, a retest of that low in late June, and then a July countertrend rally.
The key difference is volatility — in 2018 the range was about 40% wide, while in 2026 it is only about 20%, making this a quieter, slower version of the same pattern.
What History Says About July Rallies in Midterm YearsCowen tracked Bitcoin’s July returns across every midterm year and found the pattern consistent.
In 2022, Bitcoin gained 20% in July before August and September wiped out those gains.
In 2018, it gained nearly 40% in July before the same thing happened. Even where July was slightly negative, like 2014, the weakness still arrived in the months that followed.
He said the window for Bitcoin to stay strong is likely closing within two to four weeks, with August and September historically the months where the summer bounce gives way to renewed selling pressure.
What Needs to Happen for the Pattern to BreakCowen said the S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) is the key variable Bitcoin is waiting on. In 2018 and 2022, stocks topped in August or September and then dropped 10% to 20%, pulling Bitcoin down with them and forming the cycle low.
He said that stock market correction has not happened yet, which is partly why Bitcoin has not broken down either.
His base case is that the S&P 500 tops in August or September, drops, Bitcoin follows, and the market cycle bottom forms from that level.
If Bitcoin has not broken down by the end of the year, he said he would treat that as time-based capitulation and shift his view toward a new bull market beginning.
He put the theoretical cycle low around late November, noting that is why the ITC conference he is hosting is scheduled for that window.
Image: Shutterstock
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Ending the week on a bullish note, shares of defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH +10.11%) ripped higher today after the defense contractor reported strong first-quarter 2027 financial results and fiscal 2027 guidance before the opening bell rang.
Shares of Booz Allen climbed 10.1% today, paring back an earlier gain of 15.7%.
Image source: Getty Images.
Beating analysts' expectations on the bottom line isn't the only thing investors are celebrating Coming up just short of analysts' top-line estimates of $2.81 billion, Booz Allen reported Q1 sales of $2.8 billion. At the bottom of the income statement, however, Booz Allen crushed expectations, reporting adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.81 -- notably higher than the $1.49 that analysts had anticipated.
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On the cash flow statement, investors found another sign of the company's strong recent performance. During the first quarter of 2027, Booz Allen generated free cash flow of $261 million, a year-over-year increase of 172%.
In addition to the Q1 2027 financial results, Booz Allen provided 2027 revenue guidance of $11.2 billion to $11.7 billion, as well as adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) guidance of $1.24 billion to $1.29 billion. Should the company achieve the midpoints of both of these metrics, it will represent year-over-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth of 2.2% and 2.8%, respectively.
Booz Allen stock is sitting in the bargain bin Trading at 7 times operating cash flow, Booz Allen shares are trading at a steep discount to their five-year average cash flow multiple of 16. Between the stock's attractive price tag, the company's strong Q1 2027 financial performance, and management's encouraging outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, investors seeking a leading defense stock would be well-served to consider Booz Allen stock right now.
Scott Levine has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Booz Allen Hamilton. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
As expenses keep rising, Americans 65 and older may be seeing a shortfall between what they are bringing in and what they are spending. According to research from The Motley Fool, in 2024, the median annual income for Americans 65 and older was $56,680, while households headed by someone who lists their occupation as retired spent an average of $59,616.
Ahead of retirement, stats like that may have some people on the hunt for stocks that could add more cushioning for when it's time to stop working. One such growth stock attracting significant interest is the nuclear power company Oklo (OKLO -8.52%).
A $2,000 investment in Oklo today could certainly become worth more in the future, but whether it's enough to help fuel a dream retirement or even just offer more of a cushion is a different question.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Why a $2,000 investment isn't enough What everyone wants and needs in retirement is based on individual circumstances. But we can look at some broad scenarios for whether Oklo could provide a nice-sized nest egg in retirement. For instance, the Oklo stock would need to trade at $2,154 per share for a $2,000 investment to turn into $100,000.
Looking at two more scenarios, Oklo would need to reach $10,771 per share to turn that $2,000 investment into $500,000. To turn that $2,000 investment into $1 million, Oklo would need to trade at $21,542 per share.
That tells us a one-time investment of $2,000 in Oklo is not enough to be a major contributor toward any retirement planning. Since it's a pre-revenue growth stock, relying heavily on Oklo as part of any retirement plan is also risky.
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What's ahead for Oklo Oklo lacks commercial operations, so investing in it is all about what it can do in the future and the unique position it can establish in the nuclear energy space. It's developing a vertically integrated business model that allows continuous power generation, as it not only sells the power and heat its reactors generate but also recycles fuel for reuse in the reactors.
To lock in a deal and help move Oklo's commercialization efforts along, Meta Platforms signed an agreement with Oklo in January to prepay for power and to provide funding for its reactor project in Ohio. Its powerhouse facility is expected to deliver up to its full power target of 1.2 gigawatts by 2034.
Oklo also announced a collaboration with Nvidia and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in April that could bear fruit. In the announcement, Oklo said:
Projects under the agreement include integrated full-stack solutions to support nuclear powered AI factories; AI development, including physics and chemistry trained AI models to support nuclear fuel R&D; grid stabilization, reliability, and redundancy studies; materials science efforts focused on plutonium-bearing fuel; and proof of concept work related to the development of a nuclear powered AI factory.
What to consider next Among the 22 analysts tracked by CNN, the median price target for Oklo over the next year is $84. As of this writing, that would be a gain of around 90%, showing there could be plenty of upside.
That said, there's still plenty of execution risk in what Oklo is trying to accomplish, and without commercial operations, it could still be years before Oklo would reach that median price target. Simply put, a $2,000 investment today isn't going to create a windfall for retirement.
Waymo and Uber have officially ended their robotaxi partnership in Phoenix, Arizona. The breakup was finalized in May 2026, with public confirmation landing on June 29.
The partnership, which launched in 2023, involved just over a dozen Waymo autonomous vehicles integrated into Uber’s ride-hailing platform.
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What happened in Phoenix Following the split, Waymo has pulled those vehicles back into its own fleet. They’re now accessible through the Waymo app and being used for DoorDash deliveries and Via Transportation partnerships.
Uber is expected to announce a new autonomous vehicle partner for Phoenix, signaling that its strategy was never about Waymo specifically.
Still partners, sort of The Phoenix split doesn’t mean a complete divorce. Waymo vehicles remain available through Uber’s app in both Atlanta and Austin, where their integration continues for now.
Both companies are also eyeing London as a future battleground.
The regulatory angle Beyond fleet logistics, Uber has been actively lobbying against proposed regulations in Washington, D.C. that it perceives as favoring Waymo.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Key Takeaways SLG posted Q2 FFO of $1.43 per share, beating estimates by 20.17% despite a yearly decline.SLG signed 53 Manhattan leases, while replacement rents rose 18% and occupancy reached 94.7%.SLG raised 2026 FFO guidance to $5.60-$5.90 per share from $4.40-$4.70. SL Green Realty Corp. (SLG - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2026 funds from operations (FFO) per share of $1.43, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.19 by 20.17%. However, FFO declined 12.3% from $1.63 in the year-ago quarter.
Net rental revenues of $171.85 million surpassed the consensus estimate of $171.48 million by 0.22% and increased 16.5% year over year. The results reflected stronger Manhattan leasing, higher occupancy and growth in same-store cash net operating income (NOI).
SLG's Leasing Momentum StrengthensDuring the second quarter, SL Green signed 53 Manhattan office leases covering 445,161 square feet. The average rent was $93.17 per rentable square foot, while the average lease term was 5.8 years.
Replacement leases covering 308,680 square feet had average starting rents of $98.42 per rentable square foot. This represented an 18% increase over the previous fully escalated rents for the same office spaces, indicating healthy pricing for recently occupied space.
On July 22, 2026, SL Green announced that an AI tenant had entered into a new 10-year lease totaling 98,420 square feet for the entire 11th floor at 11 Madison Avenue. With this lease, the company has executed office leases covering 1,478,673 square feet to date in 2026 and maintains a current pipeline of more than 900,000 square feet.
SLG's Occupancy and NOI ImproveManhattan same-store office occupancy, including leases signed but not yet commenced, rose to 94.7% as of June 30, 2026. This compares with 94.4% at the end of the prior quarter and 93% at the end of 2025. Management expects occupancy on the same basis to reach 95% by year-end 2026.
Manhattan same-store cash NOI, including the company’s share from unconsolidated joint ventures and excluding lease termination income, increased 4.3% from the prior-year quarter.
SLG's Portfolio Activity Remains ActiveThe company closed the sale of the residential and retail components of 7 Dey Street for $222.6 million, generating net cash proceeds of $23.7 million. It retained ownership of the 21,000-square-foot office condominium.
SL Green also sold a 49% joint venture interest in the 346 Madison Avenue development at a gross valuation of $175 million and received $94.9 million in net proceeds. Separately, it agreed to sell 10 East 53rd Street for $312.2 million, with expected net proceeds of about $100 million earmarked for corporate debt repayment.
SLG’s Debt Fund, Liquidity & Buyback Add SupportThe company deployed $94.7 million from its $1.3 billion SLG Opportunistic Debt Fund during the second quarter. Since the beginning of the year through July 22, 2026, deployment reached $306.4 million, bringing the cumulative deployment to $590.5 million, of which $517.5 million had been funded.
SLG ended June 2026 with cash and cash equivalents of $180.8 million, up from $143.9 million at the end of March 2026. Consolidated debt declined to $4.55 billion from $4.77 billion sequentially.
SLG repurchased $14.1 million of common stock at an average price of $49.67 per share.
SLG Raises 2026 GuidanceManagement increased its 2026 FFO guidance to $5.60-$5.90 per share from $4.40-$4.70. The midpoint rose $1.20, including 40 cents per share from higher NOI generated by the company's real estate portfolio, incremental fees and other income, and 80 cents per share of additional income expected from One Vanderbilt Avenue. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 FFO per share is currently pegged at $4.58.
SLG’s Zacks Rank & RecommendationSL Green currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Upcoming Earnings ReleasesWe now look forward to the earnings releases of other REITs like Extra Space Storage (EXR - Free Report) and Cousins Properties (CUZ - Free Report) , slated to report on July 28 and 30, respectively.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EXR’s second-quarter 2026 FFO per share is pegged at $2.06, which implies a 0.49% year-over-year decrease. EXR currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CUZ’s second-quarter 2026 FFO per share is pinned at 74 cents, which indicates a 5.7% rise year over year. CUZ currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. Litigation Partner Brandon Walker Encourages Investors Who Suffered Losses In Futu (FUTU) To Contact Him Directly To Discuss Their Options
, /PRNewswire/ -- The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz announces that investors with losses related to Futu Holdings Limited ("Futu" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: FUTU) have opportunity to lead the securities fraud class action lawsuit.
IF YOU ARE AN INVESTOR WHO SUFFERED A LOSS IN FUTU HOLDINGS LIMITED (FUTU), CLICK HERE BEFORE AUGUST 25, 2026 (THE LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE) TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ONGOING SECURITIES FRAUD LAWSUIT.
What Is The Lawsuit About?
The complaint filed alleges that, between May 24, 2023 and May 27, 2026, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) Futu was not in compliance with the requirements of the CSRC, including because the Company continued to conduct securities business, public fund sales business and futures business in mainland China without obtaining the requisite licenses or approval; (2) as a result, Futu was reasonably likely to face regulatory penalties, including the disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and other penalties; (3) as a result of the foregoing, Futu's financial results were overstated; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
Contact Us To Participate or Learn More:
If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact us.
The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz,
Email us at: [email protected]
Call us at: 310-914-5007
Visit our website at: www.frankcruzlaw.com
Follow us for updates on Twitter: twitter.com/FRC_LAW.
If you inquire by email, please include your mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased.
To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
SOURCE The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz, Los Angeles
New York, New York and New Orleans, Louisiana--(Newsfile Corp. - July 24, 2026) - Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors with substantial losses that they have until August 25, 2026 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Futu Holdings Limited ("Futu" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: FUTU), if they purchased or otherwise acquired the Company's securities between May 24, 2023 and May 27, 2026, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmjc32xVGrk
What You May Do
If you purchased securities of Futu as above and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-833-538-3653 or via email ([email protected]), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nasdaqgm-futu/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by August 25, 2026.
>>>CLICK HERE for more information
About the Lawsuit
Futu and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.
The alleged false and misleading statements and omissions include, but are not limited to, that: (i) the Company was not in compliance with the requirements of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, including because it continued to conduct securities business, public fund sales business and futures business in mainland China without obtaining the requisite licenses or approval; (ii) as a result, the Company was reasonably likely to face regulatory penalties, including the disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and other penalties; (iii) as a result of the foregoing, the Company's financial results were overstated; and (iv) as a result of the foregoing, defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
The case is Tang v. Futu Holdings Limited, et al, 26-cv-05453.
>>>To Learn More, Click HERE
About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. This past year, KSF was ranked by SCAS among the top 10 firms nationally based upon total settlement value. KSF serves a variety of clients, including public and private institutional investors, and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, Delaware, California, Louisiana, Chicago, and a representative office in Luxembourg.
TOP 10 Plaintiff Law Firms - According to ISS Securities Class Action Services
To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.
>>>For More Information about the case, Click HERE
AMD is teaming up with Cerebras on a new server designed to slash response times, taking direct aim at Nvidia and promising some of the fastest AI systems on the market. Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman explains how the partnership works, why speed is becoming the next battleground in AI infrastructure, and what it means for the rapidly evolving AI chip market.
Investors betting on SpaceX SPCX shares are buying into more than just reusable orbital rockets and a global satellite internet network – they are purchasing a ticket to the visionary leadership of Elon Musk.
However, according to a recent analysis from HSBC, that celebrated “Musk factor” may already be fully priced into the equity.
Analysts at the bank initiated coverage on the aerospace pioneer with a Hold rating and a $115 target price, indicating absence of any meaningful upside from current levels.
Note that SpaceX stock has been in a sharp downtrend in recent weeks. At writing, it’s trading even below its IPO price of $135.
Standard financial formulas used for traditional conglomerates, SPACs, or biotech firms simply fail to reflect how the market rates elite founders who reshape global industries.
To capture this reality, HSBC departed from classic metrics and built a custom sum-of-the-parts model featuring a 2x “innovation premium”.
The benchmark for this multiplier was drawn directly from Tesla’s first decade on public markets, leveraging Musk’s established track record in disruptive manufacturing and commercial deployment.
The bank noted that while analysts often apply holding company discounts, special founder premiums are warranted when leaders consistently upend whole sectors.
Yet even with this generous multiplier factored in, HSBC concludes that current market prices leave very little room for short-term upside on SPCX shares.
The core takeaway from HSBC’s base-case framework is that today’s market valuation already anticipates seamless execution across SpaceX’s main business pillars.
Investors have fully embedded expectations for Starlink's expanding global subscriber footprint, high-frequency Falcon launch manifests, and early-stage spatial artificial intelligence initiatives.
However, the report cautions that for SpaceX shares to breach higher territory, the company must overdeliver; HSBC did outline an optimistic “blue sky” scenario valuation of $293 per share.
But achieving it requires aggressive operational milestones: commercial viability for the next-generation Starship rocket by 2027, doubling overall launch throughput relative to base estimates, extracting significantly higher average revenue per user (ARPU) from Starlink, and securing top-tier software multiples for its internal AI infrastructure.
While long-term bulls point to that $293 optimistic view, short-term realities on the trading floor reflect heightened scrutiny.
SPCX stock has faced headwinds following technical delays around its pivotal 13th Starship test flight and market anxiety over massive insider share unlock periods approaching in August.
While institutional backers continue to view Starship as the key to unlocking exponential payload scale, HSBC’s balanced stance highlights that execution risks cannot be ignored.
Until SpaceX consistently proves out Starship's full orbital reusability and commercial monetization, the stock appears bound to its fundamental trajectory, leaving the famous Musk premium firmly baked into the price for now.
At 6:45 p.m. ET tonight, SpaceX (SPCX -2.85%) gets a third try at its most consequential launch as a public company. Starship Flight 13 has a 90-minute window to lift off from the company's Starbase site in Texas, carrying the first 20 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites.
"Some of the engines didn't start, triggering an automatic launch abort," CEO Elon Musk wrote on X after the first attempt on July 16. SpaceX swapped out engines, and then weather postponed the second try on Thursday.
The stock could use the win. Shares sit at about $112 as of this writing, roughly 1% above their all-time low of $110.85 and well below the $135 price from June's initial public offering (IPO).
Image source: The White House.
What tonight actually decides is the timeline of Starlink's next capacity leap. Each V3 satellite is designed to deliver about 1 terabit per second of downlink capacity, roughly 10 times what the current generation of satellites provides. A full Starship load of about 60 of them would add roughly 60 terabits per second to the network, about 20 times what a Falcon 9 launch delivers today. That capacity is what lets a satellite network sell faster service to more subscribers without congestion. It's the foundation of the company's plan to turn Starlink into a gigabit-speed internet provider.
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The satellites can only ride on Starship, though, and Starship has kept them grounded for eight days now. The 20 satellites aboard are a deployment test: They will extend their solar arrays and antennas and attempt to connect with the larger Starlink constellation. Until that demonstration works, the V3 capacity ramp stays theoretical.
A successful flight tonight won't settle the argument over the stock, which still carries a market value near $1.5 trillion against a business that loses money. The next major financial update arrives Aug. 4, when SpaceX is scheduled to report its first quarterly results as a public company. But a clean deployment would show the next generation of the company's biggest product working in space before those numbers land. After six weeks of nearly uninterrupted decline, that would count as the first hard piece of good news this stock has had.
Daniel Sparks and his clients do not have positions 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.
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Tesla (TSLA) was the worst performing stock in the S&P 500 (SPX) this week. @CharlesSchwab's Rachel Dashiell looks at the charts and the options activity as the company trades near a 52-week low.
Tesla shares plunged 18% during the week to close at $313.03 on Friday, their worst weekly slump since 2022. And SpaceX continued its downward slide, dropping 7.2% over five days to close at $115.07 Friday, its lowest since the company's record IPO last month.
The declines in both stocks wiped away about $130 billion of Musk's wealth, weeks after he'd become the world's first trillionaire. In a post on X on Friday, Musk wrote, "(Former) trillionaire."
Tesla's slump was spurred by weaker-than-expected earnings when the electric vehicle maker reported second-quarter results late Wednesday. The company turned cash flow negative due to a surge in spending on futuristic projects like robotaxis, humanoid robots and a giant chip fab.
"We expect this to pressure free cash flow and delay earnings growth, without providing any near-term shareholder return," wrote analysts at Argus Research, which has a hold rating on the stock, in a report on Friday. "We believe it will be nearly impossible for Tesla to generate any consistency in profit growth in the near-term."
Tesla's stock is now down 30% for the year, by far the worst performer among tech's megacaps.
Read more CNBC tech newsMoonshot AI accessed Nvidia's chips despite Chinese export ban, White House official saysAlphabet and Tesla test Wall Street's patience as AI spending overshadows growthAlphabet earnings takeaways: Q2 revenue beats, GOOGL stock sinks on 2026 capex hikeTesla misses on earnings, as free cash flow turns negative and margins slideMeanwhile, SpaceX's stock has been on a steady downward trajectory over the past month following an initial pop when the company went public. The shares have dropped for four of the past five weeks and are about 43% off their peak close on June 16.
On Friday evening, SpaceX will again attempt the 13th test flight of Starship, the largest rocket ever built or flown. The company plans to fly the new version of the rocket, Starship V3, from its company town and launch facility in Starbase, Texas. The rocket is designed to be fully reusable and is considered crucial for SpaceX's near-term aims to vastly grow its Starlink satellite network.
In a post on X, which is owned by SpaceX, the company said it delayed the test flight planned for Thursday "due to weather." SpaceX previously scrubbed a test flight last week, after the rocket's booster triggered a hold, which "shut down the engines right as they were starting to ignite," a SpaceX employee said during a livestream of the event.
A successful launch of Starship V3, an upgraded version of its roughly 400-foot-tall rocket, would be the first since the company's IPO.
SpaceX plans to use Starship to bring U.S. astronauts back to the Moon's surface, and Musk wants the rocket to eventually run manned missions to Mars.
Musk made a public appearance this week, sitting down for what turned out to be a contentious interview with The Economist.
Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of the publication, asked Musk about his support for "not just the populist right, but the far right, in fact very fringe parties in some countries."
In addition to his financial and vocal support for President Donald Trump, including his work for the second administration, Musk has endorsed Germany's AfD, an extreme anti-immigrant party, as well as the UK's Restore Britain, founded by Rupert Lowe, who also calls to "reverse mass migration."
"It's just normal people!" Musk said in response. He berated Beddoes and "the traditional media" for an "absurd characterization of the far right."
Image Credits:Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times / Getty Images Waymo is reportedly looking for a way out of its deal with Uber, which has made the Alphabet-owned company’s robotaxis available on the ride-hailing giant’s network in Austin and Atlanta, according to the Financial Times.
Waymo already told Uber that it intends to offer robotaxis on its own app in those markets starting in January 2028 and alongside the existing offering, the ride-hail giant told TechCrunch on Friday. Uber said the contract with Waymo that covers Austin and Atlanta ends in May 2028. The two companies already split in Phoenix earlier this year, as TechCrunch first reported.
Waymo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
This all follows months of rising tensions between Waymo and Uber. Earlier this year, Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli posted a video of what he thought was unsafe and “scary” behavior of a Waymo robotaxi. In May, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi lightly criticized the behavior of Waymo’s robotaxis in school zones and emergency situations during an earnings call, though without naming the company.
Waymo, meanwhile, has wound up opposite Uber in a number of fresh policy fights over robotaxi regulations.
President Donald Trump on Friday defended his Department of Justice's issuance of subpoenas to New York Times reporters, as it was revealed that Google also received a subpoena in the same criminal investigation of the leak of information about the president's new Air Force One plane.
Trump's comments on the subpoenas came a day after the DOJ told a New York federal judge it was withdrawing those subpoenas for grand jury testimony by Times reporters and their phone records. The DOJ is investigating the leak of concerns about the security measures on the president's Qatari-donated plane, which the Times wrote about earlier in July.
Judge Arun Subramanian had warned prosecutors on Thursday that if they did not voluntarily withdraw the subpoenas, he would quash them.
"We're not after journalists," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday. "We're after leakers. We're after people that are cowards, people that are unpatriotic, people that are treasonous in many cases."
"And the way you find them is through journalists," the president said.
"That person should be found, and the way you find them is to tell the journalist, if it's something having to do with national security, you tell the journalist: 'Who is it?' " Trump said.
"And we have a long way to go with that case," he added.
At around the same time that Trump was talking, a letter that lawyers for Google sent Friday to Subramanian was unsealed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on the order of the judge.
The letter revealed that Google on July 16 was issued a subpoena from a grand jury at the behest of the DOJ seeking "subscriber information associated with a phone number."
The subpoena was sent to Google a day after lawyers for the Times moved to quash subpoenas issued to their reporters.
Google also received on July 16 an order not to disclose to the phone number subscriber that fact that it had received a subpoena for their information.
In their letter on Friday, Google's lawyers asked Subramanian to vacate the non-disclosure order, which had been signed by a magistrate judge, arguing that the order violates the First Amendment of the Constitution, which established the right to free speech.
"The government has admitted that, at the time of its application for the NDO, it 'inadvertently included language that the investigation was "not public" when the fact of the investigation was public,' " the letter said.
Subramanian granted the request to vacate the NDO, a court filing shows.
Alphabet Inc. delivered Q2 results with 24% revenue growth and strong AI-driven monetization across Search, Cloud, and YouTube. GOOG's aggressive AI CapEx strategy led to negative free cash flow and raised 2026–2027 CapEx guidance, fueling investor concerns about capital intensity. Google Cloud revenue nearly doubled to $24.8B with margin expansion, while AI tools are driving higher ad conversions and enterprise adoption.
Despite delivering strong second-quarter results, Alphabet (GOOGL +0.58%) (GOOG +0.21%) shares sank following its results. The company upped its capital expenditures (capex) forecast, as it continues to plow money into AI infrastructure. The stock is still up 65% over the past year, although it's off more than 20% from its earlier highs this year.
Let's dive into the company's Q2 results and prospects, and why I think this is a great opportunity to buy the stock.
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Alphabet's cloud computing unit, Google Cloud, once again stood out in Q2. Revenue for the segment continued to accelerate, surging 82% to $24.8 billion. That compares to 63% growth in the first quarter, 48% growth in the fourth quarter of 2025, 34% growth in the third quarter of 2025, and 32% growth in Q2 of last year. Perhaps even more impressive, though, is the operating leverage that the unit has been seeing.
Google Cloud's operating income soared from $2.8 billion a year ago to $8.8 billion, a more than threefold increase. Its cloud backlog, meanwhile, rose from $462 billion at the end of Q1 to $518 billion. This includes both cloud agreements and orders for its Tensor Processing Units (TPUs).
The reason the stock sold off, though, is that Alphabet once again increased its capex budget. It now plans to spend between $195 billion and $205 billion on AI data center infrastructure this year, up from a prior forecast of $180 billion to $190 billion, as it remains capacity-constrained. Its original capex guidance was for between $175 billion and $185 billion for 2026. It also said that its spending on AI infrastructure will be significantly higher next year.
Alphabet's core Google Search business, meanwhile, saw revenue climb 17% to $63.3 billion. The integration of Gemini into its ad platform is helping improve ad quality and relevance. At the same time, AI-powered features are helping fuel more search usage. Its stand-alone Gemini app also now has more than 950 million monthly users.
YouTube continues to perform well, with ad revenue jumping 13% to $9.9 billion. Meanwhile, subscription (which includes YouTube, its Gemini App, cloud storage, and music) and device revenue rose 15% to $12.9 billion. Google Network revenue continues to be a weak spot, with revenue down nearly 1%.
Overall, Alphabet's total quarterly revenue increased by 24% to $119.8 billion, above the $116.9 billion consensus, as compiled by LSEG. Earnings per share (EPS) soared from $2.31 to $9.11, but that included a large gain on its Space Exploration Technologies holdings.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Why Alphabet stock is a buy While the market punished Alphabet for its capex plans, the company is clearly demonstrating that it is getting strong returns on its investments. Not only is Google Cloud revenue surging, but its segment operating margins have also greatly improved. At the same time, its AI investments are also helping drive strong growth within its Google Search business.
Given the cost edge the company currently has with its TPUs, the right move is to press its advantage and spend aggressively on AI infrastructure. This is the smart decision, regardless of how the stock reacts.
The stock currently trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of around 22 times 2026 analyst estimates. That's an attractive valuation for a company that is the most complete AI player, especially given its large investments in SpaceX and Anthropic.
Alphabet remains well-positioned, and its growth prospects look bright. While it has faced some delays with its Gemini Pro 3.5 model due to wanting to improve its agentic coding features, it has the resources to catch up in this area. Meanwhile, what it has been best at is creating models that work well in the consumer space, which it can monetize better than any other company, given its distribution and ad network advantages.
by Todd Bishop on Jul 24, 2026 at 12:46 pmJuly 24, 2026 at 12:49 pm
GeekWire File Photo Amazon is closing its San Francisco AGI site as part of the layoffs it made this week in its artificial general intelligence organization, but said its frontier model research lab will continue.
A company spokesperson confirmed the news of the site closure, which was first reported by The Information. Amazon’s frontier model research work will carry on under Pieter Abbeel, a UC Berkeley professor who joined Amazon in 2024 when the company licensed the technology and hired the team from Covariant, the robotics startup he co-founded.
The AGI Lab was founded in December 2024 and initially built around several dozen employees Amazon brought in from the startup Adept, including its co-founder and CEO David Luan.
The team grew to about 80 people at its peak, according to The Information, but more than a dozen of the Adept hires have since left, Luan among them. Earlier this week, Amazon confirmed it was cutting an unspecified number of jobs across the broader AGI organization.
Impacted employees will have the chance to explore other roles at Amazon, the spokesperson said, and the company is supporting them through that process.
Nova Act, the browser-agent model and service that came out of the group, remains available on AWS and in use by customers. More broadly, AWS has continued to build out its agentic AI lineup, including Bedrock AgentCore and applications like Kiro, Quick, Continuum and Transform.
The moves come as Amazon invests heavily in helping customers deploy AI, including a $1 billion AWS effort to embed engineers with businesses building AI agents. The initiative reflects an expanded industry focus toward putting agents and models to better use for customers.
Previous Story‘The Odyssey’ isn’t on IMAX 70mm in Seattle — is it worth a journey for the summer’s biggest film?
If you’ve been an Amazon Prime member at some point in the past several years, you have until Monday to file a claim to be included in a $2.5 billion settlement.
Eligible customers could receive up to $51 from a lawsuit brought against Amazon by the Federal Trade Commission regarding allegations the Seattle-based retail giant enrolled millions of customers in Amazon Prime subscriptions without their knowledge or consent and made it difficult to subsequently cancel their subscriptions. As part of Amazon’s settlement with the FTC in September, it agreed to pay the highest-ever civil penalty of $1 billion and establish a $1.5 billion fund to refund affected Prime customers.
Whether you’re a longtime Amazon Prime customer or you’ve ditched the subscription, only days remain to be included in that settlement. Here’s what you need to know to cash in.
WHO QUALIFIES FOR A PAYOUTIf you already received a refund from Amazon for this settlement, you don’t have a further claim to make. That’s because Amazon sent refunds to eligible customers late last year.
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However, as part of the settlement, Amazon also agreed to a claims process for those eligible customers who didn’t get an automatic refund. While you may have received a claim notice from the company, you can also file a claim online by providing some basic personal information and attesting to your eligibility.
You will need to satisfy the following requirements to file a claim as part of the settlement:
You must live in the U.S. You unintentionally enrolled in an Amazon Prime subscription or tried to cancel and were unable to do so at some point between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025. You used less than 10 of the Amazon Prime benefits during any 12-month period following enrollment. You didn’t receive an automatic payment as part of this settlement already. The way you signed up for an Amazon Prime membership will also matter—you must have subscribed through what’s referred to as a “challenged enrollment flow” which includes at the shipping selection page. But Amazon will ultimately determine whether you did so.
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. Litigation Partners Brandon Walker and Melissa Fortunato Encourage Investors Who Suffered Losses In Microsoft (MSFT) To Contact Them Directly To Discuss Their Options
If you purchased or acquired Microsoft common stock between May 1, 2025 and January 28, 2026 and would like to discuss your legal rights, contact Bragar Eagel & Squire partner Brandon Walker or Melissa Fortunato by email at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 355-4648
Click here to participate in the action.
NEW YORK, July 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
What’s Happening:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized stockholder rights law firm, announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington on behalf of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Microsoft common stock between May 1, 2025 and January 28, 2026, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”). Investors have until August 11, 2026 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. Allegation Details:
According to the lawsuit, throughout the Class Period, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Microsoft's Copilot family of products had experienced significant brand positioning, user experience, usage, data siloing, computational capacity, organizational, and interoperability problems; (2) Microsoft's flagship proprietary AI model ranked well below competitors on a number of benchmark tests; (3) Microsoft needed to increase by billions of dollars its capital expenditures and divert graphics processing unit ("GPU") and central processing unit ("CPU") capacity away from fulfilling demand for its profitable Azure services in order to improve the competitive positioning of its critical Copilot family of products and increase its AI-related research and development ("R&D"); and (4) as a result, Microsoft had failed to convert a significant percentage of its commercial Microsoft 365 users to paid Copilot subscriptions and Microsoft's Copilot offerings had lost market share to rival products, a trend that was increasing. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. Next Steps:
If you purchased or otherwise acquired Microsoft shares and suffered a loss, are a long-term stockholder, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker or Melissa Fortunato by email at [email protected], telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you. About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, South Carolina, and California. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in securities, derivative, and commercial litigation as well as individuals in consumer protection and data privacy litigation. The firm has a nationwide practice and routinely handles cases in both federal and state courts. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Follow us for updates on LinkedIn and Facebook, and keep up with other news by following Brandon Walker, Esq. on LinkedIn.
, /PRNewswire/ -- The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz announces that investors with losses related to Microsoft Corporation ("Microsoft" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: MSFT) have opportunity to lead the securities fraud class action lawsuit.
IF YOU ARE AN INVESTOR WHO SUFFERED A LOSS IN MICROSOFT CORPORATION (MSFT), CLICK HERE BEFORE AUGUST 11, 2026 (THE LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE) TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ONGOING SECURITIES FRAUD LAWSUIT.
What Is The Lawsuit About?
The complaint filed alleges that, between May 1, 2025 and January 28, 2026, Defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that Microsoft's Copilot family of products had experienced significant brand positioning, user experience, usage, data siloing, computational capacity, organizational, and interoperability problems; (2) that Microsoft's flagship proprietary AI model ranked well below competitors on a number of benchmark tests; (3) that Microsoft needed to increase by billions of dollars its capital expenditures and divert GPU and CPU capacity away from fulfilling demand for its profitable Azure services in order to improve the competitive positioning of its critical Copilot family of products and increase its AI-related R&D; (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, Microsoft had failed to convert a significant percentage of its commercial Microsoft 365 users to paid Copilot subscriptions and the Company's Copilot offerings had lost market share to rival products, a trend that was increasing; and (5) as a result, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
Contact Us To Participate or Learn More:
If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact us.
The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz,
Email us at: [email protected]
Call us at: 310-914-5007
Visit our website at: www.frankcruzlaw.com
Follow us for updates on Twitter: twitter.com/FRC_LAW.
If you inquire by email, please include your mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased.
To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
Contact Us:
The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz, Los Angeles
Frank R. Cruz,
Telephone: 310-914-5007
Email: [email protected]
Visit our website at: www.frankcruzlaw.com
SOURCE The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz, Los Angeles
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - July 24, 2026) - WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of common stock of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) between May 1, 2025 and January 28, 2026, inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the important August 11, 2026 lead plaintiff deadline.
SO WHAT: If you purchased Microsoft common stock during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.
WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Microsoft class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/cases/microsoft-corporation/join or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than August 11, 2026. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.
WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually handle securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered billions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.
DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, throughout the Class Period, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Microsoft's Copilot family of products had experienced significant brand positioning, user experience, usage, data siloing, computational capacity, organizational, and interoperability problems; (2) Microsoft's flagship proprietary AI model ranked well below competitors on a number of benchmark tests; (3) Microsoft needed to increase by billions of dollars its capital expenditures and divert graphics processing unit ("GPU") and central processing unit ("CPU") capacity away from fulfilling demand for its profitable Azure services in order to improve the competitive positioning of its critical Copilot family of products and increase its AI-related research and development ("R&D"); and (4) as a result, Microsoft had failed to convert a significant percentage of its commercial Microsoft 365 users to paid Copilot subscriptions and Microsoft's Copilot offerings had lost market share to rival products, a trend that was increasing. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.
To join the Microsoft class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/cases/microsoft-corporation/join or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for information on the class action.
No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.
Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.
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Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD, XETRA:AMD) saw its price target raised to $600 from $450 by Wedbush following the chipmaker’s Advancing AI 2026 event, with the analysts writing that new partnerships and improving supply chain conditions increased confidence in the company’s data center AI growth trajectory.
AMD hosted its Advancing AI 2026 event on Wednesday and Thursday, featuring a keynote presentation from CEO Lisa Su and management followed by an investor roundtable. Wedbush noted that management avoided discussing near-term financial performance ahead of AMD’s second-quarter 2026 earnings report, leaving the event focused primarily on the company’s broader AI strategy.
The analysts wrote that AMD is increasingly positioning itself as an “end-to-end compute franchise” spanning GPUs, CPUs, networking, software, client computing and physical AI, while highlighting a broad group of enterprise and frontier AI partners.
“Net, we came away incrementally more constructive on AMD's competitive trajectory,” Wedbush wrote, adding that conversations with server vendors and supply chain participants around the event pointed to continued acceleration in AI infrastructure investment and opportunities across the broader ecosystem.
Wedbush wrote that newly announced agreements with Microsoft and Anthropic provided greater confidence that AMD’s data center AI silicon and systems revenue will “substantially accelerate” in the second half of 2026 and through 2027.
The analysts also highlighted improving supply conditions, writing that AMD appears to be making progress in addressing constraints and meeting elevated customer demand for data center compute. Based on the event and industry checks, Wedbush increased its assumptions for AMD’s data center CPU and GPU revenue growth in 2026 and 2027, lifting its revenue and earnings expectations.
Wedbush also pointed to AMD’s partnership with Cerebras, writing that the collaboration combines Cerebras’ Wafer Scale Engine technology with AMD systems to target ultra-low-latency AI inference workloads. Initial deployments are expected later this year through Cerebras Cloud.
The analysts wrote that the relationship is likely to be revenue accretive compared with prior expectations for Cerebras and represents further validation of the company’s approach to delivering high-speed AI inference capabilities.
Wedbush also highlighted VAST Data as a potential beneficiary of AI infrastructure spending, writing that the privately held company appears to have emerged as a significant supplier of data management solutions for neocloud and AI model-building customers.
While the analysts noted that VAST’s software licenses can represent a meaningful cost for customers, they wrote that users highlighted benefits including improved storage efficiency, ease of use and faster returns on cloud infrastructure investments.
On Super Micro Computer, Wedbush wrote that industry conversations supported the view that the company’s recent margin expansion could be partly sustainable, potentially driven by a shift toward higher-value deployments and tight supply conditions. However, the analysts noted they would have greater confidence in the margin outlook with additional feedback on changes within Super Micro’s business.
Wedbush said continued AI infrastructure investment should support further growth across the sector, citing conversations with neocloud providers, data center builders, server vendors and component suppliers that pointed to ongoing acceleration in data center expansion.
The analysts also highlighted memory demand tied to AMD’s AI products, noting that newer Instinct offerings are expected to require significantly more high-bandwidth memory. Wedbush wrote that tight NAND and DRAM availability could continue until additional supply comes online in 2028, with price increases potentially starting at 20% in the third quarter and exceeding 30% in some cases.
Shares of AMD are up more than 150% so far this year, trading hands at $538 on Friday afternoon.
Advanced Micro Devices: Steady Revenue IncreasesAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD -3.54%) primarily generates its revenue by selling microprocessors and graphics processing units to original equipment manufacturers, public cloud service providers, and other enterprise clients.
It recently launched new EPYC processors alongside high-capacity deployment agreements, and it reported a 14% net income margin for the quarter ended March 28, 2026.
Alphabet: Sustained Revenue ScaleAlphabet (GOOGL +0.65%) earns most of its revenue through digital advertising services, cloud computing infrastructure, and the sale of various consumer hardware devices.
While facing development delays with a new generative model and increasing its capital expenditure guidance, it reported a 34% EBIT margin for the quarter ended June 30, 2026.
Why Revenue Matters for Retail InvestorsRevenue shows investors how much total money a company brings in before accounting for any operating expenses, taxes, or other costs, serving as a baseline measure of a business's top-line growth.
Quarterly Revenue for Advanced Micro Devices and AlphabetQuarter (Period End)Advanced Micro Devices RevenueAlphabet RevenueQ3 2024$6.8 billion (period ended Sept. 2024)$88.3 billion (period ended Sept. 2024)Q4 2024$7.7 billion (period ended Dec. 2024)$96.5 billion (period ended Dec. 2024)Q1 2025$7.4 billion (period ended March 2025)$90.2 billion (period ended March 2025)Q2 2025$7.7 billion (period ended June 2025)$96.4 billion (period ended June 2025)Q3 2025$9.2 billion (period ended Sept. 2025)$102.3 billion (period ended Sept. 2025)Q4 2025$10.3 billion (period ended Dec. 2025)$113.9 billion (period ended Dec. 2025)Q1 2026$10.3 billion (period ended March 2026)$109.9 billion (period ended March 2026)Q2 2026Not yet reported$119.8 billion (period ended June 2026)Data source: Company filings. Data as of July 24, 2026.
Foolish TakeThe revenue trends of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Google parent Alphabet reveal both are experiencing consistent year-over-year sales increases. That said, AMD is seeing faster growth. For instance, in its fiscal first quarter ended March 28, AMD’s sales grew by 38% year over year to $10.3 billion. In Q1, Alphabet’s revenue rose 22% compared to 2025, although its growth rate accelerated to 24% year over year in Q2.
AMD’s faster sales growth illustrates the key role its products serve in the artificial intelligence sector, and the level of customer demand involved. In fact, the company forecasted Q2 revenue to reach $11.2 billion, which represents a further acceleration to 45% year-over-year growth.
AMD’s sales look likely to continue its revenue expansion trajectory. On July 22, the company announced a new deal with AI giant Anthropic, and a separate announcement of an expanded partnership with Microsoft on July 20.
Alphabet’s incorporation of AI into Google has resulted in exceeding one billion monthly active users. This indicates the search engine giant is not losing customers to competitors. Its sales may not be rising as fast as AMD, but its 24% growth in Q2 shows Alphabet continues to benefit from an expanding business. Its Google Cloud division saw the greatest increase as revenues jumped 82% year over year to $24.8 billion.
Boeing (NYSE:BA | BA Price Prediction) enters its July 28 Q2 earnings report with a decade of revenue visibility with a market cap that’s less than a quarter of the price of the total order book. With deliveries rising, debt falling, and defense revenue accelerating, Boeing is showing meaningful progress in its turnaround.
Boeing’s Backlog Is 4x Larger Than Its Market Cap Boeing closed Q1 2026 with a record $695 billion backlog and currently sports a market cap of $164.48 billion. First-quarter revenue grew 14% year over year to $22.217 billion, commercial deliveries climbed to 143 aircraft from 130, and management paid down $6.95 billion of debt in the quarter, taking total debt from $54.1 billion to $47.2 billion.
The Defense Boom Is Already Showing Up in Boeing’s Results The FY2027 Department of War budget totals roughly $1.45 trillion, a 42% annual increase with 26% growth in air power funding. Boeing is already scaling into it: Patriot missile seeker production rises to 850 units in 2026 from 650 last year and 400 two years ago.
Defense, Space & Security revenue jumped 21% to $7.599 billion with operating earnings up 50% to $233 million. On July 23, the FAA restored Boeing’s authority to issue final airworthiness certifications for the 737 MAX and 787, removing a multi-year overhang.
Boeing Has a Bigger Order Book Than Lockheed Martin and RTX Combined Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) posted strong quarters, with Lockheed up 10% and RTX up 7%, but their order books are a fraction of Boeing’s. Lockheed reports a $230 billion backlog and RTX $289 billion, versus Boeing’s $695 billion.
Analysts’ consensus price target on $BA sits at $270.08 against the stock’s current share price of $209.23, with 21 buy ratings versus one sell.
The Bottom Line: Boeing’s Turnaround Has Become Measurable Boeing’s Q2 2026 earnings report is due July 28, with the Street modeling a loss of 34 cents per share on $24.05 billion of revenue. The Q1 core loss already narrowed from $0.49 to $0.20, Director Bradley Tilden bought 1,370 shares at $218.50 in May, and prediction markets price the earnings beat at 64% with a crowd that has been 100% correct on prior BA markets. The July 28 earnings report is the next catalyst that could let Boeing’s backlog thesis compound.
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Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options: https://bit.ly/2v9tH6D. Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang continues to grow the Mag 7 giant by focusing on creating fundamental tech tools, and investing in other rising AI leaders, says Kevin Hincks.
I keep buying NVIDIA because the loudest voices in the room are arguing about the wrong side of the ledger. The market keeps asking whether hyperscalers will slow their AI spend. The hyperscalers keep answering by writing bigger checks. That gap between fear and order books is why my finger keeps landing on the buy button before this August 26 earnings report from NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction).
The Demand Side Keeps Accelerating Here is the receipt. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) just spent $30.88B on capex in a single quarter, up 84.39% year over year, with an AI business run rate of $37B growing 123%, and commercial remaining performance obligations of $627B, up 99%. That backlog is contracted revenue waiting on compute that does not yet exist. Every dollar of that spend flows toward the picks and shovels vendor that owns the accelerator, the networking, and the software stack. NVIDIA sold $75.246 billion of Data Center revenue last quarter, up 92% year over year, with networking alone at $14.8 billion, up 199%. Supply commitments now sit at $119.0 billion. Jensen Huang called it “the largest infrastructure expansion in human history.” The order book agrees with him.
The Basic Economics Lesson When demand runs faster than supply, the toll booth operator wins. NVIDIA’s Q1 FY27 non-GAAP gross margin came in at 75.0%, operating margin at 60.38%, net margin at 55.60%. Return on equity hit 101.49% and return on invested capital reached 92.21%. Free cash flow came in at $48.554 billion in the quarter, up 85.41%. Debt to equity is 0.073 and interest coverage sits at 503x. This is a balance sheet that funds the next platform while returning cash. Management raised the dividend from $0.01 to $0.25 per share and authorized another $80.0 billion in buybacks on top of $38.5 billion remaining, returning roughly $20.0 billion to shareholders in a single quarter.
Why NVIDIA and Not Microsoft I own both. Microsoft is the customer paying the toll. Revenue grew 18.3% last quarter against NVIDIA’s 85.23%. Microsoft’s net margin sits at 36.15% against NVIDIA’s 55.60%, ROIC at 21.02% against 92.21%. Microsoft trades at a P/E of 28 against NVIDIA’s 43, and I understand the appeal of the cheaper multiple. The growth gap earns the premium. Microsoft’s stock is down 18.93% year to date while NVIDIA is up 13.84%. The market is pricing Microsoft’s capex as sin and NVIDIA’s revenue as the beneficiary. The operating numbers describe that trade.
The Real Risk China is the risk I take seriously. NVIDIA guided Q2 FY27 to $91.0 billion with zero Data Center compute revenue from China, against $4.6 billion a year ago. Export policy could stay hostile for years. Customer concentration is real, with hyperscalers approximately 50% of Data Center. I have sat with both concerns. Guidance implies acceleration despite the China zero, and hyperscaler concentration reads as a feature when those customers are capacity constrained rather than demand constrained. The 10-Q chatter on r/investing gets loud, but the backlog is louder.
Why the Buy Button Stays Live Analyst consensus target sits at $302.31 against a current $212.06. The earnings reaction is secondary. I am buying because every hyperscaler capex dollar for the next several quarters has an NVIDIA logo on it, and the buy button stays live until that stops being true.
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Marley Kayden and Sam Vadas look beyond the first round of Mag 7 earnings and fears of rising CapEx to focus on other headlines catching investor attention to close the week. They talk about the significance of Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang joining X and economic data showing a surprising amount of resiliency.
Revenue: Total revenue for Q2 was $34.3 billion, down 0.7% year over year.Mobility and Broadband Service Revenue: $23.4 billion, up 2.8% year over year.Adjuste
Verizon signed an over $1 billion artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure deal with Google, and the company expects to sign several similar deals by the end of the year, Verizon CEO Dan Schulman said Friday (July 24) during a second quarter earnings call.
In the recently signed agreement, Verizon dark fiber will be used to connect Google’s data centers. In the other deals that the company expects to announce by year’s end, Verizon will earn “multiple billions of dollars in revenue” over the next several years, Schulman said.
“These are long-duration, high-quality contracted revenue streams from some of the most demanding infrastructure customers in the world,” Schulman said.
“We believe that this is just the beginning,” Schulman added. “The build-out of AI infrastructure across the United States is one of the largest capital cycles of our lifetime.”
Verizon is uniquely positioned to participate in this build-out because it owns an extensive long-haul and metro fiber footprint and it has built the carrier-grade, low-latency, highly resilient transport network that hyperscalers need to connect compute, models and regions, Schulman said.
The company has also begun retrofitting many of its central offices into data centers for inference edgecomputing, and it is already talking with multiple partners who are eager to use these power-ready and permitted locations, he said.
“We are moving quickly to expand our TAM [total addressable market] in the rapidly growing AI infrastructure market,” Schulman said. “The agreements we have signed are the leading edge of a strategy that will become a meaningful, incremental leg of growth for Verizon.”
Verizon announced in a January 2025 press release that it launched a strategy and suite of products and solutions called Verizon AI Connect that is designed to serve hyperscalers, cloud providers and global enterprises by managing AI resource-intensive workloads.
The company said at the time that Google Cloud and Meta were among the early adopters of these solutions.
In a Friday earnings release, Schulman said: “Our core connectivity business is gaining momentum, and with the emergence of AI infrastructure revenue, we are fundamentally reshaping Verizon’s growth trajectory.”
PYMNTS reported Wednesday that during Google parent company Alphabet’s second-quarter earnings call, the company announced that it had raised its 2026 capital spending forecast from the previous $180 billion to $190 billion to the new forecast of $195 billion to $205 billion.
Key Takeaways Alphabet pairs a Momentum Score of A with a strong earnings surprise history and 32.7% earnings growth. MasTec combines an A Momentum Score with a 46.3% expected earnings growth rate this year. Goldman Sachs made the screen with an A Momentum Score and projected earnings growth of 34.1%. For investors seeking to maximize returns, high-momentum stocks merit close attention. To identify stocks with strong upside potential, investors can adopt Richard Driehaus’s “buy high and sell higher” strategy, a philosophy he famously championed and that earned him a place on Barron’s All-Century Team.
Applying the Driehaus momentum-investing strategy, Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL - Free Report) , MasTec, Inc. (MTZ - Free Report) and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS - Free Report) have emerged as the top momentum picks, offering attractive entry opportunities for investors now.
How the Driehaus Momentum Strategy Uncovers Winning Stocks Regarding the strategy, Driehaus once said: “I would much rather invest in a stock that’s increasing in price and take the risk that it may begin to decline than invest in a stock that’s already in decline and try to guess when it will turn around.” In line with this insight, the American Association of Individual Investors (“AAII”) considered the 50-day moving average one of the key criteria when creating a portfolio aligned with Driehaus’ philosophy.
It is calculated by dividing the numerator (month-end price minus 50-day moving average of month-end price) by the 50-day moving average of the month-end price. Another momentum indicator — positive relative strength — has also been included in this strategy. A positive percentage 50-day moving average indicates that the stock is trading above its 50-day moving average, signaling an uptrend.
Moreover, AAII found that Driehaus primarily focuses on strong earnings growth rates and impressive earnings projections to pick potential outperformers. Companies with a strong history of beating estimates are also prioritized in this strategy, which was designed to deliver better long-term returns.
Research Wizard Stock Selection Criteria To make the strategy more profitable, we have considered only those stocks that have a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and a Momentum Score of A or B. Our research shows that stocks with a Style Score of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1, offer the best upside potential.
• Zacks Rank equal to #1
Whether the market is good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 have a proven track record of outperformance. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
• Last 5-year average EPS growth rates above 2%
Strong EPS growth history ensures an improving business
• Trailing 12-month EPS growth greater than 0 and industry median
Higher EPS growth compared to the industry average indicates superior earnings performance
• Last four-quarter average EPS surprise greater than 5%
Solid EPS surprise history indicates better price performance
• Positive percentage change in 50-day moving average and relative strength over 4 weeks
Positive percentage change in the 50-day moving average and the relative strength signal uptrend
• Momentum Score equal to or less than B
A favorable momentum score indicates that it is ideal to capitalize on the momentum with the highest probability of success.
These few parameters have narrowed the universe of more than 7,743 stocks to only 13.
Here are three of the 13 stocks:
Alphabet Alphabet operates Google Services, Google Cloud and Other Bets, serving customers worldwide. It has a Momentum Score of A. The trailing four-quarter earnings surprise for GOOGL is 86.7%, on average. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 32.7%.
MasTec MasTec provides engineering, construction and maintenance services for communications, energy and utility infrastructure across the United States and Canada. It has a Momentum Score of A. The trailing four-quarter earnings surprise for MTZ is 15.4%, on average. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 46.3%.
Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs provides a broad range of financial services to corporations, institutions, governments and individuals worldwide. It has a Momentum Score of A. The trailing four-quarter earnings surprise for GS is 20.4%, on average. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 34.1%.
The cruise industry has rebounded nicely post-pandemic, but Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL +3.38%) stock is up just over 1% in 2026. With the second-quarter release imminent, should you buy the stock now?
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The first-quarter results were great for Royal Caribbean. The cruise liner posted north of $4.5 billion in revenue, and its adjusted earnings per share soundly beat Wall Street's expectations. The second quarter should be much of the same, as bookings and margins remain high. The cost of fuel and shrinking consumer discretionary spending are the biggest threats to another great quarter and year for Royal Caribbean.
The company also has a substantial level of debt, with nearly $20 billion in long-term liabilities. But as long as consumer spending and demand keep this current pace, Royal Caribbean will remain an industry leader.
Now could be a good time for investors on the sidelines to buy in, as Royal Caribbean is currently more than 20% below its 52-week high. The stock also pays a solid quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, a yield just over 2%. The company's forward P/E is a reasonable 16.5, and its PEG sits around 1.3. These indicate the stock is fairly priced.
Image source: Getty Images.
The cruise industry is also cyclical, but Royal Caribbean seems to be doing everything it can to keep customers happy and coming back. The brand is expanding aggressively across the globe as well, with plans to add double-digit ships to its fleet, alongside new destinations. The brand's strength and current valuation make it a compelling stock to consider ahead of earnings on July 28.
Barring any major events, such as a pandemic or a severe economic downturn, Royal Caribbean is sailing on much smoother financial waters, and I'm cautiously bullish on the cruise liner's trajectory for the next several years.
Catie Hogan 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 PYPL is expected to report Q2 revenue growth, while non-GAAP EPS is projected to decline.PYPL's TPV is expected to rise 7% as active accounts and payment transactions also show growth.PYPL faces pressure from competition, macro uncertainty, currency swings and a lower transaction margin. PayPal (PYPL - Free Report) is set to report its second-quarter 2026 results on July 28, before the opening bell.
This digital payment company expected currency-neutral revenue growth in the low single digits for the to-be-reported quarter. Non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) are expected to have declined in the high-single digits or approximately -9%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter revenues is pegged at $8.51 billion, indicating an increase of 2.68% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.
The consensus mark for earnings is pinned at $1.28 per share and remains unchanged over the past two months. It indicates a decline of 8.57% from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The company’s EPS surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, with the average surprise being 5.29%. The graph below depicts this surprising history:
Q2 Earnings Whispers for PYPLHowever, our proprietary model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for PayPal this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, which is not the case here. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
PayPal has an Earnings ESP of -0.02% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Factors Likely to Shape PayPal’s Q2 ResultsPayPal is evolving into a comprehensive commerce platform, moving far beyond payments by leveraging advanced data-powered tools to accelerate merchant expansion and foster customer loyalty. PYPL’s second-quarter results are expected to benefit from its scale, diversification and balance sheet strength. During the second quarter, the company continued to make progress on its transformation efforts and is likely to have gained from consumers and merchants expanding usage of PayPal.
PYPL is expected to have benefited from an improving Total Payment Volume (“TPV”). The metric is likely to have gained from the company’s strong relationship with merchants and consumers.
Despite strong fundamentals, diversified offerings and strategic moves, PayPal is likely to have faced competitive pressure from other digital payment companies. Broader macroeconomic pressures and uncertainty are also likely to have affected its second-quarter results.
The nature of business makes PayPal vulnerable to foreign exchange fluctuations. A significant part of the company’s operations is international. Thus, the appreciation or depreciation of the U.S. dollar versus foreign currencies could have impacted the company’s to-be-reported results.
Q2 Projections for PYPLThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for PayPal’s transaction revenues is pegged at $7.66 billion, which suggests a 3% increase from the year-ago quarter.
PYPL is also poised to have benefited from its value-added services. Its consensus mark for revenues from other value-added services is pegged at $857.8 million for the second quarter, up 1.3% from the year-ago period.
The consensus mark for TPV is pegged at $474.515 billion, indicating 7% year-over-year growth. PayPal’s active accounts are likely to have reached 439.9 million, which denotes an increase from the year-ago value of 438 million.
The consensus mark for the number of payment transactions stands at 6.537 billion, which is above the company’s reported figure of 6.226 billion in the same quarter last year.
However, the consensus mark for the transaction margin is pegged at 43.83%, down from the year-ago figure of 46.40%.
PayPal anticipated its second-quarter transaction margin (TM) dollars to decline in the low-single digits, excluding interest on customer balances. The company expected its non-transaction operating expenses to grow by a mid-single-digit percentage in the second quarter.
PYPL’s Price Performance & ValuationPayPal shares have gained 32% in the past month. The Zacks Financial Transaction Services has increased 7.8%, while the S&P 500 has remained at 0.0% for the same period. Rivals like Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) and Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) continue to expand their offerings, challenging PayPal’s dominance in digital payments. Mastercard shares have increased 9.5%, while Visa shares have gained 7.2% over the same timeframe.
Compared to its peers, PayPal’s performance has been notably stronger, mainly due to a takeover speculation. PayPal is evaluating a reported $53-billion takeover proposal from Stripe and Advent International, according to a Reuters report. However, its board reportedly believes the offer undervalues the company, leaving the door open for further negotiations or competing bids.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, even after the stock’s recent rally, PayPal shares are trading cheaply, as suggested by the Value Score of A. In terms of forward 12-month P/E, PYPL stock is trading at 10.06X compared with the Zacks Financial Transaction Services industry’s 18.12X.
Shares of Visa and Mastercard are currently trading at P/E ratios of 24.21X and 24.84X, respectively.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
PYPL: Buy, Sell or Hold?PayPal is evolving beyond a basic payment processor into an integrated commerce platform. By consolidating its services into a single ecosystem, the company is strengthening connections between consumers and merchants. By focusing on smoother user experiences, deeper merchant partnerships and growing internationally, PayPal is laying the groundwork for durable long-term growth. However, competition in digital payments, macroeconomic uncertainty and foreign-exchange volatility pose challenges for the to-be-reported quarter.
Given its strategic advantages and the existing headwinds, the stock is best treated as a hold. For long-term investors its important to wait before adding to positions due to short-term volatility.
Intel (INTC -7.89%) reported second-quarter results after the market closed on Thursday, and they were the strongest numbers of its turnaround so far. Revenue rose 25% year over year to $16.1 billion -- the chipmaker's fastest quarterly growth in more than 15 years, and far above management's own April forecast, which topped out at $14.8 billion.
The stock, which closed Thursday at $100.23 after slipping 2.3% in the regular session, jumped about 12% in after-hours trading Thursday. But at the time of this writing on Friday, that gain had been erased, and shares had fallen below Thursdays closing price.
Intel's revenue was roughly flat in 2025, and it grew just 7% year over year in the first quarter of 2026. From there to 25% is a sharp acceleration for a business many investors had all but written off.
So, why didn't the stock hold its gain?
Image source: Intel.
Where the growth came from Powering its business during the quarter was Intel's data center and AI (artificial intelligence) segment. Revenue there rose 59% year over year to $6.3 billion, accelerating from 22% growth in the first quarter as AI-related demand for the company's server processors climbed.
But the growth was broad-based, too. Client computing and physical AI revenue rose 13% to $8.9 billion. And Intel's foundry segment (the business that manufactures chips, still mostly Intel's own) grew 31% to $5.8 billion.
"AI is driving unprecedented demand for compute, and as we continue to execute, Intel is well-positioned to capture sustainable growth across our CPU franchise, ASICs, advanced packaging and vast wafer foundry network," said CEO Lip-Bu Tan in the company's second-quarter earnings release.
Profitability may be the more impressive part of the report. Intel's non-GAAP (adjusted) gross margin came in at 41.8%, up 12.1 percentage points from the year-ago period. Even more, its adjusted operating margin swung to 17.2% from negative 3.9% a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share were $0.42, against a $0.10 adjusted loss per share in the year-ago quarter. In dollars, that's $2.2 billion of adjusted net income from a business that ran an adjusted loss in the same period last year. The quarter also produced $7.0 billion in operating cash flow.
Of course, one number in the report needs decoding: Intel's reported net loss of $11.0 billion. That figure reflects a $12.5 billion non-cash, mark-to-market charge tied to shares Intel holds in escrow under its CHIPS Act agreement with the U.S. government. It's an accounting charge, not a cash cost from operations.
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The price now assumes more quarters like this And looking ahead, Intel's guidance suggests the momentum can hold. Management forecast third-quarter revenue of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion, put adjusted earnings per share at $0.38, and forecast a 42% gross margin at the midpoint, all on an adjusted basis. At the midpoint, that implies year-over-year growth of about 19% -- a step down from 25%, but a second straight quarter of growth the old Intel couldn't have printed.
And the company is spending to meet the demand it sees. Chief financial officer Dave Zinsner said Intel is "meaningfully increasing our investments in equipment, clean room space, and substrates." That spending should support growth, though the resulting depreciation could weigh on margins in the years ahead.
Then there's the stock. Within the past year, shares traded below $20. Today, even after the pullback, shares trade aroudn $96.
This backdrop -- a huge surge in the stock price over the last year -- helps explain the market's reaction today.
Valuation is where I hesitate. The stock's price tag is simply hard to justify. The company commands a market capitalization of about $480 billion. Annualize the adjusted earnings pace of its current and guided quarters, and shares trade at about 60 times that figure. That price assumes quarters like this one become the norm -- and for a long time.
So, is this the quarter that settles the argument? Partly. The turnaround is no longer just a story. The company grew 25% and produced a $2.2 billion adjusted profit doing it.
But given its sky-high valuation, the stock demands that the pace continue -- even after a sharp pullback from 52-week highs recently.
The major indexes are rallying on Friday. Not by a lot, but any uptick counts.
Oil prices retreated from recent highs on reports of potential diplomatic progress in the Middle East. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI +0.46%) is up 0.7% at 11:46 a.m. ET, gaining roughly 310 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.05%) has climbed 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC -0.64%) peeked 0.1% higher. All three indexes started the day lower, ranging from a 0.1% drop in the Nasdaq Composite to a 0.2% increase in the Dow.
^DJI data by YCharts
China and Pakistan step in and oil prices step down Brent crude is trading near $95 per barrel, down roughly 4% from Thursday's close, after Reuters reported that Pakistan is exploring ways to broker new peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. China is apparently pushing the diplomatic effort, according to three Pakistani sources. The Iranian conflict is starting to weigh on Chinese interests, because the Middle Kingdom is a leading importer of oil from the Persian Gulf.
This comes after President Trump told Axios earlier this week that he's considering a "massive attack" on Iran that would be bigger than anything seen so far in the conflict. In other words, tensions are still high. U.S. forces have been hitting Iranian targets for 13 straight nights. But the mere possibility of diplomatic progress is enough to take some pressure off oil markets.
Image source: Getty Images.
Earnings season rumblings also moved the market this morning. American Express (AXP -4.45%) took 120 points off the Dow score with a 5.9% price drop. The credit card veteran beat earnings estimates and raised full-year revenue guidance. Still, profit margins will compress slightly in the second half as the company reinvests the extra top-line cash into cardholder perks and other growth initiatives.
The tech sector added more pressure than fuel to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes. Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix (SKHY -8.81%) is down 6.6% on reports that the company is reallocating some of its AI-oriented HBM manufacturing capacity to commodity DRAM production. Is the memory demand from AI computing systems slowing down, or are DRAM margins growing lucrative? Hynix's first earnings report as a Nasdaq-traded company should provide some insight next week.
Apple (AAPL +3.52%) is up 2.5% and providing the biggest boost to all three major indexes. The stock bounced back from Thursday's decline as investors rotate back into mega-cap tech.
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Wrapping up a wild week Friday's gains brought the Dow and S&P 500 back to where they were at the end of last Friday, making up for Thursday's deep cuts. The Nasdaq Composite is down 1.4% this week. Not exactly catastrophic, but not a great week either.
The market spent most of the week digesting what it actually costs to build the AI infrastructure everyone keeps promising will change everything. Next week will bring another four reports from the Magnificent 7 club, giving investors a clearer picture of how the AI boom is shaping up.
The semiconductor sector is facing its own set of problems. After this week's earnings reports, investors are jumpy about anything that suggests AI demand might be slowing.
Oil prices are still elevated despite Friday's pullback. The Middle East situation remains volatile, adding more fuel to inflationary fires than to vehicles and power plants these days.
Can this rally last? That depends on two things: oil staying below $100 and other tech giants showing lighter capex bills than Alphabet did this week. Stay tuned.
American Express is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Anders Bylund has positions in Alphabet and American Express. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, American Express, and Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Spending by American Express (AXP -4.45%) cardholders continues to rage, as the company just posted its largest quarter of billed business over the past year.
Billed business volume was $455.8 billion in the second quarter, up 10% year over year and roughly 6.5% from the prior quarter.
Despite strong spending data, American Express stock traded roughly 5% lower, as of 12:42 p.m. ET, after posting second-quarter results.
Amex reported $4.53 earnings per share, ahead of Wall Street consensus estimates. Revenue of $19.64 billion missed consensus by about $50 million.
The company also reiterated its full-year EPS guide of $17.30 to $17.90 and then raised its full-year revenue guide from up 9% to 10% to just 10% year over year.
Here’s what this all means for the stock.
Image source: Getty Images.
Investors likely had high expectationsOf all the credit card players, Amex is viewed as best-in-breed.
Not only does the company operate a closed-loop payment system that generates strong annual recurring fee income, but the company also has the highest-quality cardholders from a credit perspective.
Amex’s card base caters to a higher-net-worth population that tends to be more resilient through the economic cycle. The sell-off can likely be attributed to high expectations entering the quarter.
“Overall, the quarter was marked by a top-line shortfall,” Evercore ISI analyst John Pancari wrote in a research note earlier on July 24.
Expenses in the quarter also jumped 12% year over year and 4.4% from the prior quarter, which could also be pressuring shares.
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Management attributed the step-up in expenses to investments made to refresh its U.S. platinum card offerings, in which the company continues to win new customers.
Amex added 3 million new card members in the second quarter, about in line with what it has done over the past five quarters.
“Retention rates remain very high and we continue to attract a large number of high credit worthy customers with 65% of new consumer accounts coming from Millennials and Gen Zs,” Amex’s CEO Stephen Squeri said on the company’s earnings call.
Meanwhile, the company earlier this year raised the subscription fee on its platinum card from $695 per year to $895.
Is the stock a buy?American Express has retreated from all-time highs made at the end of 2025 and is now down about 13.3% this year.
There is certainly some cyclicality in the stock, as it depends on consumer spending and strong consumer credit quality, which could struggle if there is an eventual recession.
But right now, the data doesn’t support that, as spending data continues to come in strong.
Furthermore, despite the top-line miss in the second quarter, the company maintained EPS guidance and increased full-year revenue guidance.
On a price-to-tangible-book basis, the stock currently trades at a high valuation, but still not too far above its five-year average. Amex also now trades below its two-year average forward-earnings multiple.
AXP Price to Tangible Book Value data by YCharts
I think long-term investors can continue to buy the stock and enjoy solid returns. Not only is the Amex brand incredibly powerful, but the stock also has some ability to hedge inflation.
While it’s not immune to a slowdown in the economy, Amex can charge higher interest rates on credit cards when rates rise, and its payment network collects fees based on a percentage of each transaction, so fees will increase when transactions get more expensive.
Revenue Growth: 10% year-over-year increase.Earnings Per Share (EPS): $4.53 for the quarter, with full-year guidance of $17.30 to $17.90.Net Income: Up 8% year
Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).
Back in 1957, William Shockley should have owned the future.
He had co-invented the transistor, won the Nobel Prize, and had eight of the brightest young engineers in America working under him in his Mountain View, California, laboratory.
Instead, all eight engineers quit because they found Shockley impossible to work for.
With no product and no revenue, the eight quickly realized that no institution or company would support them. Back then, the suburbs and farmland south of San Francisco and north of San Jose weren’t exactly “Silicon Valley” yet. The budding tech firms in the region weren’t quite ready to invest in unproven ideas.
So they made one phone call.
A young financier named Arthur Rock listened to their story and took a risk.
Although Rock did not have the capital himself, he was willing to bet on people he deemed impressive.
He found a camera company willing to gamble $1.5 million on eight founders and an idea.
Thus, Fairchild Semiconductor was born. Fairchild eventually became one of the most influential technology companies in history, spawning Intel Corp. (INTC) and dozens of other semiconductor firms worth trillions of dollars today.
And the men Shockley lost became known affectionately as the “Traitorous Eight.” They were the accidental architects of a model Silicon Valley still runs on to this day.
Source: Intel
The Traitorous Eight: That’s Gordon Moore – of “Moore’s law” fame – on the far left.
That same instinct resurfaced in 1998 when Andy Bechtolsheim sat down with two Stanford University grad students. Right on the spot, before their company had a business model or recognizable brand, the Sun Microsystems co-founder wrote a $100,000 check to Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Anyone who’s ever Googled… well… anything knows how that story ended. But for the record: That $100,000 check reportedly bought roughly a 1% stake in Google, a position that eventually became worth tens of billions of dollars.
More recently, in 2023 Spark Capital invested $75 million in Anthropic while it was still an obscure AI startup with little revenue. Today, millions of people are on a first-name basis with Claude, and that stake is estimated to be worth roughly $7 billion.
Across nearly 70 years, the technologies and the players keep changing. The playbook doesn’t.
Rock backed eight unknown engineers. Bechtolsheim backed two graduate students. Spark Capital backed an AI startup few people had heard of.
In each case, the biggest opportunity wasn’t buying a great business after everyone recognized it. It was recognizing exceptional founders and businesses before everyone else did.
I think that same playbook matters more today than it has in decades.
First, because AI has created an unprecedented race to develop new technologies. Second, because the companies leading that race increasingly have more money than time. And finally, because that combination is changing where some of the biggest fortunes in technology are being created.
Let me explain…
Why AI Giants Buy to Fill Critical Gaps There’s a reason this playbook has endured for nearly 70 years, and it isn’t just today’s excitement over AI.
When the prize is building the next great computing platform, speed becomes everything. If a startup has already solved a problem that would take your own engineers two years to crack, buying that company is often far cheaper than losing those two years.
That’s exactly what’s happening in today’s AI race.
Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) made that decision early, back in 2014, when it acquired the British AI startup DeepMind. Rather than spending years assembling a comparable research lab from scratch, Google bought one of the world’s best AI teams outright. More than a decade later, DeepMind sits at the heart of Google’s AI strategy.
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) reached a similar conclusion last year when it invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI. The deal wasn’t just about software. Scale AI had become one of the industry’s leading providers of the high-quality training data and infrastructure needed to build advanced AI models. Instead of trying to re-create that expertise internally, Meta bought a seat at the table.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) made perhaps the biggest AI boom bet of all. Its $23 billion worth of investments in OpenAI, made between 2019 and 2023, gave the company immediate access to one of the world’s leading AI developers years before it could have built a comparable capability on its own.
And this isn’t unique to AI. Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) spent much of the 1990s building its networking empire by buying promising startups rather than reinventing technologies itself.
Long story short, this isn’t a new playbook. It’s an old one that’s becoming even more valuable.
Every one of those deals happened because the real value had already been created inside a startup, long before Wall Street ever started paying attention.
That’s why I think one of the most important shifts in investing today is this:
The buyout, not the IPO, is increasingly becoming the finish line many early investors are aiming for.
How to Identify AI Acquisition Targets Before Wall Street Even the best startup investors get it wrong sometimes. And nobody understands that better than the funders themselves.
Bessemer Venture Partners keeps what it calls its “Anti-Portfolio” – a public list of companies it had the opportunity to back but passed on. Google is on it. So are Apple, eBay, Airbnb, FedEx, and dozens of other companies that went on to become enormous successes.
Being early is no guarantee, but it does give you the opportunity to make a decision before the rest of the market has reached the same conclusion.
That’s the common thread running through Fairchild Semiconductor, Google, Anthropic, and countless other success stories. The biggest fortunes come from someone recognizing extraordinary people and extraordinary businesses before the consensus formed.
That’s the playbook. And I believe it’s becoming more relevant again as AI reshapes the technology landscape.
The challenge, of course, is knowing what characteristics to look for when opportunities do appear.
That’s exactly what I want to show you during my free 2026 AI Megadeal Event on Thursday, July 30, at 1 p.m. Eastern.
I’ll explain why I believe AI is creating a new generation of acquisition opportunities, walk through the framework I use to identify them, and share the one company I believe best represents this shift today.
That event is free to attend, but you must reserve your seat in order to get an invitation.
If the history of Arthur Rock, Andy Bechtolsheim, and Spark Capital teaches us anything, it’s that the biggest investment opportunities often look the least obvious at the beginning.
My goal is to help you put this playbook to work before the rest of Wall Street catches on.
OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has assigned a Long-Term Issue Credit Rating of “a+” (Excellent) to $750 million 4.95% senior unsecured notes, due July 2031, issued by the Travelers Companies, Inc. (Travelers) (headquartered in New York, NY). The outlook assigned to this Credit Rating (rating) is stable. The net proceeds of the issuance are expected to be used for general corporate purposes.Through second-quarter 2026, Travelers' financial leverage ratio is 21.4%, as calculated by AM Bes.
SummaryInternational Business Machines Corporation experienced a historic stock drop after a Q2 earnings warning that showed sluggish 1% YoY revenue growth.Despite lowered 2026 revenue guidance, IBM maintained margin expansion and reiterated a $1B FCF increase, signaling resilient profitability.Strategic moves in cybersecurity and quantum computing, including partnerships and acquisitions, position IBM for future growth.I reiterate a Buy rating for IBM stock, viewing the recent selloff as a generational buying opportunity given IBM’s discounted valuation and AI-enabling role. Getty Images
Introduction International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has made its fair share of headlines lately. We'll get into the details in a second, but basically the company issued a Q2 earnings warning earlier this month, and the
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