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Nike is deliberately shrinking itself, slashing sales of its most iconic products and retreating from entire markets. Whether that painful gamble rebuilds the brand or just accelerates the decline is the question every shareholder now faces.

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Per CFO Dave Denton, Nike (NYSE:NKE | NKE Price Prediction) reported first-quarter revenue of $11.2 billion, down 4%, with gross margin of 42.8%, up 60 basis points, and EPS of $0.48. Shares fell 5.8% to $33.10, down 47.7% year to date and 75.5% over five years. The decline reflects Nike’s plan to get smaller. Denton, new to the role, also delivered the full-year outlook.

Three Cuts Nike Chose to Make Dunk The Dunk is a low-top basketball shoe that became a lifestyle sneaker. CEO Elliott Hill said Nike reduced Dunk revenue by nearly 50% on purpose, creating a roughly $200 million drag in Sportswear. Pulling volume restores full prices because when popular shoes sit on every shelf, retailers discount them.

Jordan Retro Hill said, “We’re going to get back to leading the scarcity model that we created. Simply put, we’ve been oversupplying our iconic retro product, asking it to do too much.”

He also said Jordan made up 13% of Nike’s global business, with revenue down by the mid-teens. Rare shoes command premium prices. “When consumers see the Jumpman, it should feel special. It should feel earned,” said Hill.

Greater China Greater China revenue fell 26%, according to Nike. Hill called the digital marketplace “too broad. It wasn’t differentiated, and it had become promotional.” Nike is cutting back to official stores on Tmall, JD, and Douyin and its own app, expecting continued pressure on revenue and profitability in the near term.

Why the Growing Business Can’t Cover the Gap Yet Hill said Nike’s performance business grew by high single digits on a $16 billion base, with gains across running, football, training, basketball, tennis, and golf. Yet he acknowledged the limit: “Our Nike performance business is not yet large enough to offset the pressure we’re seeing in Nike Sportswear, Jordan brand, and Greater China.”

Sportswear made up just under half of revenue and fell by low double digits, Hill said. Running demand is strong: On Holding (NYSE:ONON) grew quarterly revenue 13.5% year over year. Softness is spreading across the category. A CNBC Fast Money panelist noted “Lululemon is going through the same thing” as Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) works through its own slowdown.

What Shareholders Are Being Asked to Accept “While these decisions can dampen near-term top line results, our focus is on improving the quality of revenue and creating a more sustainable foundation for long-term growth,” said Hill.

Denton guided fiscal 2027 revenue to decline in the high single-digit range, with operating profit falling by a greater percentage than revenue. Adjusted EPS is set at $1.15 to $1.35 versus GAAP EPS of $2.10 in fiscal 2026. Pain may extend into fiscal 2028. Most of the Pace program’s $2.5 billion in savings arrives in fiscal years 29 and 30.

Verdict: A Credible Plan That Still Needs a Floor The strategy is credible because Nike’s results back it up. Where management restored discipline, products responded: Air Force One is a “stable, full-price business,” and the Shanghai House of Innovation has posted 10 consecutive months of growth. The risk is that cutting revenue has no natural stopping point, and the timeline already extends into fiscal 2028.

The test is Nike’s November investor day. A five-year framework with a specific, dated return to growth for Sportswear, Jordan, and China would strengthen the recovery case. Longer timelines would suggest a strategy of demolition without a clear rebuilding endpoint.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Mmbg Investment Advisors CO. lifted its holdings in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA – Free Report) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 272,239 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,929 shares during the period. NVIDIA makes up approximately 4.3% of Mmbg Investment Advisors CO.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Mmbg Investment Advisors CO.’s holdings in NVIDIA were worth $54,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of NVIDIA by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 191,200,989 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $33,345,453,000 after purchasing an additional 4,019,505 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of NVIDIA by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 143,239,504 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $26,714,167,000 after buying an additional 446,178 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its stake in shares of NVIDIA by 13,709.1% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 125,760,307 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $23,454,297,000 after buying an additional 124,849,603 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of NVIDIA by 10.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 133,768,018 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $23,329,141,000 after buying an additional 12,575,177 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in NVIDIA by 2.3% during the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 91,954,159 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $18,399,108,000 after buying an additional 2,045,101 shares in the last quarter. 65.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NVIDIA In other NVIDIA news, CFO Colette Kress sold 34,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.05, for a total value of $7,648,787.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 765,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,595,812.15. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Timothy S. Teter sold 30,460 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.80, for a total value of $6,786,488.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,687,660 shares in the company, valued at $598,810,648. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 1,766,118 shares of company stock worth $399,450,353 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.94% of the company’s stock.

NVIDIA Trading Up 1.3% NASDAQ:NVDA opened at $233.95 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $218.74 and its 200-day moving average is $207.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a current ratio of 4.59. NVIDIA Corporation has a 52 week low of $164.27 and a 52 week high of $237.88. The firm has a market cap of $5.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 2.22. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The computer hardware maker reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $96.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.27 billion. NVIDIA had a net margin of 63.66% and a return on equity of 96.04%. NVIDIA’s revenue for the quarter was up 105.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that NVIDIA Corporation will post 9.25 earnings per share for the current year.

NVIDIA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the computer hardware maker to purchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

NVIDIA Announces Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. NVIDIA’s payout ratio is currently 12.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes A number of research firms have commented on NVDA. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on NVIDIA from $300.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on NVIDIA in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Itau BBA Securities dropped their price target on NVIDIA from $256.00 to $218.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of NVIDIA from $360.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of NVIDIA in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NVIDIA presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.71.

View Our Latest Stock Report on NVDA

More NVIDIA News Here are the key news stories impacting NVIDIA this week:

Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley named NVIDIA its top semiconductor pick, maintaining an Overweight rating and setting a $300 price target. The firm believes NVIDIA’s software ecosystem, scale and positioning across AI infrastructure trends give it a durable competitive moat. Morgan Stanley names NVIDIA a top pick Positive Sentiment: NVIDIA’s recently announced $150 billion buyback authorization lifts total remaining repurchase capacity to approximately $235 billion. Investors view the plan as a sign of management confidence and a potential source of per-share earnings support. NVIDIA buyback analysis Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to raise expectations for hyperscaler spending, with Barclays estimating NVIDIA could generate $401 billion in hyperscaler revenue in 2027. CoreWeave’s launch of the Vera Rubin platform and additional enterprise customers also supports demand for NVIDIA’s next-generation systems. Barclays hyperscaler revenue estimate Neutral Sentiment: The broader semiconductor and technology complex is attracting buying interest as AI investment remains a major market leadership theme. However, NVIDIA’s valuation and substantial market concentration leave the stock sensitive to interest rates, economic data and shifts in institutional positioning. Negative Sentiment: Investors are monitoring reports that Amazon may move roughly $8 billion of NVIDIA chips off its balance sheet through leasing or financing structures. While this could improve customer flexibility, it adds scrutiny around AI infrastructure financing and so-called circular transactions. Amazon NVIDIA chip balance-sheet report Negative Sentiment: Export-control concerns remain a headline risk after prosecutors alleged a California man helped smuggle approximately $300 million of NVIDIA chips to China. Separately, Michael Burry warned that GPU depreciation could undermine the economics of the AI infrastructure boom, while Alphabet’s growing use of internally designed chips represents a longer-term competitive threat. NVIDIA chip smuggling prosecution NVIDIA Profile (Free Report)

NVIDIA Corporation is a technology company that designs accelerated computing platforms, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), networking products and related software. Its technologies are used in artificial intelligence, data centers, scientific and technical computing, gaming, professional visualization, automotive systems and robotics.

The company’s products include GeForce GPUs and gaming software, data center computing platforms, networking solutions, and enterprise software for AI development and deployment.

Further Reading Five stocks we like better than NVIDIA AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird Progress Comes With Several Risks Still Unresolved Time to Nibble on MCD Stock After it Enters Oversold Territory? McCormick Stock Trades Cheap, Offers Dividend Growth and Unilever Deal Upside Corning and AT&T’s $3 Billion Fiber Deal Reveals Where AI Spending Goes Next Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NVDA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA – Free Report).

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Stevens Capital Partners raised its stake in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA – Free Report) by 67.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,339 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,000 shares during the period. NVIDIA accounts for approximately 0.9% of Stevens Capital Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Stevens Capital Partners’ holdings in NVIDIA were worth $4,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boyd Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in NVIDIA by 273.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boyd Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,145 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $1,830,000 after buying an additional 6,696 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its stake in shares of NVIDIA by 6,451.9% in the 1st quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 637,236 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $111,134,000 after acquiring an additional 627,510 shares during the period. Storen Legacy Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NVIDIA in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,350,000. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NVIDIA by 7.4% in the second quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 71,898 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $14,386,000 after acquiring an additional 4,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of NVIDIA by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 26,652,420 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $4,970,704,000 after acquiring an additional 936,506 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In NVDA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of NVIDIA in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NVIDIA in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of NVIDIA in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on NVIDIA from $300.00 to $325.00 in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on NVIDIA in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NVIDIA currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.71.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on NVIDIA NVIDIA News Summary Here are the key news stories impacting NVIDIA this week:

Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley named NVIDIA its top semiconductor pick, maintaining an Overweight rating and setting a $300 price target. The firm believes NVIDIA’s software ecosystem, scale and positioning across AI infrastructure trends give it a durable competitive moat. Morgan Stanley names NVIDIA a top pick Positive Sentiment: NVIDIA’s recently announced $150 billion buyback authorization lifts total remaining repurchase capacity to approximately $235 billion. Investors view the plan as a sign of management confidence and a potential source of per-share earnings support. NVIDIA buyback analysis Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to raise expectations for hyperscaler spending, with Barclays estimating NVIDIA could generate $401 billion in hyperscaler revenue in 2027. CoreWeave’s launch of the Vera Rubin platform and additional enterprise customers also supports demand for NVIDIA’s next-generation systems. Barclays hyperscaler revenue estimate Neutral Sentiment: The broader semiconductor and technology complex is attracting buying interest as AI investment remains a major market leadership theme. However, NVIDIA’s valuation and substantial market concentration leave the stock sensitive to interest rates, economic data and shifts in institutional positioning. Negative Sentiment: Investors are monitoring reports that Amazon may move roughly $8 billion of NVIDIA chips off its balance sheet through leasing or financing structures. While this could improve customer flexibility, it adds scrutiny around AI infrastructure financing and so-called circular transactions. Amazon NVIDIA chip balance-sheet report Negative Sentiment: Export-control concerns remain a headline risk after prosecutors alleged a California man helped smuggle approximately $300 million of NVIDIA chips to China. Separately, Michael Burry warned that GPU depreciation could undermine the economics of the AI infrastructure boom, while Alphabet’s growing use of internally designed chips represents a longer-term competitive threat. NVIDIA chip smuggling prosecution Insiders Place Their Bets In other NVIDIA news, Director Mark Stevens sold 622,239 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.62, for a total value of $144,122,997.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,336,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $541,187,310.22. This represents a 21.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Colette Kress sold 34,918 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.05, for a total value of $7,648,787.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 765,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,595,812.15. This trade represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 1,766,118 shares of company stock worth $399,450,353 in the last quarter. 3.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NVIDIA Stock Up 1.3% Shares of NASDAQ:NVDA opened at $233.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.59, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $5.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 2.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $218.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.48. NVIDIA Corporation has a 12-month low of $164.27 and a 12-month high of $237.88.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The computer hardware maker reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.13. NVIDIA had a net margin of 63.66% and a return on equity of 96.04%. The business had revenue of $96.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 105.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that NVIDIA Corporation will post 9.25 EPS for the current year.

NVIDIA Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. NVIDIA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.64%.

NVIDIA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the computer hardware maker to purchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

NVIDIA Company Profile (Free Report)

NVIDIA Corporation is a technology company that designs accelerated computing platforms, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), networking products and related software. Its technologies are used in artificial intelligence, data centers, scientific and technical computing, gaming, professional visualization, automotive systems and robotics.

The company’s products include GeForce GPUs and gaming software, data center computing platforms, networking solutions, and enterprise software for AI development and deployment.

Featured Stories Five stocks we like better than NVIDIA AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird Progress Comes With Several Risks Still Unresolved Time to Nibble on MCD Stock After it Enters Oversold Territory? McCormick Stock Trades Cheap, Offers Dividend Growth and Unilever Deal Upside Corning and AT&T’s $3 Billion Fiber Deal Reveals Where AI Spending Goes Next Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NVDA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA – Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for NVIDIA Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NVIDIA and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.

AI agents are consuming tokens at a pace that dwarfs human usage, and the companies supplying the hardware behind every request are seeing that demand translate into numbers that few investors expected to see this soon.

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One Number: $89.02 Billion From the Machines That Make Tokens NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction) generated $89.02 billion in Data Center revenue in a single quarter. That figure covers the second quarter of fiscal 2027, reported on August 26, 2026, and it rose 117% year over year. Total company revenue for the quarter was $96.22 billion, so the Data Center segment produced almost all of it. That segment holds the GPUs, CPUs and networking gear that AI models run on to produce tokens.

Token demand is also changing shape. OpenRouter data shows agentic token usage rose from roughly 0.51 trillion tokens in February to about 7.3 trillion by August, a fourteenfold increase. Human usage grew only about 2.8 times over the same stretch, to approximately 1.4 trillion tokens. AI agents now use roughly five times more tokens than people do. NVIDIA’s $89.02 billion is what that shift looks like on an income statement.

What $89.02 Billion Reveals About Agent-Driven Demand The growth is accelerating. Data Center revenue rose 18% quarter over quarter, and total revenue growth sped up for the fourth consecutive quarter. Hyperscale customers contributed $49 billion, up 13% sequentially. The group that covers neoclouds, enterprises, sovereign customers and industrial buyers grew faster, reaching $40 billion, up 25% sequentially and 138% year over year. Demand is spreading beyond a handful of cloud giants.

Agents are the main reason. According to the OpenRouter data, agents use roughly fifteen times more tokens per request than people. One employee action can set off dozens of model calls, tool runs and retries. Chief Executive Jensen Huang described where this is heading on the earnings call: “When the world goes to agentic, fully agentic systems, you’re going to have agents running all the time, working with other agents running all the time.”

NVIDIA is making more money on each dollar of sales as it grows. Non-GAAP gross margin expanded to 75.0% from 72.5% a year earlier, and net income reached $59.69 billion, up 125.9%. Huang summed it up: “AI has reached its inflection point. It’s doing useful work. Its tokens are productive and profitable. Now, compute is revenue.”

Shares Have Climbed Since the August Earnings Report Shares were priced at $213.67 when the results came out on August 26, 2026, and closed at $233.95 on October 2, 2026. The stock is up 25.74% so far this year and gained 4.37% over the past month.

Bull Case: Demand Outruns NVIDIA’s Supply NVIDIA can’t build enough to meet demand. Management said “NVIDIA Compute is fully utilized across every cloud we serve” and that the company has supply for about 70% of expected demand. NVIDIA expects fiscal 2028 revenue to grow about 70%, and it says supply is what limits that number. Customers are the ones asking for more.

Each new chip generation also brings in more revenue per unit of power. NVIDIA puts its revenue opportunity per gigawatt at roughly $18 billion for Hopper, about $25 billion for Grace Blackwell and about $40 billion for Vera Rubin. Supply and purchase obligations have climbed to $279.00 billion, mostly to buy memory for Vera Rubin production. That shows how much NVIDIA is investing to the ramp ahead.

Shareholders are getting paid along the way. NVIDIA returned about $26.0 billion in the quarter and still has about $99.0 billion left on its buyback authorization. Analysts keep raising estimates: over the past 30 days, fiscal 2028 EPS forecasts got 42 upward revisions and 0 downward ones.

Risks remain: about 85% of agentic tokens come from cached prompts charged at lower rates. Gross margin is expected to bottom at 71% to 72% in the fourth quarter as memory costs rise. Days sales outstanding, a measure of how long customers take to pay, extended to 60 days from 45. Online sentiment has also cooled, with the overall sentiment score falling to 37.17. Even so, cached tokens still need servers, memory and power to run. The supply shortages NVIDIA flagged in memory, power, cooling and networking also bring in business for Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), Vertiv (NYSE:VRT), Eaton (NYSE:ETN) and Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET). We profiled seven of these picks-and-shovels suppliers, from power to cooling to networking, in a free report you can grab here.

Bottom Line: Third-Quarter Guidance Is the Next Checkpoint The $89.02 billion figure shows token demand turning into revenue, and agents are adding to that demand faster than people are. NVIDIA’s own guidance gives the next checkpoint: third-quarter revenue of $108.0 billion, plus or minus 2%, which excludes China data center compute. Vera Rubin is expected to make up about 20% of data center revenue in Q3. Long-term holders should note that AI agents now run around the clock, and each request they make adds to the demand for NVIDIA’s hardware.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,473,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 40,705 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.09% of JPMorgan Chase & Co. worth $809,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,396,496,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 65,660,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,314,681,000 after purchasing an additional 8,941,351 shares during the period. Ascentis Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 32,672.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ascentis Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,647,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,521,126,000 after acquiring an additional 4,632,891 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the second quarter worth about $1,274,097,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 6,944,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,042,648,000 after buying an additional 1,662,250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on JPM. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $375.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley restated a “positive” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.29.

Get Our Latest Report on JPMorgan Chase & Co. Insider Transactions at JPMorgan Chase & Co. In related news, insider Robin Leopold sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.81, for a total transaction of $882,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 71,047 shares in the company, valued at $25,066,092.07. The trade was a 3.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key JPMorgan Chase & Co. News Here are the key news stories impacting JPMorgan Chase & Co. this week:

Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan’s strong earnings-surprise history and favorable Zacks indicators suggest the bank may again exceed estimates in its upcoming quarterly report. Will JPMorgan Chase & Co. Beat Estimates Again? Positive Sentiment: Analysts collectively maintain a “Moderate Buy” recommendation, supporting the view that JPM’s valuation remains attractive despite recent weakness. JPMorgan Receives Moderate Buy Consensus Positive Sentiment: J.P. Morgan Payments partnered with Al Salam Bank on an overnight Murabaha liquidity solution, expanding its payments and Islamic-finance capabilities in Bahrain. Al Salam Bank and J.P. Morgan Payments Feature Liquidity Solution Positive Sentiment: The Federal Reserve’s revamped stress-testing framework could reduce volatility in banks’ capital requirements and improve planning visibility for JPMorgan. Fed Revamps Bank Stress Tests Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan remains highlighted as an income-oriented stock with an upcoming dividend ex-date, which may support demand from dividend investors. High-Yield Dividends With Ex-Dates Days Away Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan’s bond-market activity shows continued access to wholesale funding, but investors are assessing whether the additional borrowing improves growth or pressures the capital structure. JPMorgan Taps Bond Markets Neutral Sentiment: The elevation of Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh to co-presidents advances succession planning, but also increases investor focus on the eventual replacement for CEO Jamie Dimon. JPMorgan Elevates Co-Presidents Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan’s credit-loss reserve grew even though provisions declined year over year during the first half of 2026. The unusual combination may signal conservatism, but it also raises questions about management’s expectations for future loan losses ahead of third-quarter results. JPMorgan Reserves for Losses That Have Not Arrived Negative Sentiment: Broad selling across money-center banks has weighed on JPMorgan and the wider financial sector, reflecting reduced investor risk appetite rather than a company-specific catalyst. Bank Stocks Slide JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trading Down 0.3% JPM opened at $332.18 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $352.44 and a 200 day moving average of $327.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 12 month low of $279.10 and a 12 month high of $366.50. The firm has a market cap of $882.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.02.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.59 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $58.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.72 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a return on equity of 18.23% and a net margin of 21.86%.JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s revenue was up 27.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 24.11 EPS for the current year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $6.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is 25.71%.

(Free Report)

JPMorgan Chase & Co is a global financial services company headquartered in New York City. Through its businesses, the company provides banking, investment banking, asset management, private banking, commercial banking, consumer lending and payment services to individuals, businesses, institutions and governments.

The company operates through major business areas that include Consumer & Community Banking, Commercial & Investment Banking, and Asset & Wealth Management. Its products and services include deposit accounts, credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, business financing, investment and advisory services, securities trading and custody, payment processing, and wealth-management solutions.

JPMorgan Chase serves customers in the United States and maintains operations and client relationships across international markets.

See Also Five stocks we like better than JPMorgan Chase & Co. AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird Progress Comes With Several Risks Still Unresolved Time to Nibble on MCD Stock After it Enters Oversold Territory? McCormick Stock Trades Cheap, Offers Dividend Growth and Unilever Deal Upside Corning and AT&T’s $3 Billion Fiber Deal Reveals Where AI Spending Goes Next Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JPM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM – Free Report).

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Intel (INTC -0.56%) has spent the past year or so collecting an unusual group of financial backers. The U.S. government took a 10% equity stake. Nvidia (NVDA +1.34%) put in $5 billion. SoftBank (SFTBY -0.87%) added $2 billion on top of that.

Most turnaround stories involve a company convincing skeptical investors to buy in. Intel convinced the government, one of its biggest AI rivals, and a Japanese conglomerate to underwrite its future before ordinary shareholders decided whether the comeback was real.

That's the piece of the Intel story that gets buried under quarterly revenue numbers, and it matters more than most headlines suggest for anyone trying to picture Intel five years from now.

Image source: Getty Images.

Intel's shareholder list looks nothing like a typical chipmaker's When the U.S. government converted roughly $8.9 billion in CHIPS Act and Defense Department grants into 433 million Intel shares, it became the company's largest single shareholder, according to CNBC. The government said it won't seek a board seat and will generally vote alongside Intel's existing board. Still, it's an unusual arrangement: Washington now has a direct financial stake in whether Intel's factories succeed, on top of its existing interest in not depending on Taiwan for advanced chips.

Nvidia's $5 billion came with something more concrete: a plan for the two companies to jointly design custom processors, pairing Intel's CPU know-how with Nvidia's graphics and AI chip technology. SoftBank's $2 billion came with no such product commitment, more a bet that Intel's revival is worth backing early.

None of this is charity. Each of these big three investors has its own reason to want Intel standing five years from now, whether that's national security, a manufacturing hedge, or a return on capital. But it does mean Intel's near-term survival looks less in doubt than it did two years ago. Just look at the stock, which has traded up over 200% in the last year. There are some hefty investors who believe the company is only going up from here.

The comeback still hinges on customers Intel doesn't have yet Strip away the investor headlines, and Intel's fate comes down to its contract manufacturing business, called Intel Foundry, which makes chips for other companies the way Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing does. Last year, Intel warned that it may exit the chip manufacturing business if it cannot attract external customers to its factories, as CEO Lip-Bu Tan worked to boost its foundry business amid layoffs, per Reuters. That being said, Foundry revenue grew 31% last quarter, and Tan has said the company's newest manufacturing process, called 18A, is now producing chips in higher volumes with improving yields. Essentially, this means there are more usable chips per batch, which is the metric that decides whether a factory actually makes money.

The bigger test is the process after that, called 14A. Speaking at a Deutsche Bank investor conference in late August, Intel Chief Financial Officer Dave Zinsner said customer conversations had shifted from evaluating the technology to discussing how much production capacity those customers could get, and that he'd reached "conviction" about landing external 14A customers. That's a notably more confident tone than earlier in the year, but it's still just talk: Intel hasn't named a committed outside customer for 14A, and the company has said it won't build capacity for one until it signs on.

Intel's own timeline calls for customers to start making firm 14A supplier decisions in the back half of 2026, which is right now, and, according to MarketBeat, the roughly $23 billion Intel raised this summer, aimed partly at 14A infrastructure and equipment orders, suggests management is betting that happens. But even a named customer might not move the stock much at this point, since shares already trade near 60 times next year's expected earnings, a multiple that arguably prices in foundry wins Intel hasn't announced yet.

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Five-year outlook: Intel is a cautionary bet I'd treat Intel as a binary, cautionary bet and as two separate questions resolving on different timelines. The balance sheet risk looks smaller now, given the new capital. Whether Intel will become a real alternative to TSMC for cutting-edge chips remains unresolved, and a firm 14A customer announcement is the clearest signal to watch for over the next year. Anyone considering Intel today should size the position for that uncertainty rather than assume the hardest part is already behind it.

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM – Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $219.93, but opened at $230.76. International Business Machines shares last traded at $230.7220, with a volume of 2,333,473 shares trading hands.

International Business Machines News Summary Here are the key news stories impacting International Business Machines this week:

Positive Sentiment: Accenture’s strong results improved confidence in IBM’s consulting business. Record bookings and resilient consulting demand at Accenture helped ease fears that generative AI will reduce technology-services spending, lifting sentiment across the sector and benefiting IBM. Strength in Accenture’s Consulting Business Gives IBM Stock a Much-Needed Boost Positive Sentiment: Self-hosted IBM Bob expands the company’s AI opportunity. IBM now allows customers to run its agentic software-development platform on-premises, in private or sovereign clouds, and in air-gapped environments. The offering targets regulated enterprises that need tighter control over sensitive code, data, and workflows, reinforcing IBM’s hybrid-cloud and AI-sovereignty strategy. IBM Introduces Self-Hosted Deployment for IBM Bob Positive Sentiment: IBM elected private-equity executive Frank Baker to its board. The appointment could add investment and corporate-governance expertise as IBM seeks to commercialize AI and digital-infrastructure products. IBM Elects Frank Baker to its Board of Directors Neutral Sentiment: IBM is positioned in growing technology markets. Articles highlight IBM’s quantum-computing initiatives and exposure to expanding secure-file-transfer and smart-manufacturing markets, although the near-term revenue impact is uncertain. Quantum Computing Is Having a Moment Negative Sentiment: Weak IBM Z performance remains the central risk. A sharp reaction to disappointing second-quarter results triggered a major market-value loss and renewed questions about IBM’s growth outlook. A shareholder-rights law firm is investigating whether prior disclosures violated securities laws, adding headline and litigation risk. IBM Z Shortfall Triggers Investigation Negative Sentiment: Investors remain focused on the next earnings report. Analysts expect third-quarter bottom-line growth, but the company must demonstrate that the Z weakness is contained and that AI and consulting momentum can translate into durable revenue and cash-flow growth. What You Need to Know Ahead of IBM’s Earnings Release Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of analysts have recently weighed in on IBM shares. Wolfe Research cut shares of International Business Machines to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer lowered shares of International Business Machines from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $247.00 to $217.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of International Business Machines from $360.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $230.00 price target on the stock. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, International Business Machines has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.52.

Read Our Latest Report on International Business Machines International Business Machines Trading Down 1.4% The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $232.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $244.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $209.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.73.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93. International Business Machines had a return on equity of 35.65% and a net margin of 15.52%.The business had revenue of $17.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that International Business Machines Corporation will post 12.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $1.69 dividend. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is 59.98%.

Insider Transactions at International Business Machines In other International Business Machines news, SVP Robert Thomas sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.32, for a total transaction of $5,758,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 47,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,009,296. This trade represents a 34.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in International Business Machines by 24.8% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 64,458 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $15,624,000 after buying an additional 12,791 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the second quarter worth about $15,237,000. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 939.4% in the second quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 30,495 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,575,000 after acquiring an additional 27,561 shares during the period. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC now owns 14,234 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,121,000 after acquiring an additional 3,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evercore Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 62,801 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,222,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196 shares in the last quarter. 58.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

International Business Machines Company Profile (Get Free Report)

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM), commonly known as IBM, is a global technology company that provides hybrid cloud, artificial intelligence, software, consulting and infrastructure solutions. Its offerings help businesses and government organizations manage data, modernize applications, automate processes and improve cybersecurity.

IBM’s portfolio includes the Red Hat hybrid cloud platform, the watsonx suite of artificial intelligence and data tools, consulting services, and enterprise software for areas such as automation, application management, security and asset management.

Further Reading Five stocks we like better than International Business Machines AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird Progress Comes With Several Risks Still Unresolved Time to Nibble on MCD Stock After it Enters Oversold Territory? McCormick Stock Trades Cheap, Offers Dividend Growth and Unilever Deal Upside Corning and AT&T’s $3 Billion Fiber Deal Reveals Where AI Spending Goes Next Receive News & Ratings for International Business Machines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for International Business Machines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.

Medtronic has raised its dividend for 49 straight years while the stock quietly lost a fifth of its value, but something in the operating room just changed the entire conversation about why investors should own it.

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Shares of Medtronic (NYSE:MDT | MDT Price Prediction) trade at $86.75. They are down 7.4% this year and 20.06% over five years, and the dividend kept going up the whole time. Now the business is growing faster than it has in years. That makes it fair to ask whether the payout is still the main reason to own the stock.

Repeat Procedure Revenue Pays for the Dividend Medtronic makes the equipment doctors use in the operating room and the cath lab: pacemakers, heart ablation catheters, spine and brain surgery tools, surgical robots and insulin pumps. A lot of that revenue comes back every year. Each ablation procedure uses a new catheter, and each mapping system a hospital sets up leads to more catheter orders. On the latest earnings call, management said the growing sets up base should drive future sales of higher-margin catheters.

That repeat business has funded a 49th consecutive year of dividend increases. The quarterly payout has grown from $0.04 in 2000 to $0.72, or $2.88 a year, for a yield of about 3.27%. Coverage is solid. Fiscal 2026 dividends of $3.639 billion used about 67% of $5.43 billion in free cash flow. The forward payout is about 48% of the $5.972 consensus EPS for fiscal 2027. The weak spot is how fast it grows: the latest raise from $0.71 works out to about 1.4%.

A 49-year streak puts Medtronic one raise away from Dividend King status, the 50-plus-year club we rated by valuation in a free report here: 10 Dividend Kings to Buy Now and Hold Forever.

Growth Now Comes From the Heart Business Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2027 came in at $9.76 billion, up 13.7%. Non-GAAP EPS of $1.45 beat the $1.39 estimate. An extra fiscal week added about $570 million, or 670 basis points, to that growth. Even without it, ablation stood out. Cardiac Ablation Solutions grew 88% worldwide and 139% in the U.S., and the Sphere-9 catheter picked up nine points of U.S. share.

“Our execution, alongside our innovation engine, positions us to serve more patients and deliver durable growth,” CEO Geoff Martha said.

Other areas lag. Neuromodulation grew just 3%, and management guided second-quarter organic growth to roughly 6%.

How Abbott and Boston Scientific Frame the Choice Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has the longer record, with a 54th consecutive year of increases and a $0.63 quarterly payout. Its second-quarter revenue rose 13.0%, but only 4.8% on a comparable basis once Exact Sciences is included.

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) pays no dividend and wants investors to pay up for FARAPULSE growth. Its 2026 organic outlook fell from 10.0% to 11.0% to 5% to 6%. A widely upvoted Reddit post summed it up:

“Boston Scientific peaked at $105 last November. It closed yesterday at $43.55.”

Valuation Gives Medtronic Little Credit for Growth Medtronic trades at 15 times forward earnings and 21 times trailing earnings. Analysts rate it 3 Strong Buy, 16 Buy and 9 Hold. Their $104.83 average target means about 20.8% upside.

Verdict: The Dividend Is the Floor, Ablation Is the Reason The dividend now plays a supporting role. It puts a floor under the stock, while ablation, renal denervation and the Diabetes spinoff provide the upside. Management expects the spinoff to lift operating margin by about 100 basis points. The biggest risk is ablation growth slowing toward the mid-teens market rate as year-over-year comparisons get harder. If that happens, Medtronic goes back to being a slow-growth income stock. The investor day on December 10th and 11th is the next checkpoint.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM – Get Free Report)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $108.36, but opened at $117.41. EPAM Systems shares last traded at $117.8730, with a volume of 191,223 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of research firms have weighed in on EPAM. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of EPAM Systems from $165.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on EPAM Systems from $131.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on EPAM Systems from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $97.00 price target on EPAM Systems in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of EPAM Systems in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.47.

Read Our Latest Analysis on EPAM Systems

EPAM Systems Stock Down 5.5% The stock has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.13. EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The information technology services provider reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. EPAM Systems had a net margin of 7.15% and a return on equity of 15.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.77 EPS. EPAM Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.080-13.240 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.380-3.460 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that EPAM Systems, Inc. will post 10.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of EPAM Systems Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of EPAM Systems by 138.5% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,396 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 1,972 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of EPAM Systems during the second quarter valued at $371,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of EPAM Systems by 23.0% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 79,826 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $6,334,000 after acquiring an additional 14,917 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its holdings in EPAM Systems by 31.0% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 131,440 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $10,430,000 after acquiring an additional 31,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its holdings in EPAM Systems by 341.1% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 52,893 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $4,197,000 after acquiring an additional 40,902 shares during the last quarter. 91.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EPAM Systems Company Profile (Get Free Report)

EPAM Systems, Inc (NYSE: EPAM) is a global digital engineering and technology services company that helps businesses design, build and modernize software and digital platforms. Its services include software development, product and platform engineering, cloud services, data and analytics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and technology consulting.

The company works with clients across industries including financial services, healthcare, life sciences, retail, travel and consumer products, media, telecommunications, and energy.

Further Reading Five stocks we like better than EPAM Systems AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird Progress Comes With Several Risks Still Unresolved Time to Nibble on MCD Stock After it Enters Oversold Territory? McCormick Stock Trades Cheap, Offers Dividend Growth and Unilever Deal Upside Corning and AT&T’s $3 Billion Fiber Deal Reveals Where AI Spending Goes Next Receive News & Ratings for EPAM Systems Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for EPAM Systems and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.

If Vlad Tenev, the chief executive officer of Robinhood Markets (HOOD +1.43%), is right that sports bets will become a minority of prediction market contracts within a few years, crypto investors might not see much upside directly. In the second quarter, the company brought in $156 million from its prediction market activities, up more than 10-fold year over year. In August 2026, per Robinhood's operating data, event contracts traded ran 15 times ahead of the levels of a year ago. And on Sept. 21, Tenev told CNBC that crypto-related contracts are already becoming a disproportionately large share of that segment, with sports-related contracts on track to become the minority within the next few years.

So what does this mean for crypto investors?

Image source: Getty Images.

Robinhood isn't the only platform seeing this trend Kalshi, a prediction market provider and one of the exchanges behind Robinhood's contracts, saw crypto prediction market volume increase from $337 million in January 2026 to about $7.5 billion by August. In the week ended Sept. 20, sports contracts still made up 21% of Kalshi's trading volume. And in that period, Bitcoin contracts were responsible for 13%, while bets bundling several different outcomes accounted for 62%.

Kalshi's crypto contracts, like Robinhood's, pose very short-term questions to traders, like whether Bitcoin will finish above a target price at the end of a 15-minute window.

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The idea is that traders can buy contracts for as little as a penny each, which pay $1 if right, and, given the quick turnover of new and timely contracts, potentially bet many times per day. Investors should note that it is generally a fool's errand to predict the short-term price movements of cryptocurrencies, just like it is with stocks. Of course, the prediction market operators make money from fees whether the underlying coin goes up or down, so it's in their interest to encourage as much trading as possible.

As for the prices of the cryptocurrencies that are the subject of the predictions, there isn't much reason to believe that they're directly affected by the odds implied by the contracts, nor by the outcomes of those contracts. The coins themselves don't change hands as a result of anything happening in the prediction markets.

Should you bet on crypto prices instead of investing? There is no compelling reason to transition your crypto investing activities into crypto prediction market trading activities. There are, however, many compelling reasons not to do that.

In a February 2026 Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) column, a study of more than 300,000 Kalshi contracts found an average pre-fee loss of 20% per contract. The same investigation found that the probabilities implied by the contracts were too biased to be used as "true" probabilities. And if you're investing for the long term, as you should be, the resolution of any given 15-minute prediction about Bitcoin's price is not relevant to forming or adjusting an investment thesis for buying and holding it.

Nor does the Robinhood CEO's prediction about crypto outcome markets becoming bigger change any of that.

The crypto market itself is likely to grow considerably in coming years. That will doubtlessly create some of the anticipated growth in predictions about crypto prices. To get the most direct exposure to upside from the prediction component of that dynamic, specifically, buying Robinhood's stock is the most straightforward approach, as it earns revenue from every transaction. It's also a convenient play because of its brand-new Robinhood Chain blockchain, which will create even more fee revenue.

But for those who would prefer to only buy more crypto instead of stocks, there isn't necessarily much to do about or much to worry about regarding the expansion of crypto price prediction contracts. Own the coins that people are watching via prediction markets, and over the long run, their growth will continue to march onward regardless of what the bettors in the bleachers expect to occur in the next few minutes.

The AI data center buildout is minting fortunes for a handful of companies, but almost none of them pay a dividend. Four REITs sit right at the intersection of that infrastructure boom and steady income, and their payout safety tells…

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The AI data center boom has produced plenty of growth stories, but only a few of those companies pay a dividend. If you want income from this theme, you have to own the landlords and the infrastructure. Four US-listed REITs with real data center exposure pay dividends. Even the highest yield of the four, American Tower (NYSE:AMT), at about 4.44%, is well short of ultra-high-yield territory. What these names offer is coverage. Each one pays out a manageable share of its funds from operations, and AI leasing keeps driving those cash flows higher.

American Tower: Highest Yield on a Thin Data Center Bench American Tower is mostly a global cell tower landlord, but its CoreSite data center business is where the AI demand shows up. In the second quarter, Data Centers segment revenue rose 13.4% to $297M, and management now expects data center growth of about 15% for the full year. On the call, management said “nine of the top 10 AI companies and three of the top five NeoClouds are deployed within our facilities.”

Yield: The forward dividend of $7.16 per share on a price of $161.18 works out to roughly 4.44%.

Dividend safety: For a REIT, the right test is AFFO (adjusted funds from operations). 2026 AFFO per share guidance is $11.00 to $11.17, so the forward dividend uses about 64.59% of the midpoint. Free cash flow came in at $1.16B (+18.5%) for the quarter. Leverage ended at 4.9 times, inside the company’s 3 to 5 times target range. The quarterly payout has grown from $0.21 in 2012 to $1.79 today, and the latest step was a 5.3% year-over-year increase. The CFO, Rod Smith, ranked the payout first among uses of capital: “First and foremost, it’s supporting the dividend and a growing dividend.”

For the bull case, the stock is down 13.21% over the past year, which raises the yield for new buyers. Management also called this year “a trough for attributable AFFO per share growth” and expects growth to return to the mid to high single-digit range heading into 2027.

Risk: Towers still make up most of the business, and tower churn can drown out data center gains. DISH cancellations cost $63M in the quarter and driving U.S./Canada property revenue down 2.5%.

Iron Mountain: Dividend Raised Four Years Running With AFFO Room to Spare Iron Mountain (NYSE:IRM) started in records storage and now makes more and more from data centers and from asset lifecycle management (ALM), which means decommissioning and reselling old servers. Data center demand gets there it two ways: leasing and hardware refresh cycles. Global data center revenue rose 39% to $263 million, and data center decommissioning revenue more than doubled, rising more than 100%. About 325 megawatts of available capacity is expected to come online over the next 24 months.

Yield: At about 3.05% on a $3.456 forward dividend, the yield is modest. Iron Mountain makes this list because the payout keeps growing.

Dividend safety: The CFO, Barry Hytinen, put it simply: “On a trailing four-quarter basis, our AFFO payout ratio is now 60%.” Measured against 2026 AFFO per share guidance of $5.87 to $5.93, the forward dividend uses about 58.58% of the midpoint. Net lease-adjusted leverage of 4.8 times is the lowest since the company became a REIT in 2014. The dividend history confirms a fourth consecutive year of increases, with the quarterly payout rising from $0.6185 to $0.864.

Bull case: AFFO per share rose 16% last quarter, and growth businesses now make up 35% of second-quarter revenue. When cash flow grows faster than the dividend, the raises can keep coming without stretching the payout.

Risk: The balance sheet has a lot of debt. Shareholders’ equity is negative at -$955M, and net debt is about $17.3B, so rising interest costs compete with dividend growth for every dollar of AFFO.

Digital Realty: Coverage Keeps Widening on a Frozen Dividend Digital Realty (NYSE:DLR) is a pure-play data center REIT with more than 6,000 customers. It leases everything from single cabinets to entire hyperscale campuses. Its share of backlog gets there its highest level ever at $1.4 billion, and $635 million of annualized rent is scheduled to start in the second half of the year.

Yield: The $4.88 forward dividend on a $177.82 share price yields about 2.74%.

Dividend safety: Measured on Core FFO, coverage is solid. Excluding promote income, Core FFO per share guidance is $8.15 to $8.20, so the dividend uses about 59.69% of the midpoint. Debt to adjusted EBITDA is 4.7 times, and liquidity is about $6 billion. The payout has been $1.22 per share every quarter since the 2022-03-14 ex-dividend date. Before that, it rose steadily from $0.93 to $1.16.

Bull case: Every year the dividend stays flat while Core FFO grows, the buffer under the payout gets larger. The company expects to extend double-digit Core FFO-per-share growth into 2027 and beyond, and the development pipeline is 63% pre-leased.

Risk: Your income isn’t growing. The board is putting cash and stock into expansion, including 12.3 million shares issued in the Blackstone (NYSE:BX | BX Price Prediction) deal, instead of raising the payout.

Equinix: Lowest Yield, Best-Covered Payout Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) runs interconnection hubs in 36 countries, where clouds, networks and enterprises plug into each other. It added a record 9,700 net interconnections last quarter. Management said eight of the top 10 model providers and eight of the top 10 neoclouds already run key networking workloads on its platform.

Yield: The forward dividend of $20.64 on a $1,019.39 share price yields about 2.02%. That’s a small yield. Equinix is on this list for dividend growth.

Dividend safety: Management describes the AFFO payout as “in the 50% range”. Against 2026 AFFO per share guidance of $42.69 to $43.29, the forward dividend uses about 48.01% of the midpoint, the best coverage in this group. Net leverage is 3.6 times, liquidity is about $7.7 billion, and the quarterly dividend has gone up every year in the record, from $1.75 to $5.16.

For the bull case, CFO Olivier Leonetti tied the payout directly to cash flow growth: “We expect dividend growth to approximate AFFO per share growth.” The long-term plan calls for AFFO per share growth of 9% to 12% a year through 2029.

On the risk side, capital spending is set to run $5 billion to $7 billion annually through 2029, and management expects leverage to rise by about a turn. That means less free cash flow to speed up dividend growth.

Income From Digital Infrastructure Comes From Coverage All four payouts depend on a small group of very large customers continuing to spend heavily. At Digital Realty, for example, the largest signing in each of the last 10 quarters came from one of six different top hyperscalers. That tenant concentration is a real risk for the whole group. Within those limits, Iron Mountain has the best mix of yield, a verified record of raises and roughly a 60% AFFO payout ratio. American Tower pays the most current income, Equinix has the best-covered payout, and Digital Realty’s improving coverage makes it the dividend raise to watch.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Cybersecurity spending continues to climb, and artificial intelligence (AI) is creating even more systems that businesses need to protect. In fact, technology research firm Gartner estimates that global information security spending will reach roughly $244 billion in 2026. Gartner also expects spending specifically on AI cybersecurity to nearly double from $25.9 billion in 2025 to $51.3 billion this year. Two companies are particularly well positioned to capture that spending are CrowdStrike (CRWD +1.48%) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW +1.76%).

CrowdStrike CrowdStrike built its reputation protecting computers and other devices from cyberattacks. But its Falcon platform has expanded well beyond that.

Today, CrowdStrike offers 34 cloud-based security modules covering everything from endpoint and cloud security to identity protection, threat intelligence, data protection, and cybersecurity for generative AI. That broad portfolio gives CrowdStrike a strategic advantage. You see, once a business uses Falcon for one security function, CrowdStrike can sell that customer additional products without having to win an entirely new account. In fact, 51% of its subscription customers now use at least six Falcon modules, while 26% use eight or more.

Image source: Getty Images.

In its fiscal 2027 second quarter, CrowdStrike generated $1.47 billion in revenue, up 26% year over year. Annual recurring revenue (ARR) increased by 25% to $5.84 billion, while the company added a record $333 million of new ARR during the quarter.

Then there's cash flow. CrowdStrike generated a record $377 million in free cash flow during the quarter, up from $284 million a year earlier. Management now expects fiscal 2027 revenue of approximately $6 billion and ARR of roughly $6.6 billion.

The truth is, companies aren't simply deploying AI software anymore. They're increasingly deploying autonomous AI agents that can access corporate systems, data, and applications. Those agents create another category of digital surface that needs protection.

CrowdStrike is already building security products specifically for AI agents. Its Falcon Guardian platform is designed to discover AI agents operating across an organization, monitor what they're doing, detect suspicious behavior, and stop compromised agents in real time.

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The company has also introduced an Agentic Identity Provider, which gives AI agents their own identities, and controls what applications and data they're allowed to access. As businesses deploy thousands, or potentially millions, of autonomous AI agents, securing those agents could become another significant growth market for CrowdStrike.

Palo Alto Networks Palo Alto Networks offers a slightly different opportunity. The company has spent years expanding beyond traditional network firewalls into cloud security, security operations, identity security, and AI. Now, its strategy is focused on getting customers to consolidate multiple cybersecurity products onto its platforms.

In its fiscal 2026 fourth quarter, revenue increased 34% to $3.41 billion, while next-generation security ARR jumped 63% to $9.1 billion. Remaining performance obligations (essentially contracted business that hasn't yet been recognized as revenue) reached $21.2 billion, up 34%.

For its fiscal 2027, Palo Alto is now forecasting revenue in the range of $14.1 billion to $14.2 billion, which would equate to growth of 23% to 24%, with next-generation security ARR expected to reach roughly $11.1 billion.

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Acquisitions are expanding the business, too. Early this year,  Palo Alto bought identity-security specialist CyberArk and cloud observability company Chronosphere, strengthening its ability to protect identities, applications, and infrastructure across increasingly complicated corporate networks.

Two expensive stocks with long runways Neither stock is particularly cheap, and that's probably the biggest risk for investors. Cybersecurity is also fiercely competitive. Diversified tech giants like Microsoft and Alphabet, as well as a variety of other specialized cybersecurity companies, are all fighting for slices of the same corporate technology budgets.

But cybersecurity isn't discretionary in the same way many other technology products are. A company might choose to delay buying new computers, but it can't simply stop protecting its network, customer information, cloud infrastructure, and increasingly its AI systems.

CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks are turning that necessity into growing recurring revenue and billions of dollars in cash flow. So if you're willing to hold on through the inevitable volatility that comes with high-growth technology stocks, both companies have the financial strength, recurring revenue, and expanding markets needed to potentially compound for many years.

A sharp divergence has emerged in the crypto market between Evernorth’s new treasury stock, XRPN, and the underlying XRP token. On October 2, crypto commentator Nate observed that XRPN, the stock associated with Evernorth’s XRP holdings, soared by 68.25% in a single day and posted a 272.6% increase on the week.

XRPN listing triggers market disconnectEvernorth Holdings, a digital asset treasury company focused on XRP, recently completed a merger with Armada Acquisition Corp. II, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Armada shareholders voted to approve the business combination on September 30, and the announcement followed on October 1. XRPN, now listed on Nasdaq, is scheduled to officially begin trading on October 8.

Evernorth holds the position as the largest XRP treasury among public companies, managing approximately 473 million XRP. The firm’s backers include Ripple, Arrington Capital, SBI Group, Pantera Capital, Kraken, and GSR. The deal raised over $1 billion in new funds for Evernorth’s operations.

Unlike passive crypto funds, Evernorth aims to actively manage its substantial XRP assets through lending, liquidity provision, and participation in on-chain projects. The management’s objective is to grow the amount of XRP per share with an active strategy rather than simple holding.

Mini dictionary: SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company), a publicly traded company created to merge with or acquire a private company, enabling the target to be publicly listed more quickly than through a traditional IPO.

XRP price drops despite positive newsWhile news of Evernorth’s public listing would be expected to bolster XRP’s price, the token declined by 2.67% to $1.46, trading on $4 billion in 24-hour volume. Market participants voiced their frustration at this counterintuitive move, as Evernorth’s concentrated XRP holdings and institutional backing were considered positive drivers.

XRPN’s stock soared before trading had even officially begun, while XRP slipped in value despite news that could have increased institutional demand.

Evernorth’s listing theoretically simplifies institutional access to XRP by enabling traditional investors to gain exposure through regulated stock markets, without needing to hold the token directly. This increased visibility was anticipated to generate additional demand and price support for XRP.

AssetOne-day changeHeld by EvernorthCurrent statusXRPN (Nasdaq)+68.25%N/A (Stock represents XRP holding)Will begin trading Oct 8XRP (token)-2.67%473 million (held by Evernorth)Actively tradingCommunity reaction and skepticismThe sudden rise in XRPN prompted confusion among market observers. Several community members noted that XRPN’s stock price had jumped ahead of its formal launch. Some commenters expressed concern that early investors and insiders might be benefiting disproportionately, raising questions about exit liquidity for long-held XRP positions.

Skepticism persists within parts of the XRP investor base, with some individuals repeating long-standing criticisms about the token’s inability to capitalize on ostensibly favorable developments. Uncertainty remains around whether XRPN’s trading debut will meaningfully affect the price of XRP itself.

Many community members questioned how XRPN could rally while the underlying XRP asset slipped, underscoring persistent doubts about market dynamics and fairness.

Outlook for XRPN and XRPAs XRP’s price dipped and XRPN’s valuation rose dramatically, attention turned to whether this gap will close once XRPN begins formal trading on Nasdaq. The relationship between public XRP treasuries like Evernorth and the token’s market value remains the subject of intense debate.

XRP Asia has officially launched at XRP Seoul 2026, with a focus on growing the XRP Ledger (XRPL) across the Asia Pacific region. The new group aims to bring more businesses, developers, and financial institutions onto the network. 

The launch comes just before two major XRPL upgrades, Batch and Permission Delegation, planned for early October 2026.

XRP Asia is led by Sabrina Tachdjian, former vice president of the Hedera Foundation. She is set to speak on 3 Oct, at the Grand Hyatt Seoul during Korea Blockchain Week at an event titled “Special Announcement: What’s Coming Next for the XRP Ecosystem in Asia.”

The event also featured representatives from Woori Bank, K Bank and JB Bank in a panel on cross-border payments and tokenized deposits.

Its strategy covers four areas, technology, startup success, community, and marketing.

The group plans to support developers through training, micro-grants, early stage investments, and go-to-market support. Its focus also extends beyond DeFi to retail applications, AI-based payments and non-financial enterprise use cases.

XRP Moves From Payments Toward CreditThe next phase will move beyond ecosystem building. At XRP Seoul 2026, Ripple President Monica Long said the company plans to connect the XRP Ledger (XRPL) with payment infrastructure.

She further said,

“We are running credit-related pilots with the goal of activation next year.

The plan includes using pooled XRP as collateral to help fund customer payments

The plan follows SBI Ripple Asia approval under Japan’s Payment Services Act as a Third-Party Prepaid Payment Instrument Issuer, supporting regulated prepaid token activity on the XRPL

October Core Protocol UpgradesThe regional rollout is also arriving alongside two planned protocol upgrades, including Permission Delegation Infrastructure and Batch Amendment.

First, the Permission Delegation Infrastructure update is set for 8 Oct. It will allow companies to delegate transaction signing without giving up control of their main wallets.

Second, the Batch Amendment is set for 9 Oct. It will allow multiple transactions to be grouped and processed in a single ledger entry, helping improve speed and efficiency for high-volume activity.

Both upgrades will need more than 80% validator support during the activation period.

Story Ends Here

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Centrifuge has confirmed that three funds—JAAA, JTRSY, and HYB—have launched on Circle’s Arc blockchain. The funds provide exposure to AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), short-term U.S. Treasuries, and high-yield corporate bonds respectively, utilizing investment strategies from Janus Henderson and New York Life Investment Management. All three funds support subscriptions via USDC on Arc, with direct investment limited to eligible non-U.S. professional investors. The minimum investment amounts are $500,000 for JAAA and JTRSY, and 100,000 USDC for HYB. (The Defiant)

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VanEck: Bitcoin may still continue to expand its market share going forward, and quantum computing is currently not a sufficient reason to sell.

VanEck Digital Assets Research Head Matthew Sigel stated in an interview that with the rapid development of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the power resources and long-term power contracts held by Bitcoin miners are gaining new value. Sigel pointed out that in the past, miners’ core assets were primarily viewed as computing power and BTC production capacity, but AI data centers’ demand for large volumes of stable power is reshaping the market’s valuation of miners’ power contracts. He added that some miners have signed 10-to-20-year long-term power lease agreements with investment-grade counterparties, and these contracts are granting miners "optionality"—a value distinct from pure BTC exposure. The AI sector’s growth is making power an increasingly scarce resource, so miners with low-cost, long-term locked power supplies may unlock new business opportunities, including transitions to AI infrastructure. On the Bitcoin market front, current signs of seller fatigue suggest investors should focus on opportunities following pullbacks. Additionally, Sigel compared the roles of gold and Bitcoin in investment portfolios, arguing Bitcoin may continue to expand its market share going forward. He also discussed the potential impact of quantum computing on the Bitcoin network, noting that quantum computing is a long-term risk to monitor but not yet a reason for investors to sell BTC. VanEck remains bullish on Bitcoin adoption trends, and views Bitcoin reaching a certain percentage of the gold market capitalization as one key future valuation reference.

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Analysis: Bitcoin Pullback Eyes $82,500 Support; Rebound Opportunity May Emerge If Whales Resume Buying the Dip

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Marvell Technology (MRVL +1.57%) started 2026 at about $85 per share. As I write, it's near $263 -- more than triple where it began the year.

A gain like that can leave little for the next buyer. But the chipmaker's growth is speeding up, and management sees revenue rising about 50% to about $18 billion in fiscal 2028, which ends in January 2028.

I think this growth can lift the stock to around $527 by the end of 2031. That'd be double today's price, or a return of about 14% a year, and it doesn't need a higher valuation than the stock has now.

Image source: Getty Images.

Growth is still speeding upShowing how fast demand is building, Marvell's revenue for the quarter ended Aug. 1 (the fiscal second quarter of 2027) rose 37% year over year to $2.74 billion. Revenue growth has now accelerated for two straight quarters, up from 22% in the period ended in January and 28% in the quarter after it. Data center revenue, which was 79% of the total, climbed 46%, up from 27% in the previous quarter. And management guided for around $3.15 billion of revenue this quarter, which would mean growth of over 50%.

Profits are keeping up. Earnings per share on a non-GAAP (adjusted) basis rose 40% to $0.94, and the adjusted operating margin widened by 1.8 percentage points to 36.6%. Chief financial officer Dan Durn said the margin will probably hit the company's 38% to 40% target range in the fiscal fourth quarter.

Custom chips and optics fuel the growthMuch of the growth comes from two businesses. The first is custom chips, which Marvell designs for one cloud customer's own artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Management expects custom revenue to more than double in fiscal 2028.

CEO Matt Murphy has talked about custom revenue of over $10 billion in fiscal 2029, and he sounded even more confident on the fiscal second-quarter earnings call.

"But clearly, there's a lot of upside bias in those numbers in fiscal '29 and beyond in custom," Murphy said.

Much of that confidence traces to Google, a unit of Alphabet. In August, Marvell granted Google a warrant to buy up to around 59 million Marvell shares. Most of them vest in stages -- one for every $500 million in custom chips Google buys through fiscal 2033, up to $120 billion total.

Google, of course, hasn't promised to buy that much. But the setup shows how big the relationship could grow.

The second business is optical connectivity, the chips in the links that move data between AI servers. When management lifted its outlook in May, it pointed to strong demand for its products in the latest 1.6-terabit optical links, plus optics that connect AI chips in one system.

What would it take to double?At around $263, shares sell for about 39 times the earnings forecast for fiscal 2028, or about twice the forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 19 for the S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.73%). For a business expecting 50% revenue growth next year, I'd call the premium fair.

Now keep the price-to-earnings multiple at 39. By the end of 2031, investors will probably value Marvell using its fiscal 2033 earnings. For the stock to double, then, fiscal 2033 earnings have to be twice the fiscal 2028 number, which takes about 15% yearly earnings growth over those five years.

If margins and the share count stay flat, revenue would need to rise from management's $18 billion forecast for fiscal 2028 to about $36 billion by fiscal 2033. By comparison, the Google warrant alone is built around as much as $120 billion in custom chip purchases through fiscal 2033, an average of over $18 billion a year.

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Sure, the path has risks. Custom chips have lower gross margins than Marvell's other products, and management guided the adjusted gross margin for the fiscal third quarter to between 57.5% and 58.5%, down from 58.9%. AI spending might also slow long before 2031.

But 15% a year is far below the rate Marvell is growing now. And if revenue rises faster than that after fiscal 2028, the stock might double even if its valuation multiple drops.

Marvell holds an investor day in New York on Tuesday, Oct. 6, and new long-term targets might come with it. But this forecast doesn't need them to beat today's outlook.

Can Marvell stock double again by the end of 2031? I think it can, and I'd consider buying shares at today's price, maybe a bit at a time. The stock lost around half its value between its June peak and late July, and it might drop that much again.

The first US spot Zcash ETF just had its roughest week yet. The fund lost $93.56 million to outflows over a single week.

From launch-week darling to redemption queue The fund is Grayscale’s ZCSH, which debuted on August 25, 2026, on NYSE Arca. It was converted from the existing Grayscale Zcash Trust. It became the first US-listed spot exchange-traded fund offering direct exposure to ZEC tokens.

A spot ETF holds the actual asset rather than futures contracts tied to it. Buying a share means owning a slice of a pile of real ZEC, held on your behalf.

The opening act was strong. Cumulative net inflows hit $271 million by mid-September. The best stretch was the week ending September 18, 2026, when $98.2 million in fresh money arrived.

Trading activity was equally loud during the honeymoon. In its strongest week, ZCSH accounted for up to 32.5% of all spot crypto ETF turnover. At its height, the fund held roughly 3.5% of the total ZEC supply.

The numbers behind the retreat The slide shows up clearly in the daily data. On September 30, the fund recorded a single-day redemption of $30.25 million. On October 2, another $26.93 million left.

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Those were not isolated blips. Several trading days saw redemptions in the $26–30 million range during late September and early October.

The damage accumulated. Cumulative net inflows dropped from around $268 million to $212.56 million over this period. The fund is still net positive since launch, but the cushion is noticeably thinner.

Assets under management peaked at approximately $915–979 million in September. By early October, it had fallen to around $751 million.

ZEC’s price swung widely after the ETF’s debut. It initially pushed past $1,500 before settling at lower levels.

A stock split and a hefty fee Grayscale has made at least one move to keep trading smooth. On September 18, 2026, it announced a 3-for-1 forward share split for ZCSH. The record date was September 28, and shares began trading on the adjusted basis on September 30.

The timing was a little awkward. Shares started trading on a split-adjusted basis on September 30, the same day the fund posted its $30.25 million outflow.

ZCSH carries a 2.5% expense ratio, meaning holders pay that percentage of their investment each year to own it.

What this means for ZEC and the fund A fund that once held roughly 3.5% of ZEC’s supply is now a meaningful source of supply and demand pressure for the token. When ZCSH sees inflows, the fund needs to hold more ZEC. When it sees redemptions, that relationship runs the other way.

For Grayscale, the picture is mixed rather than grim. The fund still holds around $751 million in assets and remains net positive at $212.56 million in cumulative inflows.

For the broader crypto ETF market, ZCSH proved that a spot product built around a smaller token can capture a startling share of trading activity, up to 32.5% of spot crypto ETF turnover at its peak.

The things to watch are straightforward. First, whether daily redemptions keep landing in the $26–30 million range or begin to taper. Second, whether ZEC’s price finds firmer footing, since that directly props up AUM. Third, whether the share split delivers the liquidity boost Grayscale was aiming for.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Updated software, improved APIs and faster performance for GalaSwap liquidity pools. GalaSwap is preparing to move its liquidity pools to V2, bringing updated software, quality-of-life improvements, improved APIs and faster performance to the platform.

For most users, the GalaSwap experience will remain familiar. The V2 pools will continue to support the same token pairs and fee structures as their V1 counterparts.

For liquidity providers, however, there is an important action to take.

If you currently have liquidity in a V1 pool, you will need to remove your existing position and create a new position in the corresponding V2 pool.

What is changing? All current GalaSwap liquidity pools are being upgraded to V2.

The update improves the underlying pool software and provides a stronger technical foundation for GalaSwap, including:

Updated pool software Faster performance Improved APIs Quality-of-life improvements The goal is to improve how GalaSwap operates while keeping the core liquidity experience familiar.

GalaSwap will continue to operate as a decentralized exchange built on GalaChain, where liquidity positions and swaps are managed through users’ own wallets.

What do liquidity providers need to do? If you currently provide liquidity through a V1 pool, you should move your position to V2.

The process involves two steps:

Remove your liquidity from the V1 pool. Create a new position in the corresponding V2 pool if you want to continue providing liquidity. Positions will not be automatically transferred from V1 to V2.

Standard GalaChain transaction fees will apply when completing these on-chain actions.

What happens to V1 pools? There will be a transition period during which both V1 and V2 pools will be available on GalaSwap.

This gives liquidity providers time to remove their V1 positions and recreate them in V2.

The exact transition timeline will be announced separately.

At the end of the transition period, V1 pools will stop receiving trades and become withdrawal-only.

Once trading stops in a V1 pool, liquidity remaining in that pool will no longer generate trading fees because swaps will no longer take place there.

Users will still be able to withdraw their liquidity from V1 pools after they become withdrawal-only.

What about swaps? No swap downtime is expected as part of the transition.

If you simply use GalaSwap to swap tokens and do not currently provide liquidity, no migration action is required from you.

Get ready for GalaSwap V2 pools V2 liquidity pools represent the next step in the continued development of GalaSwap.

If you currently provide liquidity, keep an eye on upcoming announcements for the transition dates and make sure your positions are ready to move from V1 to V2.

Manage your liquidity on GalaSwap:

https://swap.gala.com

Arbitrum just hit the brakes on one of its signature developer features. The Arbitrum Security Council carried out an emergency upgrade on Arbitrum One and Nova on October 2, 2026, at 11:30 EST, pausing all new activations of Stylus contracts on both chains.

The move targets vulnerabilities tied to the Stylus framework. Existing Stylus contracts are untouched: they can still execute and be renewed. This is a locked front door, not an evacuation.

The upgrade also added a new safety mechanism to Arbitrum One’s dispute system, called a guard on the BoLD one-step proof. If contradictory proofs are ever accepted, that guard could delay unconfirmed withdrawals.

What actually changed The emergency upgrade did two separate things. First, it stopped new Stylus programs from being activated on Arbitrum One and Nova.

Stylus is the framework that lets developers write smart contracts in languages like Rust and C++, while keeping compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

Those programs compile to WebAssembly, or WASM, a compact low-level format for running code. The concern here centers on hand-crafted WASM programs that have not been patched.

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According to the research findings, such programs could be used as denial-of-service (DoS) vectors that impair the network’s liveness. A liveness bug won’t steal your money, but it could make the network grind to a halt.

The known bugs affect chain liveness, not the safety of user funds. Earlier ArbOS patches had already addressed those issues.

The pause works as a preemptive block. It stops unpatched WASM programs from being deployed ahead of upcoming ArbOS updates.

The BoLD guard and withdrawals BoLD is Arbitrum’s dispute resolution system for settling disagreements about the state of the chain. A one-step proof is the final step in such a dispute, where a single disputed computation step is checked directly.

The Security Council added a permissionless guard to this one-step proof mechanism on Arbitrum One. Its job is to protect against potential soundness issues. If the system ever ends up accepting contradictory proofs, the guard allows settlements to be paused in a timely way.

The practical consequence: unconfirmed withdrawals could be delayed if that scenario plays out.

Notably, the guard was added to Arbitrum One specifically. The Stylus activation pause applies to both Arbitrum One and Nova.

What existing builders should know For teams that already have Stylus contracts live, the day-to-day picture is largely unchanged. Active contracts continue to work and can be renewed until expiration.

The pain lands on developers who were planning fresh Stylus deployments. Those launches now wait on a timeline that hasn’t been set yet.

The Arbitrum Foundation said it will work with the ArbitrumDAO to determine when new Stylus activations can resume. The Foundation also framed the emergency upgrade as part of an ongoing series of proactive measures meant to protect the network’s security and integrity.

Why this matters The identified issues affect liveness, not user fund safety, and no user funds are at risk from the currently known problems. That distinction matters: a network that pauses is inconvenient, while a network that loses deposits is a crisis.

The BoLD guard adds a backstop for a scenario where the proof system itself misbehaves. The cost of that backstop is that withdrawals that haven’t been confirmed could sit in limbo if it’s ever triggered.

The use of the Security Council itself is another signal. Emergency powers exist for moments like this, where waiting on a full governance vote could leave a known weakness open. The decision to hand the restart timeline back to the ArbitrumDAO suggests the council is acting as a first responder, not as the permanent authority on Stylus.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Estefano Gomez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Meta Platforms (META +0.30%). was one of Wall Street's best-performing stocks in September. It rose 25% during the month, turning around what had up to that point been a down year for the stock.

The major catalyst in the quarter was the launch of Meta Muse, an AI agent built for everyday use for the masses. This completely shifted the AI narrative around Meta's stock, causing the market to shift from bearish to bullish.

But with the calendar flipping to October, will the market still love the stock? 

Image source: Getty Images.

Meta finally released a monetizable AI product Previously, the biggest complaint investors had about Meta Platforms as an AI investment was that it seemed to be giving everything away for free, despite investing hundreds of billions of dollars into building AI data centers. With no obvious payoff for those investments in sight, investors were left scratching their heads about when and where the profits would come from.

This caused investors who were familiar with Meta's failed metaverse vision to experience déjà vu. As a result, the stock wasn't highly valued. But all of that flipped shortly after the launch of Muse.

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Muse is one of the first AI agents built for everyday use. The AI agent can be tasked with multistep activities such as building a schedule, checking calendars, or booking travel on your behalf.

While it is technically free to use, the free tier has a relatively low monthly usage cap. Meta is betting that many people will find Muse useful enough that they will start burning through their tokens and eventually decide to pay for a subscription tier with a much higher ceiling. If that happens, the subscription services could lead to strong revenue and profit growth, which investors love.

The market sees the vision and is buying into it, which is why the stock had such a fantastic September. But what's ahead for October?

Late this month, Meta Platforms will report its third-quarter results, and Muse will likely be one of the primary topics of discussion. Investors will likely hear more about early adoption numbers and the long-term vision for this product. If the market likes what it hears, the stock could end the month strong. However, Meta no longer has the "cheap" factor going for it. While it was trading at bargain levels for some time, its September rally drove it back to a normal valuation range.

Meta's stock is no longer trading at a discount Before its rally, Meta's stock traded at less than 18 times expected forward earnings -- near its lowest valuation of the past three years.

META PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts.

Today, it is trading toward the upper end of its usual valuation range. Still, there's room for more. While some of Meta's peers' price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios are currently being skewed by one-time gains on investments, the average big tech firm tends to trade in the high 20s to the low 30s times forward earnings valuation range.

That leaves plenty of room for upside if the market gets really bullish on Meta's prospects. Still, I don't see that happening until after its Q3 results are released, when the initial reception of Muse is accounted for.

As a result, I don't think we'll see a repeat of September for Meta's stock in October, but its future looks brighter than it has been in awhile. If Muse is widely accepted and becomes a popular subscription product, the stock will have a lot more potential for upside, because there isn't a ton of growth priced into it now at just 23 times forward earnings.

That could make Meta an AI stock worth buying for the long term, as it has one of the best consumer-facing platforms for AI deployment.

, /PRNewswire/ -- Today, CME Group provided the following statement about its plans to suspend launch of a new 10-Barrel Crude Oil futures contract:

"Providing efficient, regulated markets that allow our clients to cost-effectively manage business risk is always our top priority at CME Group," said CME Group Chairman and Chief Executive Terry Duffy. "We created and planned to launch a 10-Barrel oil contract to provide a transparent, regulated alternative to the 24/7 oil contracts that other venues have introduced in the marketplace. Whether as onshore prediction markets or offshore perpetuals, which are illegal for U.S. participants but may be accessed despite their illegality via virtual private networks, these energy products already trade around the clock, primarily for retail participants.

"We had hoped to provide a safer, more transparent alternative, within the U.S. jurisdiction and CFTC oversight. However, based on extensive conversations with industry participants, we have determined that key constituents are concerned that introducing 24/7 trading in energy without further due diligence could create unintended consequences, possibly introducing additional risk in the marketplace.

"Therefore, we are withdrawing our filing to launch this product at this time. We hope the CFTC will address the inequity, reestablish the level playing field that has made U.S. financial markets the envy of the world, and ensure all derivatives products meet the standards the law requires, in compliance with the core principles of the Commodity Exchange Act."

As the world's leading derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) enables clients to trade futures, options, cash and OTC markets, optimize portfolios, and analyze data – empowering market participants worldwide to efficiently manage risk and capture opportunities. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, cryptocurrencies, energy, agricultural products and metals.  The company offers futures and options on futures trading through the CMEGlobex platform, fixed income trading via BrokerTec and foreign exchange trading on the EBS platform.  In addition, it operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers, CME Clearing. 

CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Globex, and E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc.  NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.  COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc. BrokerTec is a trademark of BrokerTec Americas LLC and EBS is a trademark of EBS Group LTD. The S&P 500 Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC ("S&P DJI"). "S&P®", "S&P 500®", "SPY®", "SPX®", US 500 and The 500 are trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC; Dow Jones®, DJIA® and Dow Jones Industrial Average are service and/or trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. These trademarks have been licensed for use by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Futures contracts based on the S&P 500 Index are not sponsored, endorsed, marketed, or promoted by S&P DJI, and S&P DJI makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in  such products. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

CME-G

SOURCE CME Group

Brixmor Property Group NYSE: BRX said it has entered definitive agreements with Everview Partners to acquire Slate Grocery REIT, a Canadian-listed owner of U.S. grocery-anchored shopping centers, in a transaction valued at $2.34 billion.

Under the transaction structure, Brixmor will directly acquire 23 grocery-anchored shopping centers comprising about 3 million square feet for $636 million. A newly formed joint venture between Brixmor and affiliates of Everview will acquire the remaining 92 properties, totaling about 12 million square feet, for $1.71 billion.

Brixmor will hold a 20% interest in the joint venture, while Everview will own 80%. The company will serve as the venture’s asset manager, property manager and leasing representative, creating recurring fee income. Brixmor also plans to make a $174 million preferred-equity investment in the venture carrying a 9% dividend.

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The transaction has been approved by Brixmor’s board and Slate’s board of trustees and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to Slate unitholder approval and customary closing conditions.

Portfolio Focused on Grocery-Anchored Retail CEO and President Brian Finnegan said the acquisition fits Brixmor’s strategy of investing in grocery-anchored, open-air retail centers and applying its leasing, redevelopment and operating platform to drive growth.

The 23 properties Brixmor will own outright are 96% leased and located entirely within the company’s current footprint, with concentrations in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. The portfolio is fully grocery anchored, with tenants including Publix, Harris Teeter and Kroger.

The joint venture’s 92 properties are 94% grocery anchored, and about 70% are located in markets where Brixmor already operates. Finnegan said the company expects to use its retailer relationships and leasing platform to pursue long-term net operating income growth across both portfolios consistent with Brixmor’s long-term 4% growth expectation.

Management cited several potential value-creation opportunities, including small-shop leasing, merchandising changes, rent growth, redevelopment, improved expense recoveries and specialty income. While the overall acquired portfolio is substantially occupied, Finnegan said small-shop occupancy is 88%, presenting an opportunity for improvement.

In-place rents across the portfolios average more than 30% below Brixmor’s current portfolio, management said, and several legacy anchor leases carry rents below $9 per square foot. Slate also generated mid-teens renewal growth in the past year and new-lease growth near 40%, according to Finnegan.

Redevelopment and Pricing Brixmor identified about $100 million of redevelopment and outparcel-development opportunities in the directly acquired portfolio. Those projects include multiple Publix redevelopments in high-growth Southeastern markets, and Finnegan said the company expects to begin pursuing some opportunities immediately after closing.

The company characterized the overall transaction as priced at a low-7% yield. Finnegan said the directly acquired real estate carries a cap rate in the high-6% range, while the joint venture properties are priced at a low- to mid-7% cap rate. The yield on Brixmor’s overall investment includes the preferred-equity investment and a conservative estimate of recurring fee income, management said.

Chief Investment Officer Mark Horgan said the real estate yields discussed on the call were before fees and that Brixmor views the portfolio as attractively priced relative to current pricing for individual open-air retail assets. Finnegan also cited a purchase price of approximately $155 per square foot, which he said is below replacement cost.

The company said the transaction will be immediately accretive to Nareit funds from operations per share and accretive to adjusted funds from operations and free cash flow from day one. Management said it expects to provide more detailed accretion guidance when it issues 2027 guidance and closes the transaction.

Funding Plan and Joint Venture Leverage Brixmor said it has sized its investment at approximately $1 billion, including its preferred-equity investment, to limit capital-markets dependency. The company has $1 billion in interim financing commitments and reported $1.5 billion of liquidity at the end of the second quarter.

The company expects to fund approximately $300 million with cash on hand, including $115 million of unsettled forward at-the-market proceeds. About $500 million is expected to come from debt, including roughly $95 million of assumed mortgages, while normal capital recycling is expected to fund the remainder. Brixmor said it does not expect to need to issue equity at current trading levels.

Finnegan said Brixmor intends to maintain leverage consistent with recent levels, targeting low- to mid-5-times debt to EBITDA in 2027. The joint venture will carry more leverage than Brixmor’s wholly owned balance sheet assets. Horgan said the venture is expected to assume about $513 million of mortgage debt with maturities into the 2030s and rates in the low-4% range, with overall joint venture leverage expected in the low-60% range.

While Brixmor does not plan to sell any of the 23 wholly owned assets, Finnegan said the joint venture may pursue some strategic dispositions as part of its business plan. He added that Brixmor does not expect adverse tax implications from the transaction.

Management said the joint venture structure enabled Brixmor to preserve financial flexibility while partnering with Everview, whose investment group includes ADIA. Finnegan said the structure also could provide Brixmor with potential future acquisition opportunities from the joint venture portfolio.

About Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX)Brixmor Property Group Inc NYSE: BRX is a real estate investment trust that owns and operates open-air shopping centers in the United States. Its properties are generally anchored by grocery stores and serve communities with a mix of essential retail, dining, service, and other consumer-oriented businesses.

The company's activities include leasing retail space, managing shopping-center operations, and investing in property redevelopment and improvements. Brixmor focuses on maintaining well-located centers and strengthening tenant mixes to support the long-term needs of the communities in which its properties are located.

Brixmor was formed in 2011 and became a publicly traded company in 2013.

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

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EchoStar (ECHO +6.80%) was quite the star company in the eyes of many investors on Friday. A key subsidiary has emerged from bankruptcy, and at a stroke, significantly cleaned its parent's balance sheet. Mr. Market rewarded this progress by enthusiastically buying EchoStar shares; they closed that trading session almost 7% higher.

Exit stage rightEchoStar disclosed in a regulatory filing that its Dish DBS subsidiary, anchored by the Dish TV satellite offering and Sling TV streaming service, exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Image source: Getty Images.

While in that state, Dish DBS reduced its indebtedness by roughly $4.35 billion, according to EchoStar. That's considerable, as the company's long-term indebtedness stood at over $16.2 billion at the end of June.

When it filed for Chapter 11 that month, EchoStar aimed to bundle both Dish DBS and its mobile telephony unit, Dish Wireless, into a single filing. A judge in a federal bankruptcy court ruled, however, that they were to be treated separately. The Dish Wireless bankruptcy remains ongoing.

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A $4.35 billion cleaningWhen a business eliminates a large chunk of debt, that's almost always a win. Investors were right to cheer this major victory for EchoStar, but I'd caution that the sprawling company isn't out of the woods yet. Competition is thick and heavy in TV broadcasting these days, and the status of Dish Wireless isn't ideal.

Eric Volkman 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.

In the latest close session, Alibaba (BABA - Free Report) was down 1.49% at $105.85. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.73%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.49%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 1.19%.

The online retailer's stock has dropped by 3.9% in the past month, exceeding the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 4.61% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 0.55%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Alibaba in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $1.49, signifying a 144.26% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $40.63 billion, up 16.73% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $6.41 per share and revenue of $166.96 billion, which would represent changes of +64.78% and +14.83%, respectively, from the prior year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Alibaba. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.93% lower. At present, Alibaba boasts a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

In terms of valuation, Alibaba is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 16.77. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.14, which means Alibaba is trading at a premium to the group.

One should further note that BABA currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.3. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The average PEG ratio for the Internet - Commerce industry stood at 1.15 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Internet - Commerce industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 191, finds itself in the bottom 23% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.

Chainalysis attributed the September 24 theft of $387 million from Bitget to North Korean actors, according to its October 1 investigation report.

The firm said the attack brought crypto thefts linked to North Korea above $1 billion in 2026.

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Within three hours, the stolen funds moved in 23 transfers across Ethereum, XRP, Zcash and Tron. Chainalysis put their shares at 49.7%, 40.8%, 7.6% and 1.8%, respectively.

Attackers converted stolen XRP into Bitcoin through a cross-chain liquidity protocol. Investigators matched deposits with payouts and followed tens of millions of dollars to attacker-controlled Bitcoin addresses.

Chainalysis said AI-built automation reduced one bridge-reconciliation task from more than 20 hours to under 10 minutes. Human investigators reviewed outputs and directed the work.

The firm said it would continue monitoring destination addresses and sharing information with exchanges and law enforcement.

Disclosure: This article was edited by John Chen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.