Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Tesla (TSLA 2.47%) heads into its second-quarter earnings report this Wednesday, July 22, carrying two stories that can't both be right. The electric-car maker just delivered 480,126 vehicles in Q2, up 25% year over year and its highest quarterly total since the third quarter of 2025. Yet the stock sits at about $391 as of this writing, down 22% from its 52-week high of $498.83.

And one Wall Street firm thinks the decline is just getting started. Last week, Wells Fargo raised its Tesla price target to $130 from $125 while keeping its underweight rating. From today's price, that target implies a drop of about 67%.

The firm's reasoning, in essence, is that Tesla is selling more cars than it has in any quarter since the third quarter of 2025 but earning less on each one, with price cuts and rising input costs (memory chips, copper, and lithium among them) eating away the gains.

So, who's right?

Image source: The Motley Fool.

The bull case is already public The strongest evidence for the bulls is volume. Tesla's 480,126 second-quarter deliveries were up 25% from the 384,122 vehicles it delivered in the year-ago quarter.

Delivery growth is also accelerating, up from a 6% year-over-year increase in the first quarter. After a long stretch of shrinking vehicle sales, growth is back.

The rest of the business is moving again, too. First-quarter revenue rose 16% year over year to $22.4 billion, with services and other revenue climbing 42%.

And after a soft first quarter in which energy revenue fell 12% year over year, energy storage deployments rebounded to 13.5 gigawatt-hours in Q2, up 41% from the year-ago period and up sharply from 8.8 gigawatt-hours in Q1.

Even the businesses investors are really paying up for are progressing. Tesla launched unsupervised robotaxi rides in Dallas and Houston in April, and it received approval for Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in the Netherlands the same month. Its active Full Self-Driving (Supervised) subscriptions reached 1.28 million in the first quarter, up 51% year over year.

And the company has the resources to keep funding its ambitions in autonomy and robotics. Tesla ended Q1 with $44.7 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, up from $44.1 billion at the end of 2025.

That's an improving picture, and I don't think the bears can dismiss it.

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The bear case, in numbers The problem, as Wells Fargo frames it, is what all of that volume actually earns.

Tesla's first-quarter operating margin was just 4.2%, down from 5.7% in the fourth quarter of 2025. Net income was $477 million on $22.4 billion of revenue, which works out to earnings per share of $0.13. Over the trailing 12 months, Tesla has earned $1.09 per share.

At about $391, then, the stock trades at about 360 times earnings.

That is the entire debate in one number. A multiple like that isn't pricing in a good quarter on Wednesday. It's pricing in years of things going right, including a robotaxi business that scales into a major profit stream while the core car business stays healthy the whole way.

And consider this detail. Even at Wells Fargo's $130 target, Tesla would still trade at about 120 times earnings. In other words, even the bear case values Tesla like a premium growth company -- that's how much optimism is baked into today's price.

The honest answer is that Wednesday's report can't fully settle this. After all, the bear case is about profits, and the bull case, so far, is mostly about volume. But the report should show which way the gap is closing.

Watch whether operating margin recovers from Q1's 4.2%. Watch what the second-quarter deliveries did to pricing. And watch energy, where a second-quarter rebound in deployments needs to show up in revenue and profit, too.

I don't expect a 67% plunge. A decline like that would probably require the market to stop paying for Tesla's autonomy story almost entirely, and the company keeps making measurable progress on it. But Wells Fargo's underlying framing, I think, is the right one. At this valuation, deliveries alone aren't enough. Profits have to follow.

Until they do, I wouldn't buy the stock ahead of Wednesday's report.

If Tesla can show margins turning up while deliveries grow, the bulls will have earned the next word. If it can't, a 22% discount from the high may not turn out to be much of a discount at all.

Chasing yield is a rookie mistake. The dividend stocks that actually build wealth are the ones raising payouts fast enough to outrun inflation, fund reinvestment and turn a modest starting yield into a serious income stream a decade later. That is the lens for July 2026: Three sub-3% yielders whose dividend growth rates make the compounding case, regardless of the modest headline yields.

Each of the three names below has a concrete catalyst behind the raise: AI-driven earnings acceleration at Microsoft, a payments network compounding double-digit revenue growth at Visa, and Broadcom’s post-VMware cash flow explosion. For dividend-growth investors focused on total return, the compounding math is the entire thesis. (For readers building the income side of the portfolio, our Never Touch the Principal research goes deeper on the dividend-growth playbook.)

Microsoft (MSFT) Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT | MSFT Price Prediction) is the AI dividend grower hiding in plain sight. The company raised its quarterly payout from 83 cents to 91 cents starting Q4 2025, following a multi-year cadence of September raises: 62 cents to 68 cents in 2022, 68 cents to 75 cents in 2023, 75 cents to 83 cents in 2024 and now 91 cents. The forward annualized dividend stands at $3.64, with a current yield of just 0.93%. Small number, but the growth trajectory is the point.

The engine behind the raises is the AI and cloud franchise. Fiscal Q3 2026 delivered EPS of $4.27 versus $4.09 estimated, on revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year. Intelligent Cloud grew 30%, Azure grew 40%, and CEO Satya Nadella told investors, “Our AI business surpassed an annual revenue run rate of $37 billion, up 123% year-over-year.” Commercial remaining performance obligations nearly doubled to $627 billion. That backlog gives management the visibility to keep the dividend ladder going.

Risk: The stock has been rerated hard, down 17.17% year to date and 23.44% over the past year, while CapEx hit $30.88 billion in the quarter, up 84%. Free cash flow is being consumed by AI buildout, and the payoff timeline is not guaranteed. At roughly 23 times trailing earnings, though, the valuation reset has done a lot of work.

Visa (V) Visa (NYSE:V) is the cleanest dividend-growth story of the three. The board hiked the quarterly payout from 59 cents to 67 cents in October 2025, a 14% increase. Zoom out and the compounding is striking: Visa paid 30 cents per quarter in 2020 and now pays $0.67, with a forward annualized rate of $2.68.

The fundamentals justify the pace. Fiscal Q1 2026 delivered EPS of $3.31 versus $3.10 expected, a 6.77% beat, on revenue of $10.90 billion, up 14.6% year over year. Payments volume rose 8% in constant dollars, cross-border volume excluding intra-Europe grew 11% and data processing revenue climbed 17%. CEO Ryan McInerney framed the strategy this way: “Our purposeful investments in our Visa as a Service stack continue to position us as a payments hyperscaler.” Buybacks are aggressive too, with $21.1 billion remaining on the repurchase authorization after Q1’s $3.8 billion in repurchases.

Analysts remain constructive, with eight Strong Buy ratings, 29 Buy ratings and three Hold ratings alongside a 12-month price target of $401.16 against the current price of $358.61.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Microsoft didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Risk: Visa took a $707 million interchange MDL litigation provision in Q1. The merchant-fee legal overhang is not going away, and any adverse ruling could compress the network’s most profitable revenue line.

Broadcom (AVGO) Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) is the highest-octane pick of the three. On a split-adjusted basis, the quarterly dividend moved from 53 cents in Q3 2024 to 59 cents through 2025 to 65 cents in 2026. The shares are up 41% over the past year and a staggering 775.99% over five years, which explains the sub-1% yield. Investors are being paid in capital appreciation while the dividend compounds underneath.

Q2 fiscal 2026 was a blockbuster. Revenue reached $22.19 billion, up 47.9% year over year, and EPS came in at $2.44 versus $2.40 estimated, extending the streak to 8 consecutive beats. AI semiconductor revenue alone hit $10.8 billion, up 143% year over year. CEO Hock Tan set the bar higher: “The momentum continues and in Q3 we expect semiconductor revenue from AI to grow over 200% year-over-year to $16.0 billion.” Free cash flow of $10.26 billion, up 60%, is what funds the dividend runway.

The industry backdrop supports the trajectory. Global semiconductor revenue reached $298.5 billion in Q1 2026, a 79.2% year-over-year increase.

Risk: Broadcom trades at roughly 67 times trailing earnings, customer concentration among a handful of hyperscalers is real, and the VMware acquisition left a significant debt load. A hyperscaler CapEx pause would hit hardest here.

The Bottom Line on Dividend Growth All three names yield under 1%, so the case rests entirely on the rate of raise and the earnings power behind it. Microsoft’s Azure engine, Visa’s payments network, and Broadcom’s AI silicon each fund a different flavor of dividend compounding. For long-duration portfolios, that is where the real income lives and what makes the compounding case compelling right now.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Microsoft didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Interactive Brokers (IBKR 1.82%) is one of a handful of large discount brokerages, competing with the likes of Charles Schwab (SCHW 1.21%) and Robinhood (HOOD 5.72%). Competition in the discount-broker space is typically pretty fierce. However, Interactive Brokers has been doing pretty well, if its June 2026 brokerage metrics are any indication. Here's what you need to know.

Interactive Brokers' June numbers were great In June, Interactive Brokers had 5.185 million client accounts, up 34% from the same month of 2025. Its clients had equity of $930.3 billion in June, 40% higher than the year-ago period. In other words, the company's business has grown materially over the past 12 months. That's very good news, but not the end of the data the company provided.

Image source: Getty Images.

For example, Interactive Brokers handled 5.269 million trades in June, an increase of 53% over the prior year. Although the company only makes a few dollars per trade, the more trades it handles, the more commission revenue it generates. On top of that, the discount broker ended June with margin loan balances of $108.5 billion, a huge 67% increase from June 2015. Margin loans generate interest income for Interactive Brokers, so higher balances are also a very positive outcome.

Interactive Brokers' second-quarter earnings could be very good If that was how the company ended June, it seems highly likely that its second-quarter 2026 earnings update will see a notable improvement over the prior year. That would actually be a follow-up to the financial company's strong first-quarter showing. Some numbers will help.

Interactive Brokers' first-quarter 2026 revenues came in at $1.67 billion, up roughly 17% from $1.43 billion in the prior year. Adjusted earnings increased by roughly 28%, hitting $0.60 per share. The company's commission revenue increased 19%, and its interest income, largely from margin loans, increased 17%.

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The company's June numbers weren't materially higher than May's, suggesting the second quarter won't be materially different from the first. However, given the large year-over-year increase in account size, trading activity, and the total margin loan balance, second-quarter earnings seem likely to be much improved over the second quarter of 2025.

There's one small problem with Interactive Brokers All of that said, investors need to take these numbers with a grain of "valuation salt." The stock's price-to-sales, price-to-earnings, and price-to-book value ratios are all around twice their five-year averages. In other words, Wall Street is well aware of how strongly Interactive Brokers' business is performing. If the company doesn't live up to what are likely to be lofty expectations, even a strong quarter on an absolute basis could still lead to a stock decline.

Charles Schwab is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Interactive Brokers Group. The Motley Fool recommends Charles Schwab and recommends the following options: long January 2027 $43.75 calls on Interactive Brokers Group, short January 2027 $46.25 calls on Interactive Brokers Group, and short September 2026 $95 calls on Charles Schwab. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Nuclear plants. Shipyards. Robots. Oil and gas.

Trying to connect the dots? You and I may not be able to, but Constellation Energy (CEG +0.25%) is doing just that with its latest power move.

Constellation, the largest nuclear energy company in the U.S., has invested an undisclosed sum in Blue Energy, a start-up specializing in prefabricated nuclear power plants. The real kicker isn’t the tech – how this newcomer builds those plants is where the disruption lies, and exactly why Constellation decided it’s worth the bet.

Image source: Getty Images.

Playing the nuclear energy boomConstellation Energy is the undisputed clean energy leader in the U.S., operating the nation’s largest nuclear fleet. That dominance has thrown the company straight into the spotlight of the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure boom.

Data centers consume staggering amounts of electricity, and they require uninterrupted, 24/7 power to keep their servers and cooling systems running. While solar and wind are intermittent, nuclear isn’t.

The macro tailwinds are stronger than ever, with the U.S. government planning to quadruple domestic nuclear capacity by 2050. The problem is execution. Building a traditional nuclear reactor can easily take over a decade and tens of billions of dollars.

Blue Energy directly tackles the industry's two biggest bottlenecks: speed and financing. Their solution? Shipyards.

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Why CEG thinks a shipyard can fit the nuclear equationThe biggest budget-killer in a nuclear power plant isn’t the reactor itself. It is the buildings, structures, pipes, and cooling systems that can cause the maximum delays and cost overruns.

Shipyards already have mass assembly-line manufacturing processes in place. They also have the indoor, weather-controlled spaces, high-capacity cranes, and automated robotic set-ups designed for steel ships and offshore oil rigs.

Blue Energy plugs its design right into this existing infrastructure to weld and prefabricate nuclear plants at speed, and then transports them to the installation site on barges. It can get a plant up and running in just three years.

To top that, while traditional nuclear relies on government loan guarantees, Blue Energy can monetize the asset quickly. It can start a plant on natural gas within three years and generate revenue while it finishes installation and approvals.

Blue Energy’s proprietary plant design can house regulatory-approved Light Water Reactors (LWRs), such as GE Vernova (GEV +2.09%)-Hitachi BWRX-300 SMR (small modular reactor). Blue Energy and GE Vernova are already collaborating to build a power plant using BWRX-300 at Blue Energy’s first planned site in Texas, with GE Vernova scheduled to deliver two gas turbines by 2029 to kickstart the plant.

Why this matters for Constellation Energy investorsThis isn't a speculative bet. Constellation has signed monumental, long-term power purchase agreements, including 20-year deals with Meta (META 2.79%) and Microsoft (MSFT 1.67%) each. Demand is so high that Constellation expects to generate $11.5 billion and $13 billion in free cash flow (before growth spending ) in 2028 and 2029 versus $8.4 billion in 2026-2027.

Constellation can’t bank on traditional nuclear reactors to deliver new baseload capacity, and is trying to position itself at the front of the line for the first wave of rapidly deployable, bankable SMR tech.

If Blue Energy’s shipyard model delivers on its three-year timeline, Constellation could secure a repeatable blueprint to capture the surging hyperscale demand long before traditional nuclear competitors can even break ground.

When a company announces the largest single-year infrastructure spend in corporate history, investors are right to get nervous. Amazon (AMZN 0.91%) plans to pour roughly $200 billion into capital spending in 2026, most of it aimed at artificial intelligence (AI), and CEO Andy Jassy knows how that sounds.

His response was blunt: The company is not making that bet "on a hunch." The clearest evidence that he is telling the truth sits inside Amazon's own chip business.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Image source: Amazon.

The proof is in the chips Amazon designs its own AI chips, led by a line called Trainium, and that custom silicon operation has quietly become a real business. It recently exited a quarter at an annual revenue pace above $20 billion, and this segment of the overall business is growing at triple-digit percentages. It is one of the fastest-scaling chip operations anywhere.

Even more telling is how much future demand is already locked in. Amazon says it has more than $225 billion in revenue commitments tied to Trainium alone, with major AI developers signing on for substantial capacity.

When customers commit that kind of money in advance, it tells you the spending is chasing real, contracted demand rather than a guess about what might sell someday. That is what Jassy is saying.

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Why Trainium matters beyond the revenue The chips do something else that helps the math work. Amazon's newer Trainium processors offer meaningfully better performance for the price than the third-party graphics chips most companies rent, and recent versions have largely sold out. By using its own silicon rather than buying everything from Nvidia, Amazon can lower its costs and widen its profit margins over time.

In other words, the $200 billion is not only about serving customers but also about building a cheaper, more controlled AI supply chain that Amazon owns end-to-end.

None of this makes the bet safe -- $200 billion is an extraordinary sum, and Amazon is counting on monetizing much of it in 2027 and beyond, so the payoff is not immediate. If AI demand cools or customers delay, that spending could weigh on profits. Competition from Nvidia and other cloud providers is fierce, and building chips is hard.

Amazon's AI spending is enormous, but it is backed by a chip business already running at a $20 billion pace and a mountain of pre-committed revenue. To me, that turns a scary headline number into something closer to a calculated bet. The spending still has to pay off, but Jassy has given investors real reasons to believe it is grounded in demand rather than hope.

FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines CEO Robert Isom has a math problem.

The carrier is flying about 6,500 flights per day this year — nearly an entire Alaska Airlines more worth of travel more than its closest competitor, according to Cirium — yet American's profit gap has grown. United Airlines brought in about $3 billion more than American last year, and U.S. profit leader Delta Air Lines made nearly $5 billion more.

In an exclusive interview with CNBC late last month, Isom said American and its nearly 140,000 employees want "to be best at everything that we do." He said that carrier's "long-range plan is certainly making up the margin gap," but he didn't put a timeline on that goal.

American's top executives at the carrier's headquarters late last month outlined new initiatives to CNBC: bigger, more luxe airport lounges, a new wide-body aircraft order, and fresh interiors for even more of its long-haul fleet to attract big spenders.

Isom described the carrier's identity as "a premium global airline with the largest footprint in North America."

American has more decisions it needs to make — and soon — to close the gap. Perhaps its biggest challenge is getting customers to shell out more to fly, something Delta and United zeroed in on years ago.

American has mastered running an efficient business but "what we will measure over time is: Are we closing this revenue gap and closing the unit revenue gap?" American CFO Devon May said.

Cabins, planes and loungesThe carrier's executives reiterated that American's plan rests on growing its ever-more important loyalty program, improving customers' experience, expanding its network and increasing higher-end revenue. 

The airline is forecast to earn 64 cents a share this year, on an adjusted basis, which would be up almost 80% from last year, according to analyst estimates. It will give an updated forecast when it reports second-quarter results on Thursday.

United and Delta earlier this month reported bookings are still strong. The surge in fuel prices have both helped and hurt the industry this year: The sudden run-up in prices because of the Iran war took carriers off guard, though they're passing more of those costs along to travelers, and executives don't expect fares will drop much anytime soon.

Wall Street is optimistic American will continue to improve, expecting it to quadruple adjusted earnings in 2027 to $2.58 a share.

American is now remodeling cabins across the fleet and taking deliveries of new planes with interiors that feature new amenities and more premium seats. Executives have said they're considering but haven't decided on bringing back seatback screens to much of its narrow-body fleet, though American recently joined the ranks of airlines that are adding satellite Wi-Fi from SpaceX's Starlink.

Customers who are willing to pay more for premium seats or other perks like lounge access have been a bright spot across the industry, and everyone from profit leader Delta to now-defunct budget carrier Spirit Airlines has tried to woo those travelers as airlines rush to get fancy, new seats — small but profitable real estate — in the air.

Isom told CNBC that work to refresh cabins will soon expand to American's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners. Its revamped cabins on its largest planes, the 777-300ERs, could debut in the next few weeks. Each business-class, lie-flat seat can bring in close to $10,000 on some long-haul international routes compared with $2,000 or even much less for a seat in the back.

Keeping up high-touch service levels could be a challenge, the airline's flight attendant union said, as the 70-seat business class soon comes online. American has been phasing out planes with separate first and business classes.

"Now, as American introduces 70 Business Suites and markets a premium international experience, they're expecting a reduced number of Flight Attendants to deliver significantly more personalized service," Julie Hedrick, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said in a statement. (American reduced flight attendant staffing on those aircraft from 13 to 11 in 2020. Other carriers have made similar moves.) "The result will be longer service times and a customer experience that falls short of what passengers expect."

In another lure for premium travelers, Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden told CNBC that American is going to build the biggest Admirals Club lounge in its network, at 37,000 square feet, at its sprawling Dallas Fort Worth International Airport hub in Terminal C.

At the under-construction Terminal F at that airport, American is also planning a grab-and-go Provisions airport lounge, as well as a Flagship check-in area in Terminal D. The entire airport, American's largest hub, is undergoing a $12 billion makeover, and the carrier recently unveiled new gates in Terminal C, which will expand further. American and others have been upgrading and expanding airport lounges for the spendiest customers around the U.S.

But United has had a roughly decade head start at catering to higher-paying travelers, while Delta has close to two decades of experience. In the late 2000s, Delta was giving away about 90% of its domestic first-class seats through free upgrades for frequent flyers, but now it says it sells the vast majority, with customers paying cash or redeeming miles, now a trend among big carriers, though American wants to increase buy-ups.

Under Isom, American has been upping its game in premium investments. American's commercial team is working on technical changes that aim to offer customers more opportunities to buy pricier seats.

Aside from its of fortress hubs, American's chief commercial officer, Nat Pieper, said the airline needs to win in so-called jump-ball markets like Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C. He said American continues to grow sign-ups for its lucrative credit card program in some of those, including New York.

American said it's flying is split about 80% domestic versus 20% international. International flights often carry a high premium compared with domestic routes — and the planes serving them generally have more luxurious seats on board.

Isom said the airline's network breadth is a major strong suit and will continue to be.

While American and other airlines rely on alliances and partnerships to expand reach, United is flying a lot of that itself.

United flies more internationally than Delta and American, and made its geography quiz-like network a calling card and , adding dots on the map from Mongolia to Galicia, Spain.

'Never been deterred'A mechanical engineer by education who took his first flight at about age 4, Isom rose up the ranks at Northwest Airlines and America West Airlines, which through mergers became modern-day Delta and American, respectively.

The airline industry is one of the most insular. In part, because of the safety-critical and specific knowledge needed to keep thousands of planes on track every day, airlines don't often hire from other industries, especially at the top.

The executive team that long worked at American is split between that carrier and United. The CEO of United, Scott Kirby, used to work at American, until he was fired almost exactly 10 years ago. United announced it hired Kirby as president the same day.

Isom, 62, took over the top role at American in March 2022, after the airline industry had been rocked by the pandemic.

"I've never been deterred, no matter what the challenges that we face," he said.

He took over in a quarter when American lost $1.6 billion.

"I'm clear-eyed about the challenges in this business," he said, pointing to an industry that has been through everything from the 9/11 terrorist attacks, to the financial crisis, bankruptcies, mergers and wars and disease.

American ranked sixth of 11 U.S. airlines in punctuality in the first half of the year, according to Cirium data that pointed to with a 76.6% on-time rate, while Delta and United took the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively. Under Isom and COO David Seymour, the carrier is working to improve its on-time rate, spreading out its schedule instead of jamming chaotic connecting banks in major hubs, and using artificial intelligence to predict maintenance problems.

On top of that, the carrier's earnings are still hamstrung from its $35 billion debt load though American has slashed that from around a $54 billion peak coming out of the pandemic, with balance sheet improvement a major priority.

"They're a giant — with a limp," said Dennis Tajer, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American's 15,000 aviators. Earlier this year, the APA and the flight attendants' union called Isom's leadership into question. Underperformance from the broader company means less profit-sharing for staff.

Getting customers to notice improvements could take time.

"Changing a service culture is hard, but not impossible," said Jay Barney, a professor of strategic management at the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business. To alter overall brand perception, he said, "You have to make the changes obvious and visible, to current customers and potential customers."

One issue is that flyers are often locked in because the biggest airlines have such overwhelming market share at major hub airports, he added.

What airlines might be trying to do is "charge more to their current customers," Barney said.

Wide-body planesAmerican might be behind in its premium game, but Isom said customer satisfaction scores are rising. Chief Commercial Officer Pieper, an airline industry veteran whom the company appointed last fall as the carrier was recovering from a failed corporate sales strategy in 2024, said demand is strong across the board.

Buying new wide-body planes will be key to the airline's next phase, Isom said. An order is on the table for this year, with both Boeing and Airbus in the mix, he said.

American's more than 1,000 planes make up the youngest fleet of the three largest U.S. airlines, according to 2025 annual filings, thanks in part to a more than 400-airplane order it made about 15 years ago for new Boeing and Airbus narrow-body planes, but dozens of its Boeing 777 wide-bodies average more than two decades old.

American's refresh of those older planes, Boeing 777-200s, are next, Isom said, but the carrier is shopping for new planes.

"I think that Airbus could play a big role" in the new order, Isom said. American's wide-bodies are all currently Boeing planes.

American declined to say the size of its planned order. New aircraft for American would likely arrive in the early or middle of the next decade.

Up in Chicago, rival United — which has been duking it out with American at O'Hare International Airport — snatched up delivery slots for more than 100 Boeing Dreamliners in the last four years.

A future without UnitedAs Isom lays out his vision for the future of the airline, there's one path he says the carrier doesn't see as feasible.

United CEO Kirby suggested this year a merger with American, an idea the airline rebuffed.

"I spoke with Scott," Isom told CNBC. "Given history, given law, given past mergers, there wasn't anyone that we talked to, our advisors, interested parties, politicians, that said that there was any chance of this happening.

"At the end of the day, we spend time looking at things that have a chance of happening. We don't spend a lot of time pursuing impossibilities," he said.

United has a partnership with JetBlue (American had a more involved one with JetBlue in the Northeast but it was blocked by a judge on antitrust grounds in 2023). But Kirby has repeatedly said this year he's not interested in acquiring that New York airline. He also acknowledged that a merger with American won't happen without a willing partner in that carrier's management.

United, meanwhile, gets several slots at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport as early as next year under the JetBlue deal.

"Why buy the cow if you're getting the milk for free?" said Brett Snyder, who writes the Cranky Flier blog.

Isom gave a standard line from executives when CNBC asked his own appetite for possible mergers and acquisitions, saying the carrier is always on the lookout for opportunities to serve the company's customers.

For now, though, Isom said he is firmly focused on American's new chapter.

He said he gravitated toward the industry "to be involved with something where you can make a difference.

"This is this one that you never wake up in the morning or going to bed at night thinking: Did I do good for somebody or something?" he said. "You certainly had the chance to in this business."

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 19th, 2026

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. cut its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Free Report) by 19.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,180 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,024 shares during the quarter. Johnson & Johnson comprises approximately 0.7% of Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $11,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of JNJ. Blueline Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in Johnson & Johnson during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 104.2% during the 4th quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in Johnson & Johnson in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson In other news, EVP Kathryn E. Wengel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.15, for a total transaction of $2,411,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 114,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,560,551.20. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Johnson & Johnson Here are the key news stories impacting Johnson & Johnson this week:

Positive Sentiment: Johnson & Johnson beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates, showing solid demand and execution in its core business. J&J Stock Falls Despite Strong Q2 Beat & Higher 2026 View: Here’s Why Positive Sentiment: The company raised its 2026 guidance after the report, reinforcing confidence in its growth outlook and pipeline momentum. Johnson & Johnson Raises 2026 Outlook After Q2 Earnings Beat Positive Sentiment: Guggenheim reaffirmed its Buy rating and set a $270 price target, signaling continued analyst confidence. Benzinga article on Guggenheim rating reaffirmation Positive Sentiment: Some market commentary suggests the post-earnings pullback could be an opportunity to buy JNJ on strength after a run to 52-week highs. Why Johnson and Johnson’s Earnings Dip Looks Like a Buying Opportunity Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also digesting the full Q2 earnings call transcript and several commentary pieces framing the company’s growth beyond legacy drugs and its collaboration announcements. Full Transcript: Johnson & Johnson Q2 2026 Earnings Call Negative Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, the stock fell because MedTech results missed expectations, creating concern that one important division is lagging behind the company’s otherwise solid performance. J&J Stock Falls Despite Strong Q2 Beat & Higher 2026 View: Here’s Why Johnson & Johnson Price Performance JNJ stock opened at $252.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $608.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.31, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $239.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $234.63. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $162.78 and a twelve month high of $269.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.06. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 32.86%. The business had revenue of $25.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.77 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Johnson & Johnson has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.600-11.750 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 11.68 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be issued a $1.34 dividend. This represents a $5.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth JNJ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $234.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $265.30.

View Our Latest Analysis on JNJ

About Johnson & Johnson (Free Report)

Johnson & Johnson is a multinational healthcare company headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products across pharmaceuticals, medical devices and previously consumer health. Founded in 1886 by the Johnson family, the company has grown into a global healthcare organization with operations and sales in many countries around the world.

The company’s pharmaceuticals business, organized largely under its Janssen research and development organization, focuses on prescription medicines across therapeutic areas such as immunology, infectious disease, oncology and neuroscience.

See Also Five stocks we like better than Johnson & Johnson Netflix May Be Cheap Enough to Tempt Buyers After Earnings Drop Delta vs. United: Which Airline Is Better Built for Higher Fuel Costs? The Market Sold Alcoa After Earnings—But It May Be Missing the Real Story Why Intuitive Surgical’s Strong Quarter Still Spooked Investors Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JNJ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ – Free Report).

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Shares of Pfizer (PFE 0.22%) have fallen more than 50% from their late 2021 highs. That massive drawdown has pushed the dividend yield up to a historically high 6.9%. To put that yield into perspective, the S&P 500 index (^GSPC 1.01%) has a yield of roughly 1.1%, and the average pharmaceutical stock's yield is around 1.5%. As a dividend stock, Pfizer looks historically cheap and relatively cheap. Here's what's going on and why you might want to add this drug maker to your shortlist.

Pfizer has some problems to deal with Companies don't end up with outsize yields for no reason. Pfizer has several major patent expirations coming up. When a blockbuster drug loses patent protection, generic competition typically enters and revenues decline. This is why drug companies are always on the lookout for new drugs.

Image source: Getty Images.

On the new drug front, Pfizer hasn't been seeing the success Wall Street would like to see. Notably, it had to drop a GLP-1 weight-loss drug it was developing in early 2025. That was a public black eye, since it put the company well behind competitors.

There are very good reasons why investors are worried about Pfizer. And, notably, the dividend payout ratio is above 130%. There's also legitimate concern about the dividend's safety.

Things don't always line up in the business world There are definitely things for dividend investors to worry about with Pfizer, and conservative types may want to avoid it. However, there's really nothing out of the ordinary going on with the company. Patent expiration dates and new drug development don't always align the way a company would like. But Pfizer has a long and successful history in the drug sector, so it seems highly likely it will navigate this transition period.

Notably, after its GLP-1 mishap, Pfizer quickly announced the acquisition of a company with a more promising weight-loss drug candidate. It has other notable drugs in its pipeline as well.

Today's Change

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25.09

On the dividend front, the company's cash flows still cover the payment. Since dividends are paid out of cash flows, Pfizer has more wiggle room than it may seem to support the dividend (including using cash on its balance sheet and taking on additional debt). Management has also been very clear that protecting the dividend is a key priority.

Worth a risk for those willing to invest in out-of-favor stocks Risk-averse investors probably won't like Pfizer. But given the company's strong history, the moves it is making to address the totally normal headwinds it faces, and its stated commitment to the dividend, more aggressive dividend investors may find this cheap income stock compelling enough to put on their shortlists.

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 19th, 2026

Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Free Report) by 8.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,552 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,506 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $20,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Portfolio Resources Advisor Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $106.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.61.

View Our Latest Stock Report on ABT

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.9% Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $100.71 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $81.97 and a one year high of $137.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $89.89 and its 200 day moving average is $102.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.41 billion, a PE ratio of 32.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $12.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.52 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 11.65% and a return on equity of 17.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. Abbott Laboratories has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.46 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.450-5.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 70.59%.

Key Abbott Laboratories News Here are the key news stories impacting Abbott Laboratories this week:

Positive Sentiment: Abbott beat Q2 earnings expectations and raised 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $5.45-$5.60, signaling better profit momentum for the rest of the year. Abbott Reports Second-Quarter 2026 Results and Raises Full-Year EPS Guidance Positive Sentiment: Management pointed to stronger second-half demand across multiple businesses, including nutrition, medical devices, diagnostics, and diabetes care, which supports a faster growth profile. ABT Q2 Earnings Call Flags Stronger Second-Half Setup Positive Sentiment: Analysts turned more constructive after the results, with JPMorgan, Citi, Piper Sandler, Wells Fargo, TD Cowen, BTIG, and RBC all lifting targets or reaffirming bullish views. These Analysts Increase Their Forecasts On Abbott Following Better-Than-Expected Q2 Results Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories In other news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau purchased 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.50 per share, with a total value of $201,300.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,300. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $92.65 per share, for a total transaction of $926,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 6,751,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $625,489,692.95. The trade was a 0.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Profile (Free Report)

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of medical products and services. Founded in 1888, Abbott operates through multiple business areas that focus on diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and established pharmaceuticals. The company supplies hospitals, clinics, laboratories, retailers and direct-to-consumer channels with products intended to diagnose, treat and manage a wide range of health conditions.

In diagnostics, Abbott provides laboratory and point-of-care testing platforms and assays used to detect infectious diseases, chronic conditions and biomarkers; its Alinity family of instruments and rapid-test solutions are examples of this capability.

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Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO – Free Report) by 37.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,404 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,130 shares during the period. Broadcom makes up about 1.3% of Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Broadcom were worth $3,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fullerton Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Broadcom by 1.3% in the first quarter. Fullerton Advisors LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co increased its position in shares of Broadcom by 0.5% in the first quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co now owns 5,350 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,656,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. RFG Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. RFG Holdings Inc. now owns 8,499 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,631,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Yukon Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Broadcom by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Yukon Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,501 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadcom by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Planning LLC now owns 4,044 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,252,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Broadcom Here are the key news stories impacting Broadcom this week:

Positive Sentiment: Standard Chartered chose Broadcom to support a long-term modernization of its global banking infrastructure, underscoring Broadcom’s role in secure private-cloud and enterprise networking solutions. Standard Chartered Selects Broadcom to Deliver Secure, Always-On Banking Services at Global Scale Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary continues to describe Broadcom as a core AI beneficiary, and some analysts have raised price targets even after the stock pullback. As Shares Fall, Analyst Are Boosting Their Broadcom Price Targets Neutral Sentiment: Broadcom remains a major talking point in AI-focused market coverage, with some investors viewing it as an indicator for the broader market and semiconductor cycle. Jim Cramer Says Broadcom Will Tell You When the Market Is About to Turn Negative Sentiment: Broadcom is facing renewed skepticism around valuation, with one report asking whether the AI story has made the stock too expensive. Has Broadcom Become Too Expensive for Its AI Story? Negative Sentiment: The stock is also being hit by a broader selloff in semiconductor names as investors rotate away from AI-capex winners and worry about a slowdown in chip spending. Marvell Drops 8% as AI Capex Slowdown Fears Weigh on Chips; Broadcom, AMD, and Intel Slide Negative Sentiment: Broadcom is also dealing with regulatory uncertainty after reports said it faces an EU antitrust review tied to VMware licensing changes. Broadcom (AVGO) Faces EU Antitrust Review Over VMware Licensing Changes Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research firms recently issued reports on AVGO. Jefferies Financial Group set a $550.00 price target on shares of Broadcom and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Broadcom to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Broadcom from $450.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Broadcom from $485.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $502.00 target price on shares of Broadcom and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Broadcom presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.24.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on AVGO

Broadcom Stock Performance Shares of NASDAQ:AVGO opened at $370.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.01. Broadcom Inc. has a 1 year low of $273.00 and a 1 year high of $495.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 61.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $401.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $365.31.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 3rd. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.04. Broadcom had a return on equity of 41.61% and a net margin of 38.85%.The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 47.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Broadcom Inc. will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadcom Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Broadcom’s payout ratio is presently 43.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadcom In other Broadcom news, Director Harry L. You bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $373.57 per share, with a total value of $373,570.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 38,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,369,743.62. This trade represents a 2.67% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark David Brazeal sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $401.33, for a total transaction of $10,033,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 194,989 shares in the company, valued at $78,254,935.37. This trade represents a 11.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 61,644 shares of company stock valued at $24,016,214. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom Profile (Free Report)

Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company’s semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia.

On the semiconductor side, Broadcom’s portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon.

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Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 19th, 2026

AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS – Free Report) by 181.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 60,416 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,957 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Cadence Design Systems were worth $16,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CDNS. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 933.3% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 93 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 860.0% during the 1st quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 96 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 84.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Cadence Design Systems Here are the key news stories impacting Cadence Design Systems this week:

Positive Sentiment: Benchmark upgraded Cadence to Strong Buy, and recent brokerage commentary put the average price target around $387, indicating Wall Street still sees upside from current levels. Zacks.com Positive Sentiment: Cadence recently launched new AI products, including the AuraStack AI Super Agent for PCB and advanced packaging design, reinforcing the company’s growth narrative in AI-driven design workflows. Business Wire article Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a partnership with Rapidus to advance agentic AI for advanced SoC design, which could support longer-term demand for Cadence’s software tools. Business Wire article Neutral Sentiment: Cadence is due to report second-quarter results on July 27, and some of the weakness may reflect investors taking profits or reducing exposure ahead of earnings. MSN article Negative Sentiment: Shares are also being hit by broader fears that Moonshot and other AI-driven tools could disrupt the EDA industry, pressuring Cadence and peers like Synopsys on concerns about future pricing power and competition. MSN article Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark started coverage on Cadence Design Systems in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $450.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $381.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $395.00 to $432.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $393.65.

Get Our Latest Research Report on CDNS

Insider Buying and Selling In other news, VP Paul Scannell sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.00, for a total transaction of $3,559,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 33,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,507,694. This represents a 23.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director James D. Plummer sold 1,511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.34, for a total transaction of $576,204.74. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,871,493.76. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 157,057 shares of company stock valued at $60,272,277. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Cadence Design Systems Stock Down 9.5% Shares of NASDAQ CDNS opened at $330.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $91.05 billion, a PE ratio of 76.95, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $376.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $328.57. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $262.75 and a 52-week high of $416.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The software maker reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.05. Cadence Design Systems had a net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 28.44%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Cadence Design Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.850-7.950 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.080 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cadence Design Systems, Inc. will post 6.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Cadence Design Systems (Free Report)

Cadence Design Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: CDNS) is a global provider of electronic design automation (EDA) software, hardware and intellectual property used to design and verify advanced semiconductor chips, systems-on-chip (SoCs), printed circuit boards (PCBs) and packaging. Headquartered in San Jose, California and founded in 1988, Cadence serves semiconductor companies, original equipment manufacturers and system designers across the globe, helping customers accelerate design cycles and manage the complexity of modern integrated systems.

The company’s offerings span software tools for digital, custom/analog and mixed-signal design, verification and signoff, as well as solutions for system-level modeling, thermal and signal integrity analysis, and PCB and package design.

Featured Articles Five stocks we like better than Cadence Design Systems Netflix May Be Cheap Enough to Tempt Buyers After Earnings Drop Delta vs. United: Which Airline Is Better Built for Higher Fuel Costs? The Market Sold Alcoa After Earnings—But It May Be Missing the Real Story Why Intuitive Surgical’s Strong Quarter Still Spooked Investors Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CDNS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS – Free Report).

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Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 19th, 2026

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW – Free Report) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,109 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Curtiss-Wright worth $27,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CW. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Curtiss-Wright in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Curtiss-Wright by 53.8% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Curtiss-Wright by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Curtiss-Wright in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Curtiss-Wright in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 82.71% of the company’s stock.

Curtiss-Wright Trading Down 1.0% CW stock opened at $708.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $746.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $700.32. Curtiss-Wright Corporation has a one year low of $463.00 and a one year high of $808.16. The stock has a market cap of $26.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.86.

Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $913.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $863.83 million. Curtiss-Wright had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 20.00%. The company’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Curtiss-Wright Corporation will post 15.23 EPS for the current year.

Curtiss-Wright Dividend Announcement The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Curtiss-Wright’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $724.00 price objective on shares of Curtiss-Wright in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Curtiss-Wright from $775.00 to $793.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings cut Curtiss-Wright from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $860.00 price target on shares of Curtiss-Wright in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $870.00 price objective on Curtiss-Wright in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Curtiss-Wright currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $766.33.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Curtiss-Wright

Insider Buying and Selling at Curtiss-Wright In other news, CEO Lynn M. Bamford sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.72, for a total transaction of $1,804,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 48,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,739,270.48. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Gary A. Ogilby sold 399 shares of Curtiss-Wright stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.95, for a total value of $288,058.05. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,568,075.40. The trade was a 15.52% 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 3,119 shares of company stock valued at $2,257,998 in the last three months. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Curtiss-Wright Company Profile (Free Report)

Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE: CW) is a diversified, global engineering company that designs, manufactures and services highly engineered products and integrated systems for the aerospace, defense, and industrial markets. Its offerings span a range of electromechanical, motion control and flow control technologies, including flight control and actuation systems, sensors and avionics components, pumps and valves, power conversion and heat exchangers, and platform integration solutions for marine and ground systems.

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Microsoft (MSFT 1.67%) stock has fallen 27% from its all-time high, as Wall Street focuses on heavy capital spending to support artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. Yet Microsoft's deep enterprise relationships continue to drive solid demand across its productivity software, cloud, and Copilot platforms.

Microsoft's earnings per share nearly doubled over the last five years, and analysts currently project earnings growth of 16% annually in the next few years. That growth trajectory is enough for the stock to double by 2030. The stock is also trading at a discounted price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple to other hyperscalers, which could boost returns if it rerates at a higher multiple.

Here are two reasons investors can expect Microsoft to meet those earnings growth estimates and deliver market-beating returns.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

1. Microsoft is leveraging a large installed customer base CEO Satya Nadella stated the opportunity on the last earnings call, saying, "We are at the beginning of one of the most consequential platform shifts that will change the entire tech stack as agents proliferate and become the dominant workload."

The advantage for Microsoft is that it already has a large installed base of enterprises that have been customers for years. Its productivity and business process revenue grew 17% year over year to $35 billion. Paid 365 Copilot seats (or licensed users) exceeded 20 million, with management reporting accelerating net additions and higher average revenue per user.

Microsoft's WorkIQ system provides Copilot with data intelligence and now has more than 17 exabytes of data. That's a powerful advantage. This data makes Copilot smarter and better able to leverage all of Microsoft's services to complete tasks.

Enterprises can use agents with the apps they already use. For example, agent mode in Microsoft 365 Copilot can automatically route tasks across Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and other apps. That might explain why nearly 90% of Fortune 500 companies are using active agents built with Copilot Studio.

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2. Microsoft is unlocking a massive cloud backlog Wall Street doesn't like Microsoft's guidance, which calls for up to $190 billion in capital expenditures in calendar 2026. This is more than Microsoft's trailing cash from operations of $170 billion, so investors are discounting the stock to account for lower margins and free cash flow.

Still, Microsoft is one of the leading cloud computing providers, with a growing backlog of $627 billion in remaining performance obligations. As it unlocks more compute capacity, management expects its enterprise cloud revenue on the Azure platform to accelerate in the second half of 2026.

In the long term, Microsoft's investments in developing its custom Maia AI chips and adding more compute capacity should lead to lower compute costs and greater AI efficiency. This can increase its margins and strengthen Microsoft's competitive position.

Overall, this appears to be a classic case of Wall Street punishing a stock for lack of near-term earnings visibility while underestimating Microsoft's opportunity to capitalize on growing demand for agentic AI. As Microsoft reports strong revenue growth in the coming quarters, the stock could recover and eventually double by 2030.

The agreement demonstrates growing demand for advanced air mobility and leasing solutions for eVTOLs.

, /PRNewswire/ -- Eve Air Mobility (NYSE: EVEX, EVEXW; B3: EVEB31), a leader in advanced air mobility solutions, has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Shearwater Global Capital ("Shearwater"), the aviation finance company of Bay Point is a specialist aviation lender providing asset-based financing to borrowers globally, for up to 16 vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The agreement supports Shearwater's strategy to broaden its aviation finance platform to include emerging asset classes such as advanced air mobility (AAM), reflecting its continued focus on financing solutions for the evolving aviation sector.

The order marks a step in Shearwater's strategy since joining Bay Point in April 2026 as a lessor to invest in transformative aviation technologies, expand its business aviation portfolio, and align with the future of sustainable transportation. As a financial institution focused on aviation investments, Shearwater and Bay Point intend to leverage Eve's industry-leading backlog to offer leasing solutions that will advance air mobility operators access aircraft and accelerate fleet deployment. The companies will also explore additional financing opportunities as demand grows for advanced air mobility and efficient, lower-emissions transportation solutions.

"We are pleased to welcome Shearwater to Eve's growing network of customers and partners," said Johann Bordais, CEO of Eve Air Mobility. "We believe advanced air mobility will play an important role in shaping the future of transportation, and we look forward to supporting Shearwater as it offers leasing solutions to the market."

Eve's eVTOL aircraft is designed to deliver an efficient, sustainable, and customer-centric transportation experience. Backed by more than five decades of Embraer's aerospace expertise, Eve's aircraft and service ecosystem are positioned to support operators seeking to introduce advanced air mobility services safely and efficiently.

"This order reflects our confidence in Eve's technology, leadership team, and vision for advanced air mobility," said Chris Miller, managing director – Aviation, Shearwater Global Capital, a Bay Point company. "We believe advanced air mobility will become a global market, and Shearwater intends to play a leading role in supporting that growth through innovative leasing solutions. By leveraging Eve's industry-leading backlog and integrated ecosystem of aircraft and services, we see a compelling opportunity to help operators expand and create long-term value."

The agreement adds to Eve's industry-leading backlog of aircraft commitments from customers and investors worldwide and highlights continued momentum in the advanced air mobility sector and the growing commercial value of its ecosystem.

As the AAM industry advances toward commercialization, Eve continues to work with operators, investors, lessors, and infrastructure partners worldwide to develop practical, scalable use cases that enable safe, efficient, and sustainable air transportation.

Images: Bay Point eVTOL

About Shearwater Global Capital

Shearwater Global Capital, the aviation finance company of Bay Point, is a specialist aviation lender providing asset-based financing to borrowers globally. The firm, founded in 2014 by Chris Miller, focuses on non-bank clients across commercial and private aviation, with deep expertise in pre-delivery financings, special mission aircraft, and older-vintage assets. Shearwater joined Bay Point, an Atlanta-based private credit firm specializing in asset-backed lending across niche markets underserved by traditional lenders, in 2026 to establish a dedicated aviation finance vertical. For more information about Shearwater Global Capital visit www.shearwaterglobal.com and for more information about Bay Point visit www.baypointadvisors.com.

About Eve Air Mobility

Eve Air Mobility is dedicated to accelerating the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) ecosystem. Benefitting from a start-up mindset, backed by Embraer's 56-year history of aerospace expertise, and with a singular focus, Eve is taking a holistic approach to advancing the UAM ecosystem, with an advanced eVTOL project, a comprehensive global services and support network, and a unique air traffic management solution. Eve is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (EVEX; EVEXW) and the São Paulo Stock Exchange (EVEB31), where its shares of common stock, public warrants and Brazilian Depository Receipts are traded. For more information, please visit www.eveairmobility.com.

Forward-Looking Statement Disclosure 

Certain statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "plan," "project," "could," "should," "would," "continue," "seek," "target," "guidance," "outlook," "if current trends continue," "optimistic," "forecast" and other similar words or expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements about the company's plans, objectives, expectations, outlooks, projections, intentions, estimates, and other statements of future events or conditions, including with respect to all companies or entities named within. These forward-looking statements are based on the company's current objectives, beliefs and expectations, and they are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and financial position and timing of certain events to differ materially from the information in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those set forth herein as well as in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors and Part II, Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Part I, Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Part II, Item 1A. Risk Factors of the company's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and other risks and uncertainties listed from time to time in the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, there may be other factors of which the company is not currently aware that may affect matters discussed in the forward-looking statements and may also cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed. The company does not assume any obligation to publicly update or supplement any forward-looking statement to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting these forward-looking statements. other than as required by law. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof or as of the dates indicated in the statement.

SOURCE Eve Air Mobility

Elon Musk doesn't hand out compliments to rivals often, which is why his recent about-face turned heads. After dismissing the AI start-up Anthropic last year, Musk posted that he "was clearly wrong" and now considers it "obviously currently the leader in AI," praising its latest Claude models as the strongest yet. That is a striking admission from a competitor. But the investors who should really pay attention are not watching Musk. They are shareholders of Amazon (AMZN 0.91%) and Alphabet (GOOGL 2.05%).

Musk had written a year ago that "winning was never in the set of possible outcomes for Anthropic." Reversing that in public, and calling Anthropic the outright leader, is the kind of validation money can't easily buy. It came after Anthropic raised an enormous funding round and shipped models that impressed even skeptics. When the person running a competing AI lab concedes your product is the best, the market listens.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Image source: The White House.

Why Amazon and Alphabet are the real winners Here's the connection most headlines miss: Amazon and Alphabet are two of Anthropic's largest backers. Alphabet owns roughly 14% of the company, and Amazon holds a stake in the mid- to high teens, positions each worth well over $100 billion at Anthropic's latest valuation near $965 billion. Amazon alone had committed around $33 billion, with a pledge to invest tens of billions more as milestones are hit. If Anthropic is truly the AI leader, those stakes could swell further, especially with the company reportedly heading toward a blockbuster IPO.

The equity is only half the story, though. Anthropic has committed to spending more than $100 billion on Amazon Web Services over the next decade, including heavy use of Amazon's custom Trainium chips, and roughly $200 billion on Google Cloud over five years, potentially leaning on Alphabet's own AI accelerators. So both giants win twice: their investment appreciates, and the AI leader becomes an anchor customer funneling tens of billions into their cloud businesses. That is a rare double benefit, and Musk's endorsement only strengthens the case that Anthropic will keep growing into those commitments.

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The catch investors should weigh I wouldn't get carried away, though, because there's a real wrinkle here. A large chunk of the eye-popping "AI profits" Amazon and Alphabet have reported recently came from marking up the value of their Anthropic stakes, not from selling more products. Amazon booked billions in pretax gains in a single quarter simply because Anthropic's paper valuation rose. Paper gains are nice, but they aren't the same as durable operating earnings, and they can reverse just as quickly if the AI mood sours.

There's also a whiff of circularity worth acknowledging. Amazon and Alphabet invest in Anthropic, and Anthropic turns around and spends that money on their cloud services and chips. That can inflate everyone's numbers in the good times, but it also means the whole arrangement leans on a continuation of the AI boom. Anthropic itself is still spending enormously and is not a mature, profitable business. And its nearly $1 trillion private valuation leaves little room for disappointment.

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The takeaway for investors Musk's admission is more than a bit of tech-world drama. It's a high-profile confirmation that Anthropic, a company quietly underpinning two of the market's biggest stocks, is winning. For Amazon and Alphabet shareholders, that means their exposure to the AI race runs deeper than the chatbots and cloud tools you can see, extending into a stake that could be worth hundreds of billions and a customer relationship worth hundreds of billions more.

My honest take is that this is a genuine, underappreciated strength for both companies, but investors should hold it in perspective. Enjoy the upside from owning a piece of the AI leader, while remembering that a big slice of the recent gains are marks on paper, not cash in the bank. The businesses underneath still have to deliver.

After years of decline, Intel (INTC 2.00%) has seemingly revived its fortunes under the leadership of CEO Lip-Bu Tan. The successful adoption of the 18A process, rising demand for CPUs, and increased customer commitments in its foundry business helped the stock rise by 278% in the first half of 2026.

Unfortunately, the stock's fortunes began to reverse course in July, leading to daily drops of as much as 10%. Amid that downtrend, one might wonder whether to buy the dip or run for the hills. Interestingly, the answer may be simply to hold off on any decisions on the chip stock, and here's why.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Without a doubt, Tan has transformed Intel from a former industry leader in decline to a vibrant competitor.

Its success with the 18A process node means that it could potentially challenge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) in the production of the world's most advanced chips. Also, as CPUs become more critical to data centers, Intel has an incentive to try to take its technical lead back from AMD, whose CPUs surpassed Intel's in terms of performance.

Reports surfaced that Intel's foundry business has begun to win business. Tesla and Apple have signed production agreements with Intel, and other industry giants considered shifting production to Intel as well. This is a massive win for the U.S. as Intel works to shift more production away from the geopolitically contentious Taiwan region.

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Nonetheless, Intel's financial metrics indicate that investors got ahead of themselves in bidding up the stock price. In the first quarter of 2026, Intel's revenue of $13.6 billion rose by 7% compared to year-ago levels. Although that improved over the flat revenue performance during 2025, it is far below other tech giants, which reported revenue growth in the double-digit percentage range.

Additionally, it was a $4.1 billion restructuring charge in Q1 that contributed heavily to its $3.7 billion net loss. Still, when considering the $26 million in net income for 2025 and the $1.5 billion in non-GAAP net income for Q1, investors can at least know that Intel has become profitable again from an operational standpoint.

Furthermore, the aforementioned $26 million profit is too small to offer a meaningful P/E ratio. When looking at the forward P/E ratio, it comes in at 127, and the forward one-year earnings multiple is at 89. Thus, even with Intel on a likely recovery path, the stock price is likely years ahead of the company's anticipated growth.

Intel stock is a likely hold Intel's stock probably fell in recent days due to the stock price moving ahead of fundamentals. Hence, when also considering its forecasted growth, the stock is likely a hold.

Thanks to Intel's technical breakthroughs and recent contract wins, the company again emerged as a competitor in the chip industry. Assuming it stays on that path, it may eventually justify the stock's massive AI rally.

Unfortunately, the high forward multiples imply that the selling trend could continue over the near term. Until that decline stops (or the valuation becomes more reasonable), investors should probably refrain from buying more Intel shares.

Will Healy has positions in Advanced Micro Devices. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Apple, Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

While investors spent the week focused on a brutal sell-off in chip stocks, rocket maker and satellite internet company SpaceX (SPCX 5.41%) quietly kept falling. Shares slid 5.4% on Friday to close at $123.99. That marked a sixth straight daily decline, an all-time closing low for the stock's brief public life, and a level below the $135 price from its June initial public offering (IPO).

The slide has been more of a drip than a crash, which may be why many investors haven't registered it. But the cumulative damage is significant.

Shares peaked at $225.64 shortly after their debut, so the stock has lost about 45% of its value in roughly a month.

So is this newly cheaper SpaceX finally worth buying? I don't think so.

Elon Musk at the White House. Image source: The White House.

Why the stock keeps sliding There hasn't been a single blow. Instead, several pressures have stacked up.

In late June, SpaceX priced $25 billion of senior notes in its first bond offering as a public company. The notes come due between 2031 and 2056, at interest rates running from 5.35% to 6.65%. Management said the proceeds would repay the borrowings under its bridge loan facility in full (debt largely tied to folding Elon Musk's xAI and X into SpaceX ahead of the IPO), with anything left over going to general corporate purposes (likely including more AI infrastructure). The offering was a reminder of just how expensive the company's artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions will be.

Then came this week's AI reckoning. Semiconductor stocks sold off hard as investors questioned whether the boom in AI infrastructure spending can persist. That reassessment has been a headwind for anything priced on AI ambitions, and SpaceX, which is now part rocket maker, part satellite internet provider, and part AI company, qualifies.

Finally, on Thursday, the company aborted a Starship test flight moments before launch.

"Some of the engines didn't start, triggering an automatic launch abort," Musk wrote on X.

A scrubbed launch is a routine setback. But it capped off a rough week.

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Cheaper isn't the same as cheap What matters more is what investors actually get at $124. SpaceX generated $18.7 billion of revenue in 2025, and it lost $4.9 billion for the year.

Starlink, the company's satellite internet service, is the engine. The segment produced $11.4 billion of revenue in 2025, or 61% of the company total. And its subscriber base keeps climbing, compounding from 2.3 million at the end of 2023 to 8.9 million at the end of 2025 to 10.3 million by the end of March. That is exceptional growth.

However, the average Starlink customer is paying less over time. Monthly revenue per user has stepped down from $99 in 2023 to $66 in the first quarter of 2026. In other words, Starlink's growth is coming from adding users, not from charging them more. That's fine for now, but it could become a problem if subscriber growth ever slows.

The AI business is the expensive part. That segment, built around xAI, generated just $3.2 billion of revenue in 2025. It's also behind most of the new debt -- the June bond sale retires borrowings SpaceX took on to bring xAI in-house.

Now for the valuation. At $124 per share, SpaceX still commands a market value of about $1.6 trillion. That works out to more than 80 times the company's trailing sales, for a business losing billions of dollars a year. For perspective, a multiple of 20 is often considered generous for a fast-growing company when it's based on earnings -- not sales.

Put another way, even with the stock down about 45%, the market is still pricing in a future in which Starlink keeps compounding, Starship works, and the AI bet pays off in a big way -- all at once.

Of course, SpaceX owns assets nobody else has: the world's dominant rocket program and a satellite internet business without a true peer.

And investors will learn a lot soon. The company's first quarterly report since going public is coming, and insider lockup expirations begin rolling off in August.

But owning singular assets doesn't automatically make a stock worth more than 80 times sales. At $124, shares are arguably cheaper than they've ever been -- and still not cheap.

On July 18, 2016 (about ten years ago to the day), Netflix (NFLX 6.90%) shares closed at a split-adjusted $9.88. A $10,000 investment at that price would have bought about 1,010 shares, and with the stock at about $68 as of this writing, that stake would be worth about $68,500 today. That works out to a compound annual return of about 21%. The same $10,000 in the S&P 500 (^GSPC 1.01%) would have grown to roughly $35,000, before dividends.

That return wasn't earned comfortably, though. Holding meant sitting through some ugly weeks, including that very one: the day after Netflix's second-quarter 2016 report showed subscriber growth coming in well below the company's own forecast, shares sank 13%.

Anyone who bought into that plunge did even better, turning $10,000 into nearly $79,000.

And just a few days ago (almost exactly ten years later), Netflix fell hard after a second-quarter report once again. Shares dropped about 9% in after-hours trading as the streaming giant's forecast pointed to slower growth ahead.

The harder call, I think, is whether Netflix can keep compounding from here. Its latest report offers some clues.

Image source: Netflix.

Slowing growth Today's Netflix would be nearly unrecognizable to a 2016 shareholder. The company now generates more revenue in a single quarter ($12.6 billion in Q2) than the $8.8 billion it produced in all of 2016.

The second quarter itself was solid. Revenue rose 13% year over year, in line with management's guidance, with double-digit growth in every region. Earnings per share rose 11% year over year to $0.80. And Netflix's operating margin was 33.4%, down slightly from 34.1% in the year-ago quarter because the company's content amortization is growing faster in the first half of the year. For the full year, management still expects an operating margin of 31.5%, up from 29.5% in 2025.

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Also worth noting: Engagement looks healthy. Members watched more than 97 billion hours of content in the first half of 2026, the company's highest half-year total to date.

The problem is the trajectory. Netflix's year-over-year revenue growth rate has decelerated every quarter this year, from 17.6% in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 16.2% in Q1, 13.4% in Q2, and a forecast of just 11.7% for Q3. Management also narrowed its full-year revenue outlook to $51.0 billion to $51.4 billion, representing 13% to 14% growth.

Growth like that is hardly a crisis. But the hypergrowth that powered the stock's 21% annualized return over the past decade is downshifting.

The case for the next decade Netflix isn't out of growth levers, though.

The most important is advertising. Management said it remains on track to roughly double its advertising revenue this year, to approximately $3 billion -- about 6% of expected 2026 revenue. The company also said its U.S. upfront negotiations are in advanced stages, helped by strong advertiser interest in its live events lineup.

Live programming may be Netflix's most efficient way to win new members. The company expects live events to account for just over 5% of its content spend this year but only about 1% of viewing hours. Yet live programming has accounted for six of its top 10 new-member sign-up days over the past five years. An expanded NFL agreement, including a week-one game this quarter and games on Thanksgiving Eve and Christmas, builds on that approach.

And shareholders are getting paid along the way. Netflix repurchased $4.7 billion of its own stock in Q2, its largest quarter of share repurchases ever, and it still has $27.1 billion left on its repurchase authorizations.

Then there's the valuation. After Thursday's after-hours drop, shares trade at about 21 times forward earnings and sit about 47% below their 52-week high of $127.75. For years, the problem with Netflix stock was a valuation that demanded hypergrowth. Today's price asks for much less.

So, would I put $10,000 into Netflix stock today? Not yet.

A multiple of about 21 times forward earnings is arguably fair for a company growing revenue 13% to 14% with an expanding operating margin. But the growth rate is still stepping down quarter by quarter, and I'd like to see where it settles before buying. Of course, if the deceleration levels off, or if the advertising business scales faster than expected, I could change my mind.

The past decade turned $10,000 into about $68,500. The next one starts from a much bigger base, with a slower engine. So investors should keep their expectations in check.

The market got great news from the big banks this week. All five of the largest U.S. banks reported second-quarter earnings on Tuesday, and they were almost uniformly outstanding. But although the U.S. consumer appears healthy, it was market-related activity like initial public offerings (IPOs) that really stood out.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM 0.44%) and Goldman Sachs (GS 2.76%) led the earnings parade as the two top investment banks in the country, and these divisions drove high growth in the quarter; investment banking revenue increased 45% year over year at JPMorgan Chase and 55% at Goldman Sachs.

CEOs at both banks said they see more opportunity around the corner, with artificial intelligence (AI) playing a big role. In fact, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said he thinks AI spend is going to reach $1 trillion next year.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. Image source: JPMorgan Chase.

On the second-quarter earnings call, Dimon posited that total capital expenditure is about $4 trillion, with AI representing a massive amount. "AI went from $400 billion last year to $700 billion this year," he said. "People project, which so do our people, it will be like a little over a trillion next year and maybe a little reduction in the non-AI capex."

That implies that in 2027, AI spend will account for more than a quarter of all company spend.

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He also cautioned that even though the current market is "getting close to as good as it gets," investors shouldn't forget the most important thing: "We just don't know how long it's going to last."

In the near term, though, the AI party is going strong, and investors can look forward to more expansion and matching stock prices.

JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Jennifer Saibil has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Goldman Sachs Group and JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Thomas M. Siebel, CEO and Chairman of the Board at C3.ai, Inc. (AI 0.95%), disclosed a sale of 462,565 shares of Class A Common Stock on July 14 and July 15, 2026. SEC Form 4 filing

Transaction summaryMetricValueShares sold (directly held)462,565Transaction value$4.2 millionPost-transaction shares (directly held)722,362Post-transaction shares (indirectly held)~1.5 millionPost-transaction value~$20.3 millionTransaction value based on SEC Form 4 weighted average sale price ($9.18); post-transaction value based on July 15, 2026 market close ($9.14).

Key questionsWhat was the structure of the derivative exercise?
Siebel exercised 462,565 options at a strike price of $3.90 per share and immediately sold the resulting Class A Common Stock at a weighted average price of $9.18 per share. The exercise and subsequent sales were split across two trading days, July 14 and July 15, 2026, and the executive still holds ~2.9 million derivative securities directly.How are the remaining indirect holdings distributed?
Following this transaction, Siebel maintains indirect control over ~1.5 million shares held through four distinct entities: The Siebel 2011 Irrevocable Children's Trust (~1.2 million shares), Siebel Asset Management (170,294 shares), Siebel Asset Management III (72,695 shares), and First Virtual Holdings (9,216 shares).What is the context of the stock's recent performance?
The transaction occurred after a period of significant volatility, with the stock recording a -66% one-year total return as of the July 15, 2026 market close. Despite this performance, the CEO realized a spread of $5.28 per share over the option exercise price.Does the executive maintain a significant stake in the company?
While the sale represented 17% of his total equity holdings, Siebel remains a substantial shareholder with 2,216,684 total beneficial shares, including both direct and indirect interests, representing an approximate 1% ownership stake in the firm.Company OverviewMetricValueShare Price (as of market close 2026-07-15)$9.14Market Capitalization$1.4 billionRevenue (TTM)$250.3 millionNet Income (TTM)-$470.4 millionCompany SnapshotC3.ai provides enterprise artificial intelligence software solutions, with core offerings including the C3 AI Application Platform for developing and deploying enterprise-scale AI applications, complemented by specialized tools such as C3 AI Ex Machina for data preparation and C3 AI CRM for customer relationship management.The company generates revenue through a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, licensing its AI platform and specialized applications to enterprise customers on a subscription basis, enabling organizations to build and operationalize AI solutions at scale.C3.ai serves a global clientele across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific region, targeting large enterprises and organizations seeking to implement artificial intelligence capabilities across their operations.C3.ai operates as a leading provider of enterprise AI software solutions with a market capitalization of $1.4 billion. The company has established a global presence across multiple regions and maintains a workforce of 764 employees focused on delivering AI application platforms and related tools. C3.ai's competitive positioning centers on its comprehensive AI application platform designed to accelerate enterprise AI adoption and deployment at scale.

What this transaction means for investorsThe July 14 and July 15 sale of company stock by C3.ai’s CEO Thomas Siebel came at a time when shares had plunged substantially from their 52-week high of $30.11 reached in July of 2025. However, these dispositions were non-discretionary transactions as part of a pre-scheduled Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, adopted in September of 2024. Such plans are often implemented by insiders to avoid accusations of trading based on non-public information.

These transactions involved the exercise and immediate sale of 462,565 stock options, a tactic typical of company executives. Moreover, post-sale, Siebel maintained a sizable equity stake in C3.ai with millions of shares held directly and indirectly, along with nearly three million stock options. This indicates his interests remain aligned with shareholders.

C3.ai stock is down because its revenue fell after Siebel resigned from the CEO position due to health issues. The company announced his return in June. In its 2026 fiscal year ended April 30, C3.ai posted sales of $250.3 million, a big drop from the prior year’s $389.1 million. Perhaps Siebel resuming the CEO role will help the company rebound.

Memory chipmakers have been some of the biggest winners of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom in 2026. As large language models expand, memory has proven to be one of the biggest bottlenecks in many systems, driving insatiable demand for chips to package with AI accelerators and graphics processing units (GPUs).

That spike in demand has led to a commensurate spike in pricing since it takes a long time for chipmakers to expand their manufacturing capacity. The result is record profits for the handful of companies that make memory chips, such as Micron Technology (MU +0.04%) and SK Hynix (SKHY +0.48%).

Many investors have piled into these stocks on the belief that the current AI build-out is far from peaking. What's more, there's growing sentiment that the sharp earnings cycles that have plagued the industry for decades could be a thing of the past due to the structural demands of AI. As a result, investors should be willing to pay a higher price for the memory chipmakers' earnings today.

But investing legend John Templeton once shared a timeless piece of wisdom that Micron and SK Hynix investors should heed. Investors are at risk of making the same mistake many others have in the past.

Image source: Micron Technology.

The chorus is growing louder The four most dangerous words in investing are "this time it's different," according to Templeton. Templeton used the phrase as a warning against market bubbles and crashes in which valuations deviate from historical norms. The underlying reasoning that the market can support higher pricing or will never turn around always comes back to the same phrase: This time it's different. In fact, the more often you hear or read those words, the more skeptical you should become of their accuracy.

There's a growing chorus of investors claiming that this time it's different for memory chipmakers. Micron and SK Hynix are no longer selling the vast majority of their chips to consumer device manufacturers; they're going to AI hyperscalers. That's a huge structural shift in demand that removes much of the variability caused by consumer sentiment and macroeconomic factors, so the argument goes.

But such reasoning also suggests that this time it's different for the technology investment cycle. There are countless examples of massive capital spending projects ultimately collapsing: Railroad, telecom, and internet infrastructure are three of the most prominent. To think AI will be different is folly. That doesn't mean AI won't be a transformational technology, just as railroads, telecommunications, and the internet were, but it does mean the level of capital spending is unlikely to grow forever.

Even Micron's and SK Hynix's own actions suggest they see the risk of demand dropping. First, they were slow to start building new capacity. Now, with major capital spending and expansion plans underway, they've secured long-term customer agreements to help protect their pricing on the downside.

That may smooth out the earnings cycle somewhat, but it won't prevent the ultimate drop in earnings as chipmakers start depreciating their capital expenditures and incur higher operating costs as they bring new manufacturing capacity online. A decline in demand from the hyperscalers would lead to a severe decline in earnings for Micron and SK Hynix.

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The big challenge for Micron and SK Hynix Memory chips are particularly vulnerable to cyclicality because they are, for all intents and purposes, commodities. You can package a memory chip from Micron with a GPU, and it'll perform roughly the same as using a chip from SK Hynix. While there are only three main competitors in the DRAM memory chip space, the capacity they build will affect pricing for all of them.

After SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics announced plans to spend over $500 billion on a new facility in Korea and about $1.3 trillion on new capital investments over the next decade, Micron announced an increase in its investments to $250 billion through 2035.

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If the manufacturers don't invest now, they leave money on the table. But ultimately, that spending will result in lower profits for everyone as supply catches up to and exceeds demand. So far, the earnings cycle in memory chips has been far bigger than anything we've seen before. But that doesn't mean "this time it's different."

There's an important caveat to Templeton's warning that even he himself admitted: About 20% of the time, it really is different. Perhaps this is one of those instances, but it's impossible to know now. With the tremendous growth in Micron and SK Hynix over the past few months, investors may want to pare down their holdings or exercise significant caution before buying either stock at current levels.

© Golden Dayz / Shutterstock.com

I keep hitting the buy button on Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction), and the reason is the exact thing most investors are getting wrong about AI right now. When Mark Zuckerberg raised the 2026 capex guide to $125 to $145 billion, the crowd read panic. I read validation. Meta is racing to satisfy demand that its own CFO admits keeps outrunning the plan.

That is the core of my thesis. On the Q1 call, Susan Li said it plainly: “we have continued to underestimate our compute needs even as we have been ramping capacity significantly.” When the operator of a $1.7 trillion advertising machine tells you compute is scarce inside her own building, the AI demand debate is settled for me. The Meta Compute pivot into commercial bare-metal rental, backed by the $13 billion, 1-gigawatt data center expansion in Alberta, is a company selling shovels because the miners keep showing up.

The Numbers That Keep Me Adding Q1 2026 revenue came in at $56.311 billion, up 33.08% year over year, with ad impressions up 19% and average price per ad up 12%. That was the fifth consecutive quarter beating EPS expectations. Family daily active people reached 3.56 billion. The apps are growing users and pricing at the same time, which is rare at this scale.

Profitability is the second reason. Return on equity runs 32.9%, operating margin 40.6%, and net margin 32.8%. This balance sheet can absorb the buildout without breaking.

Third, the price. I am paying a forward P/E of 21 and a PEG of 0.967 for a business that grew quarterly earnings 62.4% year over year. Analyst consensus sits at $828.34 with 49 buys, 8 strong buys, 6 holds, and zero sells.

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Why Meta and Not Alphabet Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is the alternative every reader will reach for first. I own some. I keep adding to Meta instead. Morningstar’s 2026 outlook pegs Alphabet’s 2026 estimated capex at $92.9 billion versus Meta’s $96.97 billion. Meta is committing more capital to infrastructure than Alphabet while carrying a lower forward multiple and posting faster revenue growth. Alphabet also has to defend search against the same generative models Meta gets to weave into a feed nobody is threatening to disrupt. Meta’s ad surface benefits from AI. Search has to survive it. (Related reading: 7 Stocks Powering the AI Boom.)

The Risk I Am Not Ignoring Reality Labs lost $4.03 billion in Q1 on $402 million of revenue. Youth-related litigation has additional trials scheduled in 2026 that may result in material loss. Capex at this pace already pushed full-year 2025 free cash flow lower even as operating cash flow expanded. The thesis holds because the core ad engine funds every one of these bets in cash, quarter after quarter, without touching the balance sheet. Free cash flow still came in at $12.386 billion in Q1 with capex up 46.8%.

What Keeps My Buy Button Active “Every sign that we are seeing in our own work and across the industry gives us confidence in this investment,” Zuckerberg told analysts. I believe him because the receipts back him: five straight beats, a forward multiple in the low 20s, a compute pivot the market is misreading, and 3.56 billion humans he already reaches every day. I will keep adding Meta as long as demand keeps outrunning capacity, and right now that gap is widening.

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Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

HomeStock IdeasLong IdeasTech 

SummaryAutodesk is upgraded to ‘Strong Buy’ due to durable competitive advantages, robust growth, and a discounted 17x forward P/E multiple.ADSK’s MaintainX acquisition positions it to expand into operations and maintenance, creating a valuable feedback loop with core design products.Fiscal Q1 2027 saw 16% YoY revenue growth, 15% billings growth, and a 2-point margin expansion, with management guiding for double-digit revenue and EPS growth this year.AI integration and proprietary engineering validation tools reinforce ADSK’s moat.Looking for a portfolio of ideas like this one? Members of iREIT®+HOYA Capital get exclusive access to our subscriber-only portfolios. Learn More » Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images

2026 hasn’t been kind to software stocks, as the tech sector has bifurcated between AI and non-AI. What gets lost in the narrative, however, are quality companies that stand to benefit from AI being integrated into their product

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, but may initiate a beneficial Long position through a purchase of the stock, or the purchase of call options or similar derivatives in ADSK over the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

I am not an investment advisor. This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute as financial advice. Readers are encouraged and expected to perform due diligence and draw their own conclusions prior to making any investment decisions.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

The artificial intelligence boom has divided Big Tech into two camps. One group is spending at a pace rarely seen in corporate history, pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into data centers, custom chips, and power infrastructure. The other has largely stayed on the sidelines. 

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) has avoided the AI spending arms race by choosing not to build frontier AI models that compete directly with OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic. That decision has protected its balance sheet while rivals load up on debt to fund ever-larger AI ambitions. Yet new reports suggest there is no free lunch in AI, and Apple’s lower-cost strategy may now be running into its own limits.

A Different Kind of AI Bet The AI capex spending spree numbers are stark:

Company Fiscal 2025 CapEx Fiscal 2026 CapEx Est. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) $131.8 billion $180 billion to $200 billion Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) $91.4 billion $180 billion to $190 billion Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) $72.2 billion $125 billion to $145 billion Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) $64.6 billion $190 billion Apple $12.7 billion $14 billion Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft collectively spent $360 billion on capital expenditures in 2025, with Wall Street expecting another wave of spending through 2027 as each races to build larger AI infrastructure.

Apple took the opposite approach. Rather than chasing the most powerful foundation models, it focused on integrating AI features into its hardware ecosystem while relying on partners for many cloud-based capabilities. The strategy preserved Apple’s financial flexibility and helped it avoid the debt financing increasingly appearing across Big Tech as AI investments accelerate.

From a shareholder perspective, that restraint has been refreshing. Apple’s balance sheet remains one of the strongest in technology, and it hasn’t needed to match competitors dollar for dollar simply to stay in the AI race.

While rivals pour $360 billion into an AI arms race, Apple’s frugal strategy just hit a technical limit—forcing a high-stakes pivot to catch up. © 24/7 Wall St. The Cheap Path Isn’t Free That said, avoiding massive capital expenditures doesn’t eliminate the need for AI infrastructure.

According to The Information, Apple’s internally developed M2 Ultra chips have fallen short for the most demanding AI workloads. Instead of relying exclusively on its own silicon, the company has reportedly turned to Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) accelerators hosted by Google to run portions of its AI computing needs. Reuters separately reported that Apple is now exploring acquisitions of AI chip startups to strengthen its in-house capabilities.

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So, Apple saved billions by avoiding a data-center construction spree, but if its existing chips cannot efficiently support next-generation AI models, the company still has to spend somewhere. Rather than building thousands of AI servers, it may instead acquire the technology and engineering talent needed to close the performance gap.

Ironically, Apple may simply be replacing capital expenditures with mergers and acquisitions. Yet investors shouldn’t assume Apple’s acquisition strategy will become as expensive as the infrastructure race underway at Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta. Buying specialized semiconductor startups is unlikely to approach the hundreds of billions those companies are investing in AI data centers, networking equipment, and custom silicon.

Still, the reports highlight an important reality: there is no inexpensive shortcut to competing in modern AI.

Key Takeaway In short, Apple’s conservative AI strategy has protected its financial position while competitors are committing to spending hundreds of billions of dollars annually. That discipline deserves credit. 

Yet reports that Apple’s M2 Ultra chips have struggled with today’s most advanced AI workloads — and that the company is now pursuing AI chip acquisitions — suggest the cost of remaining competitive may simply shift from capital expenditures to M&A. For long-term investors, that’s still a preferable position to funding an open-ended infrastructure arms race. But it also confirms that even Apple cannot escape the enormous investment required to compete in artificial intelligence.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Apple didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Across the country, municipalities and states are passing legislation that limits or even bans data centers. This is in response to growing concerns that the artificial intelligence (AI) industry is gobbling up resources such as electricity and water while creating noise pollution. It's a serious issue that major players in the AI industry must address immediately. Nvidia (NVDA 1.97%) may be able to solve at least a portion of the problem.

Nvidia's Rubin-generation AI infrastructure eliminates the need for cooling fans that gulp up water. Instead, these new chips and networking components are cooled by a closed-loop liquid coolant. Most importantly, they work without requiring fresh water.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Unfortunately, it doesn't solve the issue of the water used to generate data center electricity. However, it's still a massive engineering feat and an important step toward solving a major problem.

The water crisis is far more than just a PR nightmare for the AI industry; there are real human and environmental consequences. Nvidia is already dominating in chips, but could become a favorite in the public eye if its new technology helps alleviate some water pressure.

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I would anticipate Nvidia's self-cooling chips and components becoming the industry standard, giving the company yet another competitive advantage. Nvidia's stock is down slightly over the past month, and trading well below the analysts' consensus of about $300 per share. For bullish investors, now might be a good time to buy the company that could become a leader in solving AI's water problem.

Catie Hogan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.