Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is heading into its second-quarter earnings report with robotaxis doing most of the talking.

Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating on the stock and $460 price objective, pointing to the service's rapid expansion, a delivery number that blew past Wall Street estimates, and looming production milestones for the company's Optimus humanoid robot.

The bank said investor focus will center on the pace of robotaxi fleet scaling and new market launches. Tesla now operates in five markets following its July 3 launch in Miami, though its San Francisco service still requires a safety driver. Four additional markets are in preparation, compared with the company's original target of nine cities by the first half of 2026.

Tesla's Texas fleet has scaled quickly, adding more than 100 vehicles over the past month to reach 175, the fastest growth among the robotaxi operators Bank of America tracks. Safety data has remained compelling, with 22 incidents recorded through mid-June since the service's inception and no serious injuries or fatalities. A San Francisco pricing study the bank conducted in June found Tesla was 21% cheaper on average than Waymo, Uber and Lyft, though wait times ran three to four times higher, suggesting demand is outpacing supply.

On the core auto business, Tesla reported second-quarter deliveries of approximately 480,000 vehicles, above consensus estimates of about 406,000 and up 25% year-over-year. That compares with S&P forecasts for global battery electric vehicle sales growth of 15% year-over-year, suggesting Tesla gained roughly 95 basis points of BEV market share. U.S. share rose 50 basis points year-over-year to 46.1% in the quarter.

Bank of America also flagged upcoming updates on Optimus. Tesla is targeting initial production at Fremont for late July or August, around the same time as a possible Gen 3 reveal, with Giga Texas production expected around summer 2027. The bank expects a slow ramp but sees long-term opportunity, forecasting global humanoid shipments of 1.2 million units by 2030 and 10 million by 2035.

Beyond Optimus, the bank expects focus on energy storage following Tesla's agreement with NatPower for 25 GWh using its Megapack system. Tesla remains the leading battery energy storage systems company in the U.S., an area now drawing entrants including Ford, General Motors and BorgWarner.

Bank of America said Tesla is in the early stages of monetizing its autonomy capabilities, which it views as the most significant change agent in the shift toward autonomous, electric transportation.

Amazon-owned Zoox recalled software in 105 of its robotaxis over concerns its vehicles failed to detect heavy smoke and drove into it.

Zoox notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the recall on July 8 and said it became aware of the smoke detection issue following an incident last month.

On June 20, an unoccupied Zoox robotaxi encountered heavy smoke that obscured an active emergency fire scene that was not cordoned off with cones, the company wrote in its report. The vehicle entered the scene, then braked hard while attempting to steer away before coming to a stop, Zoox said.

The company said the incident took place in Las Vegas.

A Zoox teleguidance employee instructed the vehicle to reverse, then first responders placed traffic cones to block off the scene, according to the report.

Zoox said it investigated the incident and determined it's "the only event of this kind" that has occurred. No injuries were identified.

Read more CNBC tech newsElon Musk's Memphis AI empire is the epicenter of the data center backlashChinese startup Moonshot AI unveils Kimi model it says rivals OpenAI, AnthropicSpaceX stock falls after Starship test flight abortedMicrosoft's Nadella criticizes Anthropic's Fable for being 'editorially controlled'Amazon acquired Zoox for $1.3 billion in 2020. The company operates driverless buggies that have no steering wheel or pedals, and feature four carriage-style seats that face inward, giving them a shuttle-like atmosphere.

Zoox currently offers free rides in parts of Las Vegas and San Francisco, and it's allowing select users to hail its robotaxis in small zones in Miami and Austin, Texas. Testing is also underway in six other U.S. cities.

The voluntary recall comes after NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison last week issued a directive to autonomous vehicle developers to ensure their vehicles get out of the way of first responders.

Morrison said in the letter that the agency has "identified a clear pattern of driverless AVs interfering with law enforcement and other first responders," citing incidents where AVs drove into active emergency scenes, blocked the paths of ambulances or firefighters, or failed to recognize or respond to flashing lights, flares, smoke, fire and traffic cones.

He called on AV developers and operators "to immediately focus their resources on fixing this issue" and present their solutions to the agency by the end of the month. The letter doesn't name specific AV companies.

Zoox issued several software recalls last year to address issues over lane crossings, as well as its ability to predict the movement of other vehicles and pedestrians.

The company is racing to catch up to Alphabet's Waymo, which is the dominant robotaxi service in the U.S., with a fleet of about 4,000 automated vehicles in the country.

Last month, Waymo recalled about 3,900 robotaxis after some of its vehicles drove into closed construction zones on freeways, increasing "the risk of a crash."

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Apple overtook Nvidia on Friday to become the world’s most valuable company, reshuffling the top ranks of tech heavyweights as investors reassess the outlook for artificial intelligence.

Apple was last valued at $4.88 trillion as its shares held steady, while Nvidia was roughly at $4.86 trillion, following a 3.5% decline.

The shift in the pecking order illustrates that investors are broadening their focus beyond the most obvious beneficiaries of the AI boom, such as Nvidia, which had been at the helm for nearly a year. 

The iPhone maker is reclaiming the top spot for the first time since April last year. REUTERS Apple is reclaiming the top spot for the first time since April last year.

“Apple was seen as a laggard in the AI race because it wasn’t spending to develop models, but now sentiment has changed,” said Toni Meadows, head of investment at BRI Wealth Management.

“Apple is less exposed to capex intensity and better positioned to monetize AI via services, ecosystem lock-in, and hardware upgrades. The re-rating reflects confidence in earnings durability rather than speculative AI upside.”

For a company that was often seen trailing in the AI race, the milestone reflects Apple’s efforts to establish itself more firmly among the sector’s leading players, and could shape how CEO Tim Cook’s final months at the helm are viewed.

Cook is preparing to cede his role to hardware veteran John Ternus in September.

Last month, the company rolled out a long-delayed overhaul of Siri, betting the upgraded assistant would help close the gap ‌with Big Tech rivals and new-age startups in the crucial AI race.

Apple CEO Tim Cookt with his successor John Ternus earlier this month. Getty Images Some analysts say Apple is sitting on an ​AI gold mine in the form of the personal data that lives on every iPhone.

The data could make Siri’s answers more useful and the assistant more capable.

The challenge is that such data is locked away in operating systems in the name of privacy and the company would have to find a way to unlock its value.

AI spending lifts new winners Nvidia became the first company in the world to surpass a $5 trillion market valuation in October, a landmark that propelled it into a rarefied territory that was far beyond the reach of its rivals.

Being superseded by Apple does not necessarily signal a lasting change in the companies’ relative standing. The chipmaker remains a major beneficiary of AI-related spending, and its graphics processors are powering much of the generative AI frenzy.

Nvidia could also reclaim the top spot if sentiment shifts.

Nvidia became the first company in the world to surpass a $5 trillion market valuation in October. CEo Jensen Huang, above. Getty Images Besides, Apple is in a delicate position itself, having raised prices to offset rising costs — a strategy that could hurt demand.

“I don’t see any meaningful distinction. Nvidia likely to be a significant participant in whatever happens going forward,” said Benjamin Hall, vice president, alpha research at Segal Marco Advisors.

However, the AI enthusiasm has spread to other corners of the semiconductor industry. The bigger winners this year have been memory chipmakers such as Micron, which crossed $1 trillion in market value in May as investors embraced the significance of memory chips in AI infrastructure.

South Korea’s SK Hynix also listed on the Nasdaq earlier this month, adding another player to the race for investor attention.

South Korea’s SK Hynix also listed on the Nasdaq earlier this month, adding another player to the race for investor attention. REUTERS “The new entrants to the market could spread out the focus away from the pure Magnificent Seven names into a wider number of names,” Hall said.

The eye-watering chips rally ran into turbulence in July as investors reassessed the sustainability of the artificial intelligence trade, knocking the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index down almost 19% from its all-time highs.

Despite the steep fall, the index has performed better than Nvidia so far this year.

Procter & Gamble (PG 0.12%) raised its quarterly dividend 3% in April to $1.0885 per share, marking its 70th consecutive year of dividend increases. Only five other publicly traded companies have raised their payouts for that many years in a row.

The streak is even more remarkable when you zoom out. P&G has paid a dividend every year since its incorporation in 1890 -- 136 straight years. And the payments are enormous in absolute terms, too. The company behind Tide, Pampers, and Gillette expects to pay around $10 billion in dividends in fiscal 2026, plus roughly $5 billion in share repurchases on top of it.

A streak like this is only possible because of what P&G sells. Detergent, diapers, razors, and paper towels get bought in good economies and bad ones, and the company's latest results show that durability at work. In its fiscal 2026 third quarter (the period ended March 31), P&G's organic sales, which exclude currency moves, acquisitions, and divestitures, grew 3% year over year, and core earnings per share rose 3% to $1.59. Management also maintained its full-year outlook even while absorbing tariff-related costs.

Image source: Procter & Gamble

Is the stock a buy for income? With shares trading near $148, P&G stock yields about 2.9% as of this writing. The payout consumes about 63% of the company's earnings over the past 12 months, a level that leaves room for the increases to continue. And the valuation looks arguably reasonable, too. Shares trade at about 21 times earnings -- not a bargain, but hardly a demanding price for a business this durable.

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Income investors should like that trade-off. This is a slow-growth business, with organic sales rising at a low single-digit rate, so nobody should expect the stock to keep up with the market's fastest growers. But the dividend is well covered by earnings, the raises keep coming, and 70 years of history suggest the payout can survive whatever the economy does next.

For investors looking for dependable income, P&G remains one of the simplest options in the market: a nearly 3% yield, backed by one of the longest dividend-growth streaks any company has ever put together.

Daniel Sparks and his clients do not have positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Takeaways GM to report Q2 2026 results on July 21, with the consensus mark for EPS of $3.13 and revenues of $45.96B.GM's China restructuring and rising digital revenues are expected to support second-quarter results. GMNA revenues are projected to fall, while GMI and GM Financial sales are expected to increase. General Motors Company (GM - Free Report) is slated to release second-quarter 2026 results on July 21, before market open. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the to-be-reported quarter’s earnings per share (EPS) and revenues is pegged at $3.13 and $45.96 billion, respectively.

For the second quarter, the consensus estimate for General Motors’ earnings has moved up 2 cents over the past seven days. Its bottom-line estimates imply growth of 2.37% from the year-ago reported numbers.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GM's quarterly revenues implies a year-over-year decline of 2.5%. The company's earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 20.25%. This is depicted in the graph below:

Q1 HighlightsIn the first quarter of 2026, General Motors reported adjusted earnings of $3.70 per share, which rose 33% from $2.78 a year ago. The figure topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.61 by 41.8%. Revenues of $43.62 billion slipped 0.9% year over year and missed the consensus mark of $43.94 billion by 0.7%.

Things to NoteGeneral Motors’ China restructuring continues to show traction, with first-quarter 2026 China equity income reported at $165 million (its sixth quarterly gain), reflecting restructuring benefits and disciplined production and inventory management. It expects China to remain profitable in 2026.

The automaker is building a larger recurring revenue base from OnStar and Super Cruise. In first-quarter 2026, recognized digital revenues exceeded $750 million, up more than 20% year over year, and deferred revenues reached $5.8 billion, up more than 50%. Management expects recognized digital revenues of about $3.1 billion in 2026 and deferred revenues approaching $7.5 billion by year-end as subscribers rise to roughly 13 million.

Restructuring benefits in China and strong revenues from the software and services business are likely to have enhanced the performance of GM in the second quarter.

In the second quarter of 2026, General Motors’ brands Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet and GMC recorded a year-over-year decline of 19.2%, 7.5%, 3.9% and 0.3%, respectively.

Let’s have a look at our estimates for GM’s segmental performance.

We expect GM North America (GMNA) revenues to be $37.8 billion, suggesting a year-over-year decline of 4.3%. For GM International (GMI), we expect sales of $3.75 billion, indicating a 12.8% year-over-year increase. We project GM Financial sales to be $4.35 billion, suggesting a rise of 2.3% year over year.

Our estimate for the GMNA segment’s operating income is $3.03 billion, which suggests a rise of 35.7% year over year. We expect GMI's operating income to be $140.3 million, suggesting a decline of 31.2% year over year. Our estimate for the GM Financial operating income is $731.7 million, suggesting a rise of 3.9% year over year.

Earnings WhispersOur proven model predicts an earnings beat for General Motors for the quarter to be reported, as it has the right combination of the two key ingredients. A positive Earnings ESP, combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold), increases the odds of an earnings beat. This is the case here.

Earnings ESP: GM has an Earnings ESP of +5.17%. This is because the Most Accurate Estimate is pegged higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: It currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Other Stocks With the Favorable CombinationHere are a few other players from the auto space that, per our model, have the correct ingredients to post an earnings beat this time.

Gentex Corporation (GNTX - Free Report) is slated to release second-quarter 2026 results on July 24. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.67% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GNTX’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at 50 cents per share and $669 million.

Cummins Inc. (CMI - Free Report) is slated to release second-quarter 2026 results on August 4. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.43% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CMI’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at $7.34 per share and $9.33 billion.

BorgWarner Inc. (BWA - Free Report) is slated to release second-quarter 2026 results on August 5. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.62% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BWA’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at $1.26 per share and $3.58 billion.

Allstate’s Comeback Is Turning Into a Profit MachineTravelers Companies NYSE: TRV reported what executives described as an “excellent” second quarter of 2026, supported by strong underwriting results across all three business segments, higher investment income and favorable reserve development.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alan Schnitzer said the insurer earned core income of $2.2 billion, or $10.04 per diluted share, and generated a core return on equity of 24.9% for the quarter. Over the trailing four quarters, Travelers produced a core return on equity of 24.2%.

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3 Insurance Stocks That Can Act as a New Inflation Hedge “We’re pleased to report an excellent second quarter and another in a sustained run of successful quarters, with very strong underwriting performance across all three segments and a terrific result from our investment portfolio,” Schnitzer said.

Pre-tax underwriting income totaled $1.7 billion, while the combined ratio improved to 83.6%. The underlying combined ratio improved to 84.1%, which management attributed to a lower underlying loss ratio. Chief Financial Officer Dan Frey said underlying underwriting income reached $1.3 billion after tax, marking the company’s eighth consecutive quarter above $1 billion.

Investment Income and Capital Returns Strengthen Results 3 Insurance Stocks Hitting 52-Week Highs With More Room to RunAfter-tax net investment income rose 14% from the prior-year quarter to $883 million. Frey said fixed income investment income benefited from higher yields and a higher level of invested assets, while alternative investment income also increased. He noted that new money yields at the end of the second quarter were about 90 basis points above the yield embedded in the portfolio.

Travelers expects fixed income net investment income, including earnings from short-term securities, of approximately $840 million in the third quarter and roughly $870 million in the fourth quarter, consistent with prior guidance, Frey said.

Operating cash flow was $1.9 billion for the quarter and surpassed $11 billion over the trailing 12 months. Adjusted book value per share, which excludes unrealized investment gains and losses, was $168.20 at quarter-end, up 16% from a year earlier.

The company returned more than $1.5 billion of capital to shareholders during the quarter, including $266 million of dividends and $1.3 billion of share repurchases. Frey said Travelers had about $3.9 billion remaining under prior board authorizations for buybacks.

Schnitzer emphasized that the company’s capital management priorities remain reinvestment in the business, organic or inorganic, where attractive returns are available, followed by returning excess capital to shareholders.

Business Insurance Posts Record Segment Income Business Insurance generated segment income of $1.2 billion, a second-quarter record, according to Greg Toczydlowski, president of Business Insurance. The segment’s underlying combined ratio was 88.2%, also a second-quarter record.

Net written premiums in Business Insurance reached $6 billion. Excluding the impact of the sale of the company’s Canadian business in the first quarter, net written premiums increased 5% from the prior-year quarter. Toczydlowski said growth was led by a 7% increase in Middle Market and a 4% increase in Select.

National property premiums declined as Travelers maintained disciplined underwriting standards, passing on business where pricing and terms did not align with the company’s view of risk. However, Schnitzer said property premiums were higher in both small commercial and middle market businesses.

Renewal premium change in the segment was 4.8%. Excluding property, renewal premium change was 7.8% and roughly flat sequentially. Retention remained strong at 86%, while new business reached a quarterly record of $805 million, up 8% from the prior-year quarter.

In response to an analyst question about whether Travelers might relax underwriting standards or pricing to accelerate growth given its elevated return on equity, Schnitzer rejected the idea.

“Competing on pricing in this business is a fool’s errand,” Schnitzer said. He added that Travelers’ objective is to compete on franchise value rather than lower prices.

Bond & Specialty Insurance Benefits From Surety Growth Bond & Specialty Insurance reported segment income of $234 million and a combined ratio of 82.8%. Net written premiums rose 14% to a record $1.2 billion.

Jeff Klenk, president of Bond & Specialty Insurance, said domestic management liability retention improved to 88%, while renewal premium change remained consistent. New business in that area increased 8%.

The company’s surety business posted 40% growth in net written premiums, also reaching a record level. Klenk said production was broad across the portfolio and included a small number of large projects as well as increased bonding for data center development.

Asked about the durability of surety growth, Klenk said surety production can vary because most production comes from new bonds rather than renewals. Still, he said Travelers is positioned to benefit from future infrastructure investment, including public spending and data center-related projects.

Personal Insurance Delivers Strong Profitability Personal Insurance generated segment income of $827 million. Michael Klein, president of Personal Insurance, said the result reflected strong underlying underwriting income, modest catastrophe losses and favorable prior-year reserve development.

The segment’s combined ratio was 79.5%, while the underlying combined ratio was 77.3%. Net written premiums totaled $4.3 billion, with solid retention in both automobile and homeowners and higher new business in homeowners.

In automobile, the combined ratio was 82.8%, including a 4.5-point benefit from favorable prior-year reserve development. The underlying combined ratio improved slightly more than three points from the prior-year quarter to 85.8%. Klein said favorable loss experience across coverages contributed to the improvement, including about a two-point benefit from re-estimating the prior quarter in the current year.

In homeowners and other, the combined ratio was 76.7%, reflecting modest catastrophe losses and very strong underlying underwriting income. The underlying combined ratio was 70.1%, comparable with a strong prior-year quarter.

Klein said Travelers continues to pursue profitable growth by adjusting rates to reflect profitability, enhancing product and pricing segmentation, refining eligibility restrictions and seeking new agent appointments and book consolidation opportunities.

Technology, AI and Reinsurance Remain Focus Areas Executives repeatedly pointed to technology and artificial intelligence initiatives as contributors to underwriting performance and efficiency. Schnitzer said Travelers continues to invest more than $1.5 billion annually, including in focused technology initiatives such as AI, to strengthen competitive advantages.

Toczydlowski highlighted AI advancements in Travis, the company’s digital platform for small commercial business, including submission uploads, data extraction, pre-filled submission information and underwriting rules that can generate quotes in seconds.

Frey also discussed reinsurance actions. Travelers replaced an expiring catastrophe bond in May with a new bond, increasing the size from $575 million to $750 million and slightly decreasing the retention. On July 1, the company renewed its Northeast property catastrophe excess-of-loss treaty, which continues to provide $1 billion of occurrence coverage above a $2.75 billion attachment point.

Frey said Travelers chose not to renew the personal lines catastrophe excess-of-loss treaty it had purchased in 2024 and 2025, citing the efficiency of its all-perils enterprise-wide general corporate catastrophe treaty renewed at Jan. 1.

Looking ahead, management said it remains confident in the durability of the company’s underwriting income, investment income and balance sheet strength. Schnitzer said Travelers’ earnings engine is “tuned to continue delivering industry-leading returns at industry-low volatility.”

About Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV)The Travelers Companies, Inc NYSE: TRV is a leading provider of property and casualty insurance products and services. The company underwrites a broad range of commercial and personal insurance lines, offering coverage designed to protect individuals, small and midsize businesses, and large corporate clients against property loss, liability, and other operational risks. Travelers is known for combining underwriting, claims management and risk control services to help clients prevent losses and recover when incidents occur.

On the commercial side, Travelers writes primary and specialty coverages including property, general liability, commercial auto, workers' compensation, professional and management liability, surety and inland marine.

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

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Oracle (NYSE:ORCL | ORCL Price Prediction) trades at $124.21 against a consensus Wall Street price target of $251.85, a gap of roughly 103%.

Oracle sells database and enterprise software, but the cloud story dragged the stock up and then down. Over the last two years the company reinvented itself as a hyperscale landlord chasing AI training and inference workloads, embedding 72 multicloud datacenters inside Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. That pivot put Oracle on every generalist’s radar and is why the recent decline matters. Analysts built their bullish thesis on a $638 billion contracted backlog, and the market has spent the last month acting as if that backlog is not there.

Why a Cloud Darling Just Lost a Third of Its Value in a Month Oracle has fallen 33.43% over the past month and 35.29% year to date, closing within a rounding error of the $123.66 52-week low. S&P cut Oracle’s credit rating to BBB-, one notch above junk, citing debt implications of massive AI infrastructure spending and concentration risk tied to OpenAI. Two days later, IBM cratered on a software miss that Bloomberg tied to enterprise budgets shifting from software into AI servers, dragging every large-cap software name lower.

The underlying anxiety is cash. Free cash flow for FY2026 came in at negative $23.69 billion on $55.66 billion of trailing capex, and management expects another ~$70 billion capex outlay in FY2027 plus a ~$40 billion debt and equity raise. A New Mexico pipeline permit denial and nationwide protests around data-center energy use added execution risk.

The Case Guggenheim Is Still Making at Three Times the Current Price Guggenheim’s John DiFucci has kept a $400 price target on Oracle and named it his best software idea for 2026, implying upside that more than triples the current share price and sits well above the Street average. His core argument is that there is “no apparent good reason” for the pullback and anxiety over near-term margin compression is drowning out an unprecedented backlog signal.

Remaining performance obligations exploded to $638 billion, up 363% year over year. Cloud infrastructure revenue grew 93% in the June quarter, cloud is now 52% of total revenue, and management reconfirmed a $90 billion FY2027 revenue target with $8.05 in non-GAAP EPS. CFO Hilary Maxson told analysts the “unprecedented level of RPO provides exceptional visibility into our future revenue growth”, with steady-state ROIC in the high 20s at the project level.

DiFucci’s timeline is the piece the market seems least willing to underwrite. He expects free cash flow to rebound dramatically starting in fiscal 2029 as front-loaded infrastructure spend converts into recurring, high-margin revenue. Consensus already reflects broad agreement on direction if not magnitude:

Strong Buy: 8 Buy: 29 Hold: 5 Sell: 1 How the Cloud Software Peer Group Stacks Up Every large-cap enterprise software name has sold off this year, but Oracle has fallen furthest and carries the widest analyst-implied gap.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is down 16.69% year to date to $401.10, well behind Oracle’s slide. The consensus target of $558.66 implies roughly 39% upside, with ratings overwhelmingly bullish at 54 buy or strong-buy calls against 3 holds and no sells.

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Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) is down 34.47% year to date to $172.68. The consensus target of $245.16 implies about 42% upside, with a ratings mix that skews buy but includes two strong-sell calls.

IBM (NYSE:IBM) trades at $219.05 after a 25.82% one-week drop tied to its Q2 preannouncement. The $283.80 consensus target implies roughly 30% upside, with revisions skewed lower since the miss.

Oracle carries by far the largest analyst-implied upside across the group, signaling either that consensus is behind the curve on risks or that sector rotation has punished Oracle for something the fundamentals do not yet show.

What the Selloff Looks Like Next to the Market Oracle’s 35.29% year-to-date decline compares with a 10.09% gain for the S&P 500, underperforming the index by more than 45 points in seven months. The stock trades on a forward P/E of 16 against a trailing 23, with a PEG of 0.74. The average target of $251.85 implies roughly 103% upside, and analyst revisions and the trailing five-year total return of 52.77% both point to a market that has priced Oracle for a slower ramp than management is guiding to.

The Investment Case The bull case holds if the RPO conversion story arrives on management’s schedule and the FY2029 free-cash-flow inflection Guggenheim models shows up on time. The path back to consensus runs through steady quarterly proof that OCI margins hold at the 30% to 40% range, GPU utilization stays near 97.5%, and the balance sheet absorbs the $40 billion raise without another downgrade.

The bear case sharpens if the credit market keeps flashing yellow. A second S&P notch would take Oracle to junk, force selling from investment-grade mandates, and reprice the entire capital plan. Concentration risk in the OpenAI relationship, permit fights around data centers, and customer defections toward in-house AI tools are real risks that chip at the recurring-revenue premium the bull case demands.

On balance the dislocation looks larger than the underlying deterioration. The setup rewards investors with a tolerance for another leg down while the FY2029 cash-flow thesis proves itself.

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Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Key Takeaways TXN's Q2 revenue and EPS estimates imply year-over-year growth of 17.5% and 35.5%, respectively.Analog demand is rising on improving industrial sales, data center investment and stable automotive demand.Embedded growth may accelerate, though China exposure and U.S.-China trade tensions remain risks. Texas Instruments Incorporated (TXN - Free Report) is likely to beat earnings estimates when it releases its second-quarter 2026 results on July 22, after market close.

The company anticipates revenues between $5 billion and $5.4 billion for the second quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $5.23 billion, suggesting growth of 17.5% from the year-ago period's reported figure.

Texas Instruments expects earnings per share between $1.77 and $2.05. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter earnings is pinned at $1.91 per share, implying growth of 35.5% from the year-ago period's reported figure. The consensus mark for earnings has been revised upward over the past seven days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

TXN’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters while missing once, with an average surprise of 6.96%.

Q2 Earnings Whispers for Texas InstrumentsOur proven model predicts an earnings beat for Texas Instruments this earnings season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat, which is exactly the case here.

Earnings ESP of TXN: Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate ($1.96) and the Zacks Consensus Estimate ($1.91), is +2.66%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Texas Instruments’ Zacks Rank: TXN presently carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Factors Likely to Influence TXN’s Q2 ResultsTexas Instruments’ second-quarter performance is likely to have benefited from strong demand for its analog and embedded chips. The company’s analog business remains the largest contributor, which is showing renewed strength supported by improving industrial demand, stronger data center investments and stable automotive sales.

Industrial revenues rose more than 30% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, with growth spreading across regions and customer groups. At the same time, Texas Instruments is benefiting from rising demand for power-management chips used in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven data center infrastructure. During the first-quarter earnings call, management stated that data center revenues surged roughly 90% year over year.

Overall, analog revenues increased 22% year over year to $3.92 billion, and the trend is likely to have continued in the second quarter. Our model estimates for the analog division’s second-quarter revenues are pegged at $4.08 billion, indicating 18.1% year-over-year growth.

Gradually improving end-market demand and easing customer inventory adjustments are likely to have aided growth in the embedded processing business during the second quarter. The segment is anticipated to have benefited from improving industrial demand and increasing semiconductor content across connected devices, vehicles and factory automation.

In the first quarter, embedded processing revenues increased 12% year over year to $723 million. The growth rate is likely to have accelerated in the second quarter. Our model estimates for the embedded processing division’s second-quarter revenues are pegged at $799 million, indicating 17.7% year-over-year growth.

However, Texas Instruments’ second-quarter performance is likely to have been affected by rising geopolitical tensions, and the ongoing U.S.-China trade and tariff wars. TXN is a major player in China, accounting for more than 20% of its annual revenues in 2025.

TXN’s Stock Price Performance & ValuationTexas Instruments shares have surged 68.3% year to date, outperforming the Zacks Semiconductor – General industry, which has risen 22.7%. Compared to other industry peers, the stock has outpaced NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) and Amtech Systems, Inc. (ASYS - Free Report) but has underperformed Intel Corporation (INTC - Free Report) . Shares of NVIDIA, Amtech Systems and Intel have soared 11%, 33.2% and 162.3%, respectively.

Texas Instruments YTD Price Return Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Let us look at the value Texas Instruments offers investors at current levels. Currently, TXN is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month P/E of 35.26X compared with the industry’s 22.94X.

Texas Instruments Forward 12-Month P/E Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Compared with semiconductor giants, the stock trades at a higher multiple than NVIDIA and Amtech Systems, while at a lower multiple than Intel. At present, NVIDIA, Amtech Systems and Intel have forward 12-month P/E of 19.63X, 23.87X and 76.49X, respectively.

Investment Thesis on TXN StockUnlike NVIDIA or AMD, Texas Instruments does not build AI accelerators. Instead, it supplies the analog and embedded chips that keep AI infrastructure running. Its products manage power, convert signals, control motors, regulate cooling systems and enable connectivity across data centers, industrial equipment and automotive applications. These components may receive less attention than AI processors, but they are essential as AI servers become more power-hungry and increasingly complex.

Every new AI data center requires far more power management and sensing components than traditional computing infrastructure. This is creating a meaningful opportunity for Texas Instruments. Rather than competing in the crowded AI processor market, the company is benefiting from the broader AI infrastructure buildout — a trend that could prove more durable over time.

The company's data center business reached an annual revenue run rate of roughly $1.2 billion in 2025, growing more than 50% year over year. In the first quarter of 2026, data center revenues jumped 90% from the prior-year period and increased 25% sequentially. These growth rates highlight the company’s growing importance in AI infrastructure and suggest that this market could remain a major contributor for years.

Texas Instruments is also taking a different approach to manufacturing than many semiconductor companies. Instead of relying heavily on external foundries, management plans to manufacture more than 95% of its wafers internally by 2030.

This strategy requires significant investment today but offers several long-term advantages. Greater manufacturing control can improve supply-chain reliability, reduce production costs over time and protect margins during industry shortages.

Conclusion: Hold Texas Instruments Stock for NowTXN is benefiting from rising AI infrastructure spending, rapidly expanding data center demand and a manufacturing strategy that should continue aiding its financial results. With AI infrastructure spending still in the early stages of a multi-year expansion cycle, Texas Instruments looks well-positioned to deliver steady growth for years to come. Although the stock trades at a premium valuation, that premium appears justified, given its consistent earnings growth. All these make Texas Instruments stock worth holding.

Key Takeaways AGNC is set to post Q2'26 earnings on July 20, with EPS expected at 38 cents, flat with last year.AGNC's net interest income is projected to rise 123.2% y/y to $361.5 million.AGNC faced rate volatility, while stable prepayments and higher-yield reinvestments supported asset yields. AGNC Investment Corp. (AGNC - Free Report) is slated to report second-quarter 2026 earnings on July 20, after market close.

The company’s first-quarter 2026 results benefited from rallies in average asset yield and net interest income. Also, a rise in tangible net book value per share on the portfolio was positive. However, a reduced net interest spread and a higher weighted average cost of funds were concerning.

AGNC Investment’s earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in one of the trailing four quarters and missed thrice, with an average negative surprise of 1.54%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2026 earnings of 38 cents per share has been unchanged over the past week. This indicates no change from the year-ago reported level.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for net interest income for the second quarter of 2026 is pegged at $361.5 million, indicating a rise of 123.2% from the year-ago quarter’s actual.

Factors to Impact AGNC’s Q2 PerformanceThe second quarter of 2026 remained challenging for the mortgage banking industry, as mortgage rates stayed elevated, averaging in the mid-6% range, while housing affordability continued to weigh on borrower demand. Purchase originations remained under pressure amid constrained housing inventory and elevated home prices, although refinance activity witnessed a modest pickup as rates briefly declined during parts of the quarter.

Against this backdrop, AGNC Investment's agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) portfolio likely experienced continued pressure from interest-rate volatility and fluctuating agency MBS spreads. U.S. Treasury yields moved sharply throughout the quarter amid changing expectations around inflation and Federal Reserve policy, contributing to meaningful swings in MBS valuations. While agency spreads stabilized toward the end of the quarter after widening earlier, the volatile mortgage rate environment is expected to have limited book value appreciation for AGNC Investment, resulting in only modest book value growth during the second quarter of 2026.

On the positive side, mortgage prepayment activity likely remained well contained. Although mortgage rates temporarily eased during the quarter, they generally stayed well above the levels of most outstanding mortgages, keeping refinancing incentives relatively subdued. Consequently, AGNC's constant prepayment rate is expected to have been at manageable levels, helping moderate premium amortization expenses and providing support to net interest income.

Stable prepayments, combined with attractive reinvestment opportunities at higher yields, are also likely to have supported average asset yields during the quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for interest income is pegged at $1.05 billion, suggesting a 26.8% increase from the year-ago quarter’s actual.

What Our Model Unveils for AGNC InvestmentOur proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for AGNC this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. This is not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Earnings ESP: AGNC Investment has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%.

Zacks Rank: AGNC Investment currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

REIT Stocks to ConsiderHere are a couple of REIT stocks that you may want to consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this time:

Annaly Capital Management (NLY - Free Report) is expected to release its second-quarter 2026 earnings on July 21. The company has an Earnings ESP of +1.01% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Quarterly earnings estimates for Annaly Capital Management have been unchanged at 74 cents per share over the past week.

NETSTREIT Corp. (NTST - Free Report) is also expected to release its second-quarter 2026 earnings on July 22. The company has an Earnings ESP of +1.94% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. 

Quarterly earnings estimates for NETSTREIT have been unchanged at 34 cents per share over the past week.

Key Takeaways Lumentum's 200G EML revenues more than doubled sequentially as total laser-chip shipments doubled YoY.EML unit volumes are expected to grow over 50% by December 2026, supported by expanded InP fab capacity.CPO laser chips could generate meaningful revenues by late 2026, backed by a major purchase order. Lumentum Holdings (LITE - Free Report) is well positioned to accelerate revenue growth as surging AI infrastructure investments drive record demand for its laser chips, a critical building block of high-speed optical networking. In third-quarter fiscal 2026, the company delivered record EML (electro-absorption modulated laser) shipments, with 200G EML revenues more than doubling sequentially and total laser chip shipments doubling year over year. Management also expects EML unit volumes to grow more than 50% by the December 2026 quarter, underscoring strong customer demand.

The opportunity extends beyond shipment growth. Lumentum's laser chips are increasingly powering 800G and upcoming 1.6T optical transceivers, while internal deployment of its continuous-wave (CW) lasers enhances vertical integration and captures more value across the optical networking stack. Meanwhile, with the production capacity of its wafer fab in Japan fully allocated, the company has acquired a fifth Indium Phosphide (InP) fab to expand production capacity and meet the demand for future growth.

Lumentum's next growth wave could come from co-packaged optics (CPO), where ultra-high-power laser chips are on track for meaningful revenue generation by late 2026, supported by a multi-hundred-million-dollar purchase order and collaborations with multiple customers.

Strong forward guidance further supports the continued growth of laser chips. Lumentum expects fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 revenues in the range of $960 million to $1.01 billion, up sequentially, reflecting sustained demand. The company also projects non-GAAP operating margins of 35%-36%, suggesting that higher laser chip shipments and a richer product mix should continue driving both revenue growth and profitability.

How Lumentum Stacks Up to CompetitorsLumentum competes directly with Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AAOI - Free Report) in AI optical networking as both target hyperscale AI deployments with high-speed transceivers and laser technologies. Applied Optoelectronics emphasizes vertically integrated laser manufacturing, rapid 800G/1.6T capacity expansion and CPO-ready external laser sources. Applied Optoelectronics expects AI demand to exceed production through 2027, while Lumentum counters with broader laser-chip, optical switching and scale-across photonics leadership.

On the other hand, Broadcom Inc. (AVGO - Free Report) competes with Lumentum across AI optical networking, photonics and co-packaged optics for hyperscale AI clusters. Broadcom combines Ethernet switching, DSPs, EML lasers and CPO leadership with deep hyperscaler partnerships and massive AI infrastructure investments. Broadcom benefits from unmatched networking scale, while Broadcom faces Lumentum's strengths in laser chips, optical components and scale-out/scale-across photonic systems.

LITE’s Share Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesShares of Lumentum have surged 117.5% in the past six months, outperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s growth of 12.1%.

LITE’s 6-Month Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, LITE trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 38.62, above the industry’s average of 37.2. LITE carries a Value Score of D.

LITE’s Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Lumentum’s fiscal 2027 earnings is pegged at $18.07 per share, implying a year-over-year increase of 121.15%. The EPS estimates for fiscal 2027 have risen in the past 60 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Lumentum stock carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Bloom Energy stock is moving from bad to worse as it crashed to $206, its lowest level since April last year. BE has slumped by over 40% from its all-time high as concerns about its valuation and the data center industry remained. This retreat has seen its market capitalization fall from $98.7 billion to $58 billion.

Bloom Energy is a top company that provides on-site power in various industries like retail and data centers. It counts companies like Nebius, CoreWeave, Walmart, Equinix, and Honda as clients.

While Bloom has been in the industry for over 25 years, its business has come into the limelight during the data center boom. It has inked several multi-billion-dollar deals in the past few months that have helped its stock soar to a record high.

The boom has helped its revenue surge. Its recent results showed that its revenue jumped by 130% to $751 million. This revenue growth was driven by the data center industry, a trend that may continue in the foreseeable future.

Its gross margin continued rising, reaching 30%, while its operating income jumped to $72 million. Most notably, the company is expected to continue growing in the near future. 

The annual revenue is expected to jump to $3.75 billion this year, up by 85% from last year. It will then make $4.7 billion next year, up by 73% YoY. The chances are that the real figures will be higher than this, as it has done in the past few quarters.

Therefore, the stock has plunged in the past few weeks for several reasons. First, this retreat is mostly because of what is happening in the stock market, where many companies that did well during the AI boom have pulled back. This includes popular names like CoreWeave, Nebius, and SanDisk.

Second, there are concerns about the data center industry in the United States. New York has put a moratorium on new data centers, while estimates show that cancellations worth over $64 billion have been announced. These cancellations will likely impact its business in the long term.

Additionally, Wall Street is sending jitters on Oracle, which placed a large order from Bloom Energy. Oracle stock has tumbled to $124, its lowest level since April last year as concerns about its debt rose. As such, there is a risk - possibly unfounded - that Oracle may slow its data center spending over time.

Additionally, Bloom Energy is not a cheap company, with its non-GAAP forward price-to-earnings ratio being 95.60. This multiple is much higher than the energy sector median of 21. As such, the ongoing retreat could be because it is going through a valuation reset. This likely explains why the short interest has jumped to nearly 7%.

BE stock chart | Source: TradingView

BE stock has plunged from the year-to-date high of $350 to the current $206, its lowest level since April 20th. It has dropped below the lower side of the rising broadening wedge pattern. 

The stock has dropped below the Major S/R pivot point of the Murrey Math Lines tool at $250. On the positive side, the stock remains above the strong, pivot, reverse level of the Murrey Math Lines and the 200-day moving average.

Therefore, all hope is not lost for the stock as the earnings season gets underway. A drop below the 200-day MA will point to more downside, potentially to the ultimate support of $125.

July 17 (Reuters) - U.S. regional banks including U.S. Bancorp and PNC Financial relied on a lending rebound and strong fee income to deliver broad second-quarter gains, alleviating concerns that the Middle East war would weigh on loan demand and spending.

Strong business investment, ​steady hiring and resilient consumer spending drove consistent demand for commercial and personal credit in the first half ‌of 2026, pointing to a stable U.S. economy.

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The biggest U.S. regional lenders said this week that loan growth was strong and pipelines remain robust as clients look past an uncertain environment to move forward with their investment plans.

"The sentiment rebound from the pause with tariffs last year has been the story. A lot of people who had ​paused last year to say where is all of this going are seeing a very resilient consumer and a lot ​of demand and beginning to lean into that in a fair way," U.S. Bancorp CEO Gunjan Kedia ⁠said.

A rush by technology companies to fund artificial intelligence infrastructure is also boosting financing activity for banks across the country. Top regional ​banking executives, however, emphasized that loan growth was broad-based and not just concentrated in the AI buildout.

"People are feeling very optimistic. They (clients) ​are growing their businesses and it's in all areas. It's in food and beverage. It's in media and technology. It's in power," U.S. Bancorp finance chief John Stern said.

On a year-on-year basis, U.S. Bancorp (USB.N), opens new tab and Citizens Financial (CFG.N), opens new tab reported over 7% and 5% growth in their average loans in the second quarter, while ​Regions Financial (RF.N), opens new tab posted about 3% growth.

In recent quarters, loans to non-bank financial institutions have also emerged as a key growth driver for regional ​banks, which are ramping up credit facilities to private credit funds and business development companies to capitalize on the sector's rapid expansion.

Net interest margin, a ‌key measure ⁠of banking profitability, also grew across the industry in the second quarter. The metric came into sharper focus recently as Wall Street debates whether deposit costs could rise in the second half of 2026 as banks look to fund accelerating loan growth.

"There was a bit more loan growth than people expected coming into the quarter, which might have caused deposit competition to increase a little bit. I think that likely just ​evens out. I don't think it's ​a trend that we're all ⁠that concerned about," Citizens Financial CEO Bruce Van Saun said.

CAPITAL MARKETS MOMENTUMA rebound in dealmaking and IPO market activity is taking hold on Wall Street, fueling a surge in lucrative advisory and underwriting ​fees across the banking industry.

Capital markets revenue at six U.S. regional lenders surged 55% on average ​in the second ⁠quarter from a year earlier, with PNC Financial (PNC.N), opens new tab reporting the strongest percentage growth.

The biggest regional players have steadily expanded their Wall Street operations in recent years and carved a niche among middle-market firms.

They are also bolstering their long-term growth opportunities within capital markets by snapping up boutique investment banks.

This ⁠year, U.S. ​Bancorp bought BTIG, while Citizens Financial (CFG.N), opens new tab and Regions Financial (RF.N), opens new tab struck deals for Matrix Capital ​Markets Group and The Frazer Lanier Company, respectively.

"As we see our (M&A) pipelines, we feel like there's real upside if the markets remain as strong as they are ​right now," Citizens head of commercial banking Theodore Swimmer said.

Reporting by Pritam Biswas and Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Basil writes stories across the U.S. finance file including banks, asset managers, payment firms, insurers, and exchange operators. He also covers initial public offerings on U.S. exchanges and venture capital funding.

Key Takeaways CMG returned to positive transaction growth as menu innovation and rewards engagement gained traction.Chipotle plans about 350 openings in 2026, with nearly 80% expected to include Chipotlanes.WEN faces traffic declines, margin pressure and 4.9x net leverage as Project Fresh unfolds. The restaurant industry continues to face an uneven operating backdrop as value-conscious consumers, intense competition and elevated labor and commodity costs pressure traffic and margins. Even so, companies with differentiated brands, expanding digital ecosystems and credible growth strategies remain better positioned to create long-term value. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG - Free Report) and The Wendy’s Company (WEN - Free Report) are attracting attention for very different reasons. Wendy’s recently climbed to a more than seven-month high in a retail-driven, meme-like rally, while Chipotle opened its first restaurant in Mexico and is preparing for further expansion.

Chipotle is advancing its Recipe for Growth strategy through faster menu innovation, deeper rewards engagement, technology investments and continued restaurant expansion. Wendy’s, meanwhile, is pursuing its Project Fresh turnaround, but persistent U.S. traffic declines, compressed restaurant margins and elevated leverage continue to cloud the recovery. With Chipotle building on improving transaction momentum and Wendy’s facing a more demanding execution path, which restaurant stock offers the stronger investment case now? Let’s take a closer look.

Chipotle’s Recipe for Growth Strategy Gains TractionChipotle continues to build momentum around its Recipe for Growth strategy, which centers on stronger restaurant execution, faster menu innovation, deeper digital engagement and disciplined unit expansion. The company returned to positive transaction growth in the first quarter of 2026, while revenues increased 7.4% year over year to $3.1 billion and comparable restaurant sales rose 0.5%.

Menu innovation remains an important demand driver. The high-protein campaign, the return of Chicken Al Pastor and the launch of Cilantro Lime Sauce helped generate incremental transactions and attract new customers. Management noted that protein-based limited-time offerings typically produce several hundred basis points of transaction lift, with part of that benefit continuing even after the promotional window ends. The return of Chipotle Honey Chicken, along with additional beverage, side and protein launches planned for the remainder of the year, should help sustain customer interest and reinforce traffic momentum.

Chipotle is also strengthening customer engagement through its refreshed rewards platform. Loyalty-linked sales accounted for 32% of total sales in the first quarter, up 300 basis points year over year, while daily enrollments increased nearly 25% following the relaunch. With only about 20% of in-restaurant transactions currently connected to rewards, the company still has substantial room to expand customer identification, personalize offers and drive greater visit frequency.

Operational investments represent another meaningful growth lever. Chipotle’s high-efficiency equipment package has been installed in more than 600 restaurants and is expected to reach 2,000 locations by year-end. The company is reinvesting the resulting productivity gains into throughput and hospitality, with equipped markets generating several hundred basis points of comparable-sales improvement. Meanwhile, it plans to open approximately 350 restaurants in 2026, nearly 80% of which are expected to include Chipotlanes, supporting the company’s long-term objective of reaching 7,000 locations.

However, margin pressure remains a key concern. In the first quarter, adjusted restaurant-level margin contracted 250 basis points year over year to 23.7%. Wage inflation, weaker average restaurant sales volumes, higher marketing spending, and elevated beef and freight costs weighed on profitability. Chipotle expects the cost of sales to step up to about 30% in the second quarter of 2026 and sees full-year cost of sales inflation around 4%.

Wendy’s Turnaround Remains Fundamentally ChallengedWendy’s continues to advance its Project Fresh strategy, which is intended to strengthen food quality, restaurant execution and franchisee economics. However, the core U.S. business has yet to establish a convincing recovery trajectory. First-quarter global systemwide sales declined 5.5% on a constant-currency basis, while U.S. same-restaurant sales fell 7.8%, primarily reflecting lower traffic. Although performance improved from February, the 6.4% decline in U.S. comparable sales during April indicates that demand remained under meaningful pressure.

Operational initiatives have produced selective evidence of progress. Company-operated restaurants, where Wendy’s operating programs have been fully implemented, outperformed the broader U.S. system by 310 basis points during the quarter. Nevertheless, the recovery profile remains heavily dependent on a second-half inflection. Management expects global systemwide sales to decline by a mid-single-digit percentage in the second quarter before returning to growth in the back half of 2026.

The earnings profile also remains constrained. The U.S. company-operated restaurant margin declined to 11.4%, pressured by traffic deleverage, approximately 8% commodity-cost inflation and roughly 4% labor-rate inflation. Adjusted EBITDA fell $13.2 million year over year to $111.3 million, reflecting weaker restaurant margins, lower franchise royalty revenues and higher general and administrative expenses. Free cash flow decreased $31.5 million to $36.5 million, primarily due to the timing of vendor-incentive payments and lower adjusted EBITDA.

For 2026, Wendy’s continues to expect a U.S. company-operated restaurant margin of 13%, plus or minus 50 basis points, incorporating approximately 4% inflation in both commodity costs and labor rates. System optimization is also projected to create a $15-$20 million headwind to adjusted revenues. Meanwhile, net leverage increased sequentially to 4.9x from 4.8x, leaving the company near the upper end of its 3.5-5.0x target range and constraining financial flexibility as it executes the Project Fresh turnaround.

How Does the Zacks Consensus Estimate Compare for CMG & WEN?The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Chipotle’s 2026 sales suggests year-over-year increases of 8.3%, while earnings per share (EPS) are expected to decline 3.4%. In the past 60 days, earnings estimates for 2026 have remained unchanged at $1.13 per share.

CMG Earnings Estimate Trend
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Wendy’s 2026 sales suggests year-over-year increases of 3%, while EPS are expected to decline 34.1%. In the past 60 days, earnings estimates for 2026 have remained unchanged at 58 cents per share.

WEN Earnings Estimate Trend
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Valuation and Price Performance: CMG vs. WENChipotle stock has declined 7.5% so far this year, underperforming its industry and the S&P 500’s rise of 3.3% and 11.8%, respectively. Meanwhile, Wendy’s shares have lost 2.5% in the same time.

YTD Price Performance – CMG, WEN, Industry & S&P 500
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Chipotle is trading at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 27.42, above the industry average of 22.94 over the last year. In contrast, WEN commands an even lower forward P/E of 12.95.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Final TakeChipotle holds the stronger investment position, supported by improving transaction trends, a faster menu-innovation cadence, rising rewards engagement and disciplined unit expansion. Its debt-free balance sheet also provides materially greater financial flexibility.

Wendy’s Project Fresh strategy has generated selective operational progress, but persistent U.S. traffic weakness, margin compression and a recovery dependent on a meaningful second-half inflection keep execution risk elevated. Although Chipotle faces ongoing cost pressure and trades at a premium valuation, its stronger operating momentum and financial foundation give it the edge at present. Chipotle currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), while Wendy’s has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

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

Simmons First National NASDAQ: SFNC executives said the bank is seeing early progress from deposit, lending and efficiency initiatives, while cautioning that competition for deposits and loans remains intense across its markets.

During the company’s second quarter 2026 earnings call, President and CEO Jay Brogdon and CFO Daniel Hobbs described a quarter marked by higher-quality deposit growth, strong loan production, continued expense discipline and ongoing investments in talent and technology. Management also said it remains comfortable with several full-year outlook items issued earlier in the year.

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Deposit growth remains a strategic focus Hobbs said deposits remain “one of our biggest focuses strategically” and will likely be an area of significant investment over the next 12 to 24 months. He pointed to 4% annualized growth in non-interest-bearing deposits during the second quarter, calling those balances the “highest quality” deposits. Hobbs also said average balances in interest-bearing money market and savings accounts grew, even though ending balances declined.

The bank is seeing early results from marketing campaigns, efforts to attract new customers, work to deepen existing relationships and initiatives to reduce attrition, Hobbs said. He added that Simmons had more inflows from new customer balances than outflows during the quarter. Checking accounts grew more than 1% both year over year and linked quarter, which Hobbs said was evidence that deposit initiatives are beginning to pay off.

Brogdon said the competitive environment remains challenging. “Deposit competition is very, very fierce,” he said, adding that he expects that backdrop to continue. He said the bank’s ability to grow in higher-quality funding categories despite that environment was encouraging.

Hobbs said Simmons is taking an opportunistic approach to wholesale funding, including brokered deposits and Federal Home Loan Bank borrowings. He said the company leaned more into FHLB funding during the quarter because pricing was more advantageous, while remaining short duration in both brokered deposits and borrowings.

Loan production strengthens, but management says it will not stretch for growth Brogdon said he remains encouraged by loan growth. Simmons previously provided a low- to mid-single-digit loan growth outlook for 2026, and Brogdon said the bank was at roughly 7% annualized loan growth year to date, placing it near the top end of that outlook halfway through the year.

Second-quarter loan growth was not as strong as the first quarter, but Brogdon said that was not due to weak production. He said quarterly committed production was near a four-year high and fit within the bank’s credit underwriting and pricing standards. Production was partially offset by an expected level of paydowns.

Brogdon said unfunded commitments increased due to recent production, and the loan pipeline remains healthy across the company’s footprint and asset classes. However, he emphasized that Simmons will remain disciplined. “We’re not going to stretch for growth right now,” he said.

On loan pricing, Brogdon said competition has been intense, with Simmons missing some opportunities because other banks were willing to price more aggressively. He said the bank will continue to focus on relationship profitability and returns on invested capital.

Management also highlighted a potential tailwind from fixed-rate loan repricing. Brogdon noted that Simmons has $1.8 billion of fixed-rate loans repricing over the next 12 months with an average yield below 4%, calling that “back book tailwind” meaningful.

Expense outlook improves as investments continue Brogdon said Simmons remains comfortable with its full-year guidance for net interest income growth of 9% to 11% and said the bank is “very comfortable” at the top end of that range. He also said Simmons remains comfortable with its fee and non-interest expense guidance, and expects to beat its earlier non-interest expense growth outlook of 2% to 3% for the year.

Overall, Brogdon said he expects the company to exceed its prior expectations for more than 5% positive operating leverage and strong year-over-year pre-provision net revenue growth in 2026.

Hobbs said the improved expense outlook includes significant investments. Simmons reduced square footage by another 2.5% during the quarter, bringing the total reduction to 8.5% since the start of the initiative. He said the company’s goal is to reduce square footage by 15%, with meaningful opportunities in corporate space as well as branches.

Management also cited process improvement opportunities across the front, middle and back office. Brogdon said Simmons is investing heavily in talent and technology while using internal savings to help fund those initiatives.

Credit trends remain in focus Asked about an increase in nonperforming assets related to a four-family construction borrower, Brogdon said the relationship “certainly sticks out” among the bank’s larger nonperforming loans. He said timing for resolution is difficult to predict and could extend into next year, but added that Simmons is devoting significant effort to resolving the matter.

Brogdon said the broader credit backdrop shows some healthy migration, including declining criticized and classified loans and past dues moderating toward historical norms. He said those trends should be a leading indicator for the credit outlook.

Simmons previously provided an outlook of approximately 25 basis points in annual net charge-offs for 2026. Brogdon said the company remains below that level through the first half of the year and does not currently know of anything that would cause it to change that outlook.

Capital, hiring and deposit costs Brogdon said Simmons will continue to be opportunistic with share repurchases, while prioritizing investments in the business and organic growth. An analyst referenced $161 million remaining under the company’s authorization, and Brogdon said management has put more “pencil to paper” on returning some excess capital through buybacks given its forward returns outlook.

Executives also discussed recent hiring. COO Chris Van Steenberg said teams and individuals brought into the company this year are already generating meaningful wins, including in wealth-related balances and deposits. Brogdon said he was excited about bringing Jim Recer into the business, in response to a question about the bank’s commercial and industrial opportunity.

On deposit costs, Hobbs said Simmons exited the quarter at about 1.90%, compared with a quarterly average of 1.93%. He said there may be one more quarter of benefit if rates remain flat, but a rate increase at the October 2026 Federal Reserve meeting would change that trajectory. If rates stay flat, he said deposit costs would likely hover around 1.90% to 1.95%, though investments in pricing and marketing could affect that range.

In closing remarks, Brogdon said Simmons has “significant untapped efficiency and potential” and is shifting from tactical cost efforts toward more strategic work around organizational structure, process engineering and technology. He said those investments are intended to help the bank deliver an operating model capable of reaching or exceeding its long-range return targets.

About Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC)Simmons First National Corporation NASDAQ: SFNC is a bank holding company headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Through its primary operating subsidiary, Simmons Bank, the company maintains a network of more than 200 branches across Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma and North Carolina. Simmons First National offers a full suite of financial services to individuals, small businesses and commercial clients, emphasizing relationship-driven community banking.

The company's core business activities span deposit-taking, lending and payment services.

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

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Regions Financial (RF - Free Report) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.68 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.64 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.6 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.

This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +6.25%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this holding company for Regions Bank would post earnings of $0.61 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.62, delivering a surprise of +1.64%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times.

Regions Financial, which belongs to the Zacks Banks - Southeast industry, posted revenues of $1.91 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.33%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $1.91 billion. The company has not been able to beat consensus revenue estimates over the last four quarters.

The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.

Regions Financial shares have added about 19.6% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 10.1%.

What's Next for Regions Financial?While Regions Financial has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?

There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.

Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Regions Financial was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.67 on $1.99 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $2.60 on $7.83 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.

Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Banks - Southeast is currently in the top 31% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

Another stock from the same industry, CoastalSouth Bancshares, Inc. (COSO - Free Report) , has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026.

This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.61 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +7%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days.

CoastalSouth Bancshares, Inc.'s revenues are expected to be $23.3 million, up 17.3% from the year-ago quarter.

Second-quarter earnings season is ramping up with the third week of July slated to bring some high-profile reports, including one from Elon Musk’s Tesla, Inc. (TSLA). The electric vehicle giant is scheduled to deliver its latest batch of quarterly results on Wednesday, July 22, after the close of U.S. markets.

Earnings reports are often opportune times for short-term traders to consider inverse and leveraged ETFs. When it comes to Tesla, the Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 2X Shares (TSLL) and the Direxion Daily TSLA Bear 1X Shares (TSLS) are the funds to evaluate. TSLL attempts to deliver 200% of the daily performance of the widely followed automotive stock. Conversely, TSLS targets the daily inverse performance of Tesla shares, offering a tactical tool for bearish traders.

With solid second-quarter deliveries already priced into Tesla stock, traders are looking ahead to other catalysts, such as free cash flow.

“We will pay close attention to Tesla’s free cash flow metrics as the company begins a heavy capital expenditure investment cycle to build the infrastructure required for its real-world artificial intelligence products,” noted Morningstar’s Seth Goldstein.

More Catalysts to Consider Other variables that could jolt either TSLL or TSLS — assuming they’re included in Tesla’s post-earnings commentary — are robotaxi rollouts and updates on the Optimus robotics endeavor.

“We will also be watching for an update on Tesla’s robotaxi rollout plans. We will look to hear management’s expansion plans, as well as an update on the robotaxi-dedicated Cybercab, which entered production,” said Goldstein.

Optimus is one subject that legitimately has the potential to put either TSLL or TSLS into play. Investor interest in humanoid robotics is surging, especially now as China accelerates its robot production beyond previous expectations.

“We view the project as a large long-term growth driver for Tesla, as it could eventually perform many tasks and be purchased by both businesses and consumers,” observed Goldstein.

Comments on profit margins and updates on cheaper Tesla models could also spark big moves in TSLL and TSLS post-earnings.

“As Tesla ramps up production of its new, lower-priced Model Y and Model 3 vehicles, we expect automotive gross margins, excluding credits, to be in the high teens, slightly below management’s long-term goal of 20%,” concluded Goldstein. “In the long term, we assume Tesla will deliver around 2.8 million vehicles per year by 2030, driven by the adoption of full self-driving software and the more affordable versions of the Model Y and Model 3.”

For more news, information, and strategy, visit the Leveraged & Inverse Content Hub.

You can buy Tesla (TSLA 2.29%) stock now, in the next trading session, or after quarterly earnings results are released on Wednesday, July 22. The main difference comes down to whether you think there's likely to be a catalyst in the results or presentations that could drive the stock higher after the results are announced.

Tesla's electric vehicle deliveries are growing again Tesla releases its delivery numbers at the start of each quarter, and as investors already know, it blew past expectations with 480,126 electric vehicle (EV) deliveries. Automotive revenue still makes up roughly three-quarters of Tesla's revenue, and based on historical numbers, Tesla's average revenue per unit (ARPU) for EVs is likely in the $42,000 to $43,000 range. Therefore, automotive revenue will probably be in the $20.1 billion to $20.7 billion range.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

The midpoint of the range implies a 22% increase on the $16.67 billion reported in the same quarter of 2025. Whichever way you look at it, Tesla is growing its EV deliveries again, which helps confirm that the slowdown in the first half of 2025 really did come down to the Model Y refresh.

What investors need to look out for That said, the key to the investment case is Tesla's future stream of recurring income from full self-driving (FSD) software, Optimus robot-as-a-service revenue, and robotaxi revenue from its own fleet or a third-party robotaxi platform fee.

Consequently, every earnings presentation and earnings call is usually viewed as a kind of report card on the long-term development of Robotaxi and Optimus, in the context of publicly available developments in the quarter. Based on Tesla's last earnings call, it's hard to see the company saying anything revolutionary during the upcoming one.

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Optimus and robotaxi On Optimus, CEO Elon Musk said low-volume production would begin in the "late July/August" time frame, with the unveiling event taking place around then. Clearly, there's potential for Tesla to make a splash by announcing this, but it would merely confirm what management has already said.

Turning to robotaxis, while it's exciting to monitor the rollout, the reality is that an increase of a few robotaxis here or there, or an additional city (Miami was added in July), won't make a marginal difference to what really matters.

On the last earnings call, Musk said:

"It's not going to make sense for us to deploy unsupervised FSD or Robotaxi large scale when we know that there are major architectural improvements to the software that can improve safety."

Those improvements will come with the release of v15 FSD, which will be a "complete overhaul of the software architecture" and will take safety to "another level." He also noted that v15 would "hopefully" be available this year, "but certainly by early next year."

Image source: The White House.

What to expect from Tesla's earnings presentations We pretty much know the key numbers based on the delivery data. On Optimus, confirmation of production starting/growing and an unveiling announcement would be good. However, the key question is the timeline for v15 development, because there won't be a robotaxi ramp without it.

All told, while Tesla remains an attractive stock for long-term investors, it's hard to see the company making any game-changing announcements on Optimus or robotaxi/v15 during the upcoming earnings presentations. In other words, if you like the stock, there's no need to rush to buy it before the earnings report.

Although the company holds a sizable stake in Alphabet, much like his predecessor, Warren Buffett, current Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA +0.73%) (BRKB +1.71%) CEO Greg Abel isn't making any major, hyperaggressive bets on artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

He's certainly not unaware of the industry's rapid growth, though, and is making a point of preparing one of Berkshire's subsidiaries for what seems inevitable. That's soaring demand for the electricity that powers AI data centers.

The question is, will this meaningfully move the needle for Berkshire Hathaway and its shareholders?

Image source: Getty Images.

AI and energy is definitely on Abel's radar Given everything else happening that busy day, it would have been easy to miss. Nevertheless, as Abel commented during Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting in early May, "One of the core inputs to all those data centers -- hyperscalers -- associated with artificial intelligence is energy. Our businesses have that opportunity in front of them at Berkshire Hathaway Energy." He then added, "And yes, we're pursuing them."

Abel went on to point out that, unlike so many other players in the utility business, Berkshire Hathaway Energy is already sending 8% of its potential electricity production in Iowa, for instance, to the AI data center industry that's set up shop there. He goes on to suggest that this figure could grow by 50% (or more) over the next five years.

In other words, Berkshire's energy arm is already ready for what awaits.

But what does this opportunity practically mean for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders?

It takes some digging, but it's not a secret -- Berkshire's energy business added nearly $4 billion worth of earnings to the conglomerate's bottom line last year. That's roughly 10% of its total profits, excluding the ever-changing gains from its stock portfolio. That's not huge, but it's not insignificant either.

Data source: Berkshire Hathaway 2025 investor report.

For all the opportunity Abel says he sees on this front, however, it's not exactly a game changer.

AI takes a relatively small part of overall energy production There's no denying the utility industry as a whole wasn't -- and still isn't -- ready for the rapid growth in electricity demand driven by the proliferation of AI data centers.

In the grand scheme of things, though, it's not as if artificial intelligence is consuming the vast majority of the nation's produced power. Recent number crunching by Pew Research indicates that data centers accounted for only about 4% of the United States' total electricity generation in 2025. The rest is still being used by everything else and everyone else. Even Pew's forecast for a doubling of this consumption by 2030 would put the AI industry's portion of power consumption in the ballpark of 8%, which is still a small minority.

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So why all the angst? The capital-intensive utility business wasn't ready for any major surge in demand, having managed paper-thin differences between supply and consumption for decades.

More to the point for interested investors, while AI-driven energy demand is undeniably growing rapidly, it's growing from a small baseline. There's not enough whole-dollar opportunity here to consider it a core part of any bullish thesis for Berkshire Hathaway... at least not yet.

That doesn't mean Berkshire isn't a buy, though. If nothing else, the conglomerate remains an incredible cash cow, with a portfolio of great stocks.

Electronic Arts logo is seen in this illustration taken September 30, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

CompaniesBRUSSELS, July 17 (Reuters) - A group of investors including Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is set to secure European ​Union approval for its $55 billion acquisition of video game ‌developer Electronic Arts (EA.O), opens new tab under EU subsidy rules, people familiar with the matter said.

Saudi Arabia's $1 trillion wealth fund, Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners and private ​equity firm Silver Lake announced the deal, the largest leveraged ​buyout in history, in September last year.

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The deal represents ⁠a major push by PIF in its efforts to ​become a global hub for games and sports, betting on the ​enduring value of blockbuster game franchises as the industry recovers from a prolonged downturn.

It also underscores the kingdom's diversification from oil into infrastructure, tourism, ​sports and gaming and other sectors.

The European Commission, which acts ​as the EU competition enforcer, is set to clear the deal after the ‌end ⁠of its preliminary review under its Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) on July 30, the people said.

The Commission declined to comment. PIF and Electronic Arts did not immediately respond to emailed requests for ​comment.

The FSR is ​aimed at ⁠preventing unfair non-EU subsidies to companies looking to acquire rivals in the 27-country bloc.

The deal is ​also expected to win unconditional EU clearance under ​merger rules ⁠when a preliminary review ends on July 22.

Two previous deals involving Middle East companies, Abu Dhabi state oil firm ADNOC's acquisition of ⁠German ​chemicals company Covestro and UAE telecoms group e&'s ​bid for parts of Czech telecoms company PPF, were only cleared after lengthy ​investigations and remedies.

Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Kirsten Donovan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

An agenda-setting and market-moving journalist, Foo Yun Chee is a 21-year veteran at Reuters. Her stories on high profile mergers have pushed up the European telecoms index, lifted companies' shares and helped investors decide on their next move. Her knowledge and experience of European antitrust laws and developments helped her break stories on Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple, numerous market-moving mergers and antitrust investigations. She has previously reported on Greek politics and companies, when Greece's entry into the eurozone meant it punched above its weight on the international stage, as well as on Dutch corporate giants and the quirks of Dutch society and culture that never fail to charm readers.

© Adansijav Official / Shutterstock.com

Jim Cramer told his X followers this month, “If there is going to be a turn the stock of Broadcom will let you know.” The post landed on Wednesday, July 9, 2026, pulled in 45,859 impressions, 158 likes, and 62 replies, and framed a single semiconductor stock as the tell for where the market goes next. In the day leading up to that post, he also noted, “Broadcom and Lam great tells today!” A week later, that call is being stress-tested in real time.

What Cramer Is Really Saying About Broadcom Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO | AVGO Price Prediction) is the closest thing the market has to a scoreboard for hyperscaler AI spending. CEO Hock Tan sells custom AI accelerators (XPUs) and AI networking silicon to the largest cloud buyers on earth. His quarterly guidance is treated as a leading indicator on capex intentions at hyperscalers like Google, Meta, and others. That is the mechanism behind Cramer’s bellwether framing: when AVGO’s bookings slip or its price action rolls over, it tends to precede softness in the wider Nasdaq complex.

The recent price action reflects that sensitivity. Broadcom closed at $374.45 on July 16, a 5.03% single-session drop that capped a 6.65% weekly decline. Year to date the stock is still up 8.59%, and one-year performance sits at 32.16%. Market cap is approximately $1.78 trillion. If Cramer is right, the stock’s recent weakness is worth watching closely for those interested in buying the dip.

The Fundamentals Backing the Bellwether Thesis Broadcom has become a rudder for the AI chip trade, which is why its guidance can steer the entire sector. Fiscal Q2 revenue came in at $22.19 billion, up 47.9% year over year, while non-GAAP diluted EPS of $2.44 beat the consensus, extending Broadcom’s streak to eight consecutive quarters of EPS beats. AI semiconductor revenue reached $10.80 billion, soaring 143% year over year. Free cash flow was $10.26 billion, or 46% of revenue, per the company’s Q2 8-K filing.

Tan offered a glimpse into the future, telling investors, “The momentum continues and in Q3 we expect semiconductor revenue from AI to grow over 200 percent year-over-year to $16.0 billion.” Total Q3 revenue is guided to roughly $29.4 billion, implying 84% year-over-year growth. Tan has also set a public target of exceeding $100 billion in AI sales by 2027. Investors can track updated commentary directly on Broadcom’s investor relations site.

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

How Nvidia Fits the Signal NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) is the other half of the AI silicon duopoly. Its most recent quarter delivered $81.61 billion in revenue, up 85.2% year over year, with Data Center Networking revenue surging 199%, according to the company’s Q1 FY2027 8-K. NVIDIA sells merchant GPUs; Broadcom builds the custom ASICs and networking chips that hyperscalers use to offset dependence on those GPUs. NVIDIA trades at 33 times earnings, compared with 66 times for Broadcom, leaving AVGO more exposed to valuation compression if AI capex growth cools.

Nvidia held up better during the July drawdown, closing at $207.40 on July 16 with a 2.28% weekly gain and an 11.2% year-to-date advance. That divergence is exactly the kind of asymmetry the former hedge fund trader’s framing tries to capture: AVGO cracking while NVDA holds could be an early warning that custom silicon orders are getting pruned first.

The Inverse Cramer Wrinkle Retail traders have spent years running the “Inverse Cramer” playbook, fading his high-conviction calls for sport. Reddit sentiment on AVGO stayed steadily bullish through July 16, with r/stocks sentiment scores holding in the 70-74 range. Oppenheimer analyst Rick Schafer kept Broadcom on his top picks list heading into Q2 earnings, and the July 16 Standard Chartered VMware Cloud Foundation partnership reinforced the software-plus-silicon story.

The setup investors are watching: if AVGO breaks lower while AI capex commentary from hyperscalers stays firm, Cramer’s bellwether call may have flagged the turn early. If Broadcom stabilizes and delivers on its $16 billion Q3 AI revenue guidance, the recent weakness looks more like consolidation inside a still-intact uptrend.

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

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Company Retains Key Frederator Studios IP For Licensing Opportunities

Strategic Transaction Continues Company’s Realignment Towards the Monetization of Premium Intellectual Property

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., July 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kartoon Studios, Inc. (NYSE American: TOON) ("Kartoon Studios" or the "Company"), a global entertainment company creating, producing, distributing and licensing children's and family content, today announced the strategic sale of Frederator Networks' Channel Network business in an all-cash transaction. Kartoon Studios will retain key intellectual property of Frederator Studios, including Bee and PuppyCat, Bravest Warriors, Castlevania and Catbug, for distribution and product licensing opportunities.

The strategic sale advances Kartoon Studios' ongoing strategy to align its operating structure and resources on monetization of premium intellectual property, franchise development, animation production, global distribution and consumer-products commercialization.

“The transaction separates two businesses with different operating models, margin profiles and growth priorities,” commented Andy Heyward, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kartoon Studios. “Key to this transaction, we are retaining key intellectual property of Frederator Studios, its creative talent and core properties, along with key channels that support our franchises. We believe this transaction makes Kartoon Studios a more focused company and better positions our team to continue executing on our strategic realignment towards the monetization of premium intellectual property.”

Total cash consideration paid to Kartoon Studios totaled $500,000 for the Frederator Networks' Channel Network business.

About Kartoon Studios
Kartoon Studios (NYSE American: TOON) is a global, vertically integrated children’s and family entertainment company turning owned and controlled intellectual property into enduring, multi-platform franchises. The Company develops, produces, distributes, licenses and monetizes content across the full value chain, creating multiple revenue opportunities and long-term brand value.

Kartoon Studios’ growth portfolio includes Hundred Acre Wood and the Stan Lee Universe, alongside established brands and an extensive programming library. The Company operates Mainframe Studios and Toon Media Networks, as well as Beacon Media Group, a full-service marketing, communications, and media agency subsidiary of Kartoon Studios focused on children and family. Together, these assets provide production capabilities, direct audience access and distribution across linear television, AVOD, SVOD, FAST channels and streaming platforms in more than 60 territories. Kartoon Studios is focused on converting its intellectual property, infrastructure and global reach into scalable franchise growth and long-term shareholder value.

For more information, visit www.kartoonstudios.com.

Important Cautions Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release that are not historical facts may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning the strategic transaction continuing the Company’s realignment towards the monetization of premium intellectual property; the strategic sale advancing Kartoon Studios' ongoing strategy to align its operating structure and resources on monetization of premium intellectual property, franchise development, animation production, global distribution and consumer-products commercialization and the transaction making Kartoon Studios a more focused company and better positioning its team to continue executing on our strategic realignment towards the monetization of premium intellectual property Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “project,” “should,” “will” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These statements are based on the Company’s current plans, estimates, assumptions and expectations and are not guarantees that such plans, estimates or expectations will be achieved. Actual events, results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to various risks, uncertainties and other factors, including the Company’s ability to execute its business strategy and growth initiatives; the Company’s ability to monetize premium intellectual property, the Company’s ability to protect its intellectual property and other risks described under the heading “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at www.sec.gov. Additional risks and uncertainties that are not currently known to the Company or that the Company currently considers immaterial may also cause actual events, results or performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and Kartoon Studios undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT:
Lytham Partners, LLC
Robert Blum
602-889-9700
[email protected]

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) will release its second quarter earnings report after the closing bell on Monday, July 20.

Analysts expect the Greenwich, Connecticut-based company to report quarterly earnings of $1.08 per share, up from $1.05 per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue is $3.2 billion. It reported $3.1 billion last year, according to Benzinga Pro.

On July 13, W. R. Berkley named Paul J. Stock as president of Carolina Casualty.

Shares of W. R. Berkley rose 0.1% to close at $69.90 on Thursday.

Benzinga readers can access the latest analyst ratings on the Analyst Stock Ratings page. Readers can sort by stock ticker, company name, analyst firm, rating change or other variables.

Let’s have a look at how Benzinga’s most-accurate analysts have rated the company in the recent period.

Considering buying WRB stock? Here’s what analysts think:

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Shares in Aehr Test Systems (AEHR 4.09%) rose 20.9% in the week to Friday morning as the market digested its excellent fourth quarter earnings report released earlier in the week. The earnings helped confirm the company's successful transition in revenue away from the electric vehicle (EV) market toward the higher-growth AI processor market.

Why Aehr Test Systems shares soared this week Aehr makes test equipment and systems that ensure semiconductor reliability and quality. It's a critical part of chip development. Whether it's in an EV or an AI data center, it's essential that chips don't fail. As such, its bookings are often seen as a leading indicator of capital spending trends in its end markets, particularly for AI processors.

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In this context, Aehr had good news for the AI market. Its record bookings of $60.7 million in the quarter brought its second-half bookings to $97.9 million, a figure significantly above the high end of the company's $60 million to $80 million guidance range. CEO Gayn Erickson confirmed that bookings represent growth, noting that "Reliability and production wafer-level burn-in screening for AI accelerators, CPUs, and network processors were our fastest-growing markets this year, representing approximately 71% of our total annual revenue."

In addition, he disclosed that two years ago, "over 95%" of Aehr's business related to silicon carbide chips for EVs, while "our fiscal year '26 revenue came from markets not electric vehicle silicon carbide."

Image source: Getty Images

Where next for Aehr Test Systems Erickson also confirmed that its lead AI chip customer is "significantly ramping their products." Based on its orders and a $100 million backlog, management expects revenue of $130 million to $150 million in its fiscal 2027 compared to $50 million in 2026, with Erickson claiming Aehr had the capability to meet a large order if it came in.

Aehr is set to return to profitability in its fiscal 2027 and represents a speculative way to invest in the accelerating momentum of AI chip investing.

Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Truist Financial logo appears in this illustration taken December 1, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

July 17 (Reuters) - Truist Financial (TFC.N), opens new tab reported a higher quarterly profit on Friday, as ​a rebound in capital markets activity helped boost earnings ‌from investment banking, while volatility fueled trading desks.

Across the industry, banks have reaped gains from a revival in dealmaking that ​has bolstered lucrative advisory fees, while heightened ​market volatility has fueled client activity across ⁠their trading desks.

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Here are some details:

Truist's investment banking ​and trading income climbed nearly 72% in the three ​months ended June 30 from a year earlier.

Shares of the bank rose 1.9% in premarket trading.

Banks expect more gains ahead, with ​executives pointing to healthy pipelines and strong backlogs ​for the second half, fueling expectations that the investment banking "super ‌cycle" ⁠has more room to run.

Meanwhile, global markets remain volatile as the interest rate trajectory remains uncertain, geopolitical tensions linger and AI-driven tech jitters persist — an environment ​that typically keeps ​trading desks ⁠humming.

"We continued to deepen client relationships, grow in attractive markets, and improve operating ​efficiency and profitability," Truist CEO Bill ​Rogers ⁠said.

The bank's wealth management income for the second quarter also increased 7.8%.

Truist's quarterly net income available to common ⁠shareholders ​came in at $1.52 billion or $1.23 ​per share, above last year's $1.18 billion or 90 cents per share.

Reporting ​by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Diti Pujara

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Archer Aviation (ACHR 6.38%) recently slipped below $5, extending a decline that has surprised many investors. Yet the sell-off doesn't appear to reflect a sudden deterioration in the company's business.

Instead, it reflects something more subtle. The market is changing how it evaluates Archer.

A year ago, investors mainly cared about the company's vision. Flying taxis promised to transform urban transportation. Archer had secured partnerships with companies such as Stellantis and United Airlines, and each certification milestone reinforced the belief that commercialization was approaching.

Today, that narrative isn't enough. Investors are no longer asking whether flying taxis could become a major industry. They're asking a much tougher question: Can Archer build a profitable business before it runs out of time -- or capital?

Image source: Getty Images.

Commercialization has become the biggest test For years, Archer measured success through milestones:

Prototype flights Manufacturing progress Strategic partnerships Regulatory approvals Each announcement reduced uncertainty and helped investors believe the company was moving in the right direction. But as Archer approaches its goal of launching commercial operations in 2026, those milestones no longer carry the same weight. Investors now want evidence that the business itself is nearing takeoff.

Launching an air taxi service involves far more than building an aircraft. Archer must complete Federal Aviation Administration certification, prepare pilots, establish operating procedures, deploy supporting infrastructure, and convince customers to choose flying taxis over existing forms of transport.

Even then, another challenge begins. Can the business generate enough demand to operate profitably? Can aircraft fly frequently enough to justify their cost? Can the company eventually earn attractive returns after maintenance, staffing, insurance, and infrastructure expenses?

These are the questions investors are beginning to ask, and none has a satisfactory answer today. That's why each quarter without meaningful commercial revenue matters more than the one before it. The closer Archer gets to commercialization, the less investors value promises and the more they expect measurable progress.

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Cash burn isn't the biggest concern anymore. Dilution is. Ironically, Archer's biggest financial strength has created a new investor concern.

During the past two years, the company has raised substantial capital and built one of the strongest balance sheets in the electrical vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) industry. That gives management valuable time to complete certification and prepare for launch. For perspective, the company ended March 31 with $1.8 billion in liquidity.

Few investors now question whether Archer can survive.

Instead, they question how much of the company today's shareholders will still own by the time it succeeds.

Archer continues to invest heavily in engineering, certification, manufacturing capacity, and commercial preparation. Those investments are necessary, but they also mean the company is likely to remain cash-flow-negative for several more years. In 2025 alone, the company consumed $433 million in operating cash flow.

If commercialization takes longer than expected -- or scaling proves more expensive than planned -- raising additional capital may become necessary. That's where dilution becomes a real risk.

Every new share issued helps fund the business, but it also reduces the ownership stake of existing shareholders. Even if Archer ultimately succeeds, repeated equity issuance could reduce the returns investors earn.

For a company that remains years away from profitability, that's an important risk to consider.

What does it mean for investors? Nothing in Archer's recent progress suggests the long-term vision has fallen apart. The company continues to progress through certification, expand manufacturing capabilities, and prepare for a commercial launch in the U.S. in 2026. Those remain meaningful achievements.

What has changed is the market's willingness to pay for future potential. Investors now want evidence that Archer can convert technological progress into commercial success -- and eventually into sustainable profits.

That means another partnership announcement or another successful test flight won't define the next chapter. It will be defined by execution.

Can Archer launch commercial operations on schedule? Can it generate meaningful revenue? Can it reach that point without excessive shareholder dilution?

Those are the questions that will likely determine where the stock goes next.