Market Signal Briefing

20h05 ▪
5
min read ▪ by
Luc Jose A.

Summarize this article with:

Could bitcoin’s four-year cycle be living its last moments ? This is the unexpected hypothesis put forward by Grayscale in a report published on Monday. According to the asset manager, the crypto queen could break free from its historical mechanics as early as 2026, reaching new heights well before the usual deadline. This major challenge to a pillar of crypto analysis sparks as much hope as questions in a rapidly changing market.

In brief

Grayscale questions Bitcoin’s historical four-year cycle, based on halvings.
According to the asset manager, Bitcoin could reach new highs as early as 2026, without following its usual pattern.
The prospect of a Fed rate cut and progress in US crypto regulation strengthen the bullish scenario.
Meanwhile, the Fed injected $13.5 billion in liquidity, a record since the COVID crisis, potentially boosting risky assets.

Grayscale bets on the break of bitcoin’s historical cycle
In its latest report after the official filing for its IPO, asset manager Grayscale questions a pillar of crypto analysis: bitcoin’s four-year cycle, traditionally tied to halving events.

The company states this model could be broken as early as next year, opening the way to an unprecedented bullish movement by 2026. “Although prospects are uncertain, we believe the four-year cycle thesis will prove incorrect and the asset’s price could reach new heights next year”, the report reads.

This statement comes as bitcoin dropped 32 % from its previous highs, but some technical signals already reveal a reversal. Among them, bitcoin options imbalance, exceeding 4, indicates according to Grayscale that investors have already “extensively hedged their downside risk exposure”.

Beyond these technical indicators, several factual elements support the thesis of a cycle reversal :

Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded in November $3.48 billion in net outflows, their second worst month historically. However, an inflection is emerging with four consecutive days of inflows, including $8.5 million on the Monday before the report’s release ;

The probability of a Federal Reserve monetary easing, estimated at 87% for a 25 basis point cut at the December 10 meeting, according to the CME FedWatch Tool ;

The evolution of the US regulatory framework, with advances on structuring texts like the Digital Asset Market Structure Bill and the CLARITY Act, which could encourage stronger institutional capital inflows as early as 2026.

For Grayscale, these elements converge toward an unprecedented scenario: bitcoin freeing itself from its traditional cyclic rhythm, supported by changing macro and structural fundamentals. The dynamic remains dependent on the confirmation of these trends in the coming months.

When Fed liquidity enters the crypto universe
Another key event, external this time to the crypto ecosystem, could have a significant impact on the bitcoin price : the surprise injection of $13.5 billion in liquidity by the US Federal Reserve on December 1st.

Indeed, this is the second-largest operation since the COVID crisis. This decision marks, according to several analysts, the effective end of the Fed’s quantitative tightening (QT) program. Bitcoin and risky assets can benefit from a new liquidity boost.

Despite this monetary easing, bitcoin has not yet capitalized on this favorable wind, unlike equity markets. The S&P 500 index continues its rise, supported by historically bullish seasonality in December, while BTC remains behind.

For Mike McGlone, senior strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, this divergence could signal a reversal in risky assets led by bitcoin. He points to an excessive BTC valuation compared to gold, with a 20x ratio versus a “fair value” estimated at 13x.

According to his models, this imbalance could expose bitcoin to a correction, especially since the implied volatility of the S&P 500 is at historically low levels, reinforcing the hypothesis of a general market complacency.

Bitcoin replays the 2022 bear market, but the framework has changed. While the hypothesis of a peak in 2026 is gaining ground, nothing indicates that the old cycles still hold. The market is testing new benchmarks, and uncertainty remains the only constant.

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Luc Jose A.

Diplômé de Sciences Po Toulouse et titulaire d'une certification consultant blockchain délivrée par Alyra, j'ai rejoint l'aventure Cointribune en 2019.
Convaincu du potentiel de la blockchain pour transformer de nombreux secteurs de l'économie, j'ai pris l'engagement de sensibiliser et d'informer le grand public sur cet écosystème en constante évolution. Mon objectif est de permettre à chacun de mieux comprendre la blockchain et de saisir les opportunités qu'elle offre. Je m'efforce chaque jour de fournir une analyse objective de l'actualité, de décrypter les tendances du marché, de relayer les dernières innovations technologiques et de mettre en perspective les enjeux économiques et sociétaux de cette révolution en marche.

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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.

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December 02, 2025 2:05 PM EST | Source: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP
San Diego, California--(Newsfile Corp. - December 2, 2025) - Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP announces that purchasers or acquirers of James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE: JHX) common stock (previously American Depositary Shares until their conversion to common stock on July 1, 2025) between May 20, 2025 and August 18, 2025, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), have until Tuesday, December 23, 2025 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the James Hardie class action lawsuit. Captioned Laborers' District Council and Contractors' Pension Fund of Ohio v. James Hardie Industries plc., No. 25-cv-13018 (N.D. Ill.), the James Hardie class action lawsuit charges James Hardie as well as certain of James Hardie's top executives with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

If you suffered substantial losses and wish to serve as lead plaintiff of the James Hardie class action lawsuit, please provide your information here:

https://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases-james-hardie-industries-plc-class-action-lawsuit-jhx.html

You can also contact attorneys J.C. Sanchez or Jennifer N. Caringal of Robbins Geller by calling 800/449-4900 or via e-mail at [email protected].

CASE ALLEGATIONS: James Hardie designs and manufactures a wide range of fiber cement building products, with manufacturing plants in both the United States and Australia.

The James Hardie class action lawsuit alleges that despite starting to see North America Fiber Cement customers destocking inventory in April and early May 2025, defendants throughout the Class Period made numerous statements falsely assuring investors that the segment remained strong despite the challenging market environment and expressly denying that inventory destocking was occurring. Investors remained unaware that sales in James Hardie's largest business segment were experiencing inventory loading by channel partners, with the hallmarks of fraudulent channel stuffing, and not sustainable customer demand as represented, the James Hardie class action lawsuit further alleges.

The James Hardie class action lawsuit also alleges that on August 19, 2025, James Hardie disclosed that sales in North America Fiber Cement declined by 12% due to the customer destocking first discovered by defendants in April through May. On this news, the price of James Hardie's common stock dropped by over 34%, the James Hardie class action lawsuit alleges.

THE LEAD PLAINTIFF PROCESS: The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased or acquired James Hardie common stock during the Class Period to seek appointment as lead plaintiff in the James Hardie class action lawsuit. A lead plaintiff is generally the movant with the greatest financial interest in the relief sought by the putative class who is also typical and adequate of the putative class. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the James Hardie class action lawsuit. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice to litigate the James Hardie class action lawsuit. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff of the James Hardie class action lawsuit.

ABOUT ROBBINS GELLER: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP is one of the world's leading law firms representing investors in securities fraud and shareholder litigation. Our Firm has been ranked #1 in the ISS Securities Class Action Services rankings for four out of the last five years for securing the most monetary relief for investors. In 2024, we recovered over $2.5 billion for investors in securities-related class action cases – more than the next five law firms combined, according to ISS. With 200 lawyers in 10 offices, Robbins Geller is one of the largest plaintiffs' firms in the world, and the Firm's attorneys have obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history, including the largest ever – $7.2 billion – in In re Enron Corp. Sec. Litig. Please visit the following page for more information:

https://www.rgrdlaw.com/services-litigation-securities-fraud.html

Attorney advertising.
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices.

Contact:
Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP
J.C. Sanchez, Jennifer N. Caringal
655 W. Broadway, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101
800-449-4900
[email protected]

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/276574

Apple's artificial intelligence chief John Giannandrea is stepping down from his role as part of a major shakeup of the troubled division, the company announced late Monday.

Quadient S.A. (OTCPK:NPACY) Q3 2026 Sales Call December 2, 2025 12:00 PM EST

Company Participants

Anne-Sophie Jugean - Head of Investor Relations
Geoffrey Godet - CEO & Director
Laurent Du Passage - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Jean-Francois Granjon - ODDO BHF Corporate & Markets, Research Division
Flavien Baudemont - Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC., Research Division

Presentation

Anne-Sophie Jugean
Head of Investor Relations

Good evening, and welcome to Quadient's Third Quarter 2025 Sales Presentation. I am Anne-Sophie Jugean, Quadient's Head of Investor Relations, and I am here today with Geoffrey Godet, CEO; and Laurent Du Passage, CFO. We will have a short presentation followed by a Q&A. You can submit your questions in writing through the web or ask questions live by dialing into the conference call.

Thank you very much. And with that, over to you, Geoffrey.

Geoffrey Godet
CEO & Director

Thank you, Anne-Sophie, and good evening, everybody. For the third quarter of 2025, Quadient delivered EUR 248 million in revenue. While this reflects a 3.5% organic decline year-on-year. Our growth engines continue to show a strong momentum. Digital accelerated with a 9.2% organic growth driven by and sustained subscription growth across all regions.

Our Lockers business accelerated in subscription growth and once again posted double-digit subscription revenue growth. Subscription growth for the Lockers is fueled by increasing customer adoption and the continued modernization of our U.S., Japanese and European locker networks.

Meanwhile, Mail remained broadly in line with the previous quarter's trends and we now expect the rebound in U.S. hardware sales in the fourth quarter firmly. Let me highlight a few key achievements in the third quarter.

Quadient's digital SaaS-based intelligent automation platform is now #1 worldwide. Let me repeat this, #1 worldwide for customer communication management according to the latest IDC ranking with a 11% market share in

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Q3: 2025-11-25 Earnings SummaryEPS of $2.67 beats by $0.17

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Revenue of

$1.85B

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beats by $46.47M

Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK) UBS Global Technology and AI Conference 2025 December 2, 2025 11:35 AM EST

Company Participants

Andrew Anagnost - President, CEO & Director
Janesh Moorjani - Executive VP & Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Taylor McGinnis - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

Presentation

Taylor McGinnis
UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

Okay. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Day 2 of the UBS tech conference. It's great to see everyone in the audience. For this session, we have Autodesk. So we have Andrew, who is the CEO; and Janesh CFO. So Andrew, Janesh, thank you so much for being here.

Andrew Anagnost
President, CEO & Director

Thank you for hosting us.

Taylor McGinnis
UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

Perfect. And before we dive in, in case you have any questions, you can submit them through the app, and I'll try to take a few of them at the end. But with that, Janesh, I know you have a big speech that you'd like to give.

Janesh Moorjani
Executive VP & Chief Financial Officer

It a very important PSA data. So we may make forward-looking statements during the course of this presentation. Please refer to our SEC filings for information on risks and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from these statements. And now that we all feel so much better protected back to you.

Question-and-Answer Session

Taylor McGinnis
UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

Well done. Well done. Okay. So maybe to kick things off, you guys just reported last week, strong 3Q results. There was a nice upward provision to the 4Q guide. So maybe you could just talk about the drivers behind that momentum and how we think about some of those demand trends going into next year.

Janesh Moorjani
Executive VP & Chief Financial Officer

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Amkor Technology, Inc. (AMKR) UBS Global Technology and AI Conference 2025 December 2, 2025 11:35 AM EST

Company Participants

Kevin Engel - Executive VP & COO
Megan Faust - Executive VP, CFO & Treasurer

Conference Call Participants

Randy Abrams - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division
Sunny Lin - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

Presentation

Randy Abrams
UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

Okay. I want to thank everyone for joining this next session at the UBS Tech Conference. And I'm Randy Abrams, I head up the Taiwan Research, also now covering hardware and have Sunny Lin covering semiconductors out of Taiwan. And we're pleased to have Amkor with us. Kevin Engel, we can congratulate him, he will be the incoming CEO after a long history at Amkor, moving up through the organization, so good appointment. And we also have Megan Faust, the CFO. So feel free to add your questions, and we'll try to weave it into the conversation.

Question-and-Answer Session

Randy Abrams
UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

So -- and I'll kick off. I think for Kevin just coming in to Amkor, give an overview, how do you see the business? What you're coming into with Amkor? And if you take an initial cut and get appointed, any changes if you think the business is already running or we could see some fine-tuning around the strategy?

Kevin Engel
Executive VP & COO

Yes. Thanks, and good morning, everybody. So for me, a couple of things. First, really honored obviously, that the Board and the Kim family has the confidence in me to take Amkor on the next phase of our journey. So a really exciting opportunity there.

When I think about the strategic pillars, which hopefully some of you have heard these before, but we kind of have 3 pillars that we continue

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The broadcast television industry knows it needs to consolidate. It's just struggling with how to do it.

In August, Nexstar Media Group, the largest owner of broadcast stations in the U.S., announced a proposed $6.2 billion deal to buy Tegna — a combination that would bring together more than 260 stations across the U.S.

Last week, Sinclair, the owner of 179 local TV affiliates, made a hostile offer to acquire its smaller peer E.W. Scripps after buying up nearly 10% of the company on the open market.

Both potential deals remain in limbo, and executives are getting antsy.

Companies like Sinclair and Nexstar run the affiliate stations of the major networks across the U.S. known for local news, sports and other broadcast content. They face the same headwinds as their cable and content studio counterparts — the shrinking number of pay-TV customers due to the rise of streaming and tech options.

Broadcast station owners remain profitable, largely from the hefty fees they receive from pay-TV distributors.

About 65 million U.S. households still subscribe to a bundle of linear TV networks. Anywhere from 33% to 50% of a broadcast station group's annual revenue stems from retransmission fees — payments made to a broadcaster for the inclusion of local TV affiliates in pay-TV bundles — with advertising making up most of the rest.

Yet profitability is shrinking for these companies as the universe of traditional bundle subscribers gets smaller. The streaming strategy for local news and TV has yet to come together, and like other parts of the media, local newsrooms and their resources are dwindling.

That's made station owners desperate to consolidate, just as the biggest media companies — including Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast's NBCUniversal — continue to plan their own potential mergers. The impetus for deals among station owners is to cut duplicate costs and add scale to their businesses, increasing negotiating power when it comes time for carriage renewals with the largest pay-TV providers such as Comcast, Charter, Google's YouTube TV and DirecTV.

While some are facing regulatory headwinds, for Sinclair, it's family ownership dynamics coupled with cultural and governance issues that have complicated its latest efforts to buy scale.

Family squabblesSinclair has been looking for an acquisition target for nearly a year.

The company announced in August it was launching a strategic review with an eye toward merging its broadcast station business with a peer. By that point Sinclair and its advisors had already held discussions with potential merger partners, CNBC previously reported.

One of those targets was Gray Media, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about internal plans. But the conversations with Gray haven't advanced, the people said, as Gray is already awaiting government approval for a much smaller deal and isn't in a rush to explore another transaction.

Sinclair then set its sights on Scripps, the owner of more than 60 stations and a variety of entertainment channels like Ion and Bounce. Deal discussions started in the last year, according to people familiar with the matter.

Initial talks revolved around creating a company where both the Scripps family and the Smith family, which owns the majority of Sinclair's voting shares, would give up majority control of a combined company but remain involved, according to people familiar with the matter.

Those early talks included developing an independent board that would be in charge of making pivotal business decisions, such as whether and when to preempt national programming. In September, Sinclair and Nexstar both preempted episodes of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" after the late night host made controversial comments following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Throughout the Scripps deal discussions, Sinclair proposed three different variations of a transaction, including different stipulations of who would remain as CEO and whether the deal would be structured as a merger or an acquisition, said the people familiar.

The Scripps family ultimately balked, in part due to governance issues and cultural concerns, two of the people said. In particular, Sinclair's controlling family is known for its conservative politics. In 2018 Sinclair made all of its owned stations air so-called "must-runs" — commentary that sometimes echoed viewpoints of then-and-now-U.S. President Donald Trump. That same year, Sinclair's attempt to to acquire Tribune ultimately failed amid both Federal Communications Commission concerns and criticism by Democrats and public advocacy groups over whether the merger was in the public interest.

"I think there's a lot of complexity to any transaction, especially transactions that involve family-controlled public companies with highly levered balance sheets," Scripps Chief Financial Officer Jason Combs said during Wells Fargo's TMT Summit in November. "I think they'd add some complexity around a variety of issues, whether it's economic splits, whether it is impacts to the capital structure and potential there, whether it's governance issues. There's a whole range of issues."

When discussions went quiet in September, Sinclair began buying Scripps shares weekly until its stake amounted to roughly 8% and it had to go public, per the Securities and Exchange Commission. Currently, Sinclair has a 9.9% stake in Scripps. Sinclair publicly announced last month it would pursue a hostile transaction of Scripps.

In the days following Sinclair's public proposal to acquire Scripps for $7 per share — or more than $580 million — Scripps adopted a shareholder rights' plan, commonly known as a "poison pill," to give it more time to consider the offer.

"We believe the strategic and financial rationale of a potential Sinclair-Scripps combination is indisputable," Sinclair said in a statement last week. "Given the family control of Scripps, the only effect of adopting a poison pill is to limit the liquidity opportunities for public shareholders of Scripps."

A Scripps spokesperson on Wednesday said the company adopted the poison pill "to ensure that all shareholders receive full value in connection with any proposal to acquire the company." The plan is intended to ward off "coercive tactics" and expires after a year, the spokesperson said.

Insider trading concernsThere could be an additional layer of complication, too.

After Sinclair's SEC filing that disclosed it had amassed a stake in Scripps, attorneys for Scripps sent a letter to Sinclair raising questions around the stock purchases, according to two of the people familiar with the matter.

As part of early deal discussions, Sinclair and Scripps signed a nondisclosure agreement and Sinclair received nonpublic information, the letter noted, according to the people.

When Sinclair stopped receiving nonpublic information remains unclear, as do specific details of the nondisclosure agreement. That leaves open for interpretation whether Sinclair's recent maneuver is a securities violation, according to attorney Jonathan Hochman, founding partner of Schindler Cohen & Hochman.

"Assuming Sinclair received confidential information from Scripps under an NDA, whether any of that information was material and not stale is interesting, because, if so, buying Scripps stock while in possession of that information sounds a lot like insider trading," said Hochman, who is not involved in the Sinclair-Scripps matter.

Representatives for Sinclair and Scripps declined to comment.

Government holdupBeyond complex deal structures and family ownership dynamics, the biggest hurdle for broadcast station mergers at large is U.S. law.

The FCC currently prevents any one company from owning broadcast stations that reach more than 39% of the U.S. TV households.

That threshold doesn't threaten a potential Sinclair-Scripps merger — which Sinclair has said would easily win regulatory approval — but it puts Nexstar's proposed acquisition of Tegna at risk. In order to go through, Nexstar's deal would require the lifting of the decades-old FCC rule, or at least significant waivers.

"We are focused on achieving deregulation, and we continue to advocate for the elimination of the antiquated constraints on local television ownership as the best solution to level the competitive playing field for all media," Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said in a November release when requesting approval for the Tegna deal.

In addition to the 39% nationwide cap, broadcasters would also like to eliminate another law on the books that prevents one company from owning three or more ABC, CBS, Fox or NBC affiliates in a given media market.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has been vocal about his support for reforming the laws. In one instance earlier this year, Carr reportedly called the ownership cap "arcane, artificial limits," adding that such rules don't "apply to Big Tech."

In late September the FCC said it would review the ownership rules. But the changes have yet to take place, and the opposition's voice is getting louder.

In addition, the Department of Justice has also been slow moving toward approving deals in the industry, creating a hurdle for deals of all sizes, one of the people said.

Trump recently slammed the proposed consolidation of the industry in a Truth Social post. Meanwhile, Chris Ruddy, CEO of conservative cable TV channel Newsmax and a Trump supporter, is against FCC rules changes, arguing consolidation limits the number of potential voices and raises cable prices for Americans by giving more leverage to the affiliate groups.

A representative for Carr didn't respond to requests for comment.

The argument against these mergers from the pay-TV distributors is that higher fees get passed down to consumers, which would likely amplify the hemorrhaging of traditional bundle customers. They also say it's unclear how consolidation of these companies would help the local news industry, as the station owners argue.

"Sinclair is brazenly seeking a mega-footprint nationwide and in local markets across the country, which will allow them to impose even more exorbitant retransmission consent fees. These higher prices will leave consumers with a painful choice—pay up or lose your programming," said Grant Spellmeyer, president and CEO of America's Communications Association, an advocacy group for distributors, in a statement.

Curtis LeGeyt, President and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, the industry's trade association, said in a statement to CNBC that local broadcasters are "not asking for special treatment; we are asking for the ability to compete in today's media landscape."

"Lifting the arbitrary 39% limit, which applies only to broadcast stations, will allow station groups to invest in local journalism, sports rights and the technology that keeps communities informed during emergencies, especially in smaller markets," he said. "The national cap was imposed during an era before broadband and streaming reshaped how Americans get their news, and the longer Washington delays addressing it, the harder it becomes for local stations to sustain the trusted local news and reporting that Americans rely on every day."

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC upon Comcast’s planned spinoff of Versant.

VALLETTA, Malta and LAS VEGAS, Dec. 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Expanse Studios, a B2B iGaming content provider and subsidiary of Golden Matrix Group Inc. (NASDAQ: GMGI), has been granted a software provider license by Spelinspektionen, Sweden's national gambling authority, authorizing the company to distribute gaming software to licensed operators in one of Europe's most mature and regulated iGaming markets.

The license, valid until December 1, 2030, enables Expanse Studios to supply its portfolio of proprietary slot games, crash games, and casino content to Sweden's licensed B2C operators. This approval positions the company to serve a market that generated approximately €2.4 billion in total gambling revenue in 2024, with online gaming accounting for 64% of total market activity.

Entry into Europe's Most Regulated Market

Sweden represents one of Europe's most sophisticated iGaming jurisdictions, with approximately 100 licensed operators serving a population of 10.5 million where internet penetration exceeds 95%. In 2024, the online gambling revenue reached $1.9 billion, reflecting a 5% increase from the previous year.

The Swedish market maintains one of Europe's highest channelization rates at 85-90%, indicating strong player preference for licensed platforms. Sweden's regulatory framework, established through the 2019 Gambling Act and overseen by Spelinspektionen, emphasizes technical compliance, responsible gaming, and transparent operations—standards that align with Expanse Studios' existing operations across 1,300+ casino brands in regulated markets.

"Sweden's licensing framework sets the gold standard for regulated iGaming markets in Europe," said Damjan Stamenkovic, CEO of Expanse Studios. "Securing the license approval from the Swedish Authority once again validated our technical capabilities and commitment to responsible gaming in one of the world's most demanding regulatory environments. This license opens substantial distribution opportunities with established operators serving a highly engaged, tech-savvy player base."

The Swedish license complements Expanse Studios' recent European regulatory approvals in Romania and commercial partnerships with operators including AdmiralBet (Novomatic Group) and MerkurXtip (Merkur Group), demonstrating accelerating demand for certified, compliant content across regulated jurisdictions in Europe.

Sweden's market characteristics—including strong preference for mobile platforms, high consumer spending on digital entertainment, and established payment infrastructure—align well with Expanse Studios' content portfolio. With 56 proprietary titles including Super Heli, Titan Roulette, and Wild Icy Fruits, the company continues scaling its high-margin B2B operations across Europe, Latin America, and North America.

This license approval reinforces Golden Matrix Group's strategic focus on expanding regulated B2B operations in jurisdictions with transparent licensing frameworks and very robust player protection standards.

About Expanse Studios

Expanse Studios, part of the Golden Matrix Group (NASDAQ: GMGI), is a B2B iGaming content provider specializing in slots, crash games, turn-based strategies, and card games. With a growing portfolio of 56 proprietary titles, Expanse powers over 1,300 casino brands across Europe, LATAM, and North America.

Learn more at expanse.studio.

About Golden Matrix

Golden Matrix Group Inc. (NASDAQ: GMGI), based in Las Vegas, is a gaming technology company operating globally through B2B divisions (GMAG, Expanse Studios) that develop and license proprietary platforms, and B2C operations including RKings (UK competitions), Mexplay (Mexico online casino), Classics (Australian – based subscription and loyalty business) and Meridianbet—a leading sportsbook licensed in 18 jurisdictions across Europe, Africa, and South America. Learn more at goldenmatrix.com.

Contact: [email protected]  

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b3d225ff-58ef-486e-bb43-61904a067f1d

Expanse Swedish B2B License
Expanse Swedish B2B License

About Emily Jarvie
Emily began her career as a political journalist for Australian Community Media in Hobart, Tasmania. After she relocated to Toronto, Canada, she reported on business, legal, and scientific developments in the emerging psychedelics sector before joining Proactive in 2022. She brings a strong journalism background with her work featured in newspapers, magazines, and digital publications across Australia, Europe, and North America, including The Examiner, The Advocate, The Canberra Times, and... Read more

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Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists.

Proactive news team spans the world’s key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth.

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The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies.

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Key Takeaways GM is highlighted among five stocks outperforming the market across 12-, 4- and 1-week periods.AEM, GLDD, BTSG and ECG also show rising earnings estimates supporting their recent strength.All five names meet screens for positive revisions, solid VGM Scores and adequate liquidity.
U.S. stocks continue to show impressive strength, with major indexes climbing steadily and sentiment improving on solid economic data and ongoing hopes for another policy cut. Investors appear encouraged by easing inflation pressures and healthy consumer spending, which together signal that the recovery remains durable. Even routine volatility has been met with buying, suggesting confidence beneath the surface.

Expectations for further monetary easing have added to the positive tone. The market is entering a historically strong period, and companies have just delivered another round of upbeat earnings. With growth forecasts improving and the broader economy holding up well, the backdrop looks supportive for risk assets. Any short-term weakness is increasingly seen as a chance to add rather than reduce exposure.

In this kind of an environment, relative price strength becomes a practical strategy — helping investors focus on stocks that continue to outperform the market and allowing them to stay aligned with leadership as the uptrend develops.

At this stage, investors would be wise to consider stocks such as Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ((AEM - Free Report) ), General Motors Company ((GM - Free Report) ), Great Lakes Dredge & Dock ((GLDD - Free Report) ), BrightSpring Health Services ((BTSG - Free Report) ) and Everus Construction Group ((ECG - Free Report) ) based on their relative price strength.

Relative Price Strength StrategyInvestors generally gauge a stock’s potential returns by examining earnings growth and valuation multiples. At the same time, it’s essential to measure the performance of such a stock relative to its industry, peers, or an appropriate benchmark.

If you see that a stock is underperforming on fundamental factors, it would be prudent to move on and find a better alternative. However, those outperforming their respective sectors in terms of price should be selected because they stand a better chance of providing considerable returns.

Then again, it is imperative that you determine whether or not an investment has relevant upside potential when considering stocks with significant relative price strength. Stocks delivering better than the S&P 500 for 1 to 3 months, at least, and having solid fundamentals, indicate room for growth and are the best ways to go about this strategy.

Finally, it is crucial to find out whether analysts are optimistic about the upcoming earnings of these companies. In order to do this, we have added positive estimate revisions for the current quarter’s (Q1) earnings to our screen. When a stock undergoes an upward revision, it leads to additional price gains.

Screening ParametersRelative % Price change – 12 weeks greater than 0

Relative % Price change – 4 weeks greater than 0

Relative % Price change – 1 week greater than 0

(We have considered those stocks that have been outperforming the S&P 500 over the last 12 weeks, four weeks and one week.)

% Change (Q1) Est. over 4 Weeks greater than 0: Positive current-quarter estimate revisions over the last four weeks.

Zacks Rank equal to 1: Only Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks — that have returned more than 26% annually over the last 26 years and surpassed the S&P 500 in 23 of the last 26 years — can get through. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Current Price greater than or equal to $5 and Average 20-day Volume greater than or equal to 50,000: A minimum price of $5 is a good standard to screen low-priced stocks, while a high trading volume would imply adequate liquidity.

VGM Score less than or equal to B: Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 (Buy), offer the best upside potential.

Here are five of the 24 stocks that made it through the screen:

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited: Agnico Eagle is a gold producer with mining operations in Canada, Mexico and Finland, and exploration activities in Canada, Europe, Latin America and the United States. The company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters, with the average being 11.6%. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, AEM has a VGM Score of B.

The firm has a market capitalization of $87.5 billion. Notably, over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Agnico Eagle’s 2025 earnings has moved up 8.8%. AEM’s shares have doubled in a year.

General Motors Company: One of the world’s largest automakers, General Motors held the largest share of the U.S. auto market at 16.5% in 2024. GM has a market capitalization of nearly $70 billion. The company has a VGM Score of B.

General Motors beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters, with the average being 9%. Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2025 earnings has moved up 9.9%. GM shares have gained 36% in a year.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock: It is America’s top dredging contractor. Headquartered in Houston, it operates a vast fleet of 200 vessels and is expanding into offshore energy. The company also has a strong record of global marine project execution. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings of Great Lakes indicates 31% growth. The company has a VGM Score of A.

Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Great Lakes’ 2025 earnings has moved up 7.8%. The company has a market capitalization of $868.4 million. GLDD shares have edged up 2.1% in a year.

BrightSpring Health Services: Based in Louisville, KY, it delivers home- and community-based care across the United States, serving seniors and specialty populations through its provider and pharmacy segments. BrightSpring Health Services’ expected EPS growth rate for three to five years is currently 53.3%, which compares favorably with the industry's growth rate of 15.6%. The company has a VGM Score of A.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BrightSpring Health Services’ 2025 earnings per share indicates 100% year-over-year growth. Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2025 earnings has moved up from 90 cents per share to $1.12. BTSG shares have gone up 89.1% in a year.

Everus Construction Group: Based in Bismarck, ND, the company provides specialty contracting services across the United States, spanning electrical and mechanical work as well as transmission and distribution projects. Everus Construction Group has a market capitalization of $4.7 billion. It has a VGM Score of B.

Notably, over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ECG’s 2025 earnings has moved up 23%. It beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters and missed in the other, with the average being 51.8%. Everus Construction Group’s shares have gone up 38.7% in a year.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.

Key Takeaways WULF trades at an 18.24x P/S while shares lag sector and market performance.Heavy debt from HPC expansion and new financing drives significant balance-sheet risk.Regulatory pressures and reliance on a few hyperscale clients add to mounting uncertainty.
TeraWulf (WULF - Free Report) shares are currently overvalued, as suggested by its Value Score of F.

In terms of the 12-month price/sales (P/S), WULF is trading at 18.24X, significantly higher than the Zacks Financial- Miscellaneous Services industry and the Zacks Finance sector’s 3.23X and 8.9X, respectively.

At such a high valuation, the question arises whether WULF stock is still a worthy investment, or is it a good time to consider taking profits? Let's take a closer look.

Price/Sales Ratio (F12M)
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Over the past month, WULF shares have fallen 4.9%, underperforming the Zacks Finance sector’s gain of 2.4% and the S&P 500’s return of 0.7%.

Market volatility has had a major impact on Bitcoin mining operations, directly weighing on TeraWulf's stock performance and affecting near-term stability. Other alternative crypto stocks, such as Riot Platforms (RIOT - Free Report) , CleanSpark (CLSK - Free Report) and Marathon Digital (MARA - Free Report) , are also being impacted by the market volatility. In the past month, CleanSpark, Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital have recorded declines of 19.1%, 25.2% and 35.3%, respectively.

RIOT is expanding U.S. mining capacity post-halving, CLSK is emphasizing low-cost, energy-efficient operations, and MARA is rapidly scaling hash-rate leadership — all directly comparable to WULF in the current bitcoin-mining landscape.

1-Month Share Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Heavy Debt Burden Emerges as a Major Strategic Risk for WULFTeraWulf’s long-term financial position has become increasingly strained as aggressive funding for its HPC (High Performance Computing) expansion has led to a significant buildup of debt. As of Sept. 30, 2025, the company held $2.2 billion in total liabilities against $2.5 billion in assets, driven largely by $1.06 billion in convertible notes and meaningful warrant liabilities. The pressure intensified in the third quarter and shortly afterward, when TeraWulf secured more than $5 billion in additional financing, including $3.2 billion in 7.75% senior secured notes due in 2030 and over $2 billion in low-interest convertible notes maturing between 2031 and 2032. While this capital supports large-scale HPC initiatives and commitments to the Abernathy JV, it also sharply increases future repayment obligations. The resulting leverage materially elevates balance-sheet risk, making the company’s heavy debt burden a major strategic concern for investors. The $424.6 million loss in the third quarter from Google-related warrants and convertible features clearly shows the serious financial risks within TeraWulf’s funding model.

Regulatory Shifts and Client Risks Weigh on TeraWulfTeraWulf faces mounting regulatory and environmental challenges that threaten to disrupt its bitcoin mining and HPC expansion plans. The changes in laws, permitting rules and compliance requirements could materially delay projects and pressure profitability, particularly in highly regulated, energy-intensive regions. Power availability and infrastructure constraints add to execution risks, while choosing new sites requires navigating complex regulatory frameworks and customer-sensitive environmental conditions. Geopolitical shifts, tariffs and trade restrictions further complicate equipment procurement.

These pressures are heightened by TeraWulf's reliance on just a few major hyperscale clients, notably Google-backed Fluidstack and Core42, which adds another layer of strategic risk to the company's long-term outlook.

WULF’s Earnings Estimate Revision Trend LowerThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2025 loss is pegged at 12 cents per share, which has widened by 5 cents over the past 30 days. The company reported a loss of 8 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TeraWulf’s 2025 loss is currently pegged at $1.51 per share, worsening by $1.18 over the past 30 days. This follows the company’s 2024 loss of 19 cents per share.

TeraWulf's earnings missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, the average negative surprise being 82.14%. The sharp downgrade highlights growing concerns around the company’s profitability.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Conclusion: What Makes WULF a Risky StockTeraWulf's stretched valuation, weak earnings projections and deteriorating share performance draw a clear picture of growing risk. High leverage, increasing regulatory and environmental pressures, and overreliance on a small set of clients compound the uncertainty. With earnings estimates trending sharply lower and consistent quarterly misses, the path to sustainable profitability remains unclear. In a volatile crypto market, these growing structural and financial challenges are making WULF an increasingly uncertain investment. Given the increased risk and lack of visible stability, investors may be better off staying away from this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) stock for now.

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

Boeing has not been cash-flow positive on a yearly basis since 2023. That's about to change.

On October 10, 2025, the crypto markets experienced a “flash crash” that caused bitcoin to erase this year’s gains and drop 30% from its peak. A series of events triggered that plunge: a surprise announcement of a 100% tariff on China, an abundance of leverage in the crypto markets, and the depeg of Binance’s USDe’s stablecoin to below $0.66.

Fingers have been pointed, lessons have been learned, and changes are already being made to avoid similar events in the future. Binance quickly distributed $283 million in compensation to impacted users in two rounds of payments.

Stablecoin 101
Stablecoins are a cash-equivalent digital asset issued by a private entity. In theory, they should hold their value relative to a traditional currency like the U.S. dollar. As such, they are backed by holding reserve assets.

Stablecoin-based payments settle immediately at lower execution costs; offer better transparency than standard banking; and can execute at any time. Stablecoins also provide expanded access and financial inclusion to the world’s unbanked population due to relying on digital wallets instead of on traditional bank accounts. The benefits of stablecoin and its ecosystem are further detailed in the table below compiled by McKinsey & Company.

More Regulation on the Way
Incidents like the flash-crash depeg threaten to undermine investors’ trust in stablecoin. However, more regulation behind stablecoin technology — such as the GENIUS Act passed in July 2025 — is on the way to establish a better framework for consumer protections.

Companies like Circle Internet Group and PayPal are expanding their stablecoin offerings. Large tech companies such as Apple, Meta, and Google are expected to integrate more stablecoin functionality into their platforms. Big retailers such as Walmart and Amazon are looking into the idea of offering coins as well. While growth estimates vary, firms like Citi, Coinbase, and Standard Chartered predict $1 trillion–$2 trillion in transaction volume in stablecoin by 2028.

Stablecoin Yields
The other unique aspect of stablecoin, beyond facilitating payment and transactions, is the potential for yield generation.  DeFi-native stablecoin generates yield from sources such as short-term cash-equivalent instruments and lending. It offers more attractive yields, with some as high as 7%, than traditional finance-based cash alternatives like money markets. The yield generation component will also be a focus for regulators, along with consumer protections related to pegging and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.  As institutional interest grows and regulatory frameworks develop, most agree that the potential for stablecoin integration beyond the DeFi ecosystem is enormous.

Upcoming ETF Plays
There are several stablecoin-related ETF filings in the works, including filings from Grayscale, Bitwise and Amplify. These products are expected to hold both publicly traded companies in the stablecoin ecosystem and ETFs holding the digital assets being utilized for on-chain solutions such as Ethereum and Solana.

Current ETF Plays 
There are a few ETFs currently in the market that offer indirect exposure to the stablecoin ecosystem. Blockchain ETFs like the actively managed Amplify Blockchain Technology ETF (BLOK) and the Global X Blockchain ETF (BKCH) provide some of this exposure, holding key names such as Circle and PayPal.

The Invesco Alerian Galaxy Crypto Economy ETF (SATO) is another ETF with exposure to the stablecoin ecosystem and offers the additional benefit of holding crypto ETFs to get direct digital asset exposure.

Another ETF to consider is the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF (BITQ) which provides publicly traded exposure to this theme. Finally, for leveraged exposure to the largest publicly traded stablecoin stock Circle Internet Group (the issuer behind USDC), there is the ProShares Ultra Circle ETF (CRCA), offering 2X exposure.

If recent demand for U.S. spot Solana ETFs is any indication, there is investor demand for new plays on the crypto economy. Spot Solana ETFs have attracted a total of $568.24 million since the launch of the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSO) on October 28. As of November 25, there are now six ETFs holding total net assets of $936 million, many with initial fee waivers.

Spot Solana ETFs

Ticker
ETF
Total Assets ($M)
Expense Ratio
Inception Date

BSOL
Bitwise Solana Staking ETF
$567.2
0.20%*
10/28/25

SSK
REX-Osprey SOL + Staking ETF
$210.5
0.75%
7/1/25

GSOL
Grayscale Solana Trust ETF
$117.9
0.35%*
11/18/25

FSOL
Fidelity Solana Fund
$26.4
0.25%*
11/18/25

VSOL
VanEck Solana ETF
$13.9
0.30%*
11/17/25

SOLC
Canary Marinade Solana ETF
$1.1
0.50%
11/18/25

*Expense ratios subject to temporary fee waivers.

Source: VettaFi and Bloomberg

For more on the recent Solana ETF launches, read my colleague Roxanna Islam’s research article.

VettaFi LLC (“VettaFi”) is the index provider for BLOK and SATO for which it receives an index licensing fee. However, BLOK and SARO are not issued, sponsored, endorsed or sold by VettaFi, and VettaFi has no obligation or liability in connection with the issuance, administration, marketing, or trading of BLOK or SATO.

For more news, information, and strategy, visit the Disruptive Technology Content Hub.

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Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) UBS Global Technology and AI Conference 2025 December 2, 2025 10:55 AM EST

Company Participants

Brice Hill - Senior VP, CFO & leads Global Information Services

Conference Call Participants

Timothy Arcuri - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

Presentation

Timothy Arcuri
UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

Okay. We're going to get started. I'm Tim Arcuri. I'm the semi and semi equipment analyst here at UBS. I'm very pleased to have Applied Materials with us. We have Brice Hill, who is the CFO. Thank you, Brice.

Brice Hill
Senior VP, CFO & leads Global Information Services

Tim, what a great venue. Thanks for hosting us, and great to be here and appreciate everybody's interest in Applied Materials.

Question-and-Answer Session

Timothy Arcuri
UBS Investment Bank, Research Division

So Brice, let's just start and talk about just WFE in general. You're pointing to the first half of next year being sort of flat to modestly up in the second half, I think you think will be a little stronger, so a little more of a back half loaded year next year. What are the drivers for the second half of the year to kind of accelerate versus the first half? Is it mostly due to DRAM and the fab readiness issue?

Brice Hill
Senior VP, CFO & leads Global Information Services

Awesome. Well, you probably won't be surprised if I bring up AI as a significant tailwind for the industry. And for Applied Materials, people who know Applied Materials, we love materials engineering. And I think there is not a surprise that the world is just hungry for more and more energy-efficient compute. And that's what we work on as a company.

And I think there's been a concept for a long time of pervasive compute. If you can make compute

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Visa Inc. (V) UBS Global Technology and AI Conference 2025 December 2, 2025 10:55 AM EST

Company Participants

Oliver Jenkyn - Group President of Global Markets

Presentation

Unknown Analyst

All right. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. We are glad to have with us today, Oliver Jenkyn, the Group President at Visa. We also have joining us and making the trip here to Arizona, we have Jennifer Como, Head of Investor Relations; and Jared Haftel, also part of the Investor Relations team. So before we get into anything, we just want to say thank you for traveling here and being such a big part of our conference to all 3 of you.

Oliver Jenkyn
Group President of Global Markets

You're welcome. Great to be here.

Question-and-Answer Session

Unknown Analyst

All right. So I think the investment community has gotten familiar with Oliver over time, but I just want to give a little bit of context here. So as I mentioned, Group President at Visa. He's been at the company since 2009. He joined having come over from McKinsey at the time.

For context, Visa is organized with 5 regional Presidents, all of those report into Oliver, as do the teams that lead the global merchant relationships, the global client relationships, the global digital partnerships and the global deal negotiations. So it's a lot of purview under Oliver, and we're really glad that he took time out of his schedule to join us.

So again, thank you, Oliver, and we can get going into an update on Q4 trends, if you don't mind.

Oliver Jenkyn
Group President of Global Markets

Yes. So if I could summarize Q4 trends, our fiscal Q4 trends, and then I'll give a little bit into our fiscal Q1. If I had one word, it would be stable; if I

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United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) Q1 2026 Earnings Call December 2, 2025 8:30 AM EST

Company Participants

Steve Bloomquist - Vice President Investor Relations
James Alexander Douglas - CEO & Director
Giorgio Tarditi - President & CFO

Conference Call Participants

John Heinbockel - Guggenheim Securities, LLC, Research Division
Mark Carden - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division
Kelly Bania - BMO Capital Markets Equity Research
Charles Cerankosky - Northcoast Research Partners, LLC
Leah Jordan - Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division
Scott Mushkin - R5 Capital LLC
Peter Saleh - BTIG, LLC, Research Division

Presentation

Operator

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the UNFI First Quarter Fiscal 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]. I'd now like to turn the call over to Steve Bloomquist, Vice President of Investor Relations. You may begin.

Steve Bloomquist
Vice President Investor Relations

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on UNFI's First Quarter Fiscal 2026 Earnings Conference Call. By now you should have received a copy of the earnings release from this morning, the press release and earnings presentation, which management will speak to are available under the Investors section of the company's website at www.unfi.com.

We've also included a supplemental disclosure file in Microsoft Excel with the financial information.

Joining me for today's call are Sandy Douglas, our Chief Executive Officer; and Matteo Tarditi, our President and Chief Financial Officer. Sandy and Matteo will provide a business update, after which we'll take your questions.

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that comments made by management during today's call may contain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include plans, expectations, estimates and projections that might involve significant risks and uncertainties. These risks are discussed in the company's earnings release and SEC filings.

Actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in these forward-looking statements. I'd like

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Walmart Inc. (WMT) Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference 2025 December 2, 2025 11:00 AM EST

Company Participants

John Rainey - Executive VP & CFO

Conference Call Participants

Simeon Gutman - Morgan Stanley, Research Division

Presentation

Simeon Gutman
Morgan Stanley, Research Division

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for being here at the Morgan Stanley Retail & Consumer Conference on day 1. My distinct pleasure, this is a free lunch keynote to welcome Walmart here, represented by John David Rainey, EVP and CFO. I am going to read the disclosure, quick intro, ask the first question and sit down, and we'll get right at it.

For important research disclosures, please see the Morgan Stanley research disclosure website at www.morganstanley.com/researchdisclosures. If you have any questions, please reach out to your Morgan Stanley sales representative.

I think the story speaks for itself. I don't want to say it's becoming a tech company when it gets added to NASDAQ, but the transformation has been marvelous. It was on this stage in this room, it was probably 4 years ago, 5 years ago, and it was Doug, and we talked about we can do both driving sales and margin, and that promise has lived up. And now for the next 5 years, the next promise is watching margins continue to expand.

Question-and-Answer Session

Simeon Gutman
Morgan Stanley, Research Division

So my first question, actually, you made an announcement this morning I don't know if you've done every year, but I haven't fully read it. So I'll give you a chance to tell the market what that press release said talking about the holiday, et cetera, and then I'll take a seat.

John Rainey
Executive VP & CFO

All right. Well, good morning, everybody. It's great to be here. Thanks for hosting us, Simeon. Thanksgiving, as we talked about the last week, including

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NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / December 2, 2025 / The world doesn't have a waste problem because it creates too much waste. It has a waste problem because it can't see what it creates.

Key Takeaways AFRM targets small, everyday purchases to increase transactions and customer engagement.AFRM's Q1 FY26 revenues hit $933M, up 34%, with GMV growing 42% year over year.Platform innovations like tap-to-pay and AI underwriting enhance low-ticket purchase ease.
Affirm Holdings, Inc. (AFRM - Free Report) is redefining its growth story by focusing on smaller, everyday purchases that used to be on the sidelines of its business. Traditionally known for financing big-ticket items like electronics, travel, home furnishings and luxury items, the company is now strategically targeting low-ticket items that consumers buy more often. This move could transform customer engagement, increase transaction volume and capture a larger share of consumer spending.

By allowing customers to buy everyday items in installments, AFRM makes it easier for people to use its platform more often. Over time, these repeated interactions can build loyalty and turn casual shoppers into regular users. In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, AFRM witnessed 52% year-over-year growth in total transactions, with 96% of repeat customers.

The company’s platform is evolving beyond installment loans. With features like tap-to-pay, QR code checkout and AI-powered underwriting for responsible lending, smooth app integration enhances user experience. These tools make low-ticket purchases easier, safer and more convenient, strengthening customer trust. In the first quarter, the company posted $933 million in revenues, up 34% year over year, along with 42% growth in GMV.

However, big-ticket purchases certainly provide AFRM with strong value per transaction, but smaller purchases create numerous opportunities for customer interactions. As AFRM gains more visibility in everyday retail, both online and in physical stores, low-ticket activity could take on a bigger role in driving scale. And if executed well, it might even outpace big-ticket sales growth over time.

How Are Competitors Faring?Some of AFRM’s competitors in the fintech space are Klarna Group plc (KLAR - Free Report) and Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) .

Klarna recently launched its Tap to Pay feature across 14 European markets, bringing its flexible-payment ecosystem directly into brick-and-mortar retail at scale. Klarna’s broader ecosystem also continues gaining momentum, supported by 114 million global active users and 3.4 million daily transactions.

Visa continues to be a frontrunner in the world of global payments, driving adoption of tap-to-pay and other contactless solutions. Its vast network of merchants ensures fast, secure transactions across platforms. V’s processed transactions increased 10% year over year in fiscal 2025.

Affirm’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesIn the year-to-date period, AFRM’s shares gained 13.4% compared with the industry’s rise of 5.9%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, AFRM trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 5.12, above the industry average of 4.79. AFRM carries a Value Score of D.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Affirm’s fiscal 2026 earnings implies 566.7% growth from the year-ago period. The consensus mark for fiscal 2026 revenues indicates 26% year-over-year growth.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Affirm currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Kevin O'Leary says the noise across digital assets today boils down to one blunt truth: bitcoin and ethereum are the only alpha left standing. ‘All You Need Is BTC and ETH,' Mr. Wonderful Says Kevin O'Leary is not mincing words about crypto's current mood. The entrepreneur and television personality known as “Mr.

Cover image via U.Today

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.

Ripple USD stablecoin (RLUSD) has scored another win as it seeks to expand its reach in the global financial sector. Ripple has partnered with RedotPay, a global stablecoin-based payment fintech that integrates blockchain solutions with traditional banking and finance infrastructures.

Strategic fintech collaboration aims to improve transfersIn a recent announcement, Ripple and RedotPay have decided to launch a “Send Crypto, Receive NGN” feature. This will expand multimarket payouts through integration with Ripple’s cross-border payment solution.

With this new feature, RedotPay users can send XRP or other supported cryptocurrencies, and the fintech company will automatically convert it to NGN. It is also possible to deposit into the user’s bank within minutes.

The development will promote faster and cheaper remittances as Ripple and RedotPay aim to resolve all slow transfers from abroad using blockchain. 

Additionally, the expensive fees of around 6.94% will drop significantly as RLUSD operates with reduced fees and settles payouts instantly.

Besides XRP and RLUSD, other assets that this partnership supports include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Circle (USD) and Tether (USDT). Others include Solana, Toncoin, Tron and Binance Chain Coin (BNB).

The new feature of this collaboration directly targets freelancers, digital nomads and entrepreneurs. 

It will also serve anyone that desires fast, low-cost cross-border transfers. It will positively impact Ripple’s stablecoin by increasing the adoption rate of RLUSD on the crypt market.

Both RedotPay and Ripple will benefit from the partnership as it positions the fintech company as a major player in the crypto-powered money transfer market. 

For Ripple, it expands its real-world utility and supports RLUSD to gain traction in a space dominated by giants like USDC and USDT.

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Rising RLUSD adoption signals growing confidence in the stablecoinThese efforts are having a significant impact as the Ripple USD stablecoin recently hit a milestone in terms of holder count. 

RLUSD now has over 6,500 holders as adoption continues to soar, as seen with volume surging by over 65% within the last 48 hours.

Ripple’s recent moves in the digital space reveal clear strategic thinking to gain users’ confidence. Beyond cross-border transactions, it has also provided the necessary infrastructure to support the real-world asset economy.

Ripple Labs’ Head of Information Security Akshay Wattal recently explained how the organization has battle-tested cryptography and compliance with regulatory standards. 

According to Wattal, Ripple is well positioned to leverage the future of the tokenized economy through efficient systems to safeguard users’ assets.

In a stark assessment of the current cryptocurrency landscape, Kevin O'Leary has declared that Bitcoin and Ethereum are the only cryptocurrencies with sustainable value. The outspoken investor, famous for his role on the television show “Shark Tank,” made it clear that in his view, the era of alternative coins, commonly known as altcoins, is coming to an end.

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After the Federal Reserve declared the withdrawal of its quantitative tightening, Bitcoin rose above the $90,000 mark. The rally suggests an inflow of fresh liquidity into the global markets, which triggered more interest in Bitcoin. More demand for Bitcoin ETFs after the U.S. markets opened also coincided with the boost in BTC price.

Why is Bitcoin Rising Now?
The breakout came during a period of rising optimism across crypto markets. The end of QT removes a major pressure point on liquidity, while the prospect of lower rates boosts appetite for alternative assets.

The U.S. Fed’s injection of $13.5 billion in liquidity as QT ended, adds more momentum to Bitcoin’s surge. Bitcoin’s rally shows how quickly sentiment can flip when monetary policy signals change.

Another significant trigger was when Vanguard declared it would accept trading of crypto ETFs (including BTC, ETH, XRP and SOL) beginning on December 2. This shift has brought in millions of conservative investors in into the crypto market. It is no wonder Eric Balchunas named it the effect ‘The Vanguard Effect.’

Balchunas pointed out that Bitcoin jumped 6% around the U.S. open, which aligned with the moment Vanguard when its customers started trading crypto ETFs.

THE VANGUARD EFFECT: Bitcoin jumps 6% right around US open on first day after bitcoin ETF ban lifted. Coincidence? I think not. Also $1b in IBIT volume in first 30min of trading. I knew those Vanguardians had a little degen in them, even some of the most conservative investors… pic.twitter.com/OKyihvEqqD

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) December 2, 2025

Will Rising Fed Cut Odds Fuel Even More Bitcoin Inflows?
In addition, funds have been slowly increasing allocations as macro uncertainty eases. The reversal in policy direction improves the outlook for long-duration assets like Bitcoin.

Hence, this shift could support more inflows in the coming weeks. Analysts like Tom Lee also argue that current momentum could push Bitcoin to a new all-time high as early as January.

Bitcoin’s move above $90,000 adds pressure on traders who expected a deeper correction. Almost $135,000,000 in short positions have been liquidated from the crypto market after BTC crossed $90,000, per Coinglass data.

The market will now track upcoming Fed meetings to confirm whether the U.S. central bank will cut rate. Kalshi traders are expecting three rate cuts in 2025 with odds of the third rising to 90%. This indicates that they are confident that the Fed is heading towards significant easing cycle.

Cover image via U.Today

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In a recent development brought to light, the Shibarium Bridge hacker has chosen not to accept the bounty from K9 Finance, sparking expectations as to what comes next.

As revealed by K9 Finance, the unclaimed ETH in the K9 bounty contract was returned to each respective party who contributed, bringing the bounty story to a close. The Shiba Inu team also received back their 20 ETH.

Shibarium Network, the official X account for Shibarium blockchain, reveals the latest development about the Shibarium incident, which saw an attacker exploit the bridge for $2.4 million in September.  

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Shibarium Network shared findings from Shima, a Shiba Inu and K9 finance contributor who undertook months of undercover investigation into the Shibarium bridge hacker.

Thanks to @MRShimamoto for doing all the hard work here to compile this thread. We truly appreciate your diligence and methodical approach.

Hopefully this investigation can continue with the help of the proper authorities. The communities need answers.

- ShibNet X intern https://t.co/3TJgWU5azB

— Shibarium Network (@ShibariumNet) December 2, 2025 Shima stated the team decided to share the investigation it had been working on, as the Shibarium Bridge hacker foolishly chose not to accept the K9 bounty. He pointed out a "stupid mistake" on the part of the hacker, which helped in unravellng the funds being laundered on Tornado Cash.

This one mistake allowed the investigation to link the original hack wallets, Tornado withdrawal wallets and other KuCoin deposit accounts.  

According to Shima, one of the hacker-linked wallets accidentally sent 0.0874 ETH to a "secret" withdrawal wallet, which destroyed the privacy of the hackers, lifting the veil from their identities.

What's next?Shima said he was able to map the money flow from the bridge hacker using MetaSleuth. A sequence was established as the money flowed from the original hacker wallet to "dumping" wallets and afterwards to Tornado Cash. The funds were then moved from a web of post-mixer wallets to KuCoin deposit addresses.

This information was quietly shared with the Shibarium team to enable them to work with law enforcement before going public, in case any funds were still frozen or recoverable from KuCoin crypto exchange.

On the part of the Shibarium team, the investigation continues with the help of the proper authorities — a crucial point, as the Shiba Inu community needs answers.

Shiba Inu developer Kaal Dhairya commended the recent move, hinting at a plan to ensure the report is sent to the FBI and KuCoin for necessary action.