Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Meta Platforms META shares were under pressure on Wednesday even as broader US markets moved higher, as investors weighed the potential threat from OpenAI’s newly launched Dots AI agent to the social media giant’s fast-growing Muse platform.

The stock started the session down by almost 2%, but picked up later in the day, and was down 0.2% in afternoon trading.

The stock has gained more than 28% over the past month, helped by enthusiasm around Muse, which has emerged as a key part of Meta’s consumer artificial intelligence strategy.

But the launch of Dots has prompted investors to reassess whether Meta can maintain its early lead in the increasingly competitive AI agent market.

At the same time, StoneX analyst Mark Zgutowicz warned that Meta's muse could actually intensify concerns over the company's enormous AI infrastructure spending rather than alleviate them, adding to investors' worries.

OpenAI is rolling out Dots as an “always-on” AI agent app designed to compete with Meta’s Muse.

While Meta shares initially rallied on Tuesday afternoon following OpenAI’s presentation, the stock reversed course in Wednesday trading.

Investors had already anticipated greater competition for Muse after its viral launch earlier this month helped propel Meta shares more than 30% higher.

However, Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney said Dots currently has a more limited distribution model than Muse.

“Importantly, unlike Meta's Muse, Dots is not launching as a broadly available consumer product, as access is initially concentrated in premium professional and business plans,” Mahaney told clients late Tuesday.

“For now, we see Meta with Muse as the clear leader in the personal AI agent space.”

Dots is initially available to users of OpenAI’s $100-a-month Pro plan and Business Premium plans, alongside more expensive custom tiers such as Enterprise. OpenAI has said it intends to “expand to more users soon.”

By comparison, Muse offers users free access to its core capabilities, with paid plans available for heavier usage.

The app provides more than 100 million weekly AI tokens, while power users can increase their allocation through $20- and $100-a-month subscription options.

Mahaney said the difference in access could play an important role in determining how quickly the two products gain users.

“We think that accessibility and massive distribution will continue to give Meta an early advantage in consumer adoption, while OpenAI's existing relationships with businesses and professional users could help Dots gain traction in more complex and economically valuable work,” he added.

Meta is also expanding Muse beyond individual consumers.

The company unveiled Muse for Small Business on Tuesday, allowing its AI agent to connect with software from Asana, Zoom, Intuit, Box, Canva and Salesforce’s Slack.

The tool can also connect with Meta advertising accounts and professional Instagram and Facebook profiles.

Pricing remains aligned with the existing Muse offering, which is free within usage limits and available through subscriptions for higher usage.

AI spending remains a concernDespite the enthusiasm around Muse, StoneX analyst Mark Zgutowicz warned that the product could intensify concerns over Meta’s enormous AI infrastructure spending rather than alleviate them.

Zgutowicz, who has a Hold rating on Meta, said Muse’s infrastructure requirements could put further pressure on the company’s returns.

“We…see Muse’s materially higher infrastructure-intensity adding to, not relieving pressure from, Meta’s existing ROIC debate,” he said.

Meta expects to roughly double capital expenditures to about $140 billion this year as it invests heavily to compete with other Big Tech companies in AI.

The scale of the spending has raised questions among investors over whether the investments will generate sufficient returns.

The launch of Muse has nevertheless prompted a wave of bullish analyst actions.

JPMorgan analysts led by Doug Anmuth raised their Meta price target to $920 from $820 earlier this month, saying Muse could become “the most widely used consumer AI application since ChatGPT.”

Citizens raised its target to $885 from $770, while KeyBanc analyst Justin Patterson lifted his target to $900 from $780.

Cantor Fitzgerald also raised its target to $860 from $680.

The series of target increases has strengthened investor expectations that Meta’s AI investments could eventually create new monetization opportunities, although the emergence of Dots highlights the competitive pressure facing the company as it expands further into AI.

Investors worry AI agents will compress the path from discovery to purchase Summary

Rosenblatt raised its Amazon target to $360 and kept a Buy rating, arguing the market is wrongly treating AI shopping agents as a binary threat to its ad business.

Rosenblatt raised its price target on Amazon AMZN to $360 while keeping a Buy rating, arguing that investors are wrongly treating AI shopping agents as an all-or-nothing threat to the company's advertising business. The new target implies about 46% upside from yesterday's closing price of $246.67. Amazon shares were down 0.19% in premarket.

The concern Rosenblatt is pushing back on is that personal AI agents and shopping assistants will compress the path from product discovery to purchase, displacing the retail media model behind Amazon's advertising business. The firm called that narrative false and said the perceived disruption risk is overstated.

Rosenblatt noted that Amazon has weathered secular shifts in consumer behavior before, and said it's confident the company can get through this transition largely unaffected, even if its advertising model changes. It raised its long-term estimates on Amazon and said it will keep watching how new products and consumer agents develop.

Disclosures I am/we currently own positions in the stocks mentioned, and have NO plans to sell some or all of the positions in the stocks mentioned over the next 72 hours.

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Microsoft shares MSFT rose about 2% on Wednesday after Piper Sandler raised its price target on the software giant to $610 from $550 while maintaining an Overweight rating.

The new target represents nearly 18% upside from the stock’s current trading level and reflects higher estimates and an expanded enterprise value-to-operating cash flow multiple, as the brokerage grows more confident in the outlook for Microsoft’s Microsoft 365 commercial cloud business.

The stock also benefited from broader market gains after fresh US economic data showed inflation slowing last month, pushing Treasury yields lower.

The S&P 500 rose about 0.5%, while the Nasdaq gained roughly 1%.

Piper Sandler introduced a new framework for analyzing Microsoft’s M365 Commercial Cloud business following the company’s “Super App” announcement, the rollout of its new E7 tier, and increasing adoption of consumption-based pricing for Copilot and Cowork.

The brokerage estimates that every 10% shift in customer seats from the existing E5 tier to E7 could generate roughly $2 billion in annualized revenue uplift.

The immediate contribution is expected to be limited, however, as customers gradually migrate across Microsoft’s subscription tiers.

Piper Sandler also sees a significant opportunity from consumption-based revenue generated by Copilot and Cowork.

The firm estimates that these businesses could reach a $2 billion annualized revenue run rate by the end of fiscal 2028.

The analyst said the value proposition of Copilot and Cowork is partly based on Microsoft’s ability to use its enterprise technology “harness” and auto-routing capabilities to perform tasks at lower costs than relying exclusively on frontier AI models.

That could allow Microsoft to generate revenue from AI consumption at a faster pace than the traditional seat-based Copilot model.

The opportunity is particularly important as investors increasingly focus on whether technology companies can translate heavy AI investment into sustainable revenue and cash flow.

Piper Sandler’s bullish view follows a similar shift in sentiment from other Wall Street analysts.

Last week, Stifel upgraded Microsoft to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $575 from $530, citing growing confidence that the company can sustain revenue growth in the mid-to-upper teens.

Analysts led by Brad Reback said Microsoft had “clearly turned the corner post the June quarter print,” pointing to continued strength in Azure, lower large-language-model research intensity and a growing contribution from OpenAI.

Stifel expects Azure to benefit from another 200 to 300 basis points of upside as Microsoft improves efficiency across its technology stack, including silicon, models and software.

The analysts also pointed to comments from Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood that Microsoft had reduced “dock-to-live times” — the period between hardware coming online and becoming ready to generate revenue — by more than 50% over the past year.

That improvement could allow Microsoft to convert additional infrastructure capacity into revenue more quickly.

Microsoft’s AI monetization story is also expanding beyond Azure.

Copilot’s seat count reached roughly 30 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of 10 million from the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, GitHub’s move toward consumption-based pricing provides another potential source of revenue growth.

Stifel expects these factors to offset moderating seat growth as Microsoft 365 approaches 500 million seats, allowing the company to sustain at least mid-teens growth for several years.

The brokerage also said its previous concerns about margin compression had proved “too negative.”

Azure efficiency gains, the elimination of revenue-share payments to OpenAI following an April contract revision, and Microsoft’s decision to extend the useful life of certain assets to 25 years from 15 years have all helped improve the margin outlook, according to Stifel.

The broader analyst community has also become more constructive.

Seventeen analysts have recently raised their earnings estimates for Microsoft for the upcoming period.

Microsoft shares have risen about 10% this year, but the bulk of the recovery has come in the third quarter, with the stock up 36.4% so far.

That puts Microsoft on track for its strongest quarterly performance since the first quarter of 1998, when the shares gained 38.5%, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

The scale of the recent rebound partly reflects how sharply the stock had fallen at the start of the year.

Microsoft shares plunged 23.5% in the first quarter, marking their worst quarterly performance since the 2008-09 financial crisis.

Investors have since placed greater emphasis on the different parts of Microsoft’s business that can benefit from the AI boom.

StoneX analyst Yi Fu Lee said Microsoft has increasingly benefited from a “flight to quality” as investors seek technology companies with clearer paths to monetizing AI.

Investors have come to view Microsoft as “one of the highest-quality platforms in technology,” Lee said, according to MarketWatch.

StoneX reiterated a Buy rating on the stock.

Lee said Wall Street’s focus has increasingly moved away from identifying which company has the strongest AI model and toward determining which companies control the enterprise infrastructure, data and systems where AI applications operate.

Microsoft is positioned as a platform capable of hosting multiple large language models, including those developed by OpenAI and Anthropic, he said.

The company’s recent Copilot developments have further strengthened the case that Microsoft can expand AI revenue beyond traditional software subscriptions.

“Microsoft is evolving Copilot from a productivity assistant into a broader enterprise AI platform,” Lee said, pointing to its capabilities across Home, Microsoft’s subscription offering for individuals and families; Code, its coding tool; and Autopilot, a personal AI assistant.

Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth similarly said Microsoft’s rally “reflects a meaningful improvement in the evidence behind [Microsoft's] AI investment case.”

Apparel giant Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) looks to provide more signs of a turnaround for investors, with shares hitting new 13-year lows recently. The company reports first-quarter financial results Thursday after market close.

Here are the earnings estimates, what experts are saying and key items to watch.

• Nike stock is trading at depressed levels. Where are NKE shares going?

Nike Q1 Earnings EstimatesAnalysts expect Nike to report first-quarter revenue of $11.33 billion, down from $11.72 billion in the first quarter of past year, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The company has beaten analyst estimates for revenue in seven straight quarters and in eight of the past 10 quarters overall.

Analysts expect Nike to report earnings of 44 cents per share for the first quarter, down from 49 cents per share year-over-year.

The company has beaten analyst estimates for earnings per share in 12 straight quarters.

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What Experts are SayingThe Nike chart is a "textbook downtrend" lesson that Freedom Capital Markets Chief Market Strategist Jay Woods says she shares with college students.

"The excitement surrounding CEO Elliott Hill and a potential turnaround has faded as the sneaker giant continues to struggle with weak demand, declining digital sales and persistent pressures in China," Woods said in a weekly newsletter.

Woods said investors want evidence of the turnaround with items such as better products, inventory and better wholesale relationships, but haven’t gotten positives yet. The market expert says China sales are still under pressure and show no sign of things changing.

"Brand relevance and profitability will also be in focus."

Woods writes that Nike lost soccer star Kylian Mbappé to rival footwear company On Holding (NYSE:ONON), which could show that younger competitive companies are willing to spend up for athlete endorsements.

The market expert says the stock technicals for Nike remain ugly, but a bright spot is momentum, with RSI showing some bullish divergence.

"Is that enough to signal a bottom? Not yet. But it may be the one thing on this chart giving the bulls something to work with."

Here are recent analyst ratings on Nike stock and their price targets:

RBC Capital: Maintained Sector Perform rating, lowered price target from $45 to $40 Deutsche Bank: Maintained Hold rating, lowered price target from $45 to $37 Piper Sandler: Maintained Neutral rating, lowered price target from $45 to $38 Evercore ISI Group: Maintained In-Line rating, lowered price target from $46 to $34 Key Items to WatchAs mentioned by Woods, items such as inventory, new products and China will be key items that investors and analysts will be watching on Thursday.

Investors may also be looking at sales by region, with North America up 3% year-over-year in the fourth quarter and Asia Pacific and Latin America up 1% year-over-year in the fourth quarter.

Nike Direct was the segment that had year-over-year declines in the fourth quarter, with Nike Brand and wholesale segments up. That could be another area to watch.

The loss of Mbappé likely won’t be covered by management in the prepared remarks, but could come up during the analyst question segment. Look for Nike to highlight its other key athletes and teams under contract.

Ultimately, Nike has been beating analyst estimates for financials, but has no new products or innovation to get investors excited for the turnaround or future growth. Until the company makes an acquisition or announces a major product, shares could be stuck in the downtrend.

Nike Stock Price ActionNike stock is down 0.64% to $35.61 on Wednesday versus a 52-week trading range of $35.22 to $76.97. Nike shares are down 43.6% year-to-date and trade at lows last seen in October 2013.

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© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Canopy Growth (CGC -2.59%) is getting closer to something marijuana investors have been waiting years to see: positive adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). The Canada-based cannabis company recently reported Q1 fiscal 2027 net revenue of about $57.4 million, up 13% year over year, with growth across every major business. Cannabis revenue increased 14%, and growth wasn't limited to one market.

Canadian medical cannabis revenue jumped 22% to about $18.5 million, Canadian adult-use revenue increased 10% to $21.3 million, and international cannabis revenue rose 10% to about $6.9 million. That's a much healthier revenue picture than Canopy has produced in recent years.

Image source: Getty Images.

Getting closer to positive EBITDA Canopy's adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed to just $2.3 million, down from about $5.7 million a year earlier. That's a 59% improvement. Adjusted gross margin also increased from 25% to 31%. Indeed, positive adjusted EBITDA is now within striking distance. Management expects further improvement, particularly during the second half of fiscal 2027, as it completes the integration of MTL Cannabis, which Canopy acquired in March.

MTL was already a profitable, cash-generating cannabis business before the acquisition, producing about $60.2 million in trailing revenue and $7.9 million in operating cash flow. Canopy expects the combination to eventually produce roughly $7.2 million in annual cost savings, largely through operating efficiencies and the elimination of overlapping corporate expenses.

MTL also gives Canopy more of its own high-quality cannabis flower, which can be sold through its Canadian medical and recreational businesses and exported into international medical markets such as Europe. We're already seeing some of that benefit as Canopy said the MTL acquisition helped drive the 22% increase in Canadian medical cannabis revenue and 10% increase in adult-use revenue during the first quarter.

Those benefits should become more visible as integration expenses fade and additional cost savings kick in. Canopy has already generated more than $20.8 million in annualized savings from broader cost reductions since March 2025. Add the potential cost savings from the MTL acquisition, improving margins, and continued revenue growth, and management believes it can finally push adjusted EBITDA into positive territory in fiscal 2027.

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But one number still concerns me: free cash flow. Free cash outflow actually worsened, climbing from about $8.3 million last year to $18.5 million. Management attributed much of that increase to working-capital timing, but Canopy still needs to prove it can consistently generate cash rather than burn it. Fortunately, the balance sheet provides some breathing room. Canopy ended June with approximately $241.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, while the company has extended its debt maturities to January 2031.

To be sure, I wouldn't buy Canopy stock simply because its adjusted EBITDA could soon turn positive. The company has spent years restructuring, cutting costs, and trying to repair its balance sheet. One strong quarter doesn't erase that history. But the latest numbers are encouraging. Revenue is growing again. Margins are improving. Losses are shrinking. And Canopy's cannabis businesses are growing across Canadian and international markets.

If you're willing to accept the risks associated with cannabis stocks, Canopy is becoming more attractive. But you might want to wait to see positive adjusted EBITDA followed by a meaningful improvement in free cash flow before getting aggressive.

DeepSeek says TileLang offers a simpler programming model than Nvidia's CUDA. Summary

DeepSeek and Huawei are developing tools for Huawei’s Ascend AI chips.

Another Chinese threat is targeting Nvidia (NVDA, Financials) beyond its AI chips. According to DeepSeek's official WeChat account, Huawei Technologies and DeepSeek are developing programming tools for Huawei's Ascend CPUs, Reuters reported Wednesday.

DeepSeek is opening Huawei's Ascend platform's computing and communications libraries.The endeavor important because Nvidia's competitiveness goes beyond GPU performance. CUDA gives developers a framework for creating Nvidia-compatible apps.

DeepSeek and Huawei are developing a Huawei chip ecosystem. The two organizations developed a supernode employing 128 Huawei Ascend 950 processors, with Huawei supporting computation and communication optimization.

DeepSeek also featured TileLang, an AI chip-specific high-level open-source programming language. The business claimed TileLang's simpler programming approach than Nvidia's CUDA may boost development efficiency and simplify code.

Two weeks ago, Huawei revealed its next-generation AI CPUs and supernode computing systems. Huawei predicted that its AI technologies will be widely employed for model training next year.

The development shows Nvidia investors a new aspect of Chinese competitiveness. Making a different AI accelerator is difficult. Building programming tools to help developers use such chips efficiently is another.

As Chinese IT companies work to develop an AI computer environment independent of Nvidia, DeepSeek and Huawei are attacking both sides.

Disclosures I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.

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The next crack in the AI trade may show up in spending before it appears in revenue. Sam Rines, Macro Strategist at WisdomTree, says a slowdown in hyperscaler capital spending would likely hit semiconductors and infrastructure providers hardest, while companies using AI to improve existing businesses could prove more resilient — putting Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) on different sides of the cycle.

AI Spending Faces a New TestNvidia has been one of the clearest financial beneficiaries of the AI boom, supplying the chips that power the massive infrastructure buildout. But the market is increasingly asking a different question: How much longer can hyperscalers keep spending at extraordinary levels before investors demand clearer returns?

Rines says that test is already underway.

"Capex is tolerated for companies that can show the returns to it, but it is not appreciated for companies without the ability to clearly articulate the returns," he told Benzinga in an exclusive email interview.

That creates an important distinction between companies building AI infrastructure and those using AI inside established businesses.

Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) is seeing its cloud business benefit from AI, while Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL) is beginning to see Gemini contribute to revenue and improve YouTube advertising, according to Rines. Meta, meanwhile, is using AI to strengthen its core advertising business while expanding its AI product lineup.

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Nvidia Has More AI-Capex ExposureThat difference matters if hyperscaler spending starts to slow.

"If AI spending starts producing weaker returns," Rines expects the impact to be felt "most by the semis and infrastructure providers." The AI implementers, he said, are likely to be "the least affected or even winners" in that scenario.

Nvidia’s position makes the distinction particularly important. Its data-center business depends heavily on demand for the computing infrastructure needed to build and deploy AI systems. If Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta and other hyperscalers begin trimming or delaying infrastructure investments, that would create a different environment for Nvidia than for a company using AI to improve an existing revenue engine.

That does not mean a capex slowdown would automatically translate into a collapse in Nvidia’s business. It means the semiconductor side of the AI trade could have greater direct exposure to a change in spending behavior.

Meta Could Be the Other SideRines sees Meta as particularly interesting as the AI story shifts from spending toward returns.

"Meta appears to be the most overlooked," he said, pointing to the company’s Muse product and enterprise launch alongside AI’s role in its advertising business. The argument is less about Meta becoming an AI infrastructure company and more about AI improving an already large business.

That distinction could become increasingly important if investors begin scrutinizing AI returns rather than simply rewarding bigger spending.

Rines says the first real warning sign would likely be a slowdown in hyperscaler capex.

For Nvidia investors, that makes capital-spending plans from Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta and other major AI buyers an increasingly important signal.

For Meta investors, the question may be different: whether AI can continue producing measurable gains in advertising, products and engagement even if the infrastructure spending cycle cools.

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Image courtesy: WisdomTree

© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

uniQure lost more than a third of its value in a single session after Huntington's data spooked investors, but Wall Street's price target still points to triple-digit upside. Whether that gap represents opportunity or denial depends on one number that…

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uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) fell 37.33% in a single session, from a $39.11 close to $24.51, after data showed its Huntington’s disease gene therapy still slowed the disease.

Wall Street’s consensus price target of $68.20 implies 178.25% upside, though targets typically precede major events and may not yet reflect this selloff.

Huntington’s is an inherited brain disorder. No approved treatment slows it. uniQure’s candidate, AMT-130, is a one-time gene therapy, and the company’s value depends almost entirely on its approval.

Investors fled on the direction of travel as the benefit declined between year three and year four of follow-up, and whether $68.20 represents real upside or a number pending revision depends on how you consider that deceleration.

Four-Year Data Showed Less Slowing Than Year Three uniQure said the high-dose group showed 44% slowing of decline on the cUHDRS, a combined measure of movement, thinking and daily function, at 48 months versus a natural-history control. BioSpace reported the three-year figure was about 75%.

Total functional capacity, which measures daily living, showed a similar trend. BioPharma Dive reported 61% slowing at four years against 67% at three.

The four-year result was not statistically significant, meaning the difference from control was too small to rule out chance. BioSpace also reported that about 53% of the 48-month data was missing, and that the high-dose group had 12 patients.

In a group that small, one patient dropping out or declining faster can sharply shift the percentage. Missing data cuts both ways: sickest patients tend to miss visits, which can flatter results, but gaps also widen error around any benefit claim.

uniQure pushed back, saying the updated natural-history database underestimates disease progression.

A $68.20 Target Built Before the Selloff The consensus rests on 2 Strong Buy, 9 Buy and 1 Hold ratings.

Institutions hold 97.96% of shares, which means professionals reading the same release did the selling. Stifel’s Paul Matteis called the results “still impressive generally.”

This name trades violently, with a fifty-two-week range of $8.73 to $71.50. It now sits below its two-hundred-day moving average of $29.65. Targets will likely fall, though probably not to the current price.

Approval Is Worth Everything Because Sales Are Near Zero uniQure sells almost nothing today. Trailing twelve-month revenue was $18.672 million and diluted EPS was -$4.16, so the stock is an option on approval.

The bull case rests on the FDA agreeing that a filing based on the three-year data was reasonable. The four-year update does not replace that package.

Chief executive Matt Kapusta said, “We strongly believe in our data, and what we’ve demonstrated in four years is unprecedented.”

uniQure submitted its application in late summer and requested priority review. The company expects FDA acceptance in the fourth quarter of 2026, with a decision roughly eight months later.

One-time dosing means pricing and reimbursement will drive revenue more than prescription volume, and a first therapy to slow Huntington’s could command unusual pricing. Management expects cash and investments of $810.3 million to fund operations into 2030.

What Would Break the Bull Case The FDA could reject the filing or demand more evidence. It already wants the confirmatory study well underway and potentially fully enrolled when accelerated approval is granted.

Management expects an advisory committee. The weaker four-year trend will face review there. uniQure also paused higher doses in its Fabry program after Grade 3 liver-enzyme elevations and discontinued its ALS program.

The stock is down 58.74% over one year and up 2.42% year to date, while the S&P 500 is up 12.07% year to date.

Should You Buy or Sell QURE Stock The setup looks positive for a small position. The regulatory path built on three-year data is intact, and the stock trades below its two-hundred-day average.

Binary biotech is a position-sizing question. Position sizing matters so a rejection is survivable.

For most investors, the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSEARCA:XBI) is the better choice. It is up 28.73% year to date and holds uniQure at just over 1% of net assets, keeping some approval exposure without single-company risk.

QURE suits investors who can hold through an FDA decision and a likely advisory committee, while XBI suits anyone who wants biotech exposure without one release deciding the outcome.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Ford CEO ​Jim Farley said a supplier issue that ‌affected F-150 pickup-truck output in recent days has been resolved, but the snag has impacted the company’s third-quarter wholesale numbers.

Production ​of Ford’s best-selling vehicle was halted last week ​at a Detroit-area factory because of a ⁠supply problem, and had been scheduled to resume on Tuesday, Reuters ​reported last week, citing an internal memo. Ford’s Kansas ​City F-150 plant also was affected, Reuters reported.

Farley told reporters during an event on Wednesday that the issue with the supplier, which ​he did not name, has been fixed.

“We are ​back up and running,” he said. “The supplier issue, you know, we ‌have ⁠ways to address it. It is impacting our third-quarter wholesale. But I’m very optimistic.”

Farley also said that the company is “fully recovered” from the effects of two ​factory fires late ​last year ⁠that disrupted production at aluminum supplier Novelis, crimping Ford’s truck output for much ​of the year.

The supplier issue that affected ​Ford’s ⁠truck output in the past week was unrelated to the aluminum issue, Reuters reported last week.

Sales of Ford’s ⁠F-Series ​trucks, which fuel the bulk ​of the company’s profits, fell 11% year over year through August.

Starbucks' strained relationship with its US union is facing ​fresh scrutiny from a shareholder proposal filed Friday by New York City's comptroller that has not previously been disclosed.

The proposal, ‌which follows identical filings by the New York state comptroller and Trillium Asset Management, asks the coffee chain's board to reinstate a dissolved committee that oversaw labor relations. The investors argue the company has neglected the issue under CEO and company chair Brian Niccol.

A copy of the proposal reviewed by Reuters describes labor relations ​as one of Starbucks' "most significant and persistent risk areas." It highlights the absence of a labor agreement with the union representing ​US baristas nearly five years after workers at the first store organized in Buffalo, New York. Based on ⁠recent estimates, the union represents about 5% of US stores.

"We're well into Brian Niccol's tenure at Starbucks and this issue has not gone ​away," Jonas Kron, chief advocacy officer at shareholder Trillium Asset Management, said in a phone interview. "The board will function best when particularized risks like ​this get the attention of a committee," he said.

The filers collectively hold nearly $270 million of Starbucks shares, according to recent ownership figures provided by a spokesperson for the New York City comptroller's office.

RISK TO TURNAROUND EFFORTS?
Starbucks said in a statement it was confident the board "has the necessary skills and experience to effectively oversee our ​strategy." The company's shares are up 13% this year, and Starbucks often says it offers the "best job in retail".

Starbucks created the Environmental, Partner and ​Community Impact Committee in 2023 to oversee labor relations and other social issues after pressure from some of the same shareholder groups behind the latest proposal.

Niccol ‌became CEO ⁠and board chair in September 2024, and the committee was dissolved in November 2025. Starbucks said in an investor presentation in March that the committee's responsibilities were redistributed because the board determined oversight would be "stronger and more integrated" that way.

Several of the current filers previously cited the committee's dissolution in a failed effort to unseat two directors at Starbucks' shareholder meeting in March.

The campaign nevertheless attracted support from shareholder proxy advisers, which warned ​investors that Starbucks could be overlooking ​risks linked to labor relations, including ⁠strikes and a $38.9 million settlement paid to New York City over alleged staff-scheduling violations. Last month, the union urged consumers to boycott the chain until a contract is reached.

Starbucks has also faced pressure beyond Wall ​Street. In May, UN human-rights experts urged Starbucks and the US government to respond to allegations that the ​company had conducted ⁠a years-long campaign against workers seeking to unionize. US lawmakers also pressed Starbucks late last year to reach a labor agreement with the union.

Elsewhere in the industry, Blue Bottle Coffee and a union representing baristas at nine stores in Massachusetts and California ratified a first contract earlier in September, according to ⁠the union. ​Blue Bottle was sold by Nestle (NESN.S) earlier this year to China-based Centurium Capital, which also ​owns Luckin Coffee.

Starbucks Workers United backed the shareholder proposal, saying in a statement that "investors should take a hard look at how the company's long list of unsettled labor issues" ​may be negatively affecting Niccol's turnaround plan.

Starbucks typically holds its annual shareholder meeting in March.

Apple just renewed a deal with a company whose chips it stopped buying, and that contradiction tells you everything about where Qualcomm's real power sits and why one investor keeps pressing the buy button.

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I keep adding to my Qualcomm position, and last week’s Apple news sent me straight back to the buy button. The headline looks like paperwork. For me, it confirmed the whole reason I own this stock.

What the Apple Renewal Really Locks In On September 24, 2026, Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM | QCOM Price Prediction) announced the renewal of its global patent license agreement with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), effective April 1, 2027. Neither side disclosed terms, but the timing tells the story.

Apple’s chip business with Qualcomm is winding down fast. In July, the CFO said Qualcomm’s share of the upcoming iPhone launch would be “materially lower than our prior estimate of 20%”, with Apple product revenue forecast to fall roughly 50% from the September to December quarter. Apple is building its own modems, yet it still pays to use Qualcomm’s patents. The licensing unit, QTL, brought in $1.28B last quarter at a 69% EBT margin. Apple can stop buying Qualcomm chips, but it keeps paying Qualcomm to use wireless technology. That is the core of my thesis.

Three Reasons My Buy Orders Keep Coming First, growth beyond phones has already shown up. Automotive revenue hit $1.59B, up 61%, its 23rd straight quarter of double-digit growth. BMW named Qualcomm its lead compute silicon partner. Management expects non-handset growth to speed up from 24% in fiscal 2026 to greater than 60% in fiscal 2027, which it says “will replace the entire Apple product revenue within the year.”

Second, the company pays me to wait. In fiscal 2025, Qualcomm generated $12.82B in free cash flow and returned $12.60B to shareholders. The quarterly dividend rose from $0.89 to $0.92, and a new $20B buyback authorization sits behind it.

Third, the valuation still works on cash. The P/E of 35 looks steep, but a $5.7B non-cash tax charge distorted GAAP earnings. On cash, shares trade at 15.34 times free cash flow, a 6.52% free cash flow yield, alongside a 1.94% dividend yield. Net debt is just 0.61 times EBITDA.

Why My Money Skips Broadcom Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) is the obvious AI chip alternative, and its AI semiconductor revenue grew 221% last quarter. Investors already price that in. Its roughly $1.7 trillion market cap works out to about 43 times trailing four-quarter free cash flow by my math, against Qualcomm’s 15.34. Broadcom also lists dependence on a limited number of large AI customers and heavy debt among its risks. I prefer paying less for growth that is just starting.

Risk I Refuse to Ignore Handsets remain the biggest line, and they fell 20% to $5.09B. Memory costs are pressuring phone makers, China exposure carries trade risk, and non-GAAP EPS of $2.21 missed the $2.22 consensus, ending a six-quarter beat run. Management expects Android revenue down 20% this year.

That pain is real. It still has not broken my thesis. Qualcomm is passing through double-digit price increases, says China revenue bottomed in the June quarter, and forecasts a double-digit sequential rebound.

Catalysts Keeping My Buy Button Active Revenue from two hyperscaler custom silicon programs begins in the December quarter, data center revenue is targeted at $5 billion in fiscal 2027, and an Amazon data center collaboration followed in September. The stock slipped 7.15% over the past week to $184.10, and I treated that dip as a chance to add.

Apple is moving its chips in-house and still renewed the patent license, and I plan to remain a buyer while Qualcomm keeps collecting those royalties.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

In Brief

Posted:

Image Credits:Harbinger FedEx is ordering 2,000 electric trucks from EV startup Harbinger in a deal worth $300 million. Harbinger, which already has trucks in production, plans to deliver all 2,000 by the end of next year, the company told TechCrunch.

It’s the largest bulk order yet for Harbinger, which was founded in 2022 by former employees of Anduril, defunct EV startup Canoo, and Quantumscape. Bloomberg News first reported the new order Wednesday morning. FedEx led a $160 million Series C funding round for Harbinger late last year.

Harbinger’s pitch since its inception has been to make one main product: an electric medium-duty commercial truck chassis. That simplified approach appears to have paid off, as the company is in production and generating revenue despite being just a few years old. It has already delivered 53 trucks to FedEx as part of an order that the shipping giant placed alongside last year’s fundraise.

That said, Harbinger has started to look at other possible revenue lines. The company is getting into hybrid emergency vehicles, acquired an autonomous driving company in February, and is selling the battery packs it developed as energy storage. The company is also getting into defense use cases. All this comes as Axios reported in May that the company is considering an IPO.

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Key Takeaways ExxonMobil's agreement could secure at least 2 million barrels of crude annually for Dung Quat Refinery.Chevron's framework spans crude oil, LNG, LPG, refinery feedstock and supporting infrastructure.BSR can now process 40 crude grades, expanding flexibility to source feedstock across global regions. Chevron Corporation (CVX - Free Report) and ExxonMobil Holdings Corporation (XOM - Free Report) are strengthening their potential participation in Vietnam’s energy market through separate agreements with Petrovietnam and its refining subsidiary. Petrovietnam and Chevron signed a framework cooperation agreement covering potential cooperation in crude oil, liquefied natural gas (“LNG”), liquefied petroleum gas (“LPG”) and refinery feedstock. Separately, Petrovietnam Refining and Petrochemical Corporation (“BSR”) signed a crude oil supply framework agreement with ExxonMobil Asia Pacific for the Dung Quat Refinery in central Vietnam.

These agreements come as BSR seeks to diversify its crude oil sources and improve the flexibility of Dung Quat Refinery amid changing global energy-market conditions. For Chevron and ExxonMobil, the developments could open additional opportunities to supply energy products to Vietnam while expanding their relationships with one of the country’s key energy companies.

ExxonMobil Agreement Adds Crude Supply OptionThe agreement between BSR and ExxonMobil Asia Pacific is focused specifically on crude oil supply for the Dung Quat Refinery. According to Petrovietnam, the agreement is expected to help secure a minimum crude oil supply of 2 million barrels per year for the refinery. This provides BSR with another international source of feedstock as it works to strengthen supply security and reduce reliance on traditional sources.

BSR has been actively expanding its crude supply network in 2026. The company said it has been evaluating crude sources from multiple regions, including the United States. In 2025, Dung Quat Refinery imported approximately 8.28 million metric tons of crude oil, with imported crude accounting for about 31% of total feedstock. For 2026, BSR expects imported crude to represent approximately 15% of its feedstock, with supplies coming from regions such as West Africa, the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia.

The addition of ExxonMobil as a potential supply partner could therefore further diversify BSR’s feedstock portfolio and provide greater flexibility in crude procurement.

Broader Crude Basket Improves Refinery FlexibilityBSR has also expanded the number of crude grades that Dung Quat can process. Since the beginning of 2026, the refinery has successfully tested three additional crude types, bringing its total processing capability to 40 grades, including 12 domestic and 28 imported grades.

The refinery has also developed the capability to process Nigeria’s Erha crude at a maximum blending ratio of approximately 45% by volume. In addition, BSR can process Sao Vang-Dai Nguyet condensate at up to approximately 12% by volume.

A broader crude basket should allow BSR to select feedstock based on availability, pricing and refinery economics. This flexibility could become increasingly important when crude markets face supply disruptions or significant price differences between grades and regions.

For ExxonMobil, the broader processing capability at Dung Quat potentially creates more flexibility in supplying crude that meets the refinery’s specifications. However, the 2-million-barrel annual figure disclosed by Petrovietnam represents a minimum supply level, and the financial value and detailed delivery schedule of the agreement have not been disclosed.

Chevron Framework Covers Multiple Energy AreasChevron’s agreement with Petrovietnam is broader than the ExxonMobil arrangement. The two companies established a formal framework for cooperation that could support diversification of Vietnam’s sources of crude oil, LNG, LPG and refinery feedstock. The framework also includes potential cooperation in import infrastructure, energy storage, financial and commercial solutions, technology and emissions reduction.

BSR separately stated that it had signed crude oil supply agreements with Chevron as part of its efforts to secure stable refinery feedstock. This indicates that Chevron’s relationship with Vietnam could extend beyond the broader Petrovietnam framework and include opportunities related to crude supply for Dung Quat.

For Chevron, participation across crude, LNG and LPG supply could provide additional commercial opportunities in Vietnam’s energy market. The company’s global supply, transportation and energy-marketing capabilities could also support potential cooperation in infrastructure and other areas identified under the framework.

What It Means for CVX and XOMVietnam’s efforts to diversify crude supplies could create incremental opportunities for international energy companies as BSR strengthens the feedstock flexibility of Dung Quat Refinery. The refinery’s ability to process a growing range of crude grades should provide greater scope to source barrels from different regions based on market conditions.

For ExxonMobil, the agreement provides a potential outlet for at least 2 million barrels of crude annually while strengthening its relationship with BSR. For Chevron, the broader framework creates potential opportunities across several segments of Vietnam’s energy value chain, including crude oil, LNG, LPG and supporting infrastructure.

The agreements do not yet provide enough information to assess their direct financial impact on CVX or XOM. Investors should monitor additional announcements regarding actual crude volumes, pricing, delivery schedules and the implementation of the broader Chevron cooperation framework. These developments will determine the extent to which the agreements translate into meaningful revenues and earnings opportunities for the two energy majors.

CVX's Zacks Rank & Key PicksCurrently, CVX and XOM have a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each.

Investors interested in the energy sector might consider some better-ranked stocks, such as Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp (MGY - Free Report) and Delek US Holdings (DK - Free Report) , both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Magnolia Oil & Gas is valued at $5.62 billion. It is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the acquisition, development, exploration and production of oil, natural gas and NGLs in South Texas. Magnolia Oil & Gas’ operations are concentrated in the Eagle Ford Shale and Austin Chalk formations across the Karnes and Giddings areas.

Delek US Holdings is valued at $4.13 billion. It is a diversified downstream energy company engaged in petroleum refining, renewable fuels, asphalt production and logistics operations. Delek US Holdings operates multiple refineries in the United States and is committed to delivering safe, reliable energy while investing in cleaner energy initiatives.

Hormel Foods Corporation (HRL) M&A Call September 30, 2026 8:00 AM EDT

Company Participants

Jess Blomberg - Director of Investor Relations
Jeffrey Ettinger - Interim CEO & Director
John Ghingo - President & Director
Ash Bhumbla - Executive VP & CFO

Conference Call Participants

Rupesh Parikh - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division
Heather Jones - Heather Jones Research LLC
Peter Galbo - BofA Securities, Research Division
Thomas Palmer - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division
Benjamin Theurer - Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division
Pooran Sharma - Stephens Inc., Research Division

Presentation

Operator

Good morning, and welcome, everyone, to the Hormel Foods conference call, where they will discuss their announced definitive agreement to acquire Brakebush Brothers, LLC. My name is Joel, and I will be your conference operator today.

[Operator Instructions]

I will now pass the call to Jess Blomberg, Director of Investor Relations. Jess, you may now begin your conference.

Jess Blomberg
Director of Investor Relations

Good morning. Welcome to the Hormel Foods conference call regarding today's announcement of our agreement to acquire Brakebush Brothers, LLC. Earlier this morning, we issued a press release announcing the transaction. If you did not receive a copy of the release, you can find it on our website, hormelfoods.com, under the Investors section, along with supplemental slide materials.

Joining me on today's call are Jeff Ettinger, Interim Chief Executive Officer; John Ghingo, President and Chief Executive Officer-elect; and Ash Bhumbla, Chief Financial Officer. Jeff, John and Ash will discuss the strategic rationale for the acquisition, provide an overview of the transaction and review our financial expectations. We will conclude with the Q&A portion of the call, and the line will be open for questions following the prepared remarks.

Before we get started today, I'd like to reference our safe harbor statement. Some of the comments we make today will be forward-looking, and

Key Takeaways FNV expects 2026 GEO sales of 510,000-570,000 ounces, tracking toward the upper half of the range.Higher-grade ore and increased mining rates are expected to boost Candelaria and Tocantinzinho in H2.Cobre Panama is expected to deliver 23,100 gold and 265,000 silver ounces starting in Q3. Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV - Free Report) has delivered solid performance so far this year with record $1.23 billion revenues in the first half of 2026. FNV’s gold-equivalent ounces (GEOs) sales increased 13% year over year to 268,758 ounces in the same time frame. The upside was aided by stronger precious metal and oil prices, and higher contributions from several assets. This upbeat performance has set an optimistic tone for the second half of the year.

FNV expects total GEOs sales of 510,000-570,000 for 2026 and is tracking toward the upper half of this range due to elevated oil prices. This indicates an increase of 4% at the mid-point from 2025’s GEOs sales of 519,106. Production is expected to be weighted toward the second half, reflecting anticipated production profiles at Candelaria, Tocantinzinho, Côté Gold, Greenstone and Valentine.

Despite lower year-over-year second-quarter 2026 performance, Candelaria’s operator expects a stronger second-half performance, driven by increased availability of higher-grade Phase 12 ore, as well as increased underground mining rates. Tocantinzinho’s second-half performance will gain from higher-grade mineralization becoming available in accordance with the mine plan.

Côté Gold’s production is expected to increase while unit costs are expected to decline through the second half of 2026. Greenstone reported operational improvement in the second quarter and this trend is expected to continue through the rest of the year. Lastly, Valentine’s production is expected to be strong in the second half, driven by higher mill feed grades.

Franco-Nevada also incorporates anticipated deliveries from the processing of stockpiled ore at Cobre Panamá. Franco-Nevada expects stream deliveries from Cobre Panamá to total 23,100 gold ounces and 265,000 silver ounces, with deliveries expected to begin in the third quarter.

Franco-Nevada’s Peer Performances & OutlookRoyal Gold, Inc. (RGLD - Free Report) reported adjusted EBITDA of $767 million in the first half of 2026, skyrocketing 129% year over year. Royal Gold expects 2026 gold and silver sales to remain within the previously issued 290,000-320,000 ounces and 3-3.5 million ounces, respectively. Copper and other metals sales are trending around or above the top ends of their respective guidance of 21-25 million pounds and 34-38 million. Royal Gold expects GEOs to reach 430,000-480,000 GEOs within five years, driven by expansions and new projects added to the portfolio.

B2Gold Corp. (BTG - Free Report) recorded consolidated gold production of 441,411 ounces in the first half of 2026, up 4.5% year over year. B2Gold expects 2026 consolidated gold production of 820,000-920,000 ounces, narrowing from the prior mentioned 820,000-970,000 ounces. B2Gold’s production was 979,604 ounces in 2025.

FNV’s Price Performance, Valuations & EstimatesFranco-Nevada’s stock has gained 11.2% in a year compared with the Zacks Mining – Gold industry’s 16.4% growth. During this time, the Basic Materials sector has risen 15% and the S&P 500 has returned 15.7%. 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

FNV is currently trading at a forward 12-month earnings multiple of 29.91X, at a premium to the industry average of 12.43X.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Franco-Nevada’s 2026 sales is $2.28 billion, indicating 25.2% year-over-year growth. The consensus mark for the year’s earnings is $7.54 per share, indicating year-over-year growth of 35%. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2027 sales implies 2.6% year-over-year growth. The same for earnings indicates year-over-year growth of 13.4%.

EPS estimates for 2026 have been trending north over the past 60 days, while estimates for 2027 are trending south, as seen in the chart below.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

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

Key Takeaways Realty Income formed a euro-denominated KKR joint venture to expand in Europe beyond public equity.Europe made up about 20% of Realty Income's annualized base rent and over 30% of first-half investments.Realty Income invested $396.8 million in Europe in Q2 at a 7% initial weighted average cash yield. Realty Income’s (O - Free Report) recent European move is less about buying property and more about changing how it funds growth. In September, the REIT agreed with KKR to establish a euro-denominated joint venture, extending its private-capital strategy into Europe. KKR is investing €528 million for a 49% stake in a stabilized portfolio contributed by Realty Income. This gives Realty Income another way to expand without relying only on public equity.

Europe is a meaningful part of Realty Income’s portfolio. By June 2026, the region represented about 20% of annualized base rent, with 671 properties, roughly $1 billion of annualized rent and about $18 billion of gross asset value. Realty Income has invested more than $17 billion there since entering in 2019.

The financing backdrop helps explain the focus. Realty Income issued €600 million of 3.625% senior unsecured notes in July at a 3.716% effective yield. Management has said Europe offers lower borrowing costs and less competition than the United States, which can support investment spreads when acquisition pricing remains disciplined.

Recent deployment shows the region is generating deals. Realty Income invested $396.8 million in Europe during the second quarter at a 7% initial weighted average cash yield, taking first-half European volume to $1.68 billion. This represented more than 30% of the company’s $5.34 billion of total investment activity through June.

However, there are limits to the opportunity. Management said international clients had been cautious earlier in 2026, while institutional capital has been pushing down cap rates in parts of the U.K. Still, international re-leasing produced a 112.9% rent recapture rate in the second quarter, giving Realty Income a source of growth beyond acquisitions.

Realty Income’s Peers Expand Across the United States & EuropeW. P. Carey Inc. (WPC - Free Report) continues to balance investment between the United States and Europe and owned 1,748 net-lease properties as of June 30. W. P. Carey also raised 2026 investment guidance to $1.7-$2.1 billion during the second-quarter earnings call, supporting continued deployment across both regions overall. W. P. Carey had completed around $1.4 billion of investment volume through mid-September, with clear visibility into more than $1.9 billion for the full year.

Global Net Lease Inc. (GNL - Free Report) has meaningful European exposure, with 26% of annualized straight-line rent coming from Europe as of June 30, 2026. Global Net Lease completed its $535 million Modiv Industrial acquisition in August, lifting industrial exposure to about 50%. Global Net Lease is also reducing office exposure through ongoing asset sales.

O’s Price Performance, Valuation and EstimatesShares of Realty Income have declined 9.9% over the past six months, underperforming the industry and lagging the S&P 500 composite. 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, O trades at a forward 12-month price-to-FFO of 12.13, below the industry as well as its one-year median of 13.72. It carries a Value Score of D.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Over the past month, while estimates for 2026 FFO per share have been revised marginally downward, estimates for 2027 have been tweaked slightly upward.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Lyft's stock keeps falling even as its bookings and cash flow grow stronger, and one analyst sees a full double from here while 29 others are still waiting for proof. The gap between those two views tells you everything about…

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Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT | LYFT Price Prediction) trades at $15.07. The average analyst price target is $19.44, which works out to about 29% of potential upside.

Lyft runs a rideshare network in North America and Europe (as Freenow by Lyft), now integrating human drivers with autonomous vehicles from Waymo, Baidu and Tensor. TD Cowen’s John Blackledge is the most bullish analyst, reiterating a Buy rating with a $30.00 target, meaning about 99% upside.

That gap matters because Lyft’s runs numbers keep getting better while its stock price keeps falling.

Robotaxi Fears and Earnings Misses Drove a 34% Slide Lyft has lost 34.28% over the past year. Coverage points to concerns over rising costs, competition, and robotaxi uncertainty. The fear is that driverless fleets will turn human-driven rides into a commodity.

Earnings added pressure. In Q1, EPS came in at $0.04, missing the $0.07 estimate, as sales and marketing spending rose 68% to $272.9 million. In Q2, revenue of $1.84 billion beat estimates, but EPS of $0.13 missed the $0.14 estimate. The stock fell 14.86% in the past month.

TD Cowen Sees a Double While Most of the Street Waits TD Cowen’s case has three parts:

Partnerships: Deals like the DoorDash integration and AV fleet partnerships add to gross bookings. Ride frequency: Subscriptions and better driver supply help Lyft ride more often with users and hold share in core U.S. cities. Margins: Cost control and steadier insurance costs expand margins and free cash flow. Latest numbers support the bull case. Partnerships account for about 30% of North American rideshare rides. Gross bookings grew 23% to $5.5 billion. Adjusted EBITDA rose 37%. Q3 guidance calls for an adjusted EBITDA margin of 3.3% to 3.6%, up from 3.2%. Waymo supply sharing is expected “before the end of the year”.

Analysts expect EPS to rise from $0.5466 this year to $0.9667 next year. Over the past 30 days, 2027 estimates saw 22 higher revisions and 10 downward ones. RBC also maintained its Buy after Q2. Of 45 analysts, 4 rate the stock Strong Buy, 11 Buy, 29 Hold and 1 Strong Sell. The CFO called the near-term AV profit impact “frankly pretty de minimis.”

Uber and DoorDash Sank Right Alongside Lyft Lyft’s biggest peers have fallen almost as far in the same period.

Uber (NYSE:UBER) is down 29.2% over the past year and trades at $69.36. Its average target is $100.77, meaning 45% upside. 43 of its 51 analysts rate it a Buy or better, which is far stronger support than Lyft gets.

DoorDash (NASDAQ:DASH) is down 31.21% over the past year and trades at $187.1. Its average target is $256.26, meaning 37% upside. 35 of its 45 analysts rate it a Buy or better.

Measured against average targets, Uber has the most upside of the three and Lyft has the least. Lyft only looks cheapest if you use TD Cowen’s outlier target. None of these targets is a guarantee.

Lyft Trails the S&P 500 While Trading at 9x Forward Earnings At $15.07, Lyft is about 29% below the $19.44 average target from 45 analysts. It trades at about 9x forward earnings with a free cash flow yield of 19.6%.

Lyft is down 22.2% year to date, while the S&P 500 is up 12.07%. Over one year, Lyft has lost 34.28%, compared with a gain of 15.15% for the index.

Cash Flow Supports Lyft, but Robotaxis Cap the Upside Lyft looks attractive if margin expansion holds and the Waymo partnership adds rides without eating away pricing. It looks risky if marketing spending outpaces earnings or robotaxis compress rideshare prices faster than partnerships can offset.

For the bull case to play out, Lyft needs to hit its EBITDA guidance each quarter, keep generating more than $1 billion in trailing free cash flow and show that AVs grow the overall market. On the bear side, the risk is that Lyft becomes a price-taker running fleets for companies that own the autonomous technology.

The realistic target is the $19.44 consensus rather than a double. With 29 Hold ratings, most of the Street wants proof before following TD Cowen.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Micron Technology reports fiscal fourth-quarter results on Wednesday after the close, and the numbers on the page are going to look surreal.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate calls for revenue of $51.0 billion, an increase of roughly 350% from the $11.3 billion posted a year ago, with adjusted earnings near $31.61 per share against $3.03 in the prior-year quarter. For the full fiscal year, consensus sits around $129.8 billion in revenue and $74.02 per share — growth of 247% and 793% respectively. Companies of this size do not ordinarily post numbers like these.

And almost none of it will determine how the stock trades Thursday morning.

Image Source: StockCharts

The Quarter Is Already KnownMicron guided fiscal fourth-quarter revenue to $50.0 billion plus or minus $1.0 billion, adjusted earnings of $31.00 plus or minus $1.00, and an adjusted gross margin near 86%. Consensus has since converged above the midpoint of that guide on every line, which tells you the Street expects a beat and has already priced one in.

The company has cleared the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, averaging a surprise of 21.06%. The Earnings ESP currently stands at +0.23%, with the Most Accurate Estimate of $31.68 sitting modestly above the $31.61 consensus. A beat looks probable. It also looks expected, which is a different thing entirely.

What matters is the November-quarter guide and, above all, the gross margin outlook. At 86%, Micron is earning a margin that would be extraordinary for a software company, let alone a capital-intensive manufacturer that spent the better part of two decades in brutal commodity cycles. The question the market needs answered is whether that is a peak or a plateau.

HBM Is the Franchise NowThe transformation underneath these numbers is striking. Micron (MU - Free Report) is no longer a commodity DRAM producer that happens to sell some high-bandwidth memory. HBM has become the engine, and management is targeting HBM market share roughly in line with its overall DRAM share — an ambitious goal given the company’s historical position as the smaller of the three major players.

HBM4 12-high is reportedly ramping about twice as fast as HBM3E 12-high did, and DRAM revenue for the quarter is modeled near $38.26 billion, up roughly 326%. HBM largely sells under fixed-price, long-dated agreements rather than spot pricing. That has been enormously stabilizing on the way up — it is why Micron can guide to 86% margins with confidence. On the other hand, fixed contracts cut both ways, and they will cap the upside if spot pricing keeps climbing.

Why the Rest of the Market Should CareMicron’s guidance is the single best read available on memory pricing, and memory pricing has quietly become one of the most consequential variables in technology.

Consider what has already shown up downstream. Nvidia guided gross margin toward 71% to 72% by its fourth quarter, with CFO Colette Kress attributing the pressure to memory scarcity “being driven in large part by the AI buildout itself.” Microsoft disclosed roughly $5 billion of higher component pricing in a single quarter. Dell’s inventories more than doubled to $21.3 billion, a build that looks very much like pre-buying ahead of further increases — and which helped push its free cash flow down 47% even as net income rose 255%.

Every one of those outcomes traces back to what Micron and its two competitors decide to charge. If Wednesday’s guide points to continued tightness into 2027, the cost pressure on server makers, hyperscalers and accelerator vendors persists, and the memory names keep taking an outsized share of AI infrastructure profits. If Micron signals that supply is catching up, that dynamic reverses — good news for the buyers, considerably less so for the sellers.

The read-through extends to NAND as well. SanDisk (SNDK - Free Report) has been among the strongest performers in the entire market this year on a structural NAND shortage, and while Micron’s DRAM and HBM commentary doesn’t govern NAND directly, the two markets share fabs, capital budgets and customer psychology. Any hint that capacity discipline is loosening would be felt across the complex.

Bottom LineMicron’s stock is up close to 275% this year and not far from the $1,255 record. Analyst price targets now span a remarkable range, from roughly $1,100 to $2,000, which is itself a statement about how little agreement exists on what this business earns on the other side of the cycle.

Wednesday is not about whether Micron beats. It almost certainly will. It is about whether the 86% gross margin is a waypoint or a high-water mark, and whether management can describe fiscal 2027 in terms that justify a stock which has nearly quadrupled.

Eli Lilly (LLY.N) said on Wednesday its experimental combination weight-loss drug outperformed its ​blockbuster Zepbound in a head-to-head trial, intensifying the competition with Danish rival Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) for new, more effective obesity therapies.

The Indianapolis-based drugmaker said patients ‌with diabetes on the highest tested dose of EloraTZP, which combines tirzepatide and experimental drug eloralintide, lost an average of 23.3% of body weight over 48 weeks. That compared with 14.8% for patients on the highest dose of Zepbound in the mid-stage trial.

Tirzepatide is the active ingredient in Zepbound as well as Lilly's diabetes drug Mounjaro.

Kenneth Custer, president of Lilly's cardiometabolic health division, said in an interview that ​he expected the combo drug would offer "the best balance of efficacy, safety, and tolerability" within Lilly's obesity portfolio and among competitors.

He noted that the treatment produced ​significant weight loss in patients with diabetes, a group that historically faces greater challenges with weight management.

Custer said it was possible the ⁠combination could produce even greater weight loss in later trials than retatrutide, another promising Lilly experimental obesity medication. In a late-stage trial, the highest dose of retatrutide drove an average ​weight reduction of up to 28.3% over 80 weeks in patients without diabetes.

EloraTZP also cut blood sugar levels, lowering A1C by up to 2.9% versus 2.4% for tirzepatide alone, according ​to data presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes meeting in Milan.

Patients stopped taking EloraTZP in the trial at a rate of 10.8% to 27% depending on the severity of their side effects as multiple doses were tested. That compared with a dropout rate of 0% to 10.8% with eloralintide alone, 2.9% for tirzepatide and 16.7% for those who received a placebo.

The most common side ​effects were mild to moderate gastrointestinal issues that occurred mainly during dose escalation and were more frequent in the combination arms than with either drug alone, the company said.

Lilly, ​in a press conference to discuss the results, said the higher discontinuation rate was due to patients ramping up doses of two drugs at once. It said the company will improve escalation ‌schedules in longer, ⁠late-stage trials.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
The results raise the stakes in a fight between Lilly and Novo for share of the global weight-loss market forecast by some analysts to reach $100 billion to $150 billion annually by the end of the decade.

Novo is on track to launch the first combination obesity drug, CagriSema, early next year. Expectations for that medication took a hit in February when it fell short of Lilly's high-dose tirzepatide in a head-to-head trial, despite achieving a 23% average weight reduction over 84 weeks.

Novo's fortunes have reversed sharply from its days of ​dominating the market with the 2021 arrival ​of powerful obesity drug Wegovy that ⁠propelled its valuation above $600 billion. The Danish drugmaker's shares have tumbled more than 70% from their record highs in the face of stiff competition from US rival Lilly.

Eli Lilly executives said it was too early to determine the ideal patient profile for its combination therapy, ​but noted it could serve individuals needing 20% to 30% weight loss, or those who fail to achieve their goals on ​Zepbound, by targeting a ⁠hormone pathway linked to hunger and thoughts about food.

Eloralintide belongs to a class of drugs known as selective amylin receptor agonists, which target a different hormone than GLP-1 Zepbound.

In the multi-arm EloraTZP trial of 367 obese or overweight adults with type 2 diabetes in the US and Argentina, eloralintide alone led to an average weight loss of 12.3% on the second highest dose ⁠tested, and ​11.1% on the highest, while those taking a placebo lost just 3%.

The company said it plans to ​start late-stage trials for EloraTZP in the fourth quarter of 2026, while late-stage trials of eloralintide in obese and overweight patients with and without diabetes were ongoing.

"Obesity and type 2 diabetes are interconnected, and we are seeing ​the potential benefit of targeting multiple hormonal pathways to address both," said Liana Billings, the study's lead researcher.

Key Takeaways AB InBev's no-alcohol beer revenues rose 27% in Q2'26 amid growing demand.AB InBev's U.S. no-alcohol beer revenues grew in the mid-thirties, led by Michelob Ultra Zero.AB InBev saw no-alcohol beer volumes grow at high-thirties and low-thirties rates in Mexico and Brazil. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (BUD - Free Report) , alias AB InBev, is expanding its zero-alcohol beer portfolio as consumer preferences shift toward balanced choices and more mindful drinking occasions. The company’s no-alcohol beer revenues increased 27% in the second quarter of 2026, highlighting growing demand for alternatives that offer the taste and experience of beer with lower alcohol content. The company’s Balanced Choices portfolio, which includes low-carb, low-calorie, sugar-free, gluten-free and no-alcohol offerings, delivered 13% revenue growth during the quarter, with no-alcohol beer leading performance.

AB InBev’s strategy focuses on providing consumers with more options across occasions while strengthening its leadership in emerging beverage segments. The company noted that its no-alcohol beer portfolio gained share and reinforced its leadership position in the category by value, according to Nielsen. In the United States, AB InBev remained the leader in no-alcohol beer, with its portfolio gaining share and revenue growing in the mid-thirties, led by Michelob Ultra Zero.

The momentum is also visible across international markets. In Mexico, AB InBev strengthened its position in no-alcohol beer, with its portfolio growing volume at a high-thirties rate, supported by Modelo Cero and the launch of Michelob Ultra Zero. In Brazil, the company highlighted Balanced Choices as a key growth area, with its no-alcohol beer portfolio volumes growing in the low-thirties.

As health-conscious consumers increasingly seek moderation without compromising on brand experience, AB InBev’s zero-alcohol innovations could help broaden its consumer base. By combining established brands with evolving product choices, the company aims to capture new occasions and strengthen long-term category growth.

BUD’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesAB InBev’s shares have rallied 24.8% in the past year compared with the industry’s 12.3% growth.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, BUD trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53X compared with the industry’s average of 14.18X.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BUD’s 2026 and 2027 earnings per share (EPS) indicates year-over-year growth of 17.7% and 12.3%, respectively. The company’s EPS estimates for 2026 and 2027 have moved up by a penny in the past seven days. AB InBev currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Stocks to Consider in the Consumer Staples SpaceThe Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (CHEF - Free Report) , which is a distributor of specialty food products in the United States, currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Chefs' Warehouse's current financial-year sales and EPS indicates growth of 10.7% and 33.7%, respectively, from the prior-year reported levels. CHEF delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 30.4%, on average.

Diageo Plc (DEO - Free Report) is a global beverage alcohol company operating in approximately 180 countries. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Diageo’s current financial-year EPS is expected to rise 2.1% from the year-ago reported figure.

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW - Free Report) is a leading global manufacturer, marketer and distributor of value-added frozen potato products, particularly French fries, and also provides a range of appetizers. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Lamb Weston’s current financial-year EPS indicates growth of 1.7% from the year-ago number. LW delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 24.6%, on average.

Key Takeaways General Dynamics secured a $40M Navy order for 19 Virginia-class submarine hydraulic actuators.Work runs through December 2040, giving GD long-term visibility into Navy submarine programs.Virginia-class demand may support GD through new builds, components, upgrades and lifecycle support. General Dynamics (GD - Free Report) continues to benefit from sustained demand for Virginia-class submarines and their critical components. Its Electric Boat business recently received a $40 million order from the U.S. Navy for 19 hydraulic actuators used on Virginia-class submarines.

The work will be performed in Groton, CT, and is expected to be completed by December 2040. The long completion timeline highlights the extended nature of the Navy’s submarine procurement and sustainment programs and provides General Dynamics with visibility into future work.

Hydraulic actuators are important components that support the operation of submarine systems. Continued procurement of such equipment reflects the Navy’s focus on maintaining the readiness and performance of its submarine fleet while supporting ongoing Virginia-class production.

The award also reinforces Electric Boat’s position as a key supplier to the Navy’s submarine programs. General Dynamics has extensive experience in designing, building and supporting nuclear-powered submarines, giving it a strong position in long-cycle naval programs.

Demand for Virginia-class submarines is expected to remain an important driver for General Dynamics as the Navy works to expand and modernize its undersea fleet. Along with new construction, the company can benefit from recurring orders for components, upgrades and lifecycle support.

Continued investment in submarine capabilities and related equipment could therefore provide General Dynamics with steady opportunities across its naval business over the long term.

Defense Stocks to Keep on the RadarGrowing investment in nuclear-powered submarines and naval modernization could also benefit other defense contractors with established undersea capabilities.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII - Free Report) : Huntington Ingalls Industries supports the Navy’s submarine fleet through its Newport News Shipbuilding business, which participates in the construction and maintenance of nuclear-powered submarines.

Lockheed Martin (LMT - Free Report) : Lockheed Martin supplies advanced mission systems, sensors and weapons technologies for U.S. Navy platforms, supporting demand associated with the modernization and sustainment of the submarine fleet.

The Zacks Rundown for GDShares of GD have lost 2.5% in the past year compared with the industry’s 16% decline.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The company's shares are trading at a discount on a relative basis, with its forward 12-month Price/Sales being 1.56X compared with its industry’s average of 2.19X.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GD’s 2026 and 2027 earnings has moved north over the past 60 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

GD stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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

The AI boom has created an unusual second-order trade: investors are no longer betting only on who builds the models and chips, but also on who protects the systems those technologies create. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) and Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) have both more than doubled in six months, suggesting Wall Street is already pricing cybersecurity as part of the AI infrastructure stack.

The Spending Opportunity is Expanding QuicklyGartner forecasts worldwide spending on AI cybersecurity to rise from $51.3 billion in 2026 to nearly $86 billion in 2027. Separately, the narrower market for securing AI itself is projected to reach $4.8 billion in 2027, up 68.7% from 2026.

The distinction matters. Traditional cybersecurity protects networks, endpoints and identities, while AI introduces new risks around autonomous agents, access controls, model behavior and the software supply chain.

Gartner expects more than half of successful attacks on AI agents by 2029 to exploit access-control weaknesses and prompt injections. That creates another layer of spending as companies move from experimenting with AI to deploying agents that can actually act inside corporate systems.

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CrowdStrike Has the GrowthCrowdStrike’s stock has gained 166.1% over six months, 119.6% year to date and 114% over the past year. Its market capitalization is now about $265.5 billion, according to Benzinga Pro data.

The rally isn’t happening without fundamental support. CrowdStrike reported record net new annual recurring revenue of $333 million in its latest quarter, up 51% year over year, while ending ARR from customers using its Falcon Flex offering reached $2.29 billion, up 101%. The company also raised its full-year net new ARR growth outlook to 34% at the midpoint.

But investors are paying heavily for that growth. CRWD trades at roughly 208x forward earnings and 49x sales.

Palo Alto Has the PlatformPalo Alto’s stock has climbed 140.1% over six months, 107.8% year to date and 89.2% over the past year, giving the company a roughly $320.7 billion market capitalization.

Its latest results provide a different piece of the AI-security thesis. Palo Alto said customers are turning to its platforms to secure AI deployments at scale, while CEO Nikesh Arora said advances in AI are elevating cybersecurity on CIO priority lists. The company added nearly $1 billion of net new next-generation security ARR in its latest quarter and is targeting $20 billion of NGS ARR by fiscal 2030.

PANW trades at about 93.5x forward earnings and 26x sales.

That leaves investors with a more complicated question than whether AI will create more cyber threats. The market already believes it will.

The question is whether CrowdStrike’s accelerating ARR and Palo Alto’s expanding security platform can grow fast enough to justify valuations that have already anticipated years of AI-driven demand. The next leg of the trade may depend less on fear of AI attacks and more on how much security spending those attacks actually create.

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© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Wall Street analysts are nearly unanimous that DraftKings is a buy, yet the stock just hit its lowest price since 2023 while a private rival with no sportsbook license is reportedly worth four times as much. Something in that math…

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DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG | DKNG Price Prediction) trades at $19.59, while the consensus analyst price target stands at $35.12. That gap implies upside of 79.28%. The market may be mispricing a durable franchise, or analysts may be slow to rebuild their models.

The stock dropped 7.42% in its latest session and set a new fifty-two-week low of $19.55. It was the lowest level since April 2023, leaving shares about 72% below their March 2025 peak.

Market value has fallen to $10.5 billion. Meanwhile, a private rival selling a cheaper version of the same product is reportedly worth several times as much.

Brazil Sparked the Selloff, but the Slide Began Months Earlier FanDuel parent Flutter Entertainment (NYSE:FLUT) halted operations in Brazil. The halt came after the country’s online betting ban took effect on September 25, and the company then issued a profit warning. Its shares fell 15.99% over the past week to their lowest level in years.

DraftKings has no operations in Brazil, so its 10.14% weekly decline was a sympathy move. Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) slipped 8.11% that week.

Brazil explains one week, however. DraftKings is down 22.45% over one month and 53.69% over one year.

Second-quarter revenue of $1.44 billion missed the $1.51 billion consensus. Sportsbook net revenue margin narrowed to 6.8% from 8.7%. Adjusted EPS of $0.09 missed the $0.1917 estimate.

Prediction Markets Undercut Sportsbooks on Price Prediction markets let people trade contracts on event outcomes, including sports. Kalshi now dominates NFL trading volume and reportedly plans to raise $1 billion at a $40 billion valuation. The company has not confirmed this.

Kalshi has been valued at about four times DraftKings’ market value. An exchange matches two users and takes a fee. That makes it structurally cheaper than a sportsbook that sets odds and keeps a margin.

In a Citizens survey, 35% of respondents cited “lower prices as a reason for choosing prediction markets over sportsbooks.” DraftKings launched its own Predictions product and reports “no discernible impact” on sportsbook revenue.

But management acknowledges Predictions revenue per customer may initially trail the sportsbook’s. Winning that category could compress DraftKings’ own margins.

Why Analysts Still See Large Upside Among analysts covering DraftKings, 5 rate the stock a strong buy, 24 a buy, 6 a hold and 1 a strong sell. Citizens cut its target to $35 from $37, still far above the price.

Analysts point to guidance. Management kept its guidance unchanged. Full-year revenue guidance of $6.5 billion to $6.9 billion and adjusted EBITDA guidance of $700 million to $900 million remain in place, and it says the core business is on track for about $1 billion in adjusted EBITDA.

The $35.12 consensus sits near the fifty-two-week high of $38.06, suggesting targets reflect older prices.

Four Conditions the Target Needs to Survive Monthly unique payers rose about 9% to 3.6 million, but average revenue per payer fell about 13% to $132. Hold percentage must recover, and promotional spend cannot step up. Sales and marketing expense rose to $322.5 million from $233.2 million.

State regulation must stay closed to further exchange expansion, with sportsbooks licensed state by state, while exchanges operate under a federal derivatives framework. A House Oversight Committee investigation into insider trading on prediction markets could slow the competitor. The next handle-and-hold reports will test these conditions.

The risk/reward at current levels looks poor. The implied upside requires all four conditions to hold, and the exchange pricing model works against at least two. Sports consumer volume rose 15% to $13.14 billion, and the company bought back $154.2 million of stock in the first half. Insiders, however, have been net sellers across 72 recent transactions.

If you are near retirement, a single consumer discretionary stock facing a structural pricing threat is a poor fit. The S&P 500 rose 15.15% over the past year while DraftKings fell 53.69%. The stock would look more attractive if revenue per payer stabilizes without greater promotions.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Key Takeaways NetApp is positioning Keystone Sovereign for qualified customers in Germany and France.Keystone revenue grew about 65% in fiscal 2026 as customers sought flexible storage consumption.NetApp unveiled Novus and expanded Oracle Cloud support at INSIGHT 2026. For organizations operating in regulated industries, sovereignty increasingly encompasses who can access data, where support teams are located, how telemetry moves and which legal and operational controls govern the infrastructure. NetApp, Inc. (NTAP - Free Report) is positioning Keystone Sovereign to address this broader requirement, initially targeting qualified customers in Germany and France, with additional European countries planned. Per NetApp, the offering will provide additional regional, operational, support and data-handling controls intended to help qualified European customers keep critical data and support within specified geographic boundaries.

Keystone is NetApp's storage-as-a-service offering, allowing organizations to consume storage infrastructure through a flexible, cloud-like model instead of depending on traditional hardware purchasing and deployment. Keystone continues to gain traction as customers seek flexible consumption, with revenue growing about 65% in fiscal 2026. In first-quarter fiscal 2027, Professional Services revenues rose 15.5% to $112 million, mainly driven by continued Keystone growth. Management said Keystone grew in roughly the same range as in prior quarters and the overall flash business, while benefiting minimally from the extra week. It is targeting more new customers and adding capabilities to support continued adoption.

NetApp’s INSIGHT 2026 conference, held yesterday, highlighted the company’s strategy around AI-ready data infrastructure, unified storage, hybrid cloud and cyber resilience. The event focused on helping enterprises manage and activate data for AI workloads, with NetApp emphasizing its intelligent data infrastructure platform and partnerships across the AI ecosystem. Besides the Keystone offering, other key announcements included NetApp Novus, a high-performance file system designed to feed data to GPUs, and native ONTAP storage support for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, expanding its hyperscaler footprint.

The event also highlighted its expanding partnership ecosystem, with collaborations spanning SAP, Oracle (ORCL - Free Report) and Super Micro Computer (SMCI - Free Report) .

NTAP’s Competitive LandscapeSMCI rides on expanding AI infrastructure demand, supported by rapid adoption of new GPU platforms, its modular Building Block architecture, liquid-cooling expertise and a broader DCBBS offering. Supermicro’s Open Storage Summit 2026, held in August, focused on the data infrastructure needed to deploy enterprise AI at scale. The event brought together Supermicro and ecosystem partners, including AMD, DDN, IBM, Intel, KIOXIA, MinIO, Nutanix, VAST Data and Western Digital, to discuss AI inference, agentic AI, hybrid-cloud storage, context memory and unstructured data management. The summit also highlighted Supermicro’s DCBBS architecture, which provides modular, validated AI infrastructure from servers and networking to rack- and data-center-level solutions.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE - Free Report) is benefiting from a broader shift toward AI infrastructure, networking modernization and hybrid cloud, with Juniper expanding its addressable market and integration synergies supporting earnings growth. In September, HPE expanded its collaboration with Oracle to deploy HPE Juniper Networking across Oracle’s global AI data centers, supporting the company’s gigawatt-scale AI infrastructure expansion with networking services and financing capabilities. In June, it announced multiple AI infrastructure innovations, including a sovereign private AI cloud deployment for Siemens Energy, expanded self-driving networking capabilities and new AI Factory and Private Cloud AI solutions to help enterprises securely deploy and manage agentic AI workloads.

NTAP Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesNetApp shares have gained 76.5% in the past year compared with the Computer-Storage Devices industry’s rise of 318.4%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Regarding the price/book ratio, NTAP is trading at 27.48, higher than the industry’s multiple of 15.36.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NTAP’s earnings for fiscal 2027 has been revised upward over the past 60 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

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

Key Takeaways Jefferies posted record Q3 IB revenues of $1.33B, up 17% y/y.Advisory revenues rose 25% and equity underwriting surged 69%, reflecting stronger deal activity.Healthy backlogs support the recovery, though Q3 bank results are expected to vary. Jefferies Financial Group’s (JEF - Free Report) third-quarter fiscal 2026 results offer an encouraging early signal for Wall Street’s investment-banking (IB) businesses ahead of the earnings release from the major U.S. banks. Jefferies is closely watched as an industry bellwether because it reports ahead of most large banks and has substantial exposure to advisory and underwriting activity.

The strongest signal came from investment banking. Jefferies generated record third-quarter fiscal 2026 IB net revenues of $1.33 billion, up 17% year over year. Advisory revenues climbed 25% to a record $818 million, while equity-underwriting revenues surged 69% to $306 million.

The performance indicates that improving merger and acquisition (M&A) activity and stronger equity issuance continue to support Wall Street fee pools. Global dealmaking has already crossed $4 trillion this year as companies have become more willing to pursue strategic transactions despite periods of market volatility. Jefferies also highlighted a healthy backlog and solid new business activity, supporting optimism for the remainder of 2026 and momentum heading into 2027. Hence, JEF's large peers like JPMorgan (JPM - Free Report) , Bank of America (BAC - Free Report) , Morgan Stanley (MS - Free Report) and Citigroup (C - Free Report) are also likely to post decent IB results.

JEF Signals Healthy IB Backdrop, but Bank Results May DivergeRecent management commentary from JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America reinforces the view that the IB backdrop remains healthy, though fiscal third-quarter revenue growth is likely to vary significantly across firms.

JPMorgan appears to be seeing the strongest momentum. Management expects fiscal third-quarter investment-banking fees to increase year over year in the mid-to-high teens, supported by broad-based strength across products and geographies, and a robust deal pipeline. Jefferies’ record advisory quarter provides additional evidence that stronger M&A activity is translating into completed transactions and fee revenues.

Citigroup also expects investment-banking revenue growth, though at a more moderate low-single-digit pace. Strength in equity capital markets and continued corporate M&A activity should support the results, while softer sponsor activity and some moderation in debt capital markets could limit upside.

In contrast, Bank of America expects fiscal third-quarter investment-banking fees of $1.6-$1.8 billion, implying a year-over-year decline. Nevertheless, management emphasized that its pipeline remains strong, suggesting that deal timing rather than weakening underlying demand is weighing on near-term revenues.

The backdrop is also encouraging for Morgan Stanley, given its significant exposure to advisory and underwriting. Morgan Stanley entered the fiscal third quarter with strong momentum after fiscal second-quarter investment-banking revenues soared 58% year over year to $2.44 billion. Healthy pipelines and broad client dialogue could support continued activity, particularly if the stronger M&A and equity issuance trends highlighted by Jefferies persist.

Bottom LineJefferies’ fiscal third-quarter results strengthen the case that Wall Street’s investment-banking recovery remains on track. Record advisory revenues, sharply higher equity underwriting and a healthy backlog suggest corporate and sponsor activity remains supportive heading into year-end. Still, the recovery is unlikely to be uniform. We will have to wait till JPM, BAC, MS and C start reporting their third-quarter 2026 results.

JPMorgan and Citigroup are scheduled to announce third-quarter 2026 results on Oct. 13, while Bank of America and Morgan Stanley are scheduled to report on Oct. 14.