Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Shares in Tesla (TSLA +0.26%) rose by 18.2% in August, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The move comes as the narrative around the stock, notably its robotaxi rollout, improved throughout the month. And the good news is there's a real possibility of more good news flowing in the future.

Tesla's reset of expectations To be clear, Tesla's second-quarter report released at the end of July wasn't great. A good recovery in electric vehicle (EV) deliveries was accompanied by a strong increase in costs associated with incentivizing sales, robotaxi and Optimus development, commodity costs, and AI initiatives. These costs and an unfavorable EV sales mix (relatively more sales of lower-margin vehicles) led to margin compression.

At the same time, Tesla is ramping capital expenditures, partly to support the ramp in its robotaxi business, and investors are concerned that the rollout isn't progressing as planned.

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A change in narrative for Tesla Narratives matter in investing, and they matter a lot for growth stocks, whose main value-creating events lie ahead. There's a reason why many management teams emphasize underpromising and overdelivering: it often leads to a significant rerating of the stock.

However, in Tesla's case, it's fair to argue that the robotaxi rollout hasn't met the expectations previously laid out by CEO Elon Musk, neither in terms of fleet size nor city deployment. Robotaxis did not cover half the U.S. population by the end of 2025. With only six cities with unsupervised robotaxis (Bay Area robotaxis are supervised) so far in 2026, Tesla looks highly unlikely to be deployed in "dozens of cities, dozens of major cities by the end of the year," as Musk said they would be in January.

That said, it's important to recognize how technologically challenging the rollout is, and the critical need to achieve a level of safety and operational functioning so that its robotaxi, including the dedicated robotaxi, Cybercab, can be scaled. Any scaling of a flawed model will only magnify and increase the absolute number of incidents.

Image source: Tesla.

Moreover, management spent the last two earnings calls redirecting the narrative away from fleet size and city expansions and toward the development of its next major version of full self-driving (FSD) software, v15, and overall miles driven under unsupervised robotaxi operations. All told, the narrative around robotaxis has arguably shifted to focus on v15 and miles driven, rather than fleet size and city deployments.

This change in narrative means it's likely the market will now reward any positive development on robotaxi/Cybercab, and that's exactly what's happened recently.

Positive robotaxi developments Fortunately, Tesla has had good news to report on it lately: Nevada lifted the cap on robotaxi vehicles in Clark County from 10 to 5,000 vehicles in August Tesla announced the launch event for the Cybercab, which just took place. Safety data on unsupervised robotaxis (updated in mid August and current through mid July) arguably show an exemplary safety record, albeit with a relatively small data set compared to Waymo. These events helped raise confidence in Tesla's robotaxi rollout, and with expectations now reset, more positive news flow on robotaxi is likely to be rewarded by the market.

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN – Free Report) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 114,946 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,995 shares during the period. Amazon.com makes up 1.7% of Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $27,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 832,274,556 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $158,348,557,000 after acquiring an additional 8,913,959 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Amazon.com by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 388,653,121 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $89,708,913,000 after purchasing an additional 6,971,680 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 225,120,994 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $51,753,622,000 after purchasing an additional 2,479,324 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the fourth quarter valued at $32,868,735,000. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 27,376.7% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 98,448,885 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $2,272,397,000 after purchasing an additional 98,090,585 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com In other Amazon.com news, CFO Brian T. Olsavsky sold 6,172 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.31, for a total transaction of $1,606,633.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,427,674.17. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.77, for a total value of $2,404,950.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 41,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,699,926.30. This trade represents a 18.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 70,589 shares of company stock worth $18,314,015 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth AMZN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up from $340.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $335.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Telsey Advisory Group set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Phillip Securities cut Amazon.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.09. View Our Latest Analysis on AMZN

Amazon.com Trading Up 0.0% Shares of NASDAQ AMZN opened at $254.98 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $241.79. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.00 and a 52 week high of $287.20. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $3.93. The firm had revenue of $200.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.03 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 17.44% and a return on equity of 18.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Amazon.com Here are the key news stories impacting Amazon.com this week:

Positive Sentiment: Institutional investors are signaling confidence in Amazon’s AI infrastructure opportunity. Stanley Druckenmiller increased Duquesne’s AMZN position more than tenfold, while Philippe Laffont’s Coatue expanded its stake 49%, reinforcing the thesis that AWS will benefit from sustained AI-computing demand. Stanley Druckenmiller Increased Amazon More Than 10-Fold and Opened an AMD Position Positive Sentiment: AWS growth, accelerating e-commerce revenue and expanding AI infrastructure investment remain key bullish factors. Analysts continue to see substantial upside, including a reiterated $350 price target, although Amazon’s heavy capital expenditures could pressure near-term cash returns. Amazon Retains Top Pick Status Positive Sentiment: Amazon’s new YouTube Shopping partnership allows creators to tag products and earn affiliate commissions, potentially expanding social-commerce traffic and advertising opportunities. Zoox’s expansion into additional U.S. markets also adds a longer-term mobility growth option. How Could Amazon Gain From New Creator Shopping Tools? Neutral Sentiment: The Justice Department requested beef-pricing data from Amazon and other major retailers as part of an investigation into meat-industry pricing. Amazon is not accused of wrongdoing in the reports, but the inquiry adds regulatory visibility. DOJ Expands Beef Price Investigation Negative Sentiment: The FTC and 22 states allege Amazon manipulated advertising auctions and overcharged roughly 1.2 million advertisers by more than $20 billion. Potential penalties, pricing changes and pressure on the high-margin advertising business are the most immediate downside risks. FTC Sues Amazon, Alleging It Overcharged Advertisers Negative Sentiment: Amazon is facing additional workforce friction, including planned corporate job cuts and a one-day Teamsters strike at its large Riverside warehouse. These developments could increase reputational, labor and operating-cost concerns. About Amazon.com (Free Report)

Amazon.com, Inc is a diversified technology and retail company best known for its e-commerce marketplace and broad portfolio of consumer and enterprise services. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company launched as an online bookseller and expanded into a global retail platform that sells products directly to consumers and provides a marketplace for third-party sellers. Over time Amazon has grown beyond retail into areas including cloud computing, digital media, devices and logistics.

Key businesses and offerings include Amazon’s online marketplace and fulfillment services, the Amazon Prime membership program (which bundles expedited shipping with streaming and other benefits), Amazon Web Services (AWS) which supplies on-demand cloud computing and storage to businesses and public-sector customers, and a range of content and advertising services such as Prime Video and Amazon Advertising.

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Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has declared its next quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share payable Thursday, September 10, 2026, to shareholders of record on August 20, 2026. 

Investors holding 100 MSFT shares as of the ex-dividend date will receive $91 next week. As such, the payment is unchanged from the previous two payments this year issued on June 11 and March 12.  

Microsoft quarterly dividend history. Source: Microsoft At a share price of $496.82 as of press time, September 3, and a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, you would need approximately 109.89 Microsoft shares to round up the dividend to $100. In other words, it would require an investment of about $54,590, or about 110 shares. 

If the corporation does not increase the payout, the yearly Microsoft stock dividend for 2026 will total exactly $364.

Microsoft Corp. dividend profile Microsoft boasts among the most consistent dividend track records in the technology sector, with a forward yield of 0.73% and an annualized dividend of $3.88 per share. 

What’s more, the software leader has increased its dividend for 24 consecutive years, and with a conservative forward payout ratio of 18.45%, it has considerable flexibility to continue raising its payouts.

Historically, Microsoft shares have also recovered quickly following their ex-dividend dates, taking an average of just 1.9 days. While the company’s 0.73% dividend yield is below the broader technology sector average of 1.37%, Microsoft has emphasized consistent dividend growth and long-term share price appreciation rather than pursuing a high-yield strategy.

That approach has paid off in 2026 too. The stock is up around 5% year-to-date as of press time, and a $10,000 investment in Microsoft at the start of the year, assuming all dividends were reinvested, would now be worth approximately $10,348. That translates into $48.73 in reinvested dividends and $299.98 in capital gains.

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BOCHK Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM – Free Report) by 97.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,600 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. accounts for approximately 1.7% of BOCHK Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $11,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC bought a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Aventus Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research analysts have commented on JPM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $330.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley restated a “positive” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $370.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $418.00 target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $359.96.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on JPM JPMorgan Chase & Co. Price Performance Shares of NYSE:JPM opened at $356.42 on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a twelve month low of $279.10 and a twelve month high of $366.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $947.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $348.76 and its 200-day moving average is $319.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $6.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.59 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $58.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.72 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a return on equity of 18.23% and a net margin of 21.86%.JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 27.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 24.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets In other JPMorgan Chase & Co. news, insider Robin Leopold sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.41, for a total value of $903,525.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 73,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,580,621.27. The trade was a 3.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 5,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.73, for a total value of $1,808,100.91. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 40,961 shares in the company, valued at $13,547,031.53. This trade represents a 11.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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

Positive Sentiment: Investors are rotating into large-bank stocks as expectations for higher interest rates improve the outlook for net interest income and financial-sector earnings. JPMorgan has particularly strong exposure to diversified banking and markets businesses. Expectations of Rising Rates and Worries About AI Have Investors Piling Into Big Bank Stocks Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan’s shares have benefited from rising Treasury yields; a 10-year yield near 4.8% was cited as supporting a stronger net interest income outlook. The bank’s latest results also showed substantial revenue growth and an earnings beat. JPMorgan Rises as 10-Year Treasury Yield Hits 4.8% Positive Sentiment: Kinexys, JPMorgan’s blockchain-based payments and settlement platform, is gaining traction. Faster fund transfers and deeper corporate-client relationships could support long-term payments growth and diversify revenue beyond traditional banking. Will Kinexys Fuel JPMorgan’s Next Leg of Payments Growth? Neutral Sentiment: The rebranding of Campbell Global as J.P. Morgan Natural Capital highlights growth in nature-based asset management, but the announcement is primarily strategic and is unlikely to materially change near-term earnings. J.P. Morgan Asset Management Announces Rebrand of Campbell Global to J.P. Morgan Natural Capital Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan reportedly curbed lending to Jane Street after the trading firm expanded into U.S. Treasury market-making. The move may reflect prudent risk management, but it also underscores intensifying competition in fixed-income markets and potential pressure on related trading relationships. JPMorgan Curbed Lending to Jane Street as Trading Firm Muscled Into Bonds (Free Report)

JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) is a diversified global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. The company provides a wide range of banking and financial products and services to consumers, small businesses, corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Its operations span retail banking, commercial lending, investment banking, asset management, payments and card services, and treasury and securities services.

The firm’s principal business activities are organized across several core lines: Consumer & Community Banking, which offers deposit accounts, mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and branch and digital banking under the Chase brand; Corporate & Investment Banking, which provides capital markets, advisory, underwriting, trading and risk management services; Commercial Banking, delivering lending, treasury and capital solutions to middle-market and corporate clients; and Asset & Wealth Management, which offers investment management, private banking and retirement services to institutions and high-net-worth individuals.

Read More Five stocks we like better than JPMorgan Chase & Co. Striking Oil: How the U.S. Play for Venezuela Fuels Supermajors J.M. Smucker Stock’s Rally Has More Than Tariffs Behind It Wendy’s Rally Fades After Trian Steps Back: Was It Ever Real? GitLab’s Earnings Beat Just Gave Software Bulls a New SaaSpocalypse Test

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Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO, XETRA:1YD), the American chip designer behind custom AI processors for Google, Meta and OpenAI, delivered another quarter of results that beat Wall Street's expectations.

Yet its shares slipped 0.8% in after-hours trading, a sign that investors are growing warier of even strong AI-related earnings.

The muted reaction stemmed largely from Broadcom's fourth-quarter revenue forecast of $34.8 billion, which fell short of the $35.03 billion analysts had pencilled in.

For a stock that has already lagged the wider market this year, up just 6% against the S&P 500's 12% gain, that miss carried extra weight.

The scale of the AI build-out

What stood out most was not the historic numbers but the scale of spending still to come.

Chief executive Hock Tan said Broadcom aims to double its AI revenue to $115 billion in the 2027 financial year, then double it again to $230 billion the year after.

Anthropic, the artificial intelligence lab in which Amazon and Google are major investors, is reportedly planning to deploy five gigawatts of Broadcom's TPU 8i chips in 2027, with potential for another ten gigawatts beyond that.

OpenAI, meanwhile, is preparing to tape out a second custom chip with Broadcom and has begun discussions on a third.

Who is really taking the risk

The more striking disclosure came from finance chief Amie Thuener, who said Broadcom may offer "residual value guarantees" to AI labs, effectively underwriting some of the financial risk these companies take on when committing to vast infrastructure spending.

That detail matters because it points to a pattern now emerging across the AI supply chain: chipmakers extending financial backing to customers whose revenues do not yet match their spending commitments.

For UK investors watching the sector through London-listed proxies and index trackers, it is a reminder that the AI capital expenditure cycle increasingly rests on circular financing arrangements between a small number of firms.

Tokyo, Japan--(Newsfile Corp. - September 3, 2026) - TNL Mediagene (NASDAQ: TNMG) (the "Company"), a technology and digital media company providing AI-driven advertising, marketing technology, content commerce and data analytics solutions, and operating multi-language digital media brands across Asia, today announced that it will implement a 1-for-8 share consolidation (also known as reverse stock split) of the Company's ordinary shares (the "Share Consolidation"). The Company's ordinary shares will continue to trade on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the existing ticker symbol "TNMG" and are expected to begin trading on a split-adjusted basis with a newly assigned CUSIP number of G8924F139 when the market opens on Tuesday, September 8, 2026.

The Share Consolidation is intended to increase the per-share trading price of the Company's ordinary shares to assist in regaining compliance with the Nasdaq minimum bid price requirement of $1.00 per share for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market. Additionally, the Share Consolidation is intended to enhance the Company's attractiveness to a broader range of institutional investors, particularly among institutions that require a minimum share price for investment.

On August 25, 2026, the Company's shareholders approved a share consolidation ratio within a range of consolidation of up to 1-to-10 at the Company's Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders and authorized the Board of Directors of the Company to determine and execute the final ratio and exact date. The Company's Board of Directors subsequently approved the final share consolidation ratio of 1-for-8 on August 27, 2026.

When the Share Consolidation becomes effective, every eight (8) shares of the Company's issued and outstanding ordinary shares will be combined into one (1) issued and outstanding ordinary share. No fractional shares will be issued in connection with the Share Consolidation. All fractional shares will be rounded up to the next whole share. The Share Consolidation will affect all shareholders uniformly and will not affect any shareholder's percentage ownership interest in the Company (except to the extent that the Share Consolidation would result in any of the shareholders owning a fractional interest).

Computershare is acting as transfer and exchange agent for the Share Consolidation. Registered shareholders who hold ordinary shares are not required to take any action to receive split-adjusted shares. Shareholders who own shares via a broker, bank, trust or other nominee organization will have their positions automatically adjusted to reflect the Share Consolidation, subject to such organization's particular processes, and will not be required to take any action in connection with the Share Consolidation.

About TNL Mediagene

Headquartered in Tokyo, TNL Mediagene (NASDAQ: TNMG) is a technology and digital media company providing AI-driven advertising, marketing technology, content commerce and data analytics solutions, and operating multi-language digital media brands across Asia. Formed in May 2023 through the merger of Japan's Mediagene Inc. and Taiwan's The News Lens Co., Ltd., the Company combines advertising and marketing technology platforms with a portfolio of established digital media brands to deliver integrated solutions for the evolving digital landscape.

The Company's technology offerings include AI-driven advertising, marketing and digital studio services, content commerce, and advanced data analytics capabilities. These solutions are supported by the Company's well-established multi-language digital media brands in Japanese, Chinese, and English, spanning business, technology, lifestyle, and culture, which provide audience engagement and first-party data.

Known for its appeal to younger audiences, and high-quality content, TNL Mediagene has approximately 480 employees with offices in Japan and Taiwan.

https://www.tnlmediagene.com/

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are based on beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to TNL Mediagene. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or TNL Mediagene's future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," "target," "aim," "seek" or the negative or plural of these words, or other similar expressions that are predictions or indicate future events or prospects, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements in this communication include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's ability to satisfy the conditions of the Panel's decision and to regain and maintain compliance with Nasdaq's continued listing requirements, and the potential delisting of the Company's securities from Nasdaq. Any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including strategies or plans, are also forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this communication or elsewhere speak only as of the date made. New uncertainties and risks arise from time to time, and it is impossible for TNL Mediagene to predict these events or how they may affect TNL Mediagene. In addition, risks and uncertainties are described in TNL Mediagene's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risks and uncertainties set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in TNL Mediagene's FY2025 Annual Report on Form 20-F filed on April 30, 2026, as may be supplemented or amended by the TNL Mediagene's Reports of a Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K. These filings may identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. TNL Mediagene cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this communication will prove to be accurate. There may be additional risks that TNL Mediagene presently does not know or that TNL Mediagene currently does not believe are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In light of the significant uncertainties in these forward-looking statements, you should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by TNL Mediagene, its directors, officers or employees or any other person. Except as required by applicable law, TNL Mediagene does not have any duty to, and does not intend to, update or revise the forward-looking statements in this communication or elsewhere after the date of this communication. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing the views of TNL Mediagene as of any date subsequent to the date of this communication.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/312767

Source: TNL Mediagene

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Achieved Record Annual Revenue and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share

Completed Transformational Acquisition of Honeywell Technologies’ Productivity Solutions and Services Business on August 3, 2026

Announces Fiscal Year 2027 Guidance – Adjusted Diluted EPS Expected to Grow 23% at the Midpoint of Guidance Range

MILWAUKEE, Sept. 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brady Corporation (NYSE: BRC) (“Brady” or “Company”), a world leader in identification, safety and productivity solutions, today announced its financial results for its fiscal 2026 fourth quarter and the year ended July 31, 2026.

“The results of the fourth quarter and full year 2026 are a clear indication of the momentum we are achieving at Brady Corporation,” said Vineet Nargolwala, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our strong organic growth, with additional contributions from acquisitions and foreign currency translation, drove 10% sales growth for the quarter and the year. Organic sales growth and expanding margins drove a 15% increase in adjusted earnings per share in 2026 versus 2025.”

He continued, “As we enter 2027, continued growth in our Identification Solutions business (IDS), complemented by the addition of the newly named Intelligent Productivity Solutions business (IPS), is expected to drive 23% growth in adjusted diluted earnings per share* at the midpoint of our guidance range.”

Mr. Nargolwala concluded, “With the closing of the IPS acquisition, Brady becomes a stronger and more global industrial technology company. Our addressable market is expanding to $14 billion as we grow our presence in manufacturing, transportation, logistics, retail and healthcare markets. As we enter a new chapter for Brady, I could not be more excited about our opportunity to drive value for all of our stakeholders.”

Fourth Quarter Financial Results:
Sales for the quarter ended July 31, 2026 were $436.9 million, an increase of 10.0% compared to $397.3 million in the same quarter last year. The year-over-year increase was primarily driven by organic growth of 8.4%. By region, sales increased 13.5% in the Americas & Asia and 3.2% in Europe & Australia, primarily driven by organic sales growth of 11.6% in the Americas & Asia and 2.1% in Europe & Australia. See the Segment Information table for growth drivers and segment profit.

Income before income taxes decreased 8.2% to $55.6 million in the quarter ended July 31, 2026, compared to $60.5 million in the same quarter last year, reflecting acquisition and integration-related costs in the fourth quarter of 2026. Adjusted Income Before Income Taxes* was $89.0 million, an increase of 20.0% compared to $74.2 million in the fourth quarter of last year. See the GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures table for detailed adjustments.

Net income for the quarter was $45.6 million compared to $49.9 million in the same quarter last year, reflecting acquisition and integration-related costs in the fourth quarter of 2026. Adjusted Net Income* increased 17.5% to $70.7 million compared to $60.2 million in the same quarter last year. Earnings per diluted Class A Nonvoting Common Share was $0.96 compared to $1.04 in the same quarter last year. Adjusted Diluted EPS* was $1.48 compared to $1.26 in the same quarter last year, an increase of 17.5%.

Fiscal Year Financial Results:
Sales for the year ended July 31, 2026 increased 9.8% to $1.66 billion compared to $1.51 billion in the prior fiscal year. The year-over-year increase was primarily driven by organic growth of 5.3%. By region, sales increased 11.4% in the Americas & Asia and 6.7% in Europe & Australia, primarily driven by organic sales growth of 7.5% in the Americas & Asia and 1.2% in Europe & Australia.

Income before income taxes increased 9.4% to $259.4 million in the year ended July 31, 2026, compared to $237.1 million in the prior year. Adjusted Income Before Income Taxes* was $322.1 million, an increase of 15.2% compared to $279.5 million in 2025.

Net income was $205.4 million, an increase of 8.5% compared to $189.3 million last year. Adjusted Net Income* was $252.6 million, an increase of 14.2% compared to $221.3 million in 2025. Earnings per diluted Class A Nonvoting Common Share was $4.30, an increase of 9.1% compared to $3.94 in 2025. The company achieved record Adjusted Diluted EPS* of $5.29, a 15.0% increase compared to $4.60 in 2025.

Brady’s Chief Financial Officer, Ann Thornton, said, “We continued our strong momentum and achieved another annual adjusted earnings per share record, increased our cash flow from operating activities nearly 35% to $244.1 million in fiscal 2026 compared to $181.2 million in fiscal 2025, and returned $88.3 million to our shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks. Our net cash position of $172.2 million as of July 31, 2026, provided significant support for our acquisition of the Intelligent Productivity Solutions business. Our strong balance sheet allows us to continue to invest in organic growth, reduce our net leverage, and continue to return funds to our shareholders through dividends and share buybacks to drive long-term shareholder value.”

Fiscal 2027 Guidance:
The Company expects Adjusted Diluted EPS* for the year ending July 31, 2027 to range from $6.25 to $6.75 per share, which represents a range of growth of between 18.1 percent to 27.6 percent compared to 2026. The Company expects approximately $0.80 Adjusted Diluted EPS* accretion from the IPS segment, net of the cost of financing the transaction, with the majority of the contribution in the second half of the fiscal year as the business is integrated.

The Company expects revenue from the IDS segment to grow approximately 5 percent organically, and expects the IPS segment to contribute revenue of approximately $1.15 billion for the year ending July 31, 2027. Segment profit as a percentage of sales is expected to be approximately 20 percent within the IDS segment, and is expected to be in the low-double digits within the IPS segment.

Other elements of the Company’s 2027 guidance include depreciation expense of approximately $45 million, capital expenditures of approximately $40 million, and a full-year income tax rate of approximately 21 percent. Fiscal 2027 guidance is based upon foreign currency exchange rates as of July 31, 2026, and assumes continued economic growth.

A webcast regarding Brady’s fiscal 2026 fourth quarter financial results will be available at www.bradycorp.com/investors beginning at 7:30 a.m. central time today.

Brady Corporation (NYSE: BRC) is a global industrial technology company and a leading provider of identification, safety, and productivity solutions that help organizations of all sizes to identify, connect, protect, track, and optimize what matters most. By combining trusted identification technologies with advanced data capture, enterprise mobility, software and workflow solutions, Brady’s comprehensive offerings enable its customers to improve safety, productivity, accuracy, and operational performance across their most critical functions and in the world’s most demanding environments. For more than 110 years, Brady has established trust and demonstrated its commitment to innovation, serving customers across manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, electronics, telecommunications, aerospace, construction, and other key industries, to make their work safer, smarter, and more connected. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Brady employs approximately 9,300 people worldwide. Brady stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BRC. Learn more at www.bradycorp.com.

* Adjusted Income Before Income Taxes, Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Diluted EPS are non-GAAP measures. See appendix for more information on these measures, including reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.

In this release, statements that are not reported financial results or other historic information are “forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, statements about the success of the acquisition, including anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction, future opportunities for the combined company, and any other statements regarding the establishment of a new reporting segment for the IPS business, the combined company’s future operations and future financial position, anticipated economic activity, business strategies, targets, future earnings, anticipated growth, market opportunities, debt levels and cash flows, competition and other expectations and estimates for future periods including plans and objectives of management for future operations.

The use of words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “should,” “project,” “plan” or similar terminology are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain and are subject to risks, assumptions, and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For the Company, uncertainties arise from: the ability of the Company and the IPS business to retain customers and retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with their suppliers and customers and on their operating results and businesses generally; potential difficulties integrating the IPS business, or the costs of integrating the IPS business exceeding original estimates; failure of the Company to achieve the anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction identified in this release on the timeline indicated or at all; the establishment of a new reporting segment for the IPS business; increased cost of materials, labor, material shortages and supply chain disruptions, including as a result of tariffs or other impacts of the global trade environment; decreased demand for the Company’s products; the Company’s ability to compete effectively or to successfully execute our strategy; the Company’s ability to develop technologically advanced products that meet customer demands; the Company’s ability to identify, integrate and grow acquired companies, and to manage contingent liabilities from divested businesses; difficulties in protecting the Company’s websites, networks, and systems against security breaches; extensive regulations by U.S. and non-U.S. governmental and self-regulatory entities; risks associated with the loss of key employees; litigation, including product liability claims; global climate change and environmental regulations; foreign currency fluctuations; our indebtedness, financial condition and fulfillment of obligations thereunder; the ability to service our indebtedness; changes in tax legislation and tax rates; potential write-offs of goodwill and other intangible assets; differing interests of voting and non-voting shareholders and changes in the regulatory and business environment around dual-class voting structures; numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including major public health crises and government responses thereto and those of a political, economic, business, competitive, and regulatory nature contained from time to time in the Company’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including, but not limited to, those factors listed in the “Risk Factors” section within Item 1A of Part I of the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended July 31, 2026.

These uncertainties may cause the Company’s actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in its forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements except as required by law.

For More Information Contact:
Investor Contact: Ann Thornton (414) 438-6887
Media Contact: Kate Venne (414) 358-5176 

        BRADY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES       CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME       (Unaudited; Dollars in thousands, except per share data)                Three months ended July 31, Year ended July 31,  2026   2025   2026   2025 Net sales$436,904  $397,275  $1,661,565  $1,513,605 Cost of goods sold 205,770   197,044   801,736   752,783 Gross margin 231,134   200,231   859,829   760,822 Operating expenses:       Research and development 22,899   23,054   94,031   79,889 Selling, general and administrative 148,117   117,885   502,312   444,295 Total operating expenses 171,016   140,939   596,343   524,184         Operating income 60,118   59,292   263,486   236,638         Other income (expense):       Investment and other income 1,680   2,356   5,628   5,206 Interest expense (6,232)  (1,143)  (9,699)  (4,747)        Income before income taxes 55,566   60,505   259,415   237,097         Income tax expense 9,975   10,629   54,037   47,841         Net income$45,591  $49,876  $205,378  $189,256         Net income per Class A Nonvoting Common Share:       Basic$0.97  $1.05  $4.34  $3.97 Diluted$0.96  $1.04  $4.30  $3.94         Net income per Class B Voting Common Share:       Basic$0.97  $1.05  $4.33  $3.96 Diluted$0.96  $1.04  $4.29  $3.92         Weighted average common shares outstanding:       Basic 47,200   47,335   47,285   47,641 Diluted 47,716   47,780   47,750   48,092          BRADY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES   CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS   (Dollars in thousands)        July 31, 2026 July 31, 2025    ASSETS   Current assets:   Cash and cash equivalents$187,149  $174,349 Accounts receivable, net of allowance for credit losses of $7,742 and $7,876, respectively 260,938   231,944 Inventories 225,214   200,881 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 15,231   14,661 Total current assets 688,532   621,835 Property, plant and equipment—net 254,460   225,572 Goodwill 685,968   676,945 Other intangible assets 97,833   105,374 Deferred income taxes 21,126   20,862 Operating lease assets 67,916   58,422 Other assets 36,114   25,243 Total$1,851,949  $1,734,253 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY   Current liabilities:   Accounts payable$108,703  $105,028 Accrued compensation and benefits 105,777   92,657 Taxes, other than income taxes 22,161   21,537 Accrued income taxes 7,443   5,547 Current operating lease liabilities 17,020   15,234 Other current liabilities 94,399   90,329 Total current liabilities 355,503   330,332 Long-term debt 14,985   99,766 Long-term operating lease liabilities 51,588   43,565 Other liabilities 72,311   68,379 Total liabilities 494,387   542,042 Stockholders’ equity:   Common stock:   Class A nonvoting common stock—Issued 51,261,487 shares, and outstanding 43,360,586 and 43,530,012 shares, respectively 513   513 Class B voting common stock—Issued and outstanding, 3,538,628 shares 35   35 Additional paid-in capital 374,456   359,269 Retained earnings 1,476,978   1,317,739 Treasury stock—7,900,901 and 7,731,475 shares, respectively, of Class A nonvoting common stock, at cost (419,618)  (393,186)Accumulated other comprehensive loss (74,802)  (92,159)Total stockholders’ equity 1,357,562   1,192,211 Total$1,851,949  $1,734,253      BRADY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES   CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS   (Unaudited; Dollars in thousands)    Year ended July 31,  2026   2025 Operating activities:   Net income$205,378  $189,256 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:   Depreciation and amortization 44,870   40,639 Stock-based compensation expense 22,855   11,882 Deferred income taxes 2,361   (7,623)Other (1,675)  (2,540)Changes in operating assets and liabilities:   Accounts receivable (24,074)  (14,356)Inventories (19,183)  (18,889)Prepaid expenses and other assets (1,369)  (2,098)Accounts payable and accrued liabilities 13,208   (9,862)Income taxes 1,756   (5,213)Net cash provided by operating activities 244,127   181,196     Investing activities:   Purchases of property, plant and equipment (51,473)  (27,577)Acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired (17,416)  (144,541)Other 9,873   864 Net cash used in investing activities (59,016)  (171,254)    Financing activities:   Payment of dividends (46,139)  (45,542)Proceeds from exercise of stock options 11,318   6,171 Payments for employee taxes withheld from stock-based awards (3,345)  (2,683)Purchase of treasury stock (42,204)  (50,838)Proceeds from borrowing on credit agreement 69,500   266,846 Repayment of borrowing on credit agreement (154,281)  (258,015)Other (12,220)  190 Net cash used in financing activities (177,371)  (83,871)    Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 5,060   (1,840)    Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 12,800   (75,769)Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 174,349   250,118     Cash and cash equivalents, end of period$187,149  $174,349      BRADY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES       SEGMENT INFORMATION       (Unaudited; Dollars in thousands)                Three months ended July 31, Year ended July 31,  2026   2025   2026   2025 NET SALES       Americas & Asia$296,068  $260,789  $1,106,620  $993,715 Europe & Australia 140,836   136,486   554,945   519,890 Total$436,904  $397,275  $1,661,565  $1,513,605         SALES INFORMATION       Americas & Asia       Organic 11.6%  4.3%  7.5%  4.8%Acquistions 1.7%  9.8%  3.3%  8.3%Currency 0.2%  —%  0.6%  (0.6)%Divestiture —%  —%  —%  (0.4)%Total 13.5%  14.1%  11.4%  12.1%Europe & Australia       Organic 2.1%  (1.3)%  1.2%  (1.8)%Acquistions —%  14.4%  —%  14.7%Currency 1.1%  5.7%  5.5%  1.4%Total 3.2%  18.8%  6.7%  14.3%Total Company       Organic 8.4%  2.4%  5.3%  2.6%Acquistions 1.1%  11.3%  2.2%  10.5%Currency 0.5%  2.0%  2.3%  —%Divestiture —%  —%  —%  (0.3)%Total 10.0%  15.7%  9.8%  12.8%        SEGMENT PROFIT       Americas & Asia$74,271  $51,617  $256,615  $209,765 Europe & Australia 18,677   15,070   74,301   56,942 Total segment profit$92,948  $66,687  $330,916  $266,707 SEGMENT PROFIT AS A PERCENT OF NET SALES       Americas & Asia 25.1%  19.8%  23.2%  21.1%Europe & Australia 13.3%  11.0%  13.4%  11.0%Total 21.3%  16.8%  19.9%  17.6%                 Three months ended July 31, Year ended July 31,  2026   2025   2026   2025 Total segment profit$92,948  $66,687  $330,916  $266,707 Unallocated amounts:       Administrative costs (32,830)  (7,395)  (67,430)  (30,069)Investment and other income 1,680   2,356   5,628   5,206 Interest expense (6,232)  (1,143)  (9,699)  (4,747)Income before income taxes$55,566  $60,505  $259,415  $237,097          GAAP to NON-GAAP MEASURES
 (Unaudited; Dollars in Thousands, Except Per Share Amounts)             In accordance with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation G, the following provides definitions of the non-GAAP measures used in the earnings release and the reconciliation to the most closely related GAAP measure.
              Adjusted Income Before Income Taxes: Brady is presenting the non-GAAP measure, “Adjusted Income Before Income Taxes.”  This is not a calculation based upon GAAP.  The amounts included in this non-GAAP measure are derived from amounts included in the Consolidated Financial Statements and supporting footnote disclosures.  We do not view these items to be part of our ongoing results.  We believe this profit measure provides an important perspective of underlying business trends and results and provides a more comparable measure from year to year.  The table below provides a reconciliation of the GAAP measure of Income before income taxes to the non-GAAP measure of Adjusted Income Before Income Taxes:
                    Three months ended July 31, Year ended July 31,       2026   2025   2026   2025 Income before income taxes (GAAP measure)$55,566 $60,505 $259,415 $237,097  Amortization expense  5,151  4,778  20,919  18,916  Non-recurring acquisition-related costs and other related expenses (1)  22,241  -  35,747  5,059  Executive transition costs  6,051  -  6,051  -  Facility closure and other reorganization costs  -  8,890  -  18,474 Adjusted Income Before Income Taxes (non-GAAP measure)$89,009 $74,173 $322,132 $279,546  (1) Non-recurring acquisition-related costs and other related expenses includes third party integration support, financing fees, legal and other administrative expenses.
             Adjusted Income Tax Expense:     Brady is presenting the non-GAAP measure, “Adjusted Income Tax Expense.”  This is not a calculation based upon GAAP.  The amounts included in this non-GAAP measure are derived from amounts included in the Consolidated Financial Statements and supporting footnote disclosures.  We do not view these items to be part of our ongoing results.  We believe this measure provides an important perspective of underlying business trends and results and provides a more comparable measure from year to year.  The table below provides a reconciliation of the GAAP measure of Income tax expense to the non-GAAP measure of Adjusted Income Tax Expense:
                    Three months ended July 31, Year ended July 31,       2026   2025   2026   2025 Income tax expense (GAAP measure)$9,975 $10,629 $54,037 $47,841  Amortization expense  1,247  1,148  5,050  4,550  Non-recurring acquisition-related costs and other related expenses (1)  5,561  -  8,937  1,265  Executive transition costs  1,513  -  1,513  -  Facility closure and other reorganization costs  -  2,222  -  4,618 Adjusted Income Tax Expense (non-GAAP measure)$18,296 $13,999 $69,537 $58,274                         Adjusted Net Income:     Brady is presenting the non-GAAP measure, “Adjusted Net Income.”  This is not a calculation based upon GAAP.  The amounts included in this non-GAAP measure are derived from amounts included in the Consolidated Financial Statements and supporting footnote disclosures.  We do not view these items to be part of our ongoing results.  We believe this measure provides an important perspective of underlying business trends and results and provides a more comparable measure from year to year.  The table below provides a reconciliation of the GAAP measure of Net income to the non-GAAP measure of Adjusted Net Income:
                    Three months ended July 31, Year ended July 31,       2026   2025   2026   2025 Net income (GAAP measure)$45,591 $49,876 $205,378 $189,256  Amortization expense  3,904  3,630  15,869  14,366  Non-recurring acquisition-related costs and other related expenses (1)  16,680  -  26,810  3,794  Executive transition costs  4,538  -  4,538  -  Facility closure and other reorganization costs  -  6,668  -  13,856 Adjusted Net Income (non-GAAP measure)$70,713 $60,174 $252,595 $221,272                         Adjusted Diluted EPS:     Brady is presenting the non-GAAP measure, “Adjusted Diluted EPS.”  This is not a calculation based upon GAAP.  The amounts included in this non-GAAP measure are derived from amounts included in the Consolidated Financial Statements.  We do not view these items to be part of our ongoing results.  We believe this measure provides an important perspective of underlying business trends and results and provides a more comparable measure from year to year.  The table below provides a reconciliation of the GAAP measure of Net income per Class A Nonvoting Common Share to the non-GAAP measure of Adjusted Diluted EPS (Note that certain amounts will not foot due to rounding):
                    Three months ended July 31, Year ended July 31,       2026   2025   2026   2025 Net income per Class A Nonvoting Common Share (GAAP measure)$0.96 $1.04 $4.30 $3.94  Amortization expense  0.08  0.08  0.33  0.30  Non-recurring acquisition-related costs and other related expenses (1)  0.35  -  0.56  0.08  Executive transition costs  0.10  -  0.10  -  Facility closure and other reorganization costs  -  0.14  -  0.29 Adjusted Diluted EPS (non-GAAP measure)$1.48 $1.26 $5.29 $4.60 

Some investors are getting spooked by all the talk of circular financing in the artificial intelligence (AI) build-out, with the issue even being mentioned by Nvidia on its recent earnings call.

Nvidia has been investing significant capital from its balance sheet into AI labs and cloud computing providers -- aka neoclouds -- that are turning around and using that same money to buy Nvidia processors to equip their data centers.

Two companies taking part in such circular financing arrangements are CoreWeave (CRWV -1.12%) and Nebius Group (NBIS +2.28%), and their share prices are now down 41% and 30%, respectively, from their all-time highs.

With their share prices falling, should investors be worried about fragile financing for these neoclouds and the AI boom? Here's what the numbers say.

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CoreWeave's Nvidia backstop CoreWeave was originally a cryptocurrency miner, but it pivoted to an AI cloud computing model to use its idle Nvidia GPUs. It turns out that it was sitting on a gold mine.

Through investments in more data centers powered by Nvidia chips, CoreWeave quickly scaled its revenue from nearly nothing to over $2.5 billion last quarter, with a run rate of $10 billion a year. To finance the necessary build-out, however, it raised capital in numerous ways and now has $35 billion in debt on its balance sheet.

Nvidia is helping CoreWeave in two ways. First, it directly invested in the neocloud, which is turning around and using the funds it received to buy Nvidia chips for its new data centers. Second, Nvidia is providing a backstop for CoreWeave: If the neocloud doesn't find clients to lease all of the cloud computing capacity it's building, Nvidia will buy that capacity itself (through April 13, 2032).

CoreWeave will need to keep riding its reputation as a reliable cloud provider, as its overall capital expenditures are slated to land between $35 billion and $39 billion in 2026. It is investing well ahead of its current revenue generation, banking heavily on future AI cloud spending.

Image source: Getty Images.

Nebius's sneaky growth Nebius Group operates on a smaller scale than CoreWeave, but it's growing much faster. This business was spun out of the old Russian internet company Yandex, which was off-limits to Western investors because of sanctions. Now based in the Netherlands, the company is trying to build a massive neocloud operation.

Growth has been sound so far, up 454% year over year to $582 million last quarter alone. The company has been engaging in circular financing deals similar to CoreWeave's, as well as booking large commitments from hyperscalers like Microsoft and Meta Platforms. There is strong momentum in Nebius' business today, and it plans to continue investing in additional data centers to fulfill customer orders.

However, this puts it in the same category as CoreWeave, needing to invest heavily up front in capacity before it can earn revenue from those investments. It has spent $8 billion on capital expenditures through the first six months of this year alone, and it plans to spend more than $20 billion for all of 2026. To help finance this spending, it just raised $5.75 billion through an offering of convertible notes.

A tale as old as time The boom in AI spending may look like a blessing today, but these neoclouds are setting themselves up for disappointment in the long term. Circular financing, also known as vendor financing, has been a popular strategy during many asset booms over the years. For example, during the dot-com bubble, telecommunications equipment providers invested heavily in debt based on the belief that demand for fiber optic capacity would grow at an exponential pace forever.

Turns out, it didn't. Something similar could happen to neoclouds in the years ahead, despite how promising the growth path for compute demand looks today. CoreWeave itself boasts $104 billion in revenue commitments as of the end of last quarter, but that number does not tell investors how binding these commitments are. If the growth in AI demand from end consumers and enterprises slows down, it is possible that CoreWeave's customers will back out of their commitments, leaving it high and dry.

The businesses may survive better than those in the dot-com bubble because Nvidia has a rock-solid balance sheet with plenty of capacity to backstop both of these businesses (and others) in a liquidity pinch. That does not necessarily make their stocks a buy, but it makes their bankruptcies less likely in a bear scenario.

Intel (INTC +1.21%) closed at $24 a share a year ago. As of this writing, it trades near $89, about 3.7 times the price a year ago. The stock has also risen around 141% in 2026 alone.

However, the stock hit a high of $142.35 in late June and has fallen around 38% since then. It also trades below the $95 a share that Intel got in August, when it sold about 242 million new shares for approximately $23 billion.

The stock's direction from here depends on three things: whether the foundry wins external customers, how quickly earnings grow under more than $20 billion in capital expenditures, and across how many shares those earnings are split. Here is how I would turn those three into a range.

Image source: Intel.

Growth is backIntel's revenue in the second quarter rose 25% year over year, to $16.1 billion -- an acceleration from the first quarter's 7% and the fourth quarter of 2025's 4% decline. Non-GAAP (adjusted) gross margin reached 41.8%, 12 percentage points wider than a year earlier, and adjusted earnings per share were $0.42, versus a loss of $0.10 in the year-ago quarter.

The data center and artificial intelligence (AI) segment did most of the work, with revenue rising 59% year over year, to $6.3 billion, and operating income of $2.5 billion.

And management forecasts third-quarter revenue between $15.8 billion and $16.8 billion, implying about 19% growth at the midpoint -- slower, but well above anything Intel posted in 2025.

Will the foundry win any big customers?Intel's foundry revenue grew 31% year over year, to $5.8 billion, and its operating loss narrowed to $2.1 billion, from $3.2 billion a year earlier and $2.4 billion three months prior. But almost all of that revenue comes from Intel making chips for itself. Revenue from external customers was $293 million.

The company is spending as if that could change. Chief financial officer David Zinsner said on the second-quarter earnings call that Intel now expects capital expenditures of more than $20 billion in 2026 and that 2027 spending should be "significantly above the 2026 levels."

None of this has a big external name attached yet. Fortinet joined in July for a security processor, but the grand prize is Intel 14A, the next manufacturing process.

Version 0.9 of the 14A design kit (the toolset external chip designers work on) is scheduled for October. And CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in January that he expected customers to start making firm supplier decisions in the second half of this year and during the first half of 2027.

Those customer decisions, I believe, are what drive both ends of the range. Zinsner said in January that Intel would not spend on 14A capacity until it had secured customers. But Tan said on the second-quarter earnings call that Intel decided during the quarter to fully commit to high-volume 14A production in 2028, citing demand for its own products along with customer conversations. So the money will be spent either way. An external commitment determines whether customers help pay for it.

Intel had 5.04 billion shares outstanding at the end of June, and the August sale added about 242 million. That puts the number near 5.3 billion, approximately 21% above the year-ago quarter's average of 4.37 billion.

Of course, the balance sheet strengthened. Intel had about $30 billion in cash and short-term investments at the end of June, before the sale. But every dollar the company earns will be split across a fifth more shares than a year ago.

Analysts expect around $2 in adjusted earnings per share next year. At $89, that equals about 44 times next year's earnings.

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At the low end, no big 14A customer emerges and the foundry continues to lose money on Intel's own chips. That leaves a products company earning about $2 a share, which, at 15 times earnings, could put the stock near $30.

At the midpoint, the foundry reaches breakeven by the end of the decade, earnings rise to about $3.50 a share, and a 25-times-earnings multiple puts the stock near $90.

At the high end, 14A wins a couple of big customers, the foundry turns profitable, and earnings reach about $6 a share by 2031. At between 25 and 28 times earnings, that equals between $150 and $170, or an annual return of between 11% and 14% from here.

In other words, the current price already assumes the middle scenario. It could be said that the business is in its best shape in a decade. But, at this price, the reward for being right on the foundry is approximately the same size as the penalty for being wrong. I would stay on the sidelines for now. An identified 14A customer with volume to back it up would change my mind.

August was a busy month for Beyond Meat (BYND -7.07%). However, it wasn't ultimately a prosperous one. The company announced and effected a reverse stock split, a financial engineering move that rarely makes investors happy. This mitigated a positive development, namely a quarterly earnings report that featured beats on the top and bottom lines.

Investors clearly chose to focus on the negative of that reverse stock split. From beginning to end, Beyond Meat's shares fell by almost 22% over the course of August.

A better-than-expected second frame The good news hit the headlines first. On Aug. 5, Beyond Meat unwrapped its second-quarter results, revealing that revenue for the period was $68.8 million. That represented an 8% decline from the same frame of 2025.

Under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the company flipped to a net profit of $16.4 million from the year-ago loss of $31.8 million. However, this was significantly affected by a nearly $58 million accounting gain from debt extinguishment resulting from the conversion of portions of a convertible note issue.

Stripping this and other one-time/unique items out of the equation resulted in a non-GAAP (adjusted), per-share net loss of $0.06. Still, that was notably better than the $0.42-per-share shortfall in the second quarter of 2025.

It was also good enough to top the consensus analyst estimate of a $0.12-per-share net loss. Beyond Meat also beat on the top line, as those pundits were collectively modeling slightly over $65 million.

In the earnings release, management emphasized a rise in international retail sales. It also waxed optimistic about recent products, such as the new Beyond Steak Filet and the Beyond Immerse beverage line introduced earlier this year.

Beyond Meat was hesitant to provide detailed guidance, citing "an elevated level of uncertainty and volatility within its operating environment." It did proffer a revenue forecast for its current (third) quarter of $60 million to $65 million, which, unfortunately, is below the more than $70 million it earned in the same period last year.

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Reverse gear Another less-than-fortunate development for Beyond Meat that month was the reverse stock split. At least this was effected quickly -- the company announced it on Aug. 11, and it was completed three days later.

As is often the case, this reverse split -- at a ratio of 1-to-30 -- was done to help the company regain compliance with Nasdaq minimum stock trading requirements. So far, so good, as the company continues to trade well above the $1-per-share threshold mandated by the exchange.

Yet such a financial engineering move is a major red flag for investors, starkly illustrating a company's struggles and the unpopularity of its stock.

I don't think Beyond Meat's situation is dire, but I doubt the company is secure or poised for hot success either. It's got heavy competition in its core alt-meat business, and the diversification efforts exemplified by Beyond Immense aren't impressive (at least, not yet). I remain bearish on its future.

In the first half of 2026, Progressive (PGR +0.38%) bought back roughly $1 billion worth of its own stock. Chubb (CB +0.20%) bought back $1.37 billion in shares in the second quarter alone (bringing its first-half repurchases to $2.12 billion). Those numbers make Prudential's (PRU +2.31%) $250 million in second-quarter share repurchases sound like chump change, even though that's still a massive amount of cash to devote to a stock buyback.

Stock buybacks are often pitched as a way to return value to shareholders, and they are. However, there's another issue to consider here that may be just as important: Property and casualty insurance pricing is softening.

Image source: Getty Images.

What does a buyback do? When a company buys back its own stock, the number of shares in the market decreases. That sounds simple, but it's worth putting some numbers on this with a simple example. If a company has 100 shares and buys back 10, then there are only 90 shares left for investors to trade.

That has a significant impact on any financial measures based on shares. For example, if the company earns $100 and it has 100 shares, then earning per share are $1. If that share count falls to 90 and it still earns $100, then earnings per share improves 11% to $1.11. That said, if earnings fall, stock buybacks remain beneficial. An earnings drop to $90, along with that 10 share buyback, would keep earnings per share at $1.

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But there's an important middle ground. If earnings only dropped to $95, the 10-share buyback would leave the company with earnings per share of roughly $1.05. In other words, a moderate drop in earnings could still lead to higher earnings per share, with the reduction in the share count effectively offsetting the impact of a weakening business environment. Now it's time to start looking at the insurers and their stock buybacks.

The P&C insurance market is getting more competitive In a recent industry report, Marsh estimated that global insurance rates fell 6% in the second quarter. That said, casualty rates were estimated to have increased by 2%, while property rates dropped by a fairly sizable 12%. Property is typically a major line of business for most public P&C insurance companies.

What's going on, according to Marsh, is that after several strong years, companies are competing more aggressively, including on price. That's a fairly typical cycle in the insurance industry. Absent any large weather events or other disasters, pricing power is likely to remain under pressure.

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To give a specific example, Progressive's combined ratio increased to 86.8% in July, up 1.5 percentage points from a year ago. A combined ratio is a measure of profitability, comparing an insurance company's costs (operating costs and claims) to the premiums it collects. A number below 100% indicates a company is making a profit. So the 1.5 percentage-point increase indicates that Progressive's profitability is weakening.

Chubb's second-quarter results show that its combined ratio remained flat year over year at 81.9%. However, if property and casualty pricing is getting more competitive, buying back stock could help protect earnings from any potential business weakness in the future. So it probably isn't shocking that two insurers bought back huge amounts of stock in the first half of 2026.

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Notably, Prudential's buyback was much smaller. Prudential primarily sells life insurance, and its business continues to perform very well, buoyed by an asset management business benefiting from a strong stock market. You could argue that it simply doesn't have the same need to buy back shares as a property and casualty insurer like Chubb and Progressive.

Chubb and Progressive are likely protecting earnings growth Buying back shares is a way to return cash to shareholders without creating an ongoing obligation, unlike a dividend increase. So Chubb and Progressive are acting in a shareholder-friendly manner. However, the large stock buybacks will also help support earnings as the property and casualty sector gets more competitive, so there's more to the story here. And life insurance-focused Prudential's smaller buyback could be the example that shows what's really going on in the property and casualty insurance space.

BOSTON, Sept. 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verisk (Nasdaq: VRSK), a leading strategic data analytics and technology partner to the global insurance industry, today announced a new U.S. Data Center Exposure Database designed to help insurers, reinsurers and brokers better understand and manage one of the fastest-growing concentrations of risk. The database provides building-level geocoding, facility footprints, physical characteristics and operational attributes for more than 2,500 facilities nationwide. The Verisk U.S. Data Center Exposure Database can be leveraged to support a range of use cases and workflows within Verisk Synergy Studio and Touchstone.  

The launch comes as artificial intelligence drives significant investment in digital infrastructure and demand for data center capacity worldwide. Industry sources indicate that global data center insurance premiums could more than double from approximately $10 billion in 2026 to $23 billion by 2030, reflecting the rapid expansion of facilities supporting AI, cloud computing, and digital services. 

AI Infrastructure Growth Is Creating New Concentrations of Risk 

Data centers are an emerging critical infrastructure risk. These facilities often house billions of dollars in physical assets and support essential business, government, and digital operations. Yet insurers may often rely on incomplete or inconsistent location data when assessing exposure concentrations, catastrophe risk and portfolio accumulations. Verisk's new database was developed to provide an in-depth view of this rapidly growing asset class.  

The Verisk U.S. Data Center Exposure Database includes detailed location, structural and operational information for facilities across the country, including:  

rooftop-level geocoding building footprint dataconstruction typefloor areacapacityoperational redundancy characteristics   *Available data fields and levels of detail may vary by facility and source 

It includes flat-file records, building footprint shapefiles, and a 90-meter disaggregation grid to support advanced geospatial analytics and catastrophe modeling applications. The database is designed to support underwriting, exposure management, catastrophe analytics, and portfolio accumulation assessments.  

"AI is often discussed as a digital transformation story, but it is increasingly a physical infrastructure story,” said Rob Newbold, president of Verisk Catastrophe and Risk Solutions. “The facilities powering that growth represent billions of dollars in concentrated assets, and that has implications not only for insurers but also for reinsurers, investors and capital markets participants looking to understand and manage emerging sources of potential risk.”  

"Data centers have quietly become one of the largest and fastest-growing concentrations of insured value in the modern economy," said Jay Guin, executive vice president and chief research officer of Verisk Catastrophe and Risk Solutions. "Organizations are investing billions of dollars to support AI-driven growth, but many insurers are increasingly focused on understanding where these assets are located and how risk accumulates across regions and portfolios. If you can't identify the exposure, you can't effectively measure or manage it. This data set is designed to provide additional information to support those efforts." 

Verisk Answered Industry Demands for Insights into Data Center Exposure 

Verisk’s U.S. Data Center Exposure Database was developed as a tool to support industry demands for greater visibility into data center risk. 

“Data centers are ultimately physical facilities with real-world exposure to hurricanes, flooding, severe convective storms, earthquakes and other perils. As AI infrastructure continues expanding across the United States, understanding where those assets are located and how risks aggregate becomes increasingly important to insurers, businesses and communities alike," Guin concluded.  

The Verisk U.S. Data Center Exposure Database is available to insurers, reinsurers, brokers and other risk management organizations in Verisk’s catastrophe modeling software, Verisk Synergy Studio and Touchstone. 

Verisk’s U.S. Data Center Exposure Database is developed by AIR Worldwide Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Verisk Analytics, Inc. 

### 

About Verisk 
Verisk (Nasdaq: VRSK) is a leading strategic data analytics and technology partner to the global insurance industry. It empowers clients to strengthen operating efficiency, improve underwriting and claims outcomes, combat fraud and make informed decisions about global risks, including climate change, extreme events, sustainability and political issues. Through advanced data analytics, software, scientific research and deep industry knowledge, Verisk helps build global resilience for individuals, communities and businesses. With teams across more than 20 countries, Verisk consistently earns certification by Great Place to Work. For more, visit Verisk.com and the Verisk Newsroom.  

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Joint integration featuring F5 AI Security Platform and Agent Fabric embeds AI runtime security directly into agentic AI workflows, blocking threats like prompt injection and sensitive data exposure

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV), the global leader in delivering and securing every app and API, today announced a technology integration with MuleSoft, a Salesforce company, bringing F5 AI Guardrails—part of the F5 AI Security Platform—directly into Agent Fabric. As enterprises rapidly scale AI agents and large language model (LLM) applications, this native integration provides security and platform engineering teams with centralized policy enforcement, real-time protection against malicious prompts, and enhanced auditability without re-architecting or replacing the systems already in use.

As organizations scale agentic AI capabilities, security teams face a growing governance gap and frequently lack visibility into agentic traffic. They risk exposure from prompt injection, harmful outputs, and sensitive data leakage. The joint integration federates F5’s runtime AI security into Agent Fabric's Omni Gateway, enabling enterprises to enforce unified guardrail policies across all prompts and outputs moving through their agentic workflows.

Eliminating the governance gap for agentic AI

Until now, organizations deploying Agent Fabric and seeking to leverage F5 AI Guardrails have faced a trade-off: either route LLM traffic through a separate F5 inspection layer, creating additional operational complexity and fragmented telemetry, or rely solely on native gateway controls without extending F5 AI Guardrails policies directly into their MuleSoft-managed workflows.

By federating F5 AI Guardrails into Agent Fabric, enterprises gain:

Unified governance and zero double-proxy overhead: Policy management for AI traffic lives in a single control plane. Agent Fabric's Omni Gateway routes LLM calls directly to the F5 AI Guardrails Scan API, inspecting inbound prompts and outbound completions inline before models are invoked or responses returned. Support for Agentforce ecosystems: Organizations can apply consistent runtime security controls across Agentforce-powered agents, Agent Fabric workflows, and custom AI applications. Proactive threat mitigation: The solution is designed to block prompt injection, jailbreaks, toxicity, and unauthorized topics while reducing personally identifiable information (PII) and protected data exposure at runtime. Data residency and sovereign control: Flexible dual-deployment topology allows self-hosted Kubernetes deployments including private VPCs, allowing sensitive prompt and completion data to remain within customer boundaries. Low-touch policy tuning: Security teams author and version scanners, blocklists, and sensitivity thresholds within the F5 console, which Omni Gateway picks up dynamically without requiring policy or code changes. SOC back-correlation and compliance auditability: Decisions carry detailed telemetry and shared scan IDs for seamless correlation in the F5 console, simplifying compliance with regulations such as the EU AI Act, GDPR, and HIPAA. “AI agents are moving from experiments into the critical path of the enterprise,” said Kunal Anand, Chief Product Officer at F5. “The biggest risk in agentic AI is that agents will move faster than enterprise security and governance models can keep up. By integrating the F5 AI Security Platform directly into Agent Fabric, we are putting protection in the path of every prompt and response, where it can operate in real time. That lets organizations move faster with AI while preserving the control, visibility, and accountability their most important business processes demand.”

“We built Agent Fabric as the neutral solution to support enterprises running agents across a mix of models and platforms,” said Andrew Comstock, SVP & GM at MuleSoft. “By extending Agent Fabric’s existing LLM API and AI services to support F5 AI Guardrails as a first-class provider, we’re making it even easier for customers to scale their agentic enterprise on the security tooling they know and trust.”

Availability and Dreamforce demonstration

F5 AI Guardrails for Agent Fabric is now generally available. At Dreamforce (September 15–17, 2026, San Francisco), organizations can engage with the Agent Fabric team to learn more about the integration and explore how to apply AI security and governance controls across agentic AI deployments.

To learn more about how F5 and MuleSoft are securing the future of agentic AI, visit https://www.f5.com/solutions/ai-security.

About F5

F5, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) is the global leader that delivers and secures every app. Backed by three decades of expertise, F5 has built the industry’s premier platform—F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP)—to deliver and secure every app, every API, anywhere: on-premises, in the cloud, at the edge, and across hybrid, multicloud environments. F5 is committed to innovating and partnering with the world’s largest and most advanced organizations to deliver fast, available, and secure digital experiences. Together, we help each other thrive and bring a better digital world to life.

For more information visit f5.com

Explore F5 Labs threat research at f5.com/labs

Follow to learn more about F5, our partners, and technologies: Blog | LinkedIn | X | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook

F5 is a trademark, service mark, or tradename of F5, Inc. or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. The integration described herein does not create a partnership, joint venture, or agency relationship between the parties.

Source: F5, Inc.

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Somnigroup International NYSE: SGI said it has completed its acquisition of Leggett & Platt, expanding its vertical integration in bedding components while adding businesses serving automotive, furniture, geocomponents and hydraulic-cylinder markets.

Chairman, President and CEO Scott Thompson said the combined company has more than $11 billion in trailing 12-month sales, more than $750 million in trailing 12-month net income, over 170 manufacturing plants, more than 2,800 retail stores, over 40 direct-to-consumer e-commerce websites and approximately 36,000 associates. The company also reported a $20 billion enterprise value and $15 billion market capitalization following the transaction.

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Leggett & Platt will operate as a standalone business unit within Somnigroup, alongside Tempur Sealy, Mattress Firm and Dreams. Thompson said the decentralized model is intended to allow individual units to remain close to their customers and markets while drawing on Somnigroup’s scale, balance sheet and operational capabilities.

Synergy Target Raised to $75 Million Executive Vice President and CFO Bhaskar Rao said Somnigroup increased its annual run-rate synergy target to approximately $75 million, up from the roughly $50 million estimate provided when the deal was announced. The revised target includes $35 million of sourcing-related opportunities, $30 million in operations-related opportunities and a $10 million EBITDA benefit from innovation initiatives.

The company expects to realize about $25 million of synergy benefits during calendar 2027, with full realization over three years. Rao said Somnigroup expects to produce more than 90% of its U.S. innerspring needs internally beginning Jan. 1, 2027. Before the combination, Somnigroup sourced 80% of its U.S. springs from Leggett & Platt under a long-term contract, according to Thompson.

Operational opportunities include manufacturing optimization, logistics efficiencies involving chemical storage, warehousing and ocean freight, and the removal of duplicative public-company costs. The companies are also evaluating additional sourcing opportunities in chemicals and professional services.

Thompson said the company’s current synergy target does not include potential revenue synergies, including possible volume gains stemming from Mattress Firm’s updated merchandising standards. Mattress Firm has communicated more stringent component-qualification criteria to suppliers, and Leggett & Platt’s innerspring systems and ECS specialty foams have qualified under those standards.

Financial Impact and Guidance Rao said the all-stock transaction was valued at approximately $2.3 billion based on Somnigroup’s Aug. 25, 2026 closing share price and including Leggett & Platt’s existing net debt. Somnigroup issued approximately 20.6 million shares in connection with the acquisition.

The acquisition is expected to be approximately $0.35 to $0.40 accretive to annualized earnings per share before synergies under the current operating environment, Rao said. For the partial 2026 period, the company expects roughly $0.10 of EPS accretion on approximately $1.2 billion in Leggett sales after eliminating intercompany revenue. Somnigroup raised its annual guidance by $0.10 as a result.

For the remainder of 2026, Rao said the company expects Leggett & Platt to contribute approximately $1.25 billion in as-reported sales and $120 million in adjusted EBITDA, with roughly two-thirds of the EBITDA contribution expected in the fourth quarter. He said the third quarter faces a difficult prior-year comparison, while the fourth quarter is expected to show some sales and EBITDA growth.

Somnigroup also expects approximately $50 million of annualized non-cash expense from the fair-value adjustment of the acquired business, primarily affecting cost of goods sold, and approximately $10 million of annualized non-cash expense related to acquired Leggett bonds, affecting interest expense.

The transaction reduced Somnigroup’s net financial leverage by approximately 0.2 times, according to Rao. The company expects to end the year near the midpoint of its 2-times to 3-times adjusted EBITDA leverage target range.

Product Branding and Industry Outlook Somnigroup plans to highlight Leggett & Platt innerspring technology on selected mattress products, beginning with an all-new Stearns & Foster collection scheduled for launch this fall. Thompson said the initiative is designed to make consumers more aware of the components that affect mattress comfort, support and durability.

“What is in your mattress matters,” Thompson said, adding that retail sales associates will receive enhanced training on the quality and durability of Leggett springs.

Thompson said the company does not expect material channel conflict with Leggett & Platt’s third-party bedding customers. He cited the component supplier’s product quality and manufacturing scale, and said there is no strategic reason the transaction should threaten those customers.

On the broader market, Thompson said the global bedding industry remains structurally sound despite an extended downturn. He attributed weak demand primarily to consumer confidence and said entry-level consumers and those unsettled by current events have been slower to enter the mattress-buying funnel.

Somnigroup plans to update its long-term outlook, including the acquisition’s impact on its prior 2028 EPS target of $5.15, when it reports fourth-quarter results. Thompson said the previous target remains “in play,” while the Leggett & Platt acquisition could increase upside if the bedding market recovers.

The company continues to target allocating 50% of free cash flow during 2026 and expects stock repurchases to be “very robust” over the foreseeable future, particularly in 2027, Thompson said.

About Somnigroup International (NYSE:SGI)Somnigroup International Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails bedding products in the United States and internationally. It provides mattresses, foundations and adjustable foundations, and adjustable bases, as well as other products comprising pillows, mattress covers, sheets, cushions, and various other accessories and comfort products under the Tempur-Pedic, Sealy, Stearns & Foster, Sealy, and Cocoon by Sealy brand names. The company sells its products through approximately company-owned stores, online, and call centers; and third party retailers, including third party distribution, hospitality, and healthcare.

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

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Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix shares rebounded on Thursday after Dell Technologies provided evidence that demand for AI infrastructure remains strong.

Samsung rose 1.2% to 253,500 won in early Seoul trading, while SK Hynix gained 1.5% to 1.637 million won. Both had fallen more than 4% on Wednesday as oil prices and Treasury yields rose.

Overnight, Dell surged 15.8% after reporting record AI-server orders and a $95 billion backlog. For Korean memory investors, demand remains strong, while memory itself is still constraining supply.

Dell reported second-quarter revenue of $47 billion and adjusted earnings of $7.04 a share, ahead of Wall Street estimates.

For Samsung and SK Hynix, the company booked a record $60.9 billion in AI-server orders, generated $16.4 billion in AI-server revenue, and ended the quarter with a $95 billion backlog. Dell raised its AI-server revenue forecast to $74 billion from $60 billion.

Citi analyst Asiya Merchant called the quarter a “clear beat” amid “surging” demand, according to The Fly. Citi raised its Dell target to $600 from $515 and maintained a Buy rating.

Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring raised his target to $499 from $434.

He said the results showed companies were investing materially in AI across cloud, hybrid and on-premises environments, adding that “blowout” quarters could persist while supply remains tight and execution stays strong.

That is a powerful read-through for Korean chipmakers as AI infrastructure spending is still running ahead of the supply chain’s ability to satisfy it.

Dell’s commentary on supply constraints was even more relevant than the headline earnings beat.

Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke told investors that the biggest constraints remain “DRAM, followed by NAND, NAND,” alongside shortages across other parts of the server supply chain.

That matters because Samsung and SK Hynix sit inside those bottlenecks. SK Hynix is a leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory used with AI accelerators, while Samsung supplies HBM, conventional DRAM and NAND.

Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh said Dell is benefiting from “strong tailwinds” from agentic AI and AI servers, particularly when combined with higher-margin storage. Mizuho raised its Dell target to $600 from $500 and kept an Outperform rating.

If server makers still cannot secure enough memory to meet demand, the pricing environment supporting Korean memory producers has not suddenly disappeared.

Samsung closed 4.0% lower on Wednesday and SK Hynix fell 4.7% as the KOSPI dropped almost 4%. Higher oil prices, elevated US Treasury yields and geopolitical tensions drove foreign selling across technology shares.

That pressure eased overnight. The US 10-year Treasury yield retreated from an intraday high around 4.82%, while Nvidia gained 3.2% and Micron rose 2.4%.

Kiwoom Securities analyst Han Ji-young told MoneyToday that recent weakness was unlikely to reflect individual company fundamentals. She instead pointed to “a temporary weakening of new buying momentum” amid short-term macro uncertainty.

Han added that stronger AI-semiconductor sales expectations could improve earnings momentum across leading chip stocks.

The macro risk has not vanished. Another surge in oil or bond yields could quickly pressure valuations again.

But Dell’s results make one point harder to ignore: the underlying AI-memory cycle remains strong. Dell is booking record server orders while naming DRAM and NAND among its biggest constraints.

The acquisition adds AI-powered due diligence and monitoring to Nasdaq eVestment™ and deepens the platform's coverage of private markets.  | Source: Nasdaq, Inc.

NEW YORK, Sept. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Dasseti, an AI-powered due diligence and monitoring platform for investment consultants, institutional investors, and asset managers. Dasseti's capabilities will be integrated into Nasdaq eVestment™, extending the platform across the full manager research, due diligence, and monitoring lifecycle. First announced on July 23, 2026, the acquisition builds on a relationship that began with an early-stage investment by Nasdaq Ventures in 2022. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Institutional teams operate across an expanding universe of managers, strategies, and asset classes, particularly in private markets, where data is less standardized and reporting requirements are more demanding. Nasdaq eVestment operates at the center of that universe, connecting roughly 4,800 contributing asset managers with more than 1,200 asset owners and intermediaries, powering more than $90 trillion in assets under management across 112,000+ products in 109 countries. Additionally, private markets coverage now includes more than 16,000 managers and 95,000 funds, all accessible via Nasdaq eVestment, global data providers, and customer relationship management platforms.

Dasseti applies AI to the due diligence questionnaires, request for proposals (RFPs), and ongoing monitoring that generate insight on how managers operate. The platform covers 17,000 asset managers and general partners (GPs) representing $34 trillion in assets under management, one of the industry's largest due diligence and monitoring ecosystems. Integrated into Nasdaq eVestment, those capabilities are expected to accelerate response times and improve data quality - giving consultants and institutional investors a complete path from screening through selection and ongoing monitoring in a single environment, while unifying the RFP, due diligence questionnaire (DDQ), and database management experience for asset managers.

"Much of the due diligence and RFP process still happens outside core research platforms, in a patchwork of spreadsheets, PDFs, and email threads," said Oliver Albers, Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer, Capital Access Platforms, Nasdaq. “With Dasseti, we're bringing AI-powered due diligence and monitoring into Nasdaq eVestment, creating a more connected experience that helps institutional investors move from research to decision-making and ongoing oversight with greater efficiency and confidence."

For more information on Nasdaq eVestment: https://www.nasdaq.com/products/evestment

About Nasdaq
Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) is a leading technology platform that powers the world’s economies. We architect the infrastructure of the world’s most modern markets, power the innovation economy, and build trust in the financial system. We empower economic opportunity by designing and deploying advanced technology, data, and intelligence solutions that enable our clients to capture opportunities, navigate risk, and strengthen resilience. To learn more about the company, technology solutions and career opportunities, visit us on LinkedIn, on X www.nasdaq.com.

About Nasdaq eVestment™
Nasdaq eVestment™ is a leading institutional intelligence and analytics platform that connects asset managers, asset owners, and investment consultants across public and private markets. As part of Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ), Nasdaq eVestment empowers institutional investment teams to make smarter, faster, and more confident decisions by delivering trusted data, market insights, and purpose-built workflows across the investment lifecycle. With the industry's most comprehensive database of institutional strategies, investors, and professionals, Nasdaq eVestment™ brings transparency and efficiency to manager research, due diligence, fundraising, and distribution. Our data, analytics, benchmarks, and engagement tools help clients uncover opportunities, evaluate performance, and strengthen relationships across the institutional investment community. To learn more about Nasdaq eVestment™, visit www.nasdaq.com/solutions/evestment.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Nasdaq cautions readers that any forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and that actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information. When used in this press release, words such as "will", "expected” and similar expressions and any other statements that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, among other things, statements about the potential benefits of the transaction to Nasdaq, and the capabilities and features of Dasseti’s offerings and solutions integrated with Nasdaq eVestment’s offerings.

Further information on these and other risks and uncertainties relating to Nasdaq can be found in its reports filed on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K and in other filings Nasdaq makes with the SEC from time to time and available at www.sec.gov. These documents are also available under the Investor Relations section of Nasdaq 's website at http://ir.nasdaq.com/investor-relations. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. Nasdaq undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Media Contact
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Shares of Figma (FIG -5.40%) were moving higher last month, benefiting from a broad recovery in software stocks as fears of AI disruption faded and as the cloud design software delivered another strong earnings report, though the stock fell immediately after it.

According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the stock finished August up 13%. As you can see from the chart below, the stock was volatile over the course of the month, falling on its earnings report early in the month, but jumped on Aug. 13 and later in the month on Aug. 27 when Salesforce delivered a strong earnings report.

FIG data by YCharts

What happened to Figma After Figma jumped on Aug. 4 in sympathy with Palantir, which surged following its earnings report, Figma tumbled on Aug. 6 on its own quarterly report, despite better-than-expected results.

Second-quarter revenue jumped 48%, marking the third straight quarter of revenue acceleration, and the company credited new AI products like Code Layers for the strong growth. Revenue of $370.1 million beat the consensus at $351.5 million.

Overall customer growth was strong, and the company reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.08, which increased from break-even adjusted EPS in the quarter a year ago, and estimates at $0.04.

Figma even raised its guidance, calling for full-year revenue growth of 39% to $1.463 billion-$1.467 billion.

Despite the strong numbers, investors were wary of its spending as its cost of revenue more than doubled in the quarter, reflecting spending to run new AI features, and it reported a wide generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) loss due to spending roughly 40% of revenue on stock-based compensation.

Still, Figma bounced back soon after that. The stock gained 11% on Aug. 13 after a softer-than-expected CPI report eased fears of interest rate hikes, and it jumped again on Aug. 27 in response to strong results from Salesforce, which lifted the software sector and showed it can continue to grow in the AI era.

Image source: Figma.

What's next for Figma Figma is still struggling to convince investors it can continue to thrive in the AI era. While three straight quarters of accelerating revenue should help undo those concerns, its rising cost of revenue could be a problem.

Overall, the company continues to look well-positioned as it challenges Adobe for leadership in design software, but it will have to assuage investor concerns about margin compression.

Jeremy Bowman has positions in Figma. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Adobe, Figma, Palantir Technologies, and Salesforce. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2028 $330 calls on Adobe and short January 2028 $340 calls on Adobe. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) Q3 2026 Earnings Call September 2, 2026 5:00 PM EDT

Company Participants

Ji Yoo - Director of Investor Relations
Hock Tan - President, CEO & Executive Director
Amie O'Toole - Chief Financial Officer
Charlie Kawwas - President of Semiconductor Solutions

Conference Call Participants

Joseph Moore - Morgan Stanley, Research Division
Blayne Curtis - Jefferies LLC, Research Division
Harlan Sur - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division
Stacy Rasgon - Bernstein Institutional Services LLC, Research Division
Jack Adair - Melius Research LLC
Vivek Arya - BofA Securities, Research Division
Thomas O'Malley - Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division
William Stein - Truist Securities, Inc., Research Division
Joshua Buchalter - TD Cowen, Research Division
James Schneider - Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division
Vijay Rakesh - Mizuho Securities USA LLC, Research Division

Presentation

Operator

Welcome to Broadcom Inc.'s Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Ji Yoo, Head of Investor Relations of Broadcom Inc. Please go ahead.

Ji Yoo
Director of Investor Relations

Thank you, Cheri, and good afternoon, everyone. Joining me on today's call are Hock Tan, President and CEO; Amie Thuener, Chief Financial Officer; and Charlie Kawwas, President, Semiconductor Solutions Group. Broadcom distributed a press release and financial tables after the market closed, describing our financial performance for the third quarter fiscal year 2026. If you did not receive a copy, you may obtain the information from the Investors section of Broadcom's website at broadcom.com. This conference call is being webcast live, and an audio replay of the call can be accessed for 1 year through the Investors section of Broadcom's website.

During the prepared comments, Hock and Amie will be providing details of our third quarter fiscal year 2026 results, guidance for our fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026 as well

Sandisk (SNDK +1.08%) built its name on memory cards and flash drives. But in its fiscal fourth quarter of 2026, which ended July 3, the company sold $2.98 billion of storage to datacenter customers -- about a third of its $8.97 billion in total revenue. A year earlier, that datacenter business generated just $213 million in quarterly sales.

The scale of the change goes beyond one quarter. Sandisk separated from Western Digital in February 2025, and in fiscal 2026, its first full year on its own, it generated $20.25 billion of revenue, up 175%, with the datacenter piece up 437%.

But the bigger change isn't who is buying the company's storage. It's how they're buying it.

Image source: Getty Images.

A steep mix shiftShowing just how fast the customer base is moving, datacenter revenue has climbed for three straight quarters. It was $440 million in the fiscal second quarter, about 15% of the company's revenue. By the fiscal third quarter, it had grown to $1.47 billion, about 25%. And it hit $2.98 billion in the fourth, about a third of the total.

That said, the edge business, which sells flash storage to makers of PCs, smartphones, gaming consoles, and cars, is still the biggest piece of the company, at $5.43 billion of fiscal fourth-quarter revenue.

Consumer products, however, contributed just $556 million, about 6% of the quarter and down 5% year over year. In other words, the retail cards and drives Sandisk is named for are now its smallest business.

What do the contracts guarantee?Memory pricing is famously boom-and-bust, and Sandisk's answer is what it calls the New Business Model (NBM) -- multiyear supply agreements signed directly with large datacenter and edge customers.

The terms are what make the shift structural. Chief financial officer Luis Visoso said on the company's August earnings call that Sandisk now has 10 of these agreements across eight customers, five of them signed since April. The agreements run as long as five years, with a weighted average duration of more than four years. Pricing includes fixed and variable elements, with the variable portion subject to floors and ceilings. In total, the NBMs Sandisk has signed represent a minimum of $93.9 billion in expected revenue, assuming every variable price settles at its floor. The deals are also backed by $16.5 billion of customer cash deposits and financial instruments.

The contracted share is still growing, too. Management expects NBMs to cover about half of Sandisk's bit shipments in fiscal 2027, and about two-thirds in fiscal 2028.

Of course, contracted volume isn't the same thing as guaranteed revenue, and the ceilings may cap Sandisk's upside if spot prices keep climbing. But I'd argue the floors matter more than the $93.9 billion headline number. Minimum prices under a growing share of shipments change the downside math in an industry known for brutal crashes.

Higher prices did most of the workFor all that structure, fiscal 2026 was mostly a pricing story. Sandisk's total products sold rose by a mid-teens percentage on an exabyte basis (a measure of raw storage volume shipped), while revenue rose 175%. And management said about two-thirds of the fiscal fourth quarter's sequential revenue growth came from higher pricing, with one-third from higher volumes.

That pricing boom shows up most clearly in profitability. Gross margin reached 84.6%, up from 26.2% in the year-ago period.

The company also swung to $6.9 billion of quarterly net income from a small loss a year earlier. And free cash flow for the full year went from a $120 million outflow in fiscal 2025 to $11.5 billion.

Management doesn't expect a cooldown yet, either. It guided fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue between $10.3 billion and $10.8 billion, up 15% to 20% sequentially, with gross margin expected to stay at 83% to 85%.

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The market remains skeptical, though. Shares trade around $1,537 as of this writing, down about 35% from a 52-week high, at about 21 times fiscal 2026 earnings.

Measured against expected earnings for fiscal 2027, the price-to-earnings multiple falls to about 7. A steep decline in memory pricing, in other words, is arguably already priced in.

Is Sandisk a different company now? On the customer side, I think it clearly is. A third of revenue comes from data centers, about half of this fiscal year's shipments are already committed under contract, and there are price floors where prices used to float freely.

However, the new model hasn't been tested by a downturn yet. And even Sandisk's own long-term financial model, laid out at its August investor day, calls for non-GAAP (adjusted) gross margins of about 80% for fiscal 2028 through 2030 -- below the 84.6% it just reported. The floors cushion a fall in contracted pricing. They don't make fiscal 2026's boom prices permanent.

In the latest close session, Macy's (M - Free Report) was up +2.23% at $22.42. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.46%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.56%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.45%.

Shares of the department store operator witnessed a loss of 16.33% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Retail-Wholesale sector with its loss of 3.73%, and the S&P 500's gain of 2%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Macy's in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on September 10, 2026. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $0.37, signifying a 9.76% drop compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $4.82 billion, indicating a 0.16% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.22 per share and revenue of $21.77 billion, which would represent changes of -4.31% and +0.05%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Macy's. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.

Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.37% higher. Macy's currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Looking at its valuation, Macy's is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 9.87. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 13.77 for its industry.

The Retail - Regional Department Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 9, this industry ranks in the top 4% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

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

Costco (COST - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $928.48, demonstrating a -1.22% change from the preceding day's closing price. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.46%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.56%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.45%.

Shares of the warehouse club operator have depreciated by 0.83% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 3.73%, and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 2%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Costco in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to go public on September 24, 2026. In that report, analysts expect Costco to post earnings of $6.51 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 10.9%. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $94.46 billion, indicating a 9.64% upward movement from the same quarter last year.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $20.42 per share and a revenue of $301.96 billion, representing changes of +13.51% and +9.71%, respectively, from the prior year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Costco. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.

Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.06% increase. Currently, Costco is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Costco has a Forward P/E ratio of 41.75 right now. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 20.79 for its industry.

Also, we should mention that COST has a PEG ratio of 3.89. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The Retail - Discount Stores industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.82 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 23, positioning it in the top 10% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

Shares of Wix.com (WIX -1.91%) zoomed over 60% in August, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The website-building platform was considered an artificial intelligence (AI) loser earlier this year, but that narrative completely reversed this summer, with the company posting solid revenue growth and major margin improvement for its new AI-generative application builder.

Here's why Wix stock was up in August, and whether it is a buy now.

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Software rebound The catalyst for Wix's massive move last month was its earnings report at the beginning of the month. Investors had beaten down Wix, sending shares from close to $200 in September of last year to under $50 by the end of July, on the theory that Wix's website-building platform would lose out to new generative AI tools.

So far, Wix's earnings do not show any signs of AI fatigue. Revenue was up 15% year-over-year last quarter to $563.1 million, with all segments growing in the double digits. Importantly, management said its new and fast-growing application builder, called Base44, should reach 60% gross margins, compared to around 0% at the start of the year.

Later in the month, Wix management confirmed that Base44 had surpassed $200 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), up from $100 million five months ago. This makes Base44 one of the fastest-growing AI businesses in the world, and could prove a great asset for Wix in the years ahead.

Image source: Getty Images.

Still time to buy? After jumping in August, Wix now trades at a $3.6 billion market cap. It repurchased $1.6 billion worth of its outstanding shares in the Spring in a tender offer, which has aggresively brought down its share count, with the stock still down 75% from highs set back in 2021.

Wix became unprofitable in 2026 due to major investments in growing Base44 and its new homegrown AI website builder, Wix Harmony. However, in the long term, the high gross margins of Wix's legacy business and the improving gross margins of its AI segments should lead to solid profitability and free cash flow.

Over the last twelve months, Wix's revenue was $2.1 billion. If revenue can keep growing at 15%, it will be over $3 billion three years from now. Assuming bottom-line profit margins can expand to 20%, that is $600 million in annual earnings power, or just 6x its current market cap.

For those with a multi-year time horizon, Wix stock still looks cheap today.

Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. (WOOF) Q2 2026 Earnings Call September 2, 2026 4:15 PM EDT

Company Participants

Roxanne Meyer - VP, Head of Investor Relations & Treasury
Joel Anderson - CEO & Director
Sabrina Simmons - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Michael Lasser - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division
Katharine McShane - Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division
Kaumil Gajrawala - Jefferies LLC, Research Division
Peter Benedict - Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, Research Division
Steven Zaccone - Citigroup Inc., Research Division
Oliver Wintermantel - Evercore ISI Institutional Equities, Research Division
Steven Forbes - Guggenheim Securities, LLC, Research Division
Simeon Gutman - Morgan Stanley, Research Division
David Lantz - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division

Presentation

Operator

Thank you. Good day, and welcome to Petco's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this event is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Roxanne Meyer, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasury. Please go ahead.

Roxanne Meyer
VP, Head of Investor Relations & Treasury

Good afternoon, and welcome to Petco's Second Quarter Fiscal 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Joining me on the call today are Joel Anderson, Petco's Chief Executive Officer; and Sabrina Simmons, Petco's Chief Financial Officer. In addition to the earnings release, we've posted a slide presentation on our website at ir.petco.com.

I'd like to remind everyone that on this call, we will make certain forward-looking statements which are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. These risks and uncertainties include those set out in our earnings materials and SEC filings. In addition, on today's call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these measures can be found in our earnings release, presentation and SEC filings.

With that, I'll turn the call

ChargePoint's Comeback Story: Why This EV Stock Is Charging Up AgainChargePoint NYSE: CHPT reported second-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue of $116 million, exceeding its prior guidance range of $100 million to $110 million, as stronger hardware shipments and higher home charging sales lifted results. Revenue rose 14% sequentially and 18% from a year earlier, marking the company’s fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

Chief Executive Officer Rick Wilmer said the quarter included record gross margins and “essentially zero cash burn,” while the company began shipping early-access units of its Express Solo DC charging product. The quarter ended July 31, 2026.

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Revenue Mix and Margin Improvement EVgo's 37% Revenue Growth: Forget the Car, Buy the Gas StationNetworked Charging Systems revenue totaled $63 million, representing 54% of total revenue and rising 25% year over year. Subscription revenue was $44 million, or 38% of revenue, up 10% from the prior-year period. Other revenue accounted for $9 million.

By billings vertical, commercial represented 69% of second-quarter billings, followed by fleet at 11%, residential at 10%, and other categories at 11%. North America contributed 82% of revenue, while Europe represented 18%.

ChargePoint Recalibrates: What’s Really Under the HoodNon-GAAP gross margin reached 38%, up seven percentage points sequentially and five points from a year ago. The result included about $4 million of tariff refunds recognized as a one-time reduction in cost of goods sold. Excluding that benefit, normalized non-GAAP gross margin was approximately 35%, still reflecting a three-percentage-point sequential improvement and a two-point year-over-year increase.

Chief Financial Officer Mansi Khetani said higher revenue helped improve fixed-cost absorption, while warranty, inbound freight and warehousing costs also improved. Sales of higher-margin AC products contributed to the quarter’s margin performance. ChargePoint expects gross margins to remain generally near normalized levels for the remainder of the fiscal year, though product mix could cause some variation.

Hardware gross margin was 21%, increasing 13 percentage points from the prior quarter. Subscription gross margin reached 59% on a GAAP basis.

Costs, Cash and Outlook Non-GAAP operating expenses declined to $52 million from $54 million in the first quarter and were down 11% from a year earlier. Khetani said a company-wide cost optimization initiative completed in late July is expected to reduce quarterly non-GAAP operating expenses to below $50 million for the rest of the year.

ChargePoint’s non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed to $5 million, compared with losses of $19 million in the previous quarter and $22 million in the year-earlier period. The company ended the quarter with $96 million in cash, unchanged from the first quarter.

Inventory declined to $179 million from $204 million, releasing working capital that helped fund operations. Khetani said ChargePoint expects inventory to continue falling during the year, which could support cash generation. She said the company could be positioned to generate positive cash flow later in the year, though she noted that cash flow remains subject to multiple variables.

For the third quarter of fiscal 2027, ChargePoint forecast revenue of $105 million to $115 million. The midpoint of that range would represent 4% year-over-year growth. Management said elevated North American home charging sales contributed to the second-quarter revenue beat but are not expected to recur in the third quarter, as those sales can be concentrated around large retail events.

Express Solo Ramp and Strategic Initiatives Wilmer said ChargePoint has started fulfilling backlog with early-access Express Solo units and expects production inventory to be available in its fiscal fourth quarter. The company said its Express architecture demonstrated charging above 600 kilowatts on a passenger vehicle, taking the vehicle from 10% to 80% charge in 11 minutes during a live demonstration at its headquarters.

The company expects Express to become a significant revenue driver as it scales entering fiscal 2028. Wilmer said the platform is intended for applications including highway corridors, autonomous-vehicle fleet depots and high-utilization charging sites. He also said additional variants of the Express architecture targeting different market segments are expected to enter production over the next year and a half.

ChargePoint said it has accounted for supply-chain conditions related to AI data-center construction, including higher memory prices and demand for silicon carbide modules. Wilmer said the company has supplier commitments that support the demand it currently expects.

The company also highlighted its partnership with Eaton, which includes jointly engineered products and go-to-market efforts. During the quarter, ChargePoint and Eaton began a collaboration with Santa Monica Department of Transportation for the agency’s planned transition to a zero-emission Big Blue Bus fleet by 2032. The project calls for 130 DC fast-charging ports featuring ChargePoint’s Express Plus equipment, alongside Eaton electrical infrastructure and energy-management offerings.

Network Growth and Customer Activity ChargePoint said software-only managed ports, which are third-party hardware ports managed through its software platform, increased to 138,750 from 135,000 in the prior quarter. Total managed ports rose to approximately 422,000 from 406,000, including more than 46,950 DC fast chargers and more than 150,000 ports in Europe.

Monthly active users increased to 1.55 million from 1.48 million at the end of April. Globally, ChargePoint drivers had access to nearly 1.5 million public and private charging ports.

During the quarter, ChargePoint cited expanded work with Mercedes-Benz for commercial fleet customers in the United Kingdom and Germany; an agreement with Optimus Energy Solutions to add more than 200 DC ports across the southeastern United States; and a planned deployment at 12 Onvo travel stops in the Northeast. The company also discussed airport, government and transit deployments, including charging infrastructure at Portland International Airport and additional fast-charging sites in Rhode Island.

Wilmer said ChargePoint is increasing its emphasis on Europe and appointed John Saffert as executive vice president and managing director of Europe. The company also said artificial intelligence initiatives are automating business processes, improving customer support and doubling software-engineering productivity, according to management.

About ChargePoint (NYSE:CHPT)ChargePoint NYSE: CHPT is a leading provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions that designs, develops and markets charging hardware, software and services. The company's portfolio includes Level 2 AC charging stations for residential, commercial and fleet applications, as well as DC fast charging systems suited for retail, hospitality and public use. ChargePoint's integrated platform enables site hosts to manage charging infrastructure through cloud-based monitoring, analytics and billing tools, while EV drivers access and control charging sessions via a mobile app or RFID card.

Since its founding in 2007 and headquarters in Campbell, California, ChargePoint has built one of the largest open EV charging networks in the world.

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

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JFrog’s AI Opportunity Could Fuel a Big Leap in Share PriceJFrog NASDAQ: FROG used its swampUP 2026 investor session to outline product updates aimed at securing, remediating and governing software supply chains as enterprises deploy more AI-assisted development tools. Executives also discussed customer adoption of its AppTrust governance offering, integrations with security providers and the company’s approach to managing AI-generated software artifacts.

The company framed its strategy around three themes: “protect, remediate, and control.” The event’s operator highlighted the Package Traffic Controller, integrations with SASE providers including Zscaler and Netskope, expanded support in Artifactory for AI-related assets, a Wiz integration, zero-touch vulnerability remediation capabilities and enhancements to AppTrust.

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Keysight Discusses Governance Needs JFrog Stock Gets Punished for Solid Results: Buy the DipChristophe Romatier, chief information security officer at Keysight Technologies, said the test, measurement and design-solutions company has increased its software development activity and use of AI. Keysight has about 5,000 developers, according to Romatier, and its DevSecOps organization also oversees internal AI initiatives.

Romatier said governance has become both a security and compliance issue, as well as a developer productivity concern. He cited the Secure Software Development Framework and the European Union’s Cyber Resilience Act as regulations that require organizations to catalog artifacts and software bills of materials alongside products.

JFrog leaps on EPS beat and raised guidance“We don’t really want [developers] spending time capturing compliance or filling in compliance checklists,” Romatier said. “We want our developers writing code.”

Keysight selected JFrog AppTrust after identifying a manual process for capturing and archiving compliance materials that was slowing research and development work, he said. Since Keysight had used JFrog Artifactory for years, the company viewed compliance evidence as another class of artifact that could reside alongside binaries and follow products through their release lifecycle.

Romatier said AI coding tools increased the urgency to automate governance. Without automation, Keysight would have needed to devote more developer time to compliance activities or hire additional personnel, he said. Looking ahead, he said Keysight intends to apply governance across its applications rather than maintain separate processes for higher-sensitivity software.

“Once you’ve done the work to automate the tasks that need to occur on every build, on every release, it’s no longer a question of, do I only want to apply it to this area?” Romatier said. He added that Keysight is working toward a regulatory compliance milestone in October of the following year.

Artifactory Positioned as AI Control Plane JFrog Chief Executive Officer Shlomi Ben Haim and Chief Technology Officer Yoav Landman said the growing volume of binaries produced and consumed by AI agents reinforces the importance of artifact management.

Ben Haim described Artifactory as evolving beyond a system of record into a “system of trust.” He said AI labs and other organizations are putting greater demands on software infrastructure as agents consume packages and generate more software artifacts.

Landman said AI agents are substantial consumers of binaries and also create more binaries that ultimately become deployed software. He said JFrog’s roadmap centers on adding controls around the packages agents can access, protecting Artifactory and retaining release metadata that customers can use to apply policies.

“The key thing is to instill trust into this new reality,” Landman said.

Landman also addressed a question about vulnerabilities affecting on-premises installations. He said some vulnerabilities have greater exposure in on-premises environments because of the configurations needed to exploit them. JFrog provides configuration guidance and issues patches, he said, while platform upgrades can be applied without downtime.

Traffic Controller and AppTrust Expansion Ben Haim said the new Package Traffic Controller is intended to direct incoming software packages through Artifactory rather than allowing users or agents to bypass the repository and pull packages directly from the internet. The company is working with SASE providers including Zscaler, Cloudflare and Netskope, he said.

According to Ben Haim, the Traffic Controller works with JFrog Curation to screen packages against organizational policies before they enter Artifactory. He said the approach is designed to maintain developer workflow speed while preventing unapproved or potentially risky artifacts from entering an organization’s software environment.

Chief Financial Officer Ed Grabscheid said Curation is currently priced on a per-seat basis for contributing developers. He said that directing more trusted binaries into Artifactory could drive additional storage and consumption, and that JFrog expects pricing to evolve over time. He did not provide details of potential pricing changes.

On the governance side, executives said AppTrust is designed to support continuous compliance at the level of every build, rather than periodic compliance reviews. The operator said regulations such as the Cyber Resilience Act and NIST-related requirements are contributing to governance deadlines for organizations.

JFrog Fly and Enterprise Strategy Landman said JFrog incorporated capabilities from JFrog Fly, which had been presented as an agentic repository initiative, into the broader platform. The company used Fly to learn how agents could interact with binary repositories and to capture metadata created through developer and coding-agent interactions, he said. Two of Fly’s capabilities were integrated into Artifactory, while another was incorporated into AppTrust, Ben Haim said.

When asked about the impact of agent-focused Git platforms, Landman said JFrog sees Git increasingly serving as intermediate storage for code before it becomes binaries. He said the company believes binaries remain the more relevant layer for trust, policy and release management.

Ben Haim said JFrog remains focused on enterprise customers, citing its investments in enterprise go-to-market operations, support, customer success, professional services and product development. He said AI-related risks, including shadow AI and code snippets copied into software, are expanding the security needs of both existing and new customers.

Grabscheid said JFrog is focused on executing through 2027 under its existing long-term model. He said the company would revisit its guidance framework as it progresses through that period, while continuing to provide investors with metrics including remaining performance obligations, security-related RPO and net dollar retention.

About JFrog (NASDAQ:FROG)JFrog is a software company specializing in DevOps solutions designed to streamline the management, distribution and security of software binaries. Its core offering, JFrog Artifactory, serves as a universal artifact repository manager compatible with all major package formats, enabling development teams to store, version and share build artifacts across the software delivery pipeline. The company's platform also includes tools for continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD), security scanning and release automation.

Among JFrog's flagship products are JFrog Xray, a security and compliance scanning service that analyzes artifacts and dependencies for vulnerabilities; JFrog Pipelines, a CI/CD orchestration engine that automates build and release workflows; and JFrog Distribution, which accelerates the secure distribution of software releases to edge nodes and end users.

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