3 Low P/E Stocks: Separating Multibaggers From a Value TrapRogers Communication NYSE: RCI reported higher second-quarter service revenue and adjusted earnings, with management emphasizing stronger free cash flow, reduced capital spending and progress on its plan to monetize sports and media assets.
On the company’s earnings call, President and CEO Tony Staffieri said Rogers “continued to deliver solid performance” across wireless, cable and sports and media despite what he described as “an overall low growth telecom market.” Consolidated service revenue rose 8%, while adjusted EBITDA increased 3%.
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Rogers Communication Stock Should Be Launching Higher Free cash flow for the quarter was CAD 1 billion, up 6% from a year earlier. Capital expenditures declined 16%, and capital intensity improved 350 basis points to 12.4%, which Staffieri said was Rogers’ lowest capital intensity ratio since the first quarter of 2008.
Chief Financial Officer Glenn Brandt said Rogers reaffirmed its 2026 outlook ranges for total service revenue growth, adjusted EBITDA growth, capital expenditures and free cash flow. The company continues to expect 2026 capital expenditures of CAD 2.5 billion to CAD 2.7 billion.
Wireless Adds Customers as Promotions Moderate In wireless, Rogers added 40,000 subscribers during the quarter, including 22,000 postpaid customers. Wireless service revenue was stable year over year, while adjusted EBITDA rose 1%.
Brandt said mobile phone net additions were down 34% from the prior year, reflecting “continued flat to declining overall population.” Mobile phone ARPU was CAD 54.25, down 2% from a year earlier. Postpaid mobile phone churn improved to 0.94%, down 6 basis points year over year.
Staffieri said Rogers has shifted away from short-term promotional price discounting and toward “meaningful, sustainable value propositions” for customers. He said the broader market also showed “much reduced promotional pricing activity” in the second quarter.
During the question-and-answer session, Staffieri said wireless market expansion appeared to be around 2%, at the lower end of the company’s prior 2% to 2.5% range. He said future wireless revenue performance will depend heavily on ARPU trends and market conditions during back-to-school and fall selling periods.
Rogers said its back-to-school offers focus on perks, partnerships, hardware discounting and higher-tier plan features rather than broad service-price reductions. Staffieri also pointed to offerings such as satellite service, roaming and savings on streaming applications as part of the company’s value strategy.
Cable Revenue and EBITDA Continue to Grow Rogers’ cable business posted 1% growth in both service revenue and adjusted EBITDA, and added 17,000 retail internet subscribers in the quarter. Brandt said the cable margin was 58%, up 10 basis points from a year earlier.
Brandt said cable’s organic growth was roughly double the reported figure after excluding the impact of Rogers’ December 2025 sale of its hosted data center business. On that basis, cable service revenue and adjusted EBITDA each rose 2% year over year.
Asked about ongoing pressure in satellite TV, Brandt declined to provide detailed figures but said the impact has been “fairly flat” and steady in recent years, and is already embedded in the company’s reported cable performance.
Sports and Media Revenue Jumps Rogers Sports & Media delivered the company’s strongest growth in the quarter. Media revenue reached CAD 1.2 billion, up 53% from a year earlier. Brandt said approximately CAD 0.3 billion of the increase came from consolidation of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, while standalone organic Rogers Sports & Media revenue grew 13%, or roughly CAD 100 million.
Brandt attributed the organic growth largely to higher Toronto Blue Jays-related revenue, including more than 95% near-sellout attendance for home games at Rogers Centre, and higher subscriber revenue following the 2025 launch of the Warner Bros. Discovery suite of channels.
Media adjusted EBITDA was CAD 69 million, compared with CAD 8 million a year earlier, an increase of about 8.5 times.
MLSE Deal and Minority Stake Sale Plans Rogers recently agreed to acquire the remaining 25% ownership stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. Staffieri said that, when the acquisition closes, Rogers will be 100% owner of MLSE’s teams and assets.
Brandt said the company expects to close the purchase in the fourth quarter, subject to league approvals, and is targeting October 1. Rogers recorded a CAD 1 billion non-cash loss in other expense related to the negotiated purchase price and settlement and termination of the MLSE put liability. Brandt said that reflected the change in fair value of the put liability from CAD 3.3 billion in July 2025 to the CAD 4.35 billion negotiated transaction at June 30, 2026.
After completing the acquisition, Rogers plans to combine Rogers Sports & Media with MLSE and sell a minority stake, or stakes, in the combined sports, media and entertainment business. Brandt said the company is targeting the first half of 2027 for that transaction and expects proceeds to be used to reduce debt.
In response to analyst questions, Rogers said it plans to sell non-voting common equity in the holding company for the combined assets, rather than stakes in individual teams such as the Blue Jays, Maple Leafs or Raptors. Brandt said Rogers is not specifically seeking a strategic investor, though it would evaluate opportunities if they arise.
Balance Sheet, CapEx and Network Strategy Rogers ended the quarter with leverage of 3.8 times, down from 4 times at Dec. 31, 2025. Liquidity was more than CAD 6 billion, including CAD 1.7 billion in cash and cash equivalents and CAD 4.4 billion available under bank and other credit facilities.
Management said the lower capital spending level is expected to be sustained beyond 2026. Staffieri said Rogers views capital in two categories: spending to sustain its existing network and business, and spending for network expansion, particularly wireline expansion. He said the current regulatory environment has made it harder to justify some expansion investments.
Asked about satellite-based competition such as Starlink, Staffieri said Rogers sees satellite service as complementary to terrestrial wireless and wireline networks rather than a near-term replacement. Rogers is working with SpaceX/Starlink on satellite service in Canada.
Staffieri also said network slicing remains an opportunity to differentiate higher-tier wireless plans through priority access or enhanced experiences, such as in stadiums during concerts or other high-traffic events.
“We’re executing on our telecom priorities and sports monetization plan with discipline,” Staffieri said. “We are doing what we said we would do, and we’re doing it ahead of schedule.”
About Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI)Rogers Communications Inc is a Canadian integrated communications and media company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company provides a broad range of telecommunications services to residential and business customers across Canada, including wireless voice and data services, cable television, high-speed internet, and home phone services. In the enterprise market it offers managed IT, data center and cloud solutions, networking and connectivity services targeted to small businesses, large enterprises and public sector clients.
In addition to connectivity services, Rogers operates a significant media portfolio that includes national and regional television and radio assets, sports broadcasting properties and other content businesses.
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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Oklo (NYSE:OKLO | OKLO Price Prediction) has been one of the most volatile bets on the AI nuclear thesis. After a punishing pullback, our model sees room to run. Shares closed at $44.13 on July 21, 2026, well off the $193.84 52-week high.
Our 24/7 Wall St. price target for Oklo is $97.74, implying 121.49% upside over the next 12 months. Our call is buy with moderate (50%) confidence.
Metric Value Current Price $44.13 24/7 Wall St. Price Target $97.74 Upside 121.49% Recommendation BUY Confidence Level 50% From a $171 Peak to a $44 Reset Oklo shares are down 38.5% year to date, 27.86% over the past month, and 29.4% over the past year. After peaking near $171.56 in October 2025, the stock now trades only 11% above the 52-week low of $39.53.
Recent catalysts have been constructive. On July 21, Oklo was selected alongside X-Energy for a $200 million Trump administration program to accelerate nuclear reactors for AI data centers, with tech partners including Microsoft and NVIDIA.
The DOE approved the Documented Safety Analysis for the Groves Isotope Test Reactor in Texas in July, and Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest added 100,854 shares to ARKQ on July 14.
The Case for $170 and Higher Bulls call Oklo the best-positioned pure-play in advanced nuclear. The customer pipeline sits near 14 GW, anchored by a 12 GW master agreement with Switch through 2044 and a 500 MW Equinix LOI backed by a $25 million pre-payment. Management targets first commercial power at Idaho National Laboratory by late 2027, with Atomic Alchemy radioisotope revenue possible as early as 2026.
Goldman Sachs projects AI-driven data center power demand rising 165% by 2030, and the NRC proposed cutting service fees for advanced reactor applicants by nearly 55%. Texas Capital Securities carries a $93 Buy and B.Riley a $92 Buy. The bull-case scenario reaches $169.92 by July 2027, a 285% gain, if licensing and hyperscaler deals convert on schedule.
What Could Go Wrong Oklo generated $0 in revenue in FY2024 on a net loss of $73.62 million, and customer agreements remain largely non-binding LOIs. Full NRC design approval for Aurora is pending, and reactor construction timelines historically slip. Short interest recently hit $1.65 billion, or 19.29% of float.
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The widened R&D spend of $26.71 million in FY2024, nearly triple YoY, reflects deliberate investment in Aurora, and Oklo’s $2.54 billion cash position gives management years of runway. The bear-case scenario lands at $79.09, comfortably above today’s price.
How Oklo Stacks Up Against NuScale and Constellation NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) is the closest pre-revenue SMR pure-play and the only developer holding NRC design approval. NuScale’s market cap sits at roughly $3.01 billion, less than half of Oklo’s $7.22 billion, and recent quarterly revenue remains minimal versus consensus. Investors are paying a premium for Oklo tied to its data center customer roster and sodium-cooled Aurora design.
Constellation Energy (NASDAQ:CEG) offers the profitability counterpoint. The largest US nuclear operator remains solidly profitable at utility scale. Against SMR, the $97.74 target looks reasonable. Against CEG, Oklo carries a large execution premium that only commercial startup can justify.
Our Verdict on the Reset Our 24/7 Wall St. price target for Oklo is $97.74, a buy with 50% confidence. Shares trade only 11% above the 52-week low even as regulatory milestones and federal AI-nuclear partnerships accelerate.
The bull thesis rests on Oklo converting its 14 GW pipeline into binding contracts and hitting the late-2027 Idaho startup. Investors requiring commercial revenue before committing capital face an 18 to 24 month wait.
Oklo Price Prediction 2026-2030 Year 24/7 Wall St. Price Target 2026 $61 2027 $98 2028 $138 2029 $196 2030 $277 These projections assume Oklo executes on the Idaho commercial startup, secures full NRC design approval, and converts LOIs into binding revenue.
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Oklo Inc. OKLO shares moved higher on Wednesday after a report said the advanced nuclear reactor developer is joining a Trump administration-led initiative designed to accelerate the development of new power plants to support the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers.
According to a Bloomberg report citing a document it reviewed, Oklo and X-Energy will participate in a $200 million government program aimed at speeding up the deployment of power infrastructure needed to meet growing AI-related electricity demand.
The initiative also includes technology companies Microsoft and Nvidia and could be formally announced at an AI energy summit convened by the US Department of Energy.
Oklo shares rose as much as 5.9%, while X-Energy gained as much as 3.2% on Wednesday.
The reported initiative comes as policymakers and technology companies seek solutions to rising electricity demand created by the rapid expansion of AI data centers.
According to Bloomberg, the program is intended to address concerns that the buildout of AI infrastructure has contributed to higher electricity prices across the United States.
Technology companies including Nvidia and OpenAI have previously identified energy availability as one of the biggest challenges to expanding AI adoption while maintaining the United States' competitive position against China in artificial intelligence.
The Department of Energy is expected to use the initiative to accelerate the development of next-generation nuclear facilities capable of providing continuous, carbon-free electricity for large-scale AI computing infrastructure.
Bloomberg reported that several Department of Energy national laboratories, along with institutions including the University of Texas at Austin, are expected to share $60 million over a three-year period under the initiative.
According to the document reviewed by Bloomberg, one of the primary objectives of the initiative is to reduce the time required to design, license and construct new nuclear power plants.
The program also seeks to lower the staffing requirements needed to operate future facilities.
The Department of Energy estimates that approximately 300 gigawatts of new nuclear generating capacity will be required by 2050 to meet future electricity demand.
However, advanced nuclear reactors have not yet begun operating on a commercial scale.
Alongside this initiative, the Department of Energy has pursued other measures to support nuclear development, including plans to provide plutonium from Cold War-era nuclear weapons for use by commercial reactor developers.
The latest effort reflects increasing attention from the US administration on ensuring sufficient energy infrastructure to support continued AI development.
Demand for electricity has accelerated after years of relatively flat growth, driven largely by the expansion of AI data centers requiring significant computing power.
The increasing strain on power markets and its effect on consumer electricity prices have also emerged as political issues ahead of the November midterm elections.
The reported initiative highlights the growing intersection between artificial intelligence, energy policy and advanced nuclear technology as governments and technology companies work to secure reliable sources of power for the next phase of AI infrastructure expansion.
Two bits of news have shares of Oklo (OKLO +1.13%) surging higher today. The developer of advanced nuclear reactors is looking to benefit from the vast power needs of growing artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, but another growth path may be coming, too.
Oklo stock jumped as much as 7.7%, and remained up by 3.6% as of 11:27 a.m. ET.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Nuclear at home and abroad A U.S. Department of Energy initiative aimed at speeding up reactor development for AI data centers has investors jumping into related company stocks today. Oklo is one supplier reportedly joining big technology firms in a $200 million plan to help power AI data centers in the U.S.
That wasn't the only news helping push Oklo shares higher today, though. Separately, other reports said that President Trump has approved a landmark agreement with Saudi Arabia. The agreement would see the U.S. support the creation of a nuclear power program and see American companies build the civilian program.
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According to reports, administration officials said this could potentially allow for uranium enrichment within the kingdom's territory. The newly established agreement, set to span 30 years, could be valued at tens of billions of dollars. It aims to position American companies at the forefront of developing Saudi Arabia's nuclear infrastructure.
Oklo and other U.S. nuclear firms could be big winners, but investors should remember the stock is still speculative and that no concrete orders have been announced. The potential for future business is still boosting Oklo stock today.
Howard Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Smurfit Westrock (SW - Free Report) is expected to deliver a year-over-year decline in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended June 2026. This widely-known consensus outlook gives a good sense of the company's earnings picture, but how the actual results compare to these estimates is a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price.
The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report, which is expected to be released on July 29. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.
While the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call, it's worth handicapping the probability of a positive EPS surprise.
Zacks Consensus EstimateThis paper and packaging company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.42 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -6.7%.
Revenues are expected to be $7.99 billion, up 0.6% from the year-ago quarter.
Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 4.98% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.
Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings WhisperEstimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. This insight is at the core of our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction).
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.
Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Smurfit Westrock?For Smurfit Westrock, the Most Accurate Estimate is the same as the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that there are no recent analyst views which differ from what have been considered to derive the consensus estimate. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of 0%.
On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3.
So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Smurfit Westrock will beat the consensus EPS estimate.
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?While calculating estimates for a company's future earnings, analysts often consider to what extent it has been able to match past consensus estimates. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.
For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Smurfit Westrock would post earnings of $0.36 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.33, delivering a surprise of -8.33%.
The company has not been able to beat consensus EPS estimates in any of the last four quarters.
Bottom LineAn earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.
That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.
Smurfit Westrock doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.
Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
It has been an up-and-down year for Iren (IREN +2.86%), but the stock of the neocloud operator surged 20% on July 20 after it announced $2.8 billion in new contracts. The stock has more than doubled over the past year, but has also been cut nearly in half from its highs.
The average weighted length of Iren's new contracts is four years and includes deals with hyperscalers, frontier labs, artificial intelligence (AI) developers, and enterprises. It also said that its recent arrangements include prepayments covering approximately 45% of the cost of the graphics processing units (GPUs) to be used in the deployments.
In addition to its new contract announcements, Iren also increased its year-end AI cloud computing annual revenue run rate outlook to more than $4 billion, up from a prior target of $3.7 billion. The company is expanding aggressively. A year ago, it had a capacity of 3 megawatts, and it's expected to bring that total to 480 megawatts in 2026 and 1.2 gigawatts in 2027. Despite its growth, it said demand continues to exceed its planned capacity additions.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Iren is one of a handful of former Bitcoin miners that have shifted their focus toward AI data centers. While at first this shift may seem like a red flag, it actually does make a lot of strategic sense.
Cryptocurrency miners built their business around securing land for large campuses and securing power from utilities at attractive prices. After the AI boom, both of these became valuable assets, with access to cheap energy becoming a major AI data center bottleneck. Historically, Iren and others have been beholden to the price of Bitcoin, but moving to AI data centers gives them a more predictable and profitable business model.
And Iren hasn't been standing still. It acquired software and infrastructure companies, such as Mirantis, to create a fully integrated software layer and offer a full end-to-end cloud platform. And with permitted sites and power locked up in Texas and Australia, the company has a clear pathway for expansion.
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Iren has also partnered with other large players in the space, including Nvidia and Microsoft. It secured a massive five-year, $3.4 billion cloud services contract directly with Nvidia to host its internal AI and research workloads. It also has a $9.7 billion, five-year deal with Microsoft, with it dedicating 200 megawatts of power to the cloud giant.
While building massive data centers is a capital-intensive business, Iren has structured its deals to secure upfront cash payments to help fund GPUs. This helps somewhat de-risk the business and makes it a speculative, but intriguing, stock to add given its momentum.
SummaryFiserv's nearly 70% share price decline reflects management missteps and unrealistic expectations rather than a permanent deterioration of its underlying business.While there is stiff competition in the payments industry, Clover and value-added services provide a credible path to long-term value creation.Recent insider purchases indicate confidence that the selloff has become disconnected from intrinsic value.Assuming management successfully stabilizes operations, the market appears to be pricing the company well below its intrinsic value. DNY59/iStock via Getty Images
Fiserv (FISV), a major financial services company, has suffered a brutal 70% decline in its stock price over the past year. While this staggering drop usually suggests a deterioration in the company’s competitive market position, former CEO Michael
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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of FISV either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Ondas (ONDS +10.71%) stock, a small defense contractor specializing in the manufacture of military air and ground drones, and also counter-drone (counter-UAS or CUAS) technology, soared 10.4% through 11:55 a.m. ET Wednesday.
The reason: new weapons sales.
Image source: Getty Images.
Ondas inks some contracts Citing accelerating demand "across its autonomous defense and security platform," Ondas boasted today that it has secured $70 million worth of new orders over the past four weeks, for "unmanned ground systems, border security and protection technologies, counter-unmanned aircraft systems ("C-UAS"), intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ("ISR") systems, and autonomous precision-strike capabilities."
Translated from Pentagon-ese, that means Ondas is selling ground robots, attack drones, surveillance equipment, and drone defense systems primarily.
Not all the orders are new. Ondas noted that it rolled a recently announced $6.9 million order for Ondas' C-UAS systems to Australia into the $70 million total. Still, it sounds like Ondas is having a pretty successful month of July.
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What it means for Ondas stock To put these $70 million in context, in all of Q2 2025 last year, Ondas booked a total of $6.3 million in sales. The orders just announced amount to 10x the volume of sales from a year ago -- with orders booked in just one-third of one quarter's time.
That's fast growth -- but do beware that growth at Ondas could be lumpy.
According to analysts who follow the stock, 2026 will probably be the first year Ondas books a GAAP profit, after a decade of losing money. That said, forecasts for next year see Ondas back in the red -- and losing money again in 2028.
Free cash flow at Ondas remains negative and is forecast to remain so in 2027 as well. It probably won't be till 2029 that Ondas is both profitable and generating consistent cash. Caveat investor.
Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ondas. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Modine (MOD - Free Report) is expected to deliver a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended June 2026. This widely-known consensus outlook gives a good sense of the company's earnings picture, but how the actual results compare to these estimates is a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price.
The earnings report, which is expected to be released on July 29, might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.
While management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations, it's worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise.
Zacks Consensus EstimateThis heating and cooling products maker is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.38 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +30.2%.
Revenues are expected to be $895.51 million, up 31.2% from the year-ago quarter.
Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 1% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.
Investors should keep in mind that an aggregate change may not always reflect the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings WhisperEstimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. This insight is at the core of our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction).
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.
Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Modine?For Modine, the Most Accurate Estimate is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bearish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of -10.15%.
On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #2.
So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Modine will beat the consensus EPS estimate.
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?While calculating estimates for a company's future earnings, analysts often consider to what extent it has been able to match past consensus estimates. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.
For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Modine would post earnings of $1.51 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.71, delivering a surprise of +13.25%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates four times.
Bottom LineAn earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.
That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.
Modine doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.
Expected Results of an Industry PlayerAnother stock from the Zacks Automotive - Original Equipment industry, Gentex (GNTX - Free Report) , is soon expected to post earnings of $0.5 per share for the quarter ended June 2026. This estimate indicates a year-over-year change of +6.4%. Revenues for the quarter are expected to be $668.96 million, up 1.7% from the year-ago quarter.
Over the last 30 days, the consensus EPS estimate for Gentex has been revised 0.7% up to the current level. Nevertheless, the company now has an Earnings ESP of +0.67%, reflecting a higher Most Accurate Estimate.
This Earnings ESP, combined with its Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), suggests that Gentex will most likely beat the consensus EPS estimate. Over the last four quarters, the company surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times.
Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Key Takeaways Modine is expected to report 31.2% revenue growth and 30.2% EPS growth in fiscal Q1 2027.Record data center orders & 80/20 gains could boost results, while component shortages may disrupt production.Modine expects 20-35% fiscal 2027 sales growth, but higher capex and working capital needs pressure cash flow. Modine Manufacturing Company (MOD - Free Report) is slated to release first-quarter fiscal 2027 results on July 29, after the closing bell. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the to-be-reported quarter’s earnings per share (EPS) and revenues is pegged at $1.38 and $895.51 million, respectively.
For the fiscal first quarter, the consensus estimate for Modine’s earnings has moved down 5 cents over the past 30 days. Its bottom-line estimates imply growth of 30.2% from the year-ago reported numbers.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MOD's quarterly revenues implies a year-over-year rise of 31.2%. The company's earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 14.18%. This is depicted in the graph below:
Q4 HighlightsModine posted adjusted earnings of $1.71 per share for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, which increased 53% from the year-ago quarter and came above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.51 by 13.2%. Net sales were $954.4 million, which rose 47% year over year and topped the consensus mark of $907 million by 5.2%.
Things to NoteModine’s data center business is supported by record order intake and roughly five years of pipeline visibility, underpinned by strong exposure to hyperscale customers. The new long-term capacity agreement also improves visibility, with Modine set to supply more than $4 billion of Airedale chiller products to a strategic customer during calendar years 2027 through 2029 and supported by a $165 million upfront payment.
The company continues to apply 80/20 principles to simplify operations, improve capacity use and direct resources toward products and markets with the best return profiles. The framework supported Modine’s fourth consecutive year of record revenues and adjusted EBITDA in fiscal 2026. For fiscal 2027, the company expects total sales growth of 20-35% and adjusted EBITDA growth of 38-44%, with at least 100-200 basis points of consolidated margin expansion.
Strength in the data center business and benefits from the application of 80/20 principles are likely to have bolstered Modine’s performance in the to-be-reported quarter.
However, the shortages of critical components that emerged late in the quarter are affecting production schedules and efficiency. The company is qualifying new suppliers and implementing corrective actions, but these issues are expected to have temporarily negatively impacted fiscal first-quarter production. Also, Modine’s free cash flow is currently under pressure due to heavy investment and working capital needs. For fiscal 2027, the company expects capital expenditure of $150 million to $200 million, up from $143.3 million in fiscal 2026.
Expected production disruption and rising capital requirements are likely to have weighed on Modine’s fiscal first-quarter results.
Let’s have a look at the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Modine’s segmental performance.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Climate Solutions’ fiscal first-quarter revenues is pegged at $634 million, which suggests a rise of 59.7% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Performance Technologies’ revenues is pegged at $289 million, which is in line with the revenues reported in the year-ago period.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Climate Solutions’ fiscal first-quarter adjusted EBITDA is pegged at $112 million, suggesting a year-over-year rise of 41.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Performance Technologies’ adjusted EBITDA is pegged at $37.5 million, which is the same as year-ago adjusted EBITDA.
Earnings WhispersOur proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Modine for the quarter to be reported, as it does not have the right combination of the two key ingredients. A positive Earnings ESP, combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold), increases the odds of an earnings beat. This is not the case here.
Earnings ESP: MOD has an Earnings ESP of -10.15%. This is because the Most Accurate Estimate is pegged lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Zacks Rank: It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.
Stocks With the Favorable CombinationHere are a few players from the auto space that, per our model, have the correct ingredients to post an earnings beat this time.
Cummins Inc. (CMI - Free Report) is slated to release second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 4. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.78% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CMI’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at $7.33 per share and $9.33 billion, respectively.
BorgWarner Inc. (BWA - Free Report) is scheduled to release second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 5. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.62% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BWA’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at $1.26 per share and $3.58 billion, respectively.
ProPetro Holding (PUMP - Free Report) is expected to deliver a year-over-year increase in earnings on lower revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended June 2026. This widely-known consensus outlook gives a good sense of the company's earnings picture, but how the actual results compare to these estimates is a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price.
The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report, which is expected to be released on July 29. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.
While management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations, it's worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise.
Zacks Consensus EstimateThis oilfield services company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.01 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +85.7%.
Revenues are expected to be $300.51 million, down 7.9% from the year-ago quarter.
Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 60% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.
Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings WhisperEstimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. This insight is at the core of our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction).
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.
Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for ProPetro?For ProPetro, the Most Accurate Estimate is higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bullish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of +52.38%.
On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #2.
So, this combination indicates that ProPetro will most likely beat the consensus EPS estimate.
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating their estimates for its future earnings. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.
For the last reported quarter, it was expected that ProPetro would post a loss of$0.12 per share when it actually produced a loss of -$0.03, delivering a surprise of +75.00%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates three times.
Bottom LineAn earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.
That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.
ProPetro appears a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.
Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP Securities Litigation Partner James (Josh) Wilson Encourages Investors Who Suffered Losses In Futu To Contact Him Directly To Discuss Their Options
If you purchased or acquired securities in Futu between May 24, 2023 and May 27, 2026 and would like to discuss your legal rights, call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310).
[You may also click here for additional information]
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - July 22, 2026) - Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, is investigating potential claims against Futu Holdings Limited("Futu" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: FUTU) and reminds investors of the August 25, 2026 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action that has been filed against the Company.
Faruqi & Faruqi is a leading national securities law firm with offices in New York, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors since its founding in 1995. See www.faruqilaw.com.
As detailed below, the complaint alleges that the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by making false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose that: (1) Futu was not in compliance with the requirements of the CSRC, including because the Company continued to conduct securities business, public fund sales business and futures business in mainland China without obtaining the requisite licenses or approval; (2) as a result, Futu was reasonably likely to face regulatory penalties, including the disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and other penalties; (3) as a result of the foregoing, Futu's financial results were overstated; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
On May 22, 2026, pre-market, Futu issued a press release allegedly disclosing that it had received a notification letter from the CSRC stating that "certain Futu entities in mainland China and Hong Kong . . . without obtaining the requisite licenses or approval, conducted securities business, public fund sales business and futures business in mainland China" and that the CSRC "proposes to order the Related Companies to rectify or cease such activities, confiscate illegal gains, and impose fines, with the total proposed penalty amounting to approximately RMB1.85 billion (approximately USD271 million)." The Futu class action lawsuit further alleges that the regulatory authority "proposes to impose a personal fine of RMB1.25 million (approximately USD 183,575) on Mr. LI Hua, the founder and CEO of the Company." On this news, the price of Futu stock fell more than 27%, according to the complaint.
Then, on May 28, 2026, before the market opened, Futu issued a press release reporting financial results for the first quarter of 2026, allegedly including the proposed penalties comprised of "(i) confiscation of illegal gains of approximately RMB470 million [approximately $69.21 million USD] and (ii) imposition of fines of approximately RMB1.38 billion in an aggregate amount of approximately RMB1.85 billion." On this news, the price of Futu stock declined nearly 5%, according to the complaint.
The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not.
Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding Futu's conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others.
To learn more about the Futu Holdings Limited class action, go to www.faruqilaw.com/FUTU or call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310).
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Investors Regarding the Futu Holdings Limited Securities Class Action Lawsuit:
What is the Futu Holdings Limited securities fraud lawsuit about?
The lawsuit alleges that Futu misled investors by failing to disclose it was conducting certain securities, public fund sales, and futures businesses in mainland China without required CSRC licenses or approvals. According to the complaint, this exposed the Company to significant regulatory penalties, overstated its financial results, and made its public statements about its business and prospects materially misleading.
Who may be eligible to participate in the lawsuit?
Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Futu Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: FUTU) securities between May 24, 2023 and May 27, 2026, inclusive (the "Class Period"), and suffered losses may be eligible to participate in the securities class action. Eligibility depends on the specific facts of each investor's transactions and losses.
What is a lead plaintiff, and how can I seek appointment?
A lead plaintiff is the investor appointed by the court to represent the interests of all class members during the litigation. Generally, the investor with the largest financial interest who meets the legal requirements may be selected. Investors seeking appointment must file a motion with the court by the August 25, 2026 deadline through counsel of their choice.
What should investors do if they purchased Futu Holdings Limited stock during the Class Period?
Investors who purchased Futu securities during the Class Period should review their investment records, preserve relevant documents, and consider contacting counsel to understand their legal rights. Those interested in serving as lead plaintiff must act before the August 25, 2026 deadline, while investors who do not seek that role may still remain eligible to share in any potential recovery.
Why should investors contact Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP?
Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP has represented investors in securities litigation for decades and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for shareholders. Investors who purchased Futu Holdings Limited securities during the Class Period may contact the firm to discuss their legal rights, potential claims, and the lead plaintiff process at no cost or obligation.
Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/305985
Source: Faruqi & Faruqi LLP
Ready to Announce with Confidence? Send us a message and a member of our TMX Newsfile team will contact you to discuss your needs.
, /PRNewswire/ -- The Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces that investors with substantial losses have opportunity to lead the securities fraud class action lawsuit against Futu Holdings Limited ("Futu" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:FUTU).
IF YOU ARE AN INVESTOR WHO SUFFERED A LOSS IN FUTU HOLDINGS LIMITED (FUTU), CONTACT THE LAW OFFICES OF HOWARD G. SMITH BEFORE AUGUST 25, 2026 (LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE) TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ONGOING SECURITIES FRAUD LAWSUIT.
Contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss your legal rights by email at [email protected], by telephone at (215) 638-4847 or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com.
What Is The Lawsuit About?
The complaint filed alleges that, between May 24, 2023 and May 27, 2026, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) Futu was not in compliance with the requirements of the CSRC, including because the Company continued to conduct securities business, public fund sales business and futures business in mainland China without obtaining the requisite licenses or approval; (2) as a result, Futu was reasonably likely to face regulatory penalties, including the disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and other penalties; (3) as a result of the foregoing, Futu's financial results were overstated; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
Contact Us To Participate or Learn More:
If you wish to learn more about this class action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to the pending class action lawsuit, please contact:
Howard G. Smith, Esq.,
Law Offices of Howard G. Smith,
3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112,
Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020,
Call us at: (215) 638-4847
Email us at: [email protected],
Visit our website at: www.howardsmithlaw.com.
To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
Contact Us:
Law Offices of Howard G. Smith
Howard G. Smith, Esquire
215-638-4847
[email protected]
www.howardsmithlaw.com
For those looking to find strong Aerospace stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Astronics Corporation (ATRO - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Aerospace sector should help us answer this question.
Astronics Corporation is one of 77 companies in the Aerospace group. The Aerospace group currently sits at #3 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.
The Zacks Rank is a proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Astronics Corporation is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ATRO's full-year earnings has moved 20.2% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Our latest available data shows that ATRO has returned about 52.7% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Aerospace group have lost about 1.6% on average. This shows that Astronics Corporation is outperforming its peers so far this year.
RTX (RTX - Free Report) is another Aerospace stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 5.6%.
In RTX's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Astronics Corporation belongs to the Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry, which includes 37 individual stocks and currently sits at #86 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 4.6% so far this year, so ATRO is performing better in this area.
RTX, however, belongs to the Aerospace - Defense industry. Currently, this 39-stock industry is ranked #98. The industry has moved -4.1% so far this year.
Going forward, investors interested in Aerospace stocks should continue to pay close attention to Astronics Corporation and RTX as they could maintain their solid performance.
The market expects FTAI Aviation (FTAI - Free Report) to deliver a year-over-year decline in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended June 2026. This widely-known consensus outlook is important in assessing the company's earnings picture, but a powerful factor that might influence its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates.
The earnings report, which is expected to be released on July 29, might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.
While the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call, it's worth handicapping the probability of a positive EPS surprise.
Zacks Consensus EstimateThis transportation infrastructure company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.32 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -15.9%.
Revenues are expected to be $859.32 million, up 27.1% from the year-ago quarter.
Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.
Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings WhisperEstimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. This insight is at the core of our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction).
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.
Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for FTAI Aviation?For FTAI Aviation, the Most Accurate Estimate is the same as the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that there are no recent analyst views which differ from what have been considered to derive the consensus estimate. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of 0%.
On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3.
So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that FTAI Aviation will beat the consensus EPS estimate.
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating their estimates for its future earnings. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.
For the last reported quarter, it was expected that FTAI Aviation would post earnings of $1.61 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.29, delivering a surprise of -19.88%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates just once.
Bottom LineAn earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.
That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.
FTAI Aviation doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.
Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.
The market expects GFL Environmental Inc. (GFL - Free Report) to deliver a year-over-year decline in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended June 2026. This widely-known consensus outlook is important in assessing the company's earnings picture, but a powerful factor that might influence its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates.
The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report, which is expected to be released on July 29. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.
While the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call, it's worth handicapping the probability of a positive EPS surprise.
Zacks Consensus EstimateThis company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.17 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -10.5%.
Revenues are expected to be $1.38 billion, up 13.6% from the year-ago quarter.
Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 5.15% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.
Investors should keep in mind that an aggregate change may not always reflect the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings WhisperEstimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. This insight is at the core of our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction).
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.
Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for GFL Environmental?For GFL Environmental, the Most Accurate Estimate is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bearish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of -45.78%.
On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3.
So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that GFL Environmental will beat the consensus EPS estimate.
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?While calculating estimates for a company's future earnings, analysts often consider to what extent it has been able to match past consensus estimates. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.
For the last reported quarter, it was expected that GFL Environmental would post earnings of $0.05 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.06, delivering a surprise of +20.00%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates two times.
Bottom LineAn earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.
That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.
GFL Environmental doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.
Expected Results of an Industry PlayerVeralto (VLTO - Free Report) , another stock in the Zacks Waste Removal Services industry, is expected to report earnings per share of $1 for the quarter ended June 2026. This estimate points to a year-over-year change of +7.5%. Revenues for the quarter are expected to be $1.44 billion, up 4.9% from the year-ago quarter.
Over the last 30 days, the consensus EPS estimate for Veralto has been revised 0.2% up to the current level. Nevertheless, the company now has an Earnings ESP of +0.77%, reflecting a higher Most Accurate Estimate.
This Earnings ESP, combined with its Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), suggests that Veralto will most likely beat the consensus EPS estimate. The company beat consensus EPS estimates in each of the trailing four quarters.
Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Powell Industries shares dropped 22%, creating a compelling re-entry point given robust backlog and AI-driven demand. Q3 expectations include $1.49 adjusted EPS on $316.9 million revenue, with potential for a double beat as backlog and new orders surge. Backlog strength, especially from data center projects, is a key growth driver; Q3 backlog could exceed $2.2 billion with new orders possibly near triple-digit y/y growth.
Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX -1.39%) went public on June 12, and it quickly soared to a peak of $225.64. However, it has since lost 45% of its value, so even investors who bought it at the official initial public offering (IPO) price of $135 are currently underwater.
SpaceX is scheduled to release its operating results for the second quarter of 2026 (ended June 30) on Aug. 4. The report, and the accompanying conference call with CEO Elon Musk, will provide investors with an update on the company's space transportation, satellite internet connectivity, and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure businesses.
However, a positive second-quarter report probably won't be enough to spark a recovery in SpaceX stock because of its sky-high valuation. Here's why buying it ahead of Aug. 4 might not be a good move.
Image source: Getty Images.
What Wall Street might be looking for on Aug. 4 SpaceX generated $4.7 billion in total revenue during the first quarter of 2026 (ended March 31), and here was the contribution from each of its three core segments:
Segment
First-Quarter Revenue
Connectivity
$3.26 billion
AI
$820 million
Space
$620 million
Data source: SpaceX.
Connectivity was the biggest source of revenue by far. SpaceX has used its Falcon 9 reusable rockets to launch over 9,600 Starlink satellites into orbit, which provide internet access to 10.3 million paying customers. The upcoming V3 Starlink satellites will deliver 10 times more bandwidth than the current V2 satellites, so they could give this business a huge boost when they start launching later this year.
According to Yahoo! Finance, Wall Street analysts estimate SpaceX generated around $6.87 billion in total revenue during the second quarter, but I think the contributions from its three segments were probably vastly different compared to the first quarter. Connectivity was almost certainly a key source of revenue yet again, but the AI business likely showed substantial growth.
In January, SpaceX acquired Elon Musk's AI start-up xAI, which operates enormous data centers like Colossus and Colossus II. This infrastructure is used to develop AI products like the Grok chatbot, but SpaceX is now renting some of the spare computing capacity to other companies in exchange for massive fees.
In May, SpaceX agreed to rent $1.25 billion worth of computing capacity per month to Anthropic. In June, the company signed two more deals: one to rent $920 million worth of capacity per month to Google parent Alphabet starting in October, and another to rent $150 million worth of capacity per month to Reflection AI.
As a result, revenue from the AI business likely surged in the second quarter compared to the first quarter, which is something Wall Street analysts might hang their hats on to justify SpaceX's hefty valuation.
A positive quarterly report might not turn SpaceX stock around Despite the recent decline in SpaceX stock, it's still trading at a steep premium to the broader market. Its price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 83.7 is more than 13 times higher than the P/S ratio of the Nasdaq-100 index, which is currently 6.2. In other words, SpaceX stock appears to be heavily overvalued relative to a basket of its big-tech peers.
Today's Change
(
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Current Price
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One single quarterly report is unlikely to show enough growth to make the stock look attractive at the current price. In fact, even if we use Wall Street's 2027 revenue estimate of $72.3 billion, SpaceX has a forward P/S ratio of 23.3, which is still very expensive compared to the Nasdaq-100.
As a result, investors who buy this stock today need to have a very long-term time horizon of at least five years to give the company time to grow into its valuation. There is every chance it will eventually do so, because management believes its addressable market is worth $28.5 trillion across all three of its businesses.
The AI infrastructure market alone could be worth $26.5 trillion. In the future, Elon Musk thinks SpaceX can launch computing clusters into orbit, where they will run on solar power and won't need complex cooling systems. Starlink satellites can beam the data down to Earth, so the company already has distribution sorted, giving it a huge advantage over any potential competitors.
With all of that said, I wouldn't be piling into SpaceX stock ahead of its Aug. 4 report in the hope an immediate recovery will follow. This is very much a long-term story.
ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood is defending her fund's stake in SpaceX, declaring the aerospace and satellite network pioneer could become the "most important company in global history" despite the stock's recent slide and an upcoming $116 billion share unlock.
During an interview on "Mornings with Maria" Wednesday, Wood explained why she remains bullish on SpaceX after funds managed by ARK Invest allocated $80 million to the position following its public debut.
"[Down] from its peak, it is," Wood said, "but of course not from the IPO price. We think this could become the most important company in history, and I mean in global history."
FAMED PERMABEAR WARNS SPACEX I.P.O. COULD BE LAUGHED AT IN 50 YEARS, ‘CRAZIEST’ MARKET BET FOR WALL STREET
"We're talking about not only really exploring a new world — the universe — in terms of its launch capabilities and helping others to do so as well, but also a global communications network. Really, think telecom, that's been a very local business. In fact, the way to break into countries historically was to buy the [telecommunications companies], no longer."
ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood doubled down on her bullish stance for SpaceX stock on FOX Business' "Mornings with Maria." (Getty Images)
Just before Wednesday's opening bell, SpaceX stock was trading around $123.50 per share. According to Barron's, the stock is down about 47% from its high of about $225, and has shed nearly $1.4 trillion in market value. This puts SpaceX in eighth place by market capitalization, behind Meta for the first time since its debut.
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Wood previously said in a May interview with Bloomberg that she imagines SpaceX will be "volatile," but applauded founder Elon Musk's "incredible" ability to vertically integrate all of his companies, including Tesla, xAI and Neuralink.
Musk warned investors against trying to short-sell the stock last week in a post on X, saying, "The survival probability of firms that maintain a significant short position in SpaceX over time is very low."
On July 7, Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX -1.54%) was added to the Nasdaq-100, which comprises 100 of the largest nonfinancial companies listed on the Nasdaq.
Initially, some expected its inclusion in the index to be a short-term catalyst that would send the stock higher; exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the Nasdaq-100 needed to buy it. For example, SpaceX now makes up 1.1% of the portfolio weight of the Invesco QQQ Trust, which was the second-most traded ETF by trading volume as of March 31. However, that has not been the case. From July 7 to July 17, shares of SpaceX dropped 17%.
Historic patterns suggest that an early decline after inclusion in the index was likely. But those patterns suggest something different about where SpaceX could be headed over the next several months.
Image source: Getty Images.
What the past tells us about entering the Nasdaq-100 Over the past two years, of the 21 stocks that were added to the Nasdaq-100, only six climbed in their first week in the index, according to Dow Jones Market Data data shared by Bloomberg. The average decline for stocks after that first week was 3.8%, but SpaceX fared worse than that with an 8.9% drop from July 7 to July 14.
Given a little more time, however, the stats start looking positive. One month after inclusion, the average stock had a 3.6% gain, and after three months, the average stock had a 6.3% gain.
That said, what happened to other recent additions to the Nasdaq-100 won't necessarily happen to SpaceX. Moreover, those average increases of 3.6% and 6.3%, respectively, are relatively minuscule. What SpaceX wants to accomplish, and any meaningful returns it could generate for shareholders, will happen further down the road.
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SpaceX's long-term upside potential SpaceX is known for its rocket launches and satellite deployments, but it has projected that $26.5 trillion of the $28.5 trillion total addressable market it could pursue is in artificial intelligence (AI).
Part of that opportunity lies in building out AI cloud computing infrastructure, which SpaceX is doing on the ground and eventually plans to do in orbit. SpaceX signed deals to rent out some of its compute capacity to Alphabet and start-up Anthropic, a pair of deals that could generate roughly $26 billion in combined annual revenue.
It also has a computing capacity deal with Reflection AI, a builder of open AI models, worth $150 million per month or $6.3 billion in total if the deal runs through 2029. Additionally, according to a July 17 report from The Wall Street Journal, SpaceX is in talks with the Department of Defense for computing capacity in a deal that could be worth several billion dollars.
That all could start adding up to meaningful revenue for SpaceX, which only generated $18.6 billion in sales in 2025. But those revenue sources above don't include SpaceX's potential to generate more sales and build out the future of AI infrastructure through satellite-based data centers; Musk says his company could deploy AI satellites as soon as 2028.
Some analysts are very bullish on SpaceX, with John Godyn of Citigroup placing a long-term price target (no specific time frame) of $900 per share on it. From the July 17 closing price of just under $124, that would be a gain of more than 625%.
The costs of being an AI leader The infrastructure needed to be a leader in AI has cost SpaceX billions of dollars each year and will continue to do so. In terms of its 2025 capital expenditures, AI was easily the company's most costly segment.
Space Capital Expenditures
Connectivity Capital Expenditures
AI Capital Expenditures
$3.8 billion
$4.1 billion
$12.7 billion
Data source: SpaceX Form S-1.
Also, in just the first three months of 2026, SpaceX's total capital expenditures already reached $10.1 billion. Its losses are also climbing; SpaceX reported a $4.9 billion net loss for all of 2025 but has already racked up a $4.2 billion net loss after just the first quarter of 2026.
In addition to financial costs, SpaceX also faces a high bar to boosting its stock price, as it's already one of the world's most valuable companies by market cap. The expectations for the company are sky-high, and those are baked into its premium stock price, so it doesn't have much wiggle room if its quarterly results underwhelm.
Putting it all together What's most important with SpaceX isn't how it will perform in the next few months. Rather, what's most important is how much of that $26.5 trillion total addressable market in AI it can capture, how it will handle the challenges of building space-based data centers, and how long it will take for the company to reach profitability.
Benzinga Pro estimates SpaceX will report a loss of 25 cents per share on quarterly revenue of $6.98 billion.
SpaceX’s Post-IPO VolatilityMacquarie’s Bullish Outlook on SpaceX Macquarie remains optimistic about SpaceX, reiterating an Outperform rating and setting a $250 price target. The firm views SpaceX as a premier AI infrastructure asset, emphasizing the potential upside from its AI compute ambitions and orbital AI data-center system. Image: Shutterstock
This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Prediction markets are signaling that SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) is likely to finish July 2026 above $120, although traders remain skeptical about a rapid recovery toward its post-IPO highs.
Data from crypto-based prediction platform Polymarket shows market participants assigning a 96% probability that SpaceX stock will close above $100 by July 31.
The odds decline to 79% for a close above $110 and 68% for a finish above $120, indicating that traders broadly expect the stock to remain near its current trading range.
At the same time, sentiment becomes significantly more cautious at higher price levels.
Polymarket traders place the probability of SpaceX closing above $130 at 55%, effectively signaling a coin-flip outcome.
Beyond that threshold, confidence drops sharply, with only a 16% chance of the stock ending July above $140 and a 9% probability of finishing above $150.
The latest prediction market data suggests that most speculative activity is centered around the $110 to $150 range, where trading volumes are highest.
According to the market-implied probabilities, the most likely outcome is that SpaceX shares close the month between $120 and $130. While traders still see a reasonable chance of a move above $130, expectations for a stronger rally appear limited ahead of month-end.
The probabilities continue to fall at more ambitious price targets. Contracts tracking a close above $160 imply only a 3% chance of success.
Higher thresholds such as $170, $180, and $200 carry probabilities of 5%, 7%, and 10%, respectively, though these contracts are supported by relatively low trading volumes.
SpaceX stock volatility The prediction market outlook comes as SpaceX stock trades at $123 following a volatile debut on public markets.
Notably, the company completed its historic initial public offering in June 2026 at $135 per share before surging to highs near $225.
However, SPCX has since retraced significantly and remains below its IPO price as investors assess valuation concerns, upcoming share unlocks, and the company’s long-term growth prospects.
Despite the pullback, SpaceX remains one of the world’s most valuable publicly traded companies, supported by growth expectations surrounding Starlink, Starship development, and broader space infrastructure opportunities.
Looking ahead, traders appear reluctant to price in a major rebound before the end of July, with the company’s first public earnings report scheduled for August 4 likely serving as the next major catalyst.
Any significant developments related to Starship testing, launch activity, partnerships, or earnings guidance could quickly alter sentiment.
Bessemer Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,298,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 83,781 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.1% of Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Meta Platforms worth $1,314,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. Headwater Capital Co Ltd increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $322,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 37,948 shares of company stock worth $23,184,319. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.
Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.3% Shares of META stock opened at $643.81 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $604.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $626.52. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.25.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.47 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.63%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research firms recently commented on META. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Citigroup reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $835.64.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Meta Platforms
More Meta Platforms News Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta and kept an overweight rating, signaling expectations for meaningful upside from current levels. Benzinga report on Wells Fargo target hike Positive Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn also boosted its target and reiterated a buy rating, reflecting growing optimism that Meta can monetize AI more effectively. Benzinga report on Rothschild & Co Redburn target hike Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted Meta’s expanding AI strategy, including possible cloud/compute sales and large enterprise deals, which could create a new revenue stream and support margins over time. Positive Sentiment: Bank of America said Meta is positioned to beat second-quarter expectations, citing healthy ad demand and AI-driven improvements ahead of earnings later this month. Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary continues to frame Meta as a key beneficiary of the AI spending boom, with investors watching whether infrastructure investment can be monetized faster than expected. Neutral Sentiment: A comparison piece versus Pinterest and a broader “Mag 7” article mainly added background, but did not change the core investment thesis for META. Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing a Tennessee trial over claims that Instagram was designed to be addictive and contributed to youth mental-health issues, adding legal and regulatory risk. Negative Sentiment: A New York Times report said Meta’s AI moderation mistakenly banned user accounts, raising questions about product reliability and trust in its automated systems. Negative Sentiment: Ongoing investor concerns remain around heavy AI spending, data-center financing, and whether returns on that capital will justify the expense. Meta Platforms Profile (Free Report)
Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.
Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.
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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) could decline to $485 by mid-November 2026, according to a technical analysis by TradingShot.
The outlook shared in a TradingView post on July 22, the analysis identified striking similarities between the stock’s current price structure and its 2018 correction.
The forecast comes as META stock trades around $644, nearly 20% below its 2025 all-time high near $796.
META stock price analysis chart. Source: TradingView TradingShot argued that the stock has entered a new bearish phase after being rejected at the upper boundary of a long-term descending channel that has been in place since August 2025.
The analysis shows Meta trading within a channel down pattern, with the stock recently failing to break above the lower-high trendline that has capped rallies since the record peak.
The analyst noted that the current setup closely resembles Meta’s 2018 correction. During that period, the stock initially found support at its 100-week moving average before rebounding to fresh highs.
However, that recovery was followed by a deeper sell-off that ultimately pushed the stock below its 200-week moving average and resulted in a total decline of 43.77%.
A similar pattern appears to be developing in 2026. Meta is currently trading between its 50-week and 100-week moving averages, mirroring the structure seen before the 2018 downturn accelerated.
Based on the projection, TradingShot expects META to reach a primary downside target of $485, a key support level that would place the stock below its 200-week moving average. The projected timeline suggests the target could be reached around mid-November 2026.
If the correction unfolds in line with the 2018 fractal, TradingShot believes the decline could extend beyond $485.
Meanwhile, the analysis identified $450 as a potential maximum downside target, representing a 43.77% drawdown from Meta’s all-time high, matching the magnitude of the 2018 correction.
Such a move would imply an additional decline of roughly 30% from current price levels.
While the technical outlook points to further downside risk, Wall Street analysts remain largely positive on Meta’s long-term prospects.
The company continues to benefit from strong advertising revenue across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, while investments in artificial intelligence remain a central growth theme.
Meta is also preparing to report second-quarter 2026 earnings on July 29, with investors closely watching revenue growth, AI monetization progress, and capital expenditure guidance.
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It doesn't matter your age or experience: taking full advantage of the stock market and investing with confidence are common goals for all investors. Luckily, Zacks Premium offers several different ways to do both.
The research service features daily updates of the Zacks Rank and Zacks Industry Rank, full access to the Zacks #1 Rank List, Equity Research reports, and Premium stock screens, all of which will help you become a smarter, more confident investor.
It also includes access to the Zacks Style Scores.
What are the Zacks Style Scores? Developed alongside the Zacks Rank, the Zacks Style Scores are a group of complementary indicators that help investors pick stocks with the best chances of beating the market over the next 30 days.
Based on their value, growth, and momentum characteristics, each stock is assigned a rating of A, B, C, D, or F. The better the score, the better chance the stock will outperform; an A is better than a B, a B is better than a C, and so on.
The Style Scores are broken down into four categories:
Value ScoreFinding good stocks at good prices, and discovering which companies are trading under their true value, are what value investors like to focus on. So, the Value Style Score takes into account ratios like P/E, PEG, Price/Sales, Price/Cash Flow, and a host of other multiples to highlight the most attractive and discounted stocks.
Growth ScoreGrowth investors, on the other hand, are more concerned with a company's financial strength and health, and its future outlook. The Growth Style Score examines things like projected and historic earnings, sales, and cash flow to find stocks that will experience sustainable growth over time.
Momentum ScoreMomentum trading is all about taking advantage of upward or downward trends in a stock's price or earnings outlook, and these investors live by the saying "the trend is your friend." The Momentum Style Score can pinpoint good times to build a position in a stock, using factors like one-week price change and the monthly percentage change in earnings estimates.
VGM ScoreIf you want a combination of all three Style Scores, then the VGM Score will be your friend. It rates each stock on their combined weighted styles, helping you find the companies with the most attractive value, best growth forecast, and most promising momentum. It's also one of the best indicators to use with the Zacks Rank.
How Style Scores Work with the Zacks Rank The Zacks Rank, which is a proprietary stock-rating model, employs earnings estimate revisions, or changes to a company's earnings expectations, to make building a winning portfolio easier.
It's highly successful, with #1 (Strong Buy) stocks producing an unmatched +23.94% average annual return since 1988. That's more than double the S&P 500. But because of the large number of stocks we rate, there are over 200 companies with a Strong Buy rank, plus another 600 with a #2 (Buy) rank, on any given day.
With more than 800 top-rated stocks to choose from, it can certainly feel overwhelming to pick the ones that are right for you and your investing journey.
That's where the Style Scores come in.
To have the best chance of big returns, you'll want to always consider stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2 that also have Style Scores of A or B, which will give you the highest probability of success. If you're looking at stocks with a #3 (Hold) rank, it's important they have Scores of A or B as well to ensure as much upside potential as possible.
As mentioned above, the Scores are designed to work with the Zacks Rank, so any change to a company's earnings outlook should be a deciding factor when picking which stocks to buy.
A stock with a #4 (Sell) or #5 (Strong Sell) rating, for instance, even one with Scores of A and B, will still have a declining earnings forecast, and a greater chance its share price will fall too.
Thus, the more stocks you own with a #1 or #2 Rank and Scores of A or B, the better.
Stock to Watch: Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) Meta Platforms is the world’s largest social media platform. The company’s portfolio has evolved from the Facebook app to multiple apps, including photo and video sharing app Instagram and WhatsApp messaging app, largely through acquisitions. Along with in-house developed Messenger and newer services such as Threads, these products form Meta’s Family of Apps, which reached about 3.56 billion daily active people on average in March 2026.
META is a #3 (Hold) on the Zacks Rank, with a VGM Score of A.
Additionally, the company could be a top pick for growth investors. META has a Growth Style Score of A, forecasting year-over-year earnings growth of 40.6% for the current fiscal year.
Two analysts revised their earnings estimate higher in the last 60 days for fiscal 2026, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $0.03 to $33.03 per share. META also boasts an average earnings surprise of +12.3%.
With a solid Zacks Rank and top-tier Growth and VGM Style Scores, META should be on investors' short list.
Wall Street expects a year-over-year decline in earnings on higher revenues when Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) reports results for the quarter ended June 2026. While this widely-known consensus outlook is important in gauging the company's earnings picture, a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates.
The earnings report, which is expected to be released on July 29, might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.
While management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations, it's worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise.
Zacks Consensus EstimateThis social media company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $7.13 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -0.1%.
Revenues are expected to be $60.17 billion, up 26.6% from the year-ago quarter.
Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.49% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.
Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings WhisperEstimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. This insight is at the core of our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction).
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.
Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Meta Platforms?For Meta Platforms, the Most Accurate Estimate is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bearish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of -2.19%.
On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3.
So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Meta Platforms will beat the consensus EPS estimate.
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?While calculating estimates for a company's future earnings, analysts often consider to what extent it has been able to match past consensus estimates. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.
For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Meta Platforms would post earnings of $6.71 per share when it actually produced earnings of $7.31, delivering a surprise of +8.94%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates four times.
Bottom LineAn earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.
That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.
Meta Platforms doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.
Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Artificial intelligence provides some great opportunities for many companies today. But it’s also a very expensive proposition that’s weighing down some of the biggest companies in the stock market. Meta Platforms (META -2.31%) is down 3% so far this year on fears that the company is taking on too much debt as it invests in AI infrastructure.
Meta’s balance sheet shows that the company has about $58.7 billion in long-term debt. But a new report indicates that the company’s debt load is much greater. Nikkei Asia reports that Meta Platforms has another $420 billion in off-balance-sheet debt. That number has grown substantially since 2022, the outlet reported.
Should investors be concerned about Meta Platforms’ stock?
Image source: The Motley Fool.
What is off-balance-sheet debt?Publicly traded companies are required to report the amount of debt they are incurring. But under accounting rules, equipment such as graphics processing units and servers that are under long-term contracts but not yet delivered is treated as an off-balance-sheet item. Meta and other companies disclose future debt in annotations on their financial statements.
When Meta’s GPUs are delivered and the data centers become operational, this hidden debt will begin to appear on the quarterly balance sheet.
Meta is one of five companies -- the others being Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and Oracle -- analyzed in the Nikkei Asia report. The five companies, all of which are making significant investments in AI infrastructure, have a collective $1.65 trillion in debt that is not reflected on the companies' balance sheets.
Meta is accelerating its spending on AIMeta Platforms shows no appetite to slow its spending. The company spent $72 billion on capital expenditures in 2025 -- most of it related to AI -- and said in its first-quarter report that it would spend between $125 billion and $145 billion this year.
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Its $50 billion Hyperion data center planned for Louisiana is getting a lot of attention. The center was first announced as a $27 billion project funded by Meta’s joint venture with Blue Owl Capital. But in June, Meta announced it was expanding the project from a 2-gigawatt center to 5 gigawatts of capacity as it seeks to build out enough AI infrastructure to meet demand.
Blue Owl and its partners are funding the construction, allowing the project to remain off Meta’s balance sheet. Blue Owl will own 80% of Hyperion, with Meta owning the remaining 20%.
Should investors be concerned about Meta’s debt?On the one hand, $420 billion is a big number. There are only 30 companies in the world with an entire valuation of more than $420 billion, so when Meta takes on that much debt that hasn’t even made it to its balance sheet yet, it can seem pretty scary.
Meta is making huge, long-term commitments based on the idea that AI demand will justify the infrastructure. It appears to be transitioning its business away from the so-called metaverse toward hyperscaler services. That means investors should be prepared for lower margins, perhaps as early as when the company reports second-quarter earnings after the market closes on July 29.
Evercore analyst Mark Mahaney recently told CNBC that he doubts that Meta will attempt to compete head-to-head with Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet -- the three largest hyperscalers by market share. Instead, he sees Meta attempting to challenge neocloud providers such as CoreWeave and Nebius Group in offering AI-specific computing products, including AI chips and systems.
Either way, I expect Meta to shed more light on the picture when it reports earnings next week.
"Make your espresso on the road while your Tesla drives itself," wrote Musk in one post. Johannes Neudecker/picture alliance via Getty Images Elon Musk's posting habits are putting Tesla under the microscope — again.
Regulators looking into Tesla's Full Self-Driving have asked the company for more information about a series of X posts in which CEO Elon Musk said drivers could text and make an espresso while using the automated driving assist technology.
In a request for information sent to Tesla on July 2, officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) asked the company to clarify posts made on Musk and Tesla's accounts.
These include a post from December 2025 in which Musk said FSD users could text and drive "depending on [the] context of surrounding traffic."
"This is so cool. Make your espresso on the road while your Tesla drives itself," Musk wrote in another post cited by the document. The billionaire was responding to a video showing a Tesla owner using an espresso machine and reclining his seat while FSD was engaged.
The NHTSA also cited posts from Musk saying that FSD can "operate in all conditions" and that an FSD update will "substantially reduce" the need for driver attention, as well as posts from Tesla promoting the technology.
The regulator asked Tesla to clarify whether these examples were "accurate and consistent" with FSD's capabilities, and if the company has done anything to reduce the potential for "misunderstanding or misuse."
On its website and in owner manuals, Tesla makes it clear that drivers using Full Self-Driving (Supervised) should pay attention to the road and be ready to take over at all times.
It's not the first time Tesla has faced legal and regulatory scrutiny over the way it promotes FSD.
The Model Y maker was ordered to pay $242 million in damages last year over a wrongful-death lawsuit that alleged Tesla's advertising exaggerated the capabilities of Autopilot, FSD's predecessor, and the company struck a deal to avoid a ban in California in February after a judge ruled that its "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving" branding was misleading.
The NHTSA investigation, which was opened in October 2024 and upgraded to an engineering analysis in March, is looking into FSD's ability to alert the driver in low-visibility conditions. The probe was opened following several reports of Tesla's crashing in areas where visibility was reduced by "sun glare, fog, or airborne dust."
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Tesla (TSLA -0.46%) saw a significant increase in deliveries in the second quarter of 2026. The electric vehicle giant's 480,126 deliveries were up from 384,122 in the second quarter of 2025, a huge 25% year-over-year increase. The second-quarter 2026 figure was also above the Wall Street consensus for roughly 406,000 deliveries.
CEO Elon Musk must be doing something right... Or is there more to the story?
Image source: The White House.
What happened a year ago? While it may seem like ancient history, Elon Musk was heavily involved in politics in 2025. That led to a backlash against the electric vehicle company he founded, which depressed EV sales. Increasing competition in the EV market was another headwind. Tesla's 25% year-over-year increase in second-quarter 2026 deliveries was at least partly a recovery from a unique period when deliveries were depressed. Elon Musk was clearly a key factor in both quarters, but it wasn't really anything the CEO did at the company.
That said, second-quarter 2026 deliveries did beat Wall Street expectations. That is a good sign, but there are also factors beyond the CEO that need to be considered. Most notably, the geopolitical conflict in the Middle East, which has upended the global energy market. Oil is a commodity, and the reduced supply caused by the conflict pushed prices higher. That, in turn, has resulted in higher gasoline prices. In the face of higher gas prices, new-car buyers could be shifting to EVs to reduce fuel costs. Elon Musk had very little to do with this dynamic.
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Elon Musk is a visionary, but he isn't responsible for everything To be fair, Tesla wouldn't be the company it is without Elon Musk. The CEO is a brilliant, visionary leader. In fact, there might not be an electric vehicle market at all if it weren't for Musk. But that doesn't mean every Tesla success is directly tied back to Musk, nor does it mean all shortfalls are, either. And yet, it is noteworthy that Tesla's stock price fell after it reported its strong second-quarter delivery numbers.
When Tesla reports earnings after the close on July 22, investors will be looking to see what the company is planning for the future. Elon Musk appears to be shifting gears, pushing more toward AI and automation. That includes both humanoid robots and self-driving vehicle services. In other words, huge capital spending plans may be the norm, which investors could find worrying. So while every company outcome isn't a result of something that Elon Musk is doing at Tesla, Musk's vision will likely be closely watched again this quarter because it still has a material long-term impact on the company.
EVs, AI, Robots and RobotaxisTesla reports their second-quarter financial results Wednesday after market close and similar to recent quarterly reports, the information and management commentary could be less about consumer electric vehicles and more about AI, robots and autonomous vehicles.
Benzinga asked viewers about Tesla’s future growth plans.
The results are:
Humanoid Robots (Optimus Bot): 32% Robotaxis: 30% New electric vehicle models: 26% FSD Monthly subscriptions: 12% While the Optimus Bot won, the poll divided Benzinga readers on humanoid robots, robotaxis and new EV models. FSD monthly subscriptions finished last in the poll with only 12%.
The fact that humanoid robots and robotaxis got 62% of the votes in the poll signals a major shift for Tesla and one that CEO Elon Musk is betting on.
Musk has said that FSD and Optimus are "the biggest factors" in Tesla achieving its Master Plan Part 4.
"80% of Tesla’s value will be Optimus," Musk tweeted previously.
“I think that’s probably correct if we execute well on autonomous transport and Optimus,” Musk said.
In June 2024, Musk also said Optimus could help Tesla hit a $25 trillion market capitalization.
Tesla is expected to begin third-party sales and high-volume production of Optimus in 2027.
Tesla Q2 EarningsTesla has beaten analyst estimates for revenue and earnings per share in two straight quarters, but the stock price has fallen after three of the last four earnings reports with an average loss of 5% over that time.
The revenue and earnings per share continue to matter less for Tesla investors and analysts than the commentary from Musk and the future timeline for items like FSD, new vehicles, robotaxis and the Optimus Bot.
Tesla gave updates on robotaxi paid miles, robotaxi city rollouts, FSD subscriptions and a timeline on its vehicle releases during its first-quarter earnings report and conference call.
“We are excited about Tesla’s positioning in 2026 with tailwinds persisting for the auto business, our continued progress on FSD 4, the ramp of Robotaxi, progress on Optimus ahead of mass production and the growth of our energy production capacity,” the company said after first-quarter results.
The previous timeline was for the Cybercab to enter volume production "this year."
Investors will be closely watching to see the update numbers on these growth initiatives and an updated timeline on releases.
Price ActionTesla stock is down 0.3% to $377.98 on Wednesday versus a 52-week trading range of $297.82 to $498.83. The company’s shares are down 13.8% year-to-date in 2026.
Photo courtesy: Rokas Tenys on Shutterstock.com
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Tesla, Inc. NASDAQ: TSLA is continuing to execute on a profound structural pivot. By launching unsupervised robotaxi rides in Orlando and Tampa, Tesla is transitioning from internal research and development into the commercial monetization of its Full Self-Driving stack. Investors are watching the real-time evolution of a traditional vehicle manufacturer into a high-margin software network operator.
Tesla Today
$377.46 -1.47 (-0.39%)
As of 12:36 PM Eastern
This is a fair market value price provided by Massive. Learn more.
52-Week Range$297.82▼
$498.83P/E Ratio346.21
Price Target$408.07
The broader market has spent years debating the timeline of autonomous driving, often punishing Tesla for missed deadlines and aggressive management promises. Shares of Tesla stock currently trade near $380, down about 15% from the beginning of the year. Short-term traders might view that year-to-date slide as fundamental weakness, but the deployment of an unsupervised commercial fleet in major Florida markets suggests the technology is maturing faster than regulatory skeptics modeled.
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Investors willing to look past the daily price action are seeing a commercial rollout that alters the valuation math. When a hardware business switches to recurring revenue, the quality of its revenue changes. The Florida rollout is not a beta test; it is a commercial revenue-generating milestone that begins to justify the structural shift the market has been anticipating.
Pumping the Brakes on Margin PanicTo understand the financial mechanics of this transition, investors need to look closely at the recent second-quarter delivery report. Tesla beat delivery estimates by 18%, a significant hardware stabilization metric. For a legacy automaker, an 18% delivery beat is all about moving inventory off the lot to recognize one-time sales revenue. For a software-centric enterprise, those vehicles represent immediate expansions to the total addressable market for a high-margin subscription service.
Headlines often highlight that net margins have compressed to 3.95%, with pretax margins at 5.55%. Pure-play electric vehicle competitors continue to force aggressive pricing across the industry, squeezing profitability from physical cars. If market participants evaluate Tesla strictly as a metal-bending manufacturer, single-digit margins are an immediate red flag.
This margin compression is actually a calculated acquisition cost. The strategy relies on distributing the hardware at a lower premium to capture recurring, software-as-a-service revenue. The physical car is effectively becoming the delivery mechanism for the artificial intelligence (AI) network.
Tesla is willing to take a hit on upfront hardware sales because the lifetime value of a Full Self-Driving subscriber far outweighs the initial margin loss. Retained earnings and operational cash flow of $2.73 per share are being aggressively reallocated into artificial intelligence infrastructure and compute capacity, building the rails for a new utility network.
Pricing the Autonomous PremiumValuation is where the fundamental divergence between retail sentiment and institutional positioning becomes obvious. A trailing price-to-earnings ratio of 347x and a price-to-sales multiple of 14.5x are incompatible with legacy automotive benchmarks. Persistently elevated interest rates typically crush long-duration growth assets, yet Tesla maintains a market capitalization anchored at $1.42 trillion.
Institutions are willing to pay this premium because they are factoring in the technology's scalability. Competitors like Alphabet Inc. NASDAQ: GOOGL through Waymo and General Motors Company NYSE: GM through Cruise approach autonomy with heavy LIDAR sensors and restricted, pre-mapped geofences. Those competing networks require immense localized capital expenditure to expand block by block.
The Full Self-Driving stack utilizes a generalized, vision-based approach. The ability to deploy unsupervised robotaxis in Orlando and Tampa simultaneously, without waiting for exhaustive local pre-mapping, validates the scalability of this generalized system.
Investors are paying the 347x multiple for software that can theoretically scale globally without being tethered to a rigid geofenced grid. Software businesses command higher multiples because once the code is written, the cost of distributing it to the millionth user is virtually zero. As the Florida fleet scales, the incremental revenue drops straight to the bottom line, which will eventually pull that 347x multiple down to earth through pure earnings growth.
Crash-Testing the Balance SheetAny transition of this magnitude carries inherent friction, primarily from legal and regulatory bodies attempting to keep pace with technological advancement. The February 2026 $243 million Autopilot verdict from a Florida jury acts as a stark reminder of Tesla’s ongoing legal liabilities.
When evaluating a legal penalty, investors should assess it against the balance sheet to determine whether it is an existential threat or an operational cost of doing business. Generating $97.88 billion in annual sales, Tesla maintains a liquidity profile with a current ratio of 2.04 and a remarkably low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. From a fundamental perspective, a $243 million verdict is easily absorbed.
The broader market often overreacts to these headlines, but the underlying data tells a very specific story. The legal outcome exposes ongoing regulatory friction, yet Tesla is concurrently expanding its commercial robotaxi operations in the same state where the verdict was delivered. Capital is flowing toward the physical rollout, treating the legal penalties as manageable speed bumps rather than structural roadblocks. Regulatory fines are effectively becoming a line-item capital expenditure required to pioneer the autonomous space.
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) Price Chart for Wednesday, July, 22, 2026
Plotting Your Next Market ManeuverThe options market currently reflects a moderately bullish speculative bias, with call volume actively outpacing put volume ahead of near-term catalysts. Traders are anticipating that software commercialization will drive the next leg of growth. Conversely, corporate insiders have exhibited a distinct pattern of selling shares, taking liquidity off the table while valuations remain elevated.
Those conflicting signals require a measured, pragmatic approach. Investors are looking at a business navigating a capital-intensive transition phase. The hardware segment will likely continue to face margin pressure from macroeconomic headwinds and aggressive pricing by competitors. Investors might consider looking past the immediate quarter-to-quarter automotive delivery metrics to focus heavily on software adoption rates and autonomous fleet expansion milestones.
The Florida rollout proves the commercial phase is officially underway. Those with a higher risk tolerance might view the recent year-to-date pullback as an entry point into the AI infrastructure transition, prioritizing the high-margin network potential over the stagnant legacy auto narrative. Market participants should keep a close watch on how quickly the unsupervised fleet expands beyond Tampa and Orlando, as that velocity will be the ultimate fundamental metric that dictates the stock price over the next 12 months.
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Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction) enters its Q2 2026 earnings report today with shares down 15.74% year-to-date, closing Monday at $378.93 and trading near $376.88 intraday. That drawdown lags the broader tech sector and reflects a narrative dominated by concerns over brand sentiment tied to Elon Musk’s political activities, softer year-over-year delivery comparisons, and a 12% YoY decline in Energy Generation & Storage revenue last quarter.
Investors are overlooking the operating leverage building underneath. Automotive gross margin has already snapped back, free cash flow more than doubled last quarter, and FSD subscription growth is accelerating into a high-margin recurring stream.
Tesla’s Margin Recovery and FSD Monetization Should Drive a Beat Consensus for Q2 2026 sits at $0.53 in EPS on $26.36 billion in revenue. Prediction markets are pricing a 74% probability that Tesla beats, and the recent operating trend supports that positioning.
Q1 2026 delivered EPS of $0.41 versus a $0.3592 estimate, a 14.14% beat, with revenue of $22.39 billion, up 15.78% year-over-year. Three supporting data points reinforce the Q2 case:
Automotive gross margin expanded to 21.1% from 16.2% YoY, powered by lower material costs and higher ASPs. Active FSD subscriptions reached 1.28 million, up 51% YoY, feeding a 42% YoY jump in Services & Other revenue to $3.75 billion. Operating income surged 135.84% YoY and free cash flow rose 117.47%, with cash on the balance sheet climbing to $44.74 billion. Jim Cramer framed the setup on Mad Money earlier this year, noting that “consensus estimates for Tesla for 2026 and 2027 indicate that the analysts and investors do in fact expect sales and earnings to start growing again, both this year and next year”. Six new production lines ramping in 2026, plus driverless Robotaxi launches in Dallas and Houston and EU FSD approval in the Netherlands, layer optionality on top of the core margin story.
The Stock Looks Attractive at Current Levels Tesla carries a trailing P/E of 375, a rich multiple that is fully justified only if the AI, autonomy, and Optimus platforms translate into the profit acceleration management has flagged. On a forward basis, the 247Wall St. model implies a P/E of 208 against a forward EPS of $2.44, a premium to the market that is anchored by positive earnings momentum and mega-cap balance sheet firepower.
The 12-month consensus price target sits at $425.22, backed by 23 Buy ratings, 18 Holds, and 6 Sells. That target implies meaningful upside from the current $376.88 level, and the 247Wall St. bull case pushes to $487.90 over the next 12 months. Tesla is beaten down, tonight’s earnings report is the catalyst, and the upside case to $425 remains fully intact.
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Tesla is set to announce second-quarter results after the bell on Wednesday, three weeks after reporting a 25% year-over-year increase in vehicle deliveries.
Here's what Wall Street expects, according to estimates from analysts polled by LSEG:
Earnings per share: 51 cents expectedRevenue: $25.71 billion expectedTesla's earnings report lands in the midst of a steep decline in its stock price, which is down about 10% this month and 16% for the year. That slide has coincided with a drop in SpaceX, Elon Musk's other trillion-dollar company, which held a record market debut in June and has lost almost 40% of its value since its peak close.
For Tesla, the dip has come despite signs of a rebound in its core auto business. In early July, the company reported vehicle deliveries that topped 480,000, exceeding exceeding analysts' expectations.
Tesla is trying to recover from consecutive years of declining deliveries, largely due to competition from Chinese automakers, including BYD, Nio and Xiaomi, that are offering affordable but high-tech EVs in markets beyond the U.S. Some car buyers have boycotted Tesla in response to Musk's incendiary political rhetoric and work with the Trump administration.
Soaring gas prices resulting from the U.S. war in Iran boosted Tesla sales in the first half of the year, with European car buyers purchasing more EVs.
In the second-quarter, Tesla started selling lower-cost versions of its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, and made its premium driver assistance system, marketed as Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in the U.S., available in some European markets.
But Musk has shifted the focus of the company away from vehicle sales and toward its driverless Robotaxi service, ramping production of the company's driverless Cybercab, and remaking older factory lines in Fremont, California, to start manufacturing Optimus humanoid robots. He's promised shareholders and fans an AI-powered robot that will be able to step in as a babysitter, factory worker or world-class surgeon.
"I think Optimus will be our biggest product, not just Tesla's biggest product ever, but probably the biggest product ever," Musk said on the company's last earnings call in April.
Paul Miller, an analyst at Forrester, told CNBC in an email that Tesla leadership has made "plenty of big claims about autonomous mobility and physical AI over the years," but missed on some "bolder bets."
Musk told investors in 2019 that there would be 1 million Tesla robotaxis on the road by 2020. Last year, he said the company's autonomous ride-hailing services would cover "probably half the population of the U.S." by the end of 2025. And at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, Musk said Tesla Robotaxis would be "very, very widespread" domestically by the end of this year, a target that remains far off.
In robotaxis, Tesla is way behind Alphabet's Waymo in the U.S. and Baidu's Apollo Go in China. And in the humanoid robot market, where Tesla is still developing its product, the company faces competition from companies including China's Unitree, Boston Dynamics, Agility Robotics, Apptronik and London-based startup Humanoid.
On Wednesday's conference call, investors will be looking for updates on robotics and driverless technology, and how Musk expects Tesla and SpaceX to work together, including on Terafab, a massive chip factory the companies plan to jointly build and run with Intel in Texas.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) reports second-quarter results after the bell Wednesday, and the numbers investors already have in hand tell a split story: a blowout on deliveries, a question mark on spending.
The electric vehicle maker posted 480,126 deliveries and 451,758 vehicles produced for the quarter, comfortably ahead of the roughly 406,600 Wall Street had penciled in, according to StreetAccount. That marks a 25% jump from a year ago, with Model 3 and Model Y accounting for 467,762 of the total.
The read-through: Tesla likely added about 95 basis points of global BEV market share, with its US share climbing 50 basis points to 46.1%.
The bigger debate on the call is likely to center on what Tesla is doing with its money, and its robots. The company set aside a $25 billion capital budget for 2026 to fund AI infrastructure and Optimus development, a spending pace analysts expect to push free cash flow to roughly negative $3.25 billion for the quarter.
Bank of America, which reiterated its Buy rating and $460 price target, argues the payoff is coming: robotaxi service now runs in five markets after a July 3 launch in Miami, the Texas fleet has swelled past 175 vehicles, and a June pricing study found Tesla undercutting Waymo, Uber and Lyft by 21% in San Francisco, albeit with wait times three to four times longer, a sign demand is outrunning supply.
Optimus remains the wildcard. Tesla is targeting initial Fremont production for late July or August, alongside a possible Gen 3 reveal, with Bank of America penciling in a slow ramp before humanoid shipments hit meaningful scale later in the decade.
Not everyone is convinced the money is moving fast enough. Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, points out that Tesla has spent only about $2.5 billion of its $25 billion budget so far this year, despite being more than halfway through it.
"That raises questions about potential underspending on AI, autonomous driving and humanoid robots, the very ambitions that continue to underpin Tesla's valuation, given that its automotive business remains under pressure from Elon Musk's political controversies and intensifying competition from Chinese EV makers," she said.
That tension, strong deliveries against unproven bets, is what tonight's report will need to resolve.
Shares were flat Wednesday heading into the release.
Noah Hamman sets the stage for Tesla's (TSLA) earnings after Wednesday's closing bell. His biggest point of focus: EV sales, which he believes will show growth thanks to international markets.
SummaryAccording to Visible Alpha consensus, Alphabet's Q2 revenue expectations have increased to $117.2B from $113.0B in February, driven by resilience in its ad business and potential strength in Google Cloud.Since October 2025, Google Cloud margin has expanded from 20% to 33% in April 2026.Looking ahead to Q3 2026, analysts now expect the Cloud business to generate a 31.2% operating profit margin, down from an expected 35% last quarter. VV Shots/iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Alphabet Q2 earnings preview: What’s happening to Cloud margins? According to Visible Alpha consensus, Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOG) Q2 revenue expectations have increased to $117.2 billion from $113.0 billion in February, driven by resilience in its
Shares of Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) have gained 0.3% over the past four weeks to close the last trading session at $347.15, but there could still be a solid upside left in the stock if short-term price targets of Wall Street analysts are any indication. Going by the price targets, the mean estimate of $434.37 indicates a potential upside of 25.1%.
The mean estimate comprises 52 short-term price targets with a standard deviation of $29.33. While the lowest estimate of $365.00 indicates a 5.1% increase from the current price level, the most optimistic analyst expects the stock to surge 48.4% to reach $515.00. It's very important to note the standard deviation here, as it helps understand the variability of the estimates. The smaller the standard deviation, the greater the agreement among analysts.
While the consensus price target is a much-coveted metric for investors, solely banking on this metric to make an investment decision may not be wise at all. That's because the ability and unbiasedness of analysts in setting price targets have long been questionable.
But, for GOOGL, an impressive average price target is not the only indicator of a potential upside. Strong agreement among analysts about the company's ability to report better earnings than they predicted earlier strengthens this view. While a positive trend in earnings estimate revisions doesn't gauge how much a stock could gain, it has proven to be powerful in predicting an upside.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Here's What You Should Know About Analysts' Price TargetsAccording to researchers at several universities across the globe, a price target is one of many pieces of information about a stock that misleads investors far more often than it guides. In fact, empirical research shows that price targets set by several analysts, irrespective of the extent of agreement, rarely indicate where the price of a stock could actually be heading.
While Wall Street analysts have deep knowledge of a company's fundamentals and the sensitivity of its business to economic and industry issues, many of them tend to set overly optimistic price targets. Are you wondering why?
They usually do that to drum up interest in shares of companies that their firms either have existing business relationships with or are looking to be associated with. In other words, business incentives of firms covering a stock often result in inflated price targets set by analysts.
However, a tight clustering of price targets, which is represented by a low standard deviation, indicates that analysts have a high degree of agreement about the direction and magnitude of a stock's price movement. While that doesn't necessarily mean the stock will hit the average price target, it could be a good starting point for further research aimed at identifying the potential fundamental driving forces.
That said, while investors should not entirely ignore price targets, making an investment decision solely based on them could lead to disappointing ROI. So, price targets should always be treated with a high degree of skepticism.
Here's Why There Could be Plenty of Upside Left in GOOGLAnalysts' growing optimism over the company's earnings prospects, as indicated by strong agreement among them in revising EPS estimates higher, could be a legitimate reason to expect an upside in the stock. That's because empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
For the current year, four estimates have moved higher over the last 30 days compared to no negative revision. As a result, the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased 0.3%.
Moreover, GOOGL currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), which means it is in the top 5% of more than 4,000 stocks that we rank based on four factors related to earnings estimates. Given an impressive externally-audited track record, this is a more conclusive indication of the stock's potential upside in the near term. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .
Therefore, while the consensus price target may not be a reliable indicator of how much GOOGL could gain, the direction of price movement it implies does appear to be a good guide.
Alphabet Inc. (GOOG - Free Report) closed the last trading session at $346.19, gaining 0% over the past four weeks, but there could be plenty of upside left in the stock if short-term price targets set by Wall Street analysts are any guide. The mean price target of $434.82 indicates a 25.6% upside potential.
The average comprises 51 short-term price targets ranging from a low of $365.00 to a high of $515.00, with a standard deviation of $29.43. While the lowest estimate indicates an increase of 5.4% from the current price level, the most optimistic estimate points to a 48.8% upside. More than the range, one should note the standard deviation here, as it helps understand the variability of the estimates. The smaller the standard deviation, the greater the agreement among analysts.
While the consensus price target is a much-coveted metric for investors, solely banking on this metric to make an investment decision may not be wise at all. That's because the ability and unbiasedness of analysts in setting price targets have long been questionable.
But, for GOOG, an impressive average price target is not the only indicator of a potential upside. Strong agreement among analysts about the company's ability to report better earnings than they predicted earlier strengthens this view. While a positive trend in earnings estimate revisions doesn't gauge how much a stock could gain, it has proven to be powerful in predicting an upside.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Here's What You Should Know About Analysts' Price TargetsAccording to researchers at several universities across the globe, a price target is one of many pieces of information about a stock that misleads investors far more often than it guides. In fact, empirical research shows that price targets set by several analysts, irrespective of the extent of agreement, rarely indicate where the price of a stock could actually be heading.
While Wall Street analysts have deep knowledge of a company's fundamentals and the sensitivity of its business to economic and industry issues, many of them tend to set overly optimistic price targets. Are you wondering why?
They usually do that to drum up interest in shares of companies that their firms either have existing business relationships with or are looking to be associated with. In other words, business incentives of firms covering a stock often result in inflated price targets set by analysts.
However, a tight clustering of price targets, which is represented by a low standard deviation, indicates that analysts have a high degree of agreement about the direction and magnitude of a stock's price movement. While that doesn't necessarily mean the stock will hit the average price target, it could be a good starting point for further research aimed at identifying the potential fundamental driving forces.
That said, while investors should not entirely ignore price targets, making an investment decision solely based on them could lead to disappointing ROI. So, price targets should always be treated with a high degree of skepticism.
Why GOOG Could Witness a Solid UpsideThere has been increasing optimism among analysts lately about the company's earnings prospects, as indicated by strong agreement among them in revising EPS estimates higher. And that could be a legitimate reason to expect an upside in the stock. After all, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has increased 0.3% over the past month, as four estimates have gone higher compared to no negative revision.
Moreover, GOOG currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), which means it is in the top 5% of more than 4,000 stocks that we rank based on four factors related to earnings estimates. Given an impressive externally-audited track record, this is a more conclusive indication of the stock's potential upside in the near term. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .
Therefore, while the consensus price target may not be a reliable indicator of how much GOOG could gain, the direction of price movement it implies does appear to be a good guide.
Reddit RDDT stock has come under pressure this morning amidst reports of a high-stakes stand-off with Google over artificial intelligence (AI) data licensing and search traffic.
According to The Wall Street Journal, RDDT is threatening to “block” Google from scraping its platform for AI model training as the two negotiate a renewal of their existing data-licensing deal.
The WSJ report arrives at a time when Reddit stock is already gasping for upward momentum; at the time of writing, it’s down nearly 30% versus the start of this year.
In 2024, Reddit signed an estimated $60 million a year agreement allowing Google to ingest forum posts for AI training.
But now that the company is threatening to walk away, investors are pricing in the risk that RDDT could lose lucrative licensing revenue.
Reddit’s primary frustration stems from Google’s expanded AI Overview answer boxes at the top of search results.
These artificial intelligence-enabled summaries answer user queries directly on the search page – drastically cutting into the click-through traffic Reddit relies on to feed its core ad-based business.
RDDT shares are also crumbling because this news coincides with a broader tech rout as investors trim high-flying software and chip names ahead of major mega-cap tech earnings.
Investors are bailing on Reddit shares today primarily because the company faces a huge dilemma as it negotiates a renewal of its agreement with Google.
If RDDT licenses its human-generated discussions to a search engine, AI answer engines cannibalize its referral traffic.
But if it cuts off access, it risks both losing “high-margin” licensing income and being de-ranked or hidden in standard search indexing.
Until there’s more clarity on whether the licensing deal is renewed on favorable terms – or if Reddit can defend its organic search traffic – the market is treating the conflict as a headwind to both ad- revenue and data-licensing growth.
Reddit has grown at an attractive pace in recent quarters on the back of its role in AI training.
In fact, the company is expected to report $0.99 a share of earnings (EPS) for its current financial quarter in late August, more than double last year’s figure.
And that’s part of the reason why Wall Street analysts remain uber bullish on RDDT stock for the remainder of 2026.
The consensus rating on it sits at Moderate Buy currently, with the mean price target of $224 indicating potential upside of more than 30% over the next 12 months.
However, things could be meaningfully different for Reddit moving forward if the aforementioned agreement with Google ends up falling apart – and that’s what's weighing on its share price on July 22nd.
GOOGL stock is moving ahead of earnings. See the chart and price action here. When the Google parent reports second-quarter results after Wednesday’s close, investors will be studying a company that occupies a strange position: fabulously cash-rich, and yet visibly stretched by the scale of its own ambitions.
The financial newsletter Swiss Transparent Portfolio, in a preview published this week, put the paradox at the center of the moment.
“The most self-funding company on earth passed the hat,” the publication wrote. “That is the tension the market brings to Wednesday’s print.”
The tension is worth sitting with, because the raw numbers are staggering. By the newsletter’s calculation, “Alphabet generated $174 billion of operating cash flow over the last twelve months. It is, by that measure, the greatest cash machine in corporate history.”
Companies that generate cash on that scale are not supposed to feel constrained by anything. Alphabet, right now, does — and that gap between what it earns and what it wants to spend is precisely what has investors on edge heading into the print.
What Would Validate the BullsThe disagreement about what it all means is unusually sharp. On one side sit the optimists, who read the heavy spending as a rational response to demand the company simply cannot satisfy fast enough.
As Swiss Transparent Portfolio framed the bull case, “Bulls see a $460+ billion Cloud backlog, six years of current Cloud revenue already contracted, and a management team told by its own customers that demand is constrained only by capacity.”
In that telling, the spending is not a warning sign at all. It is a company sprinting to keep up with orders already on the books.
What Would Empower the BearsThe skeptics see the same picture and flinch. The newsletter summarized their concerns bluntly: “Bears see $750+ billion of combined Big Tech capex this year, a depreciation bill rising ~$13 billion, fresh dilution, and a Gemini 3.5 Pro delay that just knocked 3% off the stock.”
Each item on that list chips away at the bull story — a mounting cost base, shares that no longer feel quite as scarce, and a reminder, in the Gemini stumble, that even the most lavishly funded ambitions can slip.
What makes today so uncomfortable is that both readings are credible, and the print could tip the balance either way.
Strong cloud growth and disciplined guidance would hand the bulls their proof. Any softness — in cloud, in margins, in the tone around future spending — would let the bears press their case.
The newsletter captured the resulting paralysis well: “This is exactly the kind of moment where most investors freeze: a wonderful business, a staggering bet, and no consensus on which chart matters.”
That is the real source of the jitters. Alphabet’s earnings power has never been in doubt. Whether that power is finally big enough to cover its appetite is the question the market cannot answer until the numbers land — and it is exactly the question tonight is built to settle.
GOOGL Stock Price Activity: Alphabet shares were up 0.35% at $348.35 at the time of publication Wednesday, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Over the past month, GOOGL has declined about 2.7% versus a 0.1% rise in the S&P 500 and is up roughly 10% year-to-date compared to the index’s 9.2% gain.
Photo: Shutterstock
This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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Google reportedly expanded its office presence in Miami this year after two of its co-founders purchased houses in South Florida.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, signed a lease expanding its existing 10,000-square-foot satellite office in Miami's financial district by an additional 45,000 square feet, two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News.
The outlet reported that the expansion was driven in part by the recent home purchases in the area by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin – two billionaires who have bought homes outside of California and relocated business entities out of the Golden State as voters weigh a billionaire tax on this fall's ballot.
Google first opened an office in Miami in 2016 and the expansion will increase its presence in Florida – though the South Florida office remains much smaller than the corporate headquarters at its Mountain View campus in California, which has over 10 million square feet of space, and its 1.7 million-square-foot Hudson Square campus in New York.
GOOGLE CO-FOUNDER RIPS CALIFORNIA BILLIONAIRE TAX: 'I FLED SOCIALISM'
Google co-founder Sergey Brin bought property in South Florida. (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
Page and Brin left their roles as executives in 2019 but remain on Google's board. Brin has reportedly taken an active role in shaping the company's initiatives around artificial intelligence (AI).
A report from earlier this year by the Wall Street Journal noted that Page bought a waterfront compound for $101.5 million in December as well as a nearby home for $71.9 million, which he bought in early January, while Brin was reportedly closing in on a purchase at that time as well.
Bloomberg's report said that Brin bought a $51 million waterfront home in Miami Beach shortly after Page's purchase.
LARRY PAGE DROPS $173M ON MIAMI MANSIONS AMID CALIFORNIA BILLIONAIRE EXODUS TREND AS WEALTH TAX LOOMS
Google's office is located in Miami's financial district. (Jeffrey Greenberg/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Brin was also linked to the purchase of a $42 million mansion on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe in December.
The moves occurred as California voters will vote on a proposed one-time wealth tax on billionaires this November.
The proposed constitutional amendment would levy a one-time, 5% wealth tax on taxpayers and trusts with over $1 billion in covered assets for the purpose of funding the state's healthcare and food assistance programs, as well as public education.
GOOGLE CO-FOUNDER SERGEY BRIN JOINS CALIFORNIA EXODUS: REPORT
Ticker Security Last Change Change % GOOGL ALPHABET INC. 348.43 +1.28 +0.37% Assets covered by the tax would include businesses, securities, art, collectibles, and intellectual property – though real property, pensions and certain retirement accounts would be exempt.
If passed, the tax would apply retroactively to taxpayers who lived in California as of Jan. 1, 2026, with the tax due with 2027 tax filings.
Taxpayers could pay the tax in five equal installments, with subsequent payments subject to an annual deferral charge of 7.5% of the balance that remains unpaid.
Item 1 of 2 The logo of Amazon is pictured at a company logistics center in Carquefou near Nantes, westren France, May 6, 2026. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
[1/2]The logo of Amazon is pictured at a company logistics center in Carquefou near Nantes, westren France, May 6, 2026. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
SAN FRANCISCO, July 22 (Reuters) - Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab on Wednesday cut jobs in its artificial general intelligence group, marking the latest in a series of smaller reductions across the company since a much larger one in January.
Artificial general intelligence is a hypothetical AI system that surpasses human intelligence and can learn, grow and operate autonomously. Many of the top AI companies are working to develop similar systems, with the hope of deploying them to solve difficult problems.
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"We've been building large AI models for several years, and it remains one of the most important things we're working on," said an Amazon spokesman following a Reuters inquiry. "We’re sharpening our focus on the initiatives that matter most for customers, so we can move faster on what counts. That focus means some difficult decisions, including eliminating some roles within parts of our AGI organization."
Rohit Prasad, a top Amazon executive overseeing AGI, left the company at the end of last year and the head of its AGI Lab, David Luan, left in February. AGI work was consolidated under senior vice president Peter DeSantis in December as part of a larger group that also includes silicon development and quantum computing.
Employees under Adeeb Shanaa, vice president of artificial general intelligence data services, and Vishal Sharma, vice president of AGI information, reported being impacted by the cuts on online forums on Wednesday. However, the full scope of the cuts could not immediately be learned.
Amazon cut 16,000 jobs across the company in January.
Reporting by Greg Bensinger; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Kirsten Donovan
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Greg Bensinger joined Reuters as a technology correspondent in 2022 focusing on the world's largest technology companies. He was previously a member of The New York Times editorial board and a technology beat reporter for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. He also worked for Bloomberg News writing about the auto and telecommunications industries. He studied English literature at The University of Virginia and graduate journalism at Columbia University. Greg lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children.
On July 30, Amazon (AMZN -1.45%) reports earnings, and I think its CEO, Andy Jassy, will drop a bombshell that nobody is expecting. Amazon has been spending heavily on data center capital expenditures and is currently projected to spend about $200 billion this year -- the most of any artificial intelligence (AI) hyperscaler. All of that spending is now translating into increased computing capacity, which allows clients desperate for more computing power to spend more.
This will cause Amazon Web Services' (AWS) revenue to skyrocket, significantly boosting Amazon's overall growth and profit picture. This could create the perfect storm that sends the stock price skyrocketing, and I think investors would be smart to get in before July 30.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Image source: Amazon.com Inc.
AWS is Amazon's primary business AWS may seem like an afterthought for a company that was built on commerce sales, but the numbers argue it should be considered Amazon's primary business. Although it accounted for only 21% of Amazon's total sales during the first quarter, it accounted for 59% of profits. Furthermore, it was the fastest-growing segment within Amazon, further solidifying its case for being considered Amazon's primary business.
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It's rare for a wide-reaching business like Amazon to have a segment that's both the most profitable and the fastest-growing, with the largest opportunity. And Amazon is spending heavily to ensure it captures as much market share as possible. Amazon also isn't doing this without some commitment from clients. Jassy informed investors in his annual shareholder letter that most of this new computing capacity is already contracted, limiting the risk of overbuilding.
However, 2026 is just the beginning. All signs point to more expansion in the coming years, and if there is more demand for AI computing capacity, then AWS and its cloud computing peers are set to cash in. Should AWS have a blowout quarter and see its revenue accelerate to something in the mid-30% range, I think the market will reward Amazon's stock by sending shares higher. With the stock trading at a fair price of 28.4 times forward earnings, I think it can rise a bit without looking overvalued.
Data by YCharts.
Amazon is a great stock to buy and hold in the AI era thanks to its AWS platform. I expect great news from Amazon on July 30, but we'll have to wait and see how the market reacts to it.
Keithen Drury has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Amazon logo outside an Amazon warehouse in Manchester, Britain, October 28, 2025. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
CompaniesMILAN, July 22 (Reuters) - Italian unions have signed an agreement with Amazon.com (AMZN.O), opens new tab covering leave, employee rights and video surveillance, the unions and the U.S. e-commerce giant said on Wednesday.
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The Filt CGIL, Fit CISL and Uiltrasporti unions said 57 sites operating in Italy were covered in the deal struck with Amazon Italia Transport and Amazon Italia Logistica and hailed it as the first such national collective agreement reached with Amazon in any country.
Regarding video surveillance, the unions said it has been agreed that images cannot be used for disciplinary purposes.
Employees have been granted the right to take parental leave in increments as small as a single hour, the unions added.
"We welcome the agreement reached with trade unions, which introduces new flexibility and work-life balance tools and enhances existing ones, bringing them into a shared framework for the benefit of our employees and their families," Amazon said in a statement.
The agreement builds on an initial protocol signed with Amazon in 2021.
Amazon has 19,000 permanent employees in Italy.
Writing by Keith Weir, editing by Alvise Armellini
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Amazon said it remains committed to investing in AI, describing the layoffs as part of an effort to prioritize the initiatives it believes will have the greatest impact for customers.
I keep pressing the buy button on Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN | AMZN Price Prediction), and the reason is embarrassingly simple: the crowd is looking at the capex line and flinching, while I am looking at what that capex actually builds.
That is the whole thesis in one sentence. Amazon is spending in 2026 to own the compute layer of the AI economy in 2027 and beyond. The market treats the near-term free cash flow squeeze as a wound. I read it as a receipt.
The Three Numbers That Keep Me Buying Start with AWS. In Q1 2026 it grew 28% year over year, fastest in 15 quarters, on a $150 billion run rate. Jassy said “It is very unusual for a business to grow this fast on a base this large.” Segment operating margin 37.7%, operating income $14.2 billion. That is the engine.
Next, chips. Amazon’s silicon business (Graviton, Trainium, Nitro) topped a $20 billion revenue run rate growing triple digits year over year. Trainium2 is largely sold out. OpenAI committed to roughly 2 GW of Trainium capacity beginning in 2027. Anthropic secured up to 5 GW. AWS backlog sits at $364 billion, and that excludes an Anthropic commitment for over $100 billion.
Third, the whole business prints. Q1 EPS came in at $2.78 versus a $1.653 estimate, a 68.18% beat, the fifth straight beat. Operating income $23.85 billion, up 29.6% YoY. Operating cash flow $26.03 billion, up 52.99%. ROE 22.29%, net debt to EBITDA 0.45, interest coverage 35.17x.
The stock closed at $247.55, up 7.25% YTD, while AMZN slipped 4.7% since the April filing. Analyst target is $312.87 with 62 buys and zero sells.
Why Not the Obvious Alternatives Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) are the obvious cloud picks. Amazon leads both on custom AI training silicon at Trainium’s scale. Its chip business is over $20 billion run rate with more than $225 billion in revenue commitments and OpenAI plus Anthropic locked in. Jassy: “Trainium will save us tens of billions of dollars of CapEx each year and provide several hundred basis points of operating margin advantage.”
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Amazon didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is the retail comp. Amazon’s Online Stores grew 12%, third-party sellers 14%, and unit growth hit 15%, the highest since COVID. Walmart does not carry a $150 billion cloud business alongside that.
Meta (NASDAQ:META) is the ad alternative. Amazon’s ad segment ran $17.24 billion in Q1, up 24% YoY, with over $70 billion TTM. One AMZN share buys three growth engines.
The Real Risk TTM free cash flow fell to $1.2 billion, down 95%. Q1 capex was $44.2 billion; the 2026 plan is roughly $200 billion. Long-term debt climbed to $119.1 billion from $65.6 billion. If AI monetization slips, that overhang stings.
Jassy addressed it directly: data centers carry 30-plus year lives, chips and servers five to six years. I am fine with a compressed FCF year sitting behind $364 billion of backlog.
What Keeps the Buy Button Active Polymarket assigns 98.5% probability to 2026 capex exceeding $170 billion. Consensus has accepted the number without repricing the outcome. That gap is my window. The five-year base case models $523.92, a 111.64% total return. I keep buying because 2027 will not send an invitation.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Amazon didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
The streaming-content industry is entering a new phase. Subscriber growth and exclusive programming still matter, but the competitive focus has broadened toward advertising, live sports, creator-led video and distribution control. Platforms increasingly resemble digital television networks, combining on-demand libraries with scheduled events, targeted advertising, paid upgrades and channel bundles.
The shift favors companies that are able to monetize the same audience through several channels rather than relying solely on monthly subscription fees. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL - Free Report) , Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN - Free Report) and Fox Corporation (FOXA - Free Report) approach that transition from different starting points, but each owns assets that could benefit as television audiences fragment across digital platforms.
The change is visible in viewing data. Streaming captured a record 47.5% of U.S. television use in December 2025, according to Nielsen, while Christmas Day generated more than 55 billion streaming minutes. In the first quarter of 2026, streaming accounted for a record 46.6% of ad-supported television viewing. These figures matter because advertising dollars generally follow audience attention, although measurement changes and seasonal events can cause meaningful month-to-month volatility.
Live programming is becoming an especially important differentiator. Nielsen’s Gracenote reported in May 2026 that sports represented 5% of programming across leading global subscription-streaming catalogs and was the fastest-growing content category it tracked. Sports can attract large audiences at predictable times, reduce churn and provide premium advertising inventory. At the same time, free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) is expanding the addressable market among viewers unwilling to add another paid service.
The medium-term outlook remains constructive, but the industry is not becoming easier. Content and sports-rights costs are rising, consumers can switch services quickly, and advertisers have numerous digital alternatives. Regulators are also scrutinizing platform power, data practices and large media combinations. However, within that environment, Alphabet, which offers creator-led scale through YouTube; Amazon, which links streaming to Prime and commerce; and Fox, which provides focused exposure to free streaming and connected-TV advertising, are poised to excel.
If you’re looking to tap into this fast-growing trend, our Streaming Content Thematic Screen offers a simple way to spot promising stocks in the sector. Designed with advanced analytics, the screen highlights companies driving industry transformation, helping investors stay ahead of emerging opportunities.
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Alphabet established a position in online video through its 2006 acquisition of YouTube. Originally centered on user-uploaded clips, YouTube has evolved into an entertainment platform offering short videos, long-form creator content, music, podcasts, films, live television and professional sports. This range sets it apart from streaming services focused on studio-produced movies and series.
YouTube also reflects the industry’s move toward diversified monetization. It earns advertising revenues across phones, computers and connected TVs while generating subscription income from YouTube Premium, YouTube Music, YouTube TV and NFL Sunday Ticket. Because creators provide much of the content and share advertising revenues, Alphabet relies less on a traditional studio production model.
Audience scale remains the central advantage. YouTube said it had ranked first in U.S. streaming watch time for nearly three years as of January 2026, while YouTube Shorts was averaging more than 200 billion daily views. Nielsen subsequently reported that YouTube held 13.4% of total U.S. television watch time in April 2026, the largest share among measured media distributors. This TV presence helps Alphabet compete for brand advertising once dominated by broadcast and cable.
Future growth may come from connected-TV ads, subscriptions, new channel packages and AI-powered tools. Key risks include regulation, moderation challenges, competition, infrastructure costs and sports rights. Still, YouTube’s creator ecosystem, advertising technology and distribution make it difficult to replicate. Alphabet sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Amazon’s digital-video history dates to the September 2006 launch of Amazon Unbox, a download service offering programming from more than 30 studio and network partners. The company later integrated streaming into Prime and expanded its content ownership, most notably through the $8.45 billion MGM transaction. MGM brought a library exceeding 4,000 films and 17,000 television episodes, along with franchises, including James Bond, Rocky and Creed.
Streaming supports Prime retention, advertising, distribution, rentals and channel subscriptions. Its advantage is integration with Amazon’s ecosystem. Amazon can promote programs through its storefront and Fire TV devices as viewers move among included content, channels and rentals. Unlike pure-play streamers, returns can include commerce and customer engagement, and not only video revenues.
Nielsen estimated that Prime Video represented 4.2% of U.S. television viewing in April 2026, helped by 22 NBA games and the final season of The Boys. This suggests that sports can lift engagement beyond the release windows of scripted originals. Amazon’s advertising-services revenues reached $17.24 billion in the first quarter, rising 24% year over year, although the company does not disclose how much came from Prime Video rather than retail advertising.
Live sports, franchise development, international distribution and ad-supported viewing are key catalysts. While investors should nevertheless account for heavy investment requirements, Amazon remains notable because Prime Video can reinforce several businesses at once, making it strategically valuable even when standalone economics are difficult to isolate. AMZN has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Fox took its present form after selling major assets to Disney in 2019. Rather than launching a subscription platform, the company bought Tubi for $440 million in 2020 and focused on free, ad-supported streaming alongside its news, sports and broadcast television businesses.
This approach appeals to viewers reluctant to add another monthly fee. Tubi now serves more than 100 million monthly active users, offering an on-demand library as well as original productions and creator-driven programming.
Nielsen reported that Tubi reached a platform-best 2.3% of U.S. television viewing in April 2026, with viewing up 3% from March. A partnership unveiled in March 2026 enables selected TikTok creators to produce exclusive long-form series for Tubi, helping Fox turn social-media talent into television-style content without incurring the production costs of premium scripted rivals.
Fox’s planned acquisition of Roku, announced in June 2026, could strengthen its connected-TV distribution, advertising capabilities and direct audience relationships. The company projects roughly $400 million in annualized cost synergies, although the transaction still requires shareholder and regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first half of 2027.
The combination could unite Fox’s live news and sports, Tubi’s catalog and Roku’s platform data. Key opportunities include audience growth, better ad targeting and Fox One, while risks include integration, leverage, regulation and pressure on traditional television. FOXA holds a Zacks Rank #2.
Key Dates and Disclosure Events Microsoft Shareholders Need to Know: From "Best-in-Class" AI Claims to Alleged Concealment of Copilot's Critical Failures
, /PRNewswire/ -- Levi & Korsinsky, LLP encourages investors who suffered losses in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) to contact the firm. WHO IS AFFECTED: Those who purchased MSFT securities between May 1, 2025 and January 28, 2026 may be entitled to recover damages. Find out if you are eligible to recover losses or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. at [email protected] or (212) 363-7500.
A securities class action has been filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington alleging Microsoft and certain executives made materially false statements about the Company's AI initiatives while concealing serious operational problems with its Copilot products. Microsoft stock traded above $550 per share during the Class Period before the alleged truth emerged. The window to apply for lead plaintiff closes on August 11, 2026.
April 30, 2025 — 3Q25 Earnings: The AI Narrative Launches
Microsoft reported $26.8 billion in Intelligent Cloud revenue, a 21% increase, with Azure growth of 33%. The lawsuit contends that executives proclaimed Copilot offered "best-in-class AI capabilities" and highlighted "hundreds of thousands of customers" using the product, up 3x year-over-year, while concealing that Copilot suffered from brand positioning confusion, data siloing, and interoperability failures.
September 10, 2025 — Goldman Sachs Conference: The 70% Fortune 500 Claim
At the Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference, the action alleges Microsoft's AI CMO represented that "70% of the Fortune 500 are using Copilot in a pretty extensive way" and called it the fastest-growing M365 product ever. The complaint asserts these statements omitted material problems with user experience and computational capacity that were undermining actual adoption quality.
October 29, 2025 — 1Q26 Earnings: $250 Billion OpenAI Contract Announced
As set forth in the complaint, executives disclosed a $250 billion Azure services contract with OpenAI and claimed AI capacity would increase 80% that year with data center footprint doubling over two years. The filing states that these announcements amplified concentration risk concerns while masking organizational problems within the Copilot product family.
December 2, 2025 — UBS Conference: "The Gap Is Very Significant"
The lawsuit chronicles how Microsoft's EVP Experiences and Devices claimed Copilot's daily active engagement had "more than doubled, quarter over quarter" and that Fortune 500 adoption had risen to 90%. The complaint alleges these assertions concealed that Copilot's competitive advantages were overstated and its integration across enterprise workflows faced significant technical barriers.
December 5, 2025 — Annual Shareholder Meeting: Infrastructure "At Scale"
It is alleged that executives told shareholders the Company's cloud infrastructure was "obviously at scale and building out rapidly" for AI workloads and highlighted "major advances in AI innovation" in Copilot. The complaint contends these representations omitted that the Company's return on its multibillion-dollar AI capital expenditures was materially overstated.
Submit your claim before the deadline or call (212) 363-7500.
Chronology of Material Events
April 30, 2025: 3Q25 earnings release claims Azure grew 33% with 16 points from AI services; Copilot described as adopted at a faster rate than any other new Microsoft 365 suite July 30, 2025: FY25 annual results tout Azure surpassing $75 billion in revenue, up 34%; Copilot surpasses 100 million monthly active users September 10, 2025: Goldman Sachs conference presentation claims 70% Fortune 500 Copilot adoption and "best quarter ever" for seat additions October 29, 2025: 1Q26 earnings announce $250 billion OpenAI Azure contract; AI capacity increase of 80%; Copilot surpasses 150 million monthly active users December 2, 2025: UBS conference claims daily Copilot engagement doubled quarter-over-quarter; Fortune 500 adoption at 90% December 5, 2025: Annual shareholder meeting describes infrastructure as "at scale" for AI; highlights Copilot's "work IQ" capabilities "Timely disclosure of material developments is fundamental to fair and efficient markets. The timeline in this case raises important questions about whether investors received accurate information at each stage of Microsoft's AI expansion narrative," stated Joseph E. Levi, Esq.
ABOUT THE FIRM — For over two decades, Levi & Korsinsky has represented shareholders in securities class actions. Ranked in ISS Top 50 for seven consecutive years. Those wishing to serve as lead plaintiff must act by August 11, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions About the MSFT Lawsuit
Q: When did Microsoft allegedly mislead investors? A: The class period runs from May 1, 2025 to January 28, 2026. The complaint alleges a series of materially false statements were made at earnings calls, investor conferences, and in SEC filings throughout this period, with the alleged fraud revealed through corrective disclosures causing significant stock decline.
Q: What specific misstatements does the MSFT lawsuit allege? A: The complaint alleges Microsoft made materially false or misleading statements regarding the success, adoption, and capabilities of its Copilot AI products and the returns on its multibillion-dollar AI investments, while concealing brand positioning failures, data siloing, computational capacity constraints, and interoperability problems.
Q: What do MSFT investors need to do right now? A: Gather brokerage records including purchase dates, share quantities, and prices paid. Contact Levi & Korsinsky for a free, no-obligation evaluation at [email protected] or (212) 363-7500. No immediate action is required to remain eligible as a class member.
Q: What if I already sold my MSFT shares — can I still recover losses? A: Yes. Eligibility is based on when you purchased, not whether you still hold them. Investors who bought during the class period and sold at a loss may still participate.
Q: Do I need to go to court or give testimony? A: No. The overwhelming majority of class members never appear in court or give depositions. You submit a claim form to receive your portion of recovery.
Q: What does it cost me to participate? A: Nothing. Securities class actions are handled on a pure contingency basis. No upfront fees, no retainer, no out-of-pocket costs.
Q: How long will the lawsuit take to resolve? A: Securities class actions typically take two to four years from initial filing to resolution.
Wall Street expects a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) reports results for the quarter ended June 2026. While this widely-known consensus outlook is important in gauging the company's earnings picture, a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates.
The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report, which is expected to be released on July 29. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.
While the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call, it's worth handicapping the probability of a positive EPS surprise.
Zacks Consensus EstimateThis software maker is expected to post quarterly earnings of $4.21 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +15.3%.
Revenues are expected to be $87.42 billion, up 14.4% from the year-ago quarter.
Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.08% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.
Investors should keep in mind that an aggregate change may not always reflect the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings WhisperEstimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. This insight is at the core of our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction).
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.
Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Microsoft?For Microsoft, the Most Accurate Estimate is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bearish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of -0.68%.
On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3.
So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Microsoft will beat the consensus EPS estimate.
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating their estimates for its future earnings. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.
For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Microsoft would post earnings of $4.07 per share when it actually produced earnings of $4.27, delivering a surprise of +4.91%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates four times.
Bottom LineAn earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.
That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.
Microsoft doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.
Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.
